Bayne by Misa Buckley

Author:Misa Buckley
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: science fiction romance
Publisher: Champagne Books
Published: 2013-04-23T23:00:00+00:00

Six

Bayne saw the blood drain from Malia’s face. She sat there, staring at him with wide eyes, her expression close to horrified. He glanced down at his arm again, but could see nothing amiss.

“What’s the matter?” he asked her.

She shook her head. “It’s nothing.”

“Malia—”

“It’s okay,” she interrupted. “How’s the arm?”

He could have pushed the issue, but he doubted that he had the right. And he’d rescinded his claim on her, so lacked that leverage. She wasn’t meeting his eyes, evading the question. He gave a mental sigh and let it go. After all, he could hardly blame her for her distrust.

Watching his metal fingers clench and relax at a thought, Bayne considered the problem of what he’d done that first day and how he could possibly make amends for it. How he could show her that he was not someone she needed to fear.

She rose from the seat and packed away the tools. Her ability was not something he’d ever imagined her to have, but then they had not talked about their past lives. Not until today. She ought to be a mechanic at least, if not a technician.

“Why have you not trained as a tech?” he asked, curious.

“My father died a couple of years after my mother did. He had a wasting disease and no amount of doctors’ cures helped. My mother’s brother took me on, albeit rather reluctantly. He… never had much patience for a girl. He didn’t think I could do more than marry and bear children.” Her lips thinned as she locked the tool box, a tell-tale slash of color high on her cheeks. Without looking at him, Malia added, “I wasn’t worth any education, not even the basics.”

“You can’t read or write?”

Her glance was pained. “I can write you a shopping list of food my uncle likes.”

His heart ached for her and he felt even more of a heel. “Then I came along and made everything worse.” She hitched a shoulder, but didn’t deny it. Damn it, he needed to do something. “Come with me.”

Rising to his feet, he held out his good hand to her. She gave him a puzzled look but took it. He grinned and pulled her up, then tucked her hand in the crook of his elbow. Her curiosity was almost palpable, but she didn’t ask. And he wasn’t going to ruin the surprise.

Two decks down, Bayne activated the door on a room he knew hadn’t seen much activity for a while. He stepped in, Malia’s hand still on his arm, and the lights came on. He watched her face as she looked around, smiling when her eyes widened as she realized where he’d brought her. She turned those wide eyes on him and his stomach knotted.

“Bayne?”

“Anyone that can fix something as technical as my arm with only the knowledge they taught themselves has a talent that it would be foolish to waste.”

Her forehead creased, then her lips parted. “This is for me?”

“Indeed so. I can assign a couple of my technicians to assist you as well, if you would like.

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