Redek (Barbarian Bodyguards Book 2) Read online

  "Not a chance," the nurse said when he went to stand back up again. "At least let me fix your leg. It'll only take a moment."

  He nodded, gritting his teeth as he watched her pull the knife out, hold the pieces of skin together and them stamped them with a burning coagulant. The pain was so intense his eyes watered, but only for a moment. Then the nurse got a needle and held his arm out, finding a vein and inserting it in moments before he could protest as to what it was.

  "Painkiller," she said. "Of the non-drowsy, non-mentally-impairing type. Don't go back into the field, no matter how much better you're feeling. You're not fit for a fight. You still have multiple bullet holes and several stab wounds. Come back as soon as you're done with this issue." She said it all in a long string, already searching the room for the next patient she needed to see.

  Redek stood up and tested the weight on his leg. He definitely didn't feel better. The pain was slightly less, but not by much, and he knew he wasn't all working properly.

  He was more than well enough to get back to Maddie and see what was happening, though.

  If they needed him there, it meant there wasn't a retreat happening like he'd been hoping for. He supposed there had been a slim chance of it, really, but he'd been counting on the fact they were owed some good luck by this point.

  He walked as quickly as he could back to the control room, and was almost surprised to see it was still just Maddie, Tisya and Damien in there. "What happened?" he asked. He gave Maddie a once-over, but she looked fine. There was almost hope in her eyes.

  "We spoke to a commander, the one in charge of the fleet, and I want to know what you think about what he said." She relayed everything that had just happened while leaning against the edge of a desk and playing with her fingers.

  Redek stared at Damien the entire time she told the story, trying to gauge his response, and that was what helped him make the decision. Damien was scared. He was angry.

  He thought Maddie had outsmarted him.

  So that was the decision he made.

  "I think we should trust him," he said. Damien's reaction was genuine, and that meant Yil was probably genuine, too. At least Damien believed it. There were still so many questions he didn’t have the answers to, mainly how they’d gotten to Lyskar so quickly, but he trusted the fear on Damien’s face. He looked at Tisya. "I'll pay you for the teleportation bands so we can come back if it's not genuine."

  Tisya waved him off. "They're not the expensive part of the machine. We have plenty. You should get back in touch with him, tell him the decision."

  Maddie hesitated, then pulled her laptop out. "This has the information on Damien stored on it. What happens if he's not genuine? What should I do with it?"

  Redek told her with a look that he didn't trust the plan of leaving it here and trusting the gangs with it. She typed rapidly and he had no idea what she was doing, probably hiding it online somewhere. He was useless with tech. After a few minutes, though, she slammed the laptop lid and put it back in her backpack. She turned to the computer and turned on her earpiece.

  "Commander," she said. "We're coming aboard now."

  Yil jumped again at the voice booming through his cabin, and nodded. "I have the coordinates. It's—"

  "I've already got them," she interrupted. "We'll be there soon."

  She hung up and looked at Redek. He stepped forward and laced his fingers through hers. "Ready?" he asked.

  She swung her backpack onto her shoulder and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Ready as I'll ever be."

  They nodded to Tisya, who nodded back. They hadn't known each other long enough for more than that.

  Redek grabbed Damien by the scruff of his collar and made sure he stepped into the teleporter first. If they were going to be met by any surprises, he wanted to be the one to deal with it.

  They weren't, though. It was a large room at the front of a ship, looking down at the planet. Smoke billowed from the city and flashes of orange explosions continued to appear.

  Redek let go of Damien, and he fell to the side because of the bindings. Redek didn't care, though. He stayed close to Maddie's side, posture poised for a threat, even though he hadn't detected one.

  "Commander Yil," Maddie said, showing none of the due respect she was meant to. It made his lip quirk. "Thank you for providing us safe harbor."

  "Of course." Commander Yil gestured for his men to deal with Damien. He was still a rich man, and he wouldn't be kept in the squalor he deserved. "I've had my men find you chambers in the ship for the travel back to the financial crime headquarters. It's a long trip from here. I hope you'll be comfortable there."

  Maddie smiled. "Thank you."

  "I can have my men take you there now. Or to the medic."

  She looked at Redek’s still bleeding wounds and agreed, “The medic sounds good.”

  “We’ll speak again when we’re on our way. Take some time to rest up.”

  They were walking out of the room when Yil began talking again. He had pressed his earpiece and was back to directing troops. Maddie, who was helping Redek walk despite him not needing it, slowed down so she could eavesdrop.

  “How long?” he asked. There was a pause, then, “Too long. I want the gang leaders dead by sundown so we can start rebuilding.”

  Maddie stilled, opening her mouth ready to argue. It had been part of their promise that Yil would leave the planet and stop the fighting.

  Redek linked his arm through hers and pulled her away before she could say anything. “Don’t.”

  “What do you mean, don’t? He broke his promise. He’s still attacking them.”

  “We’re in his hands now, we don’t want to get on his bad side. We’re not important and we don’t have leverage. There is no point in fighting this.”

  She was outraged, but he knew he was right on this one. The fact they’d gotten this far was a miracle.

  She jumped when Yil addressed them. “I don’t know what they told you down there, about themselves or about us, but I’m doing these people a favor. The ordinary people live in fear of stepping an inch out of line and being at the mercy of the gangs. I might have been manipulated into attacking at this time, but my fleet had been monitoring Lyskar from nearby for months now, waiting to attack. I was already here, I was always going to get rid of the regime. I never had any intention of letting their rights abuses continue. They'll be better off after this, that much I can promise you."

  Maddie opened her mouth and shut it again, then turned away without response, tugging on Redek's arm. He nodded his respect to Yil to appease the commander who had control over their fates.

  "I don't know who I believe," Maddie said when they were in the corridor. "The Lyskarians hated the IU so much."

  "There's no way of knowing who is telling the truth. It's one word against the other. I'm inclined to think that if the IU had been acting like tyrants for that many years against so many planets that someone would have proven it by now, but the IU controls a lot of the media." He shook his head. "It's not our fight," he repeated. "I've done enough fighting for a lifetime."

  She chuckled, though he didn't think he'd done a great job of appeasing her. "Yeah, I guess so."

  "This is real life," Redek said. "A lot of shit we can't control happens, but at least we get control over the little things."

  "The little things like getting to kiss you without being scared of Damien walking in." She did so now, for effect, and he resisted the urge to say fuck the medical bay and drag her back to a room to celebrate them having made it out alive.

  He was determined that the next time he got her into a bedroom he was going to fuck her until he screamed, though, and that required not being filled with gaping wounds. So he settled for a kiss on the crown of her head and a contented smile.

  He didn't need to fuck her right now, because they had the rest of their lives together.

  Epilogue

  Redek

  It was much smoother sailing after they boarded Yil's ship than
Redek was expecting. Yil was the perfect host, and he never made them feel unwelcome or like he was going to turn on them at any moment. Redek never completely relaxed—he didn't do that until they'd arrived at the financial crime department and Maddie had gotten her official pardon from the investigators—but he felt safe.

  Never safe enough to let her out of his sight much, though. Not that they wanted to be apart. When it had all settled down and they were on their way, they spent ninety percent of their time in bed, finally getting to know each other's bodies like they'd been craving for weeks.

  Maddie spent some time trying to get into the electronics back in Damien's manor, but she had no luck. Yil had sent some people there to retrieve the data anyway.

  Which meant there had been nothing to do but bask in each other.

  Any doubts he had about how their relationship would be when the tension was gone were quelled.

  All it had done was take away the bad bits.

  Now, with Damien awaiting trial and the investigators compiling their evidence, Redek and Maddie had some free time.

  "Wow," she said, standing at the front of the financial crime headquarters and looking at the ship they'd been given. "I have no idea what we should do now."

  "I should maybe go and speak to my bosses," Redek said, rubbing the back of his neck. He'd had a quick chat to his boss to let him know that Damien was under arrest and he was required as a witness. It was a lie, but he wasn't going to reveal even half of the truth. "I don't know what I'm going to do about my job yet."

  "You think you might quit?"

  "I still need to be able to live."

  "I can get work wherever I want, I'm sure. Well, maybe not wherever I want, but I can definitely get work."

  "I'm not really sure yet," he replied. "I need to speak to my boss. See what openings there are. I don't think I could be without a job, I need purpose."

  "I get that." She laced her fingers through his, and even that small gesture still brought a smile to his lips. "So, we're going back to Suytov?" There was an excited edge to her voice.

  He grinned. "Back to Suytov," he agreed.

  They'd both been itching to see his home planet. She practically skipped to the ship.

  ***

  Redek landed the ship in the small hangar attached to his apartment building and laughed under his breath as he watched Maddie. She'd had her face pushed against the window of the ship ever since Suytov had come into view.

  He landed the ship and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her away from the Perspex. "There's not much of a view in here," he said, burying his face in her hair and inhaling the scent of mint. "My bedroom has a window you can stare out of."

  She caught him off guard with the speed she turned around and planted a kiss on his lips, beaming. "Let's go. I really want to see it."

  She dragged him from the ship and he had to tug on her hand, "This way."

  "Right."

  "I hope I didn't leave it too messy," he said, trying to remember how much of a hurry he'd been in the last time he left his apartment.

  "Compared to my room at the compound you'd have to have really made an effort for me to think it was messy. You're the neatest person I know, anyway."

  They got to his room and none of the anxiety he'd expected appeared. He'd thought he'd be terrified of seeing his home again after so much had changed—of bringing Maddie into the home they'd be sharing. This was a big step. This was where everything became real.

  But all he felt was excitement.

  He pressed his thumb against the reader attached to his door and the light turned green. Maddie had snatched the handle and wrenched it open before he had a chance.

  She kicked off her shoes and deposited her bag near the door, then went straight to the window in the living room overlooking the city. They'd seen it from the ship, but it wasn't the same.

  She pressed her face to the glass and looked around at the tall apartment buildings and busy people. "You were right," she said. "I am going to love it here."

  For the next fifteen minutes she spent her time peering around doors and into his drawers and being nosy about everything she came across. She picked up a picture of him with his parents and smiled. "This is cute."

  He didn't interrupt the moment to ask about how the search for her father was going, even though it crossed his mind. She had access to all the information in the universe at the tip of her fingers because of her skill, but that was a lot of information to sort through. Damien had refused every request Maddie had made to speak to him. She'd asked the financial crime division if she could have access to the information they took from Damien's computer, but they'd said no. She'd managed to acquire some of it anyway, but it had given lots of leads and they were doing their best to sort through them together.

  Redek wasn't much help though, really. He let her sit between his knees and braided her hair or stroked her back while she worked. It didn't feel like enough, but it made Maddie smile.

  They'd get there eventually, though, whether that was finding an obituary or a living man, he had no idea.

  In the bedroom, Maddie lay in the center of his bed and smiled. "I like it here."

  "I'm glad."

  "I like you."

  He climbed onto the bed with her, kneeling between her legs and pushing his hand beneath her shirt to caress her stomach. "Like?" he asked, starting work on undoing the buttons on her pants.

  Maddie propped herself up on her elbows, firing him a grin. "Maybe you could convince me to love you," she suggested, lifting her hips up so he could pull down her pants and panties. "I think I could be open to persuasion."

  "Oh, I see." He wasted no time in burying his face between her legs, licking from slit to clit. "It's like that, is it?"

  She moaned in response, angling her hips further toward him and fisting her hands in the sheets.

  Redek teased her, nibbling the inside of her thighs and barely touching her clit with his tongue. She squirmed and tried to force herself further into his face, but he was easily stronger, and held her hips with an iron grip.

  "Do you love me now?" he asked, looking at her with smug eyes and a knowing smile.

  "No." She shook her head. "Not yet."

  Redek felt like he was torturing himself as his cock strained painfully against his pants and he tried to resist her cries for release. He upped the ante, teasing her until she was gasping with the oncoming climax, and then taking it away again. After a few minutes of that, she cracked.

  Breathing hard and with a flushed face, she said, "Yes. I love you. Of course I love you, just please."

  When he brought his mouth back to her and licked, she came apart in seconds, arching her back and whimpering. "Fuck," she cursed, finally coming back down and trying to catch her breath. "I can't decide whether that was cruel or perfect."

  Redek didn't have the patience to answer her. He'd barely pulled his own pants down to his thighs when he had his cock between her legs, pushing into her without hesitation or warning.

  Maddie was immediately pliant, wrapping a hand around his wrist to pull him down so their chests—still clothed—could touch. She wrapped her legs around his hips and dug her heels into his ass, forcing him even deeper inside her.

  There was no push and pull with them, they were completely in sync as their bodies moved. Maddie gasped into his shoulder then kissed, then bit, as he pistoned his hips against hers, unable to get enough of the pure heat she provided.

  Her nails dug into his back. She'd been so happy when he was finally healed, and had gone from barely touching him when they fucked to leaving half-moons in his flesh and scratches on his back.

  He knew she loved it. It was completely primal when they were together.

  And now that they were both finally healed and out of danger, there was nothing holding them back. Redek fucked her hard into his mattress, kissing her hard enough to leave marks on her throat.

  Marks that it wouldn't matter who saw, because now they were
free.

  He came inside her with a strangled breath buried in her neck, their limbs completely entangled. He went to roll off her, but Maddie tightened her legs, keeping him there. She kissed his lips and wove her hand through his hair. "I love you." She said it now almost like a reassurance after the game they'd been playing. "More than anything in the world."

  "And I love you more than anything in the universe," he teased.

  She slapped him on the shoulder then laughed, allowing him to roll onto his back and bring her into his side. They cuddled together, on their bed, in their apartment, and just basked in each other's uncomplicated company.

  Epilogue

  Maddie

  Maddie couldn't keep still.

  Her knees were bouncing and she'd chewed her lip to the point of bleeding as she sat with Redek in the back of a cab, whizzing toward her dad's house.

  The moment she'd found him, she'd almost been tempted to delete the knowledge right away. To remove it from her brain. Things with Redek had been so perfect and uncomplicated and she almost didn't want to ruin things by introducing anything that might be bad.

  Redek had started teaching at the training academy on Suytov for bodyguards, which gave him a stable position and let them stay on the planet she'd fallen in love with the second they landed. She'd landed a position as a technical security advisor for a large financial corporation through a contact she'd made at the IU's financial corruption division. It was remote, which meant she could stay living with Redek.

  She caressed her swollen stomach—it had been earlier than they’d expected, but it had only brought them closer. The excitement every time Redek even looked at her stomach was palpable.

  It had all been perfect.

  Now she'd gone and potentially thrown a wrench in the works by finding her dad. He was alive. Alive and well on a planet just a solar system away.

  She'd found him when searching through the files on Damien's computer for the thousandth time. It was such a tiny detail that she'd missed it the rest of the times, but she'd just dealt with a threat at work from someone who was hiding information in a similar way. She knew Damien couldn't have been the one to use the technique—he must have had someone more technically minded do it for him—but she'd spotted it, and had found notes on the operation to retrieve her.