I’d planned on heading to Sully’s office, to confront him, to demand to know if he was going to sell me or keep me. Either way, I needed to know so I could somehow find a way to accept my future.
But as I’d neared the fork leading to his workspace, he suddenly appeared, stalking with balled hands and rumpled shirt in the opposite direction. His hair was wild, his eyes blue fury, his blazer missing to reveal a white shirt slightly translucent with sweat.
Apart from yesterday with elixir running in his veins, I’d never seen him so unkempt, so volatile.
Pika shot after him a second later, a little tornado on grass-coloured wings.
Something commanded I stay silent and not call out. Instead, I followed him quietly, chasing his quick storm, hearing the faint rumble of his anger in the cloudless sky, until we reached the main beach.
Skittles appeared from wherever she’d been, flitting beside me like a moth searching for moonlight. I smiled at her, hanging back and choosing to voyeur from my protective bush as Sully continued his stalk to the podium overlooking the helipad. The same throne where he’d stood and welcomed me that first day.
Shoving his hands into his navy slacks pockets, he kept his eyes trained on the helicopter, his brow furrowed, his jaw set tight.
A few moments later, Roy Slater appeared from the laneway leading to guest accommodations, his shoulders slouched and a pissed-off expression on his handsome older face.
The second he appeared, Sully jolted as if he physically held himself back from launching from his royal ledge and smiting the poor guest into dust.
Roy looked around, flinching as Cal appeared and gestured cordially at the helicopter. As the two men headed down the jetty, Cal glanced up at Sully who vibrated above like a demon that’d clawed its way through the tapestry of earth and mythology.
Darkness surrounded him. Lust for death evident in the way the sun almost refused to touch him. Sully’s entire attention locked on Roy as he and Cal shared a few words before he climbed reluctantly into the helicopter.
My heart leapt.
He’s leaving…alone.
My joy didn’t have time to unfurl and figure out what this all meant before a merciless hand grabbed my long hair and dragged me backward. Skittles squawked and shot into the sky.
I went to scream, but a dainty hand clamped over my mouth.
What the—
I fought as the fight and flight instinct drowned my system, but Calico and Neptune were stronger. As one, they trapped me and hustled me away from the sun-drenched beach, pulling me deeper into the shady lane and into the lush jungle hiding us from view, away from Sully’s dominion, away from his protection.
I tripped as they shoved me against a palm tree. The rigid bark bit into my spine, snagging on my hair. A flash of being pressed up against a similar tree yesterday came and went. Yesterday, all I’d felt was pleasure as Sully filled me, even as lacerations coaxed blood from my cheek. Today, all I felt was fear and a quickly burning hate.
Jupiter appeared from behind the palm tree, waiting for Neptune to feed my wrists to her, effectively becoming human handcuffs so I couldn’t wriggle free.
The moment I was prone, the goddesses grinned with victory. Calico ran a hand through her sleek black hair, her lips twisting in spite. Her dress of sultry burgundy once again set off her ebony skin, making her glow with otherworldly beauty. “Well, well, if it isn’t the Plain-Jane who fucked the emperor of sin.”
I shivered as Jupiter’s nails dug into my wrists, and she hissed into my ear, “Little slut.”
Neptune kept her hand planted over my mouth so I couldn’t call for help, all while Calico ran her finger along my scratched cheek—a lover’s caress filled with the threat of destruction. “I saw you, you know. I watched him shove you against a tree and fuck you as if he’d rather die than not have you.” Her touch slipped to my throat, tracing the bruised fingerprints of Sully’s consuming lust. “I heard you both, grunting like animals.” She traced the bite marks imprinted in my skin. “I watched him throttle you all while he drove that long, thick dick inside you.” Her hand suddenly lost its lazy petting and shot between my legs. “That dick doesn’t belong to you, bitch.”
I winced and moaned behind Neptune’s hand as Calico cupped my sore and swollen sex. “How many times did he use this, huh? Are you so greedy to drain him dry for the rest of us?”
I tried to shake my head as she deliberately hurt me. A vicious grip that bruised already bruised flesh.
Neptune grabbed my throat while Calico continued to cup me indecently. The skirts of my dress offered no protection, loose and floaty with summery joy. I gulped as female fingers tried to follow the shadows of where a male touch had been. “Did you like it, plain Jinx? Did you like it when he pile-drove you into the sand?”