“I’m ticking off things on my to-do list,” Sully replied in a toneless, chilly voice.
“Can I be on your to-do list?” Neptune murmured.
He didn’t reply, his shadow staying firmly over me.
“I suggest you run along and spend your time elsewhere.” His suit rustled as he stepped closer, coming to my side. His tall frame, his overbearing presence, it all pressed me deeper into my chair.
I flatly refused to look up. I bowed my head, encouraging loose hair to curtain my vision. Had he heard what they’d said about him? Did he see my reaction to him?
My determination to run swelled to unbearable.
I couldn’t allow myself to continue feeling this way. Dreaming this way. Being this utterly stupid. If someone had divined my future and told me that I’d be kidnapped, sold into slavery, and been idiotic enough to feel anything but loathing toward the man trapping me in servitude, I would’ve slapped myself. I would’ve been so disappointed.
I am so disappointed.
The girls looked as if they’d refuse, but Sully growled low in his chest. “Leave. I won’t ask again.”
With a piercing, hateful glance at me, the four glided away, their hips swaying, their femininity leaving a trail of lusty gossamer-like silver snail tracks.
Jealousy went to stand, but Sully muttered, “You can stay. Finish your breakfast.”
She slowly relaxed back into the chair, unobtrusively picking up her e-reader and becoming falsely engrossed in the blank screen.
Sully moved to face me. His shadow no longer cloaked me, allowing the hot sunshine to do its best to rid my traitorous goosebumps.
Without a word, he placed a black box on the table in front of me.
I froze.
Jealousy sucked in a breath, despite her attempt at giving us privacy.
When I didn’t move, Sully grunted, “For you.”
Bracing myself, I tilted my chin.
Our eyes instantly locked. Two mirroring pieces, knotting together, plaiting together, unable to be undone. My heart malfunctioned, skipping and kicking, pounding so hard my ribcage became its drum.
His throat worked as he swallowed. For a second, I thought he’d leave. His to-do list had been ticked. I wasn’t worthy of more time.
The stormy, icy look on his face remained from dealing with his other wayward goddesses. But in a flash, he bent forward, fisted my hair, and jerked my ear to his mouth. “Open your gift, Jinx…you earned it.” He taunted me cruelly, but it only added gasoline to my flaming blood.
I bit my lip as my skin ignited with lust.
Jealousy was right.
After elixir and Euphoria and the rampant hunger of my unchained libido, I wasn’t just Sully’s slave, I was my own.
His thumb traced the base of my skull while his other fingers buried themselves deeper into my hair.
I went instantly wet.
No question.
No doubt.
Just need.
I forgot about Jealousy sitting right there. I forgot about the other goddesses who might be watching. All I could think about was him. His touch. His scent. His power.
Coconut and salt shot up my nose. I fought everything I had not to moan. Not to turn my head and meet his lips with mine.
His nose nuzzled my ear, his breath hot and sinful. “I jerked off to you this morning.” His voice fed confessions into my ear, secret and soft. Jealousy didn’t have a clue, and I didn’t stand a chance.
His hold tightened, burning my scalp where he held me. “I tried to stop myself. I ignored the unbearable ache in my cock.” His teeth slipped threateningly around my lobe, his breath caught, struggling to inhale, just like he’d stolen all the air from me. “I don’t masturbate to a goddess. Ever. Yet…fuck, I couldn’t help myself.”
Biting my ear, he murmured, “Want to know why? Why I fisted myself? Why it only took me seconds to come?”
I shook my head, swallowing and panting, trying to tug away. My mind swam with images of him spread on his bed. Naked. His belly clenched. His fist wrapped around his massive erection.
My bikini briefs became embarrassingly damp.
I struggled harder to get away. I needed distance, but he held me firm, kissing the highly sensitive skin behind my ear. “I couldn’t stop because another man told me that you’re the best he’s ever had. That he’ll never forget fucking you. That he gave you a piece of his heart.”
His voice turned angry and frostbitten. “I got…jealous.” He bit the word into pieces, ripped out its entrails, and threw the rest into a fire. A fire that licked down my neck and over my nipples, scratching deeper into my core.
Throwing me away, he stood to his tall height and wiped his mouth with a shaky hand. He didn’t shake from weakness. He shook from undiluted, raw need.
He infected me with it.
He cursed me with it.
I shuddered as he snatched the box from the table, ripped it open, and tipped something bright and blingy into my lap.
The teal of my dress caught it, spinning rainbows and unblemished glitter.
A diamond.
A huge rock of a gemstone that shimmered with expensive splendour.
I didn’t need to ask if it was real. The brilliance of such a stone couldn’t be fake.
“That’s from the man who fell in love with you three nights ago.” His handsome face twisted with a savage sneer. “First time in Euphoria and you’ve earned a forty-thousand-dollar diamond. Four days until your next serve, Jinx. Let’s see if every man falls in love with you…or if it’s just one.”
With a sadistic, spiteful look, he spun and stalked away.
Only once he’d vanished down his immaculate orchid-frosted pathway did I manage to breathe. To look around. To notice Jealousy had gone. The other goddesses had disappeared.
And I sat all alone, in a wet patch caused by his voice, clutching a diamond worth more than I’d ever earned in my life.
A diamond given in lieu of a man’s heart.
Chapter Seven
A SHRILL RING REACHED into my sleep and clawed apart my dreams.
Not that I dreamt anything good. Just goddesses and diamonds and the endless pain of not taking the girl I wanted.
Another ring and I shot awake.
An echoing sound followed, just as piercing, just as annoying.
My cell phone vibrated across my bedside table, the screen lit up, its noise crashing the serenity.
Reaching for it, I fumbled to accept the call, groaning at the time.
Four a.m.
Another ear-splitting ring ricocheted even though the call had already connected, wrenching my attention behind me. Pika hopped across the spare pillow, screeching his head off, mimicking the ring—or trying to.
Caique parrots weren’t known for their vocalization skills. Their mischief, intelligence, and teenage sense of calamity, yes. But their ability to talk as easily as macaws or other feathered cousins, no. The fact that Pika knew a few words and figured out what context to use them was outstanding in and of itself. However, his imitation of a cell phone definitely wasn’t his forte.
“Sinclair? That you?” A man’s voice popped into my ear as I held the mobile close.
Pika let out another painful screech.
I lunged across the pillows, trying to grab his beak to shut him up. He just eyed me with rascal impishness and fluttered into the rafters.
Silence reigned again as I settled back on my bed, rubbing my eyes from haze. “Yeah, Sinclair speaking. Who’s this?”
“It’s Peter Beck, sir.”
“Peter.” I sat up, instantly alert. “Why are you calling me at four in the morning?” The darkness of my villa suddenly seemed full of threats. The heavy stillness of the tropical jungle oppressive outside. The ceiling fan above sent licks of cooler air, ensuring I could sleep with a sheet rather than totally naked.
I didn’t feel the heat much during the day—my body trained to accept a suit and not sweat. But at night, alone,
I hated clothing. My flesh needed breeze and sea and freedom.
“Oh, it’s that early? I’m sorry. I forgot to check the time zones.”
“Everything okay with the lab? Nothing’s blown up, has it?” I wiped my mouth, stifling a yawn. Sleep no longer had a hold on me, but my body hadn’t quite caught up with my brain.
“Yes, it’s fine,” the head scientist said. “Our new trial with blending CBD oil with the other compound we were discussing last month is going better than expected. Results are showing significant reduction in cancer cells along with providing pain relief and anxiety suppression in one package.”
“Sounds promising.” When he didn’t continue, I added, “What’s the problem then?”
“It’s Mr. Sinclair, sir. Your, eh, brother.”
Instantly, a heavy scowl tipped my eyebrows down. “I know who Mr. Sinclair is. What’s he done now? He knows he’s not allowed in the building.”
“I know. But…he summoned a private board meeting the other month, unbeknownst to me. He managed to persuade a few members that you’re incapable for the position, no longer have time to spend on his parents’ company, and driving Sinclair and Sinclair Group into the ground with philanthropic work and far too cheap pharmaceuticals. Eh…he convinced a few of the members to accept his proposal that they allow him a lab of his own. To prove that he’s the better leader.” His voice lowered. “He basically means to overthrow you. To toss out the genius and replace with a savant. His words, sir, not mine.”
“He’s not a savant.” I swung my legs off the bed, wedging elbows into thighs and slouching. “However, if he wants to use that term, he’s welcome. After all, I’ve always wondered if he has a mental impairment. Brain damage could explain his behaviour, but it would be too easy. He’s just a liar and a bastard.” My hands curled. “I want him the fuck out of my building.”
“I’m fully aware. But…others have accepted his promises and are financing him behind your back.”
“Goddammit.” My legs bunched, soaring me upright. “The board don’t control my company’s assets. How can they—”
“They control access to labs and technicians if you’re not around to make an executive decision. They provided your brother with what he asked for because, for the first time, he didn’t come sniffing for cash.”
“Yeah, and that’s the terrifying part.”
Even with untold millions from his inheritance, Drake Sinclair seemed to have fingers that coins rapidly spilled out of, whereas I’d taken a slap in the face and turned it into an empire.
An empire that wouldn’t give him a shit-covered penny.
Peter Beck stayed silent, letting my mind whir in peace. My brother had always been a spoiled asshole. The moment I was born, I saw him for what he was. A soulless, cruel, despicable excuse for a human who managed to use reptilian grace and falsehood to con my parents into thinking he was angelic.
His halo had always been blackened, but it didn’t stop them from thinking he hung the moon and stars, while I was the sweeper in the shadows, cleaning up his messes.
When we were younger, if our parents had been in the room, he let me play with his toys, hang with his friends, hugged me like a brother. But the moment they left…fuck me, it’d been a totally different story.
I’d been known as a ‘clumsy’ kid. Breaking bones, ruining clothing, losing belongings. What they didn’t know was, it wasn’t clumsiness causing my pain and unhappiness, but the boy I shared DNA with. A son five years older than me and utterly malicious.
He’d been the catalyst for my first tragedy. The constant devil in the wings, taking anything I loved and destroying it.
“My hands are tied, sir, I’ve tried calling another board meeting to refresh company policy and remind them that you are still very much at the helm, even if you live in Java. But…well, my summons went unheeded.” He sighed heavily. “There isn’t much more I can do without having you personally here.”
“If I visit, I won’t be kind. I won’t be forgiving.” My voice frosted with ruthlessness. “If the board makes me physically appear, their lesson won’t be gentle.” I shrugged, doing my best to roll out the vicious tension in my shoulders. “I’ll fire them and blacklist them from ever working on a board again. I won’t accept any excuses. Back my brother and you’re dead to me.”
“I did try to warn them, Mr. Sinclair.”
“Don’t call me that. Not while my brother holds the same title.” I raked a hand through my hair, my mind already on a plane going to defend my dominion from infidels. “Give me twenty-four hours. I’ll make my brother realise the error of his ways.”
Vengeance would never be so sweet.
I hung up and instantly called another number while striding toward the bathroom. The open air space didn’t look out into a private garden like most of the villas along the ocean did. My personal home didn’t share the beach with goddesses. Instead, it was tucked away in the fronds of huge palms, jackfruit trees, and lime bushes. Heliconias and orchids added colour, enticing birds and butterflies. But it wasn’t the flora and fauna that ensured I’d built my villa inland instead of coastal…it’d been the waterfall.
Nirvana splashed constant and majestic, the perfect backdrop to my shower. Most of the time, I just bathed in the basin formed by the splashing falls. This morning, however, I had no time to waste.
Cal answered on the third ring. His voice catching with a sleep-filled croak. “Sir?”
“Book me a flight to San Diego. Leaving immediately. Charter a flight from Jakarta if you need.”
“What? Right now?”
“Yes, right now.” I rolled my eyes. “Do it.”
“Why are you going to Sinclair and Sinclair? Just communicate online like—”
“Cal, we’re friends, so I permit such liberties, but don’t mistake our dynamics when I ask you to do something. I need a flight. So book me a goddamn flight.”
“It’s because we’re friends that I’m asking.” His voice hardened. “The only reason you’d be leaving is if your brother—”
“For fuck’s sake, I’ll handle it.”
“Ah, shit. Drake’s being a cunt again.” He didn’t ask it as a question. Just a statement, followed by his unwavering loyalty. “I’m going with you.”
“Like fuck you are.” Throwing my toothbrush and other toiletries into a bag, I quickly stormed to my walk-in wardrobe and tossed shirts, shoes, and suits onto the rattan chaise lounge in the centre, working out what I’d need.
Something that said ‘I’m done with your bullshit.’
Something that screamed cold-hearted murder and could hide bloodstains. Lots of bloodstains.
“Last time you had a run-in with Drake, you—”
“It won’t happen again. I’m just going for a friendly chat.”
“Bullshit.”
“You’re staying here.”
“Not if you’re going.”
“I need you to run Euphoria. To welcome the guests. To keep the goddesses safe.”
To keep Eleanor from other men. To protect her. To keep her on my shores.
“I’ll get Arbi to do that. He’s aware of the requirements of this place. I trust him.”
“I don’t.” I zipped up the army green duffel, uncaring that priceless suits were scrunched and stuffed in its depths. “You’re staying. I’m leaving. Call the pilots. I want to be airborne in thirty minutes.”
* * * * *
My fingertips pressed against the helicopter’s windows as the sky traded smoky dimness for coral spiels of dawn. Soft coral deepened to glowing scarlet, quickly losing its crimson in favour of golden sun.
We descended from sky to tarmac, landing at the congested airport of Jakarta.
Cal had arranged a private plane to get me to Manila, Philippines, before connecting with a first-class fare to Los Angeles and another private flight to San Diego. A diabolical mess of a journey.
I didn’t like visiting overpopulated cities. However, my other reason for not tra
velling much these days was it took so fucking long. Next thing I’d look at improving on would be air transportation.
There had to be a better way.
A faster way.
A teleport would be best.
It’d popped into my head as a joke but so had VR to start with. I’d had a kinky dream about a man stepping into a chamber where he could become anything he wanted and fuck whoever he desired.
That fantasy had become a reality.
Perhaps teleporting remained impossible, but it wouldn’t hurt to investigate other outlandish possibilities.
Unbuckling the five-point harness, I waited for the pilot to slide the fuselage open before hopping onto the already steaming tarmac. The sun had barely risen, yet the temperature on the black ground surrounding the hangars and airstrip pumped out heat.
I’d miss the mugginess—the tropical warmth that acted like a physical entity instead of an unseen element.
“This way, sir.” The co-pilot beckoned me to follow him. We didn’t have far to walk from one landing pad to another where a sleek silver jet waited.
I nodded in thanks and climbed the steps into the cream leather, chocolate piped interior. I hid my cringe. The thought of sitting on a cured animal hide repulsed me. I’d much rather pineapple leather or any of the other alternatives available these days, but society were slow to accept change, and the rich didn’t give a fuck.
A hostess in a matching uniform approached with an icy hand towel and a dewy bottle of water. “Welcome aboard, Mr. Sinclair.”
“Thank you.” I pinned on a thin smile and sat in the oily embrace of a dead cow. Accepting the towel, I fanned it out and wiped my hands.
“We’re just waiting on final approval from the tower. Be ten to fifteen minutes before we can depart.” She bowed, her black hair tied neatly in a bun. “I apologise for the delay.”
“It’s fine.” Grabbing my laptop from my bag, I cracked open the screen, ready to draft an email giving the board one last chance. If they evicted my brother from my building, they could keep their jobs…and their heads. They had precisely three hours until I landed in Manila to comply. If they didn’t…well, I’d be in the market for a new board and possibly a burial site to farewell my brother.
Twice a Wish (GODDESS ISLES Book 2) Page 8