Path of Power
an excerpt

Several people came in late, so I glanced back to see if it was anyone I knew. A handsome, bearded stranger with mysteriously-compelling eyes abruptly held my gaze hostage; boring into me with such intensity, that a barely-audible gasp escaped my lips.
Embarrassed, I tried to avert my gaze; but his suggestive half-smile and intrusive dark eyes kept me spellbound. Awestruck by the fathomless depths of his seductive, coldly-distant eyes, I feigned a half-smile of my own.
His lips were silent; but his eyes were whispering clandestine words across the space between us. There was something strangely familiar about him, that I couldn't put my finger on it. It was disconcerting and made me uneasy.
Suddenly, an unsettling energy-draining feeling washed over me, leaving me emotionless and empty. I had experienced this strange phenomena once before; but still didn't quite know what to do about it. I wrenched my eyes from his alluring gaze and broke the spell.
The speaker's voice had faded into a messy jumble of meaningless words and sinking monotones, and what had been - up to that point, an engaging lecture, was suddenly lost to me. She seemed distant and far away. I didn't care about her topic anymore. He was the only thing on my mind, now.