Page 12 of Hidden By the Convicts
“And you want nothing in return? Just for me to obey you like I was another guy in your unit, no sex required?”
“Correct.”
She looked at Harlis again. He held up his hands. “I won’t touch you. Not unless you want me to.” He couldn’t help but add that last bit, for she was gorgeous, and it had been so long since he’d been with a woman. He’d treat her right, but she didn’t know that. Those fucking guards hadforcedher.
The corner of her mouth quirked up, almost breaking into a smile. Damn, she was cute. And smart. He’d been an asshole to her, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t earn her trust. He’d just have to work harder at it.
“I can sleep on the floor,” she said, taking the blanket from his bed and settling on the floor between Gavin’s and Bowen’s beds.
“Suit yourself. But we often have rodents crawling around at night,” Harlis said.
She jumped off the floor, and he didn’t hold back his laugh.
“You’re an ass. Just for that, I’m taking your bed.”
“If you must, princess,” he said, grabbing his jacket and heading outside. It was going to be a long night on watch, especially as he thought about her sleeping on his sheets. He couldn’t wait to slide under the covers in the morning and breathe in her scent.
* * *
TEAGEN
To Teagen’s surprise,she fell asleep within minutes. The fear she’d first felt upon entering their house had subsided. Mostly.
She hadn’t figured out Harlis. He’d shown her two sides of himself, and she wasn’t sure she liked either. At least the first one had been honest in his reaction to her. Not too different from the guards, except he had never threatened to hurt her. In all, he seemed harmless. But that didn’t mean she could trust him.
She trusted Bowen. More than she had anyone in a long time. The man would keep his word. She hoped. And Gavin seemed disinterested in her, so he was probably safe enough. He supported Bowen’s decisions. That seemed to be what Bowen was asking of her. Total compliance. She could give it, if and when she could fully trust him.
Teagen dreamed of Argus, of the fields of flowers in the countryside where she liked to spend her days off, away from the smelly oils and chemicals of her job. Then he appeared, Ryan Moore, her boss at the maintenance depot in Argus City. He trapped her in the parts room, only this time he wasn’t taking no for an answer. With one swift backhand, he struck her, and she landed against the hard concrete floor, where he pinned her and pushed down her pants.
“Wake up, Teagen,” a man’s voice said as hands shook her by her shoulders.
She opened her eyes and stared up into Gavin’s gray eyes. Her breathing had turned to short, hurried gasps even before his hands cupped her cheeks. Whatever Gavin was saying wasn’t registering, but those amazingly soft eyes calmed her.
Strong arms scooped her up under her knees and back. Instinctively, she wrapped her arms around his neck for balance. She hadn’t been held like this since she was a child. It felt safe, special.
“I’m sorry,” Gavin said. Someone threw a blanket around her shoulders. The sound of a wood bedframe creaking pulled her attention from him.
Then soft lips, warm and amazingly tender, kissed her forehead as Gavin lowered her into the pit. He held his finger up to his mouth, telling her to stay quiet.
The floorboards were replaced, plunging her into darkness even as her mind struggled to catch up with what was happening. She shivered and bit down on the blanket to keep her teeth from chattering as she listened to the creaking of the bed being placed over the pit.
“Strip, Harlis, fast,” Bowen whispered directly above the pit.
The heavy sound of boots and pants hitting the floor nearby followed. Then a second bed creaked. Harlis getting into his bed.
Dead silence fell over the cabin. Was it a false alarm? A precaution? Or were they trying to scare her?
She was plenty scared, but if this was some lesson for not swearing her allegiance to Bowen, she’d. . . Hell, she couldn’t worry about petty revenge, not when she had no other place to go.
Without potable water, she couldn’t survive in the jungle. The water on Narkos was deadly, which is why the prison colony didn’t need fences. If the prisoners wanted access to drinkable water, they stayed and worked. It was as simple as that.
The cold and dampness of the earthen pit began to seep through the blanket. She hugged it tightly, trying to stay warm.
A loud crash above startled her, but she didn’t cry out. She’d learned how to stay quiet in the past few weeks. Making noise, showing her fear, only egged the guards on, made them hurt her more.
“What the fuck?” Bowen asked above, sounding pissed off. “What the hell are you doing here? It’s the middle of the night, and I have first shift in the morning.”
“Where is she?” a male asked. She knew that voice too well. Mozely. Head bastard among the guards.
