Page 40 of Freedom Mine
Rage coursed through Kayo, but he had to keep himself calm. That she should feel that way here, infuriated him. He’d promised her freedom and safety, and he’d failed to deliver on both. Changes would be made, starting with the bastard who had dared touch her.
“As soon as I find out who, he’s out of here.”
“You can’t do that! Not because of me!”
She had to understand there were some things he wouldn’t tolerate. “Don’t think that because they’re working the mine to pay for their freedom that I won’t pound someone into the ground for touching you.”
“But sending him out, where he’ll be captured and enslaved all over again?”
Could he really do that, essentially condemn someone to slavery? Alli’s entire body shook. Gods, he wanted to pull her in against him and hold her tight, to let her know everything would be okay. She hugged herself and maintained a distance from him. Hells, if he threw the asshole out now, whoever it was, she’d blame herself.
“I’ll think about it, but no promises.” It was the best he could do, and only because it would help her, not the asshole who’d touched her.
In a minute, when they rounded the bend, they’d see the lake. He’d taken the longer route, to have more time with her, to help her relax, but she looked spent. He should get her back to the house, give her something to eat, and send her off to bed.
He slid his arm around her waist as he had earlier this morning. Unlike this morning, she leaned in against him. The feel of her warmth seeping through his clothing, the weight of her body against him. . . heavenly.
He needed her, not someone like her, but her, Alli, the woman who never gave up, who never let the past swallow her. She had a resilience and strength he never had, and she leaned on him as if he mattered. Imagine that.
“You’re the only one who calls me ‘Alli’,” she said, her voice soft and almost a whisper.
He kissed the top of her head. “Good.” His Alli, no one else’s. “Why don’t you shower, while I prepare dinner?” he suggested as they entered the house.
With a simple nod, she headed toward the shower. He still hadn’t calmed down from what she’d told him, but he wouldn’t bring it up again, at least not tonight. Of all things to happen to her here. . . Hells!
Jace would tell him what had happened. Not much happened at the mine that Jace didn’t know about. Kayo had been a fool to think the shack was close enough to the mine entrance that no one would dare bother her.
Gods, he needed a drink. Kayo downed a glass of water quickly before he could follow through on temptation and search for a bottle. The water didn’t satisfy that itch and it certainly didn’t calm him.
The thought of his Alli alone and vulnerable because he couldn’t get his shit together crushed the urge to drink. He’d screwed around long enough. He had to find a solution and soon before he lost everything, especially Alli.
“Feels so good to be clean again,” she said as she entered the kitchen, her wet hair hanging loose about her shoulders. As always, she was a sight to behold.
“How did you get so muddy today?” he asked, trying to keep the anger from his voice. He’d sworn he wouldn’t push her for answers, but he kept imagining one of the men throwing her down to the ground.
“The riverbed was slippery. I was lucky my head landed in the mud and not on a rock.”
Between the men and the land, his property held too many dangers for a woman. He wouldn’t restrict her freedom to protect her, but he could keep her closer to him, away from the men and dangers on the mountain.
“Well, you won’t need to worry about that anymore. I’m switching your workload.”
“To what?”
“I haven’t figured that out yet.”
She fell silent.
“You’re doing it again,” he said.
She tilted her head.
“Shutting down,” he explained.
“I have nothing to say.”
He wasn’t convinced that was the reason she’d fallen so quiet, but he let it pass. “Maybe you can become the cook down at the longhouse. That would free up some of the men so they could focus on the mine.”
She could do the cooking during a shift change when the longhouse was completely empty, and be gone before the men returned. No contact. Or she could prepare meals up here and he could carry them down so there’d be no chance of her running into the men. Even better.
