Soul Kissed by Courtney Cole

breath before I walked to the door in my nightgown.  I opened it and Brennan smiled, his gaze drifting over me and then back up to my face, keeping it there.  I had to give him credit for that.
    “Good morning, sunshine,” he grinned. “I owed you a coffee.”  He held one of the cups out and I took it, careful not to touch his hand.  It was too early in the morning for spine-tingling electricity. 
    “I’m sorry. I’m not dressed yet,” I pointed out the obvious. “If you want to come in, I’ll throw some clothes on really quick.”
    “Oh, don’t get dressed on my account,” he grinned again and I smiled back.  He had an ornery sense of humor and I found that I liked it.  He dropped lazily onto my sofa, sipping at his coffee, making a show of being patient.  “But if you must, I’ll be right here.”
    I nodded and spun back around for my bedroom, making sure to close the door tightly behind me.  I leaned against it for a moment, gathering my composure.  My potential soul mate was lounging in my living room.  And he just happened to be the son of Apollo, the most handsome god who had ever lived.  Heaven help me.
    I threw some clothes on, yanked a brush through my hair, brushed my teeth and was ready in five minutes flat.
    Opening the door a crack, I peeked through. Brennan’s hazel eyes were boring a hole into my own.  I startled and he laughed, the warm sound enticing me to walk nearer to him.  There was something about him, an easy way of being, that made it incredibly hard to resist him.  He cocked an eyebrow. 
    “Well, are you dressed?”
    I nodded, my fingers still curled around the door.  “Yes.”
    “Then why are you hiding in your bedroom?”
    I quickly straightened and threw the door open.  “I don’t hide. Not from you, anyway.”
    “Yet you just were.”  Again with the cocked eyebrow.
    “If you raise your eyebrows any higher, they’re going to embed into your hairline,” I told him. 
    He laughed again. “You’re funny,” he observed.  “Kind-of snarky.  I like it. It suits you.”
    It was my turn to raise my eyebrows.  “It suits me?  And how would you know what suits me?”
    He shrugged.  “I wouldn’t.  But why don’t you come out here and tell me more about you so that maybe I can get an idea?”
    Shit.  I had walked right into that and mentally slapped myself on the forehead.
    I eyed him cautiously and then mentally slapped myself again.  I wasn’t afraid of anyone, much less a mortal boy.  He wasn’t a mortal boy , I reminded myself.  But still.  I wasn’t intimidated by anyone, mortal or otherwise.  I walked purposefully out to the living room and perched on the sofa on the opposite end from Brennan, trying to ignore the fact that my hands were shaking and my knees felt weak. 
    Brennan turned to me calmly, seeking out my gaze.  He was cool and collected, so much so that his next question startled me.
    “If I’m not a mortal boy, then what am I?” he inquired politely. 
    Holy shit.  He had read my mind. 
     
     

 
     
    Chapter Five
     
     
    “You can read my mind,” I stammered without thinking. 
    “So it would seem,” Brennan answered, still calm. “Why is that? What is happening?”
    My own mind was spinning.  Of course, he could read it…because gods could read the minds of other gods.  I was probably the first demi he had ever come into contact with, so I was the first mind he could read.  I quickly hid my thoughts so that he couldn’t hear them, camouflaging my hesitation with a question.
    “Didn’t you wonder about this strange ability last night?” I asked him, slightly accusatory.
    “I didn’t realize it until just now.  It was a strange feeling and at first I thought that you had spoken out loud.  But today, I was looking at your mouth and I knew that you hadn’t spoken.  I read your mind .  And you’re not surprised by that.  Can you tell me why?”
    For the first time, his voice was slightly tight,