Glenn, Stormy and Hagen, Lynn - Pax's Blues [Lady Blue Crew 2] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove) (14 page)

“Ah, Livewire, is it?” Imlay said. “Just the man I was looking for.”

Livewire stopped and blinked then turned to look at the doctor in surprise. “You were looking for me?” His heart started beating faster. What if the doctor finally felt the connection? This one-sided shit was driving him mad. It was bad enough he didn’t know how to handle this thing between them. It was worse now than when he was going at it alone.

“Yes,” Imlay replied. “I have need of some items, and I was informed by the commander that you would be making a trip to Nebular Nine.”

Livewire sighed as his heart sank. “Yeah.”

“Could I avail upon you to pick me up a few items?” Imlay held out a small vidpad. “I have the list right here.”

Livewire pressed his lips together and took the vidpad from Imlay. “I’ll see what I can do,” he said right before he turned and walked away. He almost wished he didn’t have to go to Nebular Nine just so he could shove the vidpad back in the doctor’s hand. How a man that gorgeous couldn’t like sex was beyond Livewire.

His heart felt heavy as he continued his search for Colt. Sometimes he wondered why he even tried. It was clear that nothing would ever develop between him and the good doctor. Imlay was even weirder than Pax and Gigi.

“Oh, hey, Colt,” Livewire called out when he spotted the man he was looking for coming out of his quarters. “Remy wants you to accompany me in the shuttle to Nebular Nine. I have a list of things that need to be picked up before we’re out of range.”

“Nebular Nine?” Colt frowned. “Is that really a good idea? Our reception the last time we went there wasn’t that good.”

“Dude, we need these wires, or Lady Blue is going to throw a shoe.”

“Let me get my guns.”

* * * *

Colt didn’t like the idea of going back to Nebular Nine considering Borjan might still be there, but what choice did he have? Livewire had made Lady Blue purr since he had been onboard. If Livewire said they needed wires, they’d get wires.

“Buckle up, Livewire. We’re coming in.”

Colt quickly checked his phasers then brought the ship in for a landing at the most populated port. With any luck, no one would recognize them in a crowded marketplace. Livewire could get what they needed, and they could leave before any shit happened.

Before Livewire could bolt from the shuttle, Colt reached out and grabbed his arm. “Whoa, slow down, cowboy. I’m here to watch you, remember? That’s going to be really hard to do if you go running off without me.”

“Colt, seriously, I don’t need a babysitter.”

“Livewire, I’m not here to babysit you. I’m here to protect you. You’re a member of the Lady Blue now. That means we back each other up.”

“Oh, well.” Livewire scratched his chin. “I suppose if you put it like that…”

Colt chuckled and walked toward the hatch. “Just stay close, Livewire.”

“Yep, yep.”

Colt shook his head as he walked off the shuttle and secured the door behind him. He trailed after Livewire, keeping his hand on his gun and his eyes on the crowd. Livewire flittered from stall to stall in the marketplace, getting whatever it was he needed.

Colt was pretty sure Livewire picked up a few items that weren’t on the man’s list but whatever. He had plans to do the very same thing. He wanted to find a gift for Pax, something special.

Colt stopped when he spotted the perfect gift. “Hey, Livewire, come back here.” Colt gestured with his hand for Livewire but kept his eyes on the prize he had found.

“What’s up, man?”

“I want to get Pax something special.” Colt pointed. “What do you think of that?”

“I think you’d better talk to Remy first.” Livewire laughed.

Colt’s eyes widened as he turned to look at Livewire. He hadn’t thought of that. Technically, the Lady Blue was Remy’s ship even though the rest of them lived there and had for a very long time. Maybe he should ask the commander?

Colt hit his com link. “Hey, Remy, I found a gift for Pax that I would like to get, but I thought I would pass it by you first.”

“What is it?”

Colt shucked at the deep sigh he heard in Remy’s voice. “Well…”

“Spit it out, Colt.” Remy sounded impatient. “I have a feeling we’re all going to be involved in this
gift
you’re giving your mate.”

Colt ran his hand over his head before sighing deeply. “There are two, so Gigi would get one as well.”

“Stop stalling and spill,” Remy growled low over the com link, making Colt’s ear drum vibrate.

Colt pulled the com link away from his ear, fearing the commander would make it burst. Once the growling subsided, Colt placed it back on his ear. He discussed his plan with Remy, and they finally came to an agreement. It took some fancy finagling, but Colt got the commander to agree. Colt quickly made his purchase before running after Livewire. The man couldn’t seem to stay stationary for too long. The mechanic was ten stalls down already.

“Wait the hell up,” Colt shouted as he ran down the line of vendors. A few other things caught his eye, but Colt was pretty sure Pax was going to show his appreciation all night long for the gift in his arms.

“I swear I wasn’t going far, Dad.” Livewire grunted. “Those wires aren’t that easy to find. They don’t come prepackaged with a stamp of approval, you know. I have to hunt down individual pieces.” Livewire glanced down at Colt’s hands. “Are those what I think they are?”

“They’re pretty obvious.” Colt rolled his eyes at Livewire. “Just finish getting what you need so we can get out of here.”

Livewire waved him off as he walked down to the next stand. Colt was wondering how he would defend them if need be with his hands full. He prayed everything went smoothly and they made it out of here incident free.

“There is someone watching us,” Livewire said from the side of his mouth. “Act casual.”

Colt looked around like he was checking out the next stand over. He saw a very large man looking at a vidpad and then up at them. Recognition gleamed in his eyes as he started toward Colt and Livewire.

“I hope you have what you need because we have to hit the trail,” Colt said as he and Livewire backed away and then spun around, trying their best to get lost in the crowd of the market. Colt wasn’t sure what was going on, but his gut was screaming to haul ass back to the ship.

Colt handed one of the gifts off to Livewire as he grabbed his phaser from its holster. Livewire slung the bag of his purchases over his shoulder as he carried Colt’s gift. They rounded a few more stands, finding themselves in a back alleyway.

“Fuck,” Colt snapped as he looked around. The only way out was the way they had come. They had no choice but to fight. Colt was cool with that. He raised his phaser, waiting for the one who was following them to appear.

He didn’t have to wait long.

The large man grinned evilly at them when he saw Colt and Livewire’s predicament. “There’s no running, boys. I’ll be able to collect that bounty with no problem now.”

“You can take me in when I agree to have my cock chewed off during sex,” Livewire spat at the man. The stranger tilted his head to the side as if trying to figure Livewire out.

“Don’t bother. It’ll only give you a headache,” Colt said as he kept the phaser aimed at the bounty hunter’s head.

“It’d be a shame to kill them.” The stranger nodded his head toward Colt’s arm. “Why don’t you put them down before I subdue you both?”

“That cocky, are you? Why don’t you come get me?” Colt taunted as he took a step back, giving himself enough room to maneuver around. He was getting tired of the chatting. Colt had a mate to surprise, and this asshole wasn’t going to get in his way.

“Do I look that stupid to you?” the stranger asked. “I’m not coming in there. You’ll have to come out sooner or later. I can wait.”

Colt was
really
getting impatient here. If one person recognized him, then he had no doubt a few more did as well. Soon, more men would come to the alley to try and collect their prize.

“I say you turn your back and let us walk before I show you how a slug has sex. By the way, you’ll do the fucking,” Livewire said from behind Colt.

“You’re a sick fuck. I don’t do guys. And what the hell does slugs have to do with this?” the stranger asked as he kept his gun aimed at Colt.

“Nothing but this.” Livewire pulled a phaser from his waist and shot it in under a second, the stranger hitting the ground with a loud thud.

Colt stood there stunned for a moment before heading toward the mouth of the alleyway. He wasn’t about to stick around to see if the guy got up.

“I told you I didn’t need a damn babysitter,” Livewire boasted as he ran alongside Colt.

“I guess not.” Colt chuckled as he grabbed his gift back from the mechanic. He balanced both in his arms as they made their way back toward their shuttle. Colt hoped no one knew it was theirs. If they did, a welcoming committee would be waiting for them.

“I hope those damn things were worth it,” Livewire said to Colt but cooed at Colt’s arms. “They are cute though.”

“Shut the hell up, and get us off of this fucking planet,” Colt growled as they entered the shuttle. He sat down in his seat, buckling in before cradling his special gift in his arms as they headed back to the Lady Blue.

He breathed a sigh of relief when they left the planet’s atmosphere, and the hull of the Lady Blue came into sight. He turned to look at Livewire, his curiosity about the man growing by the second.

“So, how’d you learn to shoot like that?”

“Westerns.”

Colt’s eyebrows shot up. “Excuse me?”

“Westerns,” Livewire repeated. “You know, those old movies from earth where they have shootouts at high noon?”

“Uh…” Colt was confused. “No.”

Livewire rolled his eyes. “I’ll show you one on vid night. I have a ton of them.”

“And this is where you learned to shoot?”

“Well, it’s where I got the idea anyway.” Livewire snickered. “I learned to shoot on Paktil. An old friend of mine scrounged up a phaser, and we took turns shooting at targets until we got really good at it.”

“Huh.”

Livewire grinned. “Told ya I didn’t need no stinking babysitter.”

Chapter 9

Pax tried to look like he wasn’t bouncing from foot to foot when he heard the shuttle dock with the ship. But it was hard to wait for the shuttle to finish docking and the airlock to engage. He was so excited.

Colt had left before he had woken up, going off to Nebular Nine with Livewire. Remy explained to him several different times the need for Colt to accompany Livewire and guard him. The last time, Remy had growled and ordered him off the bridge. He wasn’t allowed back until Colt returned.

And now Colt was back.

Pax stood on tiptoe and peered through the small window that looked into the airlock located between the main part of the ship and the shuttle bay. He could see Colt and Livewire through the front window of the shuttle, shutting everything down.

The two men disappeared from view. A moment later, they appeared around the side of the shuttle and started walking toward the airlock. Pax waved when Colt glanced up. Colt chuckled and said something to Livewire.

Pax wished he could read lips because whatever Colt said made Livewire laugh. When Livewire looked toward him and waved, Pax waved back. He hated the time it took for them to get into the airlock, pressurize it, and then come out the other side. Pax knew it only took a few minutes, but it felt like forever.