TWISTED FATES BOOK 1: THE FIRST TWIST by Jacklyn Rogers (read after TXT) 📕

matched the exact color of my eyes. While my mouth was agape, speechless, I heard a barely audible chuckle escape Jareth's lips.  He proceeded to place my stunning gift tenderly around my neck, allowing his fingers to glide along my collar bone gently.

There were no words, people, just ... no words

**********************************************************

After I finally managed to gather my wits about me, I admitted to Jareth that I did indeed love him too. I know. It's crazy that we haven't been together for long, but there was something about the man that just felt so ... right. I mean, how often did someone this perfect come along? I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, but yeah...nothing. Jareth was utterly impeccable. He was so easy to fall in love with and so damn easy on the eyes.

Please don't judge my bragging.

Dinner was, of course, marvelous! I had the Salad Niçoise, and Jareth decided on the Filet Mignon, extra rare, and of course a bottle of Dom Perignon. After our meal, the wait staff brought out a slice of tiramisu, my fave treat. The decadent dessert had a lit candle on it, and as the procession of wait-staff approached, they sang Happy Birthday to me in French. Absolutely incredible. I knew I was beaming with glee as I closed my eyes and blew out my candle. I didn't even bother to make a wish.  Being here with Jareth, I couldn't have wanted anything more. Everything was just as perfect as it could get. Seriously, I could like die tomorrow and would be completely OK with it. That's how magnificent this day has been.

God, how'd I get so lucky?

I realized that I had been lost in my own wistful thoughts when I felt Jareth's hand covering my own.

"Everything alright, my love?"

"Huh ... Oh my God, Yes, Jareth! I was just thinking about everything. It's perfect. You're perfect."

"As are you, my love. So perfect. But you know what would make things even more so?"

"Hmm?"

Jareth arched his brown and winked at me. "I think that answer would be better explained once you finish your dessert and we move onto our next destination."

I blushed. Oh, the devilish thoughts that just ran through my head. I looked at my desert. Tiramisu - my delicious tormentor.

Time to teach this Tiramisu a lesson.

I made sure to share my dessert with Jareth, who obliged my request despite him not actually having a penchant for sweets. I know it sounds silly, but I didn't want to waste my desert, nor did I intend to be food bloated for the very first time that Jareth and I made love.

Would you?

Once we had finished with dinner and the check was paid, I couldn't wait to get the hell out of there. Not because there was anything wrong with the food by any means; it was because as we were heading out of the restaurant, someone decided to tease me. Jareth, who had been beside me with his arm on the small of my back, leaned in and seductively whispered in my ear, "I hope that you enjoyed your dinner, Samantha, because once we are inside the limo, I plan on consuming you for dessert."

Insert me panting here.

**********************************************************

"Shit!" I exclaimed, probably a little loudly, considering the upscale establishment we just exited a few feet away. "I must have left my phone on the table inside."

"Would you like me to go back and retrieve it for you?" Jareth asked me.

With a deep sigh, I pinched the bridge between my furrowed brows. "No, don't. I'll run and grab it. You, on the other hand," I tugged at Jareth's belt then patted his chest wearing a sly grin, "better be ready for me when I return. I plan on holding you to those naughty little words you told me when we were leaving. As penance, I expect to see my sexy man wearing nothing but a smile on those gorgeous lips of yours." Despite being shocked by my bossiness, Jareth chuckled and gave me a brief peck on my nose. After a brief moment of hesitation, he reluctantly agreed to indulge me with my request to retrieve my phone on my own. 

Leave it to me to cockblock myself.

I can't honestly say if it was the slight buzz from the alcohol or the drunkenness from my anticipation of being with Jareth, but I was suddenly lost in my own happy little world as I skipped back towards the restaurant.

I was so preoccupied, in fact, that I paid no mind to anyone or anything around me other than the erotic fantasies that were forming in my brain.

In fact, I was so preoccupied that I didn't even pay any mind to the jogger that was clad in all black heading in my direction. How they had their hoodie pulled forward, making it impossible for the outside observer to discern the jogger's face as they headed towards me. And definitely so preoccupied that I never even noticed the faint glint of a shiny silver dagger protruding from within their gloved tight grasp.

I was so engrossed in my own thoughts that when they "accidentally" collided with me, I even apologized for not noticing them as they raced away from me. It wasn't until moments later that I realized I had just been stabbed in my lower abdomen.

My mind began to slowly haze over as I placed my hand onto the wound that was starting to inflict a searing pain within my stomach. I could feel the wetness slowly soaking through the cotton fabric of my red dress. I know.  What's the irony that my crimson dress seemed to blend in with my own blood perfectly? I was going into shock as I stared at my now bloodied hand that had been held against my wound. My eyesight began to blur, and I tried to blink them info focus; but try as I might, my impending indisposition was beginning to take over. I made a feeble attempt to call out for Jareth before I finally collapsed. Oddly enough, I didn't land