Weapons Master: Galactic Gladiators: House of Rone #6

by Hackett, Anna

  Then Maxon was beside her. He kicked the lock off and the door swung open.

  “You’re safe,” Bellamy said. “We’re going to get you out of here.”

  The thin boy with the shock of matted, black hair and pale skin let her help him out. Then because he wavered on his feet, she put an arm around him.

  “Watch out,” he whispered. “They have—”

  Clanking and whirring sounds filled the old stables.

  The House of Rone cyborgs spun. Several bots stomped into view.

  Bellamy’s blood ran cold.

  There were several different designs, mostly humanoid. There were all tall, towering over seven feet. One was on tracks, and another had six arms.

  Mace punched a fist into his palm. “Good. I didn’t think we were going to get a decent fight.”

  “House of Rone,” Magnus said. “Take them down.”

  The cyborgs strode forward. Seren leaped, disappeared, then reappeared right behind the lead bot. The female cyborg rammed a pair of wicked-looking fighting forks into the metal.

  Wow. Bellamy’s pulse spiked. Seren could teleport. Maybe the female cyborg really was a superhero. Not far away, Zaden used his amazing powers to topple a bot to the ground. He attacked it with his sword.

  Magnus and Jax rammed their fists into another bot, tearing its insides out.

  Toren stood back, a weapon rising up from the metal implant on his shoulder. He fired precision laser bolts that ricocheted between several bots. Mace and Acton were circling two other bots.

  “Stay back,” Maxon said. “Protect the boy.”

  Then he spun, striding into the fight. He reached over his shoulder and pulled out his vibrasword. He lunged and struck, fighting with powerful hits that tore into the bot.

  They were amazing.

  “By the sands.” The boy trembled. “They are…”

  “The House of Rone.” Bellamy patted his arm. “They’re going to set everyone free.”

  The boy fought back tears, ducking his head to hide them.

  She gripped his shoulder. “It’s okay. I was the Edull’s prisoner for a while, so I know how you feel. But I’m free now, and you can go home soon. We’ll take care of you.”

  With a sniff, the boy nodded. “But…they already took my older brother.”

  Damn. She touched the young boy’s arm. “What’s your name?”

  “Calrin.”

  “Well, Calrin, we’re going to find your brother. I promise.” Don’t make me a liar, universe. “What’s your brother’s name?”

  “Zan.”

  Suddenly, a bot broke through the line of fighting cyborgs. Fuck.

  It barreled right toward Bellamy and the boy. She glanced around, looking for some sort of weapon.

  She grabbed a metal bar resting beside the cages and lifted it. She pushed Calrin behind her.

  The bot rolled closer.

  Bellamy leaped up onto an empty cage then jumped, swinging her bar through the air. Her swing slammed into the bot’s head.

  The bot stopped, and she saw the dent in its head, before she landed back in a crouch on the ground.

  “Come on, you overblown tin can.”

  It rolled at her and she swung again. One of its arms grabbed the bar. She tried to jerk it away, but the bot held it steady. It was too strong.

  Shit.

  A roar sounded, almost like a lion on the attack. Maxon landed on the bot’s back. He was holding some sort of gun in his hand. He pressed the sleek weapon to the bot’s head.

  He pulled the trigger and blew the bot’s head off.

  The construct teetered and collapsed, just as Maxon leaped off it.

  Bellamy kicked the destroyed bot. Good riddance. She looked up and smiled at Maxon. “I love watching you kick ass, Ace.”

  His lips twitched. “Stay out of trouble.”

  “Never.”

  She turned back to the boy, and together, they watched the House of Rone cyborgs make metal mincemeat out of the Edull robots.

  Chapter Eleven

  Maxon watched Bellamy free the last of the kids from the final cages.

  She was talking calmly, reassuring them. She coaxed a smile from a boy, and then hugged a small girl.

  He stayed close to her. He didn’t want to be too far away from her. Part of him didn’t want her out of his sight.

  But he stayed back. He was big, the kids were skittish.

  The other reason he was staying close was that rage vibrated off Bellamy. The kids might not be picking it up, but he sure was.

  A team from the House of Rone arrived to help deal with the freed captives. The workers sprang into action.

  “Our people will get them all medical checks and then some food,” Magnus said.

  Maxon grunted. The House of Rone was used to helping those who needed it.

  “We’ll get them back to their homes and families,” Magnus continued. “Or offer them a new one, if need be.”

  As the imperator had once offered Maxon a home. He hoped these kids had people who cared and homes to go back to.

  There were a few adult captives as well. He heard a man’s deep laugh and turned.

  A smooth, handsome Heelevian man was laughing with Bellamy.

  Maxon frowned. The man was standing way too close to her. Why was she smiling at him like that?

  Before he could intervene, he felt a tug on his leg and looked down to see a small girl with tangled, pale hair.

  “What?”

  The girl blinked, and her lip quivered.

  Maxon tried not to scowl. He remembered the way Bellamy had crouched to the kids’ level when she spoke to them.

  He went down on one knee. “Are you hurt?”

  She shook her head.

  “Looking for someone?”

  That got him another shake.

  Drak. He had no idea what to say to this small child.

  Then the girl moved closer, her body cautious, then pressed against his chest.

  Raising an arm, he awkwardly hugged the girl. She was so small and fragile. He felt a trickle of panic and looked up, searching for someone to take the girl off his hands.

  She clung to his shirt like she was never going to let go.

  Then he saw Bellamy smiling at him.

  His panic eased. If this earned him that look on her face, he’d hold the little girl for hours.

  Suddenly, an older girl appeared. “Zalista.” She took the girl’s hand and pulled her away from Maxon. “I’m sorry. You look like our father. The same hair.”

  “You have family?” Maxon asked.

  The older girl nodded. “They’ll be frantic. They’ll be looking for us.”

  He rose. “We’ll help you get home.”

  There was a gleam of tears in the girl’s eyes before she sniffed them back. “Thank you.”

  The little girl patted his leg, then left with her sister.

  “Kids seem to like you.”

  He watched Bellamy approach.

  “I have no idea why.”

  “Because you make them feel safe.” She pressed into his chest. “You make me feel safe.”

  There was a storm of emotion inside him. He cupped her cheek. “Why were you talking and laughing with that man?” His tone came out harsh and surly.

  Her mouth curved. “Jealous?”

  Maxon gripped her biceps. “Don’t play with me, Bellamy.”

  Her smile faded. “I’m not. I was being nice to someone who’d been in captivity, like I was.”

  Maxon released a breath. He needed to get his own feelings under control and think about hers.

  She jerked away. “Don’t piss me off, cyborg. I’m mad, and looking for a convenient punching bag.”

  He sensed that barely leashed fury simmering, her body vibrating with it.

  “The Edull tried to kill you again, so you have the right to be angry,” he said.

  She made a scoffing noise, and waved a hand in the air. “It’s not that. Kids, Maxon. They locked up all th
ese kids.” Her voice hitched. “They would’ve shipped them to Bari Batu and killed them.”

  He reached out and touched her pale hair. “Bellamy. We will stop them.”

  Her voice was close to a whisper. “How many will die before we can do that?” A tear slipped from her eye and she dashed it away, making an angry noise. “Dammit, I don’t cry.”

  He wished he knew what the drak to do to ease her pain.

  “Maxon—” Her voice cracked. “Get me out of here. I’m going to break or explode or something.”

  He grabbed her hand. “Magnus, I’m taking Bellamy back to the House of Rone.”

  Magnus nodded. “Go. We’re almost finished here. Take one of Rillian’s transports.”

  They didn’t talk on the way back. Once they reached the arena, he led her into the tunnels. His long strides ate up the distance, and she was practically jogging to keep up with him.

  They moved quickly through the House of Rone doors without stopping to talk to the guards. He tugged her straight into his workshop.

  She strode into the center of the space and he expected her to cry.

  Instead, she made an enraged sound and grabbed a tool off the bench. She threw it at the wall. Then she started grabbing whatever was within reach and tossing things at the wall. She had good aim.

  She was incandescent with rage. Drak, she was magnificent.

  Maxon knew this wasn’t just about the kids. This was about letting out her anger, fear, and fury about her own abduction, what she’d lost, what she’d seen.

  Then, it seemed like the storm was petering out. She lowered her arm and spun.

  Her green eyes were blazing, and the heat ran through him.

  Even a cyborg could recognize the mix of lust, desire, sex.

  * * *

  Bellamy let her gaze drift over Maxon’s hard form.

  Need and want twisted through the rage welling inside her. Her anger morphed into something hotter and needier.

  Throwing shit had helped her. Fucking Maxon would be even better.

  “What do you want?” His voice was low and edgy.

  She stepped toward him. “You know.” She yanked her tank top off.

  His gold gaze moved over her breasts, devouring her. “Tell me.”

  She flicked open her trousers and dropped them. She kicked off her panties and then she was naked.

  His gaze was glued to her belly. The man had a thing for her tats.

  “I want your big, callused hands on me. I want your mouth on me.” She reached for him and pressed her palm against his trousers, right over his cock.

  He groaned. He was already hard, and she stroked him through the fabric.

  “You want to use me?” he growled. “To get your anger out? Forget all your troubles?”

  She lifted her chin. “You got a problem with that?”

  “Drak, no.” He wrapped an arm around her, and lifted her off her feet.

  God, the way he easily picked her up made her damp. She bit his jaw. “Maxon?”

  That molten gold gaze met hers.

  “This isn’t just fucking, or working my anger out. It’s you. Only you.”

  He made a sound like a muted roar. With his other arm, he swept across the bench, knocking tools and gear off the surface.

  Bellamy’s belly caught, desire thrumming between her legs.

  He set her down on the bench and shoved her legs apart. He moved between them, his big body crowding hers. He pushed her until she was lying flat on her back. One of his hands ran down her middle, his callused fingers tracking over her tattoos.

  She felt the caress deep inside.

  He circled her navel, then he lowered his head. His shaggy hair brushed her skin. Then his tongue was on her tattoo.

  She arched into him. “Maxon!”

  “Stay down.” He pinned her there. “You’re mine to touch and taste.”

  Then his mouth was between her legs, licking and sucking like he couldn’t get enough of the taste of her. Like he was starving for her.

  She shoved her hands into his hair, making incoherent noises.

  “I want you inside me,” she panted. “Now.”

  He gave her a final lick, sending her trembling close to the edge of a climax. His hands closed around her waist, dragging her to the edge of the bench.

  “So tough, but so soft here.” He stroked her thighs. “You make so much feeling well up inside me, Bellamy. You take me places I’ve never been before.”

  He reached up and ripped his shirt off.

  God, that chest. All that smooth bronze skin. She wanted to explore every hard inch of it.

  Then he opened his trousers. He leaned over her and she felt the thick head of his cock brush between her legs. She cried out.

  He stilled, his big body shaking against hers.

  “Maxon?”

  “It’s been…a long time. I don’t want to hurt you.”

  She felt a burst of warmth in her chest. “It’s been a while for me too. I want this. I need this. You.”

  He made a choked sound and surged inside her with a single, hard thrust.

  A strangled cry was ripped from her throat. Wild desire washed through her. His long, thick cock stretched her with a sweet sting of pain.

  He pulled out, thrust back in with a groan. Desire went crazy, like a flame to tinder.

  “More.” She sat up, gripping his shoulders, her legs clamped around him. She clung to him, hunger turning desperate.

  “Bellamy.” His big hands slid under her ass. He lifted her off the bench.

  He used his strength to help her move. Up, down. She cried out, taking his cock deep inside her. Her climax roared closer, all her muscles tensing. She trembled on the edge, clutching his shoulders.

  Maxon pumped into her again, his fingers biting into her buttocks.

  She clamped down on his cock and her orgasm crashed into her. She screamed, digging her nails into his back, clawing him.

  With a growl, he thrust into her again before his own release hit. As he groaned her name, she lowered her head and bit into the hard muscle at his shoulder.

  His big body jerked, then his cock pulsed as he spilled inside her.

  * * *

  Maxon couldn’t formulate one single clear thought.

  All he could think of was Bellamy. The sexy handful of a woman he held tight in his arms.

  She was all heat and wicked curves, and the scent of her—mixed with the musk of sex—wouldn’t leave him for a long time.

  She made a husky sound, dropping a kiss to his shoulder. “Ace, we totally should’ve done that months ago.”

  “We didn’t know each other months ago.”

  “Who cares about details.”

  Pleasure—and other strange feelings—mixed inside him. He blinked, then realized they were standing naked in the middle of his workshop.

  He wasn’t interested in anyone else seeing Bellamy’s naked form. He carried her to a doorway, and then up a set of stone steps and into his living quarters.

  He set her down and she took it all in.

  “You don’t spend a lot of time decorating, huh?”

  He looked at the space through her eyes. A simple, steel-frame bed dominated the far end of the space, and there wasn’t much else.

  The window behind the bed was an arch, showcasing a nice view of Kor Magna.

  “I don’t spend much time up here.”

  She wandered, unperturbed that she was naked. She poked her head into his bathroom and her eyes widened. “I like your tub.”

  He had a huge, deep tub sunk into the floor. He lifted a shoulder. “If I get stuck on a design, I like to soak and think.”

  Unashamedly naked, she strode toward him. “I heard cyborgs aren’t fond of baths.”

  “I don’t have any outward metal parts.”

  “No, you don’t.” She stroked his chest. “What do you have?”

  “A lot of synthetic organs, metal infused into my bones.”

  Something flickered
on her face. “What happened to you?”

  Maxon’s gut cramped, and he scooped her off her feet. Thankfully, she let him avoid the subject.

  He strode over and dropped her on his bed. She stroked the covers and he felt a punch of satisfaction at seeing her spread out there.

  His cock appreciated the view too.

  Her gaze drifted down his body, her lips lifting. “What’s on your mind, Ace?”

  You. Always you. But he didn’t voice the words.

  Instead, he watched as she parted her legs. Drak, he had a perfect view of her pretty, pink folds.

  Then boldly, she cupped her breasts. One of her hands drifted between her legs and she stroked herself.

  His cock felt like steel, rising high.

  Wild Bellamy—she never held back. She went after what she wanted, showed what she was feeling. No artifice or pretense. She showed him how turned on she was.

  “I still feel you here,” she murmured.

  Maxon climbed onto the bed and covered her body with his. He leaned down and kissed her. She bit his bottom lip.

  “How can I want you again so soon?” she said.

  “Bellamy—”

  She shoved against his shoulders and exerted enough pressure for him to roll onto his back. She climbed on top of him and his gut went tight with desire.

  “Watch me, Maxon. Watch me take you inside.”

  She gripped his cock, giving it one hard pump. It pulsed in her hand. She dropped her head down and gave it a quick lick that made his hips buck up.

  She was a drakking temptress, driving him out of his mind.

  She rose up, then slowly descended on his cock.

  He growled.

  “You like that, don’t you?” She made a choked noise. “My body stretching to take you, you big beast.”

  He gripped her hips, and drove her down.

  Her cry echoed off the walls of his room. Then she started moving, riding him hard.

  “Oh, God, yes.” She picked up speed.

  Hot pleasure pumped through his body. The sound of skin slapping against skin filled his ears. The wild, burning lust made him want to claim and plunder. Her hungry, needy moans echoed in his ears.

  But they’d already clawed at each other downstairs. Already dissipated the fury, and now he felt a strange, alien need for something else.