She thought about what Rylan had told her, how they all belonged to Connor, but she was still struggling to make sense of that. What was it about Connor that made his men so willing to “belong” to him? It had to be all that power he exuded, she decided. The way he could make you feel protected with one look, one raspy word. He was controlled. Confident. Strong in an intense yet understated way that she couldn’t help but be drawn to.
When she stepped outside, she encountered a sight that brought a smile to her lips. Connor and Rylan were bare-chested, with shovels in hand, standing on a large stretch of dirt next to a vegetable garden she hadn’t noticed before. They’d been away from camp all day and night yesterday, so she hadn’t had much time to explore, but she was hoping to change that, starting today.
“’Morning, Blondie,” Rylan called out. “Coffee’s in the lodge if you want.”
Connor’s gaze met hers. Something hot and sinful passed through his stare as he swept it up and down her body.
“Thanks.” She headed into the lodge, where Kade greeted her with a smile and handed her a cup of coffee. Xander was across the room, his dark head bent over a computing tablet that he’d broken apart, and he was using tweezers to poke at the inner workings of the electronic device.
Coffee in hand, she drifted back outside and approached the edge of the garden. “What are you guys doing?”
“Expanding the garden,” Rylan explained. “We want to plant some summer crops.”
She looked around, noticing that aside from the neat, fenced-off vegetable garden, the rest of the clearing was overgrown.
“Why don’t you plant any flowers?”
Rylan rolled his eyes. “Because you can’t eat flowers.”
“You can eat some of them,” she countered, but she supposed he had a point. Sustenance was important. Aesthetics were not.
She thought about the potted plants in her bedroom at the compound, the colorful flowers she’d planted in the courtyard. Dominik had teased her about her dedication to that garden. Said it wasn’t befitting of a warrior.
Damn it. She really needed to stop thinking about Dom, but it was so hard to do when every memory she had was intricately tangled with her brother.
She drained her coffee and set the cup on the fence post. “What can I do to help?”
“Just stand there and look pretty,” Rylan said solemnly.
Hudson made a face. “I’m serious. Give me something to do.”
Connor spoke up. “Start tilling that section over there.”
She dutifully accepted the pitchfork he handed her and walked over to the patch of dirt he’d pointed to. There was something incredibly satisfying about working outdoors, doing something that mattered, without looking over her shoulder because she knew Dominik or Knox was watching. She’d never felt more at peace as she worked the fork into the soil, over and over again, getting the earth ready for the crops it would grow.
They worked for an hour before taking a break. Hudson picked a tomato right off the vine and took a bite, sighing ruefully as a shot of juice spurted between her breasts. When she noticed Rylan grinning at her, she raised an eyebrow and very deliberately used her index finger to mop up the moisture.
His blue irises darkened.
With a suggestive grin, she brought her finger to her mouth and licked it clean.
“Hey, Con?” Rylan drawled.
“Yeah?”
“She’s eye-fucking me.”
Connor looked over at her. “Stop distracting him, sweetheart.”
Ha. She was the distraction? More like the other way around. How on earth was she supposed to concentrate when Connor was taunting her with his bare chest? It gleamed in the sunshine, drops of perspiration pooling between his pecs and clinging to every hard ridge of his torso. Rylan was equally sweaty and equally appetizing.
They both had tattoos. She wondered how they’d managed to get them, because as far as she knew, tattoo parlors existed only in the city. The ink on Connor’s tanned flesh was mostly curved black lines and intricate flames spanning one muscular arm and half his back. Rylan had lines of text on various areas of his chest, but she was too busy ogling his roped muscles to try to read the words.
Connor stuck his shovel in the dirt. “Let’s take a break. It’s fucking hot out today.”
The two men headed to the water cistern near the porch. Hudson watched, mesmerized, as they scrubbed their hands and splashed water on their faces. Droplets slid down their chests, and she had to fight the urge to march over and lick their glistening male flesh.
Her gaze locked with Connor’s, and she knew he could see the hunger on her face. She didn’t try to hide it. Didn’t want to hide it. She wasn’t in the city anymore, and it was liberating to know that she didn’t have to suppress her lust. That she could admire these men and imagine all the dirty things she wanted to do to them without having to worry about anyone judging or reprimanding her.
She held Connor’s gaze, waiting for him to say something. To do something. But he just smirked and gave a slight shake of the head, as if to say Not now.