rebel-heart by Rakhibul hasan (best contemporary novels txt) 📖

bring whatever danger followed him to his backyard. His instincts warned him there was no stopping someone like General Greene, once he set out to find someone. Brady strode out and motioned to one of the guards.

“I need Dan, now.”

Within ten minutes, his second-in-command met him in the tent they used as a war room.

“Plan on disassembling our camp within the next forty-eight hours. And, issue an emergency warning order that we’re going to send the Appalachia militia to neighboring militias. We’ll be a harder target to hit if we’re separated,” Brady said.

“What are you expecting?” Dan asked.

“I don’t know, but it’ll be bad,” he answered. “I’ll give you the coords for the emerops facilities. We can use those for supplies. We’re going to dump everything we don’t need.”

“You think something followed her?” Dan asked in a hushed tone.

“I’m not taking any chances. Whatever wiped out the Peak could wipe us out just as easily.” “Wow, Brade. What’s really going on?”

Brady shook his head. He didn’t know, and he knew the one person who might wasn’t about to tell. “Can you talk to Elise again?” he asked Dan.

“Oh, yeah, that’ll be fun.” Dan slapped him on the arm and strode out.

Brady watched him, wishing they were closer to one of their secure facilities so he could make a call to Tim. He returned to his tent, deep in thought. He walked by the woman and paused. She looked up at him from her hurt wrist, pain in her brown eyes.

“Don’t look at me like that,” he warned.

He sat across from her again, studying her. He wished she trusted him as much as she had when he was the Guardian.

“You can send me away,” she said. “I won’t endanger your … men if I’m not here.” “True,” he allowed.

“I already have a thousand deaths on my soul,” she whispered. “I don’t want more.” “You know what I want to do to you when you’re so sad?” he asked, leaning forward. “What?”

He lifted his chin towards his bed. She flushed. She cleared her throat.

“If nothing else, can I have my things back? Please,” she said without looking at him.

He thought about what Elise said, that she’d been trying to take something west. Maybe it wasn’t a secret after all. Maybe it was something she carried with her.

“I promise, I’ll give you anything for them.”

He rose and crossed to the small safe where he kept what they’d found on her. He brought the small bag to the table. He held up her micro, watching her face. Worry, but no elevated level of distress crossed her features. He lowered it. The moment his hand paused over the vault, she tensed.

“What’s it worth to you?” he asked.

She didn’t respond, but her hands wrung her T-shirt again. “This is it, isn’t it?” he asked and picked it up.

She paled, eyes glued to the vault. “This is what you’re taking west.”

It was so small, not even the size of his palm. There was a quadruple lock system on it, requiring not only two thumbprints, but a code, a retinal scan, and another sensor pad he didn’t recognize. He looked at it, wondering how something so small could be so important.

“Anything,” she breathed. “Please put it down, Brady. I’ll give you anything for it.”

He rested it on his knee and looked at her. She met his gaze, emotions skimming through her eyes. “Anything,” he said. “That’s dangerous for someone as pretty as you.”

“I’d sleep with you, Brady.”

He didn’t expect the calm words. Her gaze was steady. And unafraid. He wondered what changed her from the cowering girl he’d brought home with him yesterday to the almost confident woman seated across from him. Whatever was in the vault, it must be important.

“That’s what you said last night, isn’t it?” she asked. “I promise to sleep with you tonight.” Amusement filtered through him. He’d known she was sheltered after their long talks. He’d toned

down his side of the conversation out of respect for her, not expecting to find her worth talking to and pleased when she was. But now, things had changed. He’d found out his Angel was not only bright, but brave and beautiful. She was in his world now, offering him something he’d allowed himself to fantasize about more than once.

“You know what you’re doing?” he asked.

“I think so. Yes. I do. If it’ll give me what I want.” “We’ll both get what we want.”

Her face flushed, but she didn’t lose the look of resolution in her features.

“Let me give you a demonstration before you make up your mind,” he said, rising. He crossed to her and sat on the couch beside her. She tensed but didn’t move.

Brady nudged strands of her hair away from her eyes and cupped her face with his other hand. Expecting the sheltered woman would flee at the first kiss, he brushed her lips with his. To his surprise, she leaned into him. Her hands went to his cheeks, and she touched him lightly. Brady didn’t move away as he planned, instead teasing her mouth open.

Lana yielded without any sign of hesitation, returning his kisses with timidity born of both inexperience and hunger.

He’d wanted her since soon after talking to her but never thought it possible. Brady felt his control slip a notch. Their kissing turned to petting, and he pressed her back onto the couch. When he broke contact, Lana pulled his head back to hers, her hands skimming over his shoulders before she undid the top two buttons on his uniform. His own desire lit hot and fast at her eagerness. He helped her without breaking the kiss, their hands fumbling in their haste to have his clothes off. Brady leaned away only to peel off his undershirt.

Lana stared at his wide chest, taking him in with a look of desire. She touched him timidly, her cool hands branding him as heat coursed through him. Brady kissed her forehead, eyelids, cheeks, and nipped her neck, enjoying the feel of her hands roaming over his chest and back. She groaned softly in response.

“You still sure?” he whispered.

Lana’s eyes opened at his voice. They were cloudy with the same lust he felt.

“I trust you,” she said, touching his face again.

Rather than feel pleasure at her words, they struck him like the cold shower he needed. A pang of morality reared its ugly head. Brady had taken care of this woman from a distance. She deserved more from her Guardian than to be slung over the couch for a quickie. Her first time with him wasn’t going to be the product of coercion; he respected her too much for that. He also knew Tim wouldn’t consider this part of taking care of her.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, her voice low with desire.

Sensing he had the upper hand in any case, Brady forced himself away from her. He sat back and rubbed his face, fighting the urge to touch her again and take their relationship to the next level. The Guardian’s relationship, he reminded himself. Lana didn’t know who he was.

Not like this. Regretfully resolved, he rose and fixed his uniform then picked up her belongings. “Brady, what’s wrong?” Lana asked. Sensing the change in him, she sat up.

“I’ll think about it,” he said, walking towards the back of the tent with her things.

After a stunned silence, she asked. “What’s there to think about?” She followed him and stood several feet away, face flushed with different emotions this time: anger and embarrassment. “Did I do something wrong?”

“Maybe I doubt you’ll keep your word,” he said, admiring the fire in her eyes. “And maybe, I don’t want you tempting me to do something I shouldn’t. You should never offer carte blanche to someone who just might take you up on it.”

“Some things are more important than me,” she retorted. “I will keep my promise!”

“One night isn’t enough for this.” He held up the vault again, and desperation crossed her features. “We’ll deal with this later. In the meantime, I’ll keep this locked up.” He strode to the safe, placing the vault within.

Thoughts and emotions scattered, Lana watched him secure the vault in the safe and then leave. Her body shook with need. She meant what she’d said: she did trust him. She would’ve let him do anything to her on the couch. Her body wanted to feel his bare skin again, and aching desire pooled in her lower belly. She’d never thought desire could conquer her normally rigid self-control. With him, she had nothing to fear. He spoke like a rebel leader, but he touched her like she imagined the Guardian would: with tenderness and restraint.

She wanted to show her Guardian what he’d come to mean to her, before she thought him dead. Because he meant a lot more than she thought he should. Her skin burned from where he’d touched her, and her lips were plumped by his kisses.

Pacing, she tried to reclaim her composure. There were many things about him she couldn’t reconcile. The Guardian had some code of honor that seemed at odds with Brady’s quick trigger finger. If he wanted to kill her, to rape her, he could have done it with impunity many times over. But the same man who killed in cold blood had reassured her every day for over two weeks that he’d protect her. The man was more complicated than she liked.

And he’d walked away from her, even though she was serious about sleeping with him. Lana paused in her pacing, wondering if she’d done something wrong. Maybe he was only pretending to be interested in her. She’d thought him beyond the duplicity that made up the actions of the elite class. Maybe he feared his punishment would be worse when she told Mr. Tim what he did, for Mr. Tim would surely crush Brady’s PMF militia once he found out his friend was a traitor.

“Think of something else, Lana,” she ordered herself.

Elise would be horrified. Again. The look on Elise’s face when she realized that Lana had known something was wrong at the Peak. She didn’t expect it to happen as it did, and the accusation of slaughtering a thousand lives made her feel ill. There was been nothing she could have done, even if she

knew when it would happen, even if she trusted her instincts enough to warn people without any proof to back her words!

Her gaze went to the safe where her vault was locked. Brady read her like a satellite image of his house. She’d never learned to lie; in fact, she would never dare lie to Mr. Tim, not with his rigid sense of integrity. She’d never purposely disappoint him. Yet, for the first time in her life, she wished she knew how.

She needed her micro and the vault. If someone was able to track her, she needed to flee, fast. The keypads had to be delivered somewhere safe, though she began to wonder if anyplace really was safe. Greenie had destroyed the Peak from the inside out. Was the Peace Command Center also at risk?

Restless, she rose and paced in front of the safe. She’d already tested the lock and found it to be beyond tampering. He’d all but rejected her deal to sleep with him and wasn’t about to hand her equipment over to her. She needed another plan.

She gazed at the safe again. She must access its contents! Desperation made her want to cry. She refused, knowing there was too much at stake for her to dwell in her emotions. Her gaze settled on the trunk where Brady kept extra equipment.

She knelt beside it, looking hesitantly at the dangerous weapons within. She doubted she could ever kill anyone, especially her Guardian, after seeing Donovan shot. She moved the guns and knives out of the