No jewellery, no make-up, just me.
Vulnerable but also strong.
Naïve to have fallen for a man I should despise but willing to accept the consequences. Brave enough to embrace the war wounds of disgruntled goddesses to move forward with my life.
The island had a hush about it as I stepped from my villa and padded barefoot toward the Divinity building. The wariness of another attack kept me on my toes as I peered suspiciously into bushes and flinched when Skittles arrived from the golden sky, chirping in welcome and landing weightlessly on my shoulder.
Her presence might be minuscule, but knowing I had a friend who had my back made my steps stride bolder and my skittishness fade. The girls who’d tried to kill me had been released…I hope.
Sully had said he would, and I didn’t see him as a man to break a promise.
I’m safe.
I rolled my eyes as I left the pathway and climbed the decking covered steps of Divinity.
Safe?
How strange that I considered myself safe when women had been kicked off the island—the very same island where men came to fuck drugged goddesses. Not only had my morals leaped off a cliff of comprehension, but it seemed my concept of health and safety had too.
Ah, well.
What difference would it make to my situation if I remained fixated on escape and continued to refuse my feelings toward Sully? It would only make me frustrated, sad, and angry. I couldn’t even lie and say my seduction of Sully was to gain my ultimate release, because the thought of leaving now…that hurt almost as much as the thought of what I’d been bought for.
Skittles tweeted and nibbled at my earlobe as I entered the shadowy dining villa and inhaled the scents of fresh baguettes, almond croissants, and all the fresh fruit Sully’s gardens could produce.
A staff member appeared from swinging doors leading to the kitchens. “Morning, Goddess Jinx. Are you okay helping yourself to the buffet on offer, or would you rather the chef cook you something? Mie goreng, perhaps? Loaded with baby sweet corn, fried spinach, and bamboo shoots?” Her gaze landed on Skittles preening herself on my shoulder, before finding my eyes again.
I smiled. “That actually sounds lovely. Thanks.”
She nodded. “You’re welcome. Please, sit wherever you like. I’ll bring it to you soon.” With another grin, she disappeared back into the kitchen, leaving me to pour a glass of freshly squeezed watermelon juice from the icy carafe on the sideboard.
No other goddesses had appeared yet, granting the odd sensation that I was the only one on this island.
Taking my glass outside, I chose a table on the deck next to a tiny lily pond and a large black umbrella. The sun had already added warmth to the world around me, ensuring shade was needed from getting burned.
Serenity comforted me as I nursed my drink, wincing with each swallow from the strangulation bruising, watching the island wake up, hearing birdsong tumble from treetops and enjoying the humid breeze rustling glossy leaves of hibiscus and heliconia.
Life seemed brighter today, more vibrant. Was that from the near-death experience, or knowing Sully might, possibly, hopefully, tragically love me?
It was far too soon to admit such insanity.
Far too quick to trust.
So why couldn’t I stop the hot ball of infatuation in my heart? Why couldn’t I stop my gaze from trailing down the path, hoping he’d appear to share breakfast with me?
Because you’re an idiot.
But I’d come to terms with that.
By the time my breakfast had been cooked and delivered, I’d relaxed into eating alone. Skittles hadn’t budged from my shoulder, and I shared tiny morsels of veggies with her, not caring that I ended up with spinach slime on my shoulder from her messy eating.
The aloneness was nice.
Not even Jealousy appeared.
I had so much to tell her: the strangulation attempt, Sully’s laugh, and my decision to fight for us, but it seemed no one was a dawn bird on this island…all preferring to be night owls instead.
* * * * *
“Jinx!”
I spun around on the path, expecting to see Jealousy arriving for breakfast.
Only, it wasn’t Jealousy.
Another girl who’d been with Calico and her crew when Sully had cornered me at Divinity and given me the diamond, skipped to a stop in front of me. Chestnut curls and a splattering of freckles on her button nose said her skin would turn into a piece of goddess jerky if she didn’t live in a bottle of sun cream lotion permanently in this sort of weather.
Her rake thin frame had a certain sexiness about it. A model type of wraithness that looked both elegant and breakable.
What was her name? Jewel?
“Hey.” She smiled. Her green eyes were clear of any maliciousness that’d been there when Calico had been leader of the entourage. “Do you want company to eat? I’m starving.” She leaned closer. “I was in Euphoria last night in a throuple fantasy. Let’s just say, elixir has kicked my ass.” She winked.
I didn’t trust her friendliness, but I wouldn’t openly state that. I shrugged with a smile. “Sorry, I just finished. I was going to have a swim before the sun got too intense.”
Skittles cackled and chirped in my ear, not liking that she had to share me with a new human. With a huff, she took off, vanishing into the palm trees.
I sighed, missing her tiny comfort already. Seemed her favourite pastime was hanging with me but the minute another arrived who wasn’t Sully, she wasn’t a fan.
“Oh, wow, is that Sinclair’s parrot?” She peered into the cloudless sky, trying to see where the little emerald bird had shot to. “How did you get it to do that?”
I shook my head. “It’s not Pika. Skittles does belong to him too, but…she’s kind of adopted me.”
Her nose wrinkled, eyeing the green stain on my shoulder from Skittles breakfast. “Don’t her claws dig into your skin?”
“Sometimes. But they’re not sharp enough to pierce.”
“Does it poop on you?”
I laughed, wondering if this conversation had any purpose, and how I could extract myself from it. “Not yet. Think she’s pretty house-trained.”
Jewel nodded as if she accepted my oddness. Her brows tugged over her eyes as she leaped toward me, her body language switching from open to full of conspiracies. “Did you hear the helicopter take off before?”
I shook my head, fighting my skin’s reaction to shiver at her closeness. “No. Another guest leaving?”
“No…a goddess. Three of them, actually. Calico, Jupiter, and Neptune were all stuffed inside, and now they’re gone.” Her teeth sank into her bottom lip in worry. “Do you think…you don’t think Sinclair is getting rid of us, do you? I mean, Calico was almost up for going home, but not the other two. Why would he take them away? Is he selling us to other people now?”
Her façade fell completely as she confided. “I’ve only just accepted this is my life for the next little while. I do my best to fit in with others, even if I don’t want to seduce the monster who ruined my life. But…I’ll do it if it means he won’t sell me like he did them.”
She shuddered. “We have it easy, Jinx. If he sells us…who knows where we’ll end up. What will happen to us?” Tears welled in her green gaze. “At least we have an end date here, you know? Four years isn’t so bad. It feels long, but really…it goes fast.” Her tears overflowed. “Do you think we should hide? Should I go tell him I’ll work twice a week? I mean…I don’t know if my system could handle elixir twice a week, but I can fake it for a guest. I can make them believe I want them without needing to be drugged out of my mind.”
I stood locked in the sand, watching a seemingly brave girl come apart at the seams. Any hint of frivolity of before was in tatters as whatever needle and thread holding her together burst apart.
“I’m so afraid of what’s going to happen! I don’t want to fuck every man on this planet. I don’t want to belong to anyone. I want to go home!”
She dropped her head into her hands, crying loudly.
I had no idea what to do.
Everything she’d said I’d already pep-talked myself over and over with. Yes, we had it lucky here. Yes, it was better the devil you knew than the devil you didn’t. And yes…four years was better than an undetermined length of time. And yes, I had seduced the monster who owned us, purely so he wouldn’t sell me.
But how was I supposed to comfort her when I was the reason her friends had been flown away, never to be seen again?
Could Sully have killed them?
Would he be that ruthless to open the helicopter door at full height and kick them to the ocean below? Would he tell me he’d released them, but really lie to my face and release them some other way?
No.
If I started suspecting him, who knew what that would mean for us. He had a fierce phobia about anyone betraying him. Therefore, it would make sense that he would go out of his way to remain loyal to those he made promises to.
And he promised.
With a sigh, I stepped into Jewel and wrapped my arms around her. “Hey, it’s okay. Don’t cry.”
She only cried harder.
Her wails soaked my dress and her body shook mine as I tried to console her. I didn’t know if I should tell her what they’d done to me and why they’d left. Whether she’d find comfort in knowing the only reason they’d been sent away was because I’d asked for their freedom after they’d tried to murder me.
Would it make Jewel try to kill me too…somehow earning a pass home by murder?
Instead of messing things up, I kept silent, just offering her my hug to cry into.
Footsteps appeared behind Jewel. Flip-flops worn by a man, striding with purpose and prowess.
I looked up, expecting to come eye to eye with Sully. My heart even hopscotched in anticipation, but just as I’d expected Jealousy and ended up with Jewel, I ended up with a guest instead of the proprietor.
Shaggy brown hair and slim physique wearing denim shorts and white tee, he frowned and strode faster toward us. “She okay?”
I nodded, running my hand over Jewel’s curly red hair. “She’s fine. Just a long night.”
The guest clenched his jaw, his brown eyes darkening. “Yeah, I had my own long night a few evenings ago. I didn’t know the girls were drugged so badly. I feel responsible.”
Jewel froze; tears streaked her face as she looked up, studying the stranger. “How can you say that? You knew what you were doing when you bought a stay on some luxury island where sex is guaranteed to be the best you’ve ever had.”
He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “Yeah, I know. I mean…call me stupid, but I thought we’d sleep with high paid courtesans who loved their job. Women who dressed up and acted out the fantasy…not young girls who become any goddamn thing that computer program can conjure.”
Jewel’s temper matched mine, calling him out on his choices. “Whatever your fantasy was, I can assure you it would not have been possible without Sinclair’s Euphoria codes. And I’m sure you enjoyed every fucking minute of it.”
He winced. “I didn’t say I didn’t enjoy it…or that I’m not entirely grateful for the girl who shared my desires.” He peered at her, studying her face for some hint of recognition. “Was it you?” His gaze flickered to mine. “Or was it—” His eyebrows shot into his shaggy hair. “Wait…I know you.”
What?
I went ice cold.
I frowned and shook my head. “We’ve never met.”
He nodded with more conviction. “I saw you…last night.” He actually blushed and cleared his throat. “Eh, Sullivan Sinclair had his fingers up your dress and…”
“You’re mistaken.” I blanched, letting go of Jewel. What else had he seen? Heard?
He coughed, ignoring me. “He called you Eleanor Grace. Pretty name, by the way.” He cocked his head. “He seemed to have you trapped against that tree.”
Jewel crossed her arms, looking me up and down suspiciously. “Seems you’ve already begun safeguarding yourself. Did you sleep with him, Eleanor?”
I’d heard the rumour that redheads were fiery, but her personality flips from sweet to sobbing to sharp made my mind whirl.
The guest forgot about her, pushing himself between me and Jewel, and grabbing my shoulders with eager fingers. “Look, I can get you off this island. If you’re trapped here—if you’re held against your will. I can get you help.”
I struggled to get him off me. “Let go.”
“But…I want to help you.”
“I don’t need your help.”
“We do. We really do.” Jewel popped up beside him, her green gaze flicking quickly from him to me. “We’re prisoners here. We were bought from a trafficking operation. We’re raped on a weekly basis.” She held up her wrist where a matching tattoo to mine and Jealousy’s marred her ivory skin. “See? We were bought like a toy, like a blow-up doll.” Grabbing his forearm, she hissed, “Please get us off this island.”
Shit.
Shit.
I fought harder, tripping backward. “Let me go. I won’t ask again.”
The man didn’t stop clutching me, tripping with me, his face urgent with saviour complexes and rapid calculations. “Look, you don’t have to lie. I know your real name now, and your friend here has told me the truth. Don’t be afraid of him. I’m guessing you’re his personal fuck toy? That you not only have to sleep with guests but him too?” He shook me, his fingers digging in deeper. “You’re brainwashed, Eleanor. You can’t see it, but every day that you’re his, you’re falling into his trap. I’ll charter a yacht. I’ll come back to save you. Just—”
“No!” I shoved him off me, reeling backward.
A couple of weeks ago, I would’ve begged for this scenario. To have a Knight in Shining T-shirt to profess his allegiance and jailbreak us out.
But that was before.
This is now.
My teeth rattled at how dangerous this was. What would Sully do if he found out? What would this guest suffer?
Arching my chin, I said in my snowiest voice, “I suggest you go home, sir. Return to your family. Remember your indulgence here and forget about us.”
“No!” Jewel grabbed his hand. “Please…take me with you now. Take all of us.”
For some reason, the guest kept his attention on me. As if he pitied me the most. As if he believed that Sully had his fingers inside me last night against my consent.
I could see it from his point of view. Of course, I could. I was even grateful for his attempt at rescue, but where I was concerned, he had it all wrong.
I didn’t want my freedom because I’d found it whenever Sully touched me. It might not make sense to anyone else but me and Sully, but I would not jeopardise that. For anyone. Even for my family and friends.
I would see them again. Eventually. Right now, I would be selfish and continue chasing this murky, romantic, sinful path.
“Leave me alone,” I hissed as the man tried to grab me again.
I backpedalled as he stalked me. What did he expect to happen? That he’d scoop me over his shoulder and cart me off the island without Sully stopping him? That he could win against a man who had the power of his genius and a bottomless bank balance behind him?
Jewel moved with us, frustration at being ignored glowing on her pretty cheeks. “I’ll go. Take me instead. If she doesn’t want to go, then that’s her fault.”
I nodded, holding up my palm as the man tried to catch me again. “See? Take her. She’ll be grateful for your help. I’m staying. I want to stay. Don’t you understand? I realise that sounds crazy to you, but I’m not going—”
He launched at me, snatching me into him. He hugged me as if expecting me to break down in the same fashion Jewel had. “It’s okay. I’ve got you. It’s okay. You don’t have to lie anymore.”
I snarled in his ear, “Let me go, you bastard!”
“Not until you admit to yourself that you’re being fucked left, right,
and centre by fucking assholes, and you’re so brainwashed that you think you like it.”
“I’m not. You don’t know anything about—”
“You are! How do you know I didn’t fuck you the other night? That Euphoria abomination can turn anyone into anything. How do you know it wasn’t me? I think it was you I was with. We shared a moment, remember? I hugged and kissed you and told you I’d fallen in love with you, and you asked me to help you. You straddled me and said you’d be mine if I ever found you outside of that world.” He crushed me harder to him.
I bit his neck, doing my best to get free. “Let go of me!”
It didn’t stop him from stroking my hair, pressing my body flush with his. “Shush, it’s fine. I’ve got you. I’ve found you. I’ll protect you.”
“Stop!” I roared, my temper reaching its snapping point. “Get the fuck off me!”
He pulled back, his gaze finally showing pinpricks of surprise. “But, I—”
“You know nothing!” I shoved him away, relieved when he let me go.
“But Eleanor—”
“Don’t use my name.”
“Well, don’t be so stupid to think this place is normal. You’re a brainwashed, drugged, and raped victim. I’m offering you a chance at freedom. Are you so fucking broken to refuse it?”
I inhaled through my nose, clenching my fists until my nails dug into my palms. My skin was covered in sweat from fighting off this idiot. My heart raced a gazillion miles a minute.
I needed to find Sully. I needed to fling myself at his feet and tell him if he had cameras or microphones on this island, listening and watching our every move, it wasn’t me who’d told this man my name.
He’d done that.
Sully.
Sully hadn’t been careful while he’d kissed me, touched me, bowed to what I’d asked.
I didn’t want to leave. I fought to stay.
He has to know that. I need to find him.
Now!
“Come on.” He held up his hand. “Or are you too scared to trust—”
“Trust?” My spine braced as I lost control, allowing fury to rampage through my blood. “Trust? How about you trust what I say? I. Don’t. Want. To. Leave. You are mistaken.”
Third a Kiss (GODDESS ISLES Book 3) Page 14