Page 20 of Freedom Mine
His eyes found her. “For what?”
“For buying me.”
Hells, why did she have to remind him that he’s paid for her, that heownedher?
His hands fell to his side, and he cleared his throat. “I’ve got to get back to work,” he said, not trusting himself to say more.
“I. . .” she stopped herself, probably happy he’d removed his hand.
He’d gone too far, touching her like that. She’d been so terrified when she’d run into his arms that something inside him had snapped. Nothing else had mattered except protecting her, and he’d let his guard down because of it.
Comfort her? Fine. Find out what had happened? Absolutely. Lose himself in her eyes, let her touch and her heavenly scent invade and caress him as a lover would? That’s where he’d crossed the line.
“I’ve got work to do,” he said. As soon as he turned from her, he broke into a run and headed toward the fence.
It had been a while since he’d run the perimeter of the property and checked the pylons. He needed time to think about the mine, the men, and Blue. Always Blue. He had troublenotthinking about her ever since he’d seen her in the auction pen. He hadn’t even known her then. He was starting to. Smart, sweet, andvulnerable. She didn’t show it, and it had nothing to do with her being a slave, but there was something about her that told him he had to protect her.
Hoonta hounds were hardly the worst predator on his property. He had a sense of Ranth, Masher, Liet, and Jace, of course. They wouldn’t touch her. Becks, Pabi, and Orsac, well their taste didn’t run toward women. As for the more recent men he’d bought at auction, Eight, Tieg, Bawson, Diggs, and Runner, they did their work and kept their distance from him for the most part so he didn’t know much about what type of men they were, beyond being hard workers.
It wouldn’t take much for any one of them to force her into his bed or push her up against a tree. Hells, had one of them already tried something? The fear he’d seen on her had pierced him, right to his soul. How could he protect her without putting limits on her freedom, something he swore he wouldn’t do?
One dark pylon drew his attention away from Blue. He’d have to go back with the tools to repair it before the Office of Slave Registration noticed the outage on the grid. The pozite crystal probably wore out.
It took another hour to take that section of the fence off-line and replace the crystal. Blue remained on his mind the entire time. Kayo double-timed it back to the house, letting the door slam shut behind him as he headed straight for the shower.
He forced himself into the bathroom, ignored the cold sweat strangling him as he entered the suffocating space, and hopped into the shower. Mac had expanded the bathroom, tearing down an adjacent supply closet so he wouldn’t feel so enclosed, but the space was still too confining.
Two minutes to wash up, grab a towel, and exit. He could bear it for that long. He focused on breathing, but the walls closed in. He pictured Blue, how her arms wrapped around him earlier. The walls stopped moving, but now he had to deal with an erection.
Taking himself in hand wasn’t ideal, but he had no choice. She’d invaded his thoughts all too easily. How was he going to survive what could easily be months before he could pay for her freedom status? Hells, he had more immediate concerns. If he didn’t find a way to pay back his creditors, they’d take her, they’d take all the slaves.
Kayo threw on fresh clothes and retreated to his office where no one would bother him. He pulled out the chair, then shoved it back in again with enough force that the desk scraped the wood floor. He was too wired to sit, let alone go through his papers to see if he’d missed something that would get him out of this mess.
He reached for his data-pad. Three notices had been posted to his account. The first was an offer from Illinoud offering to buy Masher, for a mere two hundred parchas. Insulting bastard.
The second notice confirmed his purchase of Blue, with the usual option to return up to thirty days if she didn’t suit his needs. A table of how her value depreciated based on her condition should he return her for a refund accompanied the notice.
The third, a late notice from Farvak’s Mining Equipment Company, stared at him like a hoonta hound ready to pounce. He had less than two weeks left, unless he could find a way to pay. He’d gladly sell back the ventilation pump, if they’d agree, but it was within their rights to take any asset to cover the amount of debt.
Blue. They would take her. Right now she was the most valuable thing he owned. Kayo flung the datapad against the wall.Owned. He hated that word, hated that he’d become one of them, hated that he could lose her, lose all of them. If even one headed back into slavery because of him. . .
He grabbed the bottle and glass from the bar and headed outside. Hells. Jace was coming up the front steps. Kayo sank into one of the two porch chairs, hoping Jace wouldn’t start in on him.
“A bit early to be drinking, isn’t it?” Jace said.
Kayo poured himself a glass and set the bottle down on the ground. “Unless you have something to say, something that’s important, leave.”
“Think you should lay off that for a while? A lot of men—and a woman—counting on you.”
“You think I don’t know that? Tell me something helpful for once, Jace.”
Jace was grinning. “We found some pozite at the new adit we started.”
Kayo put the drink down. “Seriously? Should I get my hopes up?”
“Can’t tell yet, but we found a minor vein soon after you left. I’d guess it’s a few hundred parchas worth at least. The men are excited. They’ve agreed to a third shift tonight.”
“That’s good. I can pay off Farvak’s at least.”
