Free The Captive by Amanda Ashley

strong, the nails
broken and uneven. His fingertips brushed hers when he took the rope.
    He saw her eyes widen in shock at his touch, and then she
jerked her hand away. As if she had touched something incredibly vile.
    Unreasoning anger roared through him. Without thinking, he
took a menacing step toward her. The controller was in her hand in an instant,
her thumb poised over the activation panel. One touch, and every muscle and
nerve in his body would be screaming in agony.
    Ashlynne tightened her hold on the controller, her heart
pounding as he halted in mid-stride. His blue-gray eyes had darkened to the
color of cold stone.
    She drew herself up to her full height, irritated that she
still had to look up to meet his gaze. “If you know what’s good for you, Number
Four, you will put my horse away.”
    “And if I don’t?” He forced the words through clenched
teeth.
    She looked at him, obviously perplexed by his disobedience.
“Why are you doing this?”
    “Doing what?”
    “Being so difficult.”
    “It’s your horse. Why don’t you put it away?”
    “Because it’s your job.”
    “Why? Because I’m a slave?”
    She lifted her chin imperiously.”Yes.”
    “Go to hell.”
    “How dare speak to me like that! I demand that you do as I
say.”
    “Say please, and I’ll consider it.”
    Anger turned her eyes from sea green to deep emerald.”I will
not!”
    “Say it.”
    Her hand tightened on the controller. “Do as I say.”
    Falkon shook his head, his whole body tensing as he watched
her. She was soft and spoiled but not easily intimidated. He had to know how
far he could push her; needed to know if she had the guts to use that damnable
weapon. Unfortunately, there was only one way to find out. Last time, she had
let Dain unleash the controller’s power. But Dain wasn’t here now. There was
just the two of them.
    She took a deep breath. “I’m asking you for the last time.”
    “And I’m saying no, for the last time.”
    She hesitated, her expression uncertain, and Falkon took a
step forward. If he could wrest the controller from her grasp, there was a
chance, however slim, that he might be able to escape over the back wall. He
was willing to risk whatever dangers the jungle might hold if it meant a chance
at freedom.
    His hands clenched. He’d never get a better opportunity, he
thought, and made a grab for the controller.
    Wild, unreasoning panic rose within Ashlynne. Warnings went
off inside her mind. He was the enemy. A mercenary. A man who had killed women
and children without remorse.
    Fear for her own life overrode every other thought as she
jerked her hand back, and activated the control panel.
    The controller’s effect was immediate and irrevocable.
    With a strangled cry, Number Four crumpled to the floor, his
body turning and twisting, curling in on itself in an effort to escape the
excruciating pain splintering through every nerve and cell of his being.
    Transfixed, Ashlynne stared down at him. Horrified by what
she had done, by the pain she had willingly inflicted, she lifted her finger
from the control panel. But there was no stopping it once it had begun. Unable
to watch any longer, she turned and ran out of the barn.
    Gradually, his muscles relaxed. Badly shaken, his body still
trembling, Falkon rose to his hands and knees. Head hanging, he gathered his
strength, then lurched to his feet. He had underestimated her.
    It was a mistake he wouldn’t make a second time.
    * * * * *
    Early the following morning he was at work once again,
trimming the branches from a tree near the side of the house.
    He could have used a ladder; instead, he had climbed the
tree simply for the fun of it, something he hadn’t done since he’d been a boy.
    He climbed higher, and now he was on a level with the second
story. Overcome with curiosity, he leaned forward and looked in the window, and
knew immediately that it was Ashlynne’s room. The walls were painted a soft
pearlescent pink, the carpet, which looked