Page 99 of Auctioned to the Convicts
“I accept.”
Hannah stopped breathing. He couldn’t. . . He wouldn’t. . .
“You do? Fucking fabulous,” Avens said as several whistles sounded through the railcar.
“You transfer ten credits and I agree not to rip your head off before we reach the next stop,” Ky clarified as the miner stepped toward him. “That’s the discount for being first. I’ll be charging your friends more when I’m done with you.”
The whistling stopped. Feet shuffled to the other side of the cabin seconds before the railcar ground to a halt. Ky’Li grabbed her by her hand and left the railcar at a fast clip, pushing miners on the platform out of the way.
She didn’t speak as Ky’Li threaded their way through the jungle on a barely visible path. She awaited the lecture, the storm, but Ky’Li said nothing as they walked back toward their home. From here, she guessed it was a thirty-minute walk. Not a bad walk, but an awkward one if he planned to ignore her the entire way.
“Would it make a difference if I said I’m sorry?”
He spun her around. “I will not share you.”
She stood there stunned, unable to move until her brain caught up. “I thought—”
“You thought I’d sell you? Give you to them for credits? For anything?”
“I didn’t mean. . . I heard what you said. . .” Tears welled in her eyes. “I’m sorry for doubting you, Ky’Li. I wasn’t thinking.” She twisted her hands together, unable to expel the nervous energy. “We should have exited mountainside.”
“Sha-vi. . .” he leaned his forehead against hers and held that position as her breathing slowed. She exhaled a deep breath and whispered, “I’m sorry, Ky’Li. I just wasn’t thinking.”
“You were not at risk when we reached Mine 5.”
“Then why are we walking through the jungle?”
“Because I would not have you stand there to be denigrated by those males.”
“That’s why you’re angry? At them, not me, for what I did on the railcar between stops?”
“I love what you did for me.” The back of his fingers feathered over her collar bone and down to her breast. “But they reminded me that you will take. . .” He paused and inhaled a deep breath. “That you have takenanotherlover.”
Lover. Singular. Not Plural. Vaughn only. Not Sersie.
Fear and hope crashed together in a dangerous mix, but she would not deceive him. “I’ve been with Sersie as well as Vaughn.”
A darkness rolled through Ky’Li’s face, and she could feel the anger pouring from him as sure as she could feel the humidity in the air.
“Krike, I’m not sure how to handle this. First Vaughn and now. . . Krike, you aremysha-vi.”
“And you are my pa’vi,” she said with fervor as she took his head between her hands. “Nothing will change what I feel for you. You make me feel safe and treasured and loved.”
“The doctor is a necessity for the unit. He will keep you healthy. But what does Sersie give you that I don’t? He’s weak of spirit and—”
“Don’t you talk that way about him!” she said, even as tears spilled down her cheeks. “He’s been through a lot, Ky.”
“I don’t know what he’s been through, but it does not mean he’s worthy of having you.”
“That’s not your decision.”
“Why do you defend him so?”
She opened her mouth then quickly shut it again. “It’s not right of me to share the details. Just like I keep your fears and hopes private. You’re just going to have to trust me on this. Sersie’s made mistakes, but he’s as honorable as you.”
Ky’Li took a deep breath as he scrubbed his face. “It was too much to hope there’d be no others. That you’d choose me as yours.”
“I have chosen you. I chose you on that shuttle, Ky, and I love you more every day, especially your capacity to accept what is hard.”
