The Accidental Slave (Aya's story Part 1) (9 page)

Kato pointed to the living room. “Get the lamp,
will you?”

Aya didn’t like being ordered around but she got
the lamp and watched as Kato made the first stitch. He was holding
his breath for every stitch, and wrinkled his forehead in
concentration when he made the knot Aya had taught him. It took
twenty-five stitches in deep silence before Kato was done.

“Maybe I should’ve become a doctor,” Kato
murmured, taking pride in his work.

“What? And save lives instead of taking them?”
Aya snorted.

Kato applied the disinfectant fluid and the
healing balm before Aya left and went back to the same chair as
before.

“Thank you, Aya,” Kato muttered from behind her,
but she didn’t answer.

A minute later she heard him make noise in the
kitchen, but she was too deep in her own troubled thoughts to care
about food. She didn’t know how long it had been when Kato came
into the living room.

“Here, eat something.” He pushed a bowl of rice
into her hands.

Aya shook her head. Just the thought of the
kitchen it came from made her lose her appetite.

“Eat,” he ordered impatiently.

Aya raised her head to look at him. He was
standing in front of her, clearly frustrated that she wouldn’t eat,
and part of her took joy in this last piece of control that was
hers.

“I’m. Not. Hungry,” she said slowly and
firmly.

“Eat the fucking rice, Aya.” Kato bent down over
her, making her pull back in her chair.

“No!” she insisted, hoping it sounded braver
than she felt.

He narrowed his eyes. “Do you want me to force
you to eat?”

Summoning all her inner strength, she rose to
her feet, making Kato pull back just enough to give her room to
stand. “I said no,” she told him with a cold stare.

Once again they were standing in close proximity
with eyes locked. The vibrations between them were loaded, and no
matter how much she hated it, there was a primal sexual desire for
him. Instinctively Aya understood that this was a power struggle
that would set a precedent between her and Kato. She refused to
back down and submit to his will.

They didn’t move an inch until Kato placed his
hands on her hips and pulled her closer while letting his glance
slide down to her mouth.

Aya reacted instinctively and shoved the bowl of
rice she was still holding into his chest while snarling: “Don’t
even think about it.”

Kato stiffened but didn’t pull away from her.
With eyes searching hers he let his warm hands wander higher on her
body. Aya tried to take a step back but the chair was behind
her.

“Don’t tell me you don’t feel it too?” he
murmured in a low seductive voice.

“Get your hands off me,” Aya growled, angry at
herself for feeling so aroused by him and determined to
never
show him.

Kato stood his ground and with a quick movement
he tucked her close again. “I’ll back off if you eat the rice,
Aya.”

“Eat the bloody rice yourself. I’m not hungry.”
She looked away but Kato leaned in again and this time he bit her
earlobe gently. “What will it be? Me or the rice?”

Neither!
her inner warrior shouted,
internally flipping a finger at Kato, but Kato’s gentle bites were
moving down her neck, starting a series of fires inside her, and
she was afraid it would ignite a major one – making her do
something she’d regret.

With Jonul she had fought physically but with
Kato it was different. She wasn’t afraid of him, and her fight was
more with herself than him. Of all the men in the world, why did
the one man with a direct link to her libido have to be a Masi
warrior?

With a scowl she took the bowl and pushed him
away. This time he withdrew with a small smile. “You chose the rice
over me, and here I was hoping you would pick me.”

“Never!” she snarled and took a spoonful of the
rice, eating in silent protest.

Five minutes later she put the bowl down empty.
“What time is it?”

“Why?” Kato asked.

“I’m losing sense of time in this place with all
the windows barricaded.”

“It’s about ten in the evening.”

“I thought it was much later. This day feels
endless.”

“Are you tired?” Kato asked her.

“Yes, and worried about Aston.”

Kato ignored the subject of Aston and took a
seat in one of the other chairs in the room. “Do you want to go to
bed?”

“Yes, but I won’t sleep in Jonul’s room,” Aya
said firmly.

“You can sleep in my room if you want,” Kato
offered.

“Where is your room?” Aya said but already knew
the answer. There was only one door she hadn’t been through in the
apartment, and that was the room adjacent to the living room and
next to Jonul’s.

“That one,” Kato said and pointed to the door
she had guessed at.

“Where will you sleep then?”

“In my bed,” Kato said with an innocent
smile.

Aya wrinkled her nose. “Then no thanks.”

“As you wish.” Kato got up and walked to the
bathroom. She could hear him shower, and ten minutes later he
walked through the living room with a towel around him revealing a
trim torso.
Stop looking!

Aya pretended to be completely unaffected by
him. “So where do you suggest I sleep then and what about a
toothbrush?” she asked, annoyed.

“You can use mine until we get you a new one,
it’s the blue one and you can sleep anywhere you want to.”

Aya knew he meant anywhere in the apartment and
resisted giving him a sassy answer that the only place she wanted
to sleep was at home or in the refugee camp. It wouldn’t help her
to provoke him.

“Can I at least have a pillow and a blanket if
I’m to sleep here on the floor?” The room offered no comfortable
furniture and the thought of sleeping on the cold and dirty floor
wasn’t appealing.

“Sorry, I only have the ones I sleep with, but
as I already told you, I’m happy to share with you.”

Aya rolled her eyes. “And as I already told you,
I’m not interested in sleeping in your bed. I’ve been in enough
Masi warriors’ beds for one day.”

Her words changed everything. Suddenly Kato
looked disturbed, and she wondered if he saw the image of her tied
up in Jonul’s bed.

“Listen, Aya, I promise you that if you sleep in
my bed tonight, I won’t touch you unless you ask me to.”

She snorted. “I’ll never ask you to. And I don’t
trust you,” she muttered.

Kato looked tired and she noticed the dark
circles under his eyes more clearly now.

“It’s your choice, do as you please; but if
Jonul wakes up, my bed will be a safer place than this floor.”

“Would you protect me?” she asked with hope in
her voice.

“I’m sure I could talk some sense into him.”

“And if you can’t?”

“Then he’ll probably kill me for thinking I
slept with his slave.”

“Don’t call me that.”

“What… slave?”

“Yes.”

Kato shrugged. “I’m going to bed. I’ll see you
tomorrow.”

Aya watched him leave the door to his room
slightly open and then she lay down on the floor. It was cold and
hard. There were no pillows or blankets to warm her or bring
comfort. She tossed and turned for half an hour and when she heard
a quiet snore from Kato’s bedroom she made a decision. She was
going to make a run for it. Her parents, friends, and family would
be worried to death – and she wouldn’t be anyone’s slave. She had
to at least try to escape and now was her chance. Quietly she got
up from the floor and internally cursed the creaking floorboards.
She tiptoed to the exit door and silently grabbed the doorknob,
only to find that the door was locked from the inside and could
only be opened with a key. Her face turned to the kitchen and she
moved as quietly as she could, searching for a weapon to defend
herself with. She found a bread knife and took it out of the
drawer.

“Are you planning to stab us in our sleep?”

Aya jumped and gave a scream in horror. Her
pulse was racing as she turned to face Kato standing in the doorway
behind her.
How did he sneak up on me like that?
She
swallowed hard.

“I just wanted something to defend myself with
in case one of you decided to rape me.”

Kato raised a brow. “And you thought two large
male warriors would be defeated by a small girl with a knife?”

Aya lifted her chin. “I’m not a small girl, I’m
a tall woman and I’m stronger than I look.”

“Oh, I don’t doubt it, but I already promised
you I won’t rape you. It’s not my thing anyway.”

“You never raped a girl?” she asked
suspiciously.

“Nope, I like my women willing.” He shifted his
balance and leaned against the doorframe, crossing his arms in
front of his naked torso. Aya found it distracting that he was
wearing only boxer shorts and looked so relaxed while she was still
feeling her heart race like she had just sprinted for her life.
“The whole force thing is a turn-off for me,” he continued, and her
instinct told her he was telling the truth. “I don’t blame you for
trying to protect yourself from Jonul, but he would unarm you in a
second because of his training and, worst case, he would use the
knife on you instead.”

“And you would let him?” Aya’s voice was
shaky.

Kato looked down. “It’s complicated. There are
laws and rules that make it impossible for me to meddle too much.
You do belong to him.”

Aya’s lips were pressed in a thin line and she
hissed, “You are wrong. The laws in this country clearly state that
it’s illegal to keep slaves. In fact I believe that’s the main
reason for this civil war.” She was so angry at him for being on
the wrong side and fighting for the Masi warriors. “I belong to no
one but myself!” she stated firmly.

“Aya, it’s late. I don’t want to discuss
politics,” Kato yawned. “Come on, let’s just get some sleep. You
can sleep on one side of the bed, I’ll sleep on the other.” He
looked sincere and held up both his hands. “No touching, I
promise.”

Aya thought about it for a while and because she
was so unbelievably tired she ended up nodding. “Okay.”

Kato looked as surprised as she felt when she
walked past him into his bedroom. This was madness… it wasn’t like
her… she would never do such a thing. Sleep with a stranger.
Never!

But it
was
her, and she
was
doing
it, relying on her instinct that he wasn’t dangerous.

The room was as simple as Jonul’s but with a
very different scent and feel to it. Kato hadn’t lied; he only had
one pillow and one blanket. He slid over towards the wall and
turned his back to Aya when she scooched in beside him, keeping as
much distance as possible in the small bed. “Have the pillow,” he
offered, but she declined. The bed wasn’t big but it was warm and
soft and in her tired, cold state Aya fell asleep almost
instantly.

In her dream Aya was being chased by a bear.
Full of fright, she ran as fast as she could through the woods. A
quick glance over her shoulder told her the bear was close. Then
with its big claws it smacked her to the ground. The bear had small
angry eyes and its face was covered with scars. A sound made the
bear look up, and the short distraction was enough for Aya to jump
back up and run again. There was nowhere to run to. Only a cliff,
but she knew staying meant being devoured by the bear. She couldn’t
do that, and without slowing down she jumped over the cliff…
screaming as she fell. And then she was in water. Dark,
suffocating, drowning water. She couldn’t see what was up or down.
She was surrounded by complete darkness and surrendered to dying.
Strong arms pulled her out of the water and she gasped to
compensate for the lack of air… “You’re safe,” a faceless voice
said before she passed out on the shore.

When Aya woke up she found herself wrapped up in
Kato’s arm like a small child. He was breathing calmly with closed
eyes. For a moment she lay still, watching him. He was so beautiful
and relaxed; with the only hand free to move she touched his hair.
It was thick, dark, and felt as soft as she had imagined it would.
Aya looked down at herself; she was still fully dressed in her
jeans and t-shirt but she wondered how she’d ended up in this
position. She was on her back but with both her legs swung over
Kato’s and he was on his side with his arms around her, holding her
in a protective grip. This was the horizontal version of sitting on
his lap. At first she thought he was naked, but by lifting her head
she found that he had boxer shorts on. His closeness made her too
warm and she tried to push him away gently, but it only resulted in
his tightening his grip further.

“Kato,” she called, but he didn’t react.

She pinched his nose and called again, “Kato,
wake up.”

He bashed her hand from his nose, opened his
eyes, and looked at her. He didn’t move away, he didn’t let go; he
just looked at her with concern. She noticed that there was a
glimpse of green in his amber brown eyes. They were almost hypnotic
to look at and
so
close.

“How do you feel?” he asked and brought her out
of her short trance.

Aya wrinkled her nose. “What do you mean – and
why are you touching me when you promised you wouldn’t?”

“You had some bad nightmares, Aya, do you
remember?”

Aya shook her head and wondered why she wasn’t
pushing him away. “I normally don’t remember my dreams, but I’ve
been told that I talk in my sleep and sometimes I sleepwalk too.
Did I scare you?” she asked.

“No, you didn’t scare me, but I couldn’t wake
you up either. It was strange, and all I could do was try to calm
you down and tell you that you would be okay.”

Aya had felt calm when she woke and even though
she would never tell him, she did feel a touch of safety in his
arms. “Okay, then I forgive you for breaking your promise.”

Kato released his grip and sat up. “Just so you
know, you were the one clinging to me.”