Carpathian 03 - Dark Gold

life from her. All at once she hated his voice.
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    "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?"
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    "Marie and Stefan—"
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    "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.
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    "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 Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    time."
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    "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. He terrified her. His dominating her life terrified her. She wanted all of that to just go away and leave her normal again.
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    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."
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    "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."
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    His eyebrows lifted, and a small, mocking, suggestive smile touched his mouth. "A dream?" he echoed.
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    "A nightmare," she corrected with a frown. "A very bad, very vivid nightmare."
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    "Would you like me to see if I can wake you up?" he offered helpfully.
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    "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.
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    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.
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    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.
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    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.
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    Without warning, Alexandria leapt up, shoving him as hard as she could so that, in his rather precarious state of arousal, he landed on the balcony floor with a thud. He blinked up at her through hooded eyes, trying to hold back the laughter that threatened to consume him. "What?"

    Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
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    "Stop being so… so…" Words failed her. Sexy. Attractive. Enticing . Hands on her hips,