He grinned like the devil. “Euphoria?” He strode ahead, inserting hands into his slacks pockets and looking effortlessly suave. “Is where you’ll find true freedom. Your only freedom. Euphoria is the only place you’ll want to be…once you’ve tried it.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
I MADE A CHOICE.
Maybe not the right one, definitely not the easiest one, but one that would ensure Eleanor would stay alive, and I’d remain sane.
Soon, I would be able to relieve my needs with a girl who didn’t worm their way under my skin. But for now, I would wrap myself up in impenetrable self-control and conduct myself with the same detachment as I did all my goddesses.
For two hours, I escorted Jinx around my shores. I showed her the private swimming pool where the goddesses hung out during the day if they wished—away from the guests they’d fucked the night before and protected against any additional interactions that hadn’t been strictly paid for.
The girls never took their eyes off us as I walked her around the perimeter of the boulder-lined pool that looked like a giant pond with a waterfall cascading from the roof of a sala where loungers waited in the shade and a swim-up bar served any delicacy and hydration they required.
Not once did she speak to me.
Not once did I talk to her.
We explored the facilities and travelled the distance of my island without so much as a cough.
It didn’t mean the tension between us wasn’t rife with rage and frustration, but it was refreshing not to have to engage in a war each time I sought out her company.
By the time I’d shown her the spa where she could have a massage any time she wanted, revealed the air-conditioned gym just for the girls and the extensive library where computers could be used to order anything they wanted—books, clothes, vibrators—there was a thin veil of tolerance between us.
Jinx ran her fingers over the keyboard after I’d told her she could order whatever her heart desired. “There’s access to the internet here?”
I laughed once. “My generosity only goes so far.”
“So…that’s a no.”
“That’s a reminder that any social media surfing or messaging of family and friends will have to wait until you are no longer sheltered on my shores.”
She crossed her arms, her temper that I was fast becoming familiar with sparking in her gaze. “Four years is an eternity. Four years of no communication usually means a loved one has died and—”
“But you haven’t died.” I snagged a strand of her hair, unable to stop myself from stroking the silky weight. “You’ve just taken a little…detour.”
She tossed her head, removing her hair from my hold. Her lips thinned as she stewed with a reply. But, with immense control, she swallowed down her fury and moved away, glancing at the books with emotional detachment.
It pissed me off but also...cultivated annoying respect.
I might not offer internet to the girls, but I stood by my word that they received whatever they ordered. The monitored connection ran via my own outside line. I scanned their requests every night and approved them all with a single click, if appropriate, or denied if they weren’t.
The symbiotic relationship we had was provider and provided. I worked hard to ensure they had more than they ever had before. And they worked hard to ensure my business was the success it would always be.
We needed each other.
That was the baseline of respect.
I hoped, by the time the tour ended, Eleanor would understand that.
I followed her as she padded from the library, threw a disgruntled look at the two goddesses bobbing in the pool on two blown-up flamingos, and darted down a pathway into the shadows. The brightness from the pool area was instantly replaced with humid shade from palm fronds.
Even though her silence didn’t fool me that she’d accepted my truce, I relaxed a little. If anything it made me even more aware of her seething temper.
I constantly fought the almost undeniable urge to shove her against a palm tree and fuck her. But…I behaved, she behaved, and we proved we could exist without destroying the other.
“What’s down there?” she asked, keeping her voice low but unable to hide her stewing hate.
I looked to where she gazed. The pathway meandered off into deeper shadow, abruptly disappearing into thick jungle. “Nirvana.”
She raised an eyebrow sceptically. “Nirvana?”
“The name of the waterfall.”
“There’s a waterfall?”
Nodding, I said, “Twelve stories high. It crowns this entire island.”
I wondered if she noticed this was our first civil conversation. Discussing something as innocent as a natural phenomenon rather than cursing each other for the connection we didn’t want.
“How…how far is it?” She swallowed as if hating herself for even talking to me.
“Not far. Twenty-minute walk. Six-minute run.”
“Am I allowed to visit?”
“You are.” I slipped my hands into my pockets, refraining from snatching her hair again, dancing in the muggy breeze. “You can go anywhere you want, do whatever you please. As long as you look after yourself and show up for your weekly session in Euphoria, I have no qualms about you living a full and happy life.”
“No qualms, huh?” She snorted. “How about no decency?”
I stilled, doing my best to keep myself under strict control. “I don’t see a problem in ensuring your health and well-being.”
“No, you wouldn’t, would you?” She stalked ahead, hands balled and steps rigid.
Everything inside commanded I chase her, grab her, strip and fuck her. Instead, I rolled out the aching tension in my spine and reminded myself why I was playing this role. Why I’d boxed myself into the corner clearly labelled ‘celibate’.
No fucking until my personal recruit arrived.
And definitely no fucking Eleanor goddamn Grace.
Slowly, I followed, drinking in the sight of her ass peeking through her lacy kimono, marvelling at the leggy length and curvy handholds of her hips. The black bikini hiding her decency could be eradicated with one yank of the bows holding it together.
My mouth watered to make her come apart again. To have her beg me, worship me, rather than loathe me.
My ego wasn’t bruised, but my cock sure was. It wasn’t down with this denial of what it wanted. It didn’t believe in keeping pleasure and business separate. It wanted her. Fuck…I wanted her.
I wanted her so much I hadn’t slept last night. I wanted her enough to come up with this shitty, stupid plan to keep my distance.
Fuck it.
My stride lengthened. My heart pounded. I slipped a hand from my pocket, ready to fist it deep into her long hair, only for a girl to appear at the fork up ahead. A sexy little blonde with a matching barcode tattoo and sensual smirk upon her pretty face.
Two years she’d been in my stable, and for two years, she’d been a guest’s favourite. She’d transformed from a sobbing little heathen into a highly sexual, hugely popular goddess who regularly enticed guests back for a second stay. She was the only one who didn’t try to get into my pants each time she saw me. Instead, she preferred to lavish all her lust on the men who paid a fortune to lay their hands on her.
In short, she was the perfect role model for any freshly acquired goddess who struggled to accept her new place.
“Sullivan.” She smiled her minxy smile, looking deliberately past Eleanor and doing what she did best. I’d named her after the emotion she inevitably drew from all the other girls.
Jealousy.
She moved with effortless sexual freedom. She glided over my sand as if this was her island and not mine. She’d dedicated herself to being the best…and she was.
The other girls were jealous of her.
In fact…she suffered the same affliction Jinx had been cursed with, just because I couldn’t leave her the hell alone. Two outcasts from the main group of goddesses, just b
ecause they were different.
Eleanor stiffened as Jealousy swayed her hips and came toward us with a leisurely, sensual stroll.
Jealousy smiled invitingly at Eleanor, no animosity or curiosity, just welcoming acceptance to a place she wholeheartedly believed was utopia, then completely dismissed her as she slotted herself into my side and reached up to kiss my cheek.
I permitted the contact, purely because there was no ulterior motive. She was the rare commodity that was worth every penny I’d paid for her. She’d come from a shitty existence. An abusive family, raping uncles, and disbelieving parents. She’d run away, been snatched and sold, and found happiness in my captivity.
I couldn’t remember what her real name was, but I did remember how much she’d earned me and what sort of bonus I’d pay her when her time here was done.
The moment the kiss was delivered, she pulled away, patting my chest lightly. “Pleasure to see you on this stunning day.”
Eleanor never took her eyes off Jealousy. She seemed shocked that she’d willingly touched me, amazed that I’d permitted it, and totally flummoxed as to the obvious friendship between us.
I couldn’t stop watching Jinx, searching for a sign that she was pissed another woman had touched me. Wondering if she suffered the same envy I did whenever I thought of another man touching her.
But only disbelief glowed in her grey eyes. Only disturbed distress painted her face. She acted as if she wanted to yank Jealousy away from me, so I didn’t infect her with a disease.
With my eyes locked with Eleanor’s, I murmured, “Jealousy, meet Jinx. Jinx…this is Jealousy. I highly recommend you befriend her…she’ll probably be the only confidant you’ll have here.”
Jealousy quirked an eyebrow. “She won’t fit in with the others?”
I shook my head, breaking eye contact with one goddess to stare at another. “No.”
“Why ever not?”
I bared my teeth in a condemning smile. “Because she has something the others don’t.”
Her forehead furrowed for a second as she flicked a glance at Eleanor who stood prim and proper with her arms around her waist, her kimono tugged tight and propriety doing its best to make her untouchable, but then her confusion vanished with a flash of understanding. “She has your attention.”
I nodded once. “Unfortunately for her.”
“Yes, indeed.” Jealousy grinned, leaving my side to go to Eleanor. She held out her hand, polite and willing to shake. “Hello, Jinx. I must say, it will be nice if you aren’t accepted by the main pack. We can stick together.”
Eleanor left her hanging, refusing to accept her welcome. She backed away as if finally meeting a girl who was kind and refreshingly transparent was the final straw.
“Be nice, Jinx,” I growled when the pause became awkward. “Believe me…it will be better for you in the long run if you have someone to talk to.” I chuckled coldly. “After all…who else will you complain about me to?”
Her gaze whipped to mine. “I’ll just complain directly to your face.”
Jealousy gasped, her blonde hair bouncing over her shoulders as she turned to look at me. She waited for me to reprimand her. I was known for generosity but also swift strictness. I didn’t permit rudeness or insolence without severe punishment.
But my cock had drained me of my reserves.
Keeping my temper on a leash had made me snappish.
My lust made me far too primed for a fight.
If Jealousy hadn’t arrived, I’d probably be cock deep in Eleanor in the middle of the pathway. But she had arrived…and it was for the best.
It was a sign.
A sign that I was doing the right thing keeping my body as far away from Jinx’s as humanly possible.
Time to get some work done.
Time to forget about my latest employee.
“That will be the last time you speak out of line to me.” Smiling tightly at Jealousy, I added, “Show her the ropes. You can finish the orientation on my behalf.” Turning to face Eleanor, I mockingly bowed at the feet of the long-haired girl who didn’t know the close call she’d escaped. I treated her like royalty because that was what she made me.
She made me a king because only a king could have such consorts at his beck and call.
But I was also a king who didn’t allow dangerous vixens into his bed.
Taking one last look at the girl I wanted to destroy, I left.
Chapter Twenty-Five
“SOOOO…THAT WAS STRANGE.” Jealousy smiled, moving closer so her voice didn’t chase Sully as he disappeared. “I’m doing my best not to ask, but I’ve not seen him act like that around a goddess before. Who are you, Goddess Jinx?”
I side-stepped away. I wasn’t opposed to friends, and definitely wanted a network of people I could talk to and plot a way out of here, but I didn’t trust she wasn’t like the other girls. Brainwashed and infatuated with their liege and master.
With a name like Jealousy, I doubted her sweet smile and welcoming appearance was real. She was probably a master manipulator.
“You know he’s never let anyone get away with being rude to him, right?” she added, when I showed no sign of joining in her conversation. “But then again…I’m guessing you’re not just anyone…are you?”
I shivered, still staring down the empty path where Sully had gone.
What the hell was happening here? To me? To him? To my stable, simple world?
“My real name is Jess.” Jealousy waved almost shyly even though she stood right next to me. “I won’t bite…honest.”
Sighing, I turned to face her, ready to explore another odd relationship if it meant it could rescue me from the mess I’d found myself in. “I’m Eleanor.”
She beamed. “Pretty name.”
“Not pretty enough seeing as he changed it.”
“Ah, Jinx and Jealousy, they’re just masks for us to wear so the guests don’t know who we truly are.”
I crossed my arms. “But if they knew our real names, they could look us up, contact our families…help us escape.”
Jess frowned and nodded slowly. “That’s true. I suppose that would be bad for business.”
I scowled. “You don’t sound pissed off about the fact that we’re prisoners here.”
She shrugged. “I’m happy. This isn’t a prison to me.”
“Don’t you want to be free, though? Free to go where you want? Free to fly away and be with your family?”
Her pretty face cast in shadow. “My family isn’t worthy of my company.” Her voice hardened. “If anywhere in the world is a prison, it’s in that house with them.”
Goosebumps scattered up my arms at the sudden knowledge that this girl wasn’t like the others. She wasn’t like me. She’d already suffered abuse, and our versions of mistreatment were vastly different. Without knowing her full story, I had no right to complain.
Whatever reason she’d been called Jealousy, I didn’t think it was because of any pettiness or envy on her part. She might be short and blonde with a pixy smile, but there was a pillar of pure marble inside her.
“I’m sorry.” I apologised for jumping to conclusions about her and for what she’d lived through. I didn’t need to ask to guess. The brittle vulnerability in her voice painted a vibrant enough picture, but it also told me the truth. She was happy here. She was content to stay because it was a thousand times better than wherever she’d been taken from.
This was her adoptive home while it was still my unwanted cage.
Her blonde hair bounced with loose curls as she moved forward, expecting me to fall into step with her. “Don’t be. It was a while ago, and I don’t ever have to go back.”
I walked with her, intrigued despite myself. “But what about when Sully lets you go?”
She looked at the sugary sand coating our bare feet as we moved toward the beaming sunshine and beach up ahead. “I’ll deal with that in two years.” She flicked me a look. “I wouldn’t say that to the pack but you…” She s
miled sadly. “I’m sorry to say, you will be an outcast here like me. So we might as well skip the stilted getting-to-know-each-other and slip straight into friendship. And…because we’re friends, I can tell you the truth.” She plucked an orchid from its long stem as we passed, stroking the bright purple petals. “Sully can barely stand the other goddesses because they all want something from him that he’s not prepared to give. But me…he knows I want something different.”
My heart picked up speed. “What do you want?”
“To stay.”
“That’s exactly what the other girls want.” I didn’t mention eavesdropping the other night, but I couldn’t imagine that was news to her.
“No, they want to stay and be an equal ruler with Sullivan. They think of this island as theirs. They think of Euphoria as their own personal creation and can’t imagine life without it.”
I squinted as the sun grew steadily brighter as we left the shady heliconias, banana plants, and orchids behind, trading it for sparkling sea and the brightest turquoise I’d ever seen. In front of us rested a row of pristine, gleaming kayaks, oars at their sides, ready to be used. Loungers waited with crisp rolled-up towels for a guest, umbrellas dotted the scalding hot sand, and the sun caused heat mirages to dance around the array of small cabanas serving nibbles, drinks, and anything else high-paying guests could ask for.
Beyond that rested the helipad where I’d arrived. Black basalt lined the area of the manmade bay while the bamboo jetty looked glued to the calm tide.
Memories of arriving, just a few short days ago, had already faded under the intensity of this place. A view wasn’t just a view here. It didn’t just complete a backdrop for life to exist; it demanded your full attention.
It swallowed you up with all five senses, engulfing you with bird song, gentle breezes, and vibrancy. I felt the soft hish-hish of the sea upon the sand. I tasted the fragrant flowers on the air. The part of me that was terrifyingly aware of its own mortality drank in the island with gratitude because nature was absolutely surreal and granted a gift.
A gift of being alive.
Once a Myth (Goddess Isles Book 1) Page 18
