She didn’t like that he hadn’t corrected her about the purpose of the house. If anything, his cavalier tone triggered a spurt of resentment. She didn’t want to be here. It reminded her too much of the Enforcer compound, where the men passed women around like pieces of gum. It didn’t matter that the women had volunteered to be there. They were still treated like sex slaves and viewed as whores, and it nauseated Hudson to think that the task of pleasuring the Enforcers was deemed an honor.
Everyone was considered equal in the city. People got paid the same amount for hauling garbage as they did for working in the technology sector. They lived in allocated accommodations, all identical in size. They ate at assigned meal halls and were served food that met their nutritional requirements. Hudson’s father had explained that the practice had once been referred to as communism, the idea of common ownership and the absence of social classes.
But every system had a loophole, and the Enforcers had no problem taking advantage of it. The city’s women earned monetary bonuses for offering their bodies to the men. Some were even given annual vacations to South Colony. Keep the Enforcers happy, and you were excused from the job rotation to lie on a beach for a week. High-class prostitution at its best.
Hudson frowned at Connor. “You talk about the free land, but you still call this place a whorehouse. Is that how you view women? As whores?”
A slow grin lifted his mouth, as if he were genuinely amused by her accusation. “We’re all whores here, sweetheart. Every single one of us.”
He uncurled her fingers from his arm but didn’t let go of her. Instead, he kept a tight grip on her hand and led her deeper into the house. They passed several closed doors, and Hudson’s pulse sped up, because it was painfully obvious what was going on behind those doors. Groans of pleasure. The rhythmic smacking of a headboard hitting the wall. A cry of ecstasy as a woman climaxed.
Hudson drew a breath as they neared the set of doors that Rylan and the others had disappeared through. She tried to steel herself, but nothing prepared her for what she found when they entered the room.
The surprisingly large space offered an array of couches and armchairs, and there was a long bar counter spanning one wall. About two dozen people lingered in the room. Men and women, some fully clothed, some naked. Low voices engaged in conversation mingled with the throaty sounds of sex. In a shadowy corner of the room, a brunette was bent over, facing the wall, as a bare-assed man thrust into her from behind, his hands gripping her waist, his lips pressed against her shoulder.
Hudson wrenched her gaze away from the lewd display, but it just landed on another one – a tangle of naked limbs on a plush couch, a woman’s fingernails scraping down the back of the man on top of her.
Did these people have no shame?
Her cheeks were on fire as she sought out a safe place for her eyes. Connor. Connor was safe. Connor wasn’t naked.
And maybe she was as shameful as everyone else here, because the fact that he was still dressed brought genuine disappointment to her belly.
A dark-haired man sauntered up to them. Tall and handsome, with magnetic gray eyes that lingered on Hudson before shifting to Connor. “Well, if it isn’t Connor MacKenzie. Long time, man.”
“Lennox.” Connor slapped the man on the shoulder. “How’s it going?”
“All right.” The man shrugged. “We’ve been hearing about a lot of the Enforcer stations being repurposed. Some are closing down altogether.”
“Security is changing too,” Connor admitted. “We just hit a storage facility that was outfitted with land mines.”
Lennox frowned. “Well, that’s no good.”
“Make sure you let your people know. They’ll need to change their tactics before they go on any more runs.”
“Will do. Thanks for the heads-up.” The man’s gaze traveled back to Hudson, a smirk playing on his lips. “I see you brought some party favors tonight, Con.”
Hudson’s shoulders tensed. Was that it? Had Connor brought her here to… to be a party favor for his outlaw friends?
But he quickly squashed that thought by muttering, “She’s not here for that.”
“Pity.” Lennox smiled at Hudson, and she found herself relaxing at the seductive curve of his lips. “Come find me if you change your mind, love.”
As he wandered off, Hudson glanced at Connor apprehensively. “Does he own this place?”
Connor nodded. “Come on. I need a drink,” he said, rounding the bar.
Apparently this was a serve-yourself kind of establishment.
She worked up the courage to take another look around and noticed that Rylan had already made himself comfortable. He was sprawled on one of the couches with a tumbler in his hand and a beautiful woman in his lap. Skintight denim encased the woman’s legs, and her blond hair fell like a curtain over one shoulder, stopping right below her breasts. Her very bare breasts.
Rylan caught Hudson’s eye and winked. Then his hand moved in a slow caress down the blonde’s arm before curling to cup one firm breast.
Heat tingled in Hudson’s nipples, almost as if Rylan had touched her. She squeezed her thighs together and pulled her gaze away.