'Twice a Wish',the second book in the Goddess Isles series by New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today International Bestseller Author Pepper Winters. This is a dark romance series. Read chapter one & enter the giveaway below..Get your copy today!
Title: Twice a Wish
Series: Goddess Isles #2
Author: Pepper Winters
Genre: Dark Romance/Romantic Suspense
Release Date: March 24, 2020
There was a monster once. A monster who bought me, controlled me, and took away my freedom. There was a man once. A man who dealt in myth and secrets, hiding behind his mask, making me hunger and wish to know the truth.”
Eleanor Grace belongs to the man and the monster, hating them both but unable to deny that something links them. Something she doesn’t want to feel, something that traps her as surely as the sea surrounding the island where she serves.
Sully Sinclair belongs to his past and the black and white script his life has become. He views his goddesses as commodities—possessions to be treated kindly but firmly. The only problem is…Eleanor is different.
She’s jinxed him. Cursed him. Awakened him. She’s a goddess with the power to ruin him.
"The best thing about this NEW DARK ROMANCE series is each book releases four weeks apart. No long wait times and every book is available for preorder!"
Chapter One
I Carried Her From the VR Room as gently as I dared. I tripped under her weight, my own muscles wrung ragged from the punishment I’d delivered while Eleanor was in Euphoria.
My heart barely had enough energy to pump blood through my veins, my legs burned with lactic acid, my entire body squeezed dry of every life-giving molecule. But fuck, it was worth it.
Worth it to feel somewhat sane after the nightmarish confusion of the past week. Worth it to finally find calm in the chaos that this dangerous goddess had caused.
I looked at Eleanor, fast asleep and limp in my arms. Her lips were parted and still red from a thousand kisses. Her cheeks still flushed from untold orgasms. Her skin glowing from within, thanks to the magic of what she’d indulged in.
Euphoria had the power to break you apart, but it also had the potential to make you rise from the ashes that you once were. Whatever parts were destroyed while she played in the fantasy, coded and delivered by yours truly, I had no doubt she’d awake stronger, bolder, and far more dangerous than before.
My fingers dug into her silky skin, pressing her close. Fuck, I was in trouble. I knew that. But for the first time...I owned it. I’d made yet another colossal mistake...and this one, I honestly didn’t know if I could survive.
Who are you? I whispered in the darkness, ignoring the trembles of my body, the hunger in my belly, the exhaustion in my mind. Every inch of me begged to rest. To place Eleanor on the sandy pathway and curl up beside her.
To sleep after surviving a night we’d both never forget...for entirely different reasons. Stumbling forward, I groaned at the shooting stitch in my stomach. I’d overdone it. I’d drained myself to the point of sickness. I needed rest. She needed rest.
But...just for a moment—a single, stupid moment—with no one around and no one to witness, I stopped, let down my shields, and stared. I stared at the girl who’d twisted me up just by existing.
The girl who I still didn’t know what to do with. Could I keep her on my shores for four years? Could I rent her out to men who didn’t deserve her? Would I have the strength to keep my distance when parts of me that I’d killed years ago were slowly waking up?
It wasn’t just her beauty that arrested me. It wasn’t just her temper or her personal choices. Something I couldn’t explain bound us together, drawing us closer, against our will...creating a minefield of destruction.
Her forehead furrowed a little as whatever dream she had ghosted over her face. She shifted in my arms, curling deeper into my chest. And fuck if my heart didn’t kick with an extra beat.
Tightening my grip on her, I continued walking, digging bare feet into soft sand, forcing a body that had well and truly been abused to keep going, for just a little while. She didn’t wake up as I carried her.
I hadn’t drugged her to keep her under. I hadn’t used science to keep her unconscious. She’d done that. She’d drowned her system in pleasure, annihilated all her strength and reserves, and finally learned how to let go.
How to be free in sex, in herself...even in sleep. Sir? Calvin appeared from the darkness, only half his face visible from the flickering tiki torch. I can finish the process.
You should... He came closer, peering into my drawn, exhausted face. Ah, fuck, you don’t look so good. Baring my teeth, I barged past him. I’m fine. You need to lie down.- Don’t tell me what to do. My back straightened with anger, feeding my depleted cells some much-needed indignation. He muttered something under his breath, trailing after me. He remained behind me all the way to Eleanor’s villa.
Scooting in front of me, he opened her door. I groaned as I stepped over the threshold and my gaze fell on her bed. Christ, I’d give anything to collapse face first into that cool white linen.
My eyelids drooped, sleep coming for me, despite my attempts to stop it. Sinclair. Cal snapped his fingers in my face. You’ll drop her if you fall asleep.
I swallowed back fatigue, tripping forward and placing Eleanor softly on the bed I very much wanted to claim for my own. My arms felt strangely loose and unattached to my body now that her weight no longer rested in them. I swayed. My knees buckled. Cal caught me around the waist and kept me standing.
Come on, let’s get you home. You don’t want to be here when she wakes up. I nodded. I didn’t. I didn’t want to witness the flashing hate she’d feel toward me. Not after what I’d been through tonight.
I’ll finish up. You crawl back to your own place. He guided me toward the door, but I shook my head and reached deep down for my final reserves. Get me the container. Shit, you’re a stubborn son of a bitch, Cal muttered, marching toward the walk-in wardrobe and the small drawer tucked inside.
Each villa had such a drawer. Each goddess went through the same aftercare upon return from Euphoria. Cal came back, slamming the wooden box with black hinges on the bedspread beside Eleanor’s unconscious form.
She lay on her back, her long hair spread like a halo, her naked body bruised and used but also so elegant and perfect. She looked like an innocent princess just waiting for true love’s kiss.
Gritting my teeth, I ripped open the box and pulled out the specially designed towelette. Opening the package, I ran the damp softness over every inch of Eleanor’s skin. She arched her neck as I ran it over her cleavage, still at the mercy of the final dregs of elixir.
My cock twitched in response, but the debilitation of my entire body meant a twitch was all I could manage. Once she was free from the oil I’d spread over her at the start of the evening, I tossed the soiled towelette back in the box.
That oil had allowed her to feel every touch tonight, to sense the heat of the fire, to revel in the softness of fur. Next, I pulled free the earplugs from her dainty ears that allowed a caveman to command her.
Moving down her body, I removed the sensor pads on her fingertips that permitted her to feel the male who’d most likely fallen in love with her tonight. All carefully designed tricks to turn an illusion into a reality.
Her eyes, Cal muttered, standing close with his arms crossed. Want me to get them? You’re not exactly...stable right now. I waved him away, and as gently as I could, with quaking hands and a body that wouldn’t stop swaying to do such delicate tasks, I pried open her left and then her right eye, freeing the contact lenses that’d made her see a cave instead of my islands—allowed her to see a man she’d never met before, to fully exist in the deception of Euphoria.
The second the contact lenses fell into the box, Cal scooped it up, shut the lid with a crack, then marched toward the exit. I trailed after him, glancing one last time at Eleanor. She looked so vulnerable lying in the dark. So defenceless all alone.
Where had she been stolen from? That boyfriend she mentioned...was he looking for her? Or had he given up already? Goddammit. Turning around with a groan, I stumbled back to the bed and pulled the white blanket over her nakedness.
The night sky still held humidity and heat, but the instant the comforting weight fell over her, she sighed and curled onto her side. Her hair lay strewn over her pillow, inviting me to touch it.
I’d become obsessed with her hair. I didn’t know if it was the length or the colour that appealed to me, or the fact that I could control her with a single fist in the strands—either way, it was a fucking struggle to back away.
The gauzy curtains by the open doors fluttered with soft sea breeze. The scents of dense foliage and rich undergrowth ripe thanks to a tropical rainfall that’d passed through earlier.
My eyelids drooped again; black feathered over my mind. Sinclair. Cal’s snap wrenched me back into purpose. All I wanted to do was sleep, but I couldn’t, not until I was safe in my own bed.
Trudging toward the exit, I didn’t look back at the goddess who’d caused so many problems. I knew my exhaustion was due to my melancholy thoughts. My fatigue the reason I had no power over the weakness creeping through my heart, but it didn’t mean I was okay with the fact that I felt something toward that girl.
Something I was powerless to stop. Cal closed the door behind us as I swayed on the sandy laneway, looking up through palm trees to the vast cosmos above. Stars twinkled, winking with secrets, fully aware of my sins.- His hand pushed between my shoulder blades, and for the first time, I noticed I had no shirt on. My board-shorts were the only thing keeping me decent.
I’ll walk you to your villa, he said quietly, nudging me forward until I lumbered down the path. The other goddesses shouldn’t see you like this. I nodded. He was right.
No way did I want them to witness their tyrannical ruler wobbly and weak. I wouldn’t prove to them that I wasn’t a god after all but pure mortal. A mortal with wounds and worries and the god-awful premonition that I’d fucked up big time.
I shouldn’t have put her in Euphoria. We walked in silence for a bit, allowing the buzzing cicadas to serenade us and the ribbits of tree frogs to fill in vacant conversation.
Trailing down the pathway leading toward Nirvana, the waterfall I regularly rock climbed, Cal finally broke the insect-amphibian orchestra. Why did you do it, Sinclair? I shrugged.
I doubted he’d like answers like: ‘I couldn’t help myself.’ ‘She’s different.’ ‘She’s messing with my mind.’ Next time, I’ll prepare and finish her. You don’t need to be around Jinx any more than absolutely necessary.
My hands balled. All you need to do is focus on your guests, your lab, and the coding for fantasies, remember? His green eyes flashed with light from the carved lanterns leading the way.
You did ask me, once upon a time, to remind you of what was important if you ever deviated. Previously, I would’ve agreed with him. Those three things did keep me plenty busy without self-destructing thanks to a fascination with a goddess.
But...that was before. Before her. I strode ahead. The lights of my villa beckoned me, granting the final dregs of movement. I remember, Cal. And I also remember being the fucking boss around here.
He stopped, allowing me to continue on my own. However, his voice chased me over the sand. At least she didn’t die tonight, Sinclair. The elixir didn’t push her over the edge.
It wouldn’t have mattered if she had, I threw over my shoulder, wanting an end to whatever suspicions he had about me. Yeah, sure. His dark laughter echoed in my ears as I trudged up the two shallow steps and wrenched open my villa door.
I could still feel his judgement long after I slammed the door, locked it, and planted face first on my bed. I was out cold a heartbeat later.
©Pepper Winters 2020
After inhaling this book there’s only one question that remains: how is it possible that I could I love this one even more than the first!?! I got hit by the feels!! Kitty Kats Crazy Reviews-
The chemistry between this couple, which was already off the charts hot, increases again! Pepper Winters created magic and I can’t get enough of this wanton, tropical universe! This read is without a doubt a top favorite for me this year! Book Mania Forever-
Addictive and purely heart-palpitating. From beyond enthralling descriptions to intensity-brimful scenes and dialogue between the characters, Winters’ work is mastery. And this series already is a masterpiece. K Goodreads-
I will say that it’s addictive, raw, dark, and powerful. The characters and story are intense. Sullivan is in a battle with himself. Eleanor isn’t helping the battle within. They are both lost. In ruins. Two book pushers-
Pepper winters catapulted me right onto Sully’s island and I could see in vivid color and movements all aspects sexy, kinky and erotic moments. Kazza Books Blog
Once Upon a Myth #1
Pepper currently has twenty-eight books released in nine languages. She’s hit best-seller lists (USA Today, New York Times, and Wall Street Journal) thirty-three times. She dabbles in multiple genres, ranging from Dark Romance to Coming of Age.
After chasing her dreams to become a full-time writer, Pepper has earned recognition with awards for best Dark Romance, best BDSM Series, and best Hero.
She’s an #1 iBooks bestseller, along with #1 in Erotic Romance, Romantic Suspense, Contemporary, and Erotica Thriller. She’s also honoured to wear the IndieReader Badge for being a Top 10 Indie Bestseller.
After releasing two books with Grand Central, Hachette (Ruin & Rule and Sin & Suffer) Pepper is a Hybrid Author of both Traditional and Self-published work.
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