Nathan’s hands encircle my wrists. I turn my head to look at him. “Savvy, you have to do what’s best for you. Don’t let him guilt you into staying with him.”
Kayden springs up from the floor. “I’m not trying to guilt her into anything; I’m telling her how I feel.”
Nathan cups my cheeks in his hands. “Savvy, remember, you told me you don’t want his drama. You like that I get along with your brother, we’re good together and I would never disappear for months without a word. I love you every bit as much as he does.”
“No, you don’t,” Kayden says. He strokes his fingers through my hair. “Baby, I swear I’m not trying to guilt ya. He probably is better for ya, but you can’t blame me for trying.” His eyes are sad; he twirls my hair around his finger. Nathan wraps his arms around me and Kayden stares at him, then at me. He swallows. “If you want him, I understand. I’ll always love you, but I won’t bother you, I’ll leave.”
“Why don’t you leave now,” Nathan says.
My head is spinning, my throat is dry and tears are pricking at my eyes. Why did this have to happen? “I don’t want to hurt anyone,” I say. My breath shudders and tears roll down my cheeks, I can’t hold them back anymore. I pull away from Nathan’s arms.
Kayden touches his fingers to my damp cheek. “Baby, I’m sorry.” He breathes deeply. “Stay with him, he’s better for you.” His lips turn up in a small smile. “I’m gonna go now.”
Nathan grabs my hand. “It’s for the best, Savvy.”
As the door closes behind Kayden, I know who I want; I think I’ve known all along. I tug open the door and run after him. “Wait. Stop. You can’t go,” I call out to him. He stops and turns to face me. I run at him and throw my arms around his waist, I sob into his chest.
“Savannah, I-”
“You can’t go, you can’t leave, because you’re mine,” I tell him between sobs.
He dips his head and rubs his nose against mine. “Baby, don’t cry, it’ll be okay. He’ll make you happy.”
I shake my head. “No, you don’t understand, you really are mine. Simon did it somehow. The manager at the Pound let him buy you for me. I really do own you.”
He stares at me, open mouthed and then his lips break into a wide grin. He lifts me up and spins me around, then he puts me back on my feet and crushes me to him. “Baby, I dunno whether to laugh, or cry,” he says. He cups my cheeks in his hands and his eyes sparkle down at me. “Savannah, you’ve always owned me.”
CHAPTER THIRTY TWO
Epilogue, Savannah
My hand reaches out to the empty space beside me. I open my eyes and peer at the clock; 7:00AM is far too early to be up on a Sunday morning. The sunlight is streaming through the curtains. I get up, stretch and wander over to the window. I pull back the curtains and see Kayden, heading towards our field, holding a spade in his hand. Clutching his other hand and skipping along beside him, holding her pink watering can, is our daughter, Amber. It was her third birthday last week and that watering can is her favouritest present, so she tells me. She has her daddy’s green fingers and she loves to help him, she loves spending time with him, she’s a daddy’s girl through and through.
While I was pregnant Kayden spoilt me rotten, I barely lifted a finger for nine months. I had a home birth, Christina’s friend was my midwife and she agreed to record the birth as human, even if our child did have Neanderthal DNA. Amber came out with a mop of black hair; I’d never seen a baby with so much hair. I look at it now, tumbling down her back in ringlets. When Kayden held her, she gripped his little finger with her tiny hand and my rough, tough man just melted. I knew then that our daughter would twist him around her little finger, and she hasn’t disappointed in that regard.
The weather forecast says it’s going to be hot today. I walk through to the kitchen, it’s small compared to Simon’s, but it’s ours. Well, it will be ours when we’ve paid off the mortgage. We have a small plot of land and Kayden grows all kinds of fruit and vegetables. I managed to get most of the small grocery stores and cafes in the area to stock and use our produce, the income is enough to live on for now. I published my book. I can’t say sales were fantastic, but I sold a fair amount. I’m halfway through writing my second book.
I fill a flask with hot coffee and another smaller flask with juice for Amber. Today is a perfect day for a breakfast picnic. I open the cool bag and fill it with eggs I boiled the night before, bacon muffins and strawberries. I head back to the bedroom to get dressed. On the way out of the door I put on my straw hat and pick up the picnic blanket. I want to enjoy some time alone with my family this morning because Simon and Christina are coming over for lunch.
I lay the blanket down at the edge of the field. Amber is busy watering the strawberries and singing a nursery rhyme to herself. I’ve brought her favourite book with me, The Hairy Caterpillar. Actually it’s Kayden’s favourite book too. I’ve been teaching them both to read. Amber loves to correct her daddy when he gets it wrong, so of course he makes mistakes regularly, just to please her.
Kayden notices me and comes over. He’s more muscular now that he’s well fed. He’s stripped to the waist and I feel a dampness between my legs when I look at his tanned skin and muscles. I place my hand on his heart, over his tattoo of a heart wrapped in chains with ‘Owned by Savannah’ written above it. I kiss his tattoo and then his lips. He runs his fingers through my hair. “Good morning beautiful,” he says, as we rub noses.
Amber comes skipping over. “Ooh picwic,” she says, throwing herself on the blanket and reaching for an egg. I gaze into Kayden’s eyes and run my fingers down his forearm, over the tattoo of Amber’s face. Kayden reaches down and snatches an egg, before Amber eats them all.
Things aren’t perfect. Kayden and I can never marry, not unless they abolish slavery and I don’t see that happening anytime soon. He’ll never be able to attend parent evenings when Amber goes to school, and when she starts bringing friends home, we’ll never be able to introduce Kayden as her father. I had to hire a lawyer to draw up a legal document, passing ownership of Kayden to Amber should anything happen to me. To society he’s just property and I’d rather he were owned by his daughter than sent to the Pound. Amber knows her daddy is a slave and that she must never tell anyone. As she gets older I’ll tell her about the cruelty of slavery and about the Pound, but for now we’ll play at being a normal family.
Michelle Abbott grew up in London in the United Kingdom. She now lives in the Kent countryside with her two adult sons.
She loves reading all genres of romance and enjoys writing romance with heroes who begin as the underdog and are protective of their girl.
She spends a lot of time at her computer, typing on a keyboard that has no letters on the keys because they've all worn off.
She likes to travel and see new places and occasionally she knits.
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Other books by this author:
In Chains (In Chains #1)
Locked Together (In Chains) Page 18