Page 93 of Auctioned to the Convicts
She’d never seen Sersie mad before, and it made her tense. Hannah tried moving to her right, to escape his wrath. He pressed his body to hers.
“You will listen to me. I don’t care how much self-defense Ky’Li has shown you, or even that you wear the necklace Ren made.” His hand pulled the pendant out, then he dropped it. The onyx thumped against her chest, not painful, but just enough to convey how upset Sersie was. “I don’t want to lose you.”
“I won’t leave you like Rissa did.”
“This has nothing to do with Rissa. Those men at the house. . .” Sersie pushed his hand through his hair and cursed beneath his breath. We should have told you everything, but Vaughn forbade it.”
“Vaughn?”
“He said you were too traumatized.”
“I was scared, but I’m fine now. What don’t I know, Sersie?”
“There were at least ten men that day, Hannah.”
Ten. . . “There were only two, Sersie. I’m sure of it. I heard Ky’Li said he killed two, and no others showed up for treatment at the med center.”
“That’s because I killed a lot with my bombs. No one got away that we know of.”
Hannah began to shake again. Her men had hidden the truth. “H-How m-many?”
“Three units formed an alliance, all with the sole purpose of taking you.”
Three units. . . “How m-many m-men?” she repeated as her legs threatened to give way.
“Twelve.”
Her legs buckled, but strong arms caught her, and held her before pulling her in tight against a man she could have lost that day. They would have killed him to get to her.
“I’ve got you,” he said, kissing her cheek as he held her tight.
“How are you so calm?” she asked.
He released a breath. “Honestly, I’m not. . . not on the inside. I’m struggling, Hannah. I have flashbacks to that night and nightmares. About what could have happened to you.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, cupping his stubbled jaw. “You nearly died. . . because of me.”
Sersie walked away, hands on hips, cursing. “This isn’t about me, or the men I killed, the men Vaughn, Ren, and Ky’Li later buried. . . the very men Dresden has guards out searching the jungle for.
“I’m scared, Hannah. All the time. I can’t lose you. If something happens to you, I will return to Flight or Crash. I know my recovery shouldn’t hinge on you, but I know myself too. I can’t handle losing you.
“I wish I could ease your mind,” she said, resisting the urge to touch him. This wasn’t the time for a comforting touch. Sersie needed what she couldn’t give him, a promise that nothing bad would happen. “Explain why this is suddenly surfacing now two weeks after the attack at the house. . . why you were mad at me the second you saw me downstairs by the security gate.”
Sersie gazed out the window. They were three stories up. From the few rooms she’d seen as he’d whizzed her through the halls, the facility was larger and better equipped than any she had seen on Argus, and she felt so out of place suddenly, more because of the anger she felt pouring off of Sersie.
“You came here alone,” Sersie finally said. “You could have been assaulted or taken on the railcar, or easily dragged off into the jungle. Didn’t what happen at the house prove how those animals will do anything to get to you? You’re supposed to notify us if you leave early and wait for one of us to meet you portside.”
She knew, all too well. Without her unit, she’d have been gang-raped and probably murdered by now. She owed her unit everything.
She laid a hand on his back, and he straightened at her touch. She loved the feel of his muscles. “The net is down in the port. Conway sent everyone home since no ships are landing or taking off. And without the net, I couldn’t send a message. I came here directly from the railcar because it seemed safer than walking all the way home by myself.”
Sersie turned and captured her mouth with his. If this was the way Sersie fought, she’d have to come up with some reasons to fight with him, because his tongue—that exceedingly wicked tongue—took control of her body and her mind as he languidly stroked her. The kisses he peppered along her jaw kept going lower until she found her pants pushed down around her knees and his mouth at her belly and heading lower.
* * *
SERSIE
Twice in his life, Sersie had been scared, truly scared shitless. The first was a few weeks ago when he wasn’t sure he could keep the invaders from breaching the fence. If Ky’Li hadn’t arrived, Sersie was sure the last four men would have made it in. And they would have taken Hannah.
