Chapter Five

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YESTERDAY WAS MY LAST day of acting like a goddamn idiot.

I didn’t appreciate nor accept the threads of softness Eleanor cursed me with. I’d had enough of battling my thoughts, losing against my rules, and overall being a fucking moron.

I’m done.

She was just a girl.

A high-class commodity.

Nothing more.

After my swim, I’d buried myself in work, scaled Nirvana thanks to the excess energy I had after visiting Jinx, then forced myself to stay in my villa all night.

In bed.

Hard as a fucking rock.

I didn’t allow myself to skulk through the shadows, to enter a certain goddess’s room, to pin her down and force her to take my cock after she’d taken so much dick the night before.

I reminded myself of what Cal had been so adamant I recall. Why I didn’t do humans. Why I would never do her. And why I’d made such strict laws.

The highlight reel of my past left me sick to my stomach and a little afraid of what I was capable of when pushed to my limits.

It didn’t matter that it was me pushing myself to those limits—Eleanor would be the one to pay if I allowed myself to feel anything else for her.

The truth was...I would kill her. Not maliciously, probably not even intentionally, but I tended to act irrationally when forced to endure things I wasn’t equipped with. And...alone in the dark, with my thoughts thick with blood and history, I admitted I wasn’t equipped to deal with her.

Therefore, all interaction and communication had to cease.

For her own safety...and for mine.

The only human relationships I wanted were those bound by NDAs, huge sums of money, and an expiration date.

Cal was the one exception.

As the sun rose and dawn brightened to noon, I strode from my office. My inbox had been dealt with, a small issue with some new lab equipment resolved, and an online conference call with my head scientist completed. Thanks to the internet, I no longer had to physically be in many places. Only a few instances required my personal attention and I loathed those requests.

My islands had become a sanctuary I hadn’t been aware I needed, and when the outside world intruded, dragging me back into smog-filled cities jam-packed with self-centred, apathetic bastards, I struggled to keep my temper in check.

I’d probably done the wrong thing by cloistering myself away in paradise, creating my own personal Zion, pretending I’d achieved the impossible and eradicated the plague of mankind. These days, if I entered the main vein of population, I couldn’t focus on the tiny snippets of good, only on the mountains of disease and screw-ups that society had piled into shit mountains.

Not for the first time, I was tempted to create a drug that would eradicate the problems we’d caused...by eradicating us. But that would make my life’s work highly hypocritical.

I owned a company whose entire purpose was pharmaceuticals—both external and internal medicines—to extend the longevity of the people I couldn’t stand. I donated millions to cancer research and didn’t hide my breakthroughs—delivering my successes at affordable prices, despite the death threats from men who traded in fatality.

Before I’d started selling flesh and fantasy, I’d whored myself out for the masses, draining myself for humanity that no longer remembered what that word meant.

Striding down the sandy pathway, I raked hands through my hair, smoothed my navy pinstripe suit, and buttoned my hand-cut blazer.

Enough dwelling in the past.

I had a good balance in my life these days. I would keep it that way. And besides, talking of relationships with expiry dates...it was time to say farewell to Markus Grammer.

Gritting my teeth, I ignored the acid wash down my throat, splashing corrosive in my belly. Just once, I’d like to revoke my policy to greet and goodbye each guest, but part of me needed to see him gone. To be sure he no longer had access to what was mine.

Thinking of the devil must’ve conjured him as he appeared before me, turning off the fork in the path which led to his private villa. His luggage would’ve already been taken to the helicopter. His khaki messenger bag nudged against freshly pressed jeans, swinging with his every step. The shade of his baby blue polo highlighted the tan he’d earned while staying here. He still looked a little drained from being in Euphoria, but the swagger in his body said he’d never forget the week he’d spent on Goddess Isles.

Too bad for him he couldn’t regale his office buddies with stories of what went on here, unless he wanted the iron-clad NDA I made him sign to bite him with serious fangs in the ass.

I cleared my throat, preparing to put on my mask of suave and polished. He heard me, turning to look over his shoulder. He stopped immediately, a huge shit-eating grin on his face. “Sullivan.”

Fighting the urge to throttle him, I kept walking until I caught up beside him. Slipping both hands into my pockets, I nodded politely, all while wanting to murder him. “Mr. Grammer.”

He slung his messenger bag up higher, matching my pace toward the beach and helipad. “Wow, man. Fuck, I had no idea.” He wiped his mouth, letting his head loll back in memory of the fuck-fest he enjoyed at my expense. “You’re a god. Truly. I thought you were some smug bastard when I first arrived, but after Euphoria?” He waved his arms in dramatic surrender. “You, sir, are a fucking genius.”

My teeth threatened to crack, but I smiled and bowed my head graciously. “I’m glad you approve.”

“Approve?” He whistled under his breath. “Approve doesn’t come close. That girl...Jinx? God, I’ve never felt anything like that. With anyone. She was exactly like you said.” His eyes glazed with memory. “She was gagging for it. She wasn’t shy or ashamed. She basically slurped up everything I gave her and then got on her knees for more.”

I grinned, locking down every inch of violence inside me. On the outside, I was perfect. On the inside, I was chaos. “And how did you find your stamina compared to a goddess high on elixir?”

“Yeah.” He whistled again, low and long. “You were right, that one night is enough. I can’t remember the last time I had so many releases in one go. Maybe when I was sixteen, I could come multiple times, but that was a long time ago.” He chuckled, nudging my shoulder with his. “But with Jinx? I’m glad you don’t give that elixir stuff to the men...I honestly didn’t need it. Seeing how fucking drenched she was? How much she shivered when I touched her? How she came from my voice alone? That’s some serious magic right there.”

He laughed, mocking himself a little. “I mean, I’ve been told I’m okay in the sack, but I’ve never had some girl cream herself just from my talking to her...you know?”

My hands balled in my pockets, threatening to break the seams of my expensively tailored clothes. “Their inhibitions no longer tamper in their pleasure with elixir. Just as people are capable of climaxing in their dreams from no stimulation other than their brains, they are capable of coming from an array of stimulus when they’re stripped to nothing but heat.”

“Yeah, you can say that again.”

No, you bastard. I won’t. I want you gone. Immediately.

“Well, I hope you enjoyed your stay, Mr. Grammer. That you feel rejuvenated to return to your everyday world.” I slipped silver-lensed aviators from my breast pocket and shielded my eyes as we broke the shadows of the palm tree and orchid lined laneway, stepping out onto the sun-drenched beach.

I needed to leave before I killed a guest. I hadn’t been driven to that extreme yet, but today...well, it was highly probable I’d snap if I had to hear another goddamn thing about him screwing Jinx.

“How did you get my fantasy so perfect by the way? All I told you was that I liked that era. That I wanted a woman who was more animal and feral than the girls today.”

With a hard sigh, I turned to face him, struggling to rip my gaze from the sea while trying to find my centre of calm. The turquoise expanse had a small ripple with occasional white-cap, courtesy of the stronger humid breeze.

The helicopter waited on its pad, surrounded by black basalt, its heavy blades sagging around the sleek machine. Two pilots chatted in the air-conditioned cockpit, waiting to act as a taxi service. Markus would be in for a rough ride, judging by the wind.

And that made me ridiculously pleased.

Turbulence in an airplane was one thing. Turbulence in a chopper felt like you were moments away from becoming shark food. And who knew, maybe he’d crash and the sea that protected my investments would swallow him whole.

Good fucking riddance.

“So? Can you tell me how you created something that’s ruined me forever?” He placed his own Ray-Bans with smoky, auburn lenses on his nose.

I crossed my arms, hating the quake in my muscles. “You mentioned you liked Conan the Barbarian, Alpha, Cavemen, and other prehistoric movies in your dossier. You wanted a woman spread-eagled and tied down with a fire roaring, meat roasting, and furs from your kills at your feet. Are you forgetting that you wrote down what you regularly jerk off to? That you picture a woman, smudged with dirt, tangled hair, wild eyes, a body desperate to be mounted?” I angled my head, my hair tumbling a little over my forehead. “Did I not deliver?”

He nodded quickly. “Hell, yeah, you delivered. I just wanted to know how you could load a computer program that made it seem so real.”

“Tricks of the trade. Island secrets, I’m afraid.” My smile felt stretched and fake. Time to end this charade. Raising my arm, I pointed at the helicopter. “It’s been a pleasure hosting you, Mr. Grammer. I wish you a safe journey—”

“Wait.” He fumbled with the flap of his messenger bag. His hand dived into the depths, digging past a laptop and paperwork, and reappeared with a black box.

A box I was highly familiar with.

Ah, fuck.

He wasn’t the first guest to do this, and he wouldn’t be the last. But the fact it was for her? For Eleanor...

Yeah, it made my heart do lawless things like hurt. It also made my arms bunch to rip his head off.

Caressing the box, he looked at it with a starry, puppy-love gaze. Clearing his throat, he asked, “Can I see her? Before I go? I want to...I want to tell her that I’ll never forget her. That she’ll always be a goddess to me...the best experience of my life.”

My jaw ached as I once again clenched too hard. “Seeing her again isn’t possible.”

“But surely I can give her this? Tell her that in one night I fell hard. That a part of me will always be in love with her.”

“I’m sorry.” I shook my head. “It’s a regular occurrence to fall in love with your fantasy. After all...it’s your fantasy. The pinnacle of your idea of perfection. But that girl you fucked is not real. She’s a figment of your imagination and must remain there.” I bowed stiffly. “Now, if you’ll excuse me. I really—”

“She is real. Her name is Jinx, and I would really appreciate if you’d let me—”

“Stop.” My temper slipped through my leash. My face tightened with a darkness I couldn’t see on myself, but it gleamed in Markus’s reflecting sunglasses. It sketched me with savagery. “Not possible.”

He opened his mouth to argue, but the soft hiss of sand from my shoe as I stepped toward him shut up his foolish request.

Backing up, he tossed me the box instead. “You give it to her then, on my behalf. That’s the least you can do. Call it a tip.” He bared his teeth. “I don’t know what you pay those girls, but I doubt it’s enough. Not after the connection we shared.”

My fist curled around the box. “I think it’s time you return to reality, Mr. Grammer.” Snapping my fingers, I smiled coldly as Cal stepped from the dense foliage. I’d felt his presence a few moments ago, tolerated the vibration of my cell phone in my pocket that buzzed with his code, alerting me to his closeness.

I hadn’t intentionally set out to train Cal to serve my every whim. I didn’t berate him into anticipating my needs. He just did it automatically. Sometimes staying within his boundaries, sometimes overstepping them. Most of the time, fully justified for his reactions.

Turning to face him as he stalked toward us, I muttered, “Kindly escort Mr. Grammer to his ride. I have other things that require my attention.”

“It would be my pleasure.” Cal smiled, sharp teeth and crocodilian grin. He could be kind and courteous, but he could also be ruthless and cold. “This way, Mr. Grammer.”

Markus pointed at the box in my hand. “Please...just give it to her. It would mean a lot to know she received something from me.” Hoisting up his messenger bag, he gave me one last look and held out his hand to shake. “Thanks, Sullivan. For sharing the sorcery that you wield.”

I didn’t shake his hand. “Goodbye, Mr. Grammer.”

Stalking away, I trusted Cal to kick him from my shores. My glossy Italian leather shoes glided through sand as I traded sunshine for shadow and ripped open the box the moment I was alone.

Nestled inside was a Hawk diamond.

A ridiculously expensive two-carat flawless stone.

Many of my guests purchased a diamond for themselves—a memento for the time they spent here. However, many purchased a second stone...for the goddess they traded their hearts to. Women they’d never see again. A conquest who’d already forgotten about them.

Jethro Hawk earned a hefty commission from me and my regular sales of his priceless gems.

Snapping the box shut, I fisted it.

Should I give it to her or not?

That was the million-dollar question.

I didn’t have an answer as I stormed deeper into the soul of my island.