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

I thought of a steel bin as we swayed to the music, and then I meditated into a different state of consciousness. I grabbed for my psychic cloak. Today the cape was red, and I fastened the special cloth over my head. In my mind it cascaded down to my feet. I tied the cloak securely around my neck, pulled the hood over my head, and immediately the fog dissipated, clearing my mind. My eyes snapped open, and I looked up from my resting place into his coal black eyes.
    “A pleasure to meet you, Sol. My name is Delia.” I licked my parched lips, a little souvenir of his draining of my energy, and lifted up on tiptoes, bringing my hands around to his cup his face. My turn, baby.
    “I have to taste you. You don’t mind, do you?” I asked a breath away from his full lips. Not waiting for his answer, I pressed mine to his, snaking my tongue into his mouth, invading his space, and sipping from the wellspring of his chakras. My world exploded into a riotous amount of colors and textures.
    He was fervid and spices unnamed. He was fire lit on the coldest nights, surrounded by the comforting scent of pine and cinnamon bark. The intoxicating rush of power from him overwhelmed me, and wetness gushed between my legs.
    “What the fuck?” I asked as I pulled back from the warm heat of his wonderful mouth. I craved more of his decadent taste, more of his potent desire and simmering passion.
    He tightened his arms around me, and for a brief moment, I almost felt whole. The lighter side of myself, walked out of the room inside our head I’d stashed her. Together, we stared at the man before us, the oddest sensation whipping through my mind. She vanished and a balanced normalcy coursed through me.
    I wasn’t even mad anymore. In fact, elation pumped electrified currents into my heart, filling the long forgotten deep holes of sadness.
    Sol closed his eyes, tilted his head up for a moment before opening them and meeting my dazed gaze. He leaned his forehead against mine and said the last thing I ever expected. “I’ve searched my entire life for you.”
    I burst out laughing. I couldn’t help it. That had to be the funniest thing anyone had ever said to me…ever. I rested my hand on my stomach and bent over at the waist giggling when I heard him clear his throat. When I looked up, I immediately sobered and stood tall, staring him in the eye.
    “Do clichéd lines generally work well for you?” I asked with as straight a face as I could manage.
    He shifted his weight, raised his hands in mid-air and said, “Usually. Women tend to fall at my feet and beg me to take them home.”
    “Arrogance and egotism know no bounds, I see.”
    “When you’ve lived as long as I have, you take your laughs where you can get them. But make no mistake, this time I’m not serving you a line. I’ve been searching for you, even though I didn’t know you existed until you walked through the door tonight.”
    I stepped back and turned away from this dark eyed stranger who saw right into me. I took stock of the slim pickings left at this late hour, nothing but defeat and extreme self-reflection. I probably wouldn’t harvest any energy tonight. As I licked my lips, the zing from his powerful kiss met my tongue, and I flushed. I wonder if I can feed from him? Seems only fair.
    When I turned around, he was gone and my heart stuttered.
    “Aw, did you miss me, baby?” his sumptuous voice said near my ear, and I jumped a foot in the air and to my left.
    “Whoa! You scared the shit out of me. How did you do that?” I said as I faced him from two feet away. If I had any doubts about him being something other than human, his cute little stunt eliminated them.
    “I have many talents,” Sol said as he wagged his eyebrows.
    I rolled my eyes. “I’m sure you do. Now, are we done here? I’m starved.”
    “I see you have little patience. I remember your age. Young and full of the thrill of the hunt.”
    The bar had emptied considerably, and only the most