Page 7 of Max
Even while running through their relationship possibilities, he was hyperaware of their surroundings. If those men chasing her earlier were human traffickers, they wouldn’t give up so easily.
Max heard the sound of horses trotting as he was halfway between the creek and where Falyn was just getting up. He ran full speed across the field, reaching them as two men from the day before tried to subdue her and tie her hands behind her back.
“Let her go!” Max roared.
Still, on their horses, the two men pointed ancient rifles at him, loading rounds in their firing chambers. “You stand down,” said the apparent leader.
Max swung the bucket of water and hit the man on the right in the head with it so hard he fell off his horse. The cyborg pivoted, grabbed that man’s rifle barrel, and yanked the rider to the ground. He hit one of the men holding Falyn in the head with the stock, then punched the other man in the face as he reached for his sidearm, a pistol.
Still conscious, the leader pulled out a pistol and shot Max in the back of the head. Max grunted, turned, kicked the gun from his hand, and then kicked him in the head as he tried to get up.
Touching the back of his head where the bullet hit him, he winced at the sting. The slug only went through the soft tissue and ricocheted. His scalp was bleeding, but his internal nanites rushed to close the wound.
Wiping his hand on his shirt, he turned and gripped Falyn’s upper arms, examining her with sight and scanning her to make sure she was not injured.
“I’m okay,” she murmured with a stunned expression.
“I had a feeling they hadn’t given up. Stay right here. I’m going to put them in cuffs. Then I need to figure out what to do with them.”
Falyn nodded.
Max went to his hidden sky cycle, pulled four zip ties from his cargo compartment, and cuffed the four downed men’s hands behind their backs. Now he needed somewhere to hold them. His protector team wasn’t due to arrive for another three weeks.
But Stalker’s teams had already been there for a few weeks and had established a holding place for those who weren’t amenable to the new order.
“Stalker, I need your help.”
“Sure, Max. What can I do for you?”
“I have four thugs who just tried to kidnap my female.”
“Processed. Your teams haven’t arrived, and you don’t have anywhere to hold them. Give me your coordinates, and I will send a hover transport for them.”
“Thank you, I will wait for them to arrive and ask if Falyn can contain their horses.”
“You’re welcome. Also, Neely wants to meet your female when you are ready. She said she wants to compare notes, whatever that means.”
“I will let you know after we have had some time to bond.”
Acceptable. Stalker out.
“Max, is that your blood on your shirt? Are you hurt?” Falyn asked when he returned from securing the would-be kidnappers.
“It’s nothing. That man shot me in the back of my head with his useless projectile pistol. It broke the skin before it bounced off my skull.”
Max reached up and cupped his hand against her cheek. “That you are unhurt is more important than a minor puncture wound. They are lucky they didn’t hurt you. I would have killed them all.”
He was deadly serious, she realized. Seeing him dispatch four thugs, hardly breaking a sweat, was hot.
Falyn cupped her hand against Max’s. She had heard of cyborgs before, but that was in the abstract. The reality was pretty damned impressive. Tall, fair-haired, and powerfully built. He was not just pretty. He was sexy with a capital S, or maybe it was those pheromones he told her about.
The blatant adoration in his intense gaze sent an unspoken invitation straight to her core. Her nipples tightened, and her inner walls clenched. She wanted him, and the slight lift at the corners of his mouth told her that he knew it.
Then he seemed to mentally shake himself, letting his hand drop from her cheek. “Do you have a fenced pasture where we could contain these four horses, at least temporarily?”
She nodded. “They can pasture with Angus as long as they aren’t aggressive.”
“Ain’t none of these horses aggressive,” said the man Max had hit with the bucket. “They’s all good animals.”
