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He’d pulled me onto his lap and speared into me, the same way I’d taken him after he’d told me he was in love with me. We rocked together until we came together, and then he pushed off from the step and tumbled us deep into the water, sluicing our shared releases away, raking his hands through his hair as he popped to the surface.
In all honesty, it’d been the best afternoon of my life.
I’d never been so content, so cared for, so utterly in love with absolutely everything. From the sunset glowing fire through the palm trees, to the roosting sounds of birds all around us, to the serenade of cicadas, crickets, and frogs as night fell.
Pika and Skittles never went far, preening themselves on branches while we swam, visiting us and stealing morsels of fruit and vegetables while we ate dinner.
This truly was paradise.
Yet…it wasn’t paradise for everyone.
Sully stiffened in his chair.
His hair had dried into a wild tangle of dark and bronze swept off his forehead. He wore a simple black t-shirt and cargo shorts, loaning me a blue and white striped shirt that I’d fastened with a belt around my waist, fashioning a simple dress.
We’d shared a shower in his amazing bathroom, watching the waterfall turn silver in the rising moonlight, taking turns to soap and rinse, sharing a kiss when he passed me a towel.
Our interactions were laced with lust but also so at ease with domestication.
I didn’t understand how it could be so simple, so peaceful between us. I expected an argument, a ripple—something to disrupt the endless satisfaction I felt in his company.
Maybe that was why I’d asked a condemning question after we’d spent the day making small talk about the animals around his villa, Serigala, and a few hush-hush drugs his scientists were working on.
Maybe it was my turn not to trust him…trust us.
Trust that love could be like this.
“Why do you want to know?” Sully asked, his tone carefully guarded. He reached for a chargrilled mushroom stuffed with aubergine and drizzled in coconut cream.
I mulled over his question.
Did I want to know so I could berate him into freeing them? Did I want to know how many girls I had to share him with? Did I want to know for good reasons or for selfish ones?
I settled on honesty and shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t know. I don’t agree with what you’re doing, but it’s hypocritical of me to say that as here I am, eating the food their services provided, willingly turning a blind eye to love you. I guess…” I sighed and finished, “I’m just glad Calico, Jupiter, and Neptune are gone.”
“But that’s not enough for you.” His chair creaked as he shifted his weight. “You want to free them all.”
I dared look up, catching his stern stare. “Would you? Would you stop?”
He gritted his teeth, avoiding that question and answering the easier of the two. “Seven. There are seven here currently…including you.”
I flinched. “And how many guests at any given time?”
He rolled his shoulders, popping a cherry tomato into his mouth. “Not many. Three at the moment. I don’t like crowds.”
I half-smiled. “Three isn’t a crowd.”
“Two is a crowd if I don’t like the other person.” He pinned me to the spot with his blistering blue gaze. Pushing his plate aside, he leaned forward. “Look, Eleanor. I will not apologise for what I am. I’ve told you before, and I’ll tell you again. Humans are not above treatment deemed perfectly humane for other creatures. I provide the best care, nutrition, and free range existence that I can. Their lives are most likely a thousand times better than they were when they didn’t belong to me.” His voice grew testy, sharp. “If you can’t accept that then…we have a serious fucking problem.”
My back locked in my chair. Goosebumps shot over my arms.
There’s the argument.
You brought this upon yourself.
I’d done this, but I wasn’t prepared to finish it. I wasn’t prepared to draw a line in the sand between us. Not yet. Maybe soon there would come a time when his morals would be a breaking point for me…but right now, I was too swept up on hormones and dopamine to put strangers I didn’t know before the monster I’d fallen for.
Sucking in a breath, I forced myself to say, “We don’t have a problem, Sully…not yet at least. I understand your reasoning, and I even agree with it to a certain extent. But I don’t believe any creature should live a life of captivity. All I’m requesting is some sign that you’re open to a different alternative. Possibly, maybe…sometime in the future.”
He scowled, leaning back in his chair. It took the longest few seconds of my life before he nodded once. “Possibly, maybe.” His lips twitched, ceasing our fight. “Sometime in the future.”
