I laughed once. “You expect me to bow to you? To never answer back…even when you’re wrong. To never question your behaviour, even when it’s morally corrupt?”
“Yes. This is my island. You obey my laws.”
“And if I don’t?”
“Then I increase your contract from four a month to four a day.” He delivered the sentence with such coldness, it glittered with icicles.
I froze.
Four a day?
Four men in a single day?
I wanted to throw up.
My stomach actually clenched to evict my morning breakfast of mango and perfectly cooked nasi goreng.
Sully slipped his finger beneath my chin, raising my gaze to meet his. Before, the blue held streaks of animalistic desire. Now, they were clear with ruthlessness. “Respect me, and I’ll leave you alone.”
I arched my jaw away from his control, narrowing my eyes to slits. “How can I respect you when you trapped me here?”
“Find a way.” Clearing his throat, he commanded, “Now…I’ve failed in my welcoming duties. Instead of enlisting a member of my staff to show you around, I will personally ensure your orientation is complete.” His voice turned arctic. “After all, today is your last day on vacation. Tomorrow, you begin work as an official goddess.” Taking my hand, he jerked me from the villa, making me stumble beside him. “Might as well become familiar with your home before you enter Euphoria.”
I twisted my hand from his, rubbing at the prickles left behind from his touch. “What’s Euphoria?”
He grinned like the devil. “Euphoria?” He strode ahead, inserting hands into his slacks pockets and looking effortlessly suave. “Is where you’ll find true freedom. Your only freedom. Euphoria is the only place you’ll want to be…once you’ve tried it.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
I MADE A CHOICE.
Maybe not the right one, definitely not the easiest one, but one that would ensure Eleanor would stay alive, and I’d remain sane.
Soon, I would be able to relieve my needs with a girl who didn’t worm their way under my skin. But for now, I would wrap myself up in impenetrable self-control and conduct myself with the same detachment as I did all my goddesses.
For two hours, I escorted Jinx around my shores. I showed her the private swimming pool where the goddesses hung out during the day if they wished—away from the guests they’d fucked the night before and protected against any additional interactions that hadn’t been strictly paid for.
The girls never took their eyes off us as I walked her around the perimeter of the boulder-lined pool that looked like a giant pond with a waterfall cascading from the roof of a sala where loungers waited in the shade and a swim-up bar served any delicacy and hydration they required.
Not once did she speak to me.
Not once did I talk to her.
We explored the facilities and travelled the distance of my island without so much as a cough.
It didn’t mean the tension between us wasn’t rife with rage and frustration, but it was refreshing not to have to engage in a war each time I sought out her company.
By the time I’d shown her the spa where she could have a massage any time she wanted, revealed the air-conditioned gym just for the girls and the extensive library where computers could be used to order anything they wanted—books, clothes, vibrators—there was a thin veil of tolerance between us.
Jinx ran her fingers over the keyboard after I’d told her she could order whatever her heart desired. “There’s access to the internet here?”
I laughed once. “My generosity only goes so far.”
“So…that’s a no.”
“That’s a reminder that any social media surfing or messaging of family and friends will have to wait until you are no longer sheltered on my shores.”
She crossed her arms, her temper that I was fast becoming familiar with sparking in her gaze. “Four years is an eternity. Four years of no communication usually means a loved one has died and—”
“But you haven’t died.” I snagged a strand of her hair, unable to stop myself from stroking the silky weight. “You’ve just taken a little…detour.”
She tossed her head, removing her hair from my hold. Her lips thinned as she stewed with a reply. But, with immense control, she swallowed down her fury and moved away, glancing at the books with emotional detachment.
It pissed me off but also…cultivated annoying respect.
I might not offer internet to the girls, but I stood by my word that they received whatever they ordered. The monitored connection ran via my own outside line. I scanned their requests every night and approved them all with a single click, if appropriate, or denied if they weren’t.
The symbiotic relationship we had was provider and provided. I worked hard to ensure they had more than they ever had before. And they worked hard to ensure my business was the success it would always be.
We needed each other.