Free Odyssey (The Vampire Destiny Series Companion Book 1) by Alexandra Anthony Page B

instead focused on finding her.  I swallowed roughly and struggled to maintain my faltering self-control.
She had felt the surge as well.  I observed her fingers brushing absently against her arm and was only briefly taken aback when I heard her thoughts float through my mind, wondering if she was crazy or if she'd had too much to drink when she felt the energy pass between us.  She thought it would make more sense if she were crazy.
Hearing her mental voice in my mind made my prophecy complete.  I knew her voice would 'call to me', yet I had no comprehension as to what that meant until this moment.  She would not be pleased to know that I had access to her thoughts.  This development could be added to my list of unpleasant things that I would eventually have to explain to her.
Turning my head to look down at her, I was entertained as she continued her inner musings.  Her eyes were critically examining my face, her thoughts filled with confusion.  She was comparing me to a memory she was recalling.  Brief images floated through her mind…images that mirrored my own dreams.  She thought my face was handsome, noting the almost iridescent quality of my skin in the moonlight.  Her heart was still thumping wildly as she openly admired me, her thoughts varying from thinking she was out of her league with me, trying to place why I looked so familiar until her mind veered off and she wondered why she could not read me.
Read me? It was imperative that I divert her attention for the moment.  She was surprisingly more perceptive than most humans.  It was much too early to be forced to play my hand and reveal what I was too soon.
“I should introduce myself.  I am Stefan Lifsten.  And you are?” I inclined my head, extending my hand to her in greeting.  Nervously she placed her tiny hand in mine and the silky warmth heated the coolness of my skin, another spark passing between us.  Her mind wandered off to consider that it might not be a good sign that her panties wanted to disappear into the night from something as simple as a touch.
She was absolutely intriguing.
“I'm Josephine Anderson.  Everyone calls me Josie but you can call me whatever you want...” Her soft voice faltered, having almost a musical quality to it.  She was irritated with herself for babbling, cursing herself for her ‘verbal diarrhea’ and wondering if she could do anything to make herself seem more of an idiot.
“Josephine, it is my pleasure to meet you.”  I lowered my mouth to her hand, brushing it lightly with my lips.  My eyes rolled back as I was bombarded with the allure of her blood pulsing through her veins, the soft warmth of her fragrant skin, and the sweet bouquet of her arousal flooding my nose.  It took every bit of restraint I possessed to pull my lips from her skin to observe her again.  She took a deep breath and glanced in the direction of the bar, her mind focused on trying to calm herself before she blurted out something else embarrassing.
Concentrating on keeping my composure, I wrestled with the longing to explain that nothing would separate me from her again.  I would kill for her; procure any object she desired, no matter the cost or the method required to obtain it.
For 200 years, my life had not been my own.  Every agonizingly lonely, monotonous moment I had spent without her suddenly seemed unimportant.  This beautiful, strange human woman held the fate of my existence in her hands.
I would die a thousand deaths for her.

Chapter Five-Revelations And Expectations
“Would you like go inside and dance with me, Josephine?” I asked.  I offered her one of my most charming smiles.  Usually when I made such a gesture like this, it was to impose my will on a human.  For the first time, the act was honest and heartfelt.
She was stunned into silence by my query.  Her lips opened and closed as she simply stared at me with confusion.  Her thoughts beckoned for me and I could not resist the urge to read her