“Maybe, but only because something inside you senses something inside him.” She reclined in her chair, still keeping her voice low. “You can’t help it if something’s going on between you two.” Flicking a glance at the other goddesses, she murmured, “You should’ve seen him when he came out of the bathroom. He looked as if he’d tear the room apart. I’ve never seen him that…hungry.”

I froze. “You saw him? After…after—”

He kissed me.

Do I dare say it?

Was it worth the risk or guaranteed suicide?

She waited for me to continue, her gaze steady and clear. She was either the best actress in the world, hiding her pettiness and envy, or she honestly had no feelings for our overseer.

“What happened in there?” Her question ached with secrecy, a sisterhood that made me weak and protected at the same time.

“I…he…” I licked my lips, trying to figure out how to tell her that a single kiss had shattered me, woken me up, and shoved me headfirst into the possibility that Sully might not just be a nightmarish part of my life that I had to endure but a fundamental piece to fix it. That in a single heartbeat, I’d felt more wanted, more devoured, more powerful than ever before. That something had happened past lust and longing…something that would not only destroy me but ruin Sully too.

“I don’t think we’ve been introduced.”

I wrenched my gaze from Jealousy’s, hating that our nucleus of confessions had been rudely popped. A girl from the beach the other night, Jupiter or Neptune, I couldn’t remember which, leered down, her hip cocked, her see-through kimono revealing a willowy, sexy body clad in a golden one piece that made her voluptuous attributes seem as if they were poured from priceless metal.

“Nep, this is Jinx.” Jealousy leaned back in her chair, a trace of irritation bracketing her mouth. “Jinx, this is Neptune, Jupiter, Calico, and Jewel.”

The four women who’d traded their table to loom over ours smiled thin, judgy grins. As four, they chanted, “Hello, Goddess Jinx.”

I nodded politely. “Hello.”

The chocolate-skinned one, Calico, came closer, eyeing me up. Her initial stare smouldered with aggression, but then a smug smile tugged her lips, her judgement slipping into manipulation.

She didn’t see me as a threat. Didn’t think little ole me with my long boring brown hair and colourless grey eyes could ever steal Sully’s attention.

And, in reality, she was right.

If Neptune was poured from gold, then Calico was carved from obsidian. Her skin glowed a rich, flawless ebony, welcoming the sun to make her gleam, only to absorb its rays rather than let it mar her. The stunning white bikini popped against her colouring; the amethyst sarong around her hips, tied in a knot and split up her thigh, made her a walking poster for illicit longing.

“So…you’ve had your introduction into Euphoria.” Calico ran a hand through her chin-length black hair. “How was it? Did you picture someone from your past or the master who bought you?”

Jealousy released a long-suffering sigh. “Girl, not everyone has the hots for Sinclair.”

“Only those who are blind.” Calico smiled tightly. “Or those who lower themselves to sweeping floors and cooking lunch. If you want to stay on as a pittance paid staff member, Jealousy, be my guest. But I plan on staying as an equal.”

“You know he doesn’t let anyone stay past four years.”

“I’ll be the first.” Calico’s shoulders braced. “You’ll see. I’ll make him change his mind.”

“Yeah, good luck with that.” Jealousy snorted under her breath, antagonising her with far more bravery than I had. “He’s not interested in you.” She scanned her gaze over the four stunning women caging us in. “He’s not interested in any of us.”

“How do you know?” The girl I hadn’t met, Jewel, with her chestnut red curls asked. Rake thin, she wore her green one-piece with silver beads dripping down her chest with svelte sex appeal. “It could be him in Euphoria. Anytime we get plugged into that thing, we don’t know who we’re sleeping with.”

“That’s true.” Jealousy nodded calmly. “But why would he hide if he wanted you? You live here. He doesn’t have to pay for your charms. He doesn’t have to take his entire body and code it to become something else just for you to have sex with him.” Her gaze narrowed. “I happen to know that even when a goddess creeps into his bed and wakes him up with a hand on his cock, he still refuses to sleep with them.”

Calico shot ramrod straight. Her eyes blazed with hate.

I didn’t need to ask if the goddess in question had been her.

Jealousy coiled through my chest at the thought of her touching Sully, only for me to curse myself for feeling possessive. Possessive over a man who’d purchased me, trapped me, whored me.

What is wrong with you, Ellie?

“He’s a gentleman. That’s all.” Calico’s nose rose into the sky. “He wouldn’t—”

“Wait, what did you say? Did you just call him a gentleman?” Jealousy’s belly laugh cut her off. She didn’t hold back, her chuckle condescending and rude. “You call him a gentleman? Oh, my God. Come on, girl. He paid money for your life. He’s farmed you out to hundreds of men in the past three-and-a-half years. He’s made a fortune while you’ve been on your back with a dick in your mouth. Is that a gentleman?” She laughed again, winking at me. “Man, I must be old-fashioned ’cause I thought to earn that title you had to do things like care for someone, protect them from harm, put them first, and never ever share them with other people.”

She rolled her eyes as Calico glowered. “Don’t idolize the man who only sees you as a payday, Calico. Take the gifts, treasure the memories, enjoy the Euphoria ride, but don’t fool yourself that you won’t be flying home in six months and you’ll be back to working in some office or McDonald’s and struggling to fit in to blandness after living in a false paradise.”

I sat dumbfounded.

When Sully had introduced me to Jealousy, warning me it would likely be my one and only friendship, I hadn’t planned on her feistiness. That she hadn’t taken being an outcast from their little clique as anything but a blessing.

These girls were the mean wannabes from high-school. The ones who were unfortunate enough to be stolen and snatched from a life rich in attention and opportunities, only to find themselves dumped into an existence where every wish was delivered…in return for one thing.

To be worshipped.

And adored.

And ruthlessly used.

Measured, masculine footfalls sounded behind me. My skin prickled with knowledge. My heart flurried with awareness.

Sully.

God, why was I so attuned to him? Why could I signal him out just by his footsteps? Why did my entire body go into shock, heightened and hurried, fight and flight mingling with a complex recipe of hate and heat?

I hated how his presence made every part of me sit up, tingle, and crave to be acknowledged. To be touched. To be wanted.

My hands balled in my lap as I did my best to fight off the electricity that slipped over my shoulders and down into my core, a live wire connecting him to me, transmitting things we both refused to admit.