She didn’t know whether to laugh or to lecture him about his complete and total recklessness. She now understood why the men needed to stock up on bandages and antibiotics so often – Rylan really was an injury magnet.
“And don’t say a word about this to Con,” he added. “I already feel stupid enough without having to deal with a tongue-lashing.”
Her lips twitched as she pointed to the bed. “Sit.” As he settled on the edge of the mattress, she dug around in the first-aid kit. “Do I even want to ask why you were out climbing trees?”
He sighed dramatically. “No, you do not.” He cursed when she pressed an antiseptic-drenched gauze to the cut. “Son of a bitch. I forgot about your mean bedside manner.”
“Hey, there’s no nice way to clean a wound. Suck it up.” She dabbed at the blood before reaching for more gauze. “I changed my mind. I do want to know what happened.”
Rylan remained silent.
She held up a bottle of rubbing alcohol. “Don’t make me dump this entire thing on your arm.”
He winced. “You’re the devil, Blondie.” His gaze found hers, sheepish again. “If you must know, I was hunting. Lost track of my prey and needed a better vantage point, so I climbed a tree. The end.”
“Uh-huh.” In the two weeks she’d lived at their camp, she hadn’t seen Rylan go hunting even once. That was Pike’s forte. “What were you hunting?”
“An animal.”
“No, really? You mean you weren’t tracking human prey?”
“Smart-ass.”
“What was it?” she prompted. “A deer? Elk?”
“Sure, one of those.”
His vague response heightened her suspicion, until a thought suddenly occurred to her, making her groan. “It was that damn wolf, wasn’t it? Seriously, when are you going to give up?”
“Never,” he shot back. “Not until the she-devil is good and dead. She’s— Don’t look at me like that. I’m not crazy, okay? If I don’t kill her, she’ll keep trying to ruin my life.”
Hudson snorted. “Jesus Christ, Ry. That wolf doesn’t have it out for you. You’re imagining it.”
“Jesus Christ?” he echoed, grinning at her.
She faltered as she realized what she’d said. Two weeks in the outlaw world and she was already starting to talk like one. Come to think of it, she’d shouted Oh God over and over again last night when Connor had been inside her.
Connor’s ears must have been burning, because the door swung open and his broad frame appeared in the threshold. When he spotted Rylan, he stopped short and let out a sigh. “What the hell did you do now?”
Despite the grumbled demand, Hudson didn’t miss the flash of concern that passed through his eyes. It disappeared the second their gazes locked, but not quickly enough. He could act like a heartless bastard all he wanted, but she was onto him. Just because she’d stopped pushing him to talk didn’t mean she hadn’t been watching him carefully the past few days. And she’d discovered that Rylan was right. Connor really was easy to figure out if you looked hard enough.
He cared deeply about his men, but he tried valiantly to hide it. He barked out orders like a military leader, but he wasn’t comfortable doing it. And whatever inner battle he was fighting… well, it obviously took a toll on him. It made him moody at times and somber at others, but Hudson didn’t walk on eggshells around him the way his friends did. Turned out she and Pike had at least one thing in common – they weren’t afraid to call Connor out when he was acting like an ass.
“What makes you think it was my fault?” Rylan said with a scowl.
“Because it always is.” Connor glanced at Hudson. “Is he gonna live?”
She grinned. “Unfortunately, yes.”
“Shit. We were this close to being rid of him.”
The lighthearted quip made her heart somersault. It happened so infrequently, seeing him let down his guard and actually laugh about things.
“Fuck you both very much,” Rylan muttered.
Hudson slapped some antibiotic gel on his arm and bandaged it up. “There. All done.”
She stood up, and was surprised when Connor walked up and kissed her. Which was equally infrequent – he kissed her only during sex, and if he touched her during the day, it was only to tease and taunt and drive her wild with anticipation for sex.
It was almost pathetic how eagerly she snatched up the affection he was dangling. She deepened the kiss before he could pull back, her tongue sneaking into his mouth and summoning a groan from him.