Page 27 of Freedom Mine
“Are slaves supposed to admonish owners?” he bit back, his frustration getting to him. If she still thought of herself as a slave, as he’d heard Jace say last night, then she should leave him alone. Yeah, he felt like an asshole playing on that possibility at the moment, but he really didn’t want to discuss the reason he’d been drinking so heavily.
“Am I a slave?” she asked, flat out, staring right at him, thoroughly undaunted.
While it filled him with pride that she had found the courage to stand up to him, she’d given him the answer. She still thought of herself as a slave, which meant she still saw him as her owner.
“Only on paper. I don’t consider you a slave. No one here does.”
She stopped folding the clean sheets she’d brought with her. “Then why did you just call me a slave?”
Because I’m a drekking asshole.
“It was a simple question about whether slaves are supposed to admonish owners,” he lied, not convinced she’d buy that excuse. “You’re reading into what I said.”
Before she could move away from the bed, his hand found hers, his thumb stroking the back of her hand. “I’m sorry, Blue.”
“For what?” she asked, her focus on how he hadn’t removed his hand from her arm.
I’m sorry that you can only see yourself as a slave and me as your owner.
“For whatever I said or did up in your room. I don’t remember much, except going up there mad.”
“I gave you cause to be mad,” she said, flatly.
“I don’t care what you did, or didn’t do, it doesn’t excuse my behavior. Did I hurt you?”
She slipped out of his grasp. His arm dropped to the bed with a thud that sent waves of pain pounding through his skull.
“I’m only here to tend to your wound.” Her tone was cold.
Hells, whatever he’d done, she couldn’t even bring herself to tell him. For the life of him, he couldn’t remember more than her backing away from him.
He reached up toward his head, to the source of the throbbing, but she pulled his hand away. “Don’t scratch or you’ll pull out the stitches.”
Yeah, her voice had lost its usual warmth. What the hells had he done in his drunken stupor? Kayo closed his eyes. He simply wanted to go to sleep and forget everything.
“If I were you, I wouldn’t waste my energy talking to me either.”
Her hand stroked his cheek. Was she forgiving him? He reached up and caught her by her wrist to stop her. “You’re free to go. Do you understand that, Blue?”
“I know,” she said, confusion straining those beautiful eyes.
“I don’t know what Jace said to you, but I can imagine. He thinks I need a babysitter, to make sure I don’t drown myself in a bottle. I’m not your responsibility or your problem. You don’t have to stay here.”
“You were passed out face down in the mud, Kayo.”
“That’s my business, not his, and certainly not yours.” He didn’t want to discuss his failings. There were too many to count these days.
“Eventually, the men and you will gain your freedom status and then you can leave, put this time behind you, forget the sacrifices, the long hard hours.”
She shied away from him again. Hells, he’d hit a trigger of some sort. He needed to get her talking about something that would put her at ease.
“Have you thought about what you’ll do once you’re free?” He didn’t like the idea of her leaving here, but sooner or later they all left, well, except for Jace and him.
“The idea of being free again is still hard to accept,” she said. “One day I’m chained to a wall or a bed for the enjoyment of my owner or his friends, and the next an owner’s telling me that I’m free, that I can leave a room, go for a walk, get a drink without permission, and without the fear that. . .” She shook her head. “I haven’t given too much thought to where I’ll go when I’m truly free.”
“Where’s home?”
“Medrio, but my parents were killed when the slavers overtook our ship. We were on our way to a research facility. My mom had a two-year contract as head engineer and Dad planned on teaching at the university there. My sister and I were so excited.” She turned her head and swiped at her eyes, trying to hide the tears. Hells, her entire family had been with her.
