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I SAT IN BED, waiting for Needle to finish putting Kes and Emma to bed.
I’d attempted to help—we always did the bedtime routine together. However, I’d had to leave the final stages to Nila lately. Seeing as I couldn’t seem to say no when they begged for another story. And another. And another.
I could feel their joy at spending time with us. The recited adventures weren’t just stupid stories to them but true experiences they adored. They weren’t doing it to drag out bedtime; they literally wanted to keep hanging out with their parents.
And I was fucking honoured by that.
So, of course, how the hell could I say no?
Hence why Nila did the final kisses and the terribly hard job of turning out their lights, ensuring the glowing heart lamp was on to protect them from the ghosts of Hawksridge Hall, and leaving them to bicker in the soft pink darkness while she tiptoed back to me.
I looked up as Nila entered.
She grinned, shutting the door behind her.
Three days had passed since our attempt at being social with the masquerade. Three days for me to get over my exhaustion of listening to so many different people, opinions, and right and wrong in everyone.
Three days since Sully and Eleanor had left.
And Nila had been cagey today, ever since she’d read an email from Eleanor and downloaded something on her phone.
“Alright, out with it.” I glowered at my delicious wife as she kicked off her silken slippers and sat on her knees before me. Her dark hair hung in straight sheets, her chest rose and fell beneath her honey-coloured shirt.
Licking her lips, she sucked in a breath. “How are you feeling?”
“Me? Why? What’s that got to do with whatever you’re hiding?”
“I just want to know if you’ve recovered from the masq.”
That was the thing about living with someone who got me. Who understood and accepted me unconditionally. I didn’t need to hide, and that was the greatest fucking gift anyone could’ve given me.
This hall no longer had evil pouring through its brickwork. It had love and safety and utter happiness. Cut was gone. Daniel was rotting in Africa somewhere. Bonnie was ash. And Kes was regularly visited in his peaceful resting spot.
A lot of my family was dead, but those who deserved to stay alive were thriving.
Jasmine was happy.
My kids didn’t have a heinous debt hanging around their necks.
There would be no more Debt Inheritance or death between my house and Nila’s.
“I’m sufficiently revived. Why?” I took her hand, rubbing away the chill in her fingers. “What’s going on?”
“I...have something.”
“What something?”
“Eleanor gave it to me.”
“Gave you what precisely?”
“I had to wait until today to get the link for the app she mentioned, but it’s on my phone now. I’ve read her instructions. I know how to load Euphoria, and she’s kindly included a few VR scenes that are ready to go.”
I scowled. “What the hell is Euphoria. And VR?”
Nila shook in my hold, inhaling again. “It’s one of Sullivan’s creations.”
I let her go, reclining against the pillows. “Oh no. I’ve had enough of his creations, thank you very much. If it’s another drug, I’m not taking it. You, better than anyone, can understand why. Or are you forgetting what happened between us before the Third Debt?”
She shook her head, her eyes flashing with pain as they always did when reminded about our screwed-up past. “It’s not a drug. Well, it is, and it isn’t.”
“Not interested.”
She huffed and grabbed her phone, her legs splicing apart before slipping gracefully beneath her. Tapping the screen, she brought up an app with palm trees and an emblem that said: ‘Pleasure in Euphoria is euphoric’.
“This is an app that transports us to a different place. It’s obviously not real. It doesn’t literally transport us, but it’s like a computer program. We wear these—” Putting her phone down, she grabbed a small wooden box from her drawer and placed them on my lap. “Eye lenses and earbud sensors. A bit like when Vaughn plays PlayStation, you know? He wears the headset and headphones? He sees the game all around him. He’s immersed.”
Opening the box, I glanced at the typical small containers for eye lenses and the earbuds. “And you want to play a computer game?”
She blushed. “I want to play a game...with you.”
I tensed as a wash of her emotions caught me by surprise. My condition allowed me to eavesdrop on my wife. I knew when she was pissed at me for leaving my polo gear untended and dirty on our chaise lounge. I knew when she stared at me with love when I kissed and played with our children. And I knew when she wanted me. The hot warmth that spilled from her was full of need and invitation.
In a way, she couldn’t hide from me. She couldn’t lie if I’d annoyed her or pretend things were okay when they weren’t.
But now...
I couldn’t understand what she felt.
She was excited, nervous, intrigued, turned on.
Afraid.
I looked harder at the sensors she’d given me, trying to figure out what this meant. What had Sully created here?
“You want me, Needle. I can sense that. But I don’t understand the fear.”
She looked down at the white bedspread before forcing herself to meet my eyes and blurt everything. “You must’ve heard the rumours too. About Sully’s fantasy world that he’s using on his Rapture islands? That he can code any kink and insert a couple to do whatever they want? All we have to do is wear those lenses and earbuds, choose a fantasy and press this button.” She showed me on the phone, small icons of BDSM dungeons, office desks, kinky playrooms, and outdoor picnics revealed the nature of each erotic fantasy.
My cock twitched in interest. But before I could agree or disagree, Nila said, “There’s something else.”
My eyebrows shot up. “What exactly?”
She pulled a small stopper bottle from her back pocket. “This.”
I took it from her, inspecting the smoky glass, before unscrewing the lid to smell the contents.
It smelled vaguely sweet and flowery—like the exotic orchids growing in our greenhouses. “What is it?”
“Cinta. I think Eleanor told me it’s Indonesian for love.”
“So it is a drug.”
She nodded reluctantly, knowing my tangled relationship with drugs, doctors, and being called crazy.
In the past, I was crazy, and no one had a cure.
Now, I was sane and could balance my nature so I could function in the real world. I wouldn’t jeopardise that for fucking anything.
Screwing the bottle shut, I shoved it at her. “I’m happy to fuck you in whatever position you want. We’ll get the hounds and Wings and go for a run in the woods if that’s what you’re after. I will never say no to you, nor would I ever want to. But...I’m not taking any substance. Especially something that Sullivan has cooked. He’s too proficient at creating things that actually work, unlike the other big pharma with their useless promises.”
“This is different.” She rolled the bottle in her fingers. “It won’t change you. It doesn’t do a thing apart from work on what’s already between us.” Crawling on her hands and knees, she didn’t stop until she splayed her legs on either side of my hips and straddled me.
The instant her body heat came close, my instincts kicked in, and our lust that always infected us sprang into full attention. Grabbing her hips, I pushed her down, rocking her along my rapidly hardening cock.
Her eyes hooded, placing her hands on my shoulders and bending to kiss her way along my throat. “It’s an aphrodisiac.”
I chuckled darkly, thrusting my erection against the seam of her jeans. “Does it feel like I need an aphrodisiac? You are the only thing I need to get hard.”
“I know.” She writhed on me, making my head swim. “But I also know that you can’t fully be in your own thoughts. You feel me. You feel whoever is close by. Your thoughts are always stretched in so many directions through no fault of your own. And I want...” She licked her way up my neck, making me groan. “I want to give you a night where the only thing you think about is how much you want to fuck me.”
I jerked as her teeth sank around my ear. “Believe me, Nila, that’s all I’m thinking about right now.”
“No, it’s not.” She pulled back, her skin flushed and so fucking beautiful. “You’re thinking about Kes and Emma because I can still hear them bickering down the corridor. You’re keeping me safe by scanning the hall for trespassers and keeping your perception open. I know how hard the masquerade was for you. I know you’ve struggled to shed the thoughts of guests. I want you to just be you. To only have one voice inside your head.” Her lips landed on mine, kissing me hard.
I gave in to her, allowing her to dictate how deep, how fast. While she kissed me, I unbuttoned her shirt and shoved it down her arms. Her bra unclipped at the back, freeing her breasts and making my teeth ache to bite her nipples.
But then she was gone, leaving me hard and impatient. “Come back here.”
“Put these on first.” Holding out the lenses and earbuds, she cocked her head. “Come on, Kite. One night. Trust me.”
I paused, glaring at her hand and the outstretched sensors. I trusted her over everyone, but I also had no intention of ingesting a drug Sullivan had made.
I’d learned that the hard way.
Focusing on Nila, working past her wash of lust, I pickpocketed through her other emotions. I tried not to trespass on her thoughts too much. After all, being married to a man like me gave her no privacy whatsoever. However, she accepted who I was when she vowed her life to mine, and in this case, I had a right to rifle.
Once again, there was trepidation and excitement, but the fear had gone, drowned out by wet desire. She was telling the truth that she wanted me. A lot. And she wanted to be alone with me in a way we’d never been able to be before.
Coming closer, she touched my cheek softly. “It’s just something fun, Jet. Nothing more. I would never ask you to do something that could jeopardise everything we’ve worked so hard to build.” Her tone throbbed with honesty. Honesty that matched her fierce, affectionate ownership over me and my condition.
“I love you.” She bent to kiss me again.
And I couldn’t fight the swell of everlasting love.
I kissed her back, nodding slowly. “Okay, Needle. If it’s what you want.”
Pulling away, she stayed silent as she tipped my head back and carefully placed the eye lenses over my right and left eye. I blinked against the obstruction, regretting my approval as she attempted to put the buds in my ears.
“Here, let me.” I pushed her away gently, ensuring the buds were in correctly.
With slightly shaking hands, she placed eye lenses over her own pupils before brushing aside her hair and inserting the earbuds. When she was done, she looked at me as she had the first night I’d met her.
The night of her Milan fashion show. She’d been so nervous and eager to please. So innocent and fragile. And I’d snatched, stolen, and broken her.
Fuck.
Wrapping my hands in her hair, I jerked her into me, kissing her deeply. Pouring my well-worn apologies down her throat.
She kissed me back, her hands busy between us.
I was swept up in her tongue, carried away by the rapidly increasing passion between us that I didn’t sense what she was about to do until it was too late.
She pulled away for a fraction of a second and tipped her head back, squeezing a droplet of whatever liquid was in the stopper vial. She swallowed and added another, pressing her mouth to mine instantly, kissing me with the sugary, flowery drug.
She passed it to me.
It burned my tongue.
I pushed her away, cursing her. “What the hell did you just do? I agreed to the game, not the drug.”
“Trust me.” She shrugged out of her shirt and wriggled off me to remove her jeans and underwear. “I’m trying to give you a night of freedom.”
My heart pounded harder as she straddled me again, naked and ready in my arms.
My lust ignited with a thousand fires. She was so fucking beautiful, so perfect, so mine.
She’d pushed me into something I didn’t want but her intentions were pure and protective.
“You’ll pay for that.” Tugging her hair back, I kept her prone while I kissed her. “I’m already free when I’m with you. I don’t need anything else.” My other hand explored places of her that I knew by heart yet felt like the first time as I slid a finger inside her and felt her delicious heat.
She moaned and welcomed me to take more. “God, punish me all you want.”
“I have every intention of it.”
My control seemed to fade with every heartbeat.
Every second that ticked past, I fell a little more into her.
My cock grew harder.
My awareness narrowed until it revolved entirely around her.
The outside world was gone.
There were no more webs that I cast to listen to members of this household. No worry over my children. No history of what’d happened in this hall.
Just Nila.
And fuck, I wanted her.
So.
Fucking.
Much.
She gasped as I flipped her onto her back and laid between her spread legs. I scrambled to shove my pyjama bottoms down, desperation making me clumsy.
Nila moaned as I finally freed myself. My cock throbbing to fill her.
Unlike our previous connections, this time I wasn’t swayed by her desire for me. I couldn’t tap into what she was feeling because my own emotions were amplified.
Drenched and dark, my lust grew thick and loud in my skull.
What a novelty to only feel myself and not someone else.
What a fucking gift to be free from the constant noise.
I groaned and kissed her, pouring lust down her throat.
Her one hand scratched my back, locking on my ass and pulling me up and into her. We both grunted as we connected, thrust, joined.
I’d never ever get sick of being inside my wife.
Her back bowed as I shoved upward, filling her, taking her. My heart hammered, and I couldn’t get enough. I wanted to come now, but I also wanted to delay. I wanted this feeling of absolute obsession to last as long as it could.
Then again, I felt like I could come again and again. That I could come all night because that was how much I fucking lusted after this woman.
I was only vaguely aware of her other hand shooting across the bed and fisting her phone. Barely coherent under the wash of hot need as she breathed into my ear, “You’re free to just be you tonight, Kite. No distractions. Just us.”
She kissed me hard.
She pressed the button on her phone.
The world went white.
Hawksridge Hall disappeared.
Static hissing wiped away any memory of being an Empath.
And when colour and solidity returned, I blinked in an entirely new dimension.
Nila was beneath me.
My cock was firmly inside her.
She was just as beautiful as always.
Yet we were on a rooftop on a pile of Persian blankets, the sand-coloured dwellings and elaborate stained glass lights of Marrakesh strewn beneath us.
And for the first time in my godforsaken life, I didn’t feel another person. I didn’t sense their thoughts or pick up on opinions I didn’t want.
It was quiet inside.
Blissfully, incredibly quiet.
Absolute gratefulness filled me. Nila’s own desire for me trickled through the quietness. Her thoughts as familiar as my own, our lust mirroring pieces of each other. Our bodies were linked, but our minds were threaded on a level we’d never found before.
We were alone.
Just us.
And I was free to take her in every way possible.
Sucking in a breath, I pressed a kiss on Nila’s lips. “I could get used to this.” I kissed her harder, giving in to the serenity and pleasure she’d given me.
“Oh, God. Me too.” She arched her back, making me fill her deeper. “Let’s do this every night.”
I chuckled.
I rocked up.
I fell all over again.
We both smiled, knowing this would be an evening we’d never forget.
A night where the world fell apart, freedom was found in a virtual reality dimension, and a drug cooked by a friend gave me the greatest gift imaginable.
He gave me silence.
He gave me peace.
He gave me the chance to love my wife exactly as she deserved.
Thoroughly and wholeheartedly.
Forever.
* * * *
Thank you so much for reading Sully’s Fantasy.
If you haven’t met Nila and Jethro, their romance is complete and ready to read in the New York Times Bestselling Series, Indebted Series.
It wasn’t all happiness for those two. There were a lot of debts, pain, and betrayal. First book is FREE on all platforms.
Don’t forget there is one more Novella in Goddess Isles!
Jinx’s Fantasy releases 25th August and will feature cameos by Elder and Pim (Dollar Series). See the cover and blurb below.
Thanks again and have a wonderful week.
Pepper.
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