Locked Together (In Chains) (23 page)

Nathan hands me another club. “This one is a putter, just aim for the hole,” he says.

“I should be okay at this part, this is more like pitch and putt,” I tell him. Simon gets his ball in the hole with his first…what do they even call it, shot? Strike? Swing? I haven’t a clue, I know he hit his ball once and it went in the hole. Sam and Suze both get their balls down first time. I smile across at Nathan as he hits the ball; it stops just before the hole. He hits it again and it goes in. Now it’s my turn and my ball rolls past the hole, I missed it by less than an inch. I try again and the same thing happens, but on my third attempt I get the ball down. We move on to the next hole. “I’ll get better at this as I go along,” I say to Nathan.

We’ve been playing for almost three hours and I’m never playing golf again. I’ve been stuck in a sand trap and in the rough, I never get anywhere near the green with my first swing and my arms are aching. Thank God we’re on the last hole. Everyone else gets their ball down first time. I focus on the hole and how much I want this game to be over already, I hit the ball and will it towards the hole, I actually punch the air when it goes down. “Well done, Savannah,” Simon slaps me on the back. “Let’s go have a drink and something to eat.”

Playing golf has given me an appetite and I wolf down chicken and fries. “Congratulations on your first round of golf, it’ll get easier the more you play,” Sam says.

I smile at him. “I’m sure it will.” I’ve no intention of ever picking up a golf club again.

I watch Nathan as he stands at the bar with Simon. The two of them get along well. Nathan stands out in a crowd; he has a surfer look about him, though as far as I know he’s never been surfing. I notice a couple of women are looking in his direction. “It’s hard to believe my little brother has finally fallen for someone,” Sam says. “He’s had plenty of girls but I’ve never known him to be serious about any of them.”

“We’ve only known each other a month,” I say.

“I knew within a week that I loved Sam,” Suze says. She smiles at him and her eyes sparkle.

Nathan and Simon come back from the bar. Nathan slips his arm around me and whispers in my ear, “So, what do you think of my brother and Suze?”

I kiss his cheek. “I like them.”

“You’re the first girl to ever meet my family,” he says.

I take a big gulp of my wine. I don’t know what to do, I have to make a choice between Kayden and Nathan and I don’t want to hurt either of them. I love Kayden but things are always complicated with him, his life was better before he met me. I can see Simon prefers Nathan and I like his family. I could be happy with either of them but my life would be easier with Nathan. I take another gulp of wine. Simon is laughing and joking with Sam and Suze, they all get along so well.

I jolt as I feel Nathan’s lips on my ear. “You’re miles away, Savvy. Are you okay?”

I rest my head on his shoulder. “I’m just chilling out.”

Nathan breathes deeply. “Are you thinking about the slave? Should I be concerned?”

I swallow. “There’s always a lot of drama when I’m with him and my brother likes you.”

He cups my cheek and turns my head to face him. His blue eyes study mine. “Do you like me?” He asks.

“Yes, I do.”

He kisses me on the nose. “So are you going to finish it with him?”

“Hey you two lovebirds,” Simon calls out, “drink up; we’re all going back to the house.”

I drain my glass. “I think so,” I tell Nathan.

CHAPTER THIRTY ONE

Savannah

I walk into the kitchen, and freeze. Kayden is wiping down the kitchen table. Our eyes lock, then he glances over my shoulder. I turn my head to see Nathan and the others standing behind me. Nathan places his arm around my shoulders and kisses me on the cheek. Kayden stares at him. Simon is the first to speak. “I think we could all use a drink,” he says as he opens a bottle of brandy.

Sam looks from Kayden, to Nathan, to me. “Is there a problem?” He asks Nathan.

“Why don’t we sit in the lounge and have some brandy, leave them alone to talk,” Simon says as he taps Sam on the back.

Sam frowns. “What’s going on?”

Nathan points to Kayden. “He’s her ex.”

Sam raises his eyebrows. “That’s a surprise. Is he giving you problems, Savvy?”

“No.” I shake my head. I can’t tear my eyes away from Kayden’s.

“He doesn’t know he’s an ex yet, Savvy is about to tell him,” Nathan says as he squeezes me tightly to him.

I hold my breath as Kayden’s eyes go wide, I see him swallow. “In that case, I’ll leave you to it,” Sam says. He and Suze follow Simon into the lounge.

Kayden licks his lips. “Where you been? Did you have fun?” He asks, his voice sounds croaky.

I draw in a rattly breath. “I’ve been playing golf.”

Kayden frowns. “I didn’t know you played golf?”

“I don’t, I’m crap at it,” I tell him. Kayden’s eyes shine and the corners of his mouth turn up. “Thank you for the cheques, Kayden.”

He reaches for my hand and strokes his thumb across my fingers. “I wanna give you so much, but I ain’t got nothing, except my love, and my heart.” He tugs my hand to pull me closer, Nathan tightens his grip on me but Kayden doesn’t let go of my hand. I feel like I’m being torn in two.

“Do you want to tell him, Savvy, or shall I tell him for you?” Nathan asks.

Kayden glares at him. “She can speak for herself, Natty.” His fingers entwine with mine.

“My name is Nathan.”

Kayden shrugs. “Yeah, whatever.” His gaze returns to me. “I’m sorry I keep fucking up, Savannah.” He moves closer and clasps both my hands in his. I swallow as he drops to his knees and gazes up at me with his soft brown eyes. “I can’t promise I won’t fuck up again and I can’t give you the kinda life that he can, but I love you more than any man will ever love you. I’ll give you everything I’ve got, I’ll never cheat and I’ll do anything to make you happy. You’re my life, my world; you’re the only thing that matters to me.”

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.

Michelle loves to hear from her fans and can be found at:

Her website: http://www.michelleabbott.com

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/michelleabbott

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/MichelleAbbott4