His pectoral muscles strained as his body bent over hers, his hands braced on either side of her head as he drove into her, fast and merciless. The new angle created friction against her clit, and her toes curled as pleasure shot through her.
Connor’s mouth found hers in a blistering kiss, and then he bit her bottom lip and she suddenly tasted blood. The raw brutality of that should have scared her. Instead, it triggered a screaming orgasm that sizzled through her veins and brought stars to her eyes.
He fucked her through the powerful waves of bliss, groaning when she wrapped her arms around him and raked her nails down his back. “Fuck, yeah. Hurt me.”
The raspy command made her moan. She scratched her way down to his ass and squeezed his taut buttocks, her hips rising to meet his hurried thrusts. She could feel him pulsing inside her, knew from the tight stretch of his features that he was close.
She dug her nails into his ass. “Come for me, baby.” She couldn’t believe the bold command had left her mouth. Neither could he, apparently, because approval glittered in his eyes and he let out a chuckle, which was cut short by a low groan that rumbled in his throat.
“Oh hell.” He gave one last thrust and trembled on top of her, his breath hot on her neck as he climaxed.
Her body protested when he slid out. Rippled with disappointment and throbbed with rising arousal that caught her off guard. He’d just fucked her to the most powerful orgasm of her life, and she already wanted him again.
No, she was desperate for him again.
Shit.
If she wasn’t careful, she might very well lose her head over this man.
11
It was bizarre walking into the kitchen and finding a woman there. Usually it was Xander or Kade at the stove, making soup or stew, or sometimes eggs, if Pike had paid a recent visit to the farm they traded supplies with. The men didn’t make a production out of cooking – they prepared fast meals with enough substance to sustain them for another day. Nothing fancy, oftentimes not even particularly appetizing, so Connor couldn’t help but gape when he saw the sheer amount of ingredients strewn on the counters. The damned woman was cooking enough food to feed an army.
And Rylan, the son of a bitch, was helping Hudson instead of performing the one task Connor had asked him to handle today.
The other man glanced up from the potatoes he was peeling and flashed a sheepish look. “Couldn’t be helped, brother. She dragged me in here.”
“I didn’t know how to work this thing,” Hudson protested, gesturing to the wood-burning stove. “We have electric ones in the city.”
“I’ll fix the bike tomorrow,” Rylan assured him before refocusing his attention on the potatoes.
Connor swept his gaze over the counters. “Are we having company?” he said dryly.
Hudson blushed. “I wanted to cook you guys a nice dinner. It’s a thank-you for letting me stay.”
She stretched upward to try to reach the top cupboard, causing her ass to jut out enticingly. The tantalizing sight brought an instant dose of lust to his bloodstream. Christ, he wanted to fuck her just like that – bent over the counter as he drove into her tight pussy from behind.
“He’s getting hard watching you cook,” Rylan told Hudson in a cheerful voice.
She closed the cupboard and glanced over with a sigh. “I’m starting to think everything gets him hard.”
She was wrong. He was usually a lot more controlled than this.
He never screwed a woman more than once. He got off, got her off, and didn’t look back, didn’t feel the need for a repeat performance. Not even the regulars at Lennox’s could hold his attention for more than one night.
But Hudson… goddamn it, he wanted her again. He couldn’t stop thinking about the noises she’d made yesterday. How tight she’d been. Shit, his skin still bore the gouges she’d left when she’d raked her nails down his back while he’d drilled her.
He came up behind her, his hands curling over her hips as he leaned in to kiss her neck. Her sweet, feminine fragrance surrounded him, made him dizzy. She used the same coconut-scented shampoo every cabin was stocked with, but he didn’t get this worked up when he smelled the damn thing on his own head.
“Everything you do gets me hard.” He corrected her accusation and punctuated it by sinking his teeth into her neck.
She jerked in surprise, then leaned back against his chest with a purr of pleasure.
“Tell Rylan how hard you got me yesterday,” he muttered, licking a path up to her jaw. Biting that too. “Tell him what I did to you.”
There was a rustle of movement, and then Rylan appeared in front of Hudson, his hands joining Connor’s on her waist. “I can’t wait to hear it,” the man drawled.
Rylan’s lips found the other side of her neck, and Connor chuckled as a full-body shiver shook Hudson’s slender frame.
“Tell him,” he commanded.
“On the table,” she choked out.
Rylan chuckled too. “On the table what?”
“He —” She moaned when Connor squeezed her ass. “He…”
Her arousal thickened the air, her head lolling to the side as Rylan’s lips devoured her neck. “Still waiting,” Rylan teased between kisses. “Tell me what he did to you.”
Connor ran his finger down the crease of her ass, then slid it underneath and cupped her pussy. Hard.
“He fucked me on the table, and it was – oh gosh, keep doing that.” She ground wildly into his hand, abandoning all attempts to answer the question. “Please, Con, don’t stop. Keep touching me —”
“Don’t mind me,” a sarcastic voice spoke up. “I can wait.”
Hudson jumped in surprise. The spell was broken, the heat of her body gone as she hastily ducked away from him and Rylan.
Pike stood in the doorway, taking in the scene with sheer disinterest. “Didn’t have to stop on my account.”
Connor didn’t miss the way Hudson tensed at the sound of Pike’s voice. He didn’t blame her. The man was a scary motherfucker.
“I need to talk to you,” Pike told him.
He followed Pike out the door, leaving Hudson and Rylan to their dinner preparations. On the front steps of the lodge, Pike lit a cigarette and blew out a thick gray cloud that matched the one darkening his eyes.
“How long is she staying, Con?”
He propped both elbows on the porch railing. “I don’t know. Indefinitely, for now.”
“She shouldn’t be here.”
His shoulders stiffened. “She’s been earning her keep so far. The other guys seem to like her, and she helped us on the raid. No reason for her to go yet.”
“Jesus, would you stop thinking about her pussy and start focusing on the threat?” Pike’s tone was icy now. “She’s got a goddamn Enforcer lieutenant on her tail.”
Connor didn’t need the reminder. He might be lusting over the woman, but he hadn’t lost sight of the danger she could potentially bring to his door. Knox was as deadly as Dominik, maybe even more so.
“Reese will send word if Knox is heading in our direction,” he replied with a shrug. “If or when that happens, we’ll send Hudson on her way.”
“And if we don’t get word in time?” Pike countered.
“We’ll figure it out, man. We always do.”
Pike went silent, but Connor could feel the man’s surly gaze boring into the side of his face.
“Say whatever’s on your mind,” he muttered. “I’m not in the mood to pry it out of you.”
Pike’s cheeks hollowed as he took another drag of his smoke. He exhaled abruptly and said, “Why can’t you just admit what this is really about?”
Connor frowned.
“You want her here because Knox is after her.” Pike flicked cigarette ash over the railing. “You’re hoping Knox finds her, because Dominik might be with him. You want them to come.”
It grated that Pike could see right through him. None of the other men had questioned why he was willing to protect a citize
n who brought so much dangerous baggage to the table. Rylan was too enamored with Hudson’s gorgeous face. Xander and Kade seemed to enjoy her no-nonsense attitude and eagerness to please. But Pike knew the deal. Pike always knew the deal.
“My plans for Dominik have never been a secret,” he said coldly. “I told you exactly what I intended to do when we first met. Hell, I was on my way to find him when you and Ry showed up and decided to complicate my life.”
“To stop you from your crazy suicide mission,” Pike retorted, his tone equally chilly. “When we met you, you didn’t give a shit whether you lived or died. You just wanted Dominik’s throat.”
“I still do,” Connor hissed out. “You think that’s changed? You think I’m going to let him get away with what he’s done?”
“Boo-fucking-hoo, Con. Dominik killed your people. News flash – Dominik’s killed a lot of people.”
He killed my wife, you son of a bitch.
Connor slammed his lips together to stop the confession from escaping. His men knew only the details he’d been willing to give them. They knew about his need for vengeance.
They didn’t know about Maggie.
Maggie was nobody’s business but his. His and Dominik’s. And that piece of unfinished business would only be settled once he sliced Dominik’s throat from ear to ear.
“What the hell do you want me to say? Yes, I want Dominik dead. Yes, I plan on killing him the first chance I get. If you don’t like that, then go. If you don’t like Hudson being here, then go.” He thrust an arm out beyond the porch. “Nobody’s forcing you to stay here, man. There aren’t any chains keeping you here, no loyalty tying you to me. To any of us. If you don’t like it, then go.”
Silence stretched between them, finally broken by Pike’s tired sigh. “It might come down to that, Con.” He swore under his breath. “Might fucking come down to that.”
The dining room contained enough tables and chairs to seat about a hundred people.
Only six were eating tonight.
Connor could tell that little bit of math was stumping Hudson. She kept glancing at the empty chairs that were collecting dust, a slight frown marring her mouth. She didn’t comment on the discrepancy, though, which was a relief because he didn’t particularly feel like defending himself again about why he didn’t open his doors to other outlaws.
Hell, he’d already taken in five people, and that was five too many as far as he was concerned. And the fucking irony of it was that those five people could protect themselves. They didn’t need him. They’d just chosen to stick with him for some dumbass reason.
As for the rest of the world, well, screw it. He couldn’t save everyone, and there were other communities in the free land that those seeking shelter could turn to. Lennox had told him about a bunker out east that housed more than a hundred outlaws. So there you go. All the desperate little lambs could flock there, and leave him the hell alone.
“Thank you for dinner, gorgeous. This is amazing.”
Connor grinned at the reverence shining in Rylan’s eyes. He had to admit he was enjoying the meal too. It definitely beat Xander’s bland soups.
“You’re welcome,” she answered, looking pleased by the compliment.
“How’d you learn to cook?” Kade spoke up in a wary voice, which suddenly triggered Connor’s suspicions, because… well, hell. How did she know how to cook? Citizens weren’t in charge of their own food preparation – they ate at the city meal halls.
Hudson shifted in discomfort. “Connor told you about my father, right?”
Kade’s lips curled. “He was some big-shot adviser to the council?”
She nodded. “My family got special privileges. We had our own kitchen, a cook.” Hudson’s voice softened. “Her name was Mary. She was sweet to me. I think it was because my mom was gone and I was the only girl in the – house.”
Connor didn’t miss the way she stumbled on the last word, but he wasn’t sure why it raised his guard.
“I would sit in the kitchen and watch her cook.” Hudson smiled. “Eventually she told me to make myself useful, and taught me everything she knew.” The smile faded rapidly. “I cooked for my father and brother a few times, but my dad thought my time was better spent out of the kitchen.”
An uneasy feeling tickled Connor’s gut. “You never mentioned a brother.”
Her expression went stricken. Pain and regret. Deep sorrow. “I didn’t mention him because he’s not in my life anymore. I left him behind when I escaped.” Her voice cracked. “I guess that means I have no right to miss him, huh?”
A choked sound came from Kade’s direction.
“Are you okay?” Hudson asked softly.
The other man cleared his throat before nodding. “Yeah. I’m fine.” He hesitated, his fingers tightening around his fork. “I left my brother behind too.”
Kade didn’t offer any more details, and everyone wisely kept their mouths shut.
Rylan broke the silence with an awkward cough. “Tamara’s making a run into the city next week.” He glanced at Connor. “She said to send a message to Lennox if there’s something we want her to grab for us.”
Connor shook his head. “There’s nothing the city has that we can’t find at the storage stations.”
“That’s what I told her.” Rylan grinned. “She looked mighty disappointed.”
Xander snorted. “Yeah, that’s ’cause she wants us to owe her. The bitch loves collecting favors.”
Hudson spoke up tentatively. “Tamara? I met her at the… at Lennox’s house.”
Connor hid a smile. For some reason he found it endearing that she still couldn’t say the word whorehouse.
“She’s interesting,” Hudson added.
It was Kade’s turn to snort. “That’s a nice way of putting it.”
“Seriously, don’t let that beautiful face fool you,” Rylan warned. “Tamara is deadly. She’s probably the most powerful person in the free land, actually.”
Hudson looked surprised. “How so?”
The men clammed up, and Connor stifled a sigh when everyone turned to look at him. Rylan’s gaze conveyed an unspoken question, seeking permission about how much to reveal. Connor understood the reason for it. For all intents and purposes, Hudson was still a stranger to them, and a former citizen to boot. It’d been the same way with Kade when he’d first joined them. The guy had to prove himself before he was privy to their secrets.
But Connor didn’t care about outing Tamara, mostly because the woman was a thorn in his side most of the time. Then again, she was also one of the few women who had no interest in sleeping with him, which he appreciated. He didn’t like having to worry whether the girl in his bed might cut his balls off.
Shrugging, he turned to Hudson. “She’s a smuggler.”
A frown puckered her brow. “What does she smuggle?”
“Everything. She’s got contacts all over the Colonies, and more than one Enforcer in her pocket.”
“She bribes the Enforcers? How? With what?”
“Sex. Money. Who knows what else? But she’s made a nice little reputation for herself. If you need something, Tamara can get it for you.”
“In exchange for what?”
He repeated himself with a grin. “Sex. Money. Who knows what else?”
“Favors,” Xander said glumly. “Every time I’ve hit her up she’s asked for a favor in return. And it’s always a pain in the ass. Last time, she forced me to make a three-day drive down south to pick some goddamn lavender for her.”
Hudson laughed. “What did she need with lavender?”
“Apparently she knows someone who uses it to make girly body lotion and shit.” Xander stabbed a roasted potato with his fork. “So yeah, I risked my neck just to pick her some flowers. Trust me, it’s not worth the hassle.”
Hudson still looked intrigued. “So there’s a whole – I don’t know – business side to this life? Smuggling networks, bars, places like Lennox’s.” She paused thoughtfully. “Are there
any permanent settlements? Actual communities? Or does everyone hide underground and come out when they need something?”
“There are a few communities,” Xander told her. “And yeah, they’re usually in deserted bunkers, or up in the mountains, somewhere remote that the Enforcers can’t easily access. Well, unless you’re Reese, and then you’re ballsy enough to commandeer an entire town.”