Page 59 of Auctioned to the Convicts
Her assailant would have another day to live, but not many thereafter. First, Ky would see to Hannah, ensure she recovered. “You have my word that I will not touch him until after we talk tomorrow. Move aside. I will see her now.”
Vaughn let Ky’Li pass. Ren and Sersie stopped their bickering the moment Ky’Li entered the house.
Ren moved to guard the bedroom door. “She’s upset.”
Ky’Li tired of these males keeping him from his sha’vi, his destined one. Ky’Li shoved Ren out of the way and opened the door.
His usually lively sha’vi lay curled up on the bed, naked beneath the covers, with wet hair and her hand a deep purple. She’d showered, probably to get the stench of the male off of her. As for her hand, the nanites had sped up the bruising as part of the healing process. Her bones would mend by morning, but her spirit. . . Krike. His sha’vi looked like a broken doll.
For two weeks, he’d been waiting for her to return to him. This was not how he wanted her back in his bed, their bed. She should never have been attacked. He’d done a lousy job protecting her.
“Hannah,” he called, softly as he shut the door.
The thin lighting tube that ran the length of the wall behind the bed was on. He’d read one of Ren’s books on Engineering Safety Protocols in Mines a few nights back, trying to get his mind off of her. It hadn’t worked, but the book had knocked him out faster than ten straight hours in the mine. His thoughts had drifted to Hannah more than once during his time in the mine too. He’d stayed away from her, as she had asked, but that had been a mistake. He should have been talking with her, learning about her job, her day, the males around her. He could have prevented this if his foolish pride had not gotten in the way.
“Are you still mad at me?” she asked.
“I was never mad at you. Only the fact that you plan to claim the other males.”
She bolted upright, shoulders pulled tight as her eyes shot toward the door. “Vaughn.”
“He’s outside with the others.”
Her body relaxed as her eyes found Ky’Li again. “We need to talk,” she said, softly.
He rubbed his chin, unsure of what to do next. He wanted to hold her, to check her over for himself, but she had not given him permission to touch her again, not since that second night.
Cautious green eyes watched and waited. Then her lower lip trembled.
“Please don’t hate me. I only shut you out because. . . It’s not that I don’t want you, Ky, but I. . .” She inhaled a deep breath, still holding the sheet over her breasts. “I can’t be solely yours, not here in this unit. Maybe if we had met on your world, before I’d met the others.”
Krike. What the hell was she talking about? Had the bastard who had attacked her done more than Vaughn believed? It would not change how Ky’Li felt about her.
Ky’Li slid onto the bed beside her. He was still grimy and sweaty from the mine, but his female needed him. He would not leave her. Ever.
Tears streaked her beautiful face, her expression uncertain.
He pulled her tight to him, her back to his chest as he wrapped his arms around her. Words were never his strong suit. He wanted to tell her he’d protect her always, but the fact was he hadn’t been with her when she had needed him most.
Four males in this unit and none had been there to protect her. They would have if they had anticipated she’d be harmed. They were no different from Ky in that regard. These men, these new brothers he hadn’t wanted, would be needed to protect her. Even four may not be enough. She worked at the port, where none of them had access.
He curled his left hand over her uninjured hand. “This is how you punch with your fist,” he said as he repositioned her thumb to the side of her curled fingers. “Don’t tuck your thumb in, and keep your knuckles, wrist, and arm aligned if possible. Aim for the throat, not the head. Too much bone in the head and while breaking a nose will get a man to back off for a few seconds, it won’t keep him down.”
Brilliant green eyes widened as her tears subsided. Then, her gaze moved to her hand, to learn what he was showing her. She clenched and unclenched her fist, focusing on where to place her thumb, how to align her wrist.
Fragile, but strong, his female.
“Ky’Li, I h-have something to tell you.” She sat up to face him, biting her lip as he waited for her to speak.
He sensed no fear from her. What made her hesitate so?
“I slept with Vaughn, Ky’Li.”
A cold, bitter chill swept through Ky’Li. He closed his eyes, hoping to unhear those words, to shut out the rejection and make time reverse itself. He felt as if a building had fallen on him. Not even the loss of his family or his unit had been as devastating as hearing that she’d slept with another male. She’d forsaken him, tossed him aside like garbage.
Even with his eyes closed, he found himself drawing in her scent, listening to her breathe. He felt the pull to hold her, to comfort her, even as the anger within him rose. He stood, left her behind on a bed that was supposed to be theirs, not hers and another man’s. Ky’Li moved away from the woman he had been sure was his.
She was not his sha’vi.
