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Chapter Seventeen
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SAILING INTO FRENCH WATERS filled me with the usual hatred toward mankind. The plumes of population hazing the air, the electric buzz that was tangible from so many bodies in one place. The entrapment of animals, and the carnage of carcasses that ended up wrapped in plastic ready for a plate.
I wasn’t a fan of cities, and I doubted that would ever change, but I was here because my family had asked me. I would stifle my complaints and do whatever was needed to ensure Jess and Cal were as happy as Jinx and I.
I’d also agreed to take Eleanor sightseeing. I would ignore my dislike of people and do the touristy thing until we both snapped and needed space. At least we wouldn’t be staying the night. We’d return to Calypso and be able to breathe away from society.
As for the business idea of handing Calypso over to Rapture to use for marriage counselling, that was now discarded. All of us had enjoyed our voyage too much to give it up.
Calypso was ours.
Therefore, Elder Prest had received two additional commissions last week. One, another yacht—smaller than Calypso but just as luxurious for the booming business on Rapture, and two, a more modern, sexy vessel for the offshoot of our virtual reality business that Cal had joked about.
I’d once catered to rich bastards who’d gotten their kink by paying for goddesses high on elixir. My wife had dismantled that illegal enterprise and conjured a highly successful business that helped broken couples find their way back to each other.
Now, it was time to siphon some coin from the younger generation. The frisky, flirty, and downright filthy twenty-something’s who wanted to play before conforming to society’s rules.
Euphoria would give them more than just a sexual fantasy; it would open their eyes to a life that didn’t need to be mundane and moronic. They could fuck and fondle complete strangers, indulge in every wicked and wet desire they’d ever had, and not fear for their privacy or judgment.
Eleanor had already begun designing the suites and bar areas that our guests would mingle in, and we’d spent a highly enjoyable night last week coding a few erotic fantasies that made even my kinky wife blush.
Last night, Prest had sent through the schematics based on our requests, suggesting a ship called Idyllic. Along with a few amendments for sex harness anchor points, Euphoria playrooms, and spaces large enough for all manner of indulgences, we’d placed the order.
In one year, we’d have yet another offshoot to our VR empire, and Jinx and I would happily test drive the fantasies we’d have on offer.
Leaning on the balustrade, I let my mind switch from future businesses to what today entailed.
Jess and Cal had arranged a meeting with Q and his wife, Tess. We were to meet them at Moineau Holdings this morning. I’d wanted to bring Radcliffe and a team of security, but Cal had forbidden that idea, not wanting to scare Q off when that was precisely my intention.
I owed him for the shitty email he’d sent, threatening to kill me.
My hands curled.
Today will be...interesting.
I knew more about the French meddler thanks to Cal finding out Q’s company name. While Jinx slept beside me, I’d thoroughly researched the bastard.
I’d learned he dabbled with property, and, on paper, he had every police and politician fawning over him thanks to his philanthropy and wholesome deeds in the community.
He had them completely hoodwinked.
If I hadn’t had the pleasure of receiving his threats, I’d be suckered in too. However, I knew the type of man he was beneath the specially cultivated persona. I knew him better than I probably should because, unfortunately, we seemed to be fairly similar.
I couldn’t lie and say I was looking forward to the meeting. In fact, I’d asked Cal and Jess if they’d rather go alone. To have a private meeting about their adoption potential without us there to ruin their chances.
However, Cal had pulled me aside and asked if I’d be there. Not just for safety—because even though he’d banned me from bringing Radcliffe, he was just as untrusting as me and had no intention of meeting Q on his own turf without some security measures in place—but also as his friend.
He didn’t come out and say it, but he needed me and Eleanor, just in case the meeting didn’t go well. Just in case Q decided, for whatever fucking reason, that he didn’t like them and left them with shattered dreams to patch up.
Of course, I wouldn’t let Q fucking say no to them.
What my friends wanted, they would have. They were the best people I knew. And no goddamn way would I let a French bastard stand in their way.
Despite my reservations of the meeting, Eleanor was full of anticipation. After all, she had her own ulterior motives. She’d once met Q’s wife while sitting in a cell, waiting for traffickers to wash, tattoo, and sell them.
Their meeting had only been brief but they’d made an impression on each other, and her eyes lit up at the thought of seeing her again. Of seeing her happiness being married to a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Of showing off her own happiness being married to a monster in scientist camouflage.
I could already tell it would be a long day amongst dreaded humans.
But if it went well, there would be another person sailing home with us.
Someone tiny and unsure.
Someone who would become a part of our family on Goddess Isles.
Pika fluttered to my shoulder, chirping at the busy port.
I smiled, shedding my temper. “Can’t take you with us, Pika. Immigration’s stupid rules.”
He squawked.
“I know. Sucks. I’m sure you would’ve enjoyed a croissant from some cholesterol-saturated French bakery.”
“I know someone else who would enjoy that,” Eleanor said softly, coming to my side wearing a crimson dress that set off her chocolate hair and gorgeous smoky eyes. Skittles sat on her shoulder, a shot of bright green.
I froze.
Fuck, she’s stunning.
I drank in the moment.
I reached out and held the hand of the woman who’d toppled my dynasty, came to rescue me on death’s door, and made my every waking moment sublime.
Without her, I was nothing.
With her, all my dreams had come true. Including the dark ones, the sinful ones, and the ones we’d yet to code in Euphoria.
Pulling her into a kiss, I tasted melon on her tongue and smelled sunshine in her hair. “Have I told you I love you today?”
“Nope.” She kissed me back, her tongue slow and sensual. “But if you do, I’ll let you ravish me later.”
I grinned against her mouth. “Ravish, huh? That sounds like a word a Scottish Highwayman might use.” I nipped my way along her jaw, licking her ear. “I could be persuaded to enjoy another Jacobite-era fantasy.”
“Will you sully me for marriage to a highland lord?”
“Abso-fucking-lutely.”
She laughed, her hand drifting down the front of my charcoal suit. I’d traded the casual seafaring outfits for one of my old business apparels. Suits were armour, and I was going into battle with Q fully armed.
“In that case, I will gladly let you ravish me, you dirty lusty cur.”
“Rake, if you don’t mind.”
She laughed again as we kissed, dislodging Pika and Skittles until they flew around our heads.
Her face fell for a second as she narrowed her eyes at another ship as it floated toward port.
I knew that look.
She’s worried about something.
“What is it?” I cupped her cheek, bringing her attention back to me.
She huffed. “You’re going to think I’m stupid.”
“Never.” I kissed her. “Annoying, demanding, salacious, and entirely fucking amazing, but never stupid.”
She rolled her eyes. “Such a romantic.”
“Going to tell me why you’re glowering at that other boat?”
“I’m worried about Rapture and that pirate asshole on Paradigm Purge.”
“I told you.” I scowled. “We’ve added security measures. He won’t get near Rapture without being taken out.”
“Yeah, but what if he steals someone?”
“He won’t.”
“But what if he does.”
I sighed. “Then we’ll hunt the bastard and free her.”
Eleanor slouched. “I just have a feeling he’s going to cause problems.”
Running my hands through her gorgeous hair, I murmured, “Or he could just sail away and vanish.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of. He’ll vanish with a woman snatched from Rapture.”
“If he somehow got past our security and miraculously stole a troubled wife working on her marriage, then...” I shrugged. “Maybe, it’s meant to be. Maybe, she’ll be the one to change him...just like you were the one to change me. Maybe, it’s fate working in its convoluted way, just like it worked with us.” I bowed my head, capturing her mouth. “You’re forgetting how we met, Jinx. If someone had stopped me from stealing you...I don’t know how I would’ve survived. You’re the reason I’m happy. The only fucking reason.”
She swayed into me, parting her lips and returning my kiss. “I stand by what I said a few years ago...after I gave you elixir and you finally allowed me to wriggle into your heart.”
“Oh? What did you say?” I tried to recall but all I could remember was falling head over fucking heels, being shit terrified, and coming face-to-face with the knowledge that my entire existence had just changed, all because of her.
She smiled and nipped my bottom lip. “I said I’d broken you. I wasn’t used to seeing you smile after your scowls. To hear you caring for me was...magical. Your change of heart was a clear indication that I’d broken you.” She laughed.
My heart skipped. “Ah, yes. And I believe I said, I was glad you broke me.” I kissed her again. “Because I was a cunt and you’d improved me.”
She laughed softly as my tongue traced her lips. “I love you, Sully.”
“I know.” Our kiss turned deep and dirty. I swung her against the balustrade, grinding my hips into hers, showing her I’d grown hard, rapidly doing the math to see if we had time to fuck before this god-awful excursion into the city.
“If you two stop pawing each other for five fucking minutes, it’s time,” Cal muttered, coming toward us from the lounge, his lips twisting into a smile as I stopped kissing my wife and blinked back the sexual trance she’d put me in.
He looked stressed with stiff posture and painful hope in his green eyes.
Jess chuckled beside him, matching his strain of their upcoming meeting, eyeing up Eleanor’s finger-pawed hair and the obvious heat in her grey stare. “I was going to ask if you’re ready to go meet Q and Tess.” She smoothed her navy dress and nervously clutched the small purse in her hands. “But I think your thoughts are more on a bedroom rather than a boardroom.”
Eleanor smirked. “Delayed gratification only increases the pleasure.”
Jess nodded. “No truer thing has been spoken.”
“You know...” I looked at Cal. “You impress that French bastard today and walk away with a baby in your arms, there goes your sex life.”
Cal punched me in the arm, doing his best to shed his stress. “That’s what’s so good about your VR, Sinclair. We can be parents in the real world but in the fantasy realm...” He shrugged with a smirk. “I can still seduce my wife.”
“We’ll have to code you something as a ‘welcome to parenthood gift’”, Eleanor said, her eyes lighting up. “What’s your utmost fantasy, Cal?” Her attention swung to Jess. “Jess? Deepest desire? Care to share? Sully will cypher it.”
“I haven’t had nearly enough alcohol to answer that question,” Cal muttered.
I coughed. “And I definitely don’t need to hear it. Cal knows how to code. He wants to indulge? It’s on him to program it.”
“Yeah, and knowing my luck, you’ll load it one night and steal all my ideas.” Cal rolled his eyes.
“If you load it on the shared app, fair’s fair.” I chuckled.
Jess checked the time on her phone. “Eh...we better go. I would die if we’re late.”
“Fine.” I rolled my eyes, nodding at the staff member ready to take us to shore. “The sooner we meet the bastard, the sooner we’re back here.”
“And the sooner we might have a son or daughter,” Jess whispered breathlessly.
Eleanor went to her. “I’m so excited for you.”
Cal hugged both of them.
Two caiques fluttered around them.
And I imprinted the perfection that my life had become, knowing that no matter how many days I spent on this planet, I would never take a single one of them for granted.
This was my family.
I trusted them. Loved them. Was unbelievably happy because of them.
I waited until Cal took Jess’s hand and walked her toward the small speedboat that would ferry us to France. Grabbing Eleanor’s wrist, I captured her, keeping her with me, just for another moment.
Basking in the Parisian morning sunlight, drinking in her beauty, I dropped my mouth to hers. “I love you, Jinx.”
She smiled beneath my lips. “I know.”
Our kiss once again evolved to something far from innocent. I wanted her. I didn’t want to share her in a large city.
“You coming or what?” Cal yelled.
Eleanor chuckled.
I sighed. “Suppose we better go.”
“We go together. We come home together. And then...we’ll enter Euphoria together and play.”
“And somehow, I just fell in love with you even more.”
“It’s a curse.” Eleanor kissed me again.
“A lifelong condition.” I squeezed her fingers.
“Forever.” She kissed my knuckles before tugging me toward the boat that would take us to Q, Tess, and yet another adventure.
An adventure set in the real world, embellished by our fantasies, and enjoyed with every heartbeat.
* * * *
Thank you so much for reading!
If you’re ready for a new DARK ROMANCE series, keep your eyes open for FABLE OF HAPPINESS. It’s deliciously dark!
Blurb and cover on the next page.
It’s the start of something huge.
From New York Times Bestseller, Pepper Winters, comes a new Dark Romance full of decadent angst, monstrous heroes, and pages chock-full of lust.
A house hidden in the middle of nowhere.
A man who’s lived alone for a decade.
A woman who trespasses on his solitude.
A love full of hate as well as hunger.
The thing about my life is...I was never in control of it.
I just I thought I was.
I thought I had everything figured out—a good career, fun hobbies, a bright future, but everything changed when I found an ivy-cloaked house, tucked in a forgotten valley, hiding a man who corrupted my world forever.
I thought I was successful, until he showed me fortune and happiness could be snatched away in an instant.
I believed I was blessed, but really, I was cursed.
Cursed to become a plaything for a monster.
Cursed to become a prisoner just because I trespassed.
Now, I know nothing.
I am nothing.
I’m just his.
Please note this is a dark romance and not suitable for people who have triggers. Content included can be hard to read and only recommended for people who like dark romance.