Free Wicked Ways (Dark Hearts Book 1) by Cari Silverwood Page A

exhalation was audible then he took another sip from his drink.
    “You interest me, Zorie. You’re a lecturer in biology. Intelligent. Middle-class. Well-off but not rich.”
    All statements. He didn’t seem to want a reply. The chair made small soft noises as he leaned into it.
    “Is there anything else remarkable about you?”
    The vagueness of that let me veer away from that one thing I didn’t ever say to anyone. It was too painful, even after all these years, and to him it would surely be unremarkable. To him, all women would be merely prey. He thought killing someone was a minor thing. My mind did that weird little familiar side step. “No.”
    “Most people have something they boast of.”
    Boast? Hell no. I stayed mute.
    Mister Black had shiny black shoes, I realized. All of him was businesslike – even his shirt seemed one he’d wear beneath a business jacket. The creases and shoelaces and buttons were precise. Maybe he was here to tidy me up, to sweep me into a dustpan and into a bin. Maybe he was Reuben’s man?
    Mister Black had tricked me... No. I recognized he’d used his will on my mind, to make me say a truth that I would never have told Reuben. My hands were shaking where I clasped them together, but I whispered out my question. “Are you going to kill me?”
    “Why would I? No.”
    I wasn’t sure I should believe him.
    “If that’s the worst Reuben does, I should be done with you. I’d like to keep you but I shouldn’t. You are not to tell him of me. Or anyone about me.”
    That statement was final: Word. Lock. No key.
    But, he’d like to keep me? Why did that sound enticing? He said he was as bad as Reuben.
    Mister Black stood and walked to me, until his big black shoes were there, beside my folded leg.
    “Will you tell anyone?”
    I sighed, wanting to bang my head on that floor beside his shoe. God help me. These men were like sticky gum. I couldn’t get rid of their influence no matter how I tried.
    “No. I won’t.”
    “Imagine a policeman, in front of you, asking you questions. Could you tell him, phone him, write it down? What has happened to you – any of it? About Reuben or myself?”
    Commanded, I imagined. My toes curled and for a second I wondered. Maybe... But, no. “No. I couldn’t.” My head lowered as I was stricken by the horrible finality of this. “No.”
    “Good. Not many women succumb to this ability we have. I know Reuben found you in Darwin.”
    “Yes,” I said softly. I’d just admitted to never being able to tell. I had clung to the hope that my compulsion to lie would one day fail.
    “Am I going to kill you? No. I might’ve made use of you. I’d never kill you. I’m sure Reuben doesn’t deserve you. Give me your hand.”
    Said so smoothly. It was a compliment, I supposed. What did he mean by make use of ? That sounded ominous, like keeping me, only worse. Without looking up from his shoes, I raised my arm. I felt him take my hand, turn it over, and place his thumb on the palm.
    The shock rolled in, as overpowering as when Reuben touched me. I closed my eyes and let it run its course.
    “I’d like to see you.” He released my hand. “Take off your dress.”
    The sexual miasma these men wielded shuddered through me, invading every atom of my body.
    Mr. Black’s will was so quiet I had trouble telling when he used it on me, but my fingers were already pulling at the sides of my dress. Me dangerous? Mr. Black was far more dangerous than I could ever be.
    With my dress pulled over my head, I put the garment to one side and stayed there, kneeling, with my hands in my lap. I could feel his eyes upon me. A shiver built and my nipples became hard little buttons beneath my bra. My breathing turned ragged.
    “Reuben is definitely lucky. You’re very desirable. Even to men like me, and I’ve had hundreds of lovers.”
    His words swept me like a perversion of a sigh. If ever a man could be a siren, this was he. Where Reuben’s words and will were blunt