I’d woken to the scents of food—delicious, nutritious food—and my stomach had threatened to leap from my torso and grab a knife and fork without waiting for me to fully rouse.
It seemed every time I fell asleep, I woke a little stronger, a little more coherent and normal. And now that I’d eaten, I had visions of walking from this villa and jumping into Nirvana before the day was through. Fuck my legs. A swim would be beneficial as long as I didn’t drown if I fell asleep again.
“I ate too much.” Eleanor sighed. “Your chefs are magicians.”
I glanced at the remains.
So many bowls had barely a dent in their delicious contents. My stomach, that’d felt as hollow as a cave, had filled too quickly. It ached in discomfort, stretching ribs that’d healed but still liked to remind me that they’d been broken and fixed without my knowledge.
“Dessert?” She spooned a mouthful of palm sugar syrup along with two tiny tapioca and rice balls into my mouth.
To begin with, I hadn’t been down with her feeding me like a fucking invalid. However, she’d ignored my grumbling and selected a delicious rosemary-roasted mushroom and placed it onto my tongue.
The intimacy of sucking food off a fork and holding her stare as she locked onto my mouth had caused yet another fucking erection. At least this time, no catheter twinged my tip—thanks to Louise removing it—but if I was this reactive to Eleanor while still coming out of a coma, how the hell would I endure eight long fucking weeks?
Sexual favours for progress.
Chewing on the sweet confectionary, I ran my tongue over my lips and chuckled at the way Eleanor’s breath hitched and nipples pebbled beneath my shirt. It wasn’t just me struggling, and that gave me far too much satisfaction.
“You know…eating counts as progress.” I swallowed and kept my voice for her ears only. “I deserve a reward. How about I eat you for the rest of my dessert?”
Her cheeks pinked; the spoon she wielded clinked against the porcelain bowl. “Louise will kick me out if we don’t behave.”
“Louise can watch for all I care.” I did my best to shift, needing relief from the aching throb between my legs. To be fair, everything throbbed. The bones that’d knitted together and the muscles that’d resented not being exercised in six weeks all drummed in time with my heartbeat. If it wasn’t for the pain meds that Louise slipped into my IV, I probably would’ve lost my appetite the second I started eating.
Exhaustion was yet another factor in my discomfort. The heaviness of my eyelids, the fog creeping over my mind. Just eating and talking felt like I’d swam around my island twenty times and then scaled Nirvana another forty.
I wasn’t used to being so weak.
I despised it.
“Your first step…” Eleanor whispered. “When you take your first step, you can have me for dessert.”
Goddammit, could a man die of denied gratification? I honestly didn’t know how long I could stand such insufferable desire. “Done. I’ll take a step, fall to my knees, press my mouth against your pussy, and stick my tongue—”
Another mouthful of sweet tapioca and palm syrup filled my mouth. Eleanor gave me a smug smile, effectively gagging my erotic declaration.
I chewed while narrowing my eyes at her.
The Indo dessert typically had sweet potato balls, but I preferred the chewy texture of rice and tapioca. I didn’t really have a sweet tooth, but my main chef and his team of kitchen wizards had put together every delicacy that I favoured.
Three huge trays had arrived, groaning under the weight of coconut crisped kale, lentil patties with mint chutney, satay jackfruit tacos, pumpkin and pine nut paella, chipotle charred cauliflower, spaghetti squash with spicy guacamole, and a huge bowl of tropical fruit salad that I had a tendency of ordering when working late.
Tasting each element was a shock to my system. The salt was intense, the cumin and coriander spices pungent on my tongue. After having nothing, my taste buds clung to each morsel and dissected it until each mouthful made me moan with utmost pleasure.
“I’ll hold you to that, Jinx,” I growled. “I’m going to be inside you within a week, see if I don’t.”
My cell phone rang on the sideboard across the room, making Pika squawk and fly over to peck at the vibrating screen.
“Promises, promises.” Eleanor placed the spoon back into the bowl and elegantly unwound her legs to slip off the bed. “If you keep staring at me like that, it might be me pouncing on you.”
Skittles fluttered after her, the absolute love on the little caique’s face in-tune with my own besotted attachment and desperate desire for Jinx.
Christ, I loved her.
The feeling only seemed to increase until it wrapped tight fingers around my heart and stabbed me with nails of loss.