But he wasn’t the only one who judged me.
Another pair of eyes bored into me. Black and brilliant, belonging to a tiny parrot that’d chosen this girl over anyone.
Skittles roosted in the villa’s rafters, staring down at me while I stared down at Eleanor. The glow of green feathers and fluffy white chest reeked of innocence and faith. Faith that Eleanor would love her in return. Belief that nothing would come between them now she’d chosen her mate.
Regardless of species or sex, Skittles was Eleanor’s to the day that tiny parrot died.
I hated that.
I didn’t know how to cope with that.
Eleanor had been in my life only fleetingly, yet she’d upheaved it in the most painful of ways. She’d smashed through my convictions. She’d wriggled her way into my devotions. She’d stolen my goddamn parrot.
As well as my motherfucking heart.
I pinched the bridge of my nose, warding off the headache brewing, knowing it was too late. The pressure had been building since Eleanor rowed away from my prison. Compounding with agony as her disappearance showed me just how far I was prepared to go.
I did my best to do what I’d always done and segment myself off from such weakness. Affection for me only came with pain. Every time I’d fallen for a stray or given my heart to something that needed me, I’d ended up losing a piece of myself when they left. And those pieces shattered into dagger-sharp shards when I found out their fate in my parents’ lab.
Love had made me blind. Weak. Oblivious.
I would never become so again.
And because of that, I’d reached an ending that only had two options.
Keep her.
Or…
Get rid of her.
Eleanor held more power over me than anyone. More than my brother. My board. My company. In two weeks, she’d changed me, reverted me, dis-evolved me into the kid I’d left in my past.
She had the power to make me fall head over fucking heels for her, and then, it would be all over.
I wouldn’t be responsible for my actions if anyone tried to harm her.
I wouldn’t be controllable if she ever tried to leave me.
I would kill to keep her and kill to protect her.
I would kill her…eventually.
All the things I’d ever loved had perished.
Dropping my hand, I sighed heavily.
I couldn’t keep doing this.
She was mine. I’d paid good money for her servitude. Yet she was costing me far more than I was prepared to pay.
Regardless of her value, she couldn’t stay.
I wanted her gone.
Before it was too late.
Chapter Thirty
SULLY CUPPED MY CHEEK.
Unlike his touches before, his hand was gentle, idolizing, burning up with need.
His eyes no longer held barriers and locked doors but were as clear as the sea after a storm. Refreshed, reborn, free from old hurt. “Jinx…fuck.” He pulled me into him, kissing me, tasting me.
My belly fluttered with fireflies, their light illuminating me from within. I moaned into his kiss. I kissed him back. Our tongues touched and stroked, slow and sensual.
Pulling away, he kissed his way down my throat, sending whirls of desire over my skin. “Jinx…I need you.”
I smiled as he placed me on my back, his nakedness against mine, our souls stripped bare.
Jinx.
That name was no longer a demotion to my stature as a goddess, but a nickname born in truth. Once upon a time, I’d been a girl called Eleanor. A girl who was normal and naïve.
But Jinx?
She was a goddess with control over a god.
I was immortal because I’d found the person I was meant to find.
He’d bought me.
But I’d jinxed him.
I’d cast a spell, summoned voodoo, conjured the most powerful hex to ensure Sullivan Sinclair became mine.
I wore that title with pride and honour.
I shivered when it fell from his mouth because it sounded as if he’d accepted my power. I’d become a charm, a priceless, irreplaceable piece of his heart.
His fingers entered me.
My back bowed.
His mouth devoured mine as his body hardened, and his fingers slipped away to allow entry for his cock.
As he aligned us together, he fisted my hair and kept me locked in his stare. We never looked away as he sank deeper and deeper, giving ourselves completely, both tumbling into a void where only we existed.
As he sheathed himself fully, his lips found my ear, and he whispered, “You’ve destroyed me.” He groaned as he thrust into me. “Every piece now belongs to you. Broken and bloody but yours.” His cock thickened, his teeth caught my throat. “I’m yours, Jinx. I always will be.”
I shattered.
I came.
I woke up.
My eyes flew wide as my body clenched around nothing. I moaned and dug a fist into my lower belly as the lapping waves of an intense climax faded.
I’d come from a dream.
The elixir remained in my system, heightening my lust, ensuring I had the capacity to keep orgasming, even though I’d been wrung dry the night before.