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

knees and flipped out a tracker. Elise looked over his shoulder. Lana was helpless. She had no micro, no genetically engineered body or weapons to fight off anything that came at them.

Dan handed the tracker to Elise, who tapped the screen, pensive. He touched his earpiece.

“Yep, still here,” he replied. “Me ’n’ the girls and a shitload of bad guys where there shouldn’t be any.” His gaze rested on Lana, and he smiled.

She hugged her knees to her chest to keep from shaking. Not only were they surrounded by adversaries, it was cold. Dan had given her a jacket, but their slow crawl through the forest had left her soaked and shivering.

“Elise is plotting them,” Dan said, gaze again on the tracker. “We think there are fifteen.” “Ish,” Elise added. “Fifteen-ish.”

“Send our coords, too, so they don’t blow us up,” Dan directed in a hushed voice.

Lana never thought she’d end up in the middle of a forest, defended by the PMF against those who seemed to want to start a second East-West civil war.

“Can you shoot, Lana?” Dan asked.

“Not straight. Been trying to teach her for weeks,” Elise answered without looking up. “She closes her eyes when she fires.”

“So, no, that won’t work,” Dan said to the person on the other end of his conversation. There was another pause. “Then that’s what we’ll do.”

They looked at her, and she suspected they were silently cursing the defenseless civilian. “Stay here. They’re calling in a strike. Elise and I will take out the rest,” Dan said.

Lana nodded, afraid to ask what happened if the plan didn’t work. He patted her arm then moved to crouch beside Elise, waiting.

The screech of incoming missiles was audible long before they hit, but the laser strikes were silent. She plugged her ears, watching as the missiles distracted the men into one direction while the laser strike knocked them dead. The ground shook beneath them as the weapons hit the ground. The scent of burnt metal and flesh soon followed, then chaos as Elise and Dan moved away from her, each going in the opposite direction under the cover of smoke.

Lana stretched onto her stomach, watching them from the safety of the tree. The strikes were enough to disarray, if not kill, most of the men. More laser fire lit the area where Elise had gone.

She sucked in a breath, heart racing. Another man dropped, this time from Dan’s direction. She couldn’t tell how many there were, not with the smoke and darkness. She heard the sounds of a physical scuffle and another shot from Dan’s direction. The adversaries were regrouping, with one barking orders

to those remaining. She watched dark shapes mill and drop as the smoke cleared until they wised up and took refuge in the forest.

One charged her hiding place, and she scrambled back, pressing herself against the tree. She held her breath, listening as he prepped his weapon. Another shot pierced the tense darkness, then there was a flurry of movement. The man inches from her fired into the melee, along with the laser guns of several more. She couldn’t tell what was happening, but it seemed like there were a lot more guns in the fight than there had been a minute ago.

The gunman rested back on his heels to load a new laser charge pack. The gunfight gave another burst of life before winding down. She froze, willing the man not to look left, or he’d see her.

She heard Elise’s whistle. She couldn’t respond without drawing the man’s attention. Elise whistled again. More gunfire sounded. The man beside Lana rocked back suddenly, pounding his gun on the ground as it jammed. He looked up.

Their eyes met. Lana’s heart stopped, and she opened her mouth to shout for Elise. He slapped his hand over her mouth and wrenched her up, the laser gun at her head. He wrapped a thick arm around her throat and dragged her from the forest. Dark corpses littered the small clearing.

“You have until the count of five to put down your weapons!” he bellowed. “One.”

She strained against him. His grip tightened, and she stilled. Two more of his men moved cautiously from the forest, looking for Elise or Dan to appear.

“Two!”

“I’m here,” Brady’s growl came from the fog. Lana made out his form as he emerged from the bushes.

“Where are the others?” the man holding her demanded. “Just me.”

“Weapons down!”

Brady raised his gun instead, aiming it at the man holding her.

“You get one warning,” he said in a tone far more lethal than he’d ever used with her. “You’re outnumbered, idiot,” one of the others snapped.

One shot rang out, followed by two more. The man at her back dropped, followed immediately by the other two. Dan and Elise rose from the bushes and lowered their weapons. Lana shoved away from the dead man, horrified. Brady gripped her arm, pulling her quickly through the forest. Dan ran ahead of them, Elise behind, and they flew down a deer path to a creek, then darted across rocks to the other bank.

Cold water soaked Lana’s boots as Dan kept them on the creek’s edge for a few hundred meters before veering into the surrounding forest. They stopped at a rock wall. Dan hopped onto a boulder and placed his hand on the wall. The keypad lit up, and light spilled from a door that opened slowly.

“Dan, go,” Brady ordered, releasing her. Dan and Elise ducked into the dark entrance. Brady turned away and started towards the forest. Lana caught his arm, alarmed.

“Brady!”

He faced her, and she realized how stupid it was to expect he’d do anything else but return to the fight.

“Thank you,” she managed. “Be careful.”

Brady gazed at her intently. Heart hammering, Lana rose to her tiptoes and gave him a light kiss on the lips. He snatched her, though instead of pushing her away, he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her, deep and hard. She returned the kiss, thrilled by his passion and her own mounting hunger.

“Lana!” Elise called from the hallway.

Brady released her suddenly, and Lana wobbled. She watched him disappear into the dark forest, her body thrumming with desire.

“Come on,” Elise said.

Breathless, Lana obeyed and joined them in the tunnel. Dan led them into a narrow hall and to another locked door. He opened it. Lana turned as the door behind them closed. Brady remained outside. Elise nudged her, and she trailed Dan as he strode down another hall. He led them through the maze until

they emerged into a yawning cave lit by lanterns then continued into another set of halls. He stopped at one and pressed his thumb to the keypad.

“Lana, I’m gonna leave you here. He’ll probably be pissed at me, so don’t get comfortable,” Dan said, waving her in.

Lana entered, in shock from the night. The suite was small and comfortable with a small living area, utility area with lockers, and a door leading to a bedroom with its own bathroom. She stood shaking for a moment. Woodenly, she peeled off her wet clothes and climbed into a hot shower. The water stung her skin, and she grimaced as her attacker’s blood ran down the drain.

For once, she almost understood Brady’s ability to kill without regret. If she had a laser gun, she just might have pulled the trigger. She didn’t know how he could take the chance of hitting her, though! What kind of man risked the person he was trying to protect?

Overwhelmed, she closed her eyes, enjoying the heat. She turned off the shower and rifled through the room’s contents. The dresser contained neatly folded boxers and T-shirts but nothing else. She pulled on a set and dropped into the bed, exhausted.

A while later, the sound of movement outside the bedroom door pulled her from her sleep. She roused herself and opened the door from the bedroom to the living area.

Brady had piled his weapons on the couch and stripped down to a pair of pants and nothing else. Her breath caught at the sight of his wide, muscular chest, and the pants that dropped dangerously low on his hips. Her blood quickened, and she felt too hot.

He pulled on a T-shirt, unaware she was in the doorway.

“Are you that good of a shot or were you lucky?” she asked. She wanted to look away from his perfect body but found she couldn’t. Instead, she found herself recalling what almost happened.

“I’m that good.” His declaration was unhesitant, like his response to killing people.

They were just normal events of his world, a world very unlike her own. Lana couldn’t help thinking they were far too different. And that he’d saved her life again. And she wanted more than a kiss next time.

“Are you okay?” he asked in a softer tone. “He didn’t hurt you?”

“If I had a gun, I might have almost thought of killing him,” she admitted.

“Good thing you didn’t have one,” he said, amused. “I told you I’d protect you. We’re in this together. No one threatens what’s mine.” He sat down to pull off his boots.

She said nothing, not sure what to think of his words. The idea of belonging to her Guardian was thrilling. The idea of belonging to a remorseless insurgent leader was terrifying. He’d said the same words the Guardian did. He said the words with the same assurance he said everything.

Yet, he’d refused her offer to become his companion. The way he kissed her and the way his gaze lingered on her every time they spoke was more than enough to convince her he was attracted to her. She wondered what kept him back and what exactly he wanted. He’d asked for nothing.

“You’re staring at me. What?” Brady asked, without looking up. “I’m trying to figure you out.”

“There’s nothing much to me. I’m a soldier.” “Traitor to your country.”

“You’re smart enough to know better. The PMF will be the only thing that holds this country together. You just don’t want to admit what’s going on around you.”

“That makes two of us,” she mused. Brady glanced over his shoulder at her.

“I was thinking about how you kissed me,” she said. “It was … ah … anyway, Brady, I feel like I know you already.”

He bristled. Instead of answering, he rose and faced her. Lana stepped out of the doorway as he approached, assuming he meant to ignore her and head to the bedroom to rest. Brady paused in front of her, meeting her gaze.

“What do you think?” he asked.

“I wouldn’t have asked if I thought otherwise,” she replied.

He kissed her in response, as intense as he had been at the entrance of the underground base. She sensed his restraint break. His hands roamed her body, and she returned his hot kisses, wanting him with the same lust she felt from him. Her question slid away from her mind as he maneuvered her into the bedroom and lowered her onto the bed. Lana pulled him on top of her, certain he wouldn’t walk away this time.

Brady made love to her with passion and tenderness, a combination that made her fall even harder for the side of him that had kept her company for weeks and protected her. He held her afterwards until she drifted into a doze. She awoke beneath the sheets of his bed, warm and comfortable. Her skin smelled of him, and she smiled.

Brady stirred across the room. He was getting dressed in his uniform.

“Gotta fight bad guys.” His voice held a tight note, one she couldn’t place. He didn’t look at her. “Are you all right?” she asked, pushing herself up.

“Yeah.” He was distant again.

Lana pulled the blankets up as well, feeling exposed rather than comfortable at his sudden change. “You’re not upset about what happened are you?” she asked.

“I needed a woman,” he said dismissively, as if she was a common prostitute.

Lana studied