of a roguishly handsome man in his early forties. Trimmed dark hair swept off a handsome face. Lips full but still uniquely male and piercing blue eyes.
Sea eyes.
Sully eyes.
My heart flopped and suffocated, not knowing if it wanted to pump with passion or die with hate. I could still feel his tongue between my legs. Still feel my wet shame on my inner thigh.
Another smear had joined the wetness Sully had given me.
Soon, I would be drenched thanks to a drug that attacked my brain, twisting me from complex human into mindless animal.
Tears sprang to my eyes as my mind played a highlight reel of Sully on his knees before me, his head between my spread legs, his tongue diving inside me.
God.
He’d successfully made me come without elixir.
He’d been the first male to do that.
In our five-month relationship, Scott had never made me come. I’d had to help myself along, if I’d felt inclined, while we’d slept together.
But Sully…it’d taken him mere minutes. He’d driven his fingers and tongue deep inside me until I—
I buckled as a repeat orgasm spindled and threatened to burst me apart.
Yes.
No.
Yes—
“Hello.” The man smiled, interrupting my release, freezing me with mortification.
For a blissful minute, the elixir gave me a break, and I stood upright instead of hunched like a crippled thing.
His smile never slipped as his eyes ignited with matching lust. Seemed my need was contagious. We stared for a long moment, sparks crackling and desire flowing from his body to mine.
At least I wouldn’t have to self-administer my antidote.
This man would help.
He was the one I’d been sent to.
I didn’t know who he was.
I didn’t recognise him, but he would help me because I would willingly shed my clothing right here. I’d beg him to put me out of my misery if necessary.
He backed into his house with a shadowy stare, opening his arm in invitation. “Come in. You must be hot out there.” His body moved with elegance, his legs long and torso broad with muscle.
His invitation reeked of sex.
If I entered, I wouldn’t be getting out untouched.
This stranger and I would be on exquisitely intimate terms by the time I left. If I could leave. If I could walk after he’d finished with me.
“Come in…please.” He bowed; a strand of dark hair fell over his forehead. “My son won’t let me hear the end of it if I let his girlfriend die of heatstroke outside.”
His words were innocent.
His voice was not.
Pure potency brewed with darkness and yearning.
I shook my head, trying to clear the elixir steadily creeping back over me. This stranger might be unknown to me, but he was a guest on Sully’s island. This was his avatar to hide behind, a long-held perception of himself who he’d always wanted to become.
The illusion was so real.
The neighbourhood so tangible.
The happy cries of street kids so cherub-like.
Even the scents of potted flowers and home-cooked baking danced on the air.
When I didn’t move, trapped between knowledge of what this place was with the denial of the truth, he reached forward and held out this hand. “Come. Let’s get you inside.”
Just because I understood this world a little better, thanks to Sully explaining how his magic worked, didn’t mean I could force my brain not to buy into this seamless hallucination.
My hand rose to meet his.
Our fingers touched.
My knees buckled.
He dragged me inside and slammed the door.
The second the outside world vanished, I no longer cared about my surroundings. A generic lounge with two black couches, a TV, large picture windows to a pretty garden, and a white kitchen in the distance.
I didn’t care about any of it because the man shoved me against the door and pressed his body to mine.
I whimpered as he rocked his erection into my belly.
“Fuck, I’ve missed you.”
I wanted to ask how he thought we knew each other. Why he cared so much about his son’s girlfriend, but his lips crashed onto mine.
Instantly, the final army I had against the elixir’s invasion threw down their weapons and yielded. It felt as if my chest cracked open, revealing a too-fast heart, unzipping me from the inside. My need was exposed, dripping in bright red blood and crackling gold lust. I lusted right down to my bones. Desperation infected me from the top of my scalp to the bottom of my feet.
He could touch me anywhere, and I’d probably come.
“I want you so fucking much. I think I’ve always wanted you. How can I exist knowing that you exist? How