Phantasma (Wicked Games, #1)
Rate it:
Open Preview
Kindle Notes & Highlights
Read between September 16 - September 19, 2025
41%
Flag icon
“Whatever you say, but don’t be surprised when you find yourself having to resist begging me for more.” She glared at him. “I will never beg you for anything,” she said. He grinned. “Famous last words.”
41%
Flag icon
“Please,” she whispered. “Please try.” He pushed away from the dresser to place his hands on her shoulder, turning her around and ushering her to the bed. “I will. Now, get some sleep. You’re going to need it for the next level.”
41%
Flag icon
He stretched the blankets up around her shoulders and made to turn away, but she reached out and snagged his hand. “Are you leaving? What if there’s a haunt in the middle of the night?” “I can stay until you fall asleep,” he told her, gently tugging his hand out of hers to take up residence in the armchair a few feet away.
42%
Flag icon
“I was pleasing my inner demons,” she finally said, only half joking. “Anything I can do to vanquish them, so you can go to sleep?” he offered. The genuineness in his tone made her chest tighten with an emotion she had never felt before and couldn’t quite name.
emarni
aw arent you sweet
42%
Flag icon
He was silent for a long moment. Then, “Nothing is going to hurt you while I’m here, Ophelia. Rest.”
42%
Flag icon
“Ophelia,” a deep voice said. The Shadow Voice slinked off into the depths of her mind and finally it was quiet. Blackwell was suddenly there, gently prying her hands from her hair. “What’s going on?” “It wouldn’t stop,” she groaned. “What wouldn’t stop?” he pressed. “The Shadow Voice,” she gritted out, squeezing her hands into fists to resist the urge to plunge them back into her disheveled tresses.
42%
Flag icon
“You have nothing to be embarrassed about,” he vowed. “Next time your mind tries to convince you otherwise, remember this: there is nothing about you that I find undesirable. Okay?”
45%
Flag icon
“I’ll have to strip down to nothing just to avoid a heat stroke,” she gasped to herself, wiping the back of her good hand across her forehead. “As much as it pains me to say this,” Blackwell’s voice rang out, “keep your clothes on, angel.”
46%
Flag icon
The cage shot up several feet. “You’re doing excellent,” Blackwell praised. “Keep going.” His encouragement made her push herself harder. As much as she hated to admit it, she craved confirmation when she did something well.
emarni
youre a fellow praise kink girly
46%
Flag icon
“That’s it, angel,” Blackwell continued. “The next one is just a little further.”
46%
Flag icon
“Ophelia.” At the sound of his voice, the Shadow Voice shriveled up and disappeared. A sob caught in Ophelia’s throat as she spotted the blood now coating her knuckles. “The Shadow Voice…” she whispered. “It won’t stop unless I do what it says.” “Tell me who the Shadow Voice is,” Blackwell pressed gently. She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. “Angel?” “I don’t know,” she finally answered, sniffing. “Sometimes, I think it’s me. All the bad parts of me. But the things it tells me to do… I know I would never want those things. I hate it.” “Hey,” he murmured, and she suddenly felt a warm ...more
47%
Flag icon
“Come on,” a deep voice murmured, cool hands running over her face, brushing back the hair on her forehead. “Wake up for me.” Ophelia didn’t want whoever was touching her to ever stop. “Mmm?” she muttered, trying to open her eyes, but they were much too heavy. “I’m going to start healing you,” the voice told her.
47%
Flag icon
She reached out to give his hand a squeeze. “Thank you. You got me through that.” He took a step toward her, lifting her chin with his finger so he could look her square in the eyes. “You got yourself through that. I’m proud of you.”
emarni
THE PRAISE.
47%
Flag icon
“I can fix myself without your help.” She huffed. “I was just under a lot of stress. It gets louder when I’m stressed.” “Ophelia.” His tone was firm now. “You don’t need to fix yourself. You’re not broken. But it’s okay to get outside help if it gets too loud.” “I can control it,” she insisted. “Just drop it.” “It was making you beat your hand into a bloody pulp,” he stated bluntly. “Excuse me for being concerned.”
emarni
oof
47%
Flag icon
“Can we please talk about something else?” she implored. “After everything that just happened, Hell, I just want to feel good again.” The intensity in his eyes heated at her words. “And what would make you feel good right now, angel?”
47%
Flag icon
He placed a hand above her head for balance as he leaned in and taunted, “C’mon, angel. Tell me what I can do to make you feel good. I’m at your service after all.” She tilted her head up, her lips brushing over his as light as a feather, but still she said nothing. A low, sensual sound hummed in the back of his throat, and he lifted his free hand to the front laces of her corset, skimming the backs of his fingers over the material across her stomach. He slowly tugged at the laces holding her corset closed, nimbly undoing them, one pull at a time, the blood still covering his hands smearing ...more
48%
Flag icon
“You first,” she whispered. “What do you want?” He moved in, turning his head so he could lightly touch his lips to the underside of her jaw. “I want you to let me see you.” His mouth began tracing up her jawline, languidly, torturously. His words tickling her skin. “All of you. There is nothing I have seen yet that has made me look away. No atrocity you could commit to make me not want you like this. No matter how forbidden.”
48%
Flag icon
“I want to know everything. I want to see all the darkest corners of your mind.” He tilted his face up to whisper his next words right into her ear. “I want to taste your sins.”
48%
Flag icon
“I dare someone to bother us right now,” he threatened. Her voice was shaky as she asked, “What… what are you doing?” He gave her a wickedly roguish look. “Tasting.” She nearly choked on her shock, but there was no time to respond before he leaned in and began kissing the sensitive skin of her exposed inner thighs.
48%
Flag icon
“You taste like heaven,” he murmured. “Blackwell,” she pleaded, tugging on his hair with her impatience. She needed relief. This teasing was too much. Finally, he gave it to her. His tongue flicked over her clit, sending a piercing wave of pleasure through her body, making her toes curl, her stomach clench. She tightened her hold in his hair as if to keep him right there forever.
emarni
oh woww
48%
Flag icon
“You’re so beautiful. It’s quite irritating.” “I know,” he said wryly.
48%
Flag icon
“Come here,” she whispered, reaching out for him. He undid the belt of his pants with a single hand and tossed it aside before lifting a knee onto the bed, placing it between her legs. He planted a kiss on her belly, just above her navel, before licking and nipping his way up to her breasts. He gently clamped his lips down over one of her pert nipples and her back arched off the mattress as the fire inside of her reignited.
48%
Flag icon
Pushing herself up, palms flat against his chest, she maneuvered herself until she was straddling his upper thighs. She smiled. “It’s my turn to taste.” Scenes from the second trial flashing through her mind. Of lovers feasting on each other in ways she had never before imagined. And she wanted to try it for herself.
emarni
hold onnn
49%
Flag icon
Reaching between their bodies, she unbuttoned his pants before lifting herself up just enough for him to kick them off to the floor. She looked down. Holy. Shit. The impressive length was considerably more than she had realized the previous night when she had ground herself to a climax against him.
emarni
demon devil ghost dick.
49%
Flag icon
His hips bucked. “Fuck,” he groaned. “I take back what I said about you being angelic.” She cleared her throat. “Is it okay if I⁠—” “You can do anything you want, angel,” he inserted, voice gruff. “I’d let you drag me to the depths of Hell right now if that would please you.”
emarni
HE OVERLY GOINNN LMAOO
49%
Flag icon
“This is a version of you I can work with,” she quipped as she gave him another stroke. “Fuck,” he hissed again. She braced her unoccupied hand on his stomach to steady herself as she leaned down and gave the tip of his cock a tentative lick. “Ophelia.”
emarni
pls this is absolutely killing me
49%
Flag icon
she stopped. A sensual curse fell from his lips. She lifted her head, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, and grinned down at him. “Payback.” “You’re a fiend,” he told her, voice thick with lust and affection. In a blink, he transported them both into a new position, pressing her back into the pillows at the head of the bed, his body hovering over hers. He reached a hand between their bodies, moving it down to her core to rub circles against her clit with the pad of his thumb, kissing her until she could hardly remember her own name or the fact that she was required to breathe in order ...more
49%
Flag icon
And just as she wondered if he was going to wait for her to beg—determined to prove that what she’d said about never begging him for anything were, in fact, famous last words—he removed his fingers and placed the tip of his cock at her entrance. He broke their kiss and pulled back just enough to read her face in the dark. “Tell me you want this.” “I want this,” she swore, breathless. “Very much.”
49%
Flag icon
He was so deep she swore she could feel him in her soul. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head as he pulled out, slowly, before rocking forward in another languid movement.
emarni
oh wowwwww
49%
Flag icon
“Blackwell,” she whimpered, her body beginning to tighten beneath his. “More. More. More.” “You can have everything, angel.”
49%
Flag icon
Blackwell reached up to gather her hair out of her face, pushing her long curls over her shoulders so he could see her fully. She couldn’t help blushing as she met his gaze and slowly rolled her hips forward before grinding them back down again. Over and over again she moved up and down his cock, his hands coming up to grip her waist and guide her into a smooth, steady rhythm. Teaching her how to ride him perfectly.
emarni
omg
49%
Flag icon
“You’re such a good fucking girl,” he growled as she shifted forward again, moving one of his hands between their bodies to rub his thumb over her clit. “Come for me again, angel.” “Blackwell,” she whimpered as his thumb rubbed faster and faster between her legs, sending every nerve in her body into a lust-filled frenzy. “Fuck me,” he told her. “Harder, angel.”
emarni
THE SHOCK ON MY FACE IS KILLING ME
49%
Flag icon
“If you let me up, I can take care of it.” The rain turned into a drizzle, the warm splashes of scarlet dying his hair pink, sliding down the bridge of her nose, running over more sensitive areas… Ophelia began moving against him again, and his brows shot up in utter shock. He quickly recovered and a devious smile slowly curled up at the corners of his mouth at her boldness. “Are you sure?” She shrugged and repeated his own words from earlier. “It’s only blood.”
emarni
omg im like so pleasently disturbed rn
50%
Flag icon
As evenly as she could, she asked, “You’re leaving?” He glanced at her as he bent to swipe his shirt from where it had been haphazardly discarded on the floor. “Do you want me to stay?” A beat. She felt strangely more vulnerable in this moment than she had during their throes of passion, but she swallowed and whispered, “Yes.” “Then, I’ll stay,” he avowed.
50%
Flag icon
Blackwell traced affectionate circles over her back and down her spine, and in no time, she drifted off to sleep.
50%
Flag icon
A wave of his hand in the air and the page he was reading turned in tandem.
emarni
thats so cool
50%
Flag icon
“Clearly, I didn’t wear you out enough if you’re already awake,” he drawled.
emarni
uhm who are you feeling like
50%
Flag icon
“I can take over for a while if you need a break,” she offered. “I just need to get dressed⁠—” He snapped his fingers and suddenly she was fully clothed beneath the covers.
50%
Flag icon
She asked, “Is there somewhere quieter we can go? The screams are going to give me a migraine.” “Your wish is my command.” He smirked as he took her hand and transported them away.
51%
Flag icon
“For the last twenty-one years Genevieve’s made a point of avoiding all things even remotely strange—our mother’s practice, visiting relatives at the cemetery, any mention of our family’s magic—but Phantasma she jumps right into? And then I find out she has an entire social life I’ve known nothing about. From a contestant here, of all people!”
emarni
true
51%
Flag icon
He steadily sipped from his glass during her rant, not offering any reaction in his expression, but she could tell he was listening to every word intently.
emarni
i like that
51%
Flag icon
“For what it’s worth,” he started, “being normal is incredibly dull.
51%
Flag icon
“Then don’t take up your family business.” He shrugged. “Who’s going to die if you decide not to keep it? No pun intended.”
emarni
thats what om saying like whats the real problem here
51%
Flag icon
About an hour and two more glasses later, Ophelia was feeling amazing. Blackwell, however, almost seemed stressed as he ushered her over to the jacquard silk couch in the center of the room, a hand at her waist as she wobbled a bit on her feet. She sank into the couch cushions, a giggle bubbling in her throat as she grinned up at him. “I think maybe I’m drunk.” He crouched down in front of her, until they were eye level. “Yes, I think maybe you are. Do you feel any better at least?” “About what?” she questioned, the only thing on her mind the warmth spreading through her blood and the vibrant ...more
51%
Flag icon
She trailed her finger down his cheek. “You have pretty eyes.” He reached out and cupped her face, brushing his thumb across the apple of her own cheek. “So do you.”
emarni
i love it here
51%
Flag icon
She leaned forward and placed her forehead against his, let her eyelids flutter closed. “Why do I feel like this?” “That would be the four glasses of liquor you downed,” he murmured as he leaned back so he could brush the hair from her face.
51%
Flag icon
She tried to protest, but he ignored her, standing to scoop her up and lay her out horizontally on the couch. He blinked out for a moment and returned with a blanket. Once she was tucked in, he took up post on the ground against the armrest near her head, leaning his back against it and propping his elbows onto his bent knees.
51%
Flag icon
In the silence she softly brushed her fingers through his hair, sifting through the strands at the nape of his neck to admire all the silver threaded throughout the white. She’d never known anyone with such striking features as his,
51%
Flag icon
“Go back to sleep, angel,” he murmured. “Right now, I’m here.”
emarni
yuhhh
52%
Flag icon
“What’s it like being a Phantom?” she whispered. “Is it terribly lonely?” He shifted his eyes to her, a loaded emotion in them. “Most of the time.” He reached over to cup her cheek in his hand, brushing his thumb over her pouted lips. “But not always.”