Page 75 of Auctioned to the Convicts
He leaned over to peer into the pot. “Can’t help it. I’m starting to like having my meals here instead of the commissary.”
“Is that your way of saying you like my company?”
“Just means I get to avoid the undesirables at the commissary.”
“Oh.” It wasn’t the answer she was hoping for, but at least he didn’t seem as angry today.
“What’s troubling you, Princess?”
“Nothing.”
“Don’t lie to me. You’re not very good at it.”
“What happens when Dresden finds the bodies? He’s had guards searching everywhere the past few days. Forensics is one of The Company’s specialties, Ren.”
His hand settled on the back of her neck.
“We cleared the damage around the house. We’re far enough from West Side that no one heard the blast. I doctored the readings on the seismograph’s just to be sure.”
She must have paled or something because suddenly he turned her and was looking into her face. “You’re fine, Hannah. We’re fine. Just breathe.”
He poured a glass of water for her. After taking a sip, she set it down and hid her shaking hand behind her. “Dresden will take you too.”
“He’s not taking me or anyone else from this unit.”
“The bodies—”
“Sersie and Ky’Li disposed of the bodies. Chemically. Believe me when I say you don’t want to be on the receiving end of one of Sersie’s concoctions. His skills are wasted developing drugs. He should be developing explosives, munitions, fuels.”
“Dresden won’t find them then?”
“There’s nothing lefttofind.”
Hannah exhaled a long breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. Ren tipped her chin up. “Feel better?”
She nodded, all too aware of how good Ren smelled, and how relaxed he was in that moment. Bright blue eyes never left her as he moved closer to her. Ren had hated her from the moment she’d chosen him, and part of her wondered if he still resented her.
And yet she wanted to taste his lips while her hands explored his body. She wanted to breathe him in from close up, not merely catch a passing scent as he walked by. Her fingers itched to run over his naked, warm flesh, to feel the hard muscles beneath soft skin.
“Who do you consider undesirables? The miners like Ky and the port workers like me?”
“Is that you or Ky’Li talking?”
“Come again?” she said.
“That’s an assumption I’d expect from soldier-boy, not you.”
“I’m not the one that called a bunch of peopleundesirables.”
The backs of Ren’s fingers gently grazed her neck as he pulled her hair back and leaned in to whisper, “I’m not who or what you think I am. Maybe if you stopped assuming you know me and drop the attitude, you’d have your answers.”
The words were all Ren, challenging and rough, but his voice had gained a deep, sensuous edge to it. That had her itching to touch him. She wanted more of his touch, more of him, and she didn’t know how to tell him that.
Hannah brushed by him as she returned to the counter where she’d been cutting vegetables for the stew. A moment later, Ren drew close enough that she could feel his warm breath. Her heart raced and every part of her came alive. It made no sense.
“Something you want to say, Princess?”
A hand landed on her hip and instinctively, she pushed him away. Except he didn’t budge. She’d backed her ass into a very hard part of him.
