Ruled (Outlaws #3)

The sharpness of his tone caught her off guard. Reese didn’t know if she should apologize, but truth was, she wasn’t sure if she was even picturing Sloan. She felt his presence here in this room with them, but not in place of Rylan. Along with him.

Her worries faded when Rylan’s lips curved in another grin. “You can pretend he’s here, baby. As long as you remember that I’m here too. We’re both here. My cock is inside you, Reese. It fucking belongs inside you. We can give Sloan your ass, how about that? Keep riding me and pretend Sloan is behind you, drilling your ass.”

A moan slipped out.

“You like that?” He chuckled.

She couldn’t find the strength to answer, or even to move anymore. She collapsed on his chest and Rylan took over, thrusting upward again and again, hitting that sweet spot, drawing moan after moan from her lips. One strong hand was on her back, the other tangled in her hair. He pulled hard on the long strands, and it was just what she needed—that sting of pain. In her life, there was no pleasure without pain.

The orgasm barreled through her in a violent rush, and Rylan bit her shoulder hard, bringing another jolt of pain and prolonging the blissful sensations. She was a shuddering, sweaty, whimpering mess as she lay on top of him, and he held her through the orgasm, his thrusts never slowing down, not even once.

“Coming,” he croaked, then gave one last thrust and trembled beneath her.

Reese opened her eyes to look at him. His cheeks were flushed, lips slightly parted, the muscles in his face taut as he grunted in release. She kissed him again, this time tasting not just Sloan, but Rylan too. His hunger, his need, his recklessness.

Then she closed her eyes again to savor the magic the three of them had made, if only in her mind.





13


Sloan was right about one thing—sex did clear her mind. As she sat hunched over maps with the other camp leaders, Reese was grateful she’d eased some tension yesterday, otherwise she might’ve choked someone by now. After agreeing in the last meeting that they’d attack the outposts, they were now squabbling like toddlers over who was going to take down what.

“We’ve got fourteen people,” Mick argued. “We can take the northeast positions and the one on the upper coast. There’s no way you can cover that much ground, Brynn.”

“I’ve got more people. Plus, I know the region better and have contacts with all of the camps along the coast. It makes more sense for me to take those,” Brynn said with exasperation.

Garrett sat sharpening his knife on a whetstone. In another man, it would’ve come off as silly posturing, but the action paired with Garrett’s grim expression signaled that it was time for Reese to move along.

She picked up the blue painted bullets Sloan had slipped her before the meeting started and placed two of them on the map. “Based on the intel we’ve gathered, there are only two outposts to the northeast. The council maintains a squadron of a couple hundred in the city and combined with the walls, they haven’t felt the need to fortify these remote outposts too heavily. Mick, I know you’re plenty capable of taking out all of the coastal stations but this is right in your backyard.”

She held her breath while she waited for Mick’s answer. He still clung to the belief that they should take all the ammunition and make one strong, concentrated push at the city. But the group had voted for Reese’s idea, and a year’s worth of planning had gone into identifying the outposts, tracking the Enforcers that rotated in and out of the guard towers, quantifying the manpower and weaponry they’d go up against. To assault the council would mean at least another year of planning, and no one was interested in that.

As the silence wore on, Sloan shifted restlessly behind her. Mick’s gaze flicked over Reese’s shoulder and then back to Reese. “Yeah, we’ll be able to handle them.”

“Good to have you on board,” she replied dryly, then continued as if there hadn’t been any hesitation. “If you go before the predawn guard changes, you’ll be able to get in and out without alerting the city. The Enforcers will be tired and ready to get the hell out of there.”

She pointed to the block east of the city. “Brynn, you’ll take the coast. There are three outposts there.” Reese set down the red shells at four points along the coast. “This one in the northeast and then two along the bay here and one farther south. You’re going to have to split your men up, and I’m sending you two extras from Foxworth in addition to the ten we’ve already assigned.”

Brynn nodded. “I’ll split us up into groups of ten. We should be able to take out each tower with little trouble.”

“That leaves the south for me,” Garrett said quietly. The steady schnick schnick of the blade stopped as he set it aside to reach for green painted bullets. He set them in a row south, almost along the old border lines Reese had seen on prewar maps.