Dark Wish - Clarissa Wild
Prologue
Eli
“Stop.”
A moment in time never stops, yet I still request it to.
My driver parks the car along the side of the road while I peer out the window.
As I wait, I finally see what I spotted when I told him to stop.
The girl who made me do a double take.
From her dark hair that loosely falls over her shoulders to her apple cheeks and red-painted lips that make her look like a porcelain doll, she stands out from the sea of people walking in the opposite direction.
With a simple glance, she’s taken my breath away, and I want to know her name.
It’s not often that I want to step out of my world and into hers, that I want to know what she sounds like when she’s touched, that I want to brush away those gentle locks and whisper promises in her ear that I cannot keep.
That a predator has found its prey.
My Adam’s apple bobs in my throat as though the excitement has risen to my throat. It isn’t a surprise, but I must contain myself.
Too precious … too innocent …
But not forever.
No girl is perfect, not even when they look like her.
No, I will catch her in a lie, in dishonor, in jealousy, in dirt.
I will catch her when she falls, and when she does, I will pick her up and bring her into my world.
Amelia
I never thought I’d beg a stranger to give me pain.
Give me pleasure.
Give me all and more.
Take from me what you desire.
Take from me until I am an empty, soulless vessel.
Because that is what I deserve, what I yearn for with every fiber of my being.
As I sit here on his lap with my hands tied, my body straining against his while he slides a knife across my skin, I whimper.
“Please … punish me,” I plead with this man.
This man who took me away from my home into the dark of night.
This man who treats me like a pet, like he owns me.
This man … who knows my worst secret.
A secret buried deep inside.
My deepest, darkest sin.
And the man who’s come to claim my punishment.
Chapter 1
Amelia
When you see the one you know is going to turn your world upside down, you know.
I always thought people were joking when they said that.
But I know now that I was wrong. So wrong.
Because as I place some returned books back on the shelf where they belong, I notice a guy sitting at one of the round tables in the far back, where usually no one comes. I stick my head out and peek at him while he’s reading a book, casually slanted in his chair. One firm hand clutches the book while the other touches his stubbly chin. His tongue dips out and wets his thin lips, and he rubs them together while staring at the pages. My eyes immediately home in on the title of the book. An obvious bodice ripper, it’s a book I wouldn’t expect a man like him to read.
Because what a man he is, all suited up, looking expensive as heck, with his golden watch and perfect black shoes. His slick brown hair combed back with gel makes him look almost like a rich and powerful politician reading a very spicy romance novel. What are the odds?
Suddenly, his green eyes peer up from the pages and bore straight into mine.
My eyes widen, and panic floods my veins.
I immediately step back, hiding behind the bookcase again, and I close my eyes while my heart races in my chest.
I wasn’t watching. I swear I wasn’t looking at this gorgeous man. And he didn’t see me.
Right?
But when I open my eyes again, there he is, right in front of me.
“Can I help you?” His voice is low—like dark chocolate you want to lick off someone’s body low—and it makes me gulp.
Staring at him for a moment, I slowly part my lips, but words fail to come to my mind. The stranger is so handsome up close that he takes my breath away.
I shake my head.
He leans in, tilting his head. The intoxicating scent of expensive cologne reminiscent of luscious trees and green forests fills my nostrils, almost pulling me in closer for another whiff.
“Are you sure?”
I shudder, my body inching back from the sheer power he exudes. His mere proximity is making me sweat, and my eyes can’t stop looking at all the tiny details, like the excited glimmer in his eyes and the hint of a smirk on his lips.
I nod a few times.