Dark Gold (43 page)

Worried, Aidan left the boy sleeping peacefully while he returned to the revolting battleground to complete the distasteful task of destroying the vampire for all time. The separated heart and the body, along with all the tainted blood, had to be burned to ashes.

Looking skyward, he built the electricity, weaving the veins of lightning and increasing the friction until it arced and crackled. He directed a bolt to the vampire's body, spinning a ball of fire from the resulting sparks. The vampire's body writhed repugnantly, the stench rising to fill the night air. A few feet away, the heart seemed to move, a subtle, deadly pulsating that gave Aidan pause.

Uneasy with the unknown phenomenon, Aidan directed the flames at the heart and incinerated it quickly, reducing it to a handful of ashes. The body contorted grotesquely, nearly sat up, and a long, mournful wail rose on the wind. The sound was hideous, and as it faded into the night, the notes changed to ugly, taunting laughter.

Immediately, Aidan swung around, his golden eyes restless, searching the land, the trees, the sky for a hidden trap. His body was still, listening intently for any betraying sound. In his mind, Alexandria was holding her breath. And then he heard it. A soft, insidious rustling. Stealthy. Furtive. A brush of scales sliding through pine needles.

Joshua
! Alexandria's burst of revelation, of horror, came on the heels of his own.

He moved with supernatural speed, faster than he had ever moved in the centuries of his existence, crossing the distance to the grassy knoll where he had left the child. His hand found the snake, grasped it, and jerked it away from its goal. The thing hissed and coiled around his arm, desperately squeezing his muscles, sinking fangs into the fleshy part of his thumb. It bit again and again, injecting poison into his body, its every instinct commanding it to carry out the vampire's revenge. Aidan tore the snake apart, flinging it into the flames consuming the body of the undead. Noxious fumes rose into the air, green gases that spun and whirled, then disappeared into the black smoke.

Aidan sank down beside Joshua and pulled the child into his arms. He made a slow, careful inspection of every inch of skin to assure himself the boy was unharmed. He waited for a reaction from the snake's venom. Within minutes, his lungs began to fight for air, and he felt nauseated, but it was not nearly as bad as he expected, considering the venom was aided by the vampire's hatred. It took him a moment to realize it was Gregori's blood that was neutralizing the poison's effects. He could feel the struggle taking place in his body, but Gregori's blood was far stronger than anything the vampire could produce. Within minutes, Aidan was fine, his heart and lungs as strong as ever, the venom oozing out of his pores.

He lifted the boy into his arms and launched himself into the air, Wings spreading as he made his way across the sky toward his home and his waiting lifemate. He had hardly landed on the third-floor balcony before Alexandria was attempting to pull the child into her arms, laughing and crying at the same time.

"You did it, Aidan! I can't believe you did it!" She was deathly pale, her arms trembling with weakness.

Aidan could hear her heart laboring, her lungs wheezing, struggling to function though her blood supply was low. Despite his desire to sweep her up and care for her needs, he placed Joshua in her waiting arms.

"Look at his poor little face." She was crying, the tears falling on Joshua's bruises and swollen eye. "Oh, Aidan, look at him."

"He looks wonderful to me," he said softly as his arm circled her waist. He took most of the boy's weight himself. "Let's get him into bed and wake him up." He could hear Marie and Stefan clambering up the stairs to join them. Alexandria's hunger was beating at him. Everything male, everything protective and Carpathian in him, rose up to demand he care for her. Joshua was safe. It was time to see that his lifemate's strength was restored.

"Oh, Marie, look at his little face," Alexandria cried to the older woman. "That horrible creature hit him."

Marie was openly sobbing, taking the child from Alexandria. Stefan, too, had to hold the little boy.

"He is fine, just asleep," Aidan reassured them all. His concern was for Alexandria now. "We will put him in his bed and awaken him. He will be told this was a kidnapping attempt, to extort money. He will accept that explanation and understand having guards anytime it becomes necessary."

Stefan carried Joshua to the small room off theirs. Marie dressed him in pajamas and produced a cold cloth to bathe his black eye. Alexandria sat on the edge of the bed, Joshua's small hand in hers. Aidan knelt beside her, an arm around her waist. "Joshua, you will awaken now. Alexandria needs to see your blue eyes." He whispered the words softly, his voice compelling, seeping into the boy's mind and beckoning him back into their world.

Joshua erupted into violence, fighting hard to free himself. It was Aidan who subdued him, protecting Alexandria with his own body despite her efforts to get to the boy. "Listen to me, Joshua. You are home with us. You are safe. The kidnappers no longer have you. I want you to be calm so that you do not hurt Marie or your sister." His voice, as always, was serene and beautiful, so compelling that the boy ceased his struggles and peeked up at them cautiously. When he saw Alexandria, he burst into tears.

She burrowed past Aidan's large frame and caught Joshua to her, dragging him into the protection of her arms. "You're safe now, little buddy. No one is going to hurt you."

"There were dogs, big dogs. There was blood everywhere. Vinnie was being eaten. I saw him."

"Vinnie was very brave and tried to save you from the kidnappers," Alexandria soothed him, stroking the blond curls from his forehead. "He's in the hospital, but he's alive and is going to be fine. So is Rusty. We'll take you to see them in a few days. We should have told you about the possibility of someone trying to take you away from us." She touched his eye with a gentle fingertip. "I'm sorry that I didn't confide in you. You're old enough to know these things."

"Is that why you were afraid to live here?"

"Partly. Aidan is a very wealthy man. Because he loves you, loves both of us, we will always be at risk. Sometimes we will have to have guards. Do you understand what I'm trying to tell you, Joshua? This is my fault, that I didn't make you understand the danger we could be in."

"Don't cry, Alex." All at once Joshua was using a grownup voice. "Aidan came and got me, didn't he?"

She nodded. "He sure did. No one is going to ever take you away from us. Not ever."

"Next time, when Marie and Stefan tell me to stay in the house, no matter what, I'm going to do it," Joshua decreed. He examined Alexandria with anxious eyes. "What's wrong with you? You're so white."

"This has been very scary for all of us, Joshua," Aidan said. "Marie and Stefan will look after you while I put Alexandria to bed. She needs to rest. And do not worry about Baron. Stefan kept him safe for you. Your puppy can stay with you while I take Alexandria to bed."

Alexandria shook her head. "I'm not going to leave him, not for a minute. I'll stay here until he falls asleep."

"No, you will not,
cara mia
," Aidan said firmly. He stood, a graceful, fluid movement that set her teeth on edge. His hands caught her easily, lifting her and cradling her against his chest. "She needs to rest, Joshua. I will bring her to you later."

"That's all right, Aidan," Joshua said, man to man. "She needs to be in bed more than I do."

Aidan grinned at him and took her out of the room, heedless of her squirming. "He is right, you know," he murmured against her neck. "You do need to be in bed. My bed." His breath was warm and teasing, an invitation she found nearly impossible to resist.

"I think you're insatiable," she accused him, but her arms crept around his neck, and her body relaxed against his.

"Where you are concerned, it is true," Aidan agreed. He was moving quickly through the house, into the tunnel, his body already tightening in anticipation.

Her hands slid inside his shirt, caressing his chest. Her mouth moved over his neck, found the streaks on his chest, and her tongue wandered, caressed, a loving tribute to his courage.

Once in their chamber, Aidan lowered her to the bed. With his gaze holding hers, he began to unbutton his shirt.

Alexandria slipped her sweater over her head and tossed it aside.

He reached out, his hands spanning her ribs, dragging her close, nearly bending her backward so his mouth could take advantage of the invitation her body was offering. She smelled good, fresh, her skin like satin. At once his body raged for release, an urgency he was becoming familiar with. Her hands were at his slacks, sliding aside the button, the zipper, pushing the fabric from his hips.

He groaned when she cupped him in her hands, caressing him. His own hands were rougher as they tore aside her clothing so that her skin was hot against his. "You make me crazy,
piccola
, absolutely crazy," he whispered, and he lifted her into his arms. "Put your legs around my waist."

Her head was bent, her mouth wandering across his chest, her tongue lapping at his pulse. "Feed me," she whispered back, her tone so sensuous, his legs nearly gave out.

His hands were on her hips, holding her still so that he could push into her velvet sheath. He cried out when her muscles slowly allowed him entrance, when she clenched around him, hot and tight and velvet-soft. "Take what you want from me, what is rightfully yours," he murmured, buried deep, welding them together in fire and passion. "Do it, Alexandria. I want you to do it."

His entire body blazed into light, into pure feeling, as her teeth pierced his skin. He surged into her, hard and urgent, reaching, straining, wanting to fly high. Her hair draped around them, brushing at his sensitized skin like a thousand strands of silk. Her hands slid over his back, tracing each muscle. Her mouth on him aroused him further.

Aidan slowed his pace, his thrusting hips strong, his hands tight, binding her to him. She was his. The lifemate he had endured centuries of emptiness waiting for. She was his world. The light. The colors he thought he had lost forever. She was the ecstasy he never knew existed. And she was with him for eternity.

Table of Contents

      Chapter One

      Chapter Two

      Chapter Three

      Chapter Four

      Chapter Five

      Chapter Six

      Chapter Seven

      Chapter Eight

      Chapter Nine

      Chapter Ten

      Chapter Eleven

      Chapter Twelve

      Chapter Thirteen

      Chapter Fourteen

      Chapter Fifteen

      Chapter Sixteen

      Chapter Seventeen

      Chapter Eighteen