9
Connor had known she’d track him down eventually. Not that he was trying to hide from her. He was in the barn because that’s where he went most nights, mostly to stare at the piles of junk littering the room and wonder how to make best use of the space.
Hudson looked apprehensive as she wandered inside. “Hey,” she said.
He nodded in greeting before turning to examine a weathered oak cabinet that was taller than he was. Shit, clearing the place out would be a hassle. Especially when he wasn’t sure it was even worth it. A year in one camp was an eternity in the free land – most folks were lucky to get a month before they had to move on. Usually bandits drove them out, other times it was Enforcers, but either way, packing up and leaving was a fact of life.
“What are you planning on doing with all this space?” Her curious gaze rose to the hayloft above their heads.
“Not sure,” he admitted. “Storage maybe. I keep coming out here to figure it out, but the thought of getting rid of all this garbage is fucking daunting.”
She ran a hand over the side of the antique cabinet, her fingers leaving tracks in the layer of dust on the wood. “You could do what your friend Lennox did,” she suggested. “Turn it into a… playroom. Or whatever you want to call it.”
He chuckled. “There aren’t enough people in this camp to make it worthwhile.”
“Why is that again?” She tipped her head. “I still don’t see why you can’t open your doors to other outlaws.”
“I’m a heartless bastard, I guess.”
“No. You’re not.” She paused. “That’s why I don’t understand it. I don’t understand you.”
“Do yourself a favor and stop trying to understand me.” He turned away. “I’m a fucking puzzle you’re never going to solve.”
She laughed softly. “Rylan said you’re easy to figure out if I just try hard enough.”
“Yeah? Well, Rylan talks out of his ass half the time.”
“I think he’s more perceptive than you give him credit for.” She shrugged. “And I think he’s right – I’ll figure you out once I put the effort into it.”
“I think you should focus your efforts elsewhere.” He crossed the cluttered room, settling onto an old torn-up sofa and reaching for the bottle he’d left on the table next to it. They’d scored an entire case of cheap whiskey during the raid, enough to keep him happy for a while. And he was feeling pretty damn happy at the moment, enjoying the hot buzz of alcohol traveling in his blood.
“So, anyway.” Hudson stood in front of him, her body language conveying some serious unease. “I came out here to ask you something.”
“All right. So ask.”
Her cheeks turned pink. “Um… do you have condoms?”
His hand froze before the bottle reached his lips. “Why would you ask that?”
She hesitated, then spoke in a resigned voice. “Because we’ll need them if we have sex.” A pause. “I’m not sterilized.”
Connor’s breath flew out in a hiss. “What?”
“I can bear children,” she said awkwardly.
“I fucking know what ‘not sterilized’ means, Hudson.”
He was just shocked to hear it. Ninety percent of West City’s women were sterilized the moment they reached childbearing age. It was another way the GC controlled the population. But the other ten percent…
“You’re a breeder?” he demanded.
She nodded, visibly embarrassed. “I should have told you yesterday when we talked about my life in the city, but I didn’t think about it. Not until today, when I realized that if we had sex, then…” She sighed. “I’m sorry. I honestly wasn’t trying to keep it from you.”
He believed her. And as the shock wore off, he realized it made sense that she’d been chosen to breed. Only men and women with desirable genes were allowed to procreate in the city, and with her role as both a fighter and a nurse, Hudson possessed a rare combination of strength and compassion that could definitely be considered desirable.
“Um… so yeah. If we’re going to have sex, we need protection.”
Damn right they did. He always used protection – the thought of bringing a child into this screwed-up world made him sick to his stomach. There weren’t many children running around in outlaw territory. They existed, of course, but their parents tended to keep them well hidden, because if the Enforcers discovered a child outside the city walls, they carted it back to West City and killed its parents for breaking the population laws.