Weapons Master Galactic Gladia - Anna Hackett Page 0,37
of Rone, or his calling as a weapons master. And he would never have met this tough, tattooed woman from Earth.
“I think you’re lucky,” she said. “Maybe what happened, as horrible as it was, was a blessing in disguise.”
He grunted. He’d actually started thinking that himself. “Is that how you feel? About your abduction?”
She gave a small nod. “The thing is, it doesn’t matter. What ifs are fucking useless. We have to make the most of whatever life throws at us. Move forward.” She shot him a sexy grin. “Now, I want to shoot some of these gorgeous weapons.”
Maxon selected a gun for himself and moved up beside her.
“Maxon?”
“Yes?”
“I bet if your family and your high-maintenance ex saw you now, they’d be astounded. They’d regret being elitist, snobby assholes.”
He liked that, but right now, all he cared about was Bellamy. He gave her ass a swat. “You going to shoot, or keep yabbering?”
She went up on her toes and smacked a kiss to his lips. “Okay, okay, Mr. Grumpy. Let’s shoot.”
Chapter Fourteen
“Where are we going?”
“You’ll see.”
Bellamy held tight onto Maxon’s hand as he tugged her down a busy street at the edge of the District. Acton and Zaden trailed not far behind them. Extra bodyguards in case any of the Edull’s assassins were lurking around.
She really would have preferred to be back in his workshop, keeping busy, or better yet, luring Maxon into doing naughty things. Anything so she didn’t think about the looming mission. She took a deep breath. She wanted to take the Edull and the arena down, but that didn’t mean it didn’t frighten her.
Maxon slowed and she saw they were in front of a building with some glitzy storefronts. He led her inside and she saw that the place wasn’t large, but was home to several high-end stores. The closest one was a jewelry store, filled with glittering display cabinets and lots of rich-looking tourists wandering around.
He towed her past the swanky stores to one at the back. It had a more old-fashioned feel, like it had been there a long time. Its windows were filled with fancy gadgets and electronics, most of which Bellamy couldn’t identify.
With a nod to Acton and Zaden, who stationed themselves at the door, Maxon led her inside. There were shelves of more gadgets made of different metals with blinking lights.
“Wow,” she murmured.
A small, round older man with no hair bustled out of the back room. “How can I help you?” He wore a vest over his shirt and had one metallic, cybernetic eye. It zoomed out like a lens to look at them. “Maxon!”
“Good to see you, Desmon.”
“It’s been too long since you came in and spent lots of credits.”
A smile touched Maxon’s mouth.
The shopkeeper turned to study Bellamy, his organic eye widening and his cybernetic one zooming in even more. “Now, who is this?”
“I’m Bellamy.” She held her hand out.
The man took it and turned her palm up. “Good. A woman who works with her hands. Excellent choice, Maxon. No one wants some pretty flower who needs constant attention.”
Bellamy laughed. “I’m definitely more the hardy weed type.”
“But a very attractive one,” Desmon said.
“Aren’t you a charmer?” She tilted her head at Maxon. “You should give him some lessons.”
Maxon grunted. “I didn’t hear you complaining last night.”
She gave him a light whack in his gut.
Desmon let out a chuckle. “I am very happy to see Maxon has come out of his workshop long enough to meet a woman.”
“Actually, I just pushed my way into his workshop and ignored his growling.”
“Hmm, even more fascinating,” Desmon said.
“Desmon, I wanted to get Bellamy a full set of your custom tools.”
Bellamy stilled. “What?”
“Desmon is the best tool maker in Kor Magna.” Maxon turned to the man. “She’s working with me and needs the best. I want them sized for her and made from nanga steel.”
The tool maker nodded thoughtfully. “I can do that.”
“Maxon.” Warmth blooming in her chest, she moved closer to him.
“I want you to have them. You’ll get more work done.”
That wasn’t it at all. Damn, her cyborg had his own kind of growly charm. She went up on her toes and kissed him noisily. Even with the mission to Bari Batu looming over them, life was good.
She wanted this man, this cyborg. She was going to keep him and explore all the goodness of being with him.
He smiled at her, and that small movement of his lips felt like a prize. Yep, her beast was thawing.
“I can have them ready for