Celestial Beauty (19 page)

Raz shook his head. “No it’s programmed only to open
for us and…”

“
Celeste.”

“
She couldn’t have arrived early?”

A cold slither of fear slid down Zeb’s spine as he stared
at his second born brother. “Go check with the medical centre, to see when she
left. I’ll wait here in case the transport shows up.”

Raz nodded spinning on his heal, sprinting rather than
walking down the hall. They all knew that where Celeste was concerned they
could never be too careful.

Time ticked with agonizing slowness. Unable to stay in
one spot he walked to the end of the path to scan the street. It was starting
to grow dark, and the lights of the Second City of Galafrax flickered into
life. Still the city held secrets in the shadows.

Footsteps pounding through their domicile made him
head back inside.

“
Medical said she left with her guards, and the guards
said they dropped her off and watched her come inside.”

Panic suddenly gripped Zeb reflected in Raz’s eyes.
“You don’t think—”

“
Yes.” Zeb swallowed, knowing his brother’s line of
thoughts. She’d seen and heard Nazzara trying to seduce them. It had taken them
great effort to gain her trust only for it to be shattered in a matter of
seconds.

“
This is completely fucked up, so where is she?” Raz
pushed past him and down the path.

“
I don’t know, but she can’t have gone far. Get our
brothers, hurry, spread out and do a grid search.”

A half hour later all four met back up at their
domicile. “Several Demos told me they saw a pretty human female walking down
the street, but was she quickly escorted away by two brothers in uniform,” Kue
reported, his body as tense with worry and panic as they all were.

“
She was taken!” Raz’s eyes gleamed with bloodlust at the
thought of Celeste being snatched. But his theory didn’t fit, although it
needed to be factored in.

“
We need to call the city guards. Whoever took her will
die by our hands,” Loc spat joining Raz’s growing fear. Kue just scowled, lost
in his own dark thoughts.

“
Calm, brothers.” Zeb placed his hands on Raz’s and
Loc’s shoulders.

“
We can’t go acting irrationally. It will do neither us
nor our Celeste any good. I don’t think she was taken. The theory of her
catching the wrong end of our rejection of Nazzara is more probable. If it’s so
then she will be hurting, in pain, if she thinks we betrayed her.”

“
We would never.” Kue spoke far too calmly for Zeb’s
liking, meeting Zeb’s gaze. “The Demos said they walked in the direction of the
Qui-Palace. It would be logical she would seek the protection of the High
Councillors.”

Zeb nodded at Kue’s thoughtful insight. “Let us go to
the palace and pray Kue is right. For the other…” He glanced between Loc and
Raz. “Let us just hope it is not true.”

“
It doesn’t matter though,” Kue said, “The point is she
is ours. She belongs to us, and you all know there is nothing we won’t do to
reclaim her.”

They all nodded, unified as brothers in total
agreement. Celeste was their very life blood, the air they breathed, and they
needed her back where she belonged, among the four of them.

Chapter Sixteen

A crack of light appeared in Celeste’s room, rousing
her from her sleep, but she didn’t move, not wanting to alert whoever stood in
her doorway that she was awake.

“
She’s been asleep for almost nineteen hours. She
looked so sad and lost when she came in, my heart hurts for her.” The soft
voice of Daisy whispered to her man, and Celeste relaxed.

“
Love, you should not worry yourself so, and you need
rest with our young so close to coming into the universe.” The deep rumble came
from one of her husbands.

After arriving at the Qui-Palace the guards had
fetched the High Councillors, and she was then quickly ushered into their home,
where their lovely, white haire
d
and very pregnant wife, Daisy, welcomed her.

Celeste had told them she couldn’t stay with her men
any longer. They had hurt her, and she never wanted to see them again. She’d
stressed the words “never again”.

The High Councillors assured her she was under their
protection and would never be harmed again. Which was easier said than done,
when the deep pain throbbing inside her heart refused to lessen or leave. Daisy
had provided food then showed her into a guest room where she’d fallen into bed
and into a deep dreamless slumber.

There was a rumble of one of the High Councillors—she
wasn’t sure which one it was—even though they’d been introduced.
 
His deep voice brought her mind back to the
present. “Medical has informed us Celeste is with young. She needs her rest and
proper nutrients.”

“
But what of her men? Have you talked to them? What did
they do to hurt her so much?”

Daisy’s husband let out a patient sigh. “They have
been outside demanding to see her. Said there was some mix-up at their
domicile. But the guards have turned them away. We haven’t yet gotten to the
bottom of this, but we will. Until Celeste is rested and awake enough to tell
us what happened, we will not rely on their word.”

“
Shouldn’t you arrest them? They could be like the old
High Councillors and trying to do to her what they did to me.”

“
This is more complicated, because all the tests we put
in place to make sure no human female was under duress, were passed by this
human. Medical reported she was very eager to be reunited with her men.
Something happened and something is not right, but now is not the time for you
to be worrying. Come, my love, you are tired and need your rest. Let’s leave
Celeste to hers. We’ll sort things out. After all, it’s what we do best.”

Daisy sighed. “I trust you to do what’s right for her,
and I do feel a little tired. Do you think I could get another foot rub?”

“
Of course, my beautiful.” Her husband’s soft, happy
chuckle faded as the door closed.

Celeste turned over. She stretched her sore, tired
muscles before sitting up. She blinked in the muted light, and winced at the
pressure on her bladder. Groggily, she climbed from the bed and wobbled across
the bedroom into the adjoining bathroom, to relieve herself and wash.

Coming out, she stood in the centre of the room, not
knowing what to do. Her mind went over Daisy’s and her husband’s conversation.
A mix-up at the house. Maybe she had been wrong and misheard what was really
going on? Maybe she should see her men and let them explain.
Her men.
There was no getting past the
fact she still saw them as hers. She thought back over how hard they’d worked
to earn her trust. They wouldn’t just throw that away like that. Emotions
swamped her. How she wanted all this to be nothing but a silly mistake, how
much she longed to be held in their arms, feel their lips on her skin. Even now
she craved them like a strong narcotic.

The long strip of crimson curtain at the balcony door
to her room fluttered in the warm city breeze. The air swirled around her as
she walked over, not remembering it being open when she’d woken up.

She moved through the material, pushing the balcony
door open further, staring over the balcony of the huge Qui-Palace. She gripped
the railing and sighed again.

The hair on the back of her neck prickled. It was the
only warning she got as a large hand suddenly camped over her mouth. Another
banded around her waist, and her scream was muffled as she was lifted off her
feet and hauled inside. She never even had time to struggle as the four huge
men dressed in black from head to toe, threw her on the bed. They moved fast to
bind her wrists and ankles together. They lifted her chin, and something was
pressed against her throat, just before the hand was removed. Her eyes widened,
realizing she could breathe but not make any sounds.

“
Stay calm, lovely. This is for your benefit as much as
ours.”

Raz.
She’d been surprised at first, but hearing his voice
she let her body relax. Trust them to do something stupid like break into a
high security facility. There was no point in struggling, and deep down she knew
they would never physically harm her.

“
We told you we were good at what we do, even if
retired. No creature alive could keep us from you. You belong to us,” Zeb
rumbled, lifting her into his arms. “We’re taking you home where you can scream
and cuss at us all you want, but in the end we will talk and you will know the
truth of why you ran from us.”

“
Celeste. Breathe normally. We put a vocal inhibitor on
your throat so you can’t scream. Try to take normal breaths, in and out,” said
Kue.

She tried to do as he told her and breathe as best she
could, even though they’d trussed her up like a turkey.

“
Can we hurry? We need to get her out of here before
security even knows we broke into the Qui-Palace and home of the High
Councillors,” said Loc.

Yup, foolishness abounded. All Celeste could do now was
hang tight and wait.

****

Loc leaned against the wall his arms folded as he
watched the rise and fall of Celeste’s chest. The thin material of her sleeping
garment made her nipples clearly visible. He dragged his eyes away to glance at
the door, knowing at any moment, royal guards could come crashing through and
take her from them.

Every part of him was rigid with both arousal and
anxiety. The anxiety stemmed from being without her not only through the
quarantine process, but discovering she’d walked away and had told the High
Councillors she never wanted to see them again. It left him with a suffocating
feeling, like being thrust out into space without a suit.

Never had he and his brothers been so focused and
single minded in all their lives, even though countless deadly missions.

He didn’t want to question why this beautiful, frail
human female had changed their lives, and brought them all closer together.
They sure as the Ice Plains didn’t want things to go back to the way things
were. How could you tear out a vital part of you and not die from it?

It had been a joint effort to bypass all the security
and sneak undetected into the Qui-Palace to take what already belonged to them.
Now they just had to re-convince Celeste of that fact, and before they were
caught and imprisoned for abduction.

“
Is she all right?” Zeb asked.

Once they had cleared the Palace, they’d transferred
her into a more comfortable position, carrying her cradled in Kue’s arms. She
must have fallen asleep during the walk back through the dark streets. It was
kind of odd, for if she was that against seeing them, wouldn’t she be more
tense and unable to relax so much?

Loc’s gaze moved back to Zeb and Kue, who leaned over
her, Kue checking her vitals.

“
Her heart rate and breathing are fine.”

They’d already removed the bonds and vocal inhibitor.

“
We need to clear this mess up quickly.” Even Zeb
sounded strained.

Loc sucked in a breath, holding it as Kue gently
patted Celeste’s cheek, calling her name. Loc released his breath when her eyes
fluttered open.

She glanced around taking bearing of where she was and
with her. Her pretty eyes moved from one brother to the other, before she
pulled herself up and sitting against the headboard of the master bed. She licked
lips, forcing Loc, and no doubt his brothers to hold in a moan of desire.

“
Don’t panic, you know we would physically harm you,
Celeste?”

Her eyes turned to Zeb, who sat down on the end of the
bed, his gaze ever watchful. Slowly she shook her head. “I know you wouldn’t
hurt me. I … just…”
 
Tears filled her
eyes. “I get the feeling I overreacted and screwed up.”

“
No, beautiful, first tell us what you saw and heard,”
Zeb demanded.

Loc wanted to growl at his older brother. He was
fucking things up.

“
You were with your ex, and it seemed you didn’t want
me but her.”

Zeb had been right. She had overheard and seen part of
their encounter with Nazzara. Loc pushed away from the wall. It was time to set
the records straight, and as he’d been the only one who’d talked to Celeste
about their ex so far, he knew it was up to him to explain things.

“
Beauty, do you remember when we talked just before
leaving that planet? You figured out by yourself we’d been hurt by a Demos
female. That female was Nazzara. Selfish and greedy, we discovered the quads
she chose to go with were wealthier and of higher rank. It was never about love
or family with her. It was about wealth and prestige. She always did have a
nose for sniffing out wealth.”

Celeste’s nose scrunched in a cute little frown.

“
But you’re not rich, are you? I remember you telling
me that, too.”

“
Our Loc here is a very clever quad,” Raz said with a
small smile. “He managed to transfer a few million credits from the Jorvals’
accounts into ours. We were going to surprise you, but we’re plenty rich now.
This grand domicile we are in now, we bought for you.”

She blinked and stared at Raz, swallowing. “For me?”

Raz nodded reassuringly. “We do everything for you,
lovely.”

“
We don’t know how, but somehow our ex got wind of our
newly acquired wealth, and that bitch thought she could walk right in and
demand we take her back,” Zeb added. “Tell us, did you hear the part where I
told her she was nothing but a mistake, and we wanted nothing to do with a
selfish, spoiled female? Did you see when Kue and Loc threw her out?”

“
Or how she bites and scratches, when throwing a
tantrum, when she knew she’d never be a part of our lives again?” mumbled Kue,
rubbing his arm where Nazzara had laid some vicious scratches.

“
I even changed the security to never allow her
entrance to our domicile,” Loc added for good measure.

Celeste sat stock still, trying to absorb all they’d
told her. “Could I get something to drink, please?”

Kue jumped up first to race out of the room, returning
a moment later with a cup, handing it to her. Oh how badly Loc wanted to take
her in his arms and just hold her when he saw her hands shaking as she took the
water. Zeb must have felt his intent but shook his head. Loc understood she had
to come to term with things on her own. She handed back the empty cup and
stared at Zeb.

“
I guess I was wrong after all. I’ve been through so
much in my life, my trust broken far too many times. I overreacted and thought
you were just using me for sex and playing me for a fool. I know you’ve all
worked so hard to earn my trust. I’m so sorry I walked. I tend to act rather
than think when I’ve been hurt.”

“
We would never even think of jeopardizing the best
thing in our lives. Our hearts beat only for you, our Celestial beauty. There’s
no need to be sorry,” Raz said softly, sitting on the bed and cupping her face.

“
You really have no idea how much power you hold over
us. We would gladly give our lives for you, and right now we risk being
imprisoned for stealing you from the Qui-Palace. But I really don’t care as
long as you know the truth.” Loc nodded, sitting down on the end of the bed.
Slowly, they had all come to surround her as they watched the emotions play out
on her expressive face and in her eyes.

“
Leaving us was like cutting out our hearts, and I
don’t know how to prove it other than show you my scratches,” Kue added,
turning his arm to show the faint marking.

More tears filled her eyes, rolling down her pale
cheeks. “I’m sorry. I’ve been an utter idiot. You must hate me for—”

“
No, you will not be blaming yourself for a simple
mistake. We love you, and we’re all bound to be, as you say, idiots at times.
It doesn’t mean love stops because of it.”

She reached out to Zeb and he pulled her into his
arms. “I’m sorry.” They all surrounded her needing to touch and comfort her.
Each taking their turn to hold her, wiping her tears as she sobbed among them,
until she lay nestled in Loc’s lap. He stroked her hair, and her body-racking
sobs subsided.