Free Celestial Beauty by Angela Castle Page A

something to Celeste…” began Raz.
    Zeb shot to his feet, shoving Raz back. “Don’t you
fucking dare after what you did to her! ”
    Confusion furrowed his brother’s brow. “What I did? I
did what she asked—what she wanted was to be left alone.”
    “ You did come on a bit strong and kissed her,” Kue
added.
    “ And blurted out you wanted her to be our sheraz ,” said Loc.
    Raz turned to glare at Loc.
    “ What you did was scare her, make her believe all you
want to do is fuck her. And by leaving her alone, she left the ship unguarded,”
Zeb informed them.
    Raz mouth formed an O of surprise, before his brow
dipped in worry. “I didn’t know she’d leave the ship. Is she all right?”
    Zeb nodded and stepped back. “I talked with her and
brought her back inside.”
    Raz’s shoulders slumped in relief.
    “ But she’s not all right.” Kue moved to one of the
seats. “It’s what I’ve been trying to tell you before you two let your rods
rule your brains.” Kue glanced between Raz and Loc. “While she is strong on the
outside, surviving alone on this planet as she has, Celeste has deep wounds, in
here and here.”   He pointed to his chest
and then head.
    Zeb nodded. “While I at first thought it a bad idea to
ever have another sheraz , after
talking with her, I have changed my mind. I know Celeste is nothing like
Nazzara.” Zeb took a moment to analyse his feelings, and the bitterness and
anger of Nazzara’s betrayal seemed a lot more distant, melting into a past that
had already started to fade, now he’d come around to wanting Celeste as theirs.
“I want her just as much as you all do, but I also feel protective and want to
help heal the pain and mistrust I saw her eyes. Her life has clearly been
hard—to the point she sees herself as less than her true value. Kue is right in
saying she is wounded.”
    Raz opened his mouth, but Zeb glared at him. “Celeste
is not a fuck droid, nor is she just some passing fancy or fad you can use and
just discard. Enough of your way, Raz. This time we do things my way and united
as it should be. If we pursue Celeste then it is for keeps. This is a full commitment,
and there will be no pleasuring if you or she is not fully committed. Don’t
forget we are older, fully fledged Demos males and have already had a sheraz .”
    His brothers understood loud and clear. If any of them
pleasured her they ran the risk of implanting her with their seed.
    Kue’s lips curved up into a grin, along with all his
brothers, at the mere thought of Celeste carrying their young, and their eyes
gleamed with a new determination.
    “ I never started this with anything but the intent of
making her ours. If we can implant her with our young…” Raz nodded.
    Zeb shot him a “don’t even go there”glare. Raz simply grinned in response.
“Ah, you have a plan, don’t you? You wouldn’t call a meeting like this unless
you already had one.”
    Zeb nodded, keeping his face perfectly straight. “I am
laying down several rules. Break one of them and you’ll find yourself in the
brig for a long Galafraxian month.”
    “ We don’t have a brig.” Loc frowned at Zeb.
    “ I’ll fucking build one if I have to.”
    Raz lifted his hands in surrender. “I won’t argue, as
the end goal will result in Celeste being ours, and round with our young. Do
you think we’ll get twin daughters, too?”
    Zeb rolled his eyes. “Focus on what’s important
first.”
    “ Yes, like how do we go about healing her and making her
see herself as we do, utterly beautiful?” Kue slipped into the long bench seat,
waiting.
    “ Exactly, and I have an idea on how we can do that.”
    “ So, mighty commander,” Raz sat down next to Kue.
“What’s your big plan to win our Celestial beauty?”
    This time Zeb let his smile slip. “She’s not Demos, so
we’re going to take that into account. We don’t have to act according to Demos
courting rules, so we can use completely different tactics.” Zeb