Chapter Twenty-Three

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“WHERE ARE WE GOING?” I padded beside Sully, bare feet in warm sand, my cotton dress thrown back over my well-fucked body, the remains of our lovemaking trickling down my leg.

My skin begged for the ocean.

Afternoon had replaced the morning, and the humidity level had exceeded comfortable. The sun managed to sear my skin even with the canopy of palm trees above us and the overall brightness of the island promised a scorcher of a day.

The only place to survive the intense heat would be to wallow in the sea, occasionally returning to shore for an ice-cold glass of fresh lychee juice.

I tugged Sully’s hand that’d permanently snagged mine. Our fingers entwined and palms glued together, neither of us caring that a slick of sweat blended us together. “Do you want to swim? I’m hot.”

He chuckled, bringing my hand to his mouth and kissing my knuckles, never breaking his pace. His thick five o’clock shadow tickled my skin while his lips were so soft. “You’ve read my mind.”

I frowned, doing my best not to be distracted by how much I still wanted him. How much I danced on air. How crazy all of this was.

What he’d done in Euphoria was unforgivable.

But what he’d said and done after was unbelievable.

Both incidents cancelled each other out. Hate plaiting with love, proving that both had to survive to make a relationship real. To ensure trust could blossom because I’d seen his bad parts, I’d endured his temper, cruelty, and darkness. His flaws were visible to me, and that allowed my heart to make an informed decision.

He wasn’t perfect.

But neither am I.

Our beginning wasn’t a cutesy story we could share over dinner because it began in the blackness where Sully had dwelled for so long. However, I wouldn’t trade it for the world because meeting him this way was ten times better than meeting someone at a bar or on a train or at a friend’s barbecue, only seeing what they wanted me to see. Asking me to base my choice on their rendition of who they are...not the nucleus of their truth.

There were many things about Sully I might never accept. I didn’t know how I felt living in paradise, all while he asked traffickers to deliver more women like me to his door. I couldn’t be selfish and ignore others’ plights, just because my own had taken a turn for the better.

But I also didn’t want to be a martyr and throw away what I’d found.

I wanted to keep him and save him.

Save them.

Save myself.

Because, as incredible as this revelation was—as much as my heart had sprouted little parrot wings and hovered with a mass of hummingbirds in my chest, I was still his prisoner. I was still his ward with no freedom to contact my family or go home.

Not that I want to go home...yet.

Leaving now would be the worst possible thing. This was too new. Too fragile. We’d fought against the inevitability of falling in love, but our journey wasn’t over.

I doubted any relationship ever reached a point where either party didn’t stop fighting to keep the other. After all, a relationship was inherently selfish. Selfish to continue feeling this way. Selfish to keep your lover close. Selfish not to share the happiness that you’d found with each other.

Love could potentially be the best thing that’d ever happened to Sully and me...or it could be the worst disaster we’d ever have to live through.

Sully continued to escort me down a jungle pathway, going farther and farther away from the beaches ringing his island. I squeezed his fingers gently. “If we’re going for a swim, the ocean is back that way.”

He looked down at me, his height another thing I loved about him. I found it intimidating and protecting at the same time. “Who said anything about swimming in the ocean?”

I doubted he wanted to swim at the private pool for his goddesses. We didn’t exactly want an audience after we’d stripped away our shields and let each other in. I didn’t want to see anyone. I wanted him all to myself so I could stare into his beautiful blue eyes and see what he’d confessed to me.

To assure myself I hadn’t dreamed it.

To convince myself this was real.

He loved me.

He’d told me without a mask on. He’d removed my sensors and destroyed the illusion until all that existed was us.

And he did it for me.

I wanted to hug him. To squish him close and never let go.

“Stop.” I pulled on his hand, slowing him to a halt. The sandy laneway protected us from others. A few peals of masculine laughter sounded in the distance along with the raised flirty voice of a woman. The island had an uncanny ability at hiding its inhabitants, making it seem as if we were the only ones here...until I listened closely.

How many goddesses did he have exactly?

How many guests stayed here at any one time?

“What’s wrong?” His eyes tightened, assessing me from head to toe. “Are your feet burning? Need me to carry you?” His lips twitched with a smug smirk. “I don’t mind carting you into the jungle. However, I can’t promise you won’t be fucked at some point along the way.” He ducked, nuzzling his nose into my neck and biting me gently. “It’s almost impossible to walk beside you and not press you against a palm tree to sink inside you.” Gathering me against his body, he pressed his erection against my belly. “I’m in fucking torture, Jinx. Last time I was this hard, you’d snuck elixir into my drink. This time...it’s because you’ve gifted me your heart.”

I shivered as he licked his way up my throat, tasting the salt on my skin and drinking up my tattered sigh. “Why did you tell me to stop?” he murmured, his tongue tracing my collarbone.

My core clenched. No underwear meant the wetness he conjured mingled with our already shared pleasure, making the insides of my thighs sticky. I really wanted to swim. I needed to be clean. So we could repeat everything all over again.

My mind went blank as he squeezed my breast, fingering my nipple and biting hard on the crux of my shoulder and neck.

“I...” I swallowed hard, doing my best to wrangle my sex-scattered thoughts into some sort of orderly fashion.

Sully pulled away, his eyebrows tugged low, searching my face as if the reason I’d pulled him to a halt was a bad one. That I’d woken up from whatever fugue he’d put me in and expected me to admit this was wrong. To announce that he wasn’t the man I wanted, after all.

The mix of fear and fury in his eyes punctured my heart.

Swooping up on my toes, I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him. Hard. Our lips bruised and tongues instantly sought each other’s.

Mouths open, DNA exchanged, slippery and sexy with hunger.

He groaned, crushing me in his arms as our kiss deepened until I forgot about the need to swim and begged for him to pluck me from my feet and do what he’d threatened: to push me against a tree and fuck me.

“Christ, Eleanor.” He growled as I dropped my hand and fisted his straining erection. He quaked in my hold, his hips shooting forward, pressing more of his hardness into my control.

He wasn’t lying.

He felt like a piece of scorching steel.

His mouth captured mine again, faster and deeper, determined to kill me with lust.

I pumped him all while his hand skated down my belly and cupped me through my dress. My body instantly reacted. My clit swollen and needy. My inner muscles desperate to come again.

All it would take was to spread my legs and unzip him.

But...he’d already taken me on a pathway. He’d had me on my knees and on my back and screaming out for mercy. Elixir had been the primary driving force for our first violent sexscapades.

But this afternoon...I wanted more.

Dropping my hand from his cock, I gently pushed his touch away from my pussy and plastered myself against him. My arms linked tight around his waist while I pressed my cheek over his heart and listened to the rampant chugging of his pulse.

He froze.

His back stiffened and muscles locked. “What are you—”

“I’m hugging you.” I squeezed him harder. “I stopped you because I wanted to hug you.”

He remained unyielding in my hold.

It took forever.

A painful forever that spoke so much of his past that he didn’t relax straight away. His body continued to hum with power that could switch to violence at any moment, almost as if a hug always came with consequences he had no strength to face.

Finally, a heart-breaking groan slipped from his lips as his spine went lax and his arms wrapped around me, squeezing me so damn tight.

He kissed the top of my head, all while squashing me into him. A hug that ought to be soft and sensual vibrated with savage severity. He hugged me as if I’d vanish at any moment.

My bones ached as we stayed clinging to each other, hidden by foliage and ferns, feeling things so awfully intense it crippled us from the inside out.

I’d never felt this way.

Ever.

About anyone.

I’d never been borderline tears just because he was alive. Never jealous of fictitious events that would take him away from me. Never afraid of losing this priceless treasure of togetherness.

The soft flutter of feathers announced we were no longer alone.

Pika landed on Sully’s head, and Skittles took up position on my shoulder. Two winged creatures who seemed unsurprised that we’d morphed into one person.

Sully chuckled in my ear as Pika squeaked and fossicked around in Sully’s strands. Skittles had more decorum, giving us space to finish our hug in relative peace.

Sully was the one to break our brutal connection. With a rough cough, he cleared his throat and pulled away from me. Our hands linked once again, neither of us wanting to cease total contact.

Laughing under his breath, Sully went cross-eyed looking at Pika as the green fiend hung upside down from his hair, nipping and chirping at Sully’s nose. “Fuck, you’re a rascal.” He laughed again as Pika continued his rumbustious chatter, almost as if he was jealous and scolded his master, demanding equal attention.

Sharing Sully with other people made me envious. Sharing him with Pika made me swoon.

“He’s very possessive of you,” I said, laughing as Pika pecked Sully’s forehead before scrambling his way back on top of his head.

“He always has been.” Sully grinned. “But he’s worse now that I’ve fallen for you.”

I reached to stroke Pika’s tiny cheek. The little parrot eyeballed my fingers as if contemplating biting me or accepting my olive branch. “I won’t take him from you, Pika.”

He squawked.

Sully murmured, “Don’t lie to him, Jinx. He’s a flying lie detector.”

“I’m not lying.” I dropped my hand. “I would never take you from him.”

“You already did.”

“No.” I shook my head. “I’m happy to share.”

“I’m not.” Sully ducked and kissed me. “You’re all mine, Eleanor Grace.”

“I think Skittles might have something to say about that.” I blushed as my own adoptee twittered like a disgruntled neighbour offended by displays of public affection.

I scratched under her chin, still awed by the soft plumage of her outer feathers compared to the stiff quills beneath.

Sully’s expression darkened a little. “She was my downfall. Watching her trust you. Watching her choose you over anyone.” He shrugged. “I didn’t stand a goddamn chance after that.”

I blushed again as Skittles tweeted softly, scooting her feathered warm body against my neck and puffing up in contentment. “I’m just lucky.”

“No.” Sully placed his knuckles under my chin, forcing me to look up. “She’s just a good judge of character.”

Electricity crackled. Power ignited. No matter how many times we touched or kissed or fucked, the raw velocity between us never faded. If anything...it grew stronger each time. So strong my entire body tingled with micro-lightning bolts.

Dropping his hand, he pulled me into a walk. “Come on. Let’s go for a swim.”

I fell into step with him, smiling. “We’re going to Nirvana, aren’t we?”

He nodded. “The one place where I can guarantee we’ll be alone.” Throwing me a sly smirk, he added, “We need somewhere no one will hear us because if you think I’ve had my fill of you, Jinx, you’re sadly fucking mistaken.”