Page 62 of Auctioned to the Convicts
Krike, she was the woman he wanted. That was the problem. Even though she’d taken another man to her bed, she had never lied to Ky’Li. His sha’vi honored him, the best she could while staying true to herself.
“I asked for a transfer to security, but that is one position not open to prisoners,” he said as if this were a normal conversation. Perhaps that’s what she needed. Normal. This whole kriking situation was anything but normal. Share her with three other males. . . How the krike could he allow that? She was his mate, his sha’vi, and his alone.
“Are you making a joke, Ky’Li?” she asked as her eyes grew heavy.
“A poor one, yes.” He pressed his mouth to her forehead and kissed her. Vaughn’s medicine no doubt was finally kicking in. The man didn’t need a knife to be dangerous. “I’m not educated like the others you’ve chosen for this unit. My destiny is in the mines.”
“Your destiny is with me.”
His heart raced at hearing those words from her until he remembered that she’d claimed Vaughn and not him. He wondered if that first time he’d touched her in the med-center had been nothing more than lust. After all, she’d kept her distance from him for two weeks, only to claim Vaughn.
He should walk away from her, except he couldn’t. He didn’t want to. This small pillar of strength and beauty was perfect for him.
“Yes, sha’vi. Your destiny is with me.”
“And Sersie and Vaughn.” Her lips curled into a smile as her eyes closed. He scooped her up and laid her in the bed. He chuckled. His sha-vi never gave up.
“Even Ren,” she added. Then her smile disappeared. “Maybe not. He’s so angry.”
“He has reason, most likely. We all do.” Krike, was he defending the engineer now?
“Anger has no place here,” she said.
Anger is what fed the colonists, it’s what fueled their work and motivated them. It’s probably what motivated the attack. Free men with choices, with the ability to choose a mate, didn’t attack lone females.
Vaughn had taken her, right after the attack.
“You are mad,” she said. “I see it in your eyes.” She’d opened her eyes again, fighting the medicine and the urge to sleep.
“Vaughn took advantage of you,” he said, still grasping to understand, to find a way to accept, to forgive himself as well as her. He should have listened to her these past few weeks. Instead, he’d been dismissive of her need to bond with these men, of her determination to do so.
“I think I took advantage of him, Ky. He’s. . . Vaughn’s damaged. This place, it breaks people.”
Vaughn damaged? No.
Krike. The man offered Ky’Li a knife to execute him. She was right. Vaughn was as broken as the rest of them.
“He doesn’t think he deserves to be loved,” Hannah added.
They’d all been condemned to a Level 4 planet. Ten years of servitude, maybe more, if what the miners had told him was true. It would be years before any of them got to see their homes. Not that Ky’Li had a home. His parents and brothers were long gone, and he had betrayed his squad. There was no reason to go back. Hannah was his family now, and he could do so little for her here, including keeping her safe.
Despite how drained she was, she swung her legs over the bed and rose. “I should go.”
“You’re going to him?” He couldn’t hide the hurt in his voice.
Hannah cupped his cheek. “I never meant to hurt you.”
He laid his hand over hers. “Stay. I won’t touch you unless you want me to, but you need to rest, to heal, and I need to know that you’re safe, that you’re still mine. I need to feel you in my arms. Give me this one night, sha-vi.”
“I’m still yours?” she asked, tears pooling in her eyes.
“If you still want me.”
Nervous, she lifted up on her toes, her lips nearing his.
Ky’Li captured her lips with his, not hesitating in the least. He stroked her tongue, her mouth, as he pulled her body in flush against his. His cock, already hard for her, pressed against her belly.
He guided her back to bed, where he curled around her, his hand on her hip, just holding her. He needed to think, figure out how he moved forward in a unit with a man he both wanted to kill and didn’t. He only knew one truth at this point. He wasn’t giving her up.
