In Chains (9 page)

I feel Kayden nod his head and I turn around to look at him. “What prison?” I ask.

“There’s a prison part in there,” he says, hooking my hair behind my ear. “They put you in there if you kill a human, before they kill you.”

“Do they have their own trials too? Do you get a lawyer?” They’re all looking at me blankly.

“We don’t know what trials and lawyers are,” he says. “All I know is, if you kill a human they chain you up in the yard for a few weeks and then they kill you.”

Clay speaks to me for the first time. Fixing me with his cold stare he speaks loudly and aggressively, spitting the words at me. “Kayden and Kaci saw a guy burned to death. The place stank of burning flesh for weeks.” He drains his mug of hooch. “You humans can beat shit out of us whenever you want. If we dare to defend ourselves, hit you, even just threaten to hit you, they’ll cart us off to the pound.” He’s red in the face and his jaw is clenched. “And do you know what happens to us when we get there? Do you, human?”

He says ‘human’ with such scorn and hatred. He scares me. I reach for my cigarettes and try to light one but my hands are shaking too much. Kayden takes the cigarette and lights it for me. He has a puff of it before giving it back to me and he whispers in my ear. “Don’t worry baby, I won’t let him hurt you.” He turns to Clay. “Lay off her man. It’s not her fault. She’s a good person, she’s been kind to me.”

“Maybe she has,” Clay continues, “but it’s her kind who do this shit to us. If she don’t know about it she fucking well should. Do you know what they do to us human if we ever dare to hurt them?” He’s really raising his voice and I’m too afraid to speak, so I just shake my head. “If we’re lucky and we just attack a human, then we have to stay at the pound for a year’s re-training. If we kill a human they have steel poles cemented into the ground. They chain us to the pole. They chain our arms above our head and our ankles to the floor. They leave us chained standing up like that for fucking weeks. Do you have any fucking idea how much your legs would ache having to stand on them for weeks?”

He doesn’t wait for my answer. Not that I have one, I’m horrified at what I’m hearing and imagining. No wonder he hates us so much. “Do you have any fucking idea how much your arms would ache? How your hands would go numb? Have you ever fucking tried sleeping standing up? They don’t get anything to eat; they just get water squirted into their mouths a few times a day. They don’t even unchain them so they can take a piss; they have to piss where they fucking stand. And they’re chained up outside. They have fucking space inside, but no! That’s too good for ya if you kill a human. So you’re stuck outside in the fucking cold, or the snow, or you get fucking soaked in the rain and you can’t even move about to keep warm. It’s just as fucking bad in the heat, you can’t move out of the fucking sun, you gotta stand there and fry. Eventually they decide to finally kill ya for your ‘crime’ but most of them don’t survive that long, they’re already fucking dead.” He’s breathing heavily and his eyes are blazing.

I can feel tears on my cheeks. Kayden pulls me to him, resting my head on his chest. He strokes my hair while I sob, making his t-shirt all soggy. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry we’re so cruel to you. I would never do that. I understand why you hate us, I’m sorry.”

Kayden uses the hem of his t-shirt to wipe away my tears and my runny nose. He kisses me on my nose and finds my cigarettes and lights me another one. Holding his mug to my lips he tells me to drink the rest of his hooch.

“I hear ya. Maybe you’re not as bad as the rest of them. Maybe I’ll get used to ya, I may even get to like ya, so long as you don’t fuck Kade over,” Clay says. “It just pisses me off that they can beat crap outta us and we just gotta take it.” I nod. There’s nothing I can say that will make this better. I hope in time Clay will see that I’m a good person and I’ll help these guys any way that I can.

Trent refills everyone’s mugs. Clay and Kaci head off to the caravan. Resting my head against Kayden’s shoulder I drink my hooch and gaze at the flames.

Where the hell am I? Peeling open my eyes I look up at a bare light bulb. I’m in Kayden’s caravan, fully clothed, lying on top of his bed. He’s lying beside me, his arm flung over my stomach, his leg wrapped around mine, his face pressed close to my cheek, softly snoring in my ear. I turn my head slightly, not wanting to disturb him. He looks so cute and peaceful and I feel all warm and tingly lying here beside him. I still feel drunk and I’ve no idea how or when I made it back here. Remembering that he has an alarm clock on the floor I turn to look at the time, 11:25, Simon will be back soon, I have to go.

I feel Kayden’s arm tighten around my stomach, he tugs me closer to him. I shuffle over so I’m facing him. He smiles at me sleepily, his eyes heavy lidded. “Hey baby,” he says, stoking his fingers along my cheek.

“I’ve got to go; my brother will be back soon.”

He pouts and I can’t resist nibbling on his lower lip. He yelps as his muscles go stiff and his body jerks. “Shit,” he says, burying his face in his pillow.

“I guess we didn’t break it.” Caressing his bicep I’m trying to figure out why he didn’t get shocks earlier. Then it hits me. “Kayden.” I lean up on my elbow and he turns to look at me, “I think we drained it of power, it couldn’t work again till it charged back up.”

“It’s never happened before,” he says, frowning.

“But you said you’ve never been shocked that many times in a row before.” I grin at him. “I bet we can make that happen again. It probably works like a car battery. We’ll have to try shocking you a few times in a row again.”

He rolls over onto his back, puts his arms above his head and grins, his eyes sparkling. “I’m all yours gorgeous, make me yelp.”

“Goof,” I say, laughing. “I can’t do it now, I’ve got to go. My brother should be going to work tomorrow; I’ll come and find you when he’s gone.”

“Okay,” he says, pouting again. “It’s dark. I’ll carry you back so no beasties of the night get ya.” He gets shocked again as he picks me up. It’s cold, I wish he had a coat or something warm to wear. I wrap my arms and legs tightly around him, hoping to give him some of my body warmth.

“I don’t remember getting back here,” I say. “Last thing I remember I was sitting around the fire.”

“You fell asleep baby. You’re not used to the hooch, it’s strong stuff. I carried you back here. You were out cold.”

All too soon we reach the house. I check for Simon’s car, he isn’t home yet, thank God. We stand outside the door, gazing at each other. I’ll never tire of looking into his eyes. He leans down and his lips meet mine. I clasp my hands behind his neck, needing him closer. After a minute we reluctantly break apart. “Thank you for tonight Savannah,” he says, cupping my cheeks in his palms. “Thank you for treating me like a real person.”

My eyes begin to water. “You are a real person. A very precious real person.” Standing on tiptoes I give him a quick peck on the lips. “I really do have to go, but I’ll see you in the morning.”

Quickly turning on all the lights, I power up my laptop and open my word programme so it seems like I’ve been here all evening writing. Ten minutes later Simon and Christina arrive. It would appear she’s staying over again. We spend a few minutes talking about the movie and my novel, then they both go up to bed.

After gulping down a glass of water so I don’t dehydrate after all the alcohol I’ve consumed, I head to bed myself. Drifting off to sleep, my mind conjures up an image of Kayden, snuggled up next to me, naked.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Savannah

Feeling someone shaking me, my eyes snap open to see Simon standing by my bed. I guess I must have overslept this morning. “You’re not ill are you? It’s not like you to lie in,” he says.

“No I was tired, too much time staring at a computer screen yesterday I guess.”

“Okay, well I’m off to work; I’ll be back around seven.”

As soon as I hear the front door close I leap out of bed. Examining my body in the mirror I see the bruises on my arms and legs are almost gone and the ones on my stomach are a light brown with yellowed edges. Turning to view myself from all angles, I try to imagine what Kayden would think if he were to see my naked body. Would it turn him off? My skin is pale and my stomach is rounded.

Sighing I open the wardrobe in search of something to wear. I wish I had some sexy underwear. I pull out my black woollen dress. I usually live in jeans, they feel more comfortable and they hide my white legs but maybe Kayden would like to see me in a dress. It’s the only one I have so it’ll have to do. Taking the belt from my jeans I use it to cinch the dress in at the waist. Twisting my hair up I secure it with my black clamp.

It’s no good; I don’t have the legs for a dress. I’m about to change back into my jeans when I hear my name being called from outside. Opening the window, I see Kayden. He’s looking up at me and holding a little bunch of pansies, a silly grin plastered across his face. “Morning baby. I couldn’t wait for you to come and find me. I missed you this morning. You didn’t come out for your smoke.”

“Hold on. I’m coming down.”

Closing the window I run down the stairs, open the door and throw my arms around him. “I missed you too. I overslept.” Taking his hand I pull him inside. He gives me the pansies; they’re beautiful, deep purple and burnt orange. He’s tied them together with string. Thanking him, I find a pretty mug to display them in.

I notice he’s gazing down at my legs. Damn, I knew I should have changed into my jeans. I hope they don’t put him off me. Just then he yelps and his muscles spasm. A smile creeps onto my face; at least I know my legs don’t turn him off.

“Do you have a lot of work to do today?” I ask, getting out the frying pan. “I’m wondering how long we have together. Simon will be back at seven.”

“I didn’t sleep last night,” he says, walking over to me and taking the clamp out of my hair. “I like your hair loose.” He places the clamp on the table. “I stayed awake and worked through the night so I could spend today with you. I just have to clean in here and do the laundry.”

“I’ll help you. That way it’ll get done faster and we’ll have more time together.”

“Thank you,” he says, running his fingers through my hair.

“Aren’t you tired, if you didn’t sleep?”

“Yeah,” he says, kissing me on the nose. “Maybe we can sleep together later. I sleep better when I’m with you.”

“How did you manage to work in the dark?”

“I found a torch in the shed and I lit some fires. I had light and heat,” he says, smiling at me.

I make us scrambled eggs, bacon and pancakes while Kayden makes a start on cleaning the house. I call him as I put the plates on the table and he’s here in seconds. Just like before he shovels the food down his throat. Simon definitely doesn’t give him enough to eat. I intend cooking him breakfast whenever I can.

As I’m putting the dirty plates by the sink, Kayden comes up behind me. Wrapping his arms around my waist, he moves my hair to one side and kisses me on the neck. “Let’s make some sparks baby?” he says, then grits his teeth as a shock runs through his body.

Leaning back against the kitchen cabinets, he slides down so he’s at my eye level and presses his lips against mine. His muscles tense and his body jolts as he moans into my mouth. His hand moves to the back of my head and his tongue parts my lips as he receives his third shock. His body feels so firm against mine, my hands slide up and down his taut back and he jolts again. Crushing me against him he grinds his hips against mine and devours me with his tongue. I want him closer, I want all of him. Slipping my hands beneath his t-shirt, my palms caress his warm skin, my fingertips tracing the slight ridges from the welts on his back. His hand is fisted in my hair and I slide my hands around to his flat stomach, running them over his abs and up to his chest where I can feel his heart beating. He breathes deeply, his lips hum against mine. My body tingles and I can feel the spot between my legs becoming damp. Breaking from the kiss I rest my head against his chest, my fingertip making little circles around his nipple. “Kayden.”

“Yeah.”

“Have you ever had sex before?”

“Yeah.”

I freeze. I was feeling confident because I thought this would be his first time. I thought I didn’t have to worry about competing with anyone else and coming up short. What if I disappoint him? He places his finger under my chin and tilts my face up towards his. “Is there something wrong baby?” he asks.

I lower my eyes, I can’t look at him. “I don’t want to disappoint you,” I mutter.

He cups my cheeks in his hands and rubs his nose against mine. “You could never disappoint me. You rock my world just by holding me. Please baby, I want you so bad,” he says, gazing into my eyes.

Gripping the hem of his t-shirt I pull it up his body, he grabs it and whips it off, tossing it to the floor. His eyes darken. Putting my lips to his nipple I suck and nibble it gently then run my tongue across his chest and do the same to his other nipple as his fingers massage my hair. Sliding my hands down to his waistband I undo his jeans and pull them, along with his underwear, down to his knees. Slipping his legs out of them he kicks them across the floor. Kneeling down I place my hands on his thighs, his muscles are solid, including the one right in front of my face. Feeling a twinge between my legs I take his erection in my hand, he breathes deeply, his body tensing. Slowly I stroke his cock, swirling my tongue around the head. His body twitches and he hisses. His eyes are like black orbs and he’s gripping the work surface so tightly his knuckles have gone white. His gaze is locked with mine. “Fuck!” he stammers.