Page 48 of Auctioned to the Convicts
“And you snap at him every chance you get in between, I bet. All because he has a drug problem. Guess what, doctor. People aren’t perfect. They get in over their heads sometimes and they need others to pull them out.”
Like me.
Vaughn was right. She needed to tell him what really happened to her hand because that was part of being a unit, working together to resolve problems. Except she couldn’t muster the courage to tell him about Max. What if he went after the man and got hurt or in trouble?
“Is that the way it’s going to be between us? I lie, then you lie?” Vaughn said as they reached their house. He placed his hand on the ID scanner. The gate clicked open. “I want more from you, Hannah. Morewithyou.”
That stunned her, almost as much as how his hand smoothed down her bare arm, making her shudder.
Vaughn eased her hair behind her. “We can start slow. Whatever you want.”
“What I want. . .” Her thoughts grew foggy again as the images of Max on the railcar and Dresden before him flooded her brain.
Then the softest pair of lips found her neck as Vaughn cupped her breast and rolled her nipple, drawing the flesh into a very hard peak.
Vaughn was trying to connect with her, and she needed to connect with him, to let this happen, but something was missing, wrong even, between them.
A slight pinch to her nipple drew a moan from her. The man certainly had a way of building a fire in her. Already, she was envisioning what it would be like to have Vaughn peel her clothing off, to slip inside of her.
God, how easy she must come across to everyone. No wonder Max. . . No, she wasn’t going to take the blame for that bastard.
“What do you want?” she asked as Vaughn’s lips trailed down her neck.
“Honesty.” Vaughn pushed the collar, all the way down this time, exposing her left breast.
Vaughn’s mouth sucked on her nipple through the bra. The sensation of his mouth, wet and soft against her, lowered her defenses even as he lifted the hem of her dress.
Suddenly, she could feel Max’s hands on her again. . .
Hannah jerked away and ran toward the house. Guilt tore at her; she’d run away from Vaughn. He’d told her what he wanted from her and she’d agreed, and here she was backing away, because of the terror left Max had left.
Honesty.
She couldn’t even be honest with Vaughn.
That bastard Max wouldn’t leave her head. All she had to do was tell Vaughn it was Max, but if Vaughn and Ky’Li went after Max, they’d be discovered, eventually. Downgraded to 5s and shipped to Veenith.
“Hi, gorgeous?” Sersie said as she ran past him into the master bedroom and slammed the door.
Ky’Li wasn’t there. Where was he? Her panic rose like floodwaters, fast and furious. Ky’Li would push harder than Vaughn for Max’s name, but he made her feel invincible when he was near.
No, she couldn’t go running to her unit every time a man looked at her, touched her, or. . . She needed to hold on to the fear Dresden had instilled in her. His threat was very real. Even if Vaughn never saw her as more than someone he wanted to fuck, there were worse monsters out there, like Max and Griggs. Vaughn was a part of her unit, her responsibility. She needed to be strong, to help them learn to get along. She couldn’t let Max or Dresden undermine her unit.
She locked the door.
Someone knocked. “Princess, are you okay?”
She stifled a cry at the softness in Ren’s voice. She could talk to him. Maybe.
No, she should wait for Ky. He had promised to protect her, always. But she’d pushed him away because he had tried to control her choices.
The panic intensified, making it hard to breathe. She was making a mess out of everything. Amelia for all her weaknesses could calm her, help her think straight again, but she wasn’t here.
She was dead.
Hannah had failed to protect her. How the hell was she going to protect four men who hated one another, on a prison world no less, when she couldn’t protect her sister with all the advantages and freedoms on Argus? Vaughn was right. Being in a unit made each person vulnerable.
“Princess, let me in,” Ren demanded, anger filling his voice once again. Always full of anger, her engineer.
