Page 27 of Protected By the Convicts
Chapter Six
VAUGHN
“I’m surprised you’re here,” Hannah said as she met Vaughn at the railcar portside.
“It was my turn,” he said. God, she smelled so good, and the way her dark red hair swung about her shoulders made him want to thread his fingers through the silky strands and pull her into him. One kiss, that’s all he wanted from her, one last touch of her soft skin beneath his fingertips, but not here. He wouldn’t risk her.
“You could have skipped escorting me if you didn’t feel like seeing me.”
Like he’d ever leave her at risk. That was part of the problem; he didn’t want to risk her or the others. This unit meant something to him. He hadn’t expected it to, but it did. It was the closest he’d had to family in a long time. He missed his parents and cousins back home. Occasionally, he received word from them, but those letters were few and infrequent. And outgoing communications were forbidden. Vaughn suspected Dresden limited incoming mail intentionally, as one more way of demoralizing the so-called colonists. Fucking Dresden. . .
“Okay, then. I see you’re not up to talking,” Hannah said as she took a seat on the near-empty railcar. “I’ll stop talking.”
He didn’t like it when she received third shift. The dark was riskier for her. Although Vaughn was fairly big, he wasn’t much of a fighter. It wouldn’t take much for two miners to jump them on their way to the house.
“I like listening to you talk, Vaughn said, knowing how sour he sounded. He couldn’t rid himself of the bitterness, the self-hatred that had been riding him since he destroyed Ren’s ship, since he’d caved to Dresden’s demands.
Hannah’s eyes crinkled together. He wanted to kiss away the doubt there, sink into her warm heat and kiss her all over, give her something pleasant, like she deserved. Not a man who only knew death.
“I’d rather we talk about what’s going on between you and Ren,” she said, her face softening now. Unlike Ren, she forgave too easily.
“Nothing’s going on. I betrayed him.”
She fell silent again. Vaughn had destroyed one of the few friendships he had on Narkos. After eight years, he only had a handful of friends on the prison planet, and those were borne mostly out of necessity. With Ren though, he had respected the man, not just seen him as a means to an end.
“I don’t want to defend what I did. It’s done.”
The rail doors opened, and the workers spilled onto the platform mountainside. Hannah held out her hand for him. The woman tempted him in so many damn ways. He walked without taking her hand. They were in public still, but even then, he didn’t want her sympathy. He’d caused this situation, and he’d find a way out of it by himself.
On their way home, Hannah talked about her day at work and then casually mentioned the incident with Griggs’s unit the day of the mine collapse. Vaughn ground to a halt. “Why didn’t anyone tell me about Falco?”
“You haven’t beenhome, Vaughn.”
“Even so, I should have been informed.”
“Why do you even care about Falco and the others?” she asked, her voice sounding guarded.
He couldn’t help himself when it came to Hannah. He’d been holding back his emotions around her for the longest time. It was hard seeing her with the other men in the unit, knowing she’d picked them because she wanted him. She’d only chosen Vaughn because Ky’Li had needed a doctor. It had been a strategic decision on her part, but now he was stuck watching her, listening to her, being intimate with the men knowing she truly wanted them.
It’s not that he was opposed to the idea of sharing a woman. He’d grown up on Argus, had three fathers. Except for the occasional spat, his fathers had all gotten along famously. As far as Vance and he were concerned, Camden, Michael, and Tómas were all ‘dad’. They’d never called any of themuncle. Vaughn had hoped for the same, except Hannah didn’t want him, not the way she wanted the others.
Just as Hannah turned to him, he noticed a form lurking in the shadows behind them. He grabbed her by her hand and started running. She kept up with him, terror flashing in her eyes. He slammed his hand against the security lock, relieved when the gate clicked open. He shoved Hannah inside and shut the gate, with him on the outside.
* * *
HANNAH
“No, Vaughn!” Hannah yelled as Vaughn shoved her inside the perimeter and pulled the gate shut fast, with him outside defenseless. “Get in here!”
The sizzle of the power running through the fence came to life the second the gate shut, connecting the circuit. She pulled the handle, the only part safe to touch, but Vaughn had done something to keep the gate from opening. It was supposed to open from the inside by anyone without the use of the scanner.
Hannah ran inside the house.
“Hey, gorgeous,” Sersie said from where he sat in the kitchen eating.
“Someone’s outside the fence with Vaughn!”
Sersie grabbed a knife from the counter. “You stay here!” he yelled back at her as he flew out the door.
