by Zara Starr
“I don’t understand,” she finally said.
“You could have asked for your freedom,” Gage said again. “That was what previous slaves I’ve won had done. They asked me for their freedom, and I gave it to them.”
Amelia still didn’t understand. Gage was a nice guy. How was that possible if he owned her? It didn’t make sense. He was making it sound so matter-of-fact. He was making it sound like she had taken the difficult route when the answer was really very easy.
How was she supposed to know that? She had been a slave since the moment she had been abducted by the Saithin. She hadn’t had free will, she hadn’t been allowed to do what she wanted, for the longest time.
Now Gage was making it sound like it was easy, that she should have just told him what she wanted. Like communication was the answer to everything.
“You set them free?” she asked.
“I did,” Gage answered. “I was never with either of them for more than a day. This is not how it works with me. I’m starting to think that you believe I will keep you captive for the rest of your life.”
“What else am I to imagine?” Amelia retorted. “I have been a prisoner for a long time and you locked me up in my room. Where else was I supposed to go with this?”
Gage frowned. “I didn’t lock you up in your room. Yes, I closed the door for privacy, but it wasn’t locked. You could have left at any point.”
Amelia stared at him, her eyes wide. Could it be? Was it true?
She hadn’t tried the door. She had just… assumed.
Suddenly, she felt dizzy – which was not at all good considering her current precarious position. She felt dizzy and confused. Had she completely misread him?
Gage continued. “I can see where you’re coming from. I guess if I had been a slave, I would have thought the same. I should have explained it all to you better. But it’s not always easy to know what I don’t know. I blame that on the whole not-being-able-to-predict-you thing.”
Right. Amelia thought it was natural not to be able to predict someone else. But to Gage, it was clearly very strange not to know what she was feeling and thinking. He was used to reading people so well that he didn’t have to explain things like that. With her, it seemed he was at a loss.
In a way, she was grateful for that though.
Nothing belonged to her anymore, she had no say over her own life. How much worse would it have been if she hadn’t been able to hide her emotions, on top of it all?
Well, she probably wouldn’t have ended up hovering over a cliffside so dangerously.
“You said I could just ask for my freedom?” Amelia asked.
“That’s right,” Gage said. “If that’s what you want. I can take you to the Saithin capital City Hall right now and have the paperwork filed so that you can be a legal citizen. I could give you money to start a life here, or see if I can use my connections to get you back to Earth.”
Amelia’s head spun. One moment, she was a prisoner, hanging on the side of the cliff, terrified that she would fall to her death all to win back her freedom. The next, he was offering her paperwork so that she could live and work in a Saithin city or even go home. None of it made sense.
“I don’t understand,” she finally said. Again. She was sure that she sounded like an idiot. But it was difficult to wrap her mind around everything that Gage was saying because none of it was on par with anything she had experienced since she had been brought to Saitha.
“It’s very simple, Amelia. Slavery is normal here. But I don’t believe that anyone should do something that they really don’t want to. I may have grown up with slavery being normal, and I am not going to go out of my way to change it, but you do deserve to make your own choices, to have a life that makes you happy.”
The more Gage talked, the more the confusing emotions inside her stormed.
Slowly, they started to settle as understanding dawned on her.
Just as she had thought, Gage wasn’t a bad guy.
Every time she thought he was some sort of monster, an alien who was set on taking away her freedom, making her live a life that she hated, he did things that proved he was exactly the opposite. He wasn’t a monster, someone who was going to oppress her for the rest of her life. He was a nice guy, attentive and caring, willing to give her what she wanted.
Even if what she wanted was to be set free.
Her emotions choked up inside her. She realized that she liked Gage. She really liked him. And for the first time, she let herself admit it too. Although it had all started as a pretense, her emotions had swelled for him, and she had come to truly care about him.
Maybe even love him.
But she needed to know something for sure first.
“So, if I tell you right now that I wanted my freedom, you’ll give it to me?” she asked.
Her neck was starting to hurt from looking over her shoulder at him all the time. It was a miracle that she was still clinging onto the side of the cliff.
“If that’s what you want,” Gage said.
Amelia opened her mouth to talk, but she lost her grip. Her fingers couldn’t hold on anymore. Her hand slipped off the rock, and suddenly, she was dangling in midair. In a split-second, it was only her left hand that was still holding on. She had lost her footing too.
She cried out, swinging in the wind, sure that this was it. This was the end. And she had come so close…
“Amelia!” Gage cried out as he moved the transport pod closer to the cliffside.
“You’re going to have to jump!” he shouted.
Amelia shook her head. Tears were streaming down her cheeks now, fear having grabbed a hold of her. She had been biting back until now, but she couldn’t anymore. This was it, she was going to die, she was sure of it.
“You have to try,” Gage urged. “You are capable of anything you set your mind to.”
He was right, she realized. Look at how far she had come. She tried to look at the transport pod again, but couldn’t see it properly. She couldn’t twist herself to look around. But she had an idea of where it was. Gage had inched as close as possible to her.
She would still have to kick off the side of the cliff to reach the opening, but at least it would be something. Hadn’t she already tried that? Hadn’t she made it to the overhang even though she had thought it would be impossible?
Amelia knew that she didn’t have much time – only holding on with one hand was tiring her out a lot quicker, and she was going to fall at any moment. It was now or never.
She pulled up her knees, pushed her feet against the rock, kicked off, and let go with her hand.
She didn’t know how far she had to push, or how far the pod would be. She just kicked as hard as she could.
For a moment, a terrifying moment, she was suspended in mid-air. The wind caressed her skin and she felt like she was flying.
But then she started falling. And falling, and falling.
Suddenly, something grabbed her hand, and she swung, nearly hitting the bottom of the transport pod.
Gage was holding onto her wrist, fingers tightly wrapped around her, swinging her along the bottom of the pod.
“I’ve got you,” he said.
With enormous strength, he pulled her up and into the pod, almost draping her across him. She scrambled up, collapsing into the seat next to him. She was breathing hard and her body felt numb. She was trembling.
“Thank you,” she breathed.
Gage nodded. “I’m not going to let you fall to your death,” he said.
Amelia took a moment to pull herself back together. How many near-death experiences had it been in the last couple of hours? Too many, that was the only answer she could think of.
She felt Gage’s eyes on her, and when she looked at him, his face was expectant.
“What?” she asked.
“What do you want?” Gage asked.
He wasn’t even going to give her a chance to recover. But fine, he deserved to know the truth.
“I do want my freedom.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Gage
Gage didn’t know what he had expected when he had given Amelia the opportunity to choose for herself. He knew what he had hoped for – that she wouldn’t want to seize the opportunity and win her freedom back. That she would want to stay with him.
But he didn’t know what she was going to say.
And the moment she said that she wanted her freedom, his heart fell. A heavy weight settled on his chest. He was surprised at his disappointment, at how hard it hit him when he realized that she really did want to be free, that she wanted to get away from him, the life he was willing to give her.
He should have guessed that, shouldn’t he? He should have known that it was what she had wanted all along.
After all, just before he had been allowed to choose his final prize, he had been determined not to choose her at all because he had known that she was trying to use him. He had guessed that she was putting on an act when she had made it seem like she wanted to go with him.
Gage had managed to convince himself that she didn’t feel the same way anymore though. After the night they had spent together, and everything that had happened after that, he had been sure that she had changed her mind.
Now, it seemed that she was still using him to escape, that it was all she had in mind this whole time. Maybe their connection the last few nights had just been a part of her plan. Maybe she had only upped her game, refining her act so that Gage couldn’t figure out what it was that she was playing out.
Again, he wished that he had been able to predict her actions.
But it didn’t matter now. Because it was what Amelia wanted. Freedom. And if what she really wanted was to leave him, then he would still want her to have it. He cared enough for her to want to set free if it was her heart’s desire.
Sure, he would be disappointed. Perhaps even heartbroken once she left him and it was real. He wasn’t quite sure how he had gone from feeling attached to her to certain feelings of love. But it didn’t matter. He knew he would miss her. He knew he would grieve the loss.
But she wanted to leave, and he was going to help her. He could not keep that from her.
He watched her as she leaned against the backrest, collapsed in the seat after she had spent all her energy trying to climb down the cliffs to get away from him. He was glad that he had managed to catch her. When she had jumped for the pod, he had wished more than anything that he could predict where she would go, that he could save her.
He hadn’t had anything to go by, he had only been able to rely on his strength and his sense of timing.
It had been a miracle that he had been able to grab her at all. She had very nearly slipped his fingers.
But she was safe in the pod now.
Gage turned the pod around and started heading up toward the mansion.
“Shall we go now?” he asked when he lifted the pod above the mansion. “The City Hall will still be open. We can take care of it and you will be a free woman before the end of the day.”
Gage glanced at Amelia. Everything about her surprised him, even though the surprises weren’t always good. His heart ached as he thought about losing her.
But as he looked at her, she shook her head.
No? He blinked. It surprised him yet again. Even more than before.
“You don’t want to go today?” he confirmed, his eyes narrowed, knowing that his face looked about as confused as he felt.
Amelia smiled and shook her head again. “There is no rush.”
Gage didn’t understand. He kept shaking his head, trying to figure out what was going on.
Amelia ran her eyes down his body. “You’re wearing battle clothes,” she said.
Gage nodded. “I wasn’t sure what to expect.”
“You were expecting to fight me?”
“Not physically,” Gage said. “And I did think there might have been an intruder at first. I didn’t think you would run from me. But when I realized that, I was expecting some sort of turmoil, yes. To be honest, I expected it until a moment ago, when you told me there was no rush. I am completely confused now.”
Amelia leaned over, and to Gage’s surprise, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. His eyes widened in shock, though he welcomed the kiss.
Dammit, this unpredictability was driving him crazy.
Gage almost lost control of the transport pod, nearly crashing into the roof of the mansion. Apparently, he couldn’t fly manually very well when a woman was draping herself all over him – a woman that he cared very much about.
“I want my freedom,” she finally said when she broke the kiss. “But I also want to stay with you.”
“I don’t understand,” Gage said, using the same words Amelia had said over and over. “A moment ago, you were trying to get away from me.”
Amelia sat back and nodded, looking a little guilty. “I misunderstood who you were,” she admitted. “I misunderstood what your intentions were. I’m starting to realize that you are a very different man than everyone else seems to think you are. I’ve seen glimpses of this man, and I have fallen for you. But I was scared that it wasn’t real, that this part of you was just an act. I’m starting to realize now, that this is who you really are. And that the rest of it is the act.”
Gage didn’t know what to say. The human species didn’t have any extra powers, strengths, gifts, or the rest of it. They were pathetic in the eyes of many alien races. But this woman, who had nothing else to her advantage other than her powerful mind, understood him more than anyone had before.
“It’s not always favorable to be yourself,” Gage said. “The people expect something specific, especially when I’m a gladiator.”
“I understand,” Amelia said.
Gage couldn’t believe that she was like this, that she was seeing a side of him that he had tried so hard to hide for so long.
“I really do want to stay with you though,” Amelia said. “For now at least. I mean, if you still want me around after…”
While Amelia had been talking, Gage had maneuvered the transport pod back to the hangar. Slowly, he lowered the pod back to its position and switched off the engine.
“Don’t,” he said, turning to her now that the pod was on the ground and he was able to give her all his attention. He pulled her closer to him and kissed her the way she had kissed him. Passionately.
There was nothing else to say. Nothing else but to be together, which was exactly what Gage had hoped for.
For a while, they made out in the transport pod, hands sliding over each other, tongues exploring, tasting. Amelia tasted not only like how she did the last time, how he remembered her, but she tasted like unexplored opportunities, a future that had suddenly become a lot more colorful, and a life that Gage hadn’t even dared dream about until now.
His cock was impossibly hard and he yearned to bury it inside her. He wanted her. All of her. Her body, her mind, her heart.
When Gage couldn’t handle it anymore, he pulled Amelia against him, picked her up, and carried her out of the transport pod. Her lips were still fused to his while he carried her across the lawn, into the mansion, and to the main bedroom.
“This isn’t my room,” Amelia smiled, muttering through kisses.
“What are you talking about?” Gage said. “Of course, it is.”
She giggled and he kissed her again.
The spare room, the one he had let his former slaves stay in, wasn’t the right room to have given her. He reprimanded himself silently for doing that. If he had taken her to his room, as he had wanted to, she wouldn’t have thought that she needed to escape. She would have understood how he felt about her. But he hadn’t wanted to push her into anything she might not have wanted.
He understood now that he should have done it differently. Luckily, it had all turned out okay. He wanted her there with him, in his room, by his side, for as long as he could have her.
Desire for Amelia consumed h
im. He laid her down on the bed and started stripping her of her clothes. The clothing he had fetched from her room in the prize quarters. He hated the outfit.
Not because there was anything wrong with it, but because it was the clothing that had been given to her by others who had wanted her to be a certain person so that she would be acceptable as a prize.
While he got her naked, admiring her skin – as pale as his – he knew that he would take her shopping soon, and allow her to buy anything and everything she wanted, so that she could be herself with him.
When she was naked, Gage kissed her again. Her hands reached for his clothing, and she started undoing the buckles and straps that kept his clothing on his body, which had him tied up and ready for fighting.
As she stripped him of his clothing too, he found it was prolific of what was happening in his life. The person he had been until he’d met her was someone that was falling away, someone she had stripped him of, and he was okay with that.
She pulled the shirt over his head and ran her hands over his bare skin, feeling his muscles with her fingertips. Her eyes were drowning deep when she looked at him, and he shivered. He wasn’t able to predict her or know what her next move would be, but when she looked at him that way, he knew that he didn’t need any gifts of prediction to know what she was feeling.
She took off his pants too. He was rock hard and ready for her.
This time, there was no time constraint. They weren’t breaking any rules, and no one would come in and say that they weren’t supposed to touch each other. This time, he would take her slowly and sensually, the way he had wanted to the first time.
This time, he was going to do it right.
He ran his hands over her body the same way she had done with his, exploring her soft curves. Her breasts were fantastic, soft under his fingers, the skin smooth. Her nipples were hard and he tweaked them gently, loving the melodious sounds of her moans as he did.
He kissed a line down her neck, and his mouth found the soft flesh of her breasts before he sucked a nipple into his mouth. She gasped, and he ground himself against her with a hungry growl. He loved how responsive she was to him. She was petite against him, but he loved how he could cover her whole body with his.