Third a Kiss

Her temper flickered a little. “What…what do you mean?”

“I mean I asked for them to find you. I gave them your description months ago. I’ve bought other girls since then. I forgot that I’d asked. I forced myself to forget that I sent traffickers an intimate description of someone who isn’t real. But then they found you. You. Were. Real. You were real enough for them to deliver you to me, and I fucking bought you, even knowing it was the biggest mistake of my fucking life.”

“But—” She shook her head. “How…how could you ask for me when we hadn’t even met?”

I ignored her question, continuing my rampage. “And then you arrived, and the moment your feet touched my shores, I knew this would fucking happen.” I sliced my hand through the air, pointing at her wounds. Wounds I’d caused. Wounds that made my throbbing cock twitch to cause more.

My teeth had punctured her throat. My cock had been balls deep inside her. My so-called love had tainted her with blood instead of beauty.

She deserved that pain.

Because it didn’t come close to the depth of mine.

“You and that haughty elegance. You and that impenetrable grace.” My voice turned into a blade, dripping with poison. I wanted her to hate me as much as I hated her. I wanted this to be an end between us.

Over.

Done.

I fucking refused to allow the emotions in my shredded heart to manifest any more than they already had, because I did not do well with love. I did not trust it. I didn’t trust anything. And most of all, I didn’t trust her. “But I did right by you. I kept myself leashed. I didn’t take you the moment I saw you. I didn’t fuck you on the beach the second you arrived. I didn’t confuse a fantasy with reality because you might look like her, but you aren’t her. You can never be her.”

“Not who?”

“I even went out of my goddamn way to protect you from me. Roy Slater offered the best deal any guest has for a goddess. And what did you do?” My nostrils flared as yet more fury exploded through my blood. “You gave me elixir. You stood there taunting me, instead of running. You let me put my hands on you, my cock in you, and my heart—” I clamped a hand over my mouth, shutting up my spew of honesty.

Breathing hard, I scratched my thickening beard and growled, “What were you hoping to achieve, huh? You just wanted a fuck? Euphoria turn you from frigid to constantly horny?” I laughed icily. “Well, I hope I delivered because I won’t apologise for the marks I’ve left on you. I won’t apologise for any other pain I caused. You caused this. Not me.”

I’m sorry.

So, so fucking sorry.

Grief had turned my anger into a toxic thing. I hadn’t woken up with the intention of yelling at her. If anything, I’d planned to be cordial—to ensure I hadn’t hurt her too much, that she was mentally sound after a day of being used by me while at the height of my lust, and then place her on the helicopter with Roy Slater.

We’d had our time.

We’d had each other.

We didn’t need to part with a fight.

I was giving her her freedom, for fuck’s sake, and instead, she stared at me as if I was betraying her in every possible way.

Slowly, she balled her hands and cocked her head. Delicate tangles of hair dribbled over her shoulders, caressing her finger-bruised breasts, bracketing her strangled throat.

I almost buckled to my fucking knees for what I’d done.

She’d not only given me her body yesterday, but she’d also brought me back to life…in so many brutal ways. She’d hauled from the waterfall; she’d pounded my heart until it beat again, and then successfully yanked the bloody, broken thing from my chest and taken it as a memento of our time together.

She didn’t steal it, you coward.

You’d already given it to her. Remember? The second she appeared in that gown. The moment you decided to keep her.

Fuck, my thoughts were scrambled. Lethargy filled with lechery, a concoction that didn’t allow sanity to be present.

“I suggest you sit down before you pass out.” Her voice remained smooth as perfect glass.

“I suggest you get the hell out of my villa.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I will.” She moved with sinuous grace, slipping one leg to the floor and standing upright. “But not before I say something.”

Naked. Both of us. Bruised and branded. Equal monsters in this war. Both too stubborn. Both too stupid to admit how easy it would be between us. How good. How real. How much it would destroy us when it went bad.

She licked her lips, pinning me to the spot. The room swam, my stomach growled for food, and my shattered self-control howled to snatch her. To hug her. To just breathe her in and believe in a simpler world.

But then she opened her mouth and smashed apart the very concept of simple.

“You say this was my fault, but I don’t agree.”

I flinched as if she’d slapped me. I tried to laugh, but it came out more like a choke. “You’re blaming this on me?”

“I am.” She nodded regally. “You admitted it yourself. You asked them to find me. You brought me here because you believed I could be the woman you dreamed about.”

I tripped backward, the room spinning faster, my lungs forgetting how to breathe.

“You fight against what exists between us because, for some reason, you’ve given up hope on your own happiness.” She strode toward me. “And I have to accept that, because who am I to be the one to make you happy?” Her lips sneered condescendingly. “I’m just a goddess to serve your guests. A whore to make you money.” Her hand landed on my chest, five fingers of pure venom.

I fought the urge to cough, the dregs of drowning yesterday finally hurting my ability to breathe. Lust sprang through my blood, deformed and delusional.

“But here’s the thing, Sully.” She stood on her tiptoes, bringing her lips to my ear. “I think we’re both to blame because I might have used elixir for us to sleep together yesterday…but—” Her voice cracked with worry, as if not entirely sure of the repercussions of what she was about to say. “But…that wasn’t our first time. Was it?”

In a single heartbeat, I captured her wrists in my hands, squeezing tight. “What did you say?”

She shivered with panic but forced herself to go on. “You were familiar. My body recognised yours.” Her eyelashes fluttered as she rushed, “You told me Euphoria hides who we truly sleep with. It could be our greatest enemy or our biggest love. Our minds are deceived but our bodies know the truth.”

I stopped breathing altogether.

“You were the caveman…that first time I was in Euphoria, weren’t you?”

I shoved her away from me, shaking out my hands and the constant chemistry from touching her.

Fuck.

Goddammit!

“Leave, Goddess Jinx. You’ve had all you’ll ever have from me.”

“You traded places with the guest…didn’t you? You fucked me in that cave. You were the one who—”

“Enough.” I forced a callous sneer on my face. “You’re accusing me of having such shitty self-control that I ignored a fully paid contract between my guest and my business just because I had a hard-on for a new, untrained goddess?”