“The she-devil came a-visiting again. She trashed his cabin and now he’s pissed.”
Connor blinked. Then snorted. “For fuck’s sake. You’ve gotta be kidding me.” He climbed to his feet, pulling Hudson up with him. “Where is he now?” he called at the door.
“He grabbed a rifle and tore into the woods.”
Goddamn it.
“I’ll be right there,” he rumbled, before turning to Hudson. “I have to go.”
She raised one eyebrow. “The she-devil?”
He couldn’t help but snicker. There weren’t too many things to laugh about in this screwed-up world, but Rylan’s rivalry with the lone wolf that roamed the mountainside was undeniably hilarious.
“It’s a wolf,” he explained. “She shows up every few weeks scavenging for food, ever since Rylan made the mistake of throwing her some scraps one night. When she realized she wasn’t getting any more freebies, she started terrorizing him.”
Hudson’s lips twitched. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Nope. The damn beast has a vendetta. Shit gets stolen or chewed up? It’s always Rylan’s.” He snorted again, muttering to himself as he zipped up his pants and looked for his shirt. “Trashed his cabin… Jesus…”
“You’re going after him?”
He yanked the T-shirt on. “Of course. I can’t have him traipsing around in the dark, shooting off rounds. It might attract unwanted attention.”
She frowned. “He wouldn’t randomly shoot off his gun, would he?”
“When it comes to this wolf, Ry loses his fucking head.” Connor headed for the door, then halted as he realized that when a woman just gave you a blow job, it was probably rude to run off without saying… something. But what came out of his mouth was, “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Or…” She bit her lip. “I can wait here until you get back.”
It was a tempting offer, but he knew better than to go too far, too fast. Hudson hadn’t even been out of the city a month. She needed time to adjust, to ease into the outlaw way of life without losing herself in the addictive taste of freedom.
“I think you’ve had enough excitement for one day,” he said gruffly.
A little grin played on her mouth. “I’m greedy, remember? I don’t know the meaning of enough.”
No, she didn’t. She wanted more, each and every time. She tested his control, distracted him with her pussy and her eagerness, until he dropped his guard without even realizing it.
“And I call the shots, remember?” With a smirk, he strode to the door, pausing only to repeat his earlier words. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
10
“Jesus fucking Christ!”
Hudson turned in amusement as Xander’s expletive floated toward her. The two of them were on opposite ends of the lodge, fiddling with their respective electronics. Obviously Xander wasn’t having any more luck than she was.
“Everything okay?” she called out.
“No,” he grumbled. “Goddamn satellites are ruining my life.”
Intrigued, she wandered over to Xander. His gaze was focused on a laptop screen, but Hudson couldn’t figure out what she was seeing. Lines and lines of code, a nonsensical jumble of letters and numbers that made her eyes cross. She assumed it had something to do with the two mobile phones next to the computer, which were a lot bulkier than the razor-thin cell phones people used in the city. She couldn’t fathom what use they’d have in the free land. It wasn’t like cell towers were readily available to the outlaw population.
“What are you doing?” she asked curiously.
“Nothing much.” He sounded distracted. “Just trying to hack into the city’s defense system and peek at their satellites.”
“Uh-huh, nothing much. So those are satellite phones?”
He nodded. “Could be useful on runs, or if we ever need to separate. Our radios don’t have too far of a range.” He typed something on the keyboard. A green error box popped up immediately, causing him to slam his hand on the desk. “Jesus Christ!”
She wrinkled her forehead. “Why do you say that?”
“Say what?” He frowned. “You mean, Jesus Christ?”
“That’s the name of that god, right? The one people used to worship?”
“Not exactly. He’s actually —” Xander stopped, a wry smile crossing his lips. “Nope, no point in getting into a theological discussion with a citizen.”