Page 82 of Auctioned to the Convicts
“I’m sorry,” he whispered again as he cupped her cheek. Vaughn could be so warm and sweet when he wanted. The rest of the time he hid from her, as if he was afraid to let her see the man inside.
Hannah pressed her cheek to his hand, loving the warmth, the tenderness there.
“I didn’t mean to terrify you,” Vaughn added.
“But it was necessary.” Ky’Li’s voice boomed. He agreed with Vaughn. They all did.
Her men who barely could sit at the same table for five minutes without threatening one another were all focused on her and her problem. They weren’t a family yet, but they were tolerating one another better.
“I’m fine now,” she said, taking another bite of stew. She forced the food down.
From the doubt on their faces, she hadn’t fooled them. As if she weren’t already tense, the silence at the table began to unnerve her. She wrung her hands in her lap until Vaughn place his hand atop hers. Him holding her helped, but it didn’t solve her problems.
When she found Ky’s eyes shifting from her to Vaughn, she placed both hands on top of the table and pushed her food around with her spoon. She had lost her appetite, but she’d sit here as long as the men were getting along.
“What are you working on these days, Ren?” These days. . . As if the man spoke to her regularly. Ha!
Vaughn’s left hand moved from her thigh down to her panties and slipped inside. She tried to keep her face trained on anyone but Vaughn, especially as his thumb gently caressed her clit.
“Do you really want to know, Princess?” Ren asked.
Vaughn pinched her clit, nearly making her jump. She tipped her head to him and smiled. He wanted her full attention it seemed, and he had it.
Until she heard Ren push away from the table. Always the mistrusting one, Ren didn’t think anyone cared about him. She crossed her legs, pushing Vaughn’s hand away.
“Of course I want to know. I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t.” She wished she could hear Ren’s thoughts, know what it would take to gain his trust.
He hadn’t stood up yet, but he didn’t exactly pull his chair back to the table. “I fixed the air filtration unit in Mine #5 today. Nothing special. Routine stuff.”
“Are you in charge of all the systems in the mines? I thought you spent most of your day in your workshop.”
“I go where I’m needed.” Ren pulled forward and took another huge spoonful of stew, possibly so he didn’t have to say more. Or the man was starved. She still had no clue where he ate second meal. He hadn’t been coming home, and she never saw him at the commissary when she picked up the unit’s food allotment.
Vaughn’s hand worked his way back to her pussy. She parted her legs automatically. The man definitely had a devious side to him which could only be denied for so long.
“We worked it out,” Sersie said.
“Worked. . . what. . . out?” she asked. With Vaughn working her clit, speaking had become near impossible.
All eyes lifted again, bouncing between her and Sersie now. Vaughn withdrew his hand.
“Vaughn?” she asked, hoping he’d explain why everyone was so quiet. Why he’d pulled away from her.
“You’ll always have one of us walking you to and from work,” Sersie said.
“Really? You’d do that for me?”
“That shouldn’t even be a question,” Ky’Li said.
“One of the few benefits of a unit,” Ren added. “Might as well take advantage of it, Princess.”
“Thank you,” she half-stuttered, still somewhat surprised that they had banded together and found a way to help her.
“Now that that’s settled, anything else worrying you about work?” Vaughn said as his face tightened.
What had prompted that? She snuck a peek at Ky’Li. It had to be Ky getting to him, but Ky had gone back to eating, scraping the bottom of his bowl and Vaughn wasn’t afraid of Ky.
“Just basic nerves,” she finally answered. “I had only worked there for two weeks when. . .”
