Broken Butterfly

by Maddie Wade

  She grinned and elbowed him laughing at the same time. “Neanderthal much?” she asked but didn’t make an effort to move, just settled herself on his lap, her legs curled under her as she leaned into him.

  Celeste giggled again when he kissed her neck. A cough interrupted them, and he looked at his sister who was glaring with a raised eyebrow. Zin knew he should cut her some slack, so he changed the subject. “Angel out on watch?” he asked, and Roz nodded as she took out and popped a Korovka candy in her mouth. Zin smiled as he realised what that meant. Interesting, very interesting.

  “Yeah, I should go soon,” she answered as she chewed the candy.

  “Hey, what was going on with that woman at my house?” Celeste asked. Zin had known she would ask and was surprised she’d lasted this long.

  “Not sure, but she seems to think that Drew had her mother killed to protect some secret of his fathers. Her plan was to exact her revenge for her father and herself.”

  “What did she mean by her father would fix it?” Celeste asked then.

  “Her father is a multi-billionaire venture capitalist called Richard Holt and she is the only daughter. Her name is Nazeli Holt.”

  “Wow what a beautiful name,” Celeste said thoughtfully.

  “Yeah, well, she is bat-shit crazy if you ask me,” replied Roz.

  “What will happen to her now?”

  “Zack will keep her and question her until he can get to the bottom of things,” Zin replied.

  “She must be terrified,” Celeste whispered.

  Zin looked at her with a tilt of his head. “She shot at you!” he stated as if he needed her to understand that and was explaining it to a child.

  She waved a hand at that. “Misunderstanding. I wonder if they need some help?”

  “Uh, uh, no fucking way are you getting involved in that.” He knew instantly he had said the wrong thing because she moved off his lap.

  “And on that note, it’s time I left,” Roz said and stood, heading for the door. Zin barely noticed as he watched Celeste shoot daggers at him from where she stood in the middle of the room with her hands on her hips. She had put the denim shorts and cotton top on from earlier. He wondered idly as her ire rose if she had underwear on.

  He rose from the sofa in one swift action and prowled over to her, so they were face to face. He didn’t touch her, but crossed his arms over his chest and watched as a pulse ticked up in her neck. Little minx liked looking at him.

  “Eyes to me Pixie,” he stated, and a grin tugged his mouth as she blushed at being caught looking. “I wasn’t trying to be an asshole, I just don’t want you hurt. You’ve been through enough the last few days. I can’t stand the thought of you dealing with anything else.” He saw her eyes soften slightly and risked reaching for her. Now he had allowed himself to feel her softness, the thought of not being connected to her in some small way ate at him. He fingered a lock of hair, and she instinctively leaned toward his touch and sighed.

  “I know, I just hate the thought of sitting and waiting for you guys to save me and doing nothing.”

  Her hand came up to hold his and Zin pulled her to his chest, gently tilting her face to his. “I know, and I get it, so why don’t you go back to work? You will be safe and near people who can protect you, and we will be saved from Zack’s accounting skills or lack thereof.” He smiled at his own joke, but geez, paperwork and Zack should not go hand in hand, ever.

  Her brow furrowed, and he watched as the wheels turned in her head. “So, are you saying the job for Zack wasn’t really a pity job?” she asked. She looked small and uncertain making him want to book a flight to the nearest deserted island and whisk her away from anything that might hurt her.

  “Of course not, why would you think that?”

  Celeste shrugged and pulled away turning her face away from him, which pissed him off.

  “Celeste!” he called.

  She turned to him with a small smile. “No reason, it’s just I know it wasn’t really a job to begin with, more of a reason to keep me close because of K. It’s okay, I understand why they did it. But now that’s all settled, and they don’t really need me.”

  Zin walked to her and took her arms in his hands a little more forcefully than he intended because of the anger coursing through him and the little regard she felt they all had for her. “Pixie, it was always a job and one you’re damn good at. The office has never looked so good or been so organised. If you don’t believe me, ask Zack. He would be lost without you. Zack wouldn’t lie to you, and neither would I.” He saw relief wash through her features and then she smiled.

  “So, when can I go back to work?” she asked, and he tried not to be hurt by her need to get away from him.

  “Whenever you want, but no poking your nose into other stuff, okay?”

  She nodded and kissed him hard as she twined her arms around his neck, pressing her body flush to his. “So, if I wanted to hang in bed for the day with a hot sexy Russian, that would be okay?” she said in a sultry voice that made his dick hard. He didn’t need any further invitation and swooped to grab her before carrying her to the bedroom as she giggled.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Zin was pissed way the fuck off. It had been two weeks since Celeste was taken and fitted with that disgusting chip. Somehow that hideous event had sparked the start of the most wonderful weeks of his life. Every day they came to work together, went home together, and fucked like bunnies at any given opportunity. Life could not get better in that respect.

  But the lack of progress with the chip weighed on him heavily, and now every minute seemed to reverberate around his head like a death knoll, and he was fucked if he would let that happen. With every second that passed, he felt his control slipping and the need to destroy the people who did this to his Pixie burned under his skin like a virus, making him impatient and touchy.

  He knew Celeste felt it, and he fought like hell to keep the demons buried, but the need to exact punishment on the Divine Watchers, and two people in particular, was festering in his head. The only time he felt calm was when he was buried balls deep in Celeste or holding her in some way.

  Lucy walked into the conference room where he was meant to be looking at satellite images from the house on the Isle of Man. They knew that had been the last place Smithy and Lizzie had been seen alive. If they could just find those two, the leverage the Divine Watchers had would be gone, and Celeste wouldn’t be so damned determined to do the right thing.

  “Hey,” she said as she slumped down into a seat beside him.

  He barely glanced her way. “Hi.”

  “Are these the images from the Manx House?”

  “Yeah, I wanted to see if I missed anything before.”

  “You didn’t, Zin. We checked that place over with a fine-tooth comb,” she said as she looked over his shoulder at the images. “Any evidence they left we have, and we have the DNA samples we managed to collect. That might help with identification of some of the players. We may even be able to trace some of the other reported missing military personnel.” she finished, and he could see she was trying to see the positive as was her way.

  The house had been swept clean of nearly all other evidence except for a few papers with medical jargon on it that Megan was now looking at. It had confirmed one thing though, and that was someone had been receiving physiotherapy. Zin suspected that was Lizzie. From what he had seen of her she’d had damage to her legs.

  He supposed the DNA samples collected from what had been assumed was Rhea Winslow’s room could help them identify her. The fact she had only started to exist after her nineteenth birthday irked him and set off little bells of warning that he couldn’t quite get a handle on. So maybe it hadn’t been a total bust, just not a useful as he had hoped.

  Zin nodded and turned away from the screen as Lucy moved to the chair beside him.

  “I know. I just, fuck. I just can’t lose her, Luce,” he said as he put his elbows on his knees and shoved his hands through his h
air is desperation.

  “You love her!” she said softly, and he nodded but kept his head down.

  “Does she know?”

  Zin shook his head and looked up. “No. I don’t want her to think it’s because of the situation we are in. She needs to know its real, not just because of this shit hanging over our heads.”

  “I understand,” she replied with a nod. “So, what do we do?”

  Zin shrugged, “I’m not sure. Will is working on cloning the chip and reverse tracking it, and Eidolon are on site at the Olympic stadium to scope out any signs of the Watchers. Zack is handling the shit from the government who are having a shit fit about us handing over a priceless artefact to a nut job, and what I want to do is get my hands on the Butcher and see if I can extract some information out of him, old school.” The last was said as he cracked his knuckles.

  “Zack will never go for that,” Lucy replied with a shake of her head.

  “Zack won’t go for what?” asked Kanan from the door.

  Zin stiffened as the other man strolled in with a permafrown on his face. Kanan was struggling with the fact his baby sister was with him.

  “He won’t go for Zin tracking down the Butcher and going old school torture on his ass,” Lucy answered for him.

  “So, don’t tell him,” said Reg who had followed Kanan in.

  Zin rolled his eyes and wished for the days when he did everything solo. Things were so much simpler then, he thought it, he did it, no discussion or debate, he just did it. “We can’t do that,” Zin replied and looked at them all in surprise. Fuck when did he become the voice of reason?

  “Why not?” Kanan asked with a challenge.

  Zin stood and squared up to the man and prayed for patience. “Because I won’t break his trust like that.”

  “So how about we tell him but tell him when it is too late to stop you?” asked Lucy. Zin thought for a moment, perhaps that would work, then technically it wasn’t a betrayal it was a communication error. “That could work.”

  “Do you have any idea where to find him?” Lucy asked.

  “No, but I know who will,” Zin replied.

  He and Reg both answered at the same time with the same name. “Prez”.

  “Yep, Prez might know., He has dubious contacts everywhere. I’ll call him now.” Zin strode for the door.

  “Who the fuck is Prez?” asked Kanan.

  Zin stopped and turned. “Prez is the president of the MC Reg and I belong too.”

  “Mean bastard, but fair and he has a code,” interjected Reg.

  “Can you trust him?”

  “Yes!” both Zin and Reg replied.

  Zin shot Reg a look of annoyance. “Did you need something Reg?” he asked.

  Reg shuffled his feet uncomfortably before turning and yelling at his dead wife. “Shut it, woman. Stop bleedin nagging me all the time,” he grumbled, and Lucy laughed. It had taken some getting used, to but Reg communing with his dead wife was natural now. Even the wild out there look with his purple beard and long wild hair seemed natural now. Oh, how his life had changed.

  “Tilly wants me to warn you,” he said as he pulled at his beard uncomfortably.

  “Warn me?” Zin said as he turned fully to Reg.

  “Yeah, that Butcher guy. She says you need to know this is personal for him and he will do what it takes to make you hurt. She was quite insistent on that,” he finished.

  Zin clenched his jaw and closed his eyes in an effort to control the rage that was threatening to consume him. Opening them his eyes locked on Kanan. “I need to finish this, or she will never be safe even if the threat of the Watchers is gone,” he said.

  Kanan nodded. “Yes, you do. What can I do to help?” That was as close a truce as Zin would get from K for now.

  “Look after her, keep her safe.”

  A look of respect crossed Kanan’s face. He nodded slowly. “Always.”

  “When you find out where he is, keep me in the loop. If you need back up I’ll be there,” said Lucy, and punched him on the arm affectionately as she slipped past him.

  With one more look at Kanan, he walked from the room.

  ~~~

  Celeste was in the reception room with Samson two hours later when Zin went looking for her. The beast hadn’t left her side voluntarily since she had been taken. It had been a little annoying at first, but Zin had bribed him with a big fat juicy steak. Now the beast knew his place was outside the bedroom door not on the bed in between them.

  It had initially caused some consternation, but when Samson had started growling every time he touched her, Zin had put his foot down and banned him from the bedroom. He could roam of the rest of the flat, but the bedroom was off limits. Man and beast now had an understanding; man was in charge and fed dog expensive steak to keep it that way.

  He watched her as she typed away on the keyboard, her head bent in concentration as she organised everyone’s pay cheque. She was so beautiful, and his heart clenched painfully in his chest at the thought that he might not be able to save her in time. He needed this information, so he could find the Butcher and extract the whereabouts of Smithy and Lizzie.

  Cloning the chip would be the easy bit and even hacking the chip and disarming it was doable for Will, but that wouldn’t fly if Celeste wouldn’t allow it out of the need to protect Lizzie.

  She must have sensed him watching because she looked up. “Hey,” she said as she raised her head for his kiss. He obliged, kissing her deeply and with all the passion he had for her. She pulled back, and her face was flushed. “Now that’s what I call a hello,” she grinned.

  “You making sure we get paid this month?” he said nodding towards the computer.

  “Yep, all sorted,” she smiled.

  “Want to grab lunch?” he asked as he slipped his arm around her and fondled her sexy as sin ass.

  “Sure, let me grab my bag,” she said as she swivelled and bent over her desk. The material of the dark green pencil skirt pulled tight and rode up her creamy thighs, perfectly showcasing those sexy as fuck stocking tattoos. He felt his body stir and stepped forward to run his hand over the perfect curves. She stopped still, and he felt her shiver as he pressed his erection into the softness of her butt.

  “Want to have lunch at home?” he asked his voice husky with desire.

  Celeste straightened and turned to him, her face said it all. “Let’s go,” she said and grabbed his hand pulling him to the door.

  Zin let himself be pulled to his bike and laughed, she loved that bike almost as much as he did, maybe more. “We can’t ride the bike with you in that skirt!” he said as he stopped next to the bike.

  “Why not?” she asked.

  “Because you have a tight skirt on and it will ride up and flash everyone a glimpse of that silky flesh. Then I would need to kill people on the way home,” he stated as if it was a given that this was normal behaviour.

  “Don’t be silly. Nobody will see, and in any case, you’re the one that will have that silky flesh wrapped around you in about ten minutes if you move your sexy butt.”

  Well now, when she put it like that!

  Zin hustled her onto the bike, handing her the helmet before sliding on his own and helping her climb on. Swinging a leg over the bike he revved it, and pulled out of the car park, eager to get home. Her hands on his waist started to wander. Zin flinched as her fingers grazed his rock-hard erection and started to stroke the heated flesh.

  Never in all the years he had been riding had he crashed a bike, but if she kept that up, they would wind up in a heap. He growled as her other hand tunnelled under his shirt and started to stroke the hot flesh of his abs. Fuck, she was killing him. Grabbing her hand in his, he held them still as he took the turn for his flat.

  With relief, he kicked the stand down and lifted Celeste from the bike. “You are a tease Pixie,” he growled in her ear as he practically dragged her to the door as she giggled.

  “It’s not teasing if you actually put out,” she laugh
ed as he unlocked the door.

  “Enough talking,” he growled as he slammed the door shut and pinned her to it with his body. He could see the need in her eyes that matched his and wouldn’t hold back any longer.

  ~~~

  Her heart hammered, and her entire body felt achy and needy for the man who held her to the door with his hard body. “Zin,” she whispered.

  His head came down, and he kissed her hard and fast, pushing his tongue into her mouth and devouring her senses. She threaded her hands into his hair and held on as he lifted her, her legs coming around his waist as he pushed the fabric of her skirt up around her thighs.

  He kissed her neck, and the buttons on her blouse went flying as he wrenched it open, pulling down the cups on her lace bra so he could take the hot peaks in his mouth. He bit down gently, and her body arched against him and she moaned and rubbed her clit against his hard cock.

  A growl from his throat only turned her on more. Celeste writhed as her climax started to build from just his mouth on her and his hardness against her.

  “Wait for me, Pixie,” he groaned as he fumbled with his zip.

  “Hurry,” she cried as she felt his fingers push into her. Oh, god, that felt so good. She rocked against him as he finger-fucked her, his thumb brushing her clit. She teetered on the edge of release, and he pulled his hand away causing a moan to break free. A chuckle came from his mouth then before he plunged his hot cock into her. The feeling of flesh on flesh was heaven. She was so glad she had gotten the contraceptive pill.

  “So fucking tight,” he moaned as he moved faster and faster building her climax until she thought she would die.

  “Harder,” she moaned as the sounds of flesh hitting flesh got louder and turned her on even more. Without delay, he fucked her harder. He was so deep she felt him touch her cervix, and the pleasure-pain pushed her over the edge. Ripples of pleasure engulfed her as her orgasm overtook her.