Lydia ran her thumb over his lip. “I’m sorry.” She leaned in, pressed another kiss to his lips, then leaned back. “So what did you learn?” Lydia grinned. “Oh wait, don’t tell me… you’re like Yoda, and you can flip around the room, and you have some type of mystic Jedi magic kicking in.” Lydia nodded. “I’m right, aren’t I?”
Rick chuckled. He wished that was all he’d been given. If what he thought might happen actually happened, it almost guaranteed they would never be able to be together. No matter how much he wanted her. She’d become special to him, and honestly, he couldn’t imagine a life without her in it. “I’m afraid it’s nothing as cool as that.”
“Oh darn. That was my only guess, so tell me what you can do.”
Rick rubbed Lydia’s arms. “I’m not sure what to call it, yet. But I guess I can kind of absorb the energy in the air. Brody tried to toss balls at my head.”
Lydia slid off of Rick and placed her hands on her hips. “I’ll kill him.”
Rick pulled her back down to his lap. “Actually we should thank him. Had he not tried, we would have never figured out one of my new talents.”
“What happened?”
“Brody was being Brody, and he pissed me off. I think it was my anger that stopped the balls and made them fall to the ground. It was weird. I could feel the energy being sucked from the room and into my body until it dissipated.”
Lydia moved off of Rick’s lap and sat beside him. She was silent. He’d learned a long time ago that a silent woman could be a bad thing. He rubbed her back as she leaned over to pick up her juice. “What are you thinking?”
Lydia leaned back into the sofa and propped her feet up on the coffee table. She kept her gaze on her cup. “If you’re able to drain the energy out of a room, what does that mean for us?”
Rick put his arm around her and pulled her to lean on him. “I don’t know yet, but we’ll figure it out. I really had to concentrate to do it with Brody. He suggested that I train with you to see how it affects you.”
Rick sat up, slid the cup of juice from her hands, and set it down on the table. “I know where I’d like to start.”
Lydia smiled and leaned in to kiss him, pressed her body against his. “Me too.”
She pressed a kiss to his lips and down his neck as she rubbed her palms over his chest. “How about we test how much energy you can absorb.” She pulled his tucked-in shirt out of his jeans and ran her palms against his skin. Rick closed his eyes. Her touch alone was driving him mad. He’d wanted to make love to her since he walked into the room. He leaned down and captured her lips. His tongue slid into her mouth, and she moaned. He lifted a hand and cupped her cloth-covered breast and gently squeezed. He whispered against her lips. “I want you.”
Lydia’s eyes were closed. “I want you too.”
A loud knock sounded on the door. Lydia slid from his lap. Rick pushed himself up and straightened his clothes. Lydia’s cheeks were flushed. Her red lips were plump. Had the knock not interrupted them, he would have taken her, right on the couch.
She walked to the door and threw it open. Brody stood grinning on the other side of the door.
“What? I didn’t kill the security system… yet.”
She tried to shut the door on Brody. His uncontained laughter rang out to her ears, but he put up his hand and stopped the door. “I’m not here for you, Red. I’m here for Romeo. The general wants to talk to him.”
Brody put his arm around Lydia’s waist and pulled her close. “But if you need any help killing the security system, just let me know.” He placed a peck on her cheek and released her.
Rick grabbed his cup and set it in the sink. “She won’t need any help from you.”
Rick grabbed Brody by the arm and pulled him out of the room. Rick placed a kiss on Lydia’s head and winked as he passed. “I’ll be back to collect and check see if we can kill the system ourselves after I talk to the general.”
****
Rick had only been gone five minutes when another knock on the door pulled Lydia out of her thoughts. Rick had consumed her thoughts all day. She hadn’t thought it was possible to be given gifts like hers. She’d thought they were things that could only be inherited. The thought that Floyd had access to something that could potentially disable all of their powers scared her. There would be no defeating him if he knew that he’d succeeded with his experiment.
Lydia remembered the door. “Coming,” she hollered as she set her cup in the sink. She pulled her door open and was surprised to see Marlaina standing on the other side.
“I need to talk to you.”
Lydia opened the door farther and motioned for her to enter. “What can I do for you? I thought that everyone would be eating dinner by now.”