Wicked Love - Michelle Dare Page 0,111

dark cemetery? Seems kind of creepy, don’t you think?”

He laughs, planting his hands around my waist. “I find it quite intriguing and romantic.” He slides them to my butt cheeks and retrieves another tarot card out of my pocket.

“I swear to God, where are those coming from?”

“The mystery of it all…isn’t it exhilarating?” I give him my crazy eye. “Are you curious what it says?”

Yes. No. Each card so far has brought clarity and excitement. What do I have to lose now?

“What does it say?”

He flips the card, revealing the drawing of the man holding swords—the same card the tarot reader showed me earlier. “I know this one.”

“You do. There’s not only lust and desire burning in your veins, but revenge, cherie. Confess to me your darkest thoughts. Wish away the evil of lovers past and whoever has wronged you.”

My mind goes to James, and it angers me that instead of basking in the gorgeous man in front of me, I’m thinking about him. All the hate burns like a wildfire inside me. I hate him for what he did to me. Or maybe I hate myself for allowing it. I just want him to pay for the pain he caused. Suffer the same way I suffered. Destroy him so he can never hurt me again.

“So loud are your thoughts. I fear I may have miscalculated you from the beginning. You’re not a little bird at all, but a fierce warrior, ready to slay her demons.”

I’m not going to bother asking him how he knows what I’m thinking. Drugs still flowing through my system sounds more realistic, and I’d rather play ignorant to the misconceptions of real and unreal. I’m just going to go with the flow and not question the unquestionable.

“Maybe that’s true. Maybe I’ve been the evil one the whole time hiding behind this mask of innocence.”

Always so cool, his eyes spark with fiery desire. “Go on,” he says. His thumb caresses my inner thigh as we slow dance to a soundless rhythm over a grave. He twirls me around in the darkness, the dew from the grass tickling at the bare skin around my heels.

“Okay, what would you say if I told you I wish for very bad things to happen to someone—someone who’s not a good person, who’s taken a lot from me, a part of me I’ll never get back?”

He spins me with ease, my feet leaving the ground as he takes the lead. “I would tell you to confess all. Let me make your demons disappear.”

At that, I laugh. “Whatever you say, Romeo.”

“Ah, so you’re claiming me as your lover?”

My cheeks grow brightly flushed. “Well, you did claim we were star-crossed lovers—as were Romeo and Juliet. So, I’m just curious, are you willing to sacrifice your life in order for me to get my happily ever after?”

His grin is anything but innocent. It’s wicked and sinful and creates an electric wave of desire to flow through me.

“Fine, glad you find my evilness so attractive, here it is: I wish my ex would go swimming with the alligators in the Everglades and never return. He humiliated me in so many ways, I just want him to suffer the same pain. Hope they chomp off his penis, then work on each finger and toe. I want him to know how it feels to have everything ripped away from him. And I want his last thoughts to be of me, knowing I was the best thing to ever happen to him.” I blow out a breath of air. As terrible as that sounded, it felt exhilarating to admit.

My back is suddenly pressed against the trunk of a tree. He’s so close, his lips a sliver away from mine. My heart pounds in anticipation of another kiss. I watch in fascination as they part. “Is that your final wish, love?”

I can’t fight the way his consuming stare ignites this power inside me. He’s feeding me the strength I need to finally stand up for myself and fight my battle. “Hate runs deep, and clearly so does my need for revenge. I mean every word.”

He drops his lips to mine, yet doesn’t kiss me. His torment is almost worse than anything James has ever done to me. I beg and plead to all that’s holy for him to kiss me again. “Be careful what you wish for, wicked one. It may come true.”

When I wake up from this strange night, I’ll blame it all on the drugs and go