Weapons Master Galactic Gladia - Anna Hackett Page 0,20
tugged her over to a bench and handed her a tool. “I made this for you.”
She blinked, eyeing the slender device. “You made this for me?”
He shrugged a shoulder. “You have small hands.” A pause. “You’ll get more work done with the right tool.”
Warmth bloomed in her chest like a flower. “Thank you.”
If she wasn’t mistaken, there was faint color in his cheeks.
“See what you can do with that prototype. It’s been giving me a hard time.” He turned her so she faced some sort of crossbow resting on the bench.
He got to work on a sword, firing up his forge and setting some metal on it to melt.
Bellamy realized that in his own way, he was taking care of her, and taking her mind off things. Despite everything, she smiled.
“What?” He scowled at her.
“Nothing.” She set to work on the crossbow and hummed happily.
When his scowl deepened, her smile widened. Damn, she loved needling him. They worked quietly, finding a rhythm. Bellamy felt herself relax.
She worked on the crossbow firing mechanism, losing herself in the work. Finally, she stretched her neck and turned. She swallowed.
God, the man was something to look at. Maxon had stripped his shirt off, and his chest was sweaty. He was now hammering some metal into shape. A high-tech device skimmed up and down the metal, cooling it.
She watched as he worked until he was happy with it, and then he set the new sword on the rack.
She could watch him work all night.
He grabbed a drink of water, tipping the bottle back and chugging from it.
“How’s it going?” he asked.
She nodded and waved a hand at the crossbow.
He wandered closer, taking another sip of the water. She could smell the sweat on his skin and stifled a moan.
He studied her work, touched it, then made a humming sound. “Not bad.”
“High praise coming from you.”
He opened a drawer and pulled something out. When he came back, she saw him holding some sort of snack bar. He broke it in half, and handed her some.
She fiddled with it. “So, I guess the Edull want me dead.”
“Crudspawn are going to be disappointed.”
The solid certainly in his voice made the tight knot she hadn’t even known she was nursing in her chest ease.
“I want to make them pay. They use and kill others for entertainment and profit.” She slammed her tool onto the bench. “I need to be a part of bringing the arena down.”
Maxon eyed her steadily. “Even if it puts you at risk?”
She lifted her chin. “I need this, Maxon.”
Finally, he nodded. “Okay. I can assure you that Magnus and the House of Rone are fully behind this. Magnus won’t stop until the Edull are dust.”
Bellamy felt the traitorous prick of tears behind her eyes and beat it back. It felt so strange and so good to have all these people caring for her.
“Now, get back to work,” he grumbled. “There are no lazy assistants in this workshop.”
“So, I’m your assistant, huh?”
“Here.” He lifted the crossbow and nudged some sort of metallic circular device across the bench. “Put it on here.”
He touched something and then let the crossbow go. It levitated in midair above the device, spinning gently. She touched it and realized it would be much easier to work on.
She stroked the cool metal of the device. “This is magnetic?”
“Yes.”
Bellamy stared at the spinning crossbow, her brain firing.
“Bellamy?”
Excitement was like a storm inside her. She spun and jumped on him, clamping her legs around his lean waist. She smacked a kiss to his lips.
His big hand cupped the back of her head and they went at each other, hard and fast.
When she finally lifted her mouth off his, they were both breathing heavily.
“What was that for?” His voice was deep and raspy.
She grinned. “I have an idea for how we can destroy the Bari Batu arena.”
Maxon had a worker summon Magnus to his office. It was late, and even after the cleanup required at the arena, he guessed Magnus was in bed.
Bellamy was looking out the windows, her face pensive. He much preferred her writhing in pleasure under his hands.
His body throbbed and he locked his desire down. Now wasn’t the time.
Magnus arrived. “Is everyone all right?”
“Fine,” Maxon replied.
If the imperator had been sleeping, he certainly didn’t look like it now. His hair was neat, his face alert.
“Bellamy had an idea about the battle arena,” Maxon said.
She moved forward. “You know that all the Bari Batu buildings can be lowered and raised into huge holes