Closing my eyes, I sent a fervent plea to continue having strength and never forget who I was—so I didn’t turn into a clone of the girls teasing each other on the beach—then searched for a quiet way out of the bushes.
Ferns traced soft fronds along my naked arms as I backtracked. My feet welcomed the cushiony sand as I left the shadows and—
“Hey, Neptune…look.” The quick command of a tipsy goddess wrenched my head up. She sounded so eager, so awed.
“Is that….Ooh, my God. It is.” The brunette who I assumed was called Neptune shuddered dramatically. “Do you think he heard us?”
The dark-skinned girl smirked. “Doubt it. Unless he has sonar like a whale.”
“He spends enough time in the sea, who knows what talents he has.”
Neptune giggled. “With his flair for science, I wouldn’t put it past him to formulate a pill to give him gills or fins or—”
“The ability to fuck one of us on the ocean floor?”
“Calico, seriously.” The blonde flicked her a stern look. “Must you always be so crude?”
I raised an eyebrow at her sudden propriety, only to sigh in disgust as her stern look gave way to a lewd grin. “I bag the first sea sex!” She stabbed her forehead with her thumb, staking her claim. “I’ve never been with a merman.”
“And you won’t…because those don’t exist.” Neptune laughed.
“Hey, Sullivan is a myth all by himself, so he could be. I like mythical creatures.”
“God, you’re so annoying, Jupiter. I bag first with the man-mermaid!” Calico launched at her, spilling a glass of champagne and barely noticing a staff member as she dashed forward to refill.
“You know…if he can breathe underwater and we can’t, he’ll have to keep us alive while fucking us.” Jupiter swooned dramatically, ducking out of Calico’s reach. “His kiss wouldn’t just be erotic…it would be the only thing keeping us from dying.”
“God, you’re such a dreamer.” Calico smirked.
“Hush, both of you. He’s almost onshore.” Neptune pressed her finger to her lips. “Let’s not embarrass ourselves, ladies.”
The harem all nodded importantly.
Their giggles faded, but the lusty glow on their cheeks didn’t. As one, they turned to watch the figure silently prowling from the ocean. If eagerness could claim ownership over another and staring could force someone to do their bidding, Sully Sinclair would’ve been a slave to his very possessions the moment he appeared from his swim.
Lucky for him, the girls had no way of making him follow through with their fantasies and could only watch as water sluiced down a flawlessly masculine body, hunger for the impressive bulge between his legs, hidden demurely in black board-shorts, and lick their lips at the effortless power of flexing muscles, strong sinew, and the impressive aura of a man who knew he was above anyone.
Who was used to absolute control.
Goosebumps shot down my spine as he narrowed his eyes and stepped onto the shore, the sea reluctantly letting him go.
His beauty wasn’t fair.
It made a mockery of every other beautiful thing because it turned perfection into a sin. Prettiness was a weapon and a curse. In a woman’s case, it was mainly a curse. In Sully’s case, it was most definitely a weapon.
An annihilation.
Raking a hand through his sun bleach-tipped dark hair, he scattered another rainfall of droplets on his shoulders. He had no towel to wrap around his waist, no way of hiding how supremely toned his physique was.
The girls practically drooled in the sand, never ripping their eyes off him.
Sighing heavily, he stalked toward the treeline, nodding courteously at the goddesses. He didn’t speak, almost as if he had no tolerance or desire to torment.
However, that didn’t stop them.
The ebony girl, Calico, purred, “Well, if it isn’t the Emperor of Sin himself.”
Sully didn’t pause. His smile was polite but cool. “Goodnight, girls.” His long legs ate up sand, prowling closer toward me and the undergrowth.
A flickering tiki torch bathed him in golden flames, highlighting ridges and valleys of his chiselled belly.
“Sullivan…we were just talking about you.” Neptune sidled in front of him, stopping his journey, cocking her hip suggestively and licking her bottom lip. “Care to join us? We’re a few drinks ahead of you…but you could catch up.”
The sexual invitation was so rife in the humid air, I almost choked on it.
Sully shook his head warningly. “Maybe another time.”
“Maybe in Euphoria?” Jupiter fluttered her eyelashes, moving closer to him. “Is it true you’ve never sampled your own creation?”
His jaw worked as if he chewed on his temper. His eyes flickered to the darkness where I hid, almost as if he knew I was there.
He couldn’t, though…could he?
Tension rippled down his back as he diplomatically replied, “This business demands all work and no play from me. Euphoria is for you and our guests.”
“It could be for you too,” Neptune murmured. “All of us. Tonight.”