Our teeth clacked as he fed me the taste of sharp liquor, sweeping his tongue over mine, biting my bottom lip. When he stopped making me lightheaded and wet, he whispered, “I’m surprised I didn’t fall to my knees the second you arrived and fucking proposed. That’s how wrapped up in you I am.”

A stupid smile spread my lips. I swooned into him, kissing him again, taking my time to tangle my tongue with his, deepening the kiss, making our hearts race to the same chaotic beat.

I pulled away, drunk on him and loose-lipped with honesty. “I wanted to travel to Asia. Malaysia and Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia. When I agreed to travel with Scott, I thought we were on the same page with our itineraries, but instead of flying to Asia, he convinced me to go to Mexico.”

Sully bared his teeth. “I suggest you don’t talk about another boy in my company, Eleanor. Not when my cum still fills you. Not when I can’t handle—”

I kissed him, stealing his sudden anger and his fiery possessiveness. Only once his fists unclenched did I pull away and continue, “I think I wanted to fly to Asia because you were here. There was something inside me. A tug. An impatience. Something I couldn’t describe, telling me I needed to explore this part of the world. I couldn’t explain it because I’d never been here, so why was I so adamant I needed to travel to exotic places I couldn’t name...” I traced my thumb over his damp lip, cupping his stubble-covered jaw.

Just the wonder of being allowed to touch him like this shot another dose of agonising love through my bloodstream. “I like to think we would’ve met…under different circumstances. That I would’ve been on some cruise around your islands, and you would’ve felt me close. We would’ve met and sparks would’ve flown, and we’d be on equal footing. At least, I would’ve come to you as a free woman and not a slave you bought from a shopping list.”

I meant for my revelation to be sweet and romantic. Instead, Sully shot to his feet and dragged me into his villa. He didn’t stop until he’d carted me through the simple lounge and into his bedroom.

The sugar glider leapt from its perch on a floor lamp in shock, its parachute-like body sailing across the room to the sideboard by the open doors to the deck. It vanished outside just as Pika and Skittles flew in, swooping to a halt on the rafters in the ceiling.

Animals scurried left and right, geckos and moths, even a bat appeared from the bathroom. All creatures felt so safe in his presence that they made their home in his home, yet I was absolutely terrified.

What have I done?

Sully’s tight grip let me go as he abandoned me on the woven flax mat at the foot of his bed and marched toward his bedside table. Ripping it open, he fisted a few pages, then stormed back toward me.

“First, there would be no cruise around my islands. No one has the exact coordinates or maritime permission to enter my waters.” He shook the papers in my face. “Second, you weren’t ordered from a shopping list. I told you I dreamed about you. You wormed your way into my head, and I couldn’t get you out of it.”

Grabbing my hands, he wrapped my fingers around the paper he held. “And third, you fight so hard for the other goddesses’ freedom, but you don’t fight for your own. Here. Take it. I hoped you’d never fucking ask for it, but at least this way, it’s done. We both know where we stand. Both know the other isn’t trapped in this if they don’t want to be.”

Dropping his hold, he let me study what he’d forced me to take.

A contract.

A simple email between him and the bastards who’d stolen me.

A description of me.

A reply that they’d found me.

A receipt of funds exchanged in my honour.

Five-hundred-thousand dollars.

I gulped and looked up. “I’m worth half a million to you?”

He laughed once, cold and angry. “You’re fucking priceless to me.” Snatching the paperwork, he tore it down the middle, then again and again until confetti fell from his hands to the floor.

Breathing hard, he splayed his fingers and stepped into the pile of paper. “You need to be on an even playing field? Fine. You’re free. I rescind any ownership I have over you. You are no longer a goddess or a slave. You are just a girl who I happened to fall madly fucking in love with. And if that’s not enough for you, then…once again, we have a serious fucking problem. Because, Jinx—” He stepped into me and scooped me into his arms.

Carrying me to the bed, he placed me in the middle and climbed onto the mattress, crawling over me like a beast ready to mount and maul “—you asked me what my greatest flaw is. Well, listen closely because you’d do well to heed it.”

He kissed his way along my jawline, his hand sliding my shirt-dress away from my bare pussy, then quickly shoving his shorts down to his thighs.

I had no warning as his cock speared its way deep inside me.

My back arched. My mouth opened. I gasped at the dominant intrusion and the lace of delicious pain.

He ground his hips into mine, filling me, owning me.

“My greatest flaw is when I love…I love without end. I am overprotective of those I care about to the point of obsession. I go out of my way to protect them from everything—real threats and perceived. I’ve killed those I’ve tried to keep safe…purely from not being able to stop. I’ve killed those who have lied to me, double-crossed me, and betrayed those vulnerable in my care.”

He dug his elbows into the mattress, driving deeper and harder into me. “I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe. Any methods required. Any bloodshed needed. I will never allow you to be unsheltered by me. If that scares you, it’s meant to. I know my limitations, and I have none when it comes to those I love. Animal or human. I never let go.”

He rutted into me, seeking my mouth and kissing me. His lust blended with apology, almost as if he knew how manic he sounded, how many triggers his disclosure should ignite.

And it did.

He basically gave me my freedom but took it away in the same breath. He once used money to own me, now he used love.

And I didn’t know which was scarier.

What debt was worse?

And why didn’t I care?

Why did I moan under him? Why did I spread my legs wider and dig my fingernails into his ass, jerking him deeper into me? Were we as insane as the other?

Have I lost my damn mind?

Sully growled as his cock swelled inside, stretching me, hurtling me straight toward a ricocheting release.

We rocked together, violent and vicious, chasing the madness that had infected us both. He rocked into me, pressing my clit with each thrust, hurtling me toward the cliff where all good orgasms originate.

It siphoned through my toes, legs, hands, and heart.

I came alive with it.

I moaned with it.

I threw my head back and let him shove me headfirst into a milking, clenching climax, all while he drove again and again, taking me, fucking me, loving me.

His snarl when he came made my heart hitch with fear. He sounded wild and untameable and totally like a man used to being god with no consequences.

It turned me on.

It made me feel powerful.

So damn powerful to be held by a man so ruthless.

He jerked and shuddered, spurting inside me until his entire body jolted, and he tumbled to his side. Breathing hard, he manhandled me until he spooned me from behind.