Read In Chains for Free Online Page A

I can feel his eyes boring into the side of my face. Reaching over I wrap my hand around his and move the pencil to the paper, intending to move his hand to form the letters. He lets out a yelp as his body jolts, sending the pencil flying across his bed.
    “Shit,” he mutters.
    “Shall we try that again?” I ask as I pick up his pencil. “You put your hand around mine this time.” His long fingers curl around mine; his hand feels warm and no longer looks sore, though it feels rough and calloused. I like the feel of his skin against mine. Together we form the letter ‘k’. He’s concentrating hard and his tongue is poking out, he’s adorable.
    “What is this pound place you were talking about?” I ask.
    “I was born there and they taught me things till I was eighteen and got sold.” Our hands form the letter ‘a’.
    “What kind of things did they teach you? Did they teach you how to draw?”
    “Nah,” he shakes his head. “I learned that myself. I had obedience classes and cleaning, laundry, farm work and stuff like that.”
    “What about your mum and dad? Did they live there too?”
    “I had a mum. She lived there. They let me live with her till I was three, until I started classes.” Our hands form the last letter of his name.
    “Who did you live with after that? Did you still see your mum?”
    He takes his hand off mine. “I don’t wanna talk about it.”
    He scoots off the bed and crawls underneath it. I look down at his legs poking out from under the bed. What on earth is he doing? “I got something for you,” he says as he crawls back out.
    He’s holding something to his chest and he kisses it on the head before carefully placing it in my hands. It’s a small teddy bear, about five inches tall, a black and white panda with a circle of black fur over one eye. It’s bald in places and what fur it has is matted and grubby. One of its legs is shorter than the other. Its head is permanently bent to the left and its right ear is loose and hanging on by a thread. “His name’s Panda,” he says, rubbing his finger along the bear’s nose. “My mum gave him to me. She said he’d keep me safe,” he laughs to himself. “He didn’t but he was good to cuddle afterwards.” He brushes his hand across the fur. “He’s a bit dirty coz I have to hide him. I’m not allowed to have things. If your brother finds him he’ll take him off me.”
    “Why would he do that?” I ask.
    Kayden frowns at me. “I’m not lying.” He seems hurt. Damn it, I didn’t mean to offend him.
    “I don’t think you’re lying, Kayden. I just can’t understand why my brother would care if you had a bear or not.” I hold it back out to him. “He’s cute, thanks for showing him to me.”
    He shakes his head. “You can have him. You said you like bears and you had to leave yours.”
    My mouth drops open as I gaze at his little bedraggled bear. I blink back tears. “Kayden, are you sure? I can’t take him from you.”
    He leans forward, his soft, warm eyes fixed on mine. “I want you to have him and anyway,” he shakes his head and laughs, “you can give him a better life than I can.” He’s grinning and his eyes are sparkling at me.
    “I’ll spoil him. He’ll have the best that money can buy,” I say, hugging his little bear to my chest. He bursts out laughing.
    I put Panda in my car, sitting him on my big bears lap. “Take care of him for me big guy, he belongs to someone precious.” I’ll take him into the house and put him in my bedroom when Simon’s not around. I honestly can’t see my brother taking Kayden’s bear from him but I’m not going to take the risk.
    By the time I get back to the house Simon is already up and has brewed a pot of coffee.
    “Where have you been?” he asks.
    “I went outside to have a cigarette.” I pour myself a drink. “I want to talk to you about Kayden and the spasms?”
    “Hang on a minute.”
    He goes into his study and when he comes out he’s flicking