Arrow to the Heart: A Dark Cupid Romance

Chapter 1

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Desire. I can sense it pouring off of every person in this bar. It invades my senses and creeps through my bones. It's like an electric current buzzing through the air, imperceptible to everyone but me.

When I try, I can look past their faces and fancy clothes and sense deeper truths—what they crave, what they need. I can sense if they're open to romance or closed off to it. I can even sense those dirty little kinks they try so hard to keep hidden. And that possibility between two people, the spark? It's all there, clear as day to me.

Two stereotypical frat boys in polo shirts are chatting up a pair of girls at a table. Both men want the blond. Predictable. Too bad she's into guys who are rougher around the edges.

The bartender has a smile on his face, but it's just for show. Someone just broke his heart and it's eating at him inside. He's pouring a drink for an older man in a suit who's secretly hoping to take him home tonight. It might be a good match if the bartender wasn't straight, but he is, so they'll both be going home alone tonight.

The middle-aged couple sitting in the corner? She's wearing that dress because she wants attention. He's certainly paying attention to her—or at least her tits—but he's hiding something.

A mistress maybe? No, scratch that, a wife.

And the older woman sitting at the bar in a beige cardigan and black slacks? Tina Maldonado. My target.

She's 45, married to an absolute fucking prick, and currently anxiously stirring her mojito. She doesn't even know why she walked into this bar tonight, but I do. I used my powers; with a quick touch in passing that she didn't even notice, I gave her a little dose of longing and loneliness. Just enough to make her think twice when she passed by the bar tonight.

I scan the room, looking for her match. He's cleaning off a nearby table, seemingly oblivious to her presence. His name is Randall, which is an absolutely shit name, but he's a decent enough guy. He's 22, with a taste for older women; splits his time between bussing tables and trying to build a career as a fitness influencer on TikTok. He's hardly a long-term fit for a buttoned-up serious career woman, but long-term is not what she needs right now.

No. Tonight, Tina Maldonado needs a hard-bodied young guy to make her feel special—wanted. And Randall the busboy is that guy.

It's a sure match. Hell, I'm pretty sure I can pull this next part off without even using my powers.

I grab a mostly empty martini glass from an abandoned table and walk toward my target. I feign a bit of a drunken slip and fumble the glass so that it shatters just beside her chair.

She gasps and Randall's head snaps in our direction, following the sound.

"Shit, my bad," I mumble, backing away and slipping back into the crowd.

Randall rushes over to help, insisting that she stay perched safely on her stool as he grabs a broom to sweep away the debris.

Twenty minutes later and they're both seated at the bar, his hand stroking her thigh as he leans close to whisper in her ear. Lust and infatuation roll off both of them in thick waves.

It's as good as done.

I walk away, weaving through bar patrons on my way toward the door. On my way past the guy at the bar, I give him a quick tap on the shoulder.

"Uh... hello," he says, his brow wrinkled in confusion.

"You see that guy over there with the glasses?" I say, tilting my head in the direction of a man reading his book in the corner. "He's single."