being one of them, were reduced to taking expensive medicines to stay alive. And by the way she was feeling right now she wouldn’t be living for long. Blackness closed in around her like a welcome blanket and she slipped into heavenly unconsciousness.
Chapter Two
Jude Outlaw winced at the pain shooting through his injured arm as he reached out and brushed a stray strand of hair off the unconscious Cate’s flushed forehead. When Luke had let him out of the engine room and Jude had seen her sprawled on the deck of the boat, his heart had frozen solid. He’d thought she was dead. Relief had swept through him when his brother told him it was the sickness and she’d already been given the injection she needed in order to survive. He smiled down at her as she lay sleeping on the bed in the yacht cabin. God, he’d missed her. He’d yearned to hold her in his arms. Had ached to touch her silky breasts. Most of all he missed plunging his rigid cock deep into her sweet cavern and listening to her sexy moans like when they’d been teenagers and before he’d gone to the Wars. She looked so feminine, so soft and sultry. Her shoulder length hair gave the appearance of a blonde halo splashed over the pillow. Her high pink cheekbones looked stunning. Sensually curved lips were red and slightly parted. Long eyelashes lay over her closed eyes. Eyes that when open sparkled emerald green, like the ocean waves at sunrise. He should have married her before he’d run off to fight the Wars. But everything had happened so fast. The terrorists had unleashed the final blow by setting loose that sexual virus. Cate had been one of the millions of women who’d been hit by the virus. She’d almost died. Others hadn’t been so lucky, like his and Cate’s mothers. They’d died excruciating deaths. That’s when he and his brothers had joined the fight against terrorists. They’d battled oversees for five long years. During that time, world economies collapsed in a dominoes effect. Governments could no longer sustain their armies’ occupation of other countries. Soldiers were quickly being recalled. When Jude and his brothers received word they’d be pulling out they’d been glad. The fights had been tough and long. They were tired and anxious about the rumors they’d heard of the surviving women going into hiding to avoid the Claiming Law. Women who were barely existing off the land and stealing whatever they could get their hands on so they could buy the medicine that would keep them alive. Living like savages until captured by groups of men who would sexually claim them. He’d feared for Cate’s safety and when he and his brothers had arrived home they’d discovered Cate had run off, too. She’d gone into hiding in order to avoid the Claiming Law. Jude sighed wearily. She shouldn’t have left. She should have waited for him. She should have given him a chance to tell her how much he loved her. “ Are you both okay?” Luke asked as he entered the cabin. “ Fine.” Jude replied tightly. “ I’m glad we finally caught her. It’ll make finding Tyler that much easier.” Jude grit his teeth and closed his eyes as he thought of their missing younger brother. Up until a couple of weeks ago they’d thought he was dead, a casualty of the Terrorist Wars. But Clay Barlow from a neighboring farm had told them different. Clay, the youngest brother of the Barlow’s, had snuck off to join the Wars a few years back. A couple of weeks ago he’d shown up at the Outlaw farm declaring Tyler was alive. At first they’d all been stunned with disbelief. But when Clay Barlow shared information only Tyler could know, they knew Clay spoke the truth. However, their happiness had been short lived. Clay revealed Tyler was rotting away in a prison somewhere but he wouldn’t give his exact whereabouts unless Clay and his three brothers got something first. They wanted Cate. That’s when Jude had realized why Cate had