Wicked Love - Michelle Dare Page 0,106

get to the end, we’re met by a woman dressed similar to the tarot reader.

“Good evening, ya’ll. How can I please you tonight?”

Macareus speaks in French. My eyes go back and forth, trying to read their lips, but I can’t read lips, let alone in French, so it becomes pointless. Finally, the woman nods and steps aside.

“Welcome to La Soiree. Please, follow me.” We follow her through an unmarked door, pushing aside a maroon velvet drape. She halts at a booth and grabs something from behind. Her hands reappear, holding two black masquerade masks. “May I ask for your discreteness, madam?” Macareus takes the mask, so I do the same. “Please, do follow me.” She proceeds to guide us through the dimly lit club. Every table we pass is occupied, everyone wearing a mask to hide their identity. I’m curious what type of place Macareus brought us to, and I’m starting to get some Fifty Shades vibes. As I pass a table, I mistakenly make eye contact with a man, his eyes like sapphires burning brightly back at me. But it’s not his eyes that create a buzzing sensation across my skin; it’s his wicked grin. I rip my gaze from his, focusing ahead, until the woman stops us at a small table intimately placed in the back.

Like a gentleman, Macareus pulls out my chair, and I sit as he rounds the table and takes his own. The woman places a menu on the table, but Macareus orders without looking at it.

“No need, madam. We both shall have the séduire special.” She nods in approval and walks off.

“What exactly is the special?” I ask, intrigued.

“Patience, my little eager one. You will soon find out.”

My hands shoot up. “Oh no, the last time I did that, I woke up hours later, drugged.” Macareus’s laughter is like its own magical drug.

“Do explain.”

“I’m not sure how to explain it. I was curious about New Orleans culture and found myself in a back room having my cards read. One minute, I’m being told all my dreams are going to come true, and the next, I’m alone and felt like…well, not myself.”

“And the drugs?”

His smile is going to be the death of me…if my poor decisions don’t take me out first. “Let’s just say things have been a bit strange since I woke up. For one, if I was in my right mind, I probably wouldn’t have walked off with someone I’ve never met.”

Macareus crosses his legs and leans back against his chair. “And what makes you so sure we’ve never met?”

For starters, who would ever forget a man who sounds like sex every time he opens his mouth? I stare at him, his question sparking a curiosity inside me. We haven’t met before. I know that for a fact. But then why do I feel this strange pull to him? This comfort. This ease. I’ve never been shy sexually, but I’ve also never been so quick and willing to want to jump into an unsafe, yet desirable, situation.

“Clearly you and I have never crossed paths before.” Right?

“I don’t know. I think everybody crosses paths at some point—whether they realize it or not. Physically at least. Maybe this is us meeting again.”

“Okay, you’re starting to weird me out.”

He runs his tongue over his bottom lip, and I get lost in a fantasy where I’m suddenly on his lap, my tongue grazing over his bottom lip as he captures mine and gently bites down. I don’t know what’s come over me, but I’m headed for trouble. There’s a tingle on my bottom lip, and I snap out of my haze, remembering my wits. Yep, still in my own chair.

The woman returns with two drinks and is gone as quickly as she appeared. I wait for him to take the first sip. I don’t feel like going zero for two with unfamiliar drinks and who knows what’s in this one—

“Your thoughts. They’re very loud.” He laughs and grabs his glass. “If I fall to my knees, I trust you’ll take good care of me?” My eyes widen. Holy shit, there’s no way he can really know what I’m thinking.

“Wish me luck, cherie,” he says, bringing the glass to his mouth. I’m in a trance watching his lips capture the crystal, my eyes falling to his Adam’s apple as he takes a sip. Jesus, it’s an inferno in here. I think back to the tarot cards. About the girl riding the horse, her head dangerously laying in the