Filed To Story: Pretty Poisoned Novel by Elle Mitchell
“Black licorice?”
“That’s it,” he says. “Black licorice.” He leans in and kisses me again. “Bittersweet. And dangerous.”
“I’m not dangerous,” I say as he kisses my neck and the hand inside my shirt makes its way up to my breasts. “Declan wait.”
“What? What’s wrong?”
“I have to tell you something, and I don’t think you’re going to be happy with me.”
“Okay ”
“I don’t think you’re going to want me around anymore.”
“I’m sure you’re overreacting.”
I think about Layla, and I’m not so sure.
“I lied to you about something when we first met. I didn’t just try to get close to Luca because I was a fan.”
I pause, waiting for him to react, but he doesn’t. He just looks at me, waiting.
“I have this podcastit’s like a true crime podcast, I guess. And I got a message about you guys. And that maybe there was something criminal there. So, I started to look into it, and I thought they might be right, and that’s what I was really doing. But I haven’t been doing that for a long time. I just wanted to tell you because my sister said that if you knew, you’d get rid of me, and I didn’t like how I found out about Luca.”
“I already know about all of that, Teagan,” Declan says. “But it’s cute that you told me.”
“You did ?”
He slips his hands under my shirt again and tightens his grip around my waist. I feel how hard he is through his boxers before he rolls on top of me.
“I’m going to tell you something that’s not going to make you very happy, sweetheart. I just want to kiss you for one more minute first while you’re all soft.”
He kisses me again, but even his perfect lips and expert tongue can’t distract me from what he just said.
“Tell me.”
“Okay,” he says. “I know because I found you first. I sent you that message, and I’m the one who sent you the VIP ticket. I already knew everything about you before we met.”
“Why? Why would you do that? Like as a joke?”
“No, not as a joke.”
“You played me.”
“To be fair, you thought you were playing me. That was your intention, no?”
“Well, what the fuck was your intention?” I ask. “So, when I met Luca at the bar, that was”
“No,” Declan says. “Luca was not aware, and I don’t think we should tell him now. I don’t think he’d be happy, do you?”
“I’m not happy, and you didn’t answer my question.”
“Calm down,” he says softly. “This is all I wanted, Teagan. I wanted you.”
I shake my head. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
“I watched you, and I wanted you. Is it that bad that I picked you? Women are always throwing themselves at me. They did it before because I was rich, and now they do it because I’m a rockstar or whatever, and I never get to pick anyone first. I still like to do that. For the record, though, I did pick you just for me. I thought Luca was going to fuck it up; I didn’t realize that you’d be so good for him, too, but I’m glad you are.”
I can’t swallow; I guess it’s not that bad, right? I guess it makes sense that he’d want to pick someonethat he’d pick the homeschooled blonde at the state fair who’s never heard their music and want to win her over with a stuffed teddy bear.
It makes less sense that he’d pick mea girl from Orange County who was kicked out of high school and then got kidnapped. A girl who
“Teag? Say something.”
“I need you to get off of me for a second; I can’t breathe.”
He rolls off of my body, and I sit up, bringing my knees to my chest.
“How much do you know?”
“What do you mean? I told you; I know everything.”
“So, like my date of birth.”
“June 27th.”
“My address?”
“Yeah, former and present.”
“Number of murders witnessed?”
“Yes. We clarified that already.”
“Number of murderers fucked?”
He relaxes and laughs a little, running his fingers along the outside of my thigh. “Two. Unless there are more that neither of us are aware of.”
“And what about medical history?”
He isn’t smiling now. “Yes.”
I feel it againthat thing I hate. Chest tightening, eyes stinging. I suck in a breath and get out of bed. “Okay. I think I’m done with this conversation.”
“I know what you’re thinking, but you’re wrong.”
“You picked me because I tried to kill myself after what happened at school. Because that’s what you like.”
“Teagan, that’s not why.” He steps in front of me, placing his hands on my arms. “You can’t really think that.”
“You fucking got me,” I say, shaking my head. “I knew betterI’m not one of those stupid girls, and you still fucking got me. You should be really fucking proud of yourself.”
I fell for ithis tortured soul, his gentle touch. I knew what he was doing; I was explicitly warned. Maybe I shouldn’t be so hard on myself, thoughDeclan is a master at his craft, and I’m the perfect victim.
“I picked you because of your eyes and your smile. Because they’re so fucking beautiful but never quite matched, and I wanted to see if I could fix it. I think I did fix it, Teagan. Aren’t you happy?”
“Not really,” I tell him. “I’ve had a couple of really bad fucking days. But not that bad, so don’t get too excited. I will never do that again.”
“Teagan, I don’t want you to. I just want youthat’s all.”
“I trusted you.”
“You can still trust me.”
“You had me at a handicapyou realize that, right? It’s not fair for one person to know everything about the other one and not tell them!”
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.