Free The Accidental Slave (Aya's story Part 1) by Elin Peer Page B

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