Carpathian 03 - Dark Gold

corner of the room. Golden eyes gleamed back at her. Her heart jumped. She couldn't look away, captivated by the intensity in that unblinking stare.
    
    Aidan moved slowly out of the shadows. Glided. Rippled. Stalked like a great jungle cat. He took her breath away. Tall. Sexy. Powerful. Eyes only for her. Locked on her. Beneath his silk shirt his muscles rippled suggestively. He looked elegant, exuded power, was without equal.
    
    She found herself trembling in anticipation of his touch. Just like that, the mere sight of him had brought her back to life. Like the Red Sea, the crowd parted to allow him through. No one touched him, brushed against him, or jostled him. Even the suits pressing close to her moved aside to allow him entrance into their private domain. Then he was standing in front of her, holding out a hand, his eyes trapping her gaze.
    
    Whether it was compulsion or obsession, Alexandria didn't know. She didn't even care. She couldn't have stopped herself for any reason. She was fighting a useless battle. She needed him, and there he was. She placed her hand in his, and when he closed his fingers around hers and drew her to him, it felt as if she was giving herself away.
    
    "Dance with me, cara mia . I need to feel you against me." His words, his voice, were far too seductive to resist.
    
    Alexandria slipped easily into his arms. She fit perfectly. He was strong and warm, and the electricity was instantly crackling between them. Her head found a niche in his shoulder. Her body found his rhythm easily; she was born for it, his other half. It was black-velvet seduction, pure magic.

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    
    This was home. In his arms. She closed her eyes, savoring the feel of his body against hers. The music was dreamy, unbelievable in such a place. Not once on the crowded floor did another touch them. He moved them in perfect syncopation, the heat rising between them with every step.
    Flames seemed to lick along her skin, move to his, and come back again.
    
    Aidan bent his head to taste her. His lips, soft, hot, brushed her neck, lingering for a heartbeat on her pulse. He felt it jump beneath the moist heat of his mouth, felt it begin to race frantically.
    "Come home with me, piccola ," he whispered urgently, his teeth scraping her skin gently, persuasively, gliding back and forth across her pulse. Her blood sang to him, cried out for him.
    "Do not torment me any longer."
    
    Her body swayed with his, liquid and pliant. She had never needed anything so much in her life.
    She made no sound. She couldn't. But he knew her answer even in her silence. He could read it in her enormous eyes.
    
    They moved toward the door, Alexandria barely aware of her surroundings, yet again Aidan protected her from the crush, his body always between hers and the crowd. Outside, the night seemed to greet them, to welcome them, the stars brighter than usual, the air carrying fragrant scents from the ocean.
    
    Aidan slipped an arm around her waist, locking her beneath the protection of his shoulder. She tilted her head to look up at him. "I should have known you would follow me to protect me.
    What did you do to that poor man in the leather outfit?"
    
    He laughed softly. "He likes black widow spiders. He also likes hurting women. And I do not like other men touching you."
    
    "I noticed."
    
    He stopped her on the street corner, crushed her to him, and lifted her chin. His golden gaze seemed riveted on her lower lip, and she felt her breath catch in her throat. He made a sound somewhere between a moan and a growl and lowered his head. His mouth fastened on hers, and the earth moved beneath her feet. Her body melted into his until there was only Aidan and Alexandria, a part of the night itself.
    
    The surge of hunger, of need, was so strong, so overwhelming, Alexandria clung to him to keep from falling. He wrapped his arms around her, and they were moving through time and space.
    The wind blew through her hair so that it streamed out behind them in a siren's song, rippling in the clear night like strands of silk.
    
    His mouth moved over hers, consuming, dominating, hungry beyond human boundaries. His tongue explored every inch of the velvet interior of her mouth, demanding her response.
    Alexandria heard herself moan, the sound low, pleading.
    
    Then the third-floor balcony was beneath his feet. He simply waved a hand, and the glass