That was the baseline of respect.
I hoped, by the time the tour ended, Eleanor would understand that.
I followed her as she padded from the library, threw a disgruntled look at the two goddesses bobbing in the pool on two blown-up flamingos, and darted down a pathway into the shadows. The brightness from the pool area was instantly replaced with humid shade from palm fronds.
Even though her silence didn’t fool me that she’d accepted my truce, I relaxed a little. If anything it made me even more aware of her seething temper.
I constantly fought the almost undeniable urge to shove her against a palm tree and fuck her. But…I behaved, she behaved, and we proved we could exist without destroying the other.
“What’s down there?” she asked, keeping her voice low but unable to hide her stewing hate.
I looked to where she gazed. The pathway meandered off into deeper shadow, abruptly disappearing into thick jungle. “Nirvana.”
She raised an eyebrow sceptically. “Nirvana?”
“The name of the waterfall.”
“There’s a waterfall?”
Nodding, I said, “Twelve stories high. It crowns this entire island.”
I wondered if she noticed this was our first civil conversation. Discussing something as innocent as a natural phenomenon rather than cursing each other for the connection we didn’t want.
“How…how far is it?” She swallowed as if hating herself for even talking to me.
“Not far. Twenty-minute walk. Six-minute run.”
“Am I allowed to visit?”
“You are.” I slipped my hands into my pockets, refraining from snatching her hair again, dancing in the muggy breeze. “You can go anywhere you want, do whatever you please. As long as you look after yourself and show up for your weekly session in Euphoria, I have no qualms about you living a full and happy life.”
“No qualms, huh?” She snorted. “How about no decency?”
I stilled, doing my best to keep myself under strict control. “I don’t see a problem in ensuring your health and well-being.”
“No, you wouldn’t, would you?” She stalked ahead, hands balled and steps rigid.
Everything inside commanded I chase her, grab her, strip and fuck her. Instead, I rolled out the aching tension in my spine and reminded myself why I was playing this role. Why I’d boxed myself into the corner clearly labelled ‘celibate’.
No fucking until my personal recruit arrived.
And definitely no fucking Eleanor goddamn Grace.
Slowly, I followed, drinking in the sight of her ass peeking through her lacy kimono, marvelling at the leggy length and curvy handholds of her hips. The black bikini hiding her decency could be eradicated with one yank of the bows holding it together.
My mouth watered to make her come apart again. To have her beg me, worship me, rather than loathe me.
My ego wasn’t bruised, but my cock sure was. It wasn’t down with this denial of what it wanted. It didn’t believe in keeping pleasure and business separate. It wanted her. Fuck…I wanted her.
I wanted her so much I hadn’t slept last night. I wanted her enough to come up with this shitty, stupid plan to keep my distance.
Fuck it.
My stride lengthened. My heart pounded. I slipped a hand from my pocket, ready to fist it deep into her long hair, only for a girl to appear at the fork up ahead. A sexy little blonde with a matching barcode tattoo and sensual smirk upon her pretty face.
Two years she’d been in my stable, and for two years, she’d been a guest’s favourite. She’d transformed from a sobbing little heathen into a highly sexual, hugely popular goddess who regularly enticed guests back for a second stay. She was the only one who didn’t try to get into my pants each time she saw me. Instead, she preferred to lavish all her lust on the men who paid a fortune to lay their hands on her.
In short, she was the perfect role model for any freshly acquired goddess who struggled to accept her new place.
“Sullivan.” She smiled her minxy smile, looking deliberately past Eleanor and doing what she did best. I’d named her after the emotion she inevitably drew from all the other girls.
Jealousy.
She moved with effortless sexual freedom. She glided over my sand as if this was her island and not mine. She’d dedicated herself to being the best…and she was.
The other girls were jealous of her.
In fact…she suffered the same affliction Jinx had been cursed with, just because I couldn’t leave her the hell alone. Two outcasts from the main group of goddesses, just because they were different.
Eleanor stiffened as Jealousy swayed her hips and came toward us with a leisurely, sensual stroll.
Jealousy smiled invitingly at Eleanor, no animosity or curiosity, just welcoming acceptance to a place she wholeheartedly believed was utopia, then completely dismissed her as she slotted herself into my side and reached up to kiss my cheek.
I permitted the contact, purely because there was no ulterior motive. She was the rare commodity that was worth every penny I’d paid for her. She’d come from a shitty existence. An abusive family, raping uncles, and disbelieving parents. She’d run away, been snatched and sold, and found happiness in my captivity.