The man curled his lip. "How do I know you have it?"
Ren pulled out a piece of gold and handed it over.
After inspecting the gold, the vendor returned the maize to the girl.
"Thank you," she said to the vendor, not Ren. In fact, she wouldn't even look at him to acknowledge his presence.
Placing it in her wicker basket, she moved to join the other two, who were waiting for her.
"Itzel?" Ren called as he tried to catch up.
She hesitated before she turned to pin him with an irritated grimace. "What?"
"I-I-I was w-wondering..." He hesitated as if searching for the right words. The quivering in his jaw worsened as her look turned from irritation to disdain.
"Wondering what?" she snapped.
He bit his lip before he tried again. "W-would you m-m-mind if I c-c-c-"
"If you're asking to see me, yes I mind." She glanced toward her friends. "Do you think I want to be laughed at and mocked? That I'm desperate enough to be courted by you?" She sneered that word, twisting her face up into an ugly mask of cruelty. "Forget it. Go find yourself a woman as stupid as you. Oh wait, there's no one here that dumb. Not even the whores will take you when you pay them for it. Maybe you can find a horny goat or something in one of the other towns."
Ren stood ramrod stiff as she stalked off and left him to hear the vendor's laughter. As soon as she reached her friends, they all three looked at him and burst out laughing. He lifted his head, but as Kateri watched, the pain in his eyes brought tears to her own.
His friend started toward the girls, but Ren stopped him. "Don't m-m-make it worse."
Shaking his head, his friend headed off in the opposite direction, leaving Ren to glance back at the girls with a wistfulness that shredded her heart.
Kateri winced over what they'd done to him. No wonder he was celibate. Those bitches had trained him well to avoid women. Drawing a ragged breath, she sniffed back her tears. What could she say to ease that kind of meanness? What could ever undo such cruelty?
Unable to stand it, she pulled him into her arms and held him close.
Ren was completely stunned by her actions. Worse, his body roared to life as she pressed her warm curves against him. He stood there completely stiff, in more ways than one, unsure of what to do. "Why are you hugging me, Kateri?"
"Someone needs to."
That only confounded him more. "I don't understand."
Kateri pulled his lips to hers so that she could give him a scorching kiss the likes of which he'd never expected. The intensity of it, the sensation of her tongue dancing with his, made him light-headed and breathless. He growled low in his throat as he wrapped his arms around her and reveled in the taste of her lips.
He didn't think anything could be better. Not until she slid her hand down his chest and stomach, blazing a trail that left him trembling. Then, to his complete shock, she cupped him in her hand.
Completely stunned as she stroked and fingered him through his jeans, he broke off their kiss. "What are you doing?"
"I'm about to rock your world."
Kateri had never been so forward with any man in her life. She had no idea where the courage came from, but she wanted to soothe him in a way she'd never wanted to soothe anyone. No one should be so alone. So abandoned. So humiliated. Especially not a man who had spent eternity protecting others.
A man who had bled to keep her safe. No one had ever given so much to her, and he barely knew her. No wonder he'd gone after the world so ferociously. All it had ever done was kick him in the teeth. She couldn't get over the cruelty she'd witnessed.
For once in his life, he needed to feel appreciated and cared for by someone he'd reached out to.
She nipped at his chin as she unbuttoned his jeans and slid her hand inside to touch him.
Gasping, he caught her hand in his and pulled it back. His breathing ragged, he shook his head. "Don't."
She frowned at his actions. "What's wrong?"
The raw agony in his dark eyes made her ache for him. "I c-c-can't."