Chapter Four

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I SPRAWLED ON THE sand like a discarded toy that’d had all its stuffing removed.

The sun was at its zenith, directly above me, doing its best to chargrill my skin, even with the generous lashings of sunscreen I’d applied.

I willed myself to sit up. To eat. To focus on this stunning, glittering day.

But...the sand cradled me too well. The effort of clenching stomach muscles and corralling arms to push up was too much.

So, I lay there. The sun painting bright red patterns on my closed eyelids, stealthily streaking my dark hair with strands of bleached copper. I’d always been a sun lover, acutely attuned to its alternating shades and strengths in different countries.

Ozone played a large part, along with distance from the equator, and air pollution to its heat and colour, but here, on Sully’s island, the gilded orb had the warmth of a thousand cosy blankets, pressing into me, reaching through my pores and blood to my bones beneath, easing out the tiny pinpricks of pain and melting them into nothing.

I was washed in gold, inside and out—the perfect healer to my exhaustion.

At least I was outside and no longer in bed. To be honest, I was surprised I’d achieved that small goal. It’d seemed like an impossible task when I’d first woken and been assaulted with aches and bruises, tenderness and overuse in literally every extremity. Even my little toes hurt when I gingerly slipped out of bed and hobbled toward the bathroom.

There, I’d swayed as blackness crawled over my hazy vision. Once again, my blood sugar levels were dangerously low. My stomach clutched on emptiness. My hands quaked with hunger.

My core wrenched a moan from my lips when I clenched my pelvic floor, my feminine attributes highly aware they’d been touched, licked, fucked, and sampled far, far too many times.

I’d wanted to soak away my discomfort in a bath, but with my knees almost buckling, I opted to sit on the plush bath mat by the huge wave-carved vanity instead of risking a fall.

Putting my head between my legs, I waited for the wooziness to pass, breathing as deeply as I could, doing my best to tame a tattered heartbeat. By the time I looked up again, I’d formulated a flimsy plan of crawling back to bed, ringing for some food to replenish me, and spending the rest of the day in misery.

Hauling myself to my feet, I blinked back new stars, focusing on the large stone bathtub. As if by magic, warm water bobbed with frangipani flowers, aromatic with sweet blooms and comforting vanilla.

How?

Did someone come in and draw a bath while I’d slept?

My shoulders rolled with utmost gratefulness. Tears even came to my eyes as I clutched the lip of the bath and carefully slipped a leg inside. The warm water embraced me instantly, deleting some of the strain.

I melted, and that was the extent of my strength.

I allowed myself to plop like a pebble into the comforting water world, holding my breath as I ducked under. My ribcage grumbled with aches as I held my breath, slowly easing by the time I came up for air.

Some guardian angel had foreseen my need for bodily rehabilitation. If only I had something to eat, I could wallow away the rest of the morning, allowing the bath to work better than any pill or painkiller.

Wiping away water droplets from my eyes, I blinked again.

What on earth?

There, on a small bamboo table with a small vase holding three freshly picked frangipani flowers, two bottles of sweet-smelling lotion, and a box of anti-inflammatories, rested a dewy, blue-glossy smoothie.

Oh, my God.

Had I been so blind not to notice these gifts when I first entered the bathroom or was some of the magic from Euphoria spilling into reality?

I bit my lip, looking around the bathroom to see if an invisible staff member poised with yet more offerings plucked straight from my wordless wishes.

But I was alone.

Alone with the tweets of birds, gentle slap of waves on the shore, and the tropical heaviness of humidity.

Wincing as I employed muscles to reach for the smoothie, I grabbed the dense drink and slipped back into the warmth again. Only my head and my hands remained dry, tipping the weighty glass to my lips and slurping huge mouthfuls of deliciousness.

I moaned as if the flavour explosion was another orgasm. My system instantly clamoured to convert food into life-giving glucose and minerals. Blueberries and banana, cinnamon, coconut, and a blend of too many other things to pinpoint.

Thick and wholesome, I devoured the entire thing, gasping with brain freeze by the end.

Contentedness spilled through me, and I reclined in the bath again.

I stayed there until the warmth turned to air temperature and the smoothie navigated from my stomach to my muscles. Only once I could stand without black spots dancing in my vision did I grab a towel, dry off, slip into a silver rhinestone-studded bikini, and apply liberal sunblock.

Even that amount of exercise made me very aware of how weak my body was. How all it craved was more nutrition and somewhere to rest. I padded through the airy villa and followed the sweet, spicy aromas coming from the deck.

Once again, my mouth fell open in shock. The table, resting under a giant umbrella, groaned with a plethora of dishes. Earthen pots holding rich curries, banana leaf plates presenting fluffy pastries, white china with fresh fruit, and dishes with lentils, vegetables, and barbecued halloumi, all waited to be chosen.

Saliva coated my tongue. I selected a huge piece of ripe watermelon, a handful of lychees, and a still-warm chocolate croissant before descending the two steps from the teak decking to the sugary sun-warmed sand.

I ate my beach picnic in record time, then lay back and...the rest was history.

I couldn’t move.

I didn’t want to move.

I’d made the mistake of lying down in paradise, and for the first time in my life, I didn’t let guilt push me into motion.

My body wanted to rest.

I will rest.

I had no one to please, no chores to complete, no parents to obey.

Just bird song and wave chorus lulling me into a state of utmost lazy leisure.

Unfortunately, while my body might be able to switch off all signals to move, to lie like a corpse and be grateful for its respite, my mind began to race.

Last night returned in crystal, clamouring detail.

The cave.

The man.

The mind-numbing, body-breaking, elixir-maddening sex.

My nipples pebbled just from my memories, from his voice, from the way he manhandled me but also cared for me. It hadn’t been like I feared. He hadn’t been abusive or cruel. He’d taken what he wanted, but he’d also ensured I enjoyed it too.

And I had enjoyed it.

As much as I wanted to lie, to curse and scream and make myself sound less like a harlot, I had to be honest and admit...last night had been the best night of my life...sexually speaking.

A blush crept over my cheeks. A blush full of chagrin for Scott. If I ever got free—when I get free—how would I look him in the eye and admit what I’d done? Would it matter that I hadn’t had a choice? That the man who’d bought me stole my senses, plugged me into some sort of illusion, and then left me to his guests’ mercy?

Would Scott forgive me?

There’s nothing to forgive!

My hands curled, grabbing fistfuls of hot sand. I didn’t willingly open my legs for that brutish caveman. Yes, while under elixir’s influence, I had, but...that was a weapon used against me. My own libido and lust had become enemies.

If I ever saw Scott again, he would understand. If he didn’t...well...he doesn’t deserve me.

Nodding with firmness, I tried to calm my heart rate that’d once again skipped into tattered. A small puff of air wafted my face just before a gentle rustle of feathers and a cute chirp sounded in my ear. “Lazy, lazy.”

My eyes snapped open. I turned my head to come nose to beak with Sully’s tiny parrot. He tilted his neck so his head was horizontal, comical and far too bendy. “Lazy!” He ruffled his feathers, shaking off invisible dirt.

I smiled, studying the gleaming green feathers, snowy white chest, and apricot cheeks. “You’re very pretty.”

He puffed up like a tennis ball, pride cheeky and bright in his gaze. “Pretty Pika!”

I nodded, rolling onto my stomach, trailing my long hair over my shoulders but leaving most of the length, strewn like seaweed in the sand. Resting my chin in my hands, I laughed quietly as the little parrot stomped his scaly legs around in a dictatorship-style dance. His wings fanned out like a cape, his beak held high, his body bristling with authority. He squeaked with each step, sounding like the world’s tiniest bullhorn.

“Sully, Sully, Sully!” he screamed, abandoning his weird march and nibbling my hair in the sand. He ran bath-clean locks through his beak, pruning and preening me as if offended that I hadn’t done what he ordered and stopped being lazy.

I tried to ignore the way my stomach flipped at the mention of Sully’s name or the knowledge that this little bird seemed to have something unique of his.

He was loved by a man who didn’t seem capable of such a thing.

Stroking the top of Pika’s head, I murmured, “What can you tell me about him, huh? Is he all bad, or is there something good inside him too?”

Pika immediately forgot about my hair, arching his neck for me to scratch between his feathers under his chin. His eyes closed in bliss, and snuggled closer, showing total affection and intelligence far beyond what most people believed a bird could do.

This wasn’t just a mindless creature, focused on food and fornication before his lifespan was over. This was a tiny soul, sentient and smart, as valuable as any other being.

My heart squeezed as a tune of chirps and squeaks fell from his beak, his version of a purr, adoring my cuddles.

“I can see why Sully fell in love with you. You are rather irresistible.”

“His ability to invoke feeling is a daily punishment, I agree.”

I gasped, whipping around to face the dark, disgruntled voice behind me. Pika squawked indignantly as I sprayed him with sand, sitting upright, wincing a little at my remaining aches. “Sully!” I shielded my eyes from the sun. “Wh-what are you doing here?”

Pika flew to his master’s head, resting like some feathered jewel in Sully’s wet hair. He once again puffed with self-satisfaction, his tiny ego overflowing with knowledge that he belonged to someone who cared.

Sully didn’t acknowledge the bird. His fists stayed stiff by his thighs while his powerful body dripped with saltwater. Wet tracks on the sand revealed he’d swam here, appearing from the depths like some prince of the brine.

Pika must’ve flown while Sully swam, chasing his owner to torment me.

My chest turned hollow, creating a high-steepled church for my heart to pound. My gaze disobeyed me and trailed from his harsh eyebrows shadowing crystal blue eyes to the flares of his collarbones, ridges of abdominals, and over the ripples of shoulder and bicep. His lower half was hidden by dripping black board-shorts, his legs planted hip-distance apart and feet buried in the sand.

The sun absolutely worshipped him, turning his skin a gorgeous bronze, dappling him with gilded-shadow that only highlighted the impressive condition he kept his body in. With the small breeze teasing wet hair on his forehead and the sea still clinging to him, he wasn’t just a king of water but the master of all elements.

Earth, water, air, and fire.

The fire was inside me, an ember that’d struck a match the moment we’d met and continued to smoulder when we were apart, only to whoosh back into cardinal flame when we were close.

Last night faded. The caveman and the endless orgasms I’d enjoyed, all gone.

Everything vanished under the intense, terrifying recollection of Sully’s mouth on mine. On the way he’d dragged me from the bath by my hair, kissed me as if he’d die, then prepared my body with oil and tricks for another man.

Anger poured into the fire in my chest, crackling with sparks. “You rented me out.”

He ran a hand over his face, dispelling stinging salt and striding closer, casting me in shadow. “What did you think of my creation?”

“I can’t offer an opinion on something I don’t understand.”

He sucked in his bottom lip as if tasting my reply. Finally, he cocked his head with acknowledgement. “What don’t you understand?”

“Why?” I crossed my arms. “Are you going to tell me what Euphoria is? Are you going to explain how one second I was here, then I was there, and then I woke up in my villa as if I hadn’t travelled thousands of miles, regressed hundreds of millennia, and had sex—multiple times—with a prehistoric male?”

He sucked in a breath, making his belly strain. “I can...if that’s what you wish.”

“Is that why you’re here?”

He shook his head, making Pika take wing. “I’m here because, once again, my willpower is shit.”

Goosebumps darted over my skin at his confession. My lips tingled as if he’d just kissed me. As if I wanted him to kiss me...which was a total lie.

Stay away from me.

Just...grant me that, and I might be able to survive you.

“Do you visit all your goddesses after they’ve been in Euphoria?” I climbed to my feet, uneasy with the dynamics of him towering over me. Sand crowned me, decorating my skin with silver-golden glitter.

His gaze darkened, his eyes narrowing and skating over my bikini-clad form. He sucked in a thin breath as he caressed my cleavage, my belly, my briefs, and down my legs. My body prickled as if he’d physically touched me. Hyperaware without the condemning curse of his elixir.

I hated that I couldn’t blame a drug on my reaction to him. I despised that the more time we spent together, the more my body ignored my wishes and had its own intentions. My breasts grew heavier, my nipples harder, my core wetter.

It didn’t matter that I had no intention of acting on my attraction to him. It didn’t matter that I would never, ever willingly sleep with this bastard. The body was a fickle, betraying thing, and it’d chosen Sully Sinclair to be my own personal hell.

Where had my decision to wear that sack of a jumper gone? I should permanently live in that hideous thing...if only to protect myself from someone I wasn’t equipped to withstand.

He took his time replying, his stomach rippling with yet more tension. “No, I don’t.” He peered into my face, seeing my strain, my stress, the aftermath of countless sex. “However, not many have fainted at my feet. I figured I’d be protecting an investment if I came to check on you personally.”

I fought the urge to back up. “So the bath and the smoothie and all that delicious food...that’s you ‘protecting your investment?’”

He raked a hand through his hair, dispelling clinging ocean and encouraging the dark, bronze-tipped strands to dry. “No, each goddess receives those things after she’s...worked. I’m aware that your system needs fortification.”

“So magnanimous of you.”

He smirked. “I try.” His attention slipped from mine, drifting to the table still groaning with food. A scowl tangled his face. “You didn’t eat.” Temper flashed as he looked back at me. “Why the fuck haven’t you eaten? Remember what happened last time?”

I squeaked as he grabbed my elbow and marched me toward the deck. Pika chased us, chirping as Sully pushed me into a chair, wiped his hand free of the mixture of sunscreen and sand from my skin, and reached for a scrumptious-looking raspberry pastry. Plopping it onto the empty plate in front of me, he commanded, “Eat. Unless you want to visit Dr. Campbell and his syringes again?”

Grabbing the pastry, I shooed Pika away as he tried to nibble it, and glowered. “I was going to eat. I have eaten. I’ve been...listening to what my system needs, and it needs rest.”

He reached for the remaining wedge of watermelon, unsheathing his teeth and taking a bite so big, pink juice dribbled through his five o’clock shadow.

I froze.

I shivered.

I couldn’t look away as his tongue darted between his lips, catching as much of the fruit juice as he could before he wiped the rest away with the back of his hand. His eyes closed in bliss, his jaw working as he chewed, his throat contracting as he swallowed.

He. Was. Gorgeous.

Drop-dead, fantasy-created perfection.

I wanted to cry.

I wanted to leap up and scratch and scar him. To make him as ugly as his chosen profession.

My appetite vanished as my stomach clenched with disgust. How could I find him so appealing when he’d sentenced me to four years of slavery?

He grabbed the chair next to me, sitting tall and selecting a big bowl of tempeh satay skewers dripping in peanut sauce, accompanied with pickled cabbage and carrot. Slipping the entire length of tempeh into his mouth, he placed the empty skewer back into the bowl, his gaze catching mine as he chewed.

Thanks to the shade offered by the large umbrella, I noticed things that the sun had hidden. Smudges decorated under his eyes, and his body seemed leaner, tight over muscles as if he hadn’t eaten in a while. His hands shook slightly as he chose another satay stick and quickly devoured it.

He ate as if he’d been subjected to elixir and all the spiritual, physical, and emotional exhaustion that came with it.

What could that mean?

Had he used another goddess last night after handing me over? Who had been the guest I slept with? I hadn’t seen him around the island, and it hadn’t been the man who’d said he couldn’t wait to be with me when Jealousy and I had bumped into the two guests.

My heart rate picked up, confusion trying to rearrange into crazy conclusions.

“Eat,” Sully muttered, doling out a large ladle of veggie mie goreng onto my plate.

Taking a bite of my pastry, I asked softly, “Why are you so hungry?”

He froze. His gaze snagged mine, turning navy with hesitation. Tearing his attention away, he grunted, “I forgot to eat breakfast.”

“Uh-huh...” I picked a gooey raspberry from the sweet custard of the pastry.

He glowered, hating my disbelief. “I was...I overdid it with exercise last night.”

“And what sort of exercise was that?” I braced myself with acknowledgement that he was busy fucking a goddess until neither could walk straight. I wanted him to admit that whatever this electricity was—that only seemed to increase in voltage between us—meant absolutely nothing to him.

That would give me clear boundaries to stop allowing my body to twist my mind, to prevent my heart from getting involved.

“None of your fucking business.” He grabbed a grain cracker, scooped up a mouthful of caramelised onion, and ate it as if daring me to ask again.

Fine.

Whatever.

I didn’t care what he got up to last night. What I did care about was what I got up to. How it happened. Who it happened with. If every instance would be the same.

We ate in silence for a bit before I poured myself a glass of freshly squeezed pineapple juice and hid my smile as Pika perched on the edge of my drink, dipping his beak in and slurping up the sugary liquid.

Sully stiffened as Pika continued to sip from my glass. His face grew stormy, as if possessive of the bird and unwilling to share him. I frowned as he whistled gently, his call acting like an immediate noose, setting Pika to flight and placing him firmly on Sully’s shoulder.

I reclined in my chair, sampling the pineapple and once again confused about who this man was. “You don’t like sharing his affection.”

He growled low in his chest. “I don’t trust others to be kind to him.”

“No one?”

His eyes flashed. “No one.”

“You have my word I’d never hurt him, Sully.”

He flinched at the use of his name. “Words don’t earn my trust, Jinx.”

“Perhaps not, but you must have some inkling of who I am as a person by now? You spend enough time harassing me.”

He bristled. “I harass you?”

“You’re here eating my food, aren’t you?”

“Your food?” His eyebrows shot into his half-dried hair. “Are you forgetting who owns this establishment?”

I placed my glass down, boldly swiping a tempeh satay off his plate. “Oh no, I could never forget that part.”

He scowled as I chewed the rich peanut delicacy. He studied me with such intensity, such curiosity, I squirmed under his stare.

“What? What is it?” I wiped my cheeks. “Do I have something on my face?”

A cold smirk twisted his lips. “Just trying to decide if you’ve changed. The first time in Euphoria normally scrambles a person. However, you still seem to have a terrible sense of self-preservation, a tongue that will only get you in trouble, and questions that won’t deliver answers you’ll like.”

I braced my spine. “Does it piss you off that I’m still fundamentally myself?”

He paused before nodding brusquely. “Actually, yes. I’m fucked off you’re still the same—even after...” He cleared his throat. “Even after being fucked within an inch of your life last night in a dimension that wasn’t real.”

“Why does that annoy you? Why aren’t you happy that I’m strong enough to withstand whatever nightmares you throw my way?”

“Because I don’t like what you make me—” He cut himself off, his hands balling on the table. “We’re off topic. You wanted to know about Euphoria.” He glanced at his naked wrist, waving it as if an expensive Rolex winked there. “Time is ticking, Jinx. I’ve overstayed my welcome as it is, and I have work to do, guests to welcome, goddesses to prepare. You get three questions about how my VR works, and that’s it.” He grabbed a handful of grapes, popping one into his mouth and chewing slowly, his eyes never leaving mine. “Go ahead. Ask.”

I did my best to keep my attention away from his lips and throat as he swallowed. “Only three?”

He nodded regally.

“Fine.” Tapping my mouth with a finger, I deliberated. Doing my best to incorporate as much into one question as I could. I wouldn’t fall for his tricks. I refused to walk away from this strange, impromptu luncheon without knowing everything I could.

Information was key. And I needed all the keys I could earn to escape.

As he waited patiently, Pika fell asleep on his shoulder, his little head bobbing with tiredness.

Leaning forward, I ignored the way Sully’s gaze latched onto my cleavage as I placed my arms on the table, pushing my breasts together. His jaw flexed, his naked chest rose with a harsh breath, highlighting muscles that made my mouth water.

My stomach reacted to him, coiling itself with barbwire, pinpricking with pain.

Stop it!

My voice cracked as I asked, “You called it VR...VR as in virtual reality?”

One question wasted.

Dammit.

He steepled his fingers, elbows digging into the armrests of his chair. “Precisely.”

“And everything you put on me...the oil, lenses, earbuds, the stuff under my nose, the mouthwash, the pads on my fingertips. Is that how the illusion felt so real?”

“It was.”

“How?” I held up my hand before he could answer my final question with a generic reply, adding a caveat. “I want an in-depth explanation, not just a quick, mysterious hint. I want to know exactly what each element did.”

It was his turn to lean forward. Pushing his chair away from the table, he moved it to face mine, clasping his hands between his legs. “Normally, I let the goddess figure it out. But...I did say you could ask, so pay attention because I’ll only divulge this once.”

I stopped breathing, way too aware of how close he was, how powerful, how ruthless. Voltage sparked from his body to mine, crackling with invisible lightning bolts.

“Virtual reality only works if your senses are consumed. Gamers use headsets that see three-hundred-and-sixty degrees, so no matter which way you look, you only see the world you’re immersed in. Your brain accepts the imagery as gospel. You can run in an empty field but slam into a wall in a tiny room. Once you feel the walls instead of grass, the illusion is shattered and the brain boycotts the deception, dumping you firmly back into reality.” He shrugged. “I don’t let that happen. I don’t allow any instances where the hallucination can be broken.”

Taking my hand, we both jerked as our skin burst apart with fire. The heat and burn were so intense, I couldn’t understand how our flesh remained uncharred and flames didn’t crawl up our arms.

Clearing his throat, he stroked my fingertips with his. “If you touch a wall in reality, with the sensors on your fingers, you touch grass from the field. If you smell, with my serum under your nose, you only scent sweet earth and spring growth. If you feel, thanks to my oil, you only feel the soft blades upon your skin and the breeze within your hair. Your taste buds taste the fallacy. Your ears hear the delusion. Your body may remain in a blank room, and harnesses might keep you from straying, but none of that exists to your brain. You don’t feel the bare tile beneath your feet if I’ve coded a cave to be lined with fur. You don’t hear the voices of the people around you if you’re listening to crackling fire and grunting cavemen.”

Letting me go, he shook out his hands as if trying to eradicate the leftover crackles of chemistry. “That’s it. Just a trick. All carefully designed to make your brain believe something unbelievable.”

“So...you’re saying you can create any apparition, conjure any scene a guest wants?”

He cocked his head. “That’s a fourth question.”

“I know...but...it’s relates to my previous one.”

He sighed with impatience. “Yes. I can code any fantasy they want. I can make you an angel with wings, fucking in the clouds. I can turn you into a mermaid, fucking beneath the sea. You become anything they want. They want you blonde...you’re blonde. They want you older, you’re older. They want you to be someone they loved and lost, then you’re a ghost. Or if they want you as you are...then that is what they get.”

I sat in silence for a while, processing the depth of the daydream. It’d been so real. I’d touched the man who’d been inside me and felt his body and heat. I’d tasted his salty flesh when I’d sucked him. I’d gasped with pleasure as he’d licked me in return...but it’d all been—

“Wait.” My spine stiffened. “If it’s all a mirage, then...are you saying I didn’t actually have sex last night?”

He stood swiftly, planting his hands on my chair’s armrests, caging me in. His belly rippled with muscle as he loomed close, his eyes dabbled with turquoise and sapphire. “You’ve used up all your questions.”

“But...”

In a flash, he wrapped his fingers around my wrist and plucked me from the chair. Dragging me down the deck and back onto the beach, he didn’t stop until the sea lapped at our ankles.

The fresh coolness after sitting in stagnant humidity was welcome. Sand still stuck annoyingly to my skin, but I didn’t understand why he’d carted me into the ocean.

Pika squawked around our heads before flapping off into the foliage, abandoning his master, knowing the open seas weren’t a place for a winged parrot.

Sully never stopped, manhandling me deeper and deeper until the tide lapped around my waist, then breasts, then throat. Only once we were completely submerged, my tiptoes digging into the sand beneath the surface for balance, did he cup my chin and bring me close.

He licked his lips as if he’d kiss me. His eyes flashed with a hunger that made equal starvation claw at my belly. For a second, I had no idea what he intended.

Drown me?

Fuck me?

Ruin me?

But his fingers tightened around my jaw, bringing me closer until our chests bumped and the hardness in his broad-shorts nudged against my stomach. His voice licked into my ear, low and laden with lust. “Ask yourself that same question. Does your body feel like you didn’t have sex last night?” His other hand suddenly latched around my breast, fisting the weight, activating bruises. “Are these not sore from a man’s attention?” His fingers trailed over my waist, cupping me between the legs, instantly making my thighs clamp around his wrist, far too sensitive to be played with. “Is this not swollen from being fucked all night?” His finger teased my clit, pressing my bikini briefs against my entrance. “Are you not wrung dry from pleasure?”

If the water hadn’t cradled my weight, I would’ve collapsed.

The rudeness of him fingering me. The aggressive, possessive way in which he touched me...as if I belonged to him. As if he wanted to replace himself with the man who’d invaded those places multiple times last night.

I shivered as he ran his tongue around the shell of my ear. “Ask yourself if you believe you didn’t have sex last night, Jinx, and be honest with yourself. Ask why I poured elixir down your throat. Why I served you up as a rabid, wanton creature if your sole purpose wasn’t to be used.”

Pressing a chaste kiss on my mouth, he murmured, “Your mind hid the identity of the man who fucked you, but your body knows the truth.” Pushing me away, he wiped his mouth, removing me from his lips. His face held torture and torment, his eyes tight and lips thin.

My heart fluttered as I wafted my arms in the water, staying upright even though I wanted to sink to the bottom and never resurface.

What he’d just said.

What he’d just hinted...

Could it be true?

Fear prickled me even as sick joy melted my broken, stupid heart. “If you have the power to make a simple girl become an angel or mermaid or anything else a man desires...that means you can change him, too.”

He jolted.

Shutters slammed over his gaze.

He pushed off from the bottom, hovering as if he was a water demon, able to breathe in an aquatic dimension, about to return home after visiting poor mortals on earth.

Words tumbled from my mouth, determined to ask before he vanished. “Who did I sleep with last night, Sully?”

He gritted his teeth. “A guest.”

“Which one?”

“You don’t need to know.”

“I do. I do need to know.” I splashed my fists into the sea. “Was it you? Were you the one who fucked me?”

Please say yes.

Please say no.

God...what is happening to me!

He bared his teeth. “You would know if I ever fucked you. I told you you’d never be the same if I did.”

“I’m not the same...not after last night.”

“You’re still the same maddening, dangerous girl I can’t seem to stay away from.” Swimming backward, placing distance between us, he added in the darkest, rawest voice, “Euphoria is a blessing and a curse, Eleanor. You’re free to be whatever you want...but that freedom means you’re at the mercy of being used by your greatest enemy or dearest friend. You’ll never know. Never know who hides behind the illusion’s mask. Never see the man whose body thrusts into yours. Never see past what I want you to see. You only see what they pay for.”

Taking a deep breath, he turned and duck-dived under the surface.

I waited for a hundred skipping heartbeats for him to reappear.

But he never did.

I sank beneath the surface...

...and screamed.