a demon that’d clawed its way through the tapestry of earth and mythology.
Darkness surrounded him. Lust for death evident in the way the sun almost refused to touch him. Sully’s entire attention locked on Roy as he and Cal shared a few words before he climbed reluctantly into the helicopter.
My heart leapt.
He’s leaving…alone.
My joy didn’t have time to unfurl and figure out what this all meant before a merciless hand grabbed my long hair and dragged me backward. Skittles squawked and shot into the sky.
I went to scream, but a dainty hand clamped over my mouth.
What the—
I fought as the fight and flight instinct drowned my system, but Calico and Neptune were stronger. As one, they trapped me and hustled me away from the sun-drenched beach, pulling me deeper into the shady lane and into the lush jungle hiding us from view, away from Sully’s dominion, away from his protection.
I tripped as they shoved me against a palm tree. The rigid bark bit into my spine, snagging on my hair. A flash of being pressed up against a similar tree yesterday came and went. Yesterday, all I’d felt was pleasure as Sully filled me, even as lacerations coaxed blood from my cheek. Today, all I felt was fear and a quickly burning hate.
Jupiter appeared from behind the palm tree, waiting for Neptune to feed my wrists to her, effectively becoming human handcuffs so I couldn’t wriggle free.
The moment I was prone, the goddesses grinned with victory. Calico ran a hand through her sleek black hair, her lips twisting in spite. Her dress of sultry burgundy once again set off her ebony skin, making her glow with otherworldly beauty. “Well, well, if it isn’t the Plain-Jane who fucked the emperor of sin.”
I shivered as Jupiter’s nails dug into my wrists, and she hissed into my ear, “Little slut.”
Neptune kept her hand planted over my mouth so I couldn’t call for help, all while Calico ran her finger along my scratched cheek—a lover’s caress filled with the threat of destruction. “I saw you, you know. I watched him shove you against a tree and fuck you as if he’d rather die than not have you.” Her touch slipped to my throat, tracing the bruised fingerprints of Sully’s consuming lust. “I heard you both, grunting like animals.” She traced the bite marks imprinted in my skin. “I watched him throttle you all while he drove that long, thick dick inside you.” Her hand suddenly lost its lazy petting and shot between my legs. “That dick doesn’t belong to you, bitch.”
I winced and moaned behind Neptune’s hand as Calico cupped my sore and swollen sex. “How many times did he use this, huh? Are you so greedy to drain him dry for the rest of us?”
I tried to shake my head as she deliberately hurt me. A vicious grip that bruised already bruised flesh.
Neptune grabbed my throat while Calico continued to cup me indecently. The skirts of my dress offered no protection, loose and floaty with summery joy. I gulped as female fingers tried to follow the shadows of where a male touch had been. “Did you like it, plain Jinx? Did you like it when he pile-drove you into the sand?”
I moaned as she pressed hard on my larynx. “How did you get him to be so unhinged, huh? What makes you so damn special?”
Calico shoved Neptune aside as she grabbed my cheeks with both her hands. Her dark eyes searched mine, rifling with pickaxes and machetes. It physically hurt having her stare at me, it hurt because I saw past her envy and witnessed the panic within her. The need to be acknowledged, to be known. She was just a plaything here, nothing to the man she’d stupidly fallen for.
I pitied her because I saw a lot of myself mirroring back, but despite our similarities, I would never go to the lengths she had. I would never hurt another just because they’d been chosen and not me.
I bared my teeth, biting at Neptune’s hand. She gasped, letting me go with a squeal.
Inhaling and doing my best not to hyperventilate, I snarled, “Let me go, Calico.”
She snickered. “I don’t think you’re in the position to give orders, do you?”
“And you’re not in your right mind if you think hurting me will make him want you.”
Her gaze turned sniper sharp. “He does want me. I know he does.” She glanced at her fellow conspirators. “He wants all of us. He needs to keep us,