“I hate that word,” she snapped resentfully. “You’ve taken my life away from me. I don’t even know who I am anymore.” Her blue eyes met his. “I am not going to just hand myself over to you without a fight.”
His thumb brushed her jaw, sending waves of fire beating at her. “I have already taken over your life, as you have taken over mine. It is done.”
“I don’t think so,” she objected, her chin lifting defiantly. All at once she became aware of her sweater gaping open. With a little gasp of dismay, she dragged the edges together. “Do you mind?” she said indignantly, pointedly glancing at his all-too-masculine display.
He gave a lazy shrug. “It is not exactly as if I can comfortably put everything back together again.”
She blushed furiously. “Well, don’t talk about it, for heaven’s sake!”
He found himself smiling in spite of the raging demands of his body. With unhurried movements he positioned himself within the confines of the tight cloth and buttoned the fly. “Does that make you feel safer?” he teased tenderly.
His voice sent a shiver of pure pleasure down her spine. No one deserved to have a voice like his. And his mouth. She stared up at it, caught by the chiseled perfection of it. No one should have that tempting a mouth. Her heart was slamming painfully against her chest. His mouth was mesmerizing, like his voice. Close. So close. She could almost feel the heat, the hot beckoning of his mouth.
His lips brushed hers, and her heart stopped. His tongue traced her full lower lip, teasing an opening to sweep inside the silken interior. Her heart began to pound. There was only feeling, a curious shifting of the earth, a slow spinning that kept her senses off balance. He explored every inch of her mouth with complete authority, building the heat between them once again. It was Aidan who slowly, reluctantly, lifted his head. His strange eyes were hot, molten gold, roaming her face possessively. His thumb caressed her chin while his palm spanned her throat.
“You did that this time,” he whispered, a dark sorcerer, ensnaring her further in his spell. “I deny all responsibility.”
His voice whispered over her skin. She stared up at him helplessly. How did he do it so easily? Wrap her up in sexual feelings when she was so certain she had none?
“I did not do this,” he reiterated. “You are looking at me as if I am some spider and you are the little moth caught in my web.” He shifted again in an attempt to give his body some relief.
She felt every masculine muscle imprinted on her soft form. She wanted to stay there forever, never be away from him. Horrified, Alexandria wrenched herself up. She got nowhere. Her body hadn’t moved an inch from his. The gold eyes never wavered from her face.
“Let me up. I mean it, Aidan. You’re seducing me. You’re doing something with your voice. I know you are. Like you do with Joshua.”
“If only I could, piccola. It would be nice to control you. It would present all sorts of interesting possibilities.”
She could see the wicked thoughts in his mind, the tangled bodies, bare skin, his mouth moving over every inch of her. “Stop!” she cried-desperately, feeling her body going into meltdown at the erotic pictures in his head.
He looked innocent and nuzzled the top of her head with his chin. “I am merely enjoying the night, Alexandria. Is it not beautiful?”
She glanced up at the fading stars. Light was beginning to streak the darkness, turning the skies silver-gray. Her breath caught in her throat. Where had the night gone? How long had she lain here with Aidan? She didn’t want to go down to the chamber and sleep. “I want to see the sun.”
His hand stroked her hair. “You can see the sun, but you cannot be in it. And you can never forget dark glasses, or the time.”
She swallowed fear. “The time?”
“You will become lethargic at first, then the weakness will hit and you will be completely vulnerable. You must be in shelter by noon.”
His voice was calm, matter-of-fact, as if he was not crushing her, taking her life from her. All at once she hated his voice.
“What about Joshua?” she demanded. “What about his life, school, birthday, parties, sports? He might play baseball or football. Where will I be during his games, his practice sessions?”
“Marie and Stefan—”
“I don’t want another woman raising my brother. I love him. I want to be there when he does these things. Can’t you understand that? I don’t want it to be Marie sitting in the stands when he hits a ball for the first time. And what about parent-teacher conferences? Does Marie do those, too?” Her voice was bitter, and once again the awful blockage was tearing at her throat, threatening to strangle her.
“Breathe, Alexandria,” he commanded softly, his hands massaging her shoulders. “You keep forgetting to breathe. This is all so new. Things will work themselves out. Give yourself some time.”
“Maybe if I saw a doctor. A researcher specializing in blood disorders. There must be a way to go back,” she said desperately. The truth was the worst thing to face. It wasn’t just the abhorrent practice of drinking blood. Evidently she could overcome that aversion; Aidan had just given her proof. It was her growing obsession with Aidan that terrified her. Heterrified her. His dominating her life terrified her. She wanted all of that to just go away and leave her normal again.
He stirred slightly, the jungle cat stretching. She could feel his muscles rippling with power. His hand moved to her neck, and there was stark possession in his gaze. “You will not do such a foolish thing. There are those who hunt our people, and the methods they use to destroy us are not pretty. You would die a hard and ugly death. I cannot allow such a thing.”
“I hate that condescending I’m-so-calm-and-you’re-so-out-of-control voice you use. Don’t you ever get mad?” she blazed at him, little sparks flying from her sapphire eyes. “I’m just going to ignore you. How do I know any of this is real? I’ve never acted this way before. This could all be a dream.”
His eyebrows lifted, and a small, mocking, suggestive smile touched his mouth. “A dream?” he echoed.
“A nightmare,” she corrected with a frown. “A very bad, very vivid nightmare.”
“Would you like me to see if I can wake you up?” he offered helpfully.
“Don’t sound so arrogant and macho. It makes my skin crawl,” she snapped, because her heart was pounding all over again with fear. Did he have to be so sexy, so tempting? She didn’t know the first thing about men, but surely they weren’t all like this. Lethal. A threat to freedom.
A lazy smile softened his perfect mouth, instantly drawing her attention. “Was I sounding arrogant?” His thumb was stroking back and forth over her pulse.
She could feel each separate, caressing stroke go right through her body to collect in the pit of her stomach, to brush there like the wings of butterflies. She turned her head to escape his penetrating golden gaze, to escape that perfect mouth, and she saw the thin ribbon of scarlet that formed a path down his chest, tangled in the fine gold hair, and trickled lower still to his flat belly. Before she could think, instinctively, sensually, she lowered her head, her tongue tracking the ruby streak.
His every muscle clenched hotly, contracted and bunched. His teeth came together, and his throat worked convulsively. She possessed such a natural sensuality, and her body was so familiar with his. Her every instinct cried out for him. Alexandria was so innocent, so unaware of how close to peril she really was. Centuries of discipline were rapidly disintegrating, leaving only the dark, starving beast, needing—no, demanding—to claim its mate. Aidan couldn’t help himself. His fingers tangled in the silken hair at the nape of her neck and held her to him while the earth spun and wanted to fragment, while his body pulsed and throbbed somewhere between pain and pleasure.