Duality (Cordelia Kelly #1): Empath Urban Fantasy Read Free

met any—I was too busy running away and hiding from life.
    He backed away far enough for me to turn around and face him. He stood easily over six feet, and I had to look up into his eyes, which were half hidden by the shitty bar lighting.
    “Oh, and you do…really? You think you know what I want?”
    A shiver coursed through me at how black his eyes appeared and how they bore into me, almost as if he was reading my life story. Was it a trick of the light or something more sinister? My own pupils reacted to his nearness and the dominant way he invaded my space. The sensation overwhelmed me, and my vision sharpened.
    “Where the hell did you come from and how long have you been watching me?” I asked before taking another sip of my beer and licking my lips.
    His eyes tracked the movement, and I had a moment of intense lust surge through the core of my veins. Lust is easily recognizable as the ache flows fast through your blood and makes you clench your muscles in anticipation of endorphin release.
    I pushed off the bar and moved closer to his body, trying to get a read on him, on his emotions, his desires, or rage. His aura made me ache.
    He reached out and tucked a hair behind my ear then caressed my cheek in his meaty palm before ducking down and regaining the upper hand. “Won’t work on me, sweetheart.”
    Oh, fuck. Play dumb. He has no clue. He probably just thinks I’m a hussy trying to get into his pants, some kind of human street whore.
    I played my role and grasped his hand making a show of checking for a ring. “You married, then?” I asked with a hint of flirty seduction, just enough to throw him off and make him wonder.
    He pulled his hand from mine and crossed his arms over his chest. “Nope.”
    “Not into redheads?”
    “Love ‘em, as a matter of fact.”
    I smiled and gave him the full wattage. “Are you going to answer my other questions?”
    He laughed a truly wicked laugh, and his eyes shone with mischief. “I was sitting in the back of the room, and I’ve had my eyes on you from the moment you walked through the door.”
    I turned towards the back, and the man whom I couldn’t read was gone. Shit, this wasn’t good. Now confusion settled in. “Who are you?”
    “I got tired of waiting on you to take notice of me, so I decided to make myself known and stop you before you hurt someone. If you hadn’t been so intent on these hapless souls, you would have seen through my magic right way. I sense enormous power in you and something else I haven’t encountered in a very long time—a kindred spirit. You are much more than meets the eye.”
    I should have seethed with rage he read me so easily when I couldn’t tell anything about him. I should have grabbed a beer bottle and cracked the broken glass over his head or maybe kneed him in the nuts, but I did none of those things. For reasons that totally mystified me, this stranger soothed the savage in me.
    “You are one strange man,” I finally stammered.
    He reached out and ran a fingertip down the side of my neck. “Want to dance?”
    A voice exploded into my mind as the lighter half of me barked out, “No! Don’t Delia. Leave him alone. Please. Don’t hurt anyone again.”
    I stomped my foot and screamed in my head, “ It was one time! One time and it was a fucking accident!”
    I closed my eyes and sought the place in our head that housed the box. I opened the box, reached in, pulled out the ball gag, and fastened the rubber piece over her mouth. Then I pushed her down, locked her into the floor chains, slammed and bolted the door, and opened my eyes. “How do you like being locked up?”
    “I’d love to,” I said with a huge smile.
    He seemed riveted by me, and I swear he read my thoughts. I shivered under his gaze as pleasure spikes pricked my skin. Finally, he took my hand in his much larger one and turned around, walking towards the rear of the bar. Electricity raced between our laced fingers, and the sting of pleasure was