His mouth snapped shut.
“One, you get as far away from here as possible. Go to the coast, find a way to another colony, just get the hell out. We both know what Dominik does to deserters.” Did she, though? The punishment for desertion used to be imprisonment. For all she knew, it could be execution now. “And two, you can’t tell anyone you saw me.”
“Deal,” he said without delay.
“I want your word.” But even as she voiced the request, she had to wonder what the point of it was. Dominik had given her his word too when he’d promised to protect her, and look where that had gotten her. Swallowing, Hudson softened her tone. “Please. Prove to me that someone’s word still means something.”
Max’s expression went somber. “I promise to run like the wind, and I promise I won’t tell anyone I saw you.”
“And that includes my friends out there. Don’t say a word to them about who I am.”
“I won’t.”
“Good.” She rose to her feet, brushing dust off her jeans. “I’ll be right back.”
When she stepped outside, all the men snapped to attention. Whatever conversation they’d been having was abandoned as Connor marched up to her.
“Did you get anything?”
Hudson nodded.
“Son of a bitch.” He looked impressed. “He told you where the compound is?”
She nodded again. “I promised him we’d let him go in exchange for the information.” When Connor stiffened, she hurried on. “There’s no reason to hold him prisoner, Con. You said so yourself – he’s a kid.”
Rylan spoke up grimly. “He’s still an Enforcer.”
“Not anymore,” she corrected. “If we let him go, he won’t stick around in the area and cause trouble, not with the Enforcers hunting him. The kid wants to live. He’s planning on leaving the colony.”
Lennox piped up. “Well, I don’t want him. So as far as I’m concerned, he’s free to go.”
Connor still looked unsure. “What did he tell you? What if his intel is bullshit?”
“It’s not. The Enforcer compound is about fifteen miles north of the city. I can even draw you a map – he was very detailed about the location.”
He hissed in a breath. “What’s the security protocol?”
“Impossible to breach,” she admitted.
His eyes gleamed. “Nothing’s impossible.”
“Fine, not impossible. Just suicidal. There are two hundred men living on the compound. The barracks are located in the west building, training areas and offices are in the main one, and the senior Enforcers have their own quarters in the east building.”
She recited the details from memory, because she was describing her home, the place her father had moved them to after her mother died when Hudson was eight. There’d been no reason to stay in the city after that. Her father had thrown himself into his work, deciding he’d rather raise his children in a testosterone-fueled military facility than in the cozy house they’d had in the city.
“A twelve-foot electric fence surrounds the compound,” she said flatly. “Trip wires and land mines on the perimeter and security cameras and motion sensors situated about five feet apart. There are guard towers on all four corners of the property, with four armed guards posted on each tower.”
Lennox whistled. “Je-sus. The kid really was detailed.”
Connor looked unhappy with the report. “Could he be exaggerating?”
“I don’t think he is. My father told me their security was intense. If anything, there’s probably a lot the kid left out.” She implored Connor with her eyes. “You can’t ambush the compound. It’s not like the storage stations, not by a long shot. If you want to get to Dominik” – her heart ached at the thought – “you’ll need to do it outside the gates, because they’ll shoot you down like a dog if you get within a hundred feet of the fence. Oh, and speaking of dogs – I forgot about that. There are guard dogs patrolling the inside of the fence.”
He rubbed his jaw, and she could see his brain working over the implications. Then he gave a brisk nod. “I’ll think on it. But you’re drawing me that map when we get back to camp.”
“And the kid?” she pressed. “Can we let him go?”
He glanced at Lennox. “You tied him up. You can cut him loose.”
“Yes, sir.” Rolling his eyes, Lennox strolled toward the building. “Thanks for the lovely visit,” he drawled over his shoulder.
Rylan drifted over to the motorcycles, but Connor didn’t follow suit. Instead, he surprised Hudson by taking a step closer and cupping her cheeks with his hands. He kissed her, sweet and gentle, the warmth of his lips doing nothing to ease the chill that had plagued her body since she’d decided it was time to tell him the truth.
When he pulled back, unmistakable gratitude shone in his eyes, and then he uttered two words that made her want to cry.
“Thank you.”
19
Connor got the feeling Hudson was avoiding him. Granted, they’d both been busy since they’d returned to camp. Hudson had been cleaning out another cabin while Connor was with Xander in the lodge, but now that night had fallen, she continued to stay away. And Connor didn’t like it.
He knew she was worried about him, but he wished she’d quit stressing. He wasn’t about to storm the Enforcer compound like a paratrooper from the old wars – he was smarter than that. Now that he had the location of Dominik’s base, it was time to start making plans, and not the half-cocked kind. Carefully strategized plans.
It was why he’d spent the day riding Xander’s ass about the communication program. If the Enforcers used it to send messages, then Connor could use it to his advantage and find a way to get to Dominik through the program. But Xan wasn’t making any headway, no matter how many times Connor ordered him to work harder.
A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. The sound was soft and feminine, which told him Hudson had finally decided to stop hiding from him. About time. It was nearly midnight, and he was surprised he’d allowed her to keep her distance for this long.
He let her in with a gruff hello, and she looked exasperated as she walked into the cabin. “Xander said you were driving him crazy today.”
“I’m surprised he phrased it that nicely,” Connor said dryly.
“He didn’t.” She grinned. “I was trying not to hurt your feelings.”
Yeah, he could only imagine the kind of expletives that had left Xan’s mouth.
“I may have been a little overbearing today,” he admitted, albeit grudgingly.
“A little? He said you threatened to chop off his fingers and feed them to the wolf if he didn’t type faster.”
Connor snickered.
“You can’t bully him into making the program work. Technology can be a bitch sometimes.”
“I wouldn’t have to bully him if he spent more than ten minutes a day on the damn thing,” Connor protested. “Honestly? I think he’s stalling.”
She frowned. “Why would he do that?”
“Fuck if I know. But I want that program up and running.”
“And you always get what you want, huh?”
Her tone was half teasing, half resigned, and it brought a devilish smile to his lips. “Yeah, I do.” He arched one eyebrow. “You wanna know what I want right now? You. Naked. On my bed.”
“Oh really?”
He eased closer, teasing his thumb over her cheek. “Yes. That’s exactly what I want.” He pinched her bottom lip between his fingers. “Are you going to give it to me?”
Her gaze locked with his, and her expression became impossible to decipher. “No.”
He blinked. “No?”
“No,” she repeated. Her voice went husky, thoughtful. “You won’t get what you want, Con. But…” Those gray eyes softened with an emotion he once again couldn’t puzzle out. “I think I’m going to give you what you need.”
Before he could respond, she planted her hands on his chest and gave him a little shove. “Get on the bed.?
??
Her fortitude unnerved him, but he was too turned on to argue. It was impossible for this woman to say the word bed without his dick getting hard, and he was sporting a noticeable erection as he stretched out on his back, waiting to see what she did next.
She began to undress, and he couldn’t take his eyes off her. Sweet curves and sun-kissed skin were revealed with each discarded item of clothing, stealing the breath from his lungs. She unclasped her bra and let it drop to the floor, then undid her braid and smoothed her fingers through her hair. The golden strands covered her breasts, but her pink nipples peeked through, making Connor’s mouth tingle with the need to taste them.
When he tried to sit up, she pointed to the mattress. “Lie back.”
He reluctantly lowered himself back down, his heart thumping as Hudson climbed on the bed and straddled his thighs. Warm hands slid beneath his shirt, delicate fingers stroking his pecs before finding his nipples, rubbing the hard, flat disks until he groaned in abandon and reached for her again.
“Bring your tits to my face, damn it.”
“No.” She intercepted his hands and forcibly moved them behind his head. “You don’t get to bark out orders. Not tonight.”
He frowned.
“You’re always giving everyone else what they need.” Her voice cracked slightly. “Me, Rylan, the others. Just this once, let me give you what you need.”
She tugged his shirt up, nudged his arms so he could help slip the fabric over his head, then gripped his wrists and moved them back to his nape. “Leave your hands there. Let me take care of you.”
Uneasiness washed over him. “Hudson…”
A faint smile lifted the corner of her mouth. “God, look at that frown. This freaks you out, doesn’t it?” Her breasts swayed seductively as she leaned forward, using her thumb to smooth the deep crease in his forehead. “I knew it would.” She paused. “I figured it out.”
“Figured what out?”
“You,” she said simply. “You’re always in control, Con. You can’t give it up. Ever. Hell, you know shit-all about technology, and yet you sat on Xander’s ass all day, ordering him around, because you can’t not be in control.”
The frown returned, but she caressed it away again, while her other hand rubbed soothing circles on the center of his bare chest.
“I thought that maybe you were on some kind of power trip, but now I know that’s not true.” Her fingertips touched the patch of skin above his heart, and he knew she could feel it hammering against her palm. “You’re scared that if you don’t stay in control, someone will get hurt.”
A powerless sensation eddied in his gut. “Hudson —”
“But it’s okay to let go, remember? That’s what you told me when I first got here, that sometimes a person needs to hand over control and just let themselves feel.” She planted a gentle kiss on his collarbone. “I want you to let go tonight.” Her lips traveled up his throat, leaving goose bumps in their wake before hovering over his mouth. “You don’t have to do everything alone, Con. You don’t have to be strong for everyone else.” She kissed him, firm and reassuring. “We all trust you, but you need to trust us.”
Something akin to panic fluttered up his spine. He was in no way immobilized. He could move his arms. He could push her off him.
But he was trapped.
It was the same way he’d felt after his father died and he’d had no choice but to step up and take care of the group. The way he’d felt whenever Maggie had pleaded with him to give her the home she so desperately yearned for. When she’d convinced him to go against his better judgment and play along with her fantasy of what the world was.
“Trust me,” Hudson whispered. “Tonight you don’t have to think, or issue orders, or take care of anyone. Trust someone else to take care of you.”
“I… don’t know if I can,” he whispered back.
“You can.” She kissed him again, but his lips remained paralyzed. “You’re going to lie there and shut that sexy mouth of yours, baby.”
A grin tickled his lips.
“I mean it. Keep your hands to yourself, and no filthy commands.” She pulled his belt free of the buckle and dragged his zipper down. “You don’t need to tell me what’ll make you feel good.” When his cock sprang up, hard and eager, she gripped the base tight enough to make him grunt. “I already know.”
Jesus, she did. She knew so fucking well, and the rough stroke she gave him brought black dots to his eyes.
This time when she kissed him, he responded. Lips parting just enough for his tongue to sneak past them and into Hudson’s mouth. She quickly chased his tongue into his mouth, kissing him so deeply they were both gasping for air by the time they broke apart.
The silence was eerie. He was used to hearing himself tell her what to do: Suck harder, spread wider, come for me. Tonight she needed no instruction. His body belonged to her, and she knew it. She took it, warm lips and clever hands traveling over every inch of his flesh until there wasn’t a part of him she hadn’t branded with her touch.
When her mouth closed around his cock, a command almost slipped out. “Suc—”
He stopped abruptly, and she peered up with a chuckle. “Aw, look at that. You’re learning.” Her breath tickled his shaft, tongue darting out to taste the pearly drop at his tip. “You’re going to be good, aren’t you, baby? Sweet and submissive and silent while I have my way with you.” She licked his crown in a slow, wet circle. “You’re going to let me suck your cock until you can’t remember a time when my mouth wasn’t bringing you pleasure.”
Jesus.
She didn’t let up, whispering sinful words and filthy promises against his skin as she used her tongue to test his control. Each hard suck was followed by a taunt. Each sharp pump trailed by a satisfied laugh, as if she knew she was stealing his sanity, turning his brain to mush. The role reversal should have terrified him, but it only turned him on, so much that when he suddenly climaxed, it caught him by complete surprise.
A shock of pleasure rocketed through him as he came in her mouth, but his hips stayed motionless, as if his body knew that Hudson would give it what it needed. And she did, her fist pumping him through the release as her mouth stayed glued to the head of his cock, swallowing every drop of pleasure she summoned from his body.
It was a heady feeling. Letting go. Letting her take charge.
Connor stopped thinking. Stopped wondering what she was going to do next. He closed his eyes and let himself feel, and when the mattress dipped and her pussy bumped his lips, his tongue came out on instinct, licking and probing until Hudson was groaning as wildly as he was. He wanted to feel her coming on his face, feel her clit pulsing on his tongue, but she denied him, rocking into him until she was wet and swollen, and then she was gone.
His eyes stayed closed. He waited. Trusted that the course she’d set would take them both where they needed to go. His cock was already hard again, a painful weight against his stomach, aching for relief.
He shivered when she ran a hand down the center of his chest. A teasing stroke. Gentle fingers gripped his shaft as she stretched a condom over it.
“This isn’t so bad, is it? Trusting someone else to take care of you?”
No, it wasn’t bad at all. It was good. So fucking good, and he was never going to forget —
She impaled herself on his cock, and his brain imploded. Shut down completely. It was sensation overload. The tight clasp of her pussy. The pressure in his balls. She rode him hard, her nails digging into his pecs as her hips moved and her inner muscles bore down on him.
“Touch my clit, Connor. Rub it. Make me come.”
His hand shook as he brought it to the place where they were joined. He pressed his thumb to that tight bud, flicking and stroking in time to the wild grinding of her hips. When she cried out in orgasm, he felt it in his cock, in his blood. It was almost enough to send him flying over the edge again, but not quite, and Hudson was so attuned to his body’s responses that she leaned forwa
rd and kissed him, whispering another order even as she trembled in release.
“Fuck me hard. Now.”
The control he’d barely had to begin with snapped like a frayed piece of rope. His hips rose in an upward thrust, hard and deep, over and over again, filling her to the hilt as he wrapped his arms around her and held her tight to his chest.
Ecstasy. He’d thought he’d known what that was, but everything he’d felt in the past, all the sex and blow jobs and orgasms… a blurry photograph compared to the vivid canvas flashing in front of him. Release came in a warm, soothing wave that washed over him, loosening muscles that were always coiled tight, breaking apart the armor that surrounded his heart.