She didn’t answer. The warmth of her body seared his, making his cock jerk. His gaze moved to her mouth, watched her tongue dart out to moisten her bottom lip. He could kiss her right now. Fuck her too, he realized, as she moved her groin ever so slightly over his denim-clad leg.
“Why don’t you undo my pants?” He tipped his head suggestively. “You could blow me right here, right now. Hell, you could blow Ry and Kade too. I’m sure they’d enjoy it.”
Heat flickered in her eyes, and he saw her pulse hammering in the hollow of her throat.
Rotating his hips, he ground harder against her. “Maybe we’ll bring Pike out. He likes to watch, and I’m sure you’ll give us a damn good show – won’t you, sweetheart?”
The blade dug deeper into his flesh. “You know, you’re kind of an asshole.”
“And you’re completely out of your element.” His voice lowered to a menacing pitch. “So let’s stop playing games, huh? Either slit my throat or suck my dick, because we don’t have all night.”
Damned if his dick didn’t jump at the prospect of getting some attention. Fuck. His body was primed and raring to go.
“Um, Con? I’m kinda bleeding here.”
Sucking in a breath, he snapped out of his lust-filled stupor. Rylan’s voice was the reminder he needed, the kick in the ass to regain control of the situation.
In a lightning-fast motion, he curled his fingers around her forearm and yanked hard enough to make her cry out. He twisted her wrist, and the knife clattered to the pavement, its silver blade gleaming in the moonlight.
“What’s your name?” he said roughly.
She blinked a couple of times, as if shocked that he’d managed to disarm her. “Hudson.”
“Hudson. Well, it’s been fun, but like I said before, we don’t pick up strays.” He bent down to collect her knife, then held it toward her, handle side out. “My advice? Find someone else to protect you.”
Her lower lip trembled.
Shit. Was she going to cry?
To his relief, she tightened her lips and grabbed the knife instead, reaching underneath the back of her jacket to tuck it away.
“Fine,” she muttered. “I guess I was wrong. Chivalry is dead. Have a good life, boys.”
A sigh lodged in his throat as Hudson marched off in the direction of the deserted road. Refusing to be affected by the waves of disappointment she was radiating, he hopped into the driver’s seat and glanced back at Rylan. “How’s the neck?”
“Hurting. Just a graze, though.”
“Good.” Connor started the engine, but he didn’t put the gear in drive. His gaze flitted over to where Hudson was walking, head held high, the strap of her duffel hanging off her shoulder. The balmy night breeze tickled her long hair, making it ripple down her back in golden waves. To his dismay, both Kade and Rylan were also looking in her direction, their expressions somber.
“I like her,” Rylan remarked.
Kade voiced his agreement. “Me too. But maybe it was the home-cooking line she gave us. I can’t remember the last time I actually had a good meal. Xan’s bean soup makes me want to kill myself.”
“Forget the cooking,” Rylan grumbled. “Thanks to Con, now I can’t stop thinking about that luscious mouth wrapped around my dick.” Connor felt the other man’s mocking eyes on him. “She got you hard, huh?”
He gritted his teeth, finally yanking on the gearshift. “Doesn’t matter. We’re still not taking her back with us.”
Rylan sighed. “You’re no fun at all, Con.”
“And you’re a fool if you think that woman isn’t trouble. She’s running from something.”
“Who isn’t?” Kade said with a laugh.
“I like trouble,” Rylan added. He opened his palm to show them the blood dripping from it. “Trouble’s fun.”
Connor rolled his eyes. “Your kind of trouble gets you an infection and robs us of our last stash of antibiotics.”
Without turning on the headlights – one of them had burned out a while ago, anyway – he pulled out of the lot. The Jeep bounced as it hit several potholes, hinting at the bumpy ride they’d endure on the way back to camp. It had been decades since any kind of road maintenance had been performed on areas outside the city walls, and that was the way the Global Council liked it. If they didn’t rebuild, people wouldn’t have anywhere to settle down and breed, and the last thing the GC wanted was for the world to get overpopulated again – resources were too scarce these days.
Since they had a good forty minutes of driving ahead of them, Connor forced himself to concentrate on the road, though it was difficult to ignore the leather-clad blonde marching along the shoulder.
“I think she gave you the finger.” Rylan chortled, twisting around in the backseat to look at the woman they’d left behind.
Connor’s hands tightened over the steering wheel. He didn’t glance in the rearview mirror until he’d put several miles between them and Hudson. But the memory of those defiant eyes refused to leave him.
Take me with you. She’d sounded so desperate. What was she running from?