Page 79 of Auctioned to the Convicts
“Take over my house, my bedroom, and now everyone’s telling me how to act,” he grumbled.
Hannah put her hand over her mouth, trying to stop her laughter.
“It’s not funny,” Ren said as he grabbed a metal pitcher and started filling it.
Ren, for as in control as he’d been twenty minutes ago, was at a loss when it came to living as part of a unit. She had to remind herself that he’d been a solitary. They all had.
“My poor, Ren,” she said because she actually felt sorry for him at that moment.
“He’s not yours,” Ky remarked as he returned, dressed in a basic pair of trousers and a black t-shirt.
Her soldier sat on the bench, opposite Vaughn. As long as they were getting along, it’s all she could ask.
Ren sat in the chair at the head of the table between Ky’Li and Vaughn. Perhaps that was his way of asserting his position in this unit, inhishouse. This was a male-pissing match, but was it over her or who would lead this unit?
Her mom had led their unit back on Argus, but she’d done a poor job of it. Hannah had expected she’d lead her own family unit one day, though she wasn’t a leader in any sense of the word. Never had been.
“Sit, sha’vi,” Ky’Li said, motioning to the empty seat beside him. “I wish to hear about your day.”
There were only two empty seats, one next to Ky’Li and the other beside Vaughn. She didn’t like Ky’Li’s manipulations, trying to keep her apart from Ren. She’d handle Ren in her own way, on her terms, not Ky’Li’s and not Ren’s.
Hannah sat on the other side, next to Vaughn, leaving the seat beside Ky’Li for Sersie. Ky’Li looked disappointed. Hell, she’d chosen Vaughn over Ky’Li yet again!
Hannah hopped back up, with a spring to her step. She set a bowl of stew on the table in front of Ky’Li and planted a kiss on his lips, to reassure him that he was everything to her, no matter where she sat, or in whose bed she slept.
With a splayed hand on her ass, Ky’Li pulled her tight against him as he kissed her. That hand squeezed her, quite noticeably, in front of the others. She’d made her point, and he’d made his.
Ky’Li grabbed a fork and dug in. “It’s good,” he said as he took another bite. He’d tell her that even if it weren’t. She ran her hand down the back of his neck as she returned to the counter to finish serving the meal. He crooked a smile in her direction.
“Does each bowl come with a kiss?” Ren asked. He had been following her with his eyes. Her body heated with the memory of his cock gliding through her folds earlier.
Ren’s boldness in front of Ky’Li wasn’t wise. Then again, Ren knew that. Ren was trying to rile her or Ky’Li. Maybe both.
“I hear with some men, it pays to stroke their egos,” she said while she served him his stew. “But some men prefer other things being stroked. I wonder, Ren, which type of man are you?”
Ky’Li laughed.
That shocked look of Ren’s soon turned into a grin. A devilish, delicious grin she wanted to see more often.
The second Ren started smiling, Ky frowned.
“Did I miss third meal?” Sersie called out as the front door opened.
“Just in time!” Hannah replied, thankful for the interruption. She rushed back to the stove to get another bowl of stew for Sersie.
He was holding both hands behind his back. “Sorry I’m late. I needed to climb the back slope of the mountain today to get a rare plant for a special project. And for these,” he said as he presented three fantastically huge white flowers, each with billowing petals as large as her hands. She especially loved the bright red center that reminded her of the sunsets back home.
“They’re gorgeous,” she said, taking the long, thick stems from him. She took a deep breath, inhaling their scent. “And they smell fabulous. Reminds me of roses back on Argus.”
“The umla flower isn’t even closely related to a rose, except the scent.”
“You must have been crawling around all day to find three,” Vaughn said, his first words in a while.
“I got lucky.”
“And you will again from the look on her face,” Ren said before Vaughn and Ky’Li both glared at him.
Why the hell was Ren pushing Ky’Li? Or was it Vaughn? Neither man was happy with Ren’s comment.
