Before we left we were able to find some of the more normal clothes that Edgar had bought for me, not to mention a pair of shoes I could wear. Although they were a constant reminder of him and that part of my life it was nice to actually have something to wear that wasn’t that gaudy dress or Axel’s clothes that were far too big for me.

We followed Wyatt and Mason back to Los Aves but once we reached Axel’s apartment building he immediately pulled away from the two of them and parked his bike.

“What are you doing? Don’t you want to follow them and deal with Edgar?”

“They’ll be plenty of him to go around don’t you worry. I’ve just been too overstimulated since getting out, I need a few minutes to calm down.”

He took my hand and led me into the building, taking me to an old service elevator and pressing the button to take us to the roof.

“Are you sure we should be using this” I asked as I looked around to make sure that nobody saw us in here.

“We just tied up and kidnapped a man who was weeks away from being a sex offender and you’re worried about being caught in an elevator we’re not supposed to use?” he said jokingly.

He was right, I took a deep breath and let myself relax a little bit as the elevator started taking us up to the roof.

I had to admit, this was the first time since I was a kid where I felt like I could actually relax. Even if he had held me against my will for an hour back at his place he was already proving to me that it was all a mistake and that he would fight for me, it was an empowering feeling that I had never experienced before.

We reached the roof and Axel stepped outside, taking in the evening sun. I looked around to see an old couch near the edge of the roof and a mini fridge sitting right next to it.

Axel walked over to the fridge and put his ear to it, a big smile went across his face as I watched his eyes light up.

“No way has this thing been running for two years.”

He opened it up and pulled out a 6 pack of beer, laughing to himself.

“Still ice cold, and it doesn’t expire for another month!”

He motioned for me to sit down on the couch as he took two beers. He stood up and looked out over the buildings that surrounded us, at this time of day the couch gave us a perfect view of the setting sun.

“I thought about this place every day I was in jail, feels good to be free…”

He sat down and opened the beers, handing one to me.

“I’m not old enough to drink” I said laughing.

“If you don’t tell I won’t tell” he said putting his finger up to his mouth.

I put the bottle to my mouth and took a sip, making a face at the almost bitter taste.

He chuckled “well you tried.”

“I’m sorry I don’t think I can finish it” I said still making a face as I handed him back the bottle.

He took if from me and put both bottles back in the fridge. “Well if you’re not drinking I won’t either” he said chuckling.

I watched the tattoos on his muscular arms gleam in the light of the setting sun as he reached over to put the beer away. He turned around and caught me staring at him, I tried to quickly play it off but it was already too late.

In all honest Axel was the kind of man I’ve always been attracted to, even in highschool. Despite everything that happened to me I found that I still couldn’t shake my preference. Back when I was in high school I loved to hang out near where the nearby bikers drank, I would just watch them from a distance in awe and wonder what their lives were like, I guess now I’ll get to see.

When I was in that basement I had always dreamed that one of those bikers that I watched would come and rescue me from Edgar. A tall and strong man busting down the door and ripping me from my chains, carrying me out of there in his arms. I couldn’t deny that Axel was everything that I wanted in a man, at least physically, I couldn’t deny my attraction to him. That attraction just made the day more confusing.

Our eyes met, I quickly glanced down at his bicep before meeting his gaze again, it looked like his arm could almost tear out of his shirt at any second.

“I’m sorry, about the way I treated you earlier. If I knew that you had gone through then I would have never done it.”

“It’s fine… really it is. I came in pointing a gun at you, I can understand why you might have thought I was someone sent to kill you…”

He looked at me and gave a little half smile before looking out onto the sunset.

“Are that many people really out to get you?” I asked him.

“There are a lot of perks to this life, but those perks come with some downsides. All I know is I’m still standing here and I fully intend on fighting anyone who even thinks about making an attempt on my life… or yours.”

I blushed a little, I never had someone who was actually willing to fight for me. It felt weird, this whole thing almost felt unreal.

“So, what do you want to do with your newfound freedom?” he asked me as he moved a little bit closer.

“I… I guess I’m really not sure. There’s so much I have to catch up on, so much I need to take care of to make sure that everything that he took from me doesn’t hold me back permanently. Honestly, it’s very overwhelming.”

“That’s why I’m here” he said with a smile. I couldn’t believe that a man who I had threatened just 12 hours ago was now helping me like this, it made me realize that there really was good in some people after all.

“Well you’ve only just gotten free yourself, what are you going to do?”

He looked out onto the sunset and smiled “for now, I think I’m just gonna enjoy the evening breeze as a free man. It’s the little things, but I’m sure you understand that.”

“I can’t imagine someone putting a cage around you” I replied. I barely even knew him but I could tell what kind of man he was, he was bound only to his brotherhood. You can take the bike away from the biker but you can’t take the fire out of him, and Axel had more fire than any of the bikers I had ever met.

He looked at me and smiled, leaning in closer as I matched him inch for inch. I felt stunned, I didn’t know what to do, was this really happening?

He took my right hand in his left, leaning in closer and closer.

“I gotta admit” he said “I’m just following my instincts here.”

“I gotta admit I have no idea what to do” I replied.

“Do what feels good in the moment” he whispered as our lips grew closer and closer.

Before I even knew what was happening his lips were on mine. My very first kiss.

He kissed me with a passion that I didn’t know a man could have, with a roughness that showed how much he truly desired me yet with a warmth and tenderness that showed that he wasn’t just using me.

I ran my hands across his muscular chest and his thick arms, we barely even knew each other yet around him I felt a level of comfort I didn’t think I could ever experience again. I felt shivers all over my body and a longing that made me realize that I could trust a man again.

But I pushed him away.

He looked at me surprised but then I saw in his eyes that he understood.

“I-I’m sorry” I told him. “There’s just so much going on in my head that I don’t know if this is right or if the feelings in my head are real or if-”

He put his middle finger over my lips to hush me, the same way he did in the bar when we first met.

“I understand, a lot has happened to you. You’re not even sure what’s real and what isn’t, what feelings to follow and what feelings are just you latching onto the first person to give you something real after a year of being another man’s dress up doll. Take your time, I know in the end you’ll understand how you feel about me.”

He leaned in one more time and kissed me, I didn’t push him away but he only let me feel his lips for a moment. His touch gave me a sense of longing, the same way I longed to see the sun when I was in the basement, the same way I longed to break those chains I longed for his lips.

It almost made me feel guilty.

He give me a smirk and stood up off of the couch, taking my hand and pulling me up with him as we watched the desert sun set.

Despite everything that was going on I couldn’t imagine a better way to have my first kiss.

I looked up at him with all the confusion a teenage girl could have about a man nearly 10 years older than her. All the confusion that came with my newfound freedom away from the bastard that bought me.

All I could think about was what was on his mind.