Ruled

  How could she ever go back to her ordinary practice of sleeping with men she didn’t care about?

  She’d known Rylan was trouble from the very start. It was why she’d resisted his charms for so long. And she’d known keeping Sloan at a distance, physically anyway, was vitally important in order to keep up the pretense that despite everything they’d shared, he wasn’t necessary to her well-being.

  So why had she let them both in?

  Reese exhaled in a rush, and she was running almost before she shut the bedroom door behind her. Sloan undoubtedly heard her rapidly retreating footsteps, and she could almost hear him sigh heavily in her ear.

  Sweetheart, he’d say, this changes nothing. I’m still the sword at your back. You have a mess, I’m there to clean it up. Plan your attacks. Inspire your people. Let the rest of us work out the details.

  She ran harder, hoping the physical effort would drive out his voice and ease her tension. Scott was up doing chores when she ran past the farm. She raised an arm in greeting but didn’t pause. Despite the cool winter morning, sweat began to drip down the sides of her face as she pushed forward toward a cluster of trees and a torn-up cement trail that snaked for miles around the more wooded and scenic areas at the outskirts of town.

  Even as her feet ate up the miles and her shirt became soaked with perspiration, none of the tension abated. By the sixth mile, she wasn’t even sure what she was worked up about, only that she was.

  But why? The outpost attacks had been successful. Between her and Connor, there was only one station left in the southwest. There’d been no word of casualties or defeat from the other camp leaders, and in this case, no word was a good sign. Enforcers had already come and gone twice, which meant that Foxworth wouldn’t be due for another visit anytime soon. The town was safer than ever.

  So what if she’d slept with Rylan and Sloan? Any woman would jump to be the center of that man-sandwich. So what if Bethany had a baby and Reese couldn’t? Having a baby in the free land with Enforcers sniffing around was dangerous and stupid—neither trait anyone would associate with Reese.

  But the itch in the middle of her back wouldn’t go away. The headache in her temples pounded in time with her feet. With each stride, she should have been shedding her stress and anxiety, but Reese had a feeling she could run all the way to the coast and still not get rid of her unease.

  It was that remaining outpost, she decided. And the fact that there were still Foxworth soldiers lent out to Brynn and Mick. She wanted all her people back behind the gates. And she wanted the Global Council destroyed.

  What she needed was to take down the remaining outpost. It’d be stocked with only a few men. Ten at the very most. She’d taken out three men by herself the other night. Sure, she’d gotten winged, but she’d be more careful next time. And she’d have Sloan.

  Once the final outpost was gone, the next step would be to aim for the council.

  Yes. Her footsteps grew slower, but firmer. That was what she needed to do—a full and complete destruction of the watchtowers. Enforcers touring the colony wouldn’t have those stations to refuel, and the lack of backup would either force them to make deals with Reese again or it would tire them out and make them sloppy.

  Reese finally gave up on her run. Any other morning, the crisp air and the burn in her lungs, the monotony of her feet slapping at the dirt, would have left her energized and ready to face the day. But no amount of sweat was going to fix what was ailing her today.

  She had an idea of what would, though. Her internal check system wasn’t allowing her to relax and enjoy herself because the job wasn’t done.

  It had nothing to do with Rylan or Sloan or the intimacy that had been stirred up in her bedroom.

  Nope, nothing to do with that.

  * * *

  Back at Foxworth, the town was starting to wake up. She hoped the men were up and gone, because she really needed to shower but wasn’t in the mood to have a post-sex talk with either one of them.

  She was halfway inside her doorway when she heard a soft voice say her name.

  “Reese.”

  Christine ambled up, and she seemed . . . different. Her shoulders were back and her head wasn’t bowed like it usually was. She still looked as sweet and shy as ever, but there was a new confidence about her that made Reese hide a wry smile. Yeah, getting your period would do that to a girl. Obviously Christine had overcome her embarrassment and decided she was a woman.

  “How are you feeling?” Reese asked the teenager.

  Christine scuffed a toe in the dirt. “Better. I wanted to apologize for being such a baby the other day.”

  “You weren’t. First time I got my period, I cried my eyes out. I couldn’t figure out why my body suddenly decided to torture me.”

  Christine giggled, and the two of them shared a look of understanding that filled Reese with a confusing amount of warmth.

  She quickly tried to shake it off by asking, “Why are you up so early?”

  “I want to see Bethany and the baby. Wanna come with me?”

  Dread churned in her stomach, but Christine looked so excited that Reese didn’t have the heart to make up an excuse. The girl was even holding out her hand, when in the past she’d always avoided physical contact.

  Drawing a breath, she took the girl’s hand and allowed Christine to drag her toward Bethany’s.

  Inside the house, the new mother was sitting up by the front windows.

  “You should be in bed,” Reese reprimanded from the open doorway. “You just had a baby.”

  Bethany lifted the newborn from her breast and grimaced. “All he’s done so far is eat and sleep and poop. I wanted to look out the window.” Her chin jutted out. “Besides, Rylan told me to get up and move around if I felt like it.”

  “Oh my gosh! He’s so little,” Christine breathed in awe, taking a hesitant step closer to the couch.

  “Want to hold him?” Bethany offered with a smile.

  Christine had her arms out before Bethany was done asking the question. A moment later, the young girl was cuddling the baby to her chest, and the two of them made a picture of such heartrending innocence that Reese struggled to control her jealousy.

  In the city, a girl’s first period meant a visit from the medics. It marked the first and last time she’d be fertile. But for Christine, the promise of motherhood was very real. It should’ve made Reese fiercely glad, because wasn’t this the whole purpose behind Foxworth? To build a community that would have the freedom and peace to grow?

  Instead, she was practically choking on envy and hating herself for it.

  “You eaten breakfast yet?” Bethany asked.

  Reese jerked her head away from Christine. “No. Haven’t had time.”

  Bethany started to rise, but Reese shook a hand in the woman’s direction, gesturing for her to sit her just-delivered-a-baby ass back in the chair.

  “I’ll make it myself,” Reese said firmly.

  “All right.” Bethany grinned. “Go cook something for me too, then. Because I’m famished.”

  “Yes, sir.” Rolling her eyes, Reese headed for the kitchen. “Is everyone doing okay after the Enforcer visit?” she asked as she pulled a bowl of farm fresh eggs and a jar of milk from the refrigerator.

  “Yeah, but the bunker’s getting crowded,” Bethany replied.

  “Some of the older boys and girls can stay up top next time.” The Enforcers might wonder why they had so many young people, but their orders were to snuff out the babies. As long as the older kids could pass as adults, hopefully they’d be left alone.

  “You think there’s going to be a next time?”

  “Yes.”

  Christine squeaked.

  Reese shot a glance over her shoulder and fought a jolt of anger at the fear she glimpsed on Christine’s face. The anger wasn’t directed at the girl, but th
e council. Sure, Christine and Bethany were able to have babies, but none of them were truly free. As long as the Global Council existed, Reese’s people would never be free.

  She swallowed her bitterness and turned back to the stove. “Want meat in your eggs?”

  “Yes, please.” Bethany paused. “Oh. Hey. Did Sloan tell you that one of Scott and Anna’s cows is pregnant?”

  Reese slammed the skillet down harder than necessary. Was everyone on the fucking planet pregnant these days? She wondered briefly whether Connor’s woman was sterile. Hudson wasn’t a designated breeder, but she came from a wealthy and powerful family. The rules didn’t always apply to those folks.

  “Need help over there?” Bethany called out.

  “Nope. I’m good.”

  Reese whipped the eggs and decided she was done chatting for the morning. When she emerged from the kitchen, she was carrying plates of toast, potatoes, and eggs for Bethany, Christine, and herself. Bethany’s dish also had a small side of steak.

  Reese settled into a chair and watched as Bethany managed to fork food into her mouth with one hand and hold the baby with the other. Then she turned to Christine and asked, “How’s your training going?”

  As per Reese’s orders, everyone in town was learning self-defense and how to shoot a gun, but she considered the training even more important for the females. Men outnumbered women in the free land, and Reese would be damned if her girls didn’t learn to protect themselves. There were men out there, bandits mostly, who would have no qualms taking a pretty girl like Christine against her will.

  Christine smiled. “Pretty good—I’ve been practicing with the bow and arrow. I’m sad Jamie is gone because I really wanted to show her how my aim has improved.” She blushed guiltily, and Reese realized she was probably remembering the fight Jamie and Reese had gotten into during the onset of training.

  What had that fight even been over? Reese scanned her brain for a second, then grinned in memory. Right. It’d been about how Reese was never to touch Lennox again.

  “Don’t worry, I’m sure Jamie will be by one of these days. Nash radioed her about Bethy’s baby, so I bet she’s already making plans to get here.”

  Christine looked confused, as if she didn’t understand how you could beat the shit out of someone one day and welcome them into your home the next, but Jamie had been fighting for her man that day, and fighting for what you wanted was something Reese wholly believed in.

  “Have you heard from the other camps?” Bethany asked.

  “No, but that’s a good thing. That means they’re focused on the mission and executing it. If we’d already heard back from them, that’d mean someone broke away from the outpost attacks and had to flee for safety.” Reese set down her fork and washed the breakfast down with a gulp of water. “Anyway, thanks for breakfast, but I’ve gotta go.”

  “Want to hold Archer before you leave?” Bethany tipped her head to the infant.

  “No, thanks.” The refusal came out brusquer than Reese intended.

  “He won’t bite,” Bethany said with a laugh.

  “You gotta hold him, Reese. He smells so good. Like an angel,” Christine cooed.

  “You know you want to.” Bethany clearly meant to tease, but the expectant look in both her and Christine’s eyes stung Reese.

  She stared at them coldly until the light faded in Bethany’s eyes and the woman shifted uncomfortably. Even Christine got the hint, sliding back in her chair as if to make herself a smaller target.

  Fuck. Reese hated that she’d brought a chill into Bethany’s room. Hated that there was distance growing between herself and her friend. But she was helpless to stop it, and she knew it ran so much deeper than envy over the baby. Reese wasn’t sure if she’d ever be able to look at Bethany again without the guilt of Arch’s death breathing down her neck.

  She took a breath and pushed the rising guilt aside. Feeling too much was what had pushed Jake over the edge. She needed control, needed to forget about emotions, because emotions would only get everyone killed, from old Anna and Scott to the newborn in Bethany’s arms.

  So, no. She wasn’t allowed to feel. She was only allowed to act. And there was only one way to make sure the people under her care remained safe.

  The total annihilation of the council.

  21

  Rylan opened his eyes to find a heavily muscled arm flung over his chest. Shit, no wonder he’d been dreaming about suffocating. Sloan’s arm was like an iron beam. And his callused hand was curled so protectively around Rylan’s left pec that it brought a choked laugh to his lips. Even in slumber Sloan wanted to protect the people he cared about.

  Rylan had never thought he’d be welcomed into that very exclusive circle.

  “Sloan,” he wheezed softly. “Can’t breathe.”

  The man beside him stirred, head lifting as his dark eyes slitted open. “Pussy.”

  He swallowed another laugh. “Not my fault you weigh a million pounds.”

  “You calling me fat?”

  The rumble of indignation had him running a hand through Sloan’s short hair. “Nah. You’re just big-boned.”

  “Fucker.” And then a pair of sharp teeth dug into Rylan’s shoulder.

  Okay, this was messed up. Who woulda thought he’d be cuddling in bed with Sloan, of all people? Not to mention joking around with the man. The man who Rylan had always believed was allergic to humor. It felt really fucking nice waking up this way, though. Only thing that would’ve made it better was if Reese were still snuggled up between them.

  He craned his neck and peered around the bedroom. “Where’s Reese?” He’d been sleeping so soundly he hadn’t even felt her slide out of bed.

  Sloan, of course, proved yet again that he was always aware of Reese’s movements. “Snuck out around dawn,” Sloan said in a sleepy voice. “She’s an early riser.”

  “And you didn’t go with her?”

  “She likes to go for a run after she wakes up. Not my workout of choice.”

  Rylan snickered. “Let me guess, you prefer your exercise routine to involve your dick.”

  Sloan didn’t take the bait. “Naw. I do push-ups.”

  Before he could stop himself, Rylan skimmed his hand down Sloan’s arm, tracing the defined muscles of his biceps and forearms. Damn, those pushups were doing their job.

  “Speaking of dicks,” Sloan murmured.

  Rylan groaned when a warm hand encircled his morning wood. Sloan gave a slow, languid pump, and the bolt of excitement that whipped up Rylan’s spine would’ve knocked him on his ass if he hadn’t been lying down. His body’s swift, lusty response floored him. His cock had gotten so much action last night it was a miracle it could still function.

  “You’re a sex addict,” he muttered, but he didn’t swat Sloan’s hand away.

  “Three years of celibacy,” Sloan muttered back. “That kind of torture turns a man into an animal.” And then the self-proclaimed animal slid down and took Rylan’s erection in his mouth.

  The tight suction and the greedy swirl of Sloan’s tongue was enough to shut down Rylan’s brain altogether. His eyes snapped closed as he lost himself in the wicked sensations, rocking his hips to push deeper into Sloan’s mouth. When he came, it was with a weak croak, because his throat was too sore from all the groaning he’d done last night.

  Sloan swallowed up his release, then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and sat up. He winked at Rylan before hopping off the bed, naked as the day he was born. Another surprise—Sloan was cheerful in the morning. Rylan never would’ve guessed.

  “You just gonna lie there all day, you lazy asshole?” Sloan taunted as he slipped on a pair of jeans.

  Rylan could barely find the energy to sit up. “You kidding me, brother? You think I can actually move after that blow job?”

  “I suck a mean cock, huh?” Sloan was chu
ckling as he disappeared into the bathroom.

  As the sound of running water wafted out of the open doorway, Rylan forced himself to climb out of bed and search for his clothes. Where . . . ? Right, they were on the bathroom floor, tangled up with Reese and Sloan’s clothing.

  Reese and Sloan. Jesus. How had those two gotten to him like this? They were in his blood, the mere thought of them making his entire body feel warm and achy and tight with anticipation. Rylan had run into a few triads over the years, committed relationships with two men and one woman, or two women and one man. Hell, there was even a trio of females living in Garrett’s camp who’d decided they didn’t want or need any dicks to complete them.

  But he’d never envisioned himself involved in that kind of relationship. He’d never envisioned himself in a relationship, period. He didn’t do commitment, and he didn’t believe in love. Whenever anyone got too close, he walked away.

  So why did the idea of walking away from Reese and Sloan fill him with such crushing anxiety?

  “You have time to check in on Bethy and the baby today?” Sloan asked, meeting Rylan’s gaze in the small mirror over the sink. “I’m planning on tackling that goddamn pipe in the restaurant this morning. Swear to God, I’m fixing this motherfucker once and for all.”

  Rylan managed a chuckle, but inside he was still worrying about the repercussions of last night. Sloan had completely lowered his guard around him. These past few weeks had cemented not just a friendship between them, but something deeper. Something that made Rylan’s pulse speed up every time he thought about it.

  And Reese . . . Christ, he couldn’t get enough of the woman. Everything about her excited him—her strength, her stubbornness, her fire.

  He’d told them about his past, damn it. He’d confessed to hunting down the bandits that had brutally murdered his parents. He’d revealed that his mother hadn’t been the only whore in their household, that his father had expected the same of him. He’d never told anyone about that before, and he ought to be running hard and fast after placing himself in such a vulnerable position.