Carpathian 03 - Dark Gold

prisoner of your passion," she said, panting. He was building the fire fast, with sure, hard strokes, surging into her, his hands holding her beneath him. "I can't believe I'm letting you get away with it." And she couldn't. It seemed impossible that she would be kneeling on a bed stained with her own innocence and loving this man's possession of her, wanting more, wanting him again and again.
    
    When they finally collapsed, holding each other, a fine sheen of perspiration coating their bodies, they were drained, spent, satiated. "I heard you chanting in my head, the first time we…" She trailed off. "The words were in your native language, weren't they?"
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    "I ensured our bond again," he admitted. "The thought of losing you through my own stupidity was too much. I recited the ritual words as I took your innocence, to bind us together for eternity."
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    "I don't understand."
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    "Those words make an unbreakable tie for our males. Once said, the bond is eternal."
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    She rolled over and blinked up at him. "What are you talking about?"
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    "When a Carpathian male finds his mate and knows for certain she is the one, he can bind her to him with the ritual words even if he has not yet claimed her body. It is like the human marriage ceremony but much deeper. Our souls and hearts are one half of the same whole, incomplete when apart. The ritual words bind them back together as they were meant to be."
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    Her gaze narrowed in speculation. "I thought the two were bound by chemistry, by blood."
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    "They are destined, true, and the bond is begun." He pushed his long hair from his face and retreated to one side of the bed, as if uneasy with the conversation.
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    "So the woman can still escape if the man doesn't actually say the ritual words?"
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    He shrugged his broad shoulders, his golden gaze all at once unreadable. "Why would he be so stupid as to not speak them when he knows her destiny lies with him? He would be a fool."
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    "Perhaps it would be nice if he asked the woman what she thought. Human men at least ask the woman if she chooses to spend her life with him. Perhaps Carpathian women would also like to have a choice."
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    He shrugged again. "It is the choice of destiny, fate, whatever you wish to call it. The law of the universe. The law of God. We were made this way. The words cannot be revoked. No Carpathian male is going to allow his woman to run around unprotected and unclaimed."
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    "You people are living in the Dark Ages! You can't just take over someone's life without their consent. It isn't right," she argued, appalled.

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    "A Carpathian male cannot survive without his lifemate."
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    "Well, just how many years do you want to live anyway?" she demanded hotly.
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    His golden eyes flashed briefly with amusement, and his palm slid up her calf to her thigh. "I would go for another century or two as long as all our nights were like this one."
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    His voice did something funny to her heart, starting that curious melting sensation she so often experienced around him. She wanted to be angry with him, but the truth was, if she could have more nights like this one, she wanted a century or two with him herself.
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    "I am reading your thoughts," he teased, his voice a deliberate caress.
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    "It's time you stopped. Don't you have something else to keep you occupied for a while? And don't think you're off the hook with this thing. You just can't go around making decisions that affect my life without consulting me." She regarded him suspiciously. "What else can you do without my knowledge?"
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    He leaned across the bed and kissed her full on the mouth, lingering to savor the taste of her.
    "You name it, cara , and I can do it."
    
    She jerked away from him and slapped at the hand that was moving into her tight nest of curls.
    "Don't be bragging, Aidan. This is not a good thing."
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    "I think it is an excellent thing. I will need everything in my bag of tricks to keep you in line. I look forward to each minute of it, Alexandria."
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    "You're forgetting my annoying little habits, and I think they've just begun to multiply."
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    He groaned. "You are really going to try to reform me?"
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    "Someone has to do it." Her hand found his. "I'm used to a certain amount of freedom, Aidan. I need it. I could never be happy if you took it away from me."
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    He cupped her chin in one hand, his gold eyes