Page 32 of Hidden By the Convicts
HARLIS
Fuck!Not only was she sneaking out of the house in the middle of the night for some reason Harlis couldn’t imagine, she’d taken his shoes. He pulled his pants on and shoved his feet into Bowen’s boots, which were a bit large, but manageable.
He followed her, keeping his distance so she wouldn’t see him. There was no way she was returning to the guards. But where was she going?
As she approached the compound, Harlis grew increasingly tense. His instincts said to grab her and take her back to the house, but doing that could cause her to scream and alert the guards. Whatever she was up to, he wouldn’t risk her safety.
To his surprise, she headed to the harvester sheds and slipped inside one. Light shone through the holes in the wood structure. Harlis snuck closer and peered through one of the holes, shocked at what he saw.
Chapter Eight
BOWEN
Bowen dreamed of his home on Barlis, how full of life and laughter it had been before the mining tragedy took the lives of his brothers and fathers and left him trapped a mile deep for over a week.
That horrendous period of his life was fourteen years ago, but the images remained as clear as if it had been yesterday. He could still remember shivering from the cold and the panic of how he’d been sure he’d drown in the water filling the section of the mine where he and four others were trapped. Three had been struck from falling rocks and knocked unconscious. No matter how hard he and Paulson fought to keep them afloat, they had drowned. The walls of the cavity had been too slippery with nothing to hold on to.
As Bowen woke, he let out a cry of frustration and anger. He could still feel the mine’s walls closing in on him, suffocating him as he struggled to keep his friends from drowning.
Something soft pressed up against his back. Warm, bare skin. A gentle hand moved down his arm as warm lips pressed against his neck and suddenly he could breathe again.
“You’re safe, Bowen.”
Teagen.
Narkos.
Mozely and his fucking hole in the ground.
Bowen stretched, testing his muscles and limbs to see if everything still functioned. Then he realized his cock was rock hard, and Teagen, for some reason, was in his bed. Had they done something? Damn, he’d promised her he wouldn’t touch her.
“No one’s going to hurt you again. I won’t let them,” she whispered.
She wouldn’t let anyone touch him? He almost laughed, except she wasn’t joking. Damn, she cared about him. Not that she’d be able to do anything to protect him, nor should she. That was his job. He was the unit leader.
A unit leader who’d failed to keep up his quota and thereby endangered his entire unit. Everything rushed back to him now. Mozely had threatened to go after Gavin and Harlis, and he’d been heading to the greenhouse where Teagen was.
Bowen glanced over his shoulder, seeking out Gavin, but the house was empty. Just him and Teagen. And she was in his bed.
No, not his bed. Harlis’s. They’d put him in Harlis’s bed. In case she had to escape to the pit under his bed. She wouldn’t have been able to move him in an emergency.
Daylight filled the house.
“You’re awake?” Bright green eyes sparkled. “I wasn’t sure. You’ve been mumbling in your sleep about a mine and mud. I guess because you returned soaked in mud last night.”
“Last night?” he asked, his voice raw. He still had to get his bearings. “What day is it?”
“Four days after you went into the hole.”
“Harlis? Gavin?” That sense of doom remained.
“They left for second shift hours ago. And they both have third shift too. They said they’re putting in extra time to help with your quota.”
He let his head drop back to the pillow. “That won’t work. Members of a unit can only make up for the quota of other members depending on the jobs they hold. Harvesting is an essential job. I need Ren to fix the harvesters.”
“Who’s Ren?”
“Engineer on West Side. In charge of keeping everything running, but there are only a few engineers and fixing harvesters isn’t as important as keeping the ventilators in the mines running. Vi’Jen could get a message to Ren, but I need something to trade. Ren won’t come over here without orders or something that will entice him to go against orders.”
