Jealousy swallowed hard and padded toward the cupboards hiding the trolleys stocked with sensors and reality distorters. Sully groaned under his breath as she wheeled one toward me and flicked me an unreadable look.
What the hell is she doing?
“Jinx…” Her voice cracked, but she arched her chin and cleared her throat. “Can you remove your dress…please?”
Sully snarled, “For fuck’s sake—”
“Quiet, unless you want another hole in your leg,” Drake yelled. He waved his hand at Jealousy. “Continue. I like where this is going.”
I shuddered as Jealousy moved toward me, resting her hands on my shoulders and plucking at the straps of my dress. Her lips touched my ear; her whisper slipped into my being. “Please…just trust me.”
Whipping back, I narrowed my eyes. I needed to know what she had planned. What was her end goal? What did she think this would achieve other than Sully’s last life force on the floor?
Her hazel gaze held no secrets or sins as she stared at me with imploring need, risking herself so I would risk accepting her help.
Slowly, I nodded and gathered the hem of my dress. Without a word, I pulled it over my head. I had nothing on underneath. I’d left Sully’s shores in this dress. And I’d returned within it. Now, I stood naked in front of too many men and a woman I didn’t entirely have faith in.
Drake sucked in a breath. All the men did.
Sully growled, and my nipples pebbled with nervousness.
Jealousy didn’t pause. Grabbing the earbud box, she quickly adorned me with the hearing deceptors. Her hands quick and feminine compared to Sully’s possessive paws.
I bit my lip as she ran the scent stick under my nose, stuck fingerprint pads into place and struggled to be as gentle as she could placing lenses into my eyes.
Sully made a noise as I bent my head back, permitting her to obscure my vision and prepare my sight to see a different world than this one. At least these lenses weren’t tampered with. At least I still saw, if through an unwanted film.
Drake crossed his arms as he studied everything Jealousy did. A student learning a topic he wanted to excel at so he could steal every original idea and copyrighted magic from his brother.
I stiffened as Jealousy tipped oil into her palms and caught my gaze. With our eyes locked, she rubbed the silky liquid into my chest, over my breasts, along the planes of my stomach and then ducked to rub over my hips, thighs, and legs.
I couldn’t help it.
I glanced over at Sully, jolting on the spot as I caught his hungry stare.
Even with disaster surrounding us and monsters threatening to ruin us, he still cherished me. He still thirsted for me, wanted me, and couldn’t prevent his body’s obsession with mine. He bit his bottom lip, his stare touching me in intimate places, his presence preparing me for sex even though it wouldn’t be with him.
I hate this!
I hated that I had no way to stop this. I hated that a woman stroked my skin and not him. I hated that, unlike the other times I’d been inserted into a fantasy…this time, it wouldn’t be Sully. It wouldn’t be the man I loved hiding behind a mask and lies.
I couldn’t look anymore.
Dropping my stare, I balled my hands as Jealousy finished coating my back in oil, then dropped the empty bottle on the trolley and wiped her hands with a cloth. “She’s ready.”
“Not quite.” Drake smiled a wolfish, rabies-infected grin. “My turn.”
Jealousy huffed but obediently opened fresh boxes of supplies.
“Not you,” Drake sniffed. “Her.” Taking my hands, he placed my palms against this chest.
I shivered with revulsion.
“Undress me, Goddess Jinx.”
“Christ, stop!” Sully fought the three guards blocking him in a blast of power and fury.
For a second, he won. He stood and shoved two men to the ground.
But his victory was short-lived, paying for his outburst with heavy punches to his head and kicks to his already injured body. Falling back to his knees, he groaned as Drake pinned his nasty stare on me. “Undress me, or I shoot him.”
Jealousy murmured, “I’ll do it—”
“No, she will.” Drake let my hands go, cocking his head to see what I’d do.
Jealousy’s hiss mimicked the one snaking around my chest—sick frustration that men could dictate our existence. Inhaling hard, I kept my chin high even though my heart was one giant mess of gristle and grief.
“Don’t be a martyr, Eleanor,” Drake murmured. “Don’t think you can cause mischief and stop this. Do as I say, and everyone stays alive tonight.” Planting his hands on my naked waist, he smiled. “You’ll prefer me, I guarantee it.”
“Doubt it. I find you repulsive.”
His eye twitched beneath the perfectionism of Botox. “You’ll change your mind. Now, undress me. Otherwise, Sully can have a few fingers removed. For every delay you cause, he’ll lose an appendage. I need him alive…not intact.”