Page 38 of Auctioned to the Convicts
Our way.She liked the sound of that. Not Renzel’s way, butour way.
“I’ll vote for you, if that’s what you’re asking. I said I’d do whatever it takes to make this right for you, and I meant it. Just tell me what you want.”
“Be careful what you offer around here, Princess.”
She sucked in air, biting back a comment that would likely incite him. But she couldn’t let him walk all over her either. “I’m not a whore.”
“I know,” he conceded, his voice softer now. “And I was wrong. Angry and wrong, at least about how I treated you. But I hate that you pulled me into this. I’m mad, Princess, and I’m not sure I know how to get past that.”
They both fell silent for several minutes. She wondered if he had fallen asleep.
“I stopped being mad a long time ago,” she confessed. “It takes too much energy, and there are simply some things we can’t change.”
“Good for you then,” Renzel said. “You’re able to accept and move forward. Must be nice, being at peace with your life. Maybe you’ll show me how you do that one day.”
She laughed at that, from the irony of it. “At peace? I’m scared, Renzel. Of being here, of having to be with four men I don’tknow. I was told I’d have time to get to know my husbands before choosing. Then suddenly I was being auctioned off. I’m lucky Ky’Li fought in my place, lucky he let me choose, but still. . . having to pick men based on very little information was terrifying. And I’m still scared. Not just of the inevitability of each of you taking me whenyouwant, but how to make this unit work. I’ve seen how possessive men get over a woman on Argus. Heck, in my own family. Home was anything but peaceful when my mother’s third husband arrived. I don’t think I can go through that again.”
“Just say no, Princess. No one will force you. Not these guys, I mean. Hell. . .”
He inhaled sharply.
“I don’t know if I would have forced you. I’ve never done that before, but I’m hardly the same person I was before Narkos. None of us is. And when my anger takes hold, I’m not exactly thinking clearly. I was wrong about you.”
It was quite a confession and apology from Ren, and it eased her mind. “Thank you for being honest with me.”
“I don’t think Vaughn or Sersie will force you either, if you’re worried about them too. I mean, it’s not like we have women around here. The four that came before you each disappeared the day they were sold. I’ve heard there was another woman on the other side of the mountain working as. . . Never mind. It doesn’t affect us here.”
“That helps,” she said. “When The Company lowered my rating, they told what would be expected of me here. I had three days during processing and transport to get used to the idea, which was more than any of you had. I truly thought I’d have time to get to know some men, to find men who would work well together in a unit, who I could come to care about and just maybe would care about me. I didn’t expect Dresden to s-sell me.”
Her words choked off. She still hadn’t forgotten the fear from that day, and from seeing Griggs, the massive man with the mien of a killer, heading for her on the dais.
“I.. I d-don’t want to be used,” she confessed, swallowing hard to bite back the whimper that threatened to escape her throat.
“I won’t hurt you.” His sigh filled the room. “I know you don’t believe that. God knows I haven’t given you reason to.”
The remorseful tone allowed her ease back into the bed. She felt slightly safer than when she’d entered the room.
“I still can’t believe you challenged Griggs,” he said, shaking his head. “There’s a reason no one else challenged him, a reason he’s a Level 5.”
“If Ky’Li hadn’t been there, I would have gone through with it. The idea of dying right then didn’t scare me, not given the alternative.”
“I was there, Princess, rooting for your soldier-boy, for you to have a chance at a life here with anyone other than Griggs. Fucking animal.”
“Really? You were cheering for me?” She didn’t think he cared what happened to her.
“I’m not heartless.”
No, he wasn’t. Just so full of anger.
“I just didn’t think I’d get sucked into this. Why me, Princess? Of all those guys who raised their hands, who were practically throwing credits at you to be with you, why me? I never once did anything to indicate I wanted this.”
He hadn’t. He’d stood there, not drooling over the prospect of having her, not looking at her as if she would be his fuck-toy. It was partly why she’d chosen him. “I made the best choice I could on the spot.”
“Why me?” he demanded. “I deserve to know.”
“You had nice eyes.”
“You fucking chose me because you like my eyes?”
