“Never what? Fuck you? Hurt you?” I stepped into her until my shoe nudged her knee, threatening to crowbar her legs apart. “Never fall for you?”
She sucked in a breath, her voice turning into a squeak. “Fall for me?”
I froze.
Shit!
The smart thing would be to send her away. The only way to stay sane was to get rid of her. So why did the thought of never seeing her again do such monstrous things to me? Why had I flown thousands of miles with my goddamn heart bleeding out? Why did I stand here, trying to belittle and demean when I’d always been above such treatment?
I kept my girls in line without raising my voice. Without revealing my temper.
But her?
Jinx.
Goddamn Eleanor…she’d changed me, and I did not like who I’d become.
Her tongue licked her lips, her thoughts racing wildly in grey eyes. “Do you…eh…” She swallowed hard, goosebumps scattering all over her. She shifted as if afraid to ask, terrified to hear my answer. “Do you…feel it too?”
That question.
Shit, that question.
It hung between us, dangling on a fishing rod, waiting for me to take the bait and reel us together.
In five words, she’d hinted that she felt something for me. That I wasn’t alone in this madness. That she hated the hostile takeover of her heart just as much as I did. Perhaps we were allies in that, not enemies. If she felt a tenth of what I did, then it must kill her. Destroy her to want the man who’d paid money for her soul. Who looked upon her as everything he owned—disposable and finite.
My knees unlocked, breaking my frozen state and making me pace.
She kneeled there quietly, waiting.
Once again, I faced a fork in the road, giving me another chance to choose a different path. And yet again, I refused.
Forcing myself to stop in front of her, I crossed my arms. Threateningly, aggressively, all the while fighting the debilitating urge to shove her onto her back and climb inside her.
The sunburn only added another dimension to her. It made the hidden parts of me want to soothe her, heal her, be responsible for her happiness as well as her pain.
“If you feel something for me…why did you run?” I struggled to say such revealing things.
“I didn’t run.” She held my stare even though she trembled. “I waited for you in full view.”
“I’m not talking about this afternoon.” I ran a hand over my mouth. “And you waited for me to land because you knew you had no choice.”
“I did. I had a choice of you or death.” Her teeth bared, a spark replacing the sudden softness. “I chose you.”
I swallowed my snarl, but it still echoed in my voice. “Wrong decision.”
“Is it?” She cocked her head. “I’m not so sure.”
“All I’m sure about is you ran the moment my back was turned.”
“I had no choice.”
“Of course you had a fucking choice!”
Her eyes glossed with more tears, but she refused to let them fall. “I had to try, don’t you see? You talk of value. You speak of money. But what about the cost of my own self-worth?” She went to stand, but I clamped my hand on her shoulder, keeping her bowing before me.
She shivered at my touch.
My fingers blazed with biting, burning fire.
I let her go, shaking out the agony.
She shook her head, confusion and calamity ripe between us. “I couldn’t stay without at least attempting to escape. I could never have lived with myself—despite what I may or may not feel.”
I stood upright, crossing my arms. “And what do you feel?”
“I don’t know. What do you feel?”
“I’ve already told you.” My voice lowered with a growl. “All I feel is inconvenienced.”
“Liar,” she hissed.
“Be careful, Jinx. Be very fucking careful.”
“Just like you’re careful around me? I see two sides to you, Sully Sinclair. I know there’s something between us—”
“There is something between us. It’s called a fucking contract, and the fact that I bought you.” Punching myself in the chest, I snarled, “That’s it, Eleanor Grace. Don’t romanticise this situation. Don’t mistake my islands for a backdrop of some fairy-tale. You work for me. You belong to me. I will do what I please with you, when I please it. If I want you in my bed, I will have you in my bed. If I want you to serve my guests, then that is what you will do. That’s all that’ll ever be between us. Understand?”
She clenched her teeth, glaring at the grass cushioning her naked body. “I will never understand how you can treat animals with such kindness yet hurt your own kind with such contempt.”
“Oh, believe me.” I chuckled blackly. “That part is easy.”
“None of this is easy!” She swiped at a lonely, glittering tear. “Why can’t you admit that—”
“I admit that I’ve been moronic when it comes to you. But this, whatever this is, ends. Right here. Right now. Accept that I will never treat you any different. Accept that whatever exists between us is over. I own you. That is the extent of our connection.”