Page 39 of Freedom Mine
He spun her around so suddenly that her eyes went wide. Hells, he hadn’t meant to add to her panic, not knowing what had happened to her was making him insane. This was the second time she’d come down the trail upset.
“You need to tell me what happened.”
“Why?”
“So I can fix it.”
“Not everything broken can be fixed.”
Yeah, well, she had that right, but if this involved one of the men bothering her, he sure as hell could and would fix it.
“When I bought you, Alli...” He winced at his reminder that he hadboughther. “It wasn’t to bring you here so you could be subjected to more abuse. Now, please, tell me what happened.”
“Does it matter, Kayo?” she asked, her voice and face rather stoic.
“Yes, it does. To me, if no one else. I want to protect you, but I need your help.”
She nodded, then took a deep breath. “A few of the men said some things.”
“What things?”
She blinked, trying to force back tears, which made him want to pound whoever had upset her.
“Just words. They don’t mean anything unless I let them.”
“I won’t let some asshole get away with hurting you, and that includes anything he says to scare you. This is your home now. I want you to feel safe here.”
“You’d punish someone over a few crude words?”
If they were said to her, then hell yes. The way she looked at him, as if the idea horrified her, made him reconsider—not his intent to pound the asshole, just his reply.
“I’m not being unreasonable expecting these men to be civil to you.”
“I won’t get another slave in trouble.”
Another slave. Hells, when would she stop thinking of herself as a slave?
“Don’t confuse having slavery-in-common with loyalty. If someone is causing trouble, then I don’t want him here.”
She inhaled sharply. He needed to scale his reaction back or he’d be the one intimidating her.
“Only words, nothing more?”
“Yes.” The way she hesitated gave him his answer.
“You’re a terrible liar, Blue.”
“What happened to ‘Alli’?” she asked, her face showing hurt.
“Alli’s the woman who trusts me, at least I think she’s starting to. But you, you’re Blue, the woman who still thinks of herself as a slave and me as her owner.”
Her lips quivered and tears filled her eyes. Ah, hells, he’d made everything worse. When would he figure this out?
“He grabbed me by my hair and a few other places,” she said while wiping away the tears.
“Did he—”
She shook her head. “It’s not that I’ve never been. . . I mean, I’ve never been allowed to refuse, but here, I hoped it would be different, even though I knew it wouldn’t be.”
