Chapter 1 #2
She slowed to a stop in front of him. “Only when I dance.” No matter how warm she got, she never took off the black leather jacket with her patches and studs.
“And you didn’t dance.” He tilted his head, giving her an oh-my-gods-stop-my-heart pout. “Pity.”
“Are you flirting with me?”
He arched an eyebrow. “You make it sound like a crime.”
“What you’re hearing is surprise. I know it’s painful for Caidos to feel desire, punishment when your forefathers fell to human temptation. Don’t worry. As a therapist, I’m sworn to secrecy,” she added. “Caido clients tell me it’s easier to shut down their desire. Yet you do…feel desire.”
“Ah, so you did sense it.”
“You threw me off back at the bar. First that you were flirting, then that you asked me outright to feel you.” She had an instant visual image of her hands sliding down those biceps. “I mean, to sense your feelings. You’re different.”
“Very. I don’t usually flirt.” He let his gaze drift down over her black leather skirt and fishnet stockings. His eyes met hers again, jumpstarting her heart. “You have a strange effect on me.”
Ditto, buddy. Which made her all too aware that they were outside alone together.
His chuckle rolled across her skin. “Don’t worry, I’m not waiting out here to pounce on you.”
“But you are waiting for me.”
“I am.”
“You’re not going to ask me out or anything, are you? Because I don’t date.” He didn’t say anything, which made for a really awkward few seconds. “It’s a general rule, nothing personal. If…that’s what you were going to ask.” She would thwap herself on the forehead if it wouldn’t look stupid.
And, of course, as a Caido, he picked up everything she was feeling, which put a sexy smile on his face. “As much as I’d love to hook up with you, it’s not feasible. Or wise.”
He’d love to hook up with her. She tried to stanch her reaction.
He gave her a sympathetic smile. “The love guru doesn’t date? Sad.”
She debated being obtuse but decided it was better that he knew she wasn’t just playing hard to get. “Being involved with someone interferes with my abilities. The drama and distraction, even if things are going well, takes over my mind. All I get is noise when I read someone.”
He cocked his head. “And that terrifies you. Why?”
She really hated that he could read her. “Helping people is important to me.”
“Which leads beautifully to the reason I’m waiting for you. The Caido/Deuce couple who came in and greeted you like you were their best friend, who danced together, and kissed…you helped them, didn’t you?”
Kye had watched them snuggling together on the dance floor with just a tiny bit of longing. “Sorry, client confidentiality.”
He rubbed his chin. “So, you did help them. The only way they could be together is by doing the Essex. I assume you know what that is.”
She had been shocked and saddened to learn that the emotions Caidos picked up from others cut through them like a knife.
It was a secret they held very closely, for their own well-being.
Kasabian was testing her. She knew he wouldn’t volunteer the information.
“That’s when a Caido exchanges his magick essence with a Dragon or Deuce.
It’s how a Caido heals other Crescents’ emotional or physical pain.
Unbeknownst to those Crescents, our essence has a balancing effect on the Caido, so he’s not as sensitive to others’ emotions. Or desire.”
He nodded. “But it only temporarily eases his pain. A long-term relationship would eventually deplete her essence, because he would have to do it with her every day. No self-respecting Caido would endanger someone he cares about. So how is it that they’re together?”
“I can only give you a general answer. I’ve come up with a way to make the Essex permanent.”
He pushed away from the car, interest crackling off him as he came closer. “Tell me more.”
She fought the instinct to back up a step. “I’ve had a few mixed-Caido couples approach me about circumventing the pain. They hadn’t meant to fall in love, but now they wanted—needed—to be together. I tried several different spells and magick devices, but nothing worked.”
He crossed his arms in front of him and rocked back on his heels. “And you take it very hard when you can’t fix someone.”
“You get that from me, too?”
“I suppose we both bear a similar burden in picking up feelings we have no business sensing. How does your permanent Essex work?”
She laid one of her hands on top of the other and let her fingers barely settle between each other.
“With the Essex, you’re limited to how much essence you can exchange, kind of the way my fingers aren’t fully locked together.
That’s why it’s temporary. The Cobra, which I named for the tantric position, surrounds the Essex process with magick that acts as a conduit, allowing both essences to reach fully toward one another, like this.
” She laced her hands together, fingers straight so that they formed an X.
“This starts the bonding process. The last step is when both parties actually pull the other’s essence into their souls, permanently locking them together.
” Her fingers wrapped over her hands as though in prayer.
“At least, I think it’s permanent. The first couple did it four months ago, and it’s still holding strong. ”
“Why haven’t I heard about this magick of yours? The Caido community should be buzzing.”
“I haven’t made it public yet. There are some side effects I’m still working out.
Initially, the Caido is bombarded by every emotion he’s ever repressed.
It can be intense. One Caido had to, as he put it, get deprogrammed.
Another effect: the couple is emotionally bonded, perhaps permanently.
And one Caido experienced a resurgence of buried memories.
It was a fail, and yes, I took it hard.”
Kasabian’s eyes shimmered. “Buried memories?”
“It apparently caused some big problems, but he couldn’t give me any details beyond that. He just wanted me to know that it happened.”
Kasabian went silent for a few moments, sliding his fingers across his mouth. “Can you do it so a Caido can simply experience desire?”
“It’s not for hook-ups. I only do it if you have a committed partner who wants to be permanently bonded to you.”
“That would not be a good thing. For any woman.”
“Why?” The mystery of him pulled at her, the dark desire she’d sensed.
“Oh, love, there you go, needing to help even though you know you should run the other way.” He lowered his chin, the street light reflecting off his razor-sharp jawline. “And you should run. I’m forty ways screwed-up.”
She swallowed. No one had ever made her this off-balanced. “I do want to help. Too many messed up people are not only suffering but inflicting their misery on others.”
“I assure you that I’m not inflicting my anything on anyone.” He brushed the back of his hand down her cheek. “As much as I’d like to.”
She stumbled back, his touch curling throughout her body. “I should go.”
Hunger flashed in his eyes. “Yes, you should.”
Go, run, and never look back.