Rebel Heart

"Maybe later," Brady replied grudgingly. He didn't think his abruptness any more clipped than usual, but Dan would knew the difference. "I want to look at the logs for the past few days to see if any of the scouts have reported any other fed buildings going up in flames. I need to ask Lana about the keypad we found, too."

He received a page over his personal net.

B: We need to talk immediately. -T. His mood grew worse.

"I may have to go to the comms site," he said with a frown. "It's not good when the big guy calls you. I'll risk a quick communication from here to see what the urgency is."

"Not a good sign," Dan agreed. "I'll arrange the transportation."

Restless, Brady returned to his suite. Lana was in the kitchenette, drinking water after her day with Elise. Her face was flushed, her eyes sparkling from the exertion. She wore sparring clothing consisting of snug pants and T-shirt that hugged her shape in all the right places. The scent of her musk and sweat made him look longer than he intended to. His resolve to keep his distance wavered as he thought about pulling her into bed with him again.

There was something else in her eyes that made his blood pound harder. She was angry at him. The raw emotion was more of a turn-on than he expected.

If he were smart, he would have turned around and walked out until Benny beat the fire out of his body. Instead, he sat down on the couch and pulled the keypad free from his pocket.

"Wanna tell me what this is?" he asked, pretending he didn't see the anger on her face.

"I won't know without my micro," she replied in a clipped tone.

He pulled her micro free from his cargo pocket and set it on the coffee table beside the keypad. She looked at him hard for a moment before crossing the room to sit on the chair across from him. She was tense, and Brady wondered what happened while he was gone.

Lana flipped on her micro and placed the keypad on top of it. He looked past her into the kitchen to see what she'd been doing. On the kitchenette counter sat her bottle of water-and a micro. It was of fed issue, not army or PMF. Silently, he cursed the blond warrior he suspected gave it to Lana. He should've known better than not to warn Dan what Lana could do if she got a hold of a micro, even if it was Elise's.