by Maddie Wade
Zin looked at her as if she had grown horns and she was still the sweet, beautiful, sassy woman he had been falling for, but her bravery and that little speech, with all its sass and bluster, had given that attraction teeth. Now, his whole body fought the need to drag her from the room and take her to the nearest flat surface and fuck her until the little wild cat that she had been hiding screamed his name in ecstasy.
If his body got any harder, he would do himself a permanent injury. The pulse that jumped in her neck when he bent towards her told him that she was not unaffected either. Yes, it was not too late, and the thought gave him the patience he needed to stop himself from throwing her over his shoulder and running with her. Instead, he leaned in and whispered in her ear as she stood with her arms crossed across her delectable breasts, her cheeks rosy with anger and her eyes on fire with desire and a fire he hadn’t seen before but was now his favourite look on her. “Are you frustrated Pixie?’ he asked, and she looked suitably wary as she looked him in the eye her head tilting slightly.
“What?”
“Are the batteries in your Viper flat?’ he asked with a devilish grin. The blush that stained her cheeks as recognition filtered over her was so cute, he almost kissed her. Then she did the most adorable thing he had ever seen and stamped her foot as she harrumphed.
“Did you just stamp your foot?” he asked with a smile trying to break free over his face. She didn’t answer, just turned on her heel and sashayed away, going to stand next to her brother, glaring at him from the opposite side of the room, while he watched her beautiful curves and plotted what he would do to keep her safe so that he could spend the next sixty years looking at that shapely ass.
~~~
“What did he say to you?” her brother asked as she sat next to him and fumed. That asshat, how dare he say that to her and how the fuck did he know such a thing? Her face flamed as she thought of him knowing her innermost secrets, and yet at the same time her body heated with longing. Just how had he found out anyway?
“Nothing important.” Celeste took a breath. “Did I say anything out of the ordinary when you rescued me?”
Kanan squirmed beside her, his face going a shade of red that had her heartbeat speeding up. “Like what?” he said evasively, his eyes not meeting hers as he looked over the top of her head.
Oh, fuck!
“Well, anything embarrassing?” In her heart, she already knew the answer. K looked around the room as if he would rather be anywhere than there, his face full of relief when Zack, Dane, Daniel, and Liam walked in followed by Will who had his arms full with a laptop, and Roz who was followed by Angel.
The room quieted as Zack walked to the whiteboard at the front. Celeste focused on Zack and ignored the fact that her brother had not answered her question. She could feel Zin looking at her and pointedly ignored him, her eyes on Zack.
“Right, as we all know,” Zack began, and she listened intently, “we have suffered a lot of blows lately and the news we received this morning that Lizzie and Smithy are alive is a blessing. However, we also had the news that another of our own and someone we all care about greatly is in danger, as are Lizzie and Smithy while they remain the captives of the Divine Watchers.
“Celeste has given us as much information about the chip in her neck and the time limitations that gives us as she can. So, we have three clear objectives,” he said turning to the whiteboard and getting out a black pen. “The first is to find out more about the chip in Celeste’s neck, the second is to find Lizzie and Smithy and bring them home. By doing that we eliminate the leverage they have on Celeste. Third, we need to find out how they knew Celeste was here and what that means for everyone’s safety.” As he spoke, Zack wrote each objective on the board.
“Also, we need to find out what event the Watchers are targeting. It needs to be big and with a lot of people in close contact for what they have planned for Celeste and the implant.” Celeste felt everyone looking at her in sympathy and squirmed under the scrutiny.
“Lastly, Rhea Winslow had pictures of Dane and Laurens twins, we need to find out how that happened and when. I will give everyone their assignments now. Any questions?” he asked as he stood hands on hips as every person in the room stood or sat completely focused and captivated by what he was saying.
They all shook their heads as Zack continued explaining how Will was going to hack various sites to get information, while Roz and her team would be off doing something else. Celeste zoned out for a few minutes while she thought about what Zack had said. Was she a valued member of the team, someone they all cared about? She’d never felt that way. Oh, everyone was welcoming and friendly, but she just felt as if she was an employee, the girl that answered the phones. After all, they had been forced to employ her when Kanan had taken Noah.
Celeste knew no one was aware she knew about that, but she did. She had understood, and a small part of her hadn’t cared, but a larger part of her had felt that she was forced on them all, and they were just too nice to get rid of her now. Could she be wrong? Did they really want her here or was she just hoping for something she would never have?
Her head came up as someone called her name. “Sorry what?’ she asked as Zack looked at her expectantly.
“I want you to stay here!” he said firmly, and she baulked at the idea. If she was on limited time, she wanted to be in her own home.
Celeste shook her head. “No, I need to go home.”
Zack must have seen something in her eyes for he searched her face and then nodded shortly. “Fine, but you need a guard at all times. That is the only way this happens,” he stated sternly.
“I’ll do it,” Zin and Kanan shouted at the same time. Then they glared at each other before simultaneously telling Zack the reasons they believed they should be the one to look after her. Celeste fought the urge to roll her eyes.
“But I’m her brother, she is my responsibility.”
Celeste felt her blood begin to boil as she turned to her brother and gave him her best death glare, catching the wince from Lucy out the corner of her eye as she sat beside her on the other side.
“What a load of shit,” Zin sniffed.
For once Celeste agreed with him even if he was a jerk and she was still pissed at him, and then he spoke and spoiled it. “She is mine to protect as it is I who caused this and put her in danger.” The superior tone in his voice made her want to kick him in the shin.
Well fuck this and fuck them! Celeste stood and held up her hand.
“Celeste?” Zack asked with a tilt of his head.
“I don’t want either of these bossy, supercilious jerks anywhere near me,” she said and looked around for somebody else. Someone she liked and who wouldn’t drive her crazy with their overbearing ways. Then her eyes stopped, and she smiled as she pointed. “Drew. I want Drew to guard me,” she said. All eyes went to Drew, and Kanan and Zin started to argue.
“Shut the fuck up!” Zack shouted. “Dane, what do you think?” he asked his team leader.
Dane nodded. “He’s good to go. I think he can more than protect Celeste,” Dane said with a smile for her. Dane didn’t smile much, but oh boy when he did, he could melt the Antarctic. She grinned back with thanks.
“Fine. Drew, you are to stay with Celeste twenty-four/seven. You stick to her like glue, you understand?”
“Yes, sir,” returned Drew seriously. The rest of the meeting was finished quickly after that, and Celeste slipped out first to avoid being caught by Zin or Kanan. She didn’t have it in he to fight them both. As her foot hit the stair, she heard the door open and Drew called her name.
“Celeste!”
She turned and smiled at him. “Yes?”
“I’m not sure what the jig is with you and Zin, but if he kills me while I sleep, you’d better put flowers on my grave every month,” he said with a crooked half smile that probably made women’s underwear fall off. Unfortunately, it did nothing for her, she only had that reaction to pig-headed Russians.
&
nbsp; Drew had gotten himself a bit of rep lately as a player, but Celeste knew most of it was bullshit. Drew was gorgeous, and he did have lots of women after him, but she also knew he turned down ninety percent of those women, in favour of spending time with his sister and the new family he had there.
“You don’t have to worry, there’s nothing going on with Zin and me, we were just friends, or I thought we were.” Celeste bit her lip. “But now we aren’t even that so don’t panic. Zin is just feeling brotherly that’s all.”
Drew raised an eyebrow and looked at her with incredulity. “If you say so!” he said and turned to go. “I’ll get my kit and meet you back here in an hour. Does that give you enough time?”
Celeste nodded and turned to go up the stairs. Time to go home and enjoy what little time she might have left.
Chapter Nine
Zin threw his body into the right hook and felt it reverberate up his arm. Sweat poured down his face and body as he pounded out his frustration on the punching bag. He imagined different faces as he let fly with one punch after another.
Bouncing on the balls of his feet he jabbed and hooked until he was breathing hard, his knuckles bloody and raw and still he kept going, blood smearing onto the bag as he tried to contain the impotent anger her felt at watching Celeste walk off with Drew.
Zin didn’t think anything was going on, but Celeste was closer in age to Drew and a stunningly beautiful woman. Her tattoos were sexy as hell, and that was before he started on any of her other attributes. He felt his lip curl at the thought of Drew with her day and night. He liked the guy well enough. He had a lot of potential, even if he still had a lot to learn, but at this very minute, he wanted to punch the guy in the face and then drag him through the gravel naked by his balls. Yeah, that would stop the little prick getting any ideas about his Pixie.
Dropping his arms, he grabbed a towel and wiped the sweat from his eyes before taking a huge swallow from the water bottle beside him. He turned as the door to the Gym at Fortis opened. He’d hoped to get away without speaking to anyone, but it looked like he wouldn’t have any luck today.
Roz sauntered over to him, and he bit back an angry remark as she stopped and stared assessingly at him.
“What do you want Roz? I’m not in the mood for your shit right now,” he said, turning his back to her and jabbing at the bag some more. He was probably the only person on the planet who could get away with turning their back on Roz without finding a knife to their throat.
“I just wanted to check in with you. I can see you’re not finished being a stubborn mudak,” she hissed angrily as she crossed her arms and glared at his back. Zin was shocked to hear anger when she so often hid every feeling she had.
He spun around slowly and saw the flash of emotion in her eyes before she hid it. “I’m not stubborn,” he denied ignoring the fact she called him an asshole. “I just—,” he stopped because he didn’t know what he was. For the first time in such a very long time, he didn’t know what he wanted to say or do to fix things. Part of him wanted to haul Celeste away and say fuck it to everyone else, but the protector in him wanted to save them all.
He was not a good man or even a moral man by most standards. He had killed and tortured, he had stolen, beaten, and done the most despicable things. Some for Queen and country, others for vengeance and revenge against those people that hurt those weaker than them and got a thrill out of it or profited from it. But the stain on his soul came from the fact that he had killed and tortured those that hurt people he loved, and he had had no regrets at all. He was okay with that, it was who he had to become to survive and serve others. He had never felt shame or guilt, at least, not until he met Celeste, and that was part of the problem.
She was beautiful and innocent, and she shone a light on his failings, all the dirt and blood that marred his hands and soul. Her easy acceptance of him and her trust of him when every instinct of hers should be screaming for her to run, held a mirror to himself and every bad thing he had ever done. It made him feel dirty, made him want to be the man she thought he was.
He flinched as he felt his sister lean her head against his shoulder. She hadn’t done that in years, and it caused a lump to form in his throat. Tilting his head, he looked at her face as she took a minute. She looked proud and strong, but underneath her strength, he saw exhaustion pulling at her.
For so many years they had kept each other’s secrets, had each other’s backs when they had no one else. His mother, though a good kind woman, was weak and had suffered from years of depression after they got to the UK before finally retreating from life mentally altogether a few years ago. Their father had literally broken her, her spirit destroyed and with it her ability to cope with life.
So, he and Roz had only had each other. It was fine, he was good with that. He kept himself aloof from people so that he would never have a weakness. He kept friends at a distance, so they never had the opportunity to hurt and betray him, like his mother and sister had been. Because he knew while he could take any physical pain they inflicted on him, that was not the true weapon, emotional and mental abuse was far more destructive than any physical abuse.
Zin snapped out of his reverie when Roz pulled away, her face transformed, all signs of weakness gone, the hard, fearless leader of Zenobi back in full control. He felt his anger leave him. “I’m sorry Raisa,” he said and watched her eyes go soft. They were a bluer grey than his and the one thing they had inherited from their mother.
“I know Zinny,” she replied with a slight tilt at the corner of her lips. “You care about her!” she stated, and he nodded. He didn’t feel the need to play coy with Roz, they had been through too much. “Time to man up then baby bro and take a risk. She needs you, and she’s more frightened than she even realises, but she’s oh so brave.”
He nodded because he knew she was right but didn’t want to talk about it anymore. “Did you talk to Lucy?”
“Not yet.”
“We found footage of Rhea Winslow at the hospital, she was disguised as a porter. She must have gotten onto the maternity ward that way. The footage then shows her leaving out of the service exit and driving towards town. Will is seeing what he can pick up,” he reported succinctly.
“That’s ballsy,” Roz replied with a raised eyebrow.
“Yep, sure is. But she is barking mad, too.”
The door to the gym swung open, and Kanan walked in, he stopped when he saw them and glared coldly. Ignoring them, he walked to the weights machines and threw down a towel and a bottle of water. Roz grinned. Zin watched as she walked over to Kanan. Half of him felt sorry for the guy, the other more devious part wanted to sit with popcorn and watch as she tied him up in knots.
Grabbing his gear now that the anger had subsided for a minute he was walking to the door when Ava came barrelling through the door, her face anxious and afraid.
“K, Zin, Zack needs you in in the office now, someone just fired on Drew and Celeste. Drew just called it in.”
Zin didn’t hear the rest of her words as he was already pushing past her and running to the office. His heart was beating out of his chest at the thought of his little Pixie in even more danger. Fuck this shit, he was not taking any more of this.
His skin prickled with the need to hurt and maim those scums bags that dared to go after his Pixie. Heads were going to fucking roll. He didn’t care if he had to paint the countryside red with their blood, he would protect his woman.
~~~
The bike skidded into the street where Celeste lived the ass end stepping out slightly as it did, and Zin throttled it up the steep incline. Abandoning the custom bike outside Celeste’s beautiful semi-detached Victorian home with the red front door, Zin barely noticed as Zack, Kanan, and Dane pulled in behind him he was so intent on getting to his Pixie and making sure she was okay.
He walked up the steps and pounded on the door, not caring about his own safety or the fact that shots had been fired not fifteen minutes earlier. He kept pounding until
the door swung back and Drew stood there. Drew barely had time to move before Zin was through the door, grabbing the younger man by the collar and shoving him against the wall, in the foyer. “Where is she?” he demanded menacingly, his patience and temper on a knife edge of fear.
“Cool it, Zin,” Drew said and held his hands up placatingly. “She’s up there,” Drew continued, pointing to the stairs. Zin released him, dropping him like rubbish and walked swiftly towards the staircase and took the stairs two at a time. He heard Zack and the others come inside, but his whole being was focused on getting to Celeste as if she was his centre of gravity and he was being pulled to her.
Pushing through the door at the top of the landing he scanned the space and didn’t see her, just a bed piled with art supplies. Leaving, he opened the next door and there she was. Sitting in the middle of the bed, her knees drawn up with a pad of paper resting on them.
He took a second to look at her and assess her for physical damage and found none. Just then she looked up, her shocking green eyes bright with unshed tears. In a heartbeat, he was across the room, gathering her into his arms. She held him tight, her arms going around his neck as she scrambled onto his lap and buried her head in his neck.
Her body shook with fear as he held her tight, instinctively knowing that was what she needed. “It’s okay dushka,” he crooned gently as his hands rubbed up and down her back soothingly. He could feel her heart hammering against him and felt as it started to settle a few minutes later.
She pulled back slightly, and her lip trembled as she looked at him. “Please don’t let me die,” she pleaded in such a harrowingly pitiful voice that Zin struggled to conceal his emotions.
“I won’t let you die, Pixie,” he answered and saw the relief flood her face. Some of the fear eased from her body, but not the tension. No, that went nuclear hot for them both as they realised that she was now straddling his lap, her breasts bunched against his chest, her hand on the nape of his neck as his hands rested on the curve of her hips.