Once a Myth

As I touched my cheek with a trembling hand, my reflection mimicked me, but I didn’t recognise the woman staring back. Her skin glowed a golden hue instead of the permanent snow of white heritage. Her hair seemed longer, darker, coils and ropes protecting her back and shoulders. Her breasts seemed bigger, her limbs leaner, her stance like a warrior ready to battle.

But it was my eyes and mouth that betrayed me the most.

My eyes were wild but also surprising clear. Two grey crystal orbs full of bad omens and concerning premonitions. And my lips looked exactly what a vixen who served men would look like. Bright red, plump and bitten, thoroughly well used by a man who hadn’t been given permission.

I’d never been a superstitious girl. I’d always accepted facts and made conclusions based on reality, but standing there, with a parrot landing on my shoulder and a body I no longer recognised, I felt like a seer suffering some awful clairvoyance.

Sully Sinclair will change my life. My world. Me.

In so many more ways than I feared.

With a gulp and a shudder, I broke the trance between me and the mirror, squared my shoulders, and strode toward the door.

Chapter Thirty

THE DOOR OPENED.

A naked goddess stepped from the humid bathroom with her neck arched, her body braced, and a flitting little parrot flying beside her.

I had more than a visceral reaction.

I had a full anatomy incineration.

I didn’t know this girl.

We’d barely spoken.

Hardly touched.

Yet…fuck me.

She was different.

Different to anyone I’d ever met.

Only she made me act like a monster and a moron all at once. Only she made my pulse pound and sweat soak under my suit. Only she made me fucking rage at the weakness and sexual starvation she caused.

Why?

What made her special?

And most importantly…how did I fucking stop it?

I couldn’t speak as she padded toward me. Her jaw clenched and damp hair still releasing glistening droplets on the tips, allowing moisture to temptingly roll down her flawless skin.

Snapping my fingers, I backed away, guiding her toward the centre of the room.

Tearing her gaze from mine, she allowed curiosity to win, scanning the space, faster and faster as she noticed the pulleys and wires, the netting and strange contraptions.

To her credit, she didn’t try to hide her nakedness. She owned her flesh. She moved as if she wore a gown made of impenetrable silk.

Pika, the little traitor, remained by her side as she drank in the odd facilities. His little wings tucked up tight as he landed and stole the crook of her shoulder and neck as his new home.

It did things to me…seeing an animal I’d raised, loved, and told my every secret to glare at me from the care of another. It made me jealous that he’d accepted her when he was fussy on which people he liked. It pissed me off that he wasn’t as loyal as I believed.

And it made me angry…because what the fuck was I doing? What the fuck was I feeling? How the fuck did I stop?

“What is this place?” Her voice never rose above a whisper.

I swallowed the growl permanently living in my chest around her. “This is Euphoria.”

She looked at me, causing my cock to throb and heart to stop. “I don’t understand.”

Raising her hand, she waved at the equipment that looked better suited for a Cirque du Soleil troop rather than a sex destination. “Why do you have aerial harnesses? Wires? Pulleys?”

“A fantasy is a fantasy.” I shrugged as if it made total sense. “How can you fly if you’re stuck on the ground?”

Her forehead furrowed, unable to figure it out.

And she wouldn’t be able to.

Not until she’d experienced the essence of what I’d created.

The transformative power of this place.

She glanced at the bare tiles—sandstone for purchase with no carpets or rugs. “Where’s the bed?” She frowned. “You say this is where people come to…” She trailed off.

I finished for her. “My goddesses and guests come here to fuck. And they have the best experience of their lives.”

“But…” She frowned. “There’s nothing soft about this place.”

“Yet.” Snapping my fingers again, I clasped my hands behind my back as two staff members scuttled in. Two young men who kept their eyes averted from Jinx’s bareness and rushed to open the numerous cupboards bordering the room. Grabbing armfuls of furs, tawny and grey, white and speckled, they ran to us in the centre and tossed the armfuls at our feet.

Another trip and a pile of fur later, they vanished as seamlessly as they’d arrived.

I arched my chin at the scattered sea of furs and raised an eyebrow. “There is your softness.”

They were in keeping with Markus Grammer’s fantasy.

Props as it were.

She nudged a foxy looking pelt with her toe. “Fake, I presume?”

“Of course.” I nodded.

“But why? Why not linen and mattresses and the usual play dungeon that people expect in a whorehouse or club?”

I moved toward her.

She stepped back.

I advanced again, stepping onto the pile of plush fur. My sodden clothes stuck wetly to my overheated flesh.

This time, she didn’t move. Her stomach fluttered with breath, and she balled her hands as I touched her cheek. “Because that’s normality, Eleanor Grace, and I deal in myth.”

She flinched as I ran my thumb over her bottom lip.

Her breath caught.

And I almost broke my control again.

I bled with a need so vicious, I struggled to breathe.

I almost threw her to the floor of hides and fucked her.

But I wasn’t going to throw away everything I’d created. She’d stolen enough from me. She wouldn’t have anymore.

Backing away, I pressed a button on my phone.

A small whirring sound appeared as a fine wire attached to delicate harness descended from the ceiling. Catching it, I allowed one final study of her otherworldly beauty, then growled, “Come here. I’ll show you how Euphoria works.”

Chapter Thirty-One

 

I HESITATED.

I was off-balance from his kiss. I was confused by the bareness of the room. I was scared of what was about to happen.

“I won’t ask a second time.” His teeth flashed between shapely lips. His five o’clock shadow framed his mouth, narrowing all my attention there.

Against my will.

Against all common-sense.

Pika snuggled into my chin, rubbing me with his little head as a cat would their favourite person. He jolted me from my horrid fixation.

I swallowed hard and moved toward Sully.

Just the two of us.

No one else.

No Jealousy, no staff, no guests.

The aura between us hummed with anticipation. My heart collided with my ribs.

His jaw worked as I stopped in front of him.

He didn’t speak as he undid the small clasp of the harness then wrapped his arms around me, imprisoning the device around my waist. The webbing was soft but fortified. Strong and utterly tamperproof. Buckling it loosely around my hips, he brought two other pieces up and over my shoulders, positioning them between my breasts to cinch into the harness around my middle. With his teeth gritted, he bent and reached between my legs, bringing two remaining thin straps to loop around my inner thighs and attach to the centre buckle.