Hesitation creased her face. Then, letting out a resigned breath, she dropped her hand from her breasts and reached for the bar of soap on the edge of the tub.
Connor was momentarily distracted by her tits, but he forced himself to concentrate on what mattered. “What happened after that?”
She worked the soap into a lather without looking at him. Her skin was flushed, her hands ungainly as she moved the slippery bar over her body. Clearly she wasn’t used to being on display, but he didn’t give a shit if he was making her uncomfortable.
“Eventually the screaming stopped and the Enforcers left,” she said flatly. “I went back to camp and everyone was dead.”
She told the story in a faraway voice, as if the tragedy had happened to someone else. And all the while, she continued to soap up her body. “I left the camp early the next morning —”
“Yet somehow you managed to hold on to your duffel bag full of weapons,” he said dryly.
“I had it with me in the woods.” She scowled at him. “I never leave it behind.”
“Uh-huh. Okay. Then what happened?”
“I knew I had to get as far away from the area as possible, so I ran.”
One slender arm reached for the shampoo bottle on the edge of the tub. She unscrewed the top and dumped a generous amount into her palm, then dunked her head under the water. When she reemerged, she worked the shampoo into her wet hair, fingers gently moving over her scalp.
Christ, she was one spectacular-looking woman. There wasn’t an ounce of fat on her long, lithe body, and yet she wasn’t lacking in curves. His gaze lingered on her breasts again, saliva flooding his mouth as he imagined those firm tits filling his hands, hard little nipples straining against his palms.
She submerged herself to rinse off the shampoo, then popped up again. “I traveled at night and slept during the day, usually in the woods. I was planning on heading to the West Coast. Then I ran into a guy who told me about the bar. I went there, met you guys, and the end.”
He didn’t believe her.
Her story sounded like all the ones he’d heard hundreds of times before. Friends and families killed during sweeps, finding yourself alone in a world that wasn’t safe anymore. It had happened to him, to his friends, to strangers he’d met, and there was no reason why it couldn’t have happened to Hudson.
But he still didn’t believe her.
“And this training you claim to have?” he prompted. “The medical knowledge? How’d that happen, sweetheart?”
“Can you stop calling me sweetheart?”
Her annoyed reply caught him off guard. Or maybe he was shaken because she was getting out of the tub, making it impossible not to notice, well, everything. Droplets pooled on her smooth pale skin, glistening on her tits and sliding down those incredible legs. He wanted to reach out and touch her. Lick those drops off her.
“You say it like an insult,” she went on, “not a term of endearment. So unless you want me to start calling you something equally insulting, like babycakes or some shit, call me by my name.”
He fought a grin.
“Now, pass me a towel. I’m getting cold.” The pink splotches on her cheeks betrayed her blasé tone.
She wasn’t used to being naked in front of a man – Connor instantly sensed that. Which made him wonder… Shit, was she a virgin?
His cock twitched at the thought of being the first to slide into her tight, hot body. Jesus. He really needed to get laid. Soon. Before he did something seriously stupid.
He grabbed a thin towel from the rack behind the door and handed it over without a word. She wrapped the towel around her body, tucked it over her breasts to keep it closed, then marched right past him and left the bathroom.
Connor’s jaw hardened. “The training,” he repeated, his voice harsh.
“Some of the people I was with fought in the People’s Army before it was disbanded.”
Keeping her back turned to him, she pulled a few items of clothing out of her bag. Then her shoulders tensed, as if she were debating what to do next.
What she did next was let the towel drop to the floor, providing him with a torturous view of the sweetest ass he’d ever seen.
His dick pulsed with need.
Grow the fuck up, he told his attention whore of a cock.
“They taught me how to fight,” she added over her shoulder. “And one of them was a medic, so he made sure I knew the basics.”
She wiggled into a pair of red panties, yanked black leggings up to her hips, and slipped into a loose T-shirt. “When the Enforcers found us, fighting back didn’t get us anywhere. They have better weapons, better vehicles, better everything. My group didn’t stand a chance.”
It wasn’t the first time Connor had heard those words. Hell, he’d uttered them himself, knew firsthand what those bastards were capable of. Dominik and his men showed no mercy.
But goddamn it, he didn’t believe her.