Redemption (Bennett Sisters Book 5) (5 page)

Rick cleared his throat and approached
Lydia
before following the general. “I’ll be back in the morning
to
take you
in
to town. Try and get some rest.” He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. The warm contact and innocent gesture made her insides feel all gooey. She hadn’t expected to like the overbearing man who’d invited himself along, but she was starting to see him in a different light. His concern seemed genuine.

Lydia
nodded. “Thanks.”

She needed rest so she could clear her thoughts and think straight. For once in her life, she wished for a vision-free night so she could have a good night’s rest.
Lydia
followed Rick to the door and flicked the lock. She was ready to collapse on her feet. It seemed as though days had passed since she was at the wedding. She glanced down at her watch and rubbed the face. It was the one her brother had given her, the one all the Bennetts wore—the one with the tracking device. They’d find her if she was in trouble, and that made her rest a bit easier. There were people that cared about her. She wasn’t alone in the world anymore.

Lydia
woke from a peaceful sleep. She’d been surprised that she’d dreamed of Rick and not something sinister. Her dreams hadn’t shown her anything of the future, just the time that she’d spent in Southall. Only this time she’d noticed the numerous times Rick had been by her side. Even if only to try and learn what he could about her, he’d still been there.

She shook her head as she climbed out of bed and got ready for the day.
He must have been the last thing I thought about before I fell asleep,
she thought, trying to convince herself
.
That little bit of revelation made her smile. It was time to experiment to see if she could control her dreams. The sooner she got a handle on her telekinesis, the quicker she could get on with her life, a more normal life; the kind she craved much like her coffee.

Lydia
jumped in the shower and had just poured her first cup of coffee when a knock sounded on her door. She glanced down at her watch. It was only seven in the morning. Someone was an early riser just like she was. She pulled the door open to find the man that she’d dreamed about leaning against her door frame. His chocolate-brown wavy hair was still wet. A broad smile lit up his face, and his eyes twinkled with mischief. She let her gaze drop from his jade-green eyes down his broad chest covered with a
black T-shirt pulled taut across the muscles that bulged beneath. His jeans hung loose from his hips incasing what she assumed were well-toned legs. Her eyes took in the muscular sensuality of his physique. Drool worthy definitely, marriage material doubtful. He was a good-looking man in a suit, but the sight of him in jeans made her heart pitter-patter. She’d seen him before dressed in the same attire but hadn’t been thinking the way she was today. The last three weeks had passed in a blur. Only now was she more aware of the man still standing at her door.  

“Good morning.”

Lydia
shook her head from the foreign thoughts and stepped back out of the way. “Morning, you’re here early.”

Rick stepped into her small living room and made a beeline to her coffee pot in the kitchen. He poured himself a cup of coffee. “I have a confession to make. I heard you up and decided to come have a cup of coffee with you.”

Lydia
grinned. He hadn’t come to see her this morning; he just wanted what she had to offer. “Don’t you have a coffee pot in your own room?”

He shook his head. “Nope, it seems you’ve got the presidential suite. My bed is barely big enough to hold me. As it is, my feet hang off the end.”

****

Rick did a mental head slap at the mention of his bed. He was glad he hadn’t mentioned the almost sleepless night he’d had thinking about her being only a door away.
Lydia
was getting to him. This morning she had her red ringlets twisted up on her head with a few hanging loose to frame her face, and all he could think about was taking her hair down and running his fingers through the fiery strands. Her clothes hugged her body in all the right spots, giving him a glimpse of what hid beneath. He balled his fist at his side. He needed sexual release, and
Lydia
wasn’t going to be an option. She was his mission; the whole reason he was here. Rick refreshed both cups of coffee, fixing hers just the way she liked it and took a seat on her couch. He rested his ankle on his knee and leaned back into the cushions. “You have any idea what’s on the agenda today?”

He watched as
Lydia
bit her lip and took a seat on the opposite side of the room, curling up into the recliner. She looked as curious and unsure as he felt.

“Nope, I need to take a trip into town soon, but I wanted to get a feel for this place. Maybe meet some of the other people like me.”

Rick nodded. He’d wanted to do the same thing. The quicker he could get a read on the residents of this crazy train, he’d have a better grasp at what it was going to take to keep her safe and get to the secrets she had hidden from the world. He didn’t have any super powers and had no way to combat what he couldn’t see. It was the whole reason why his superiors had sent him to tag along. Misleading the General and the rest of the compound that he was a concerned friend had been easy enough for them to allow him entrance into their unknown world. Knowledge was power, and the more he knew about the people here, the better off he’d be. “I agree. I’d like to meet them too.”

Lydia
silently studied him as she sipped her coffee. Her gaze raked over him, and he wondered what she was thinking. He knew what he was thinking, and most of it was X-rated. He wondered what the little spitfire would do if he picked her up, carried her to her room, and tested out the big bed she’d slept in last night. There was no denying the physical attraction he felt for her, but it wasn’t something he was ready or willing to act on, yet. Rick cleared his throat and stood. Walking over to the sink, he dumped the remainder of his coffee and rinsed out the cup. Seconds later he stood in front of her.

Rick held out his hand. “Shall we go see what kind of trouble we can get into?”

A smile lit her face. The first real smile he’d seen since the wedding. She placed her palm in his, and he pulled her to her feet. Rick leaned into her as he was taking the coffee cup from her hands. The electricity she was emitting danced between them. He inhaled the sweet scent of strawberries from her hair as he whispered, “Try not to blow anything up.”

She leaned away, and a pretty pink travelled into her cheeks. “I can’t make any promises.”

He disposed of her coffee and opened her door. “Shall we?”

She sauntered up to him and placed her palms on his chest. The energy raised the hair on his arms. “I’m not sure you could stop me from frying the whole place if you tried.” She glanced down his body and tilted her head. “Well, maybe.”

Rick was stunned speechless by her display. He’d brought it on himself. He cursed himself for wanting more from the redhead. His little display had seemed to bring a vixen out in her, or at least she was playing the part. He was in it now. There was no backing out of the desire he felt for her. He put his arm around her waist and pulled her body flush into his. “I’m sure I can manage.”

He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. It wasn’t a gentle kiss; it was a kiss that had been brewing between them since they’d first met a month before. It was demanding and testing. He nipped at her lips, demanding entry, and she obliged, giving him what he craved. His tongue dueled with hers as she pres
sed her body closer to hi
s. He tried to rein in his desire. His tongue explored the crevices of her mouth as his hands ran up her back. She leaned into his embrace, lost in the moment, until he pulled his lips from hers.

Lydia
lifted her eyes to his, her gaze penetrating deep into his soul. He wasn’t sure she’d like what she found there. “Why did you do that?”

Because he’d wanted to… because he’d needed to…Hell, he hadn’t meant to.
Lydia
was getting to him and making him lose his self-control. The way she’d stepped up to him and put her hands on his chest was all it had taken. “Don’t start something you’re not prepared to finish. You don’t want to give out the wrong signals.”

Lydia
stepped out of his arms and lifted her chin. His reaction to her brazen move had startled her even, until he’d opened his big mouth.

“You’re right; I definitely wouldn’t want to do that.”

Lydia
stepped out of the room and left him standing there. She called over her shoulder. “Well, don’t just stand there. Let’s get moving.”

Chapter 7

Lydia
thought for a brief moment that Rick had wanted her. She was so sure that she’d seen it in his eyes and felt it in his kiss and in the touch of his hands. She’d been wrong. He’d kissed her to teach her a lesson, a lesson that she apparently needed. It was so out of character for her to flirt, much less make a move on a man, that she wasn’t sure what she’d been thinking.

She could feel Rick’s gaze on her as she walked down the hall and into the same security room they’d been in the night before. Jonah, the computer geek, was tinkering with the box that she’d fried. He looked up and dropped the wrench he’d been holding. He held up his hands. “Ms. Stevens, please don’t touch anything.”

He gestured to the same room that they’d been in last night. “They’ve been in there an hour and waiting for you two.”

Lydia
glanced up at Rick, who shrugged before she turned back to Jonah. “Who is waiting for us?”

Jonah grinned. “Everyone.”

Lydia
glanced to the door of the room where
everyone
was meeting and supposedly waiting, and wondered just who the man thought was everyone. She’d wanted some time to explore their accommodations and familiarize herself with exactly where she was, but it didn’t seem that she was going to get the chance.

Rick placed his palm on her lower back and steered her toward the door. “Let’s go meet everyone.”

He turned the knob and pushed the door open, heralding her inside. Rick let out a curse beneath his breath. “Shit, there’s two of them.”

Lydia
glanced around the room. The two he must have been referring to were probably the twins sitting next to each other. The table was filled with people in camouflage. Some she’d seen the night before, and others she’d never seen before in her life. Briggs sat between the general and a brunette with a scowl on her face. On the other side of the table sat the stunning twins. Their piercing aqua eyes and dimples made her shiver. They were as physically built and as muscular as Rick, but it was something about the way their eyes were drinking her in that set her on edge.

Next to them sat a blonde beauty. The woman was as beautiful as
Lydia
’s sister Claire. The blonde glanced between the twins and
Lydia
before she rose from the table and held out her hand. “Hi, I’m Marlaina.”
Lydia
reached for her hand and shook it. “If you need anything during your stay, don’t hesitate to ask.”

Lydia
glanced up at Rick, expecting his gaze to be set on the blonde. Instead, it was pinned on the twins. His lips were pulled into a fine line, and he ground his teeth. He’d completely ignored the blonde but looked ready to kill the good-looking twins across the table
. Huh.
The general stood and motioned to the only two empty chairs. “Please have a seat and we’ll get started.”

Rick’s palm never left her lower back until he’d pulled out her chair for her to sit. He sat beside her, and they all turned their attention to the general.

The general pointed to one of the twins on his left side. “This is Ridge Connors. He’s my second-in-command.” The general pointed to the identical twin sitting next to Ridge. “The man next to him is Brody Connors.” Brody nodded to her. The general glanced over to Rick. “I believe I introduced you two on the plane. He’s the one that is going to be training
Lydia
.”

Lydia
thought she heard another curse leave Rick’s lips.
Just what the hell is going on between those two?
The man the general had called Brody was grinning from ear to ear before he confirmed. “I’ve met Romeo, although I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting the beautiful woman who’s with him.”

Lydia
felt the heat rise to her cheeks. No one had ever called her beautiful before. The twinkle in Brody’s eyes made her leery of the man’s agenda. Tension filled the air in the crammed conference room, making the atmosphere heavy around her. She felt an invisible brush on her cheek and Brody’s grin grew. He was barking up the wrong tree.
Lydia
raised a brow and added her own energy to the mix, testing whoever was sending vibrations her way, pushing it back across the table and out of her face. Rick placed his palm on her leg beneath the table and leaned over to whisper in her ear. “Are you doing that?”