Carpathian 03 - Dark Gold

the sense of security he needed to face Aidan Savage.
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    Frankly, the man scared the hell out of him. It was his eyes. Savage had the disquieting, eerie, unblinking stare of a predator. There was power and intelligence there in that molten gold gaze, yet at times Thomas was certain the eyes had flashed with red sparks and glowed with a weird intensity. A few years back, for one of his games, Ivan had researched jungle cats—tigers, leopards, and the like—and he remembered how well cats could see in the night, a perfect adaptation for predators. Their large round eyes had huge pupils that closed down to slits in the light of day but widened dramatically in the darkness. And he vividly recalled their deadly stare preceding an attack.
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    Thomas shuddered and tried to shake off his feeling of dread as he stood before the door. His imagination was clearly working overtime. Savage was dangerous not because he was a night predator but because he was staking out Alexandria Houton as his territory, and Thomas Ivan intended to do the same. That was all. They were rivals for the same woman. Nothing sinister, nothing more. He had always had trouble keeping his imagination under control.
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    He stared at the intricate stained-glass panels in the door. They were beautiful, patterned with strange symbols and shapes. The more he studied the glass, the more he felt as if he were falling into it. Caught in it, like a fly in amber. That nameless dread began to build again, and for a moment he could barely catch his breath. To enter this house was to be trapped forever in an eternity of hell. The pattern began to move and change before his horrified stare. It wanted to draw him into its spiral, carry him into hell. His heart was pounding so loudly, his ears hurt.

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    Thomas nearly screamed when the door swung open, breaking the spell. Aidan Savage stared down at him from his superior height. The man was dressed casually in a faded jeans and a vee-necked shirt, but he looked at once strangely elegant yet wild and untamed, out of time and place, like some all-powerful tribal chieftain from times gone by. The shoulder-length hair, as golden as his eyes, added to the impression.
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    "Mr. Ivan." The voice was so perfectly pitched, it seeped into Thomas's heart and soul, coiling itself inside him like a living, breathing thing. "I am so pleased you could take the time to stop in and reassure Alexandria. I am certain your visit will ease her mind. She has been quite anxious that you might not hold the job for her."
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    Savage's solid weight blocked the entrance to the interior. His voice was pleasant, soothing, but the words stung slightly. It made Thomas a mere employer, nothing special to Alexandria Houton and certainly no threat to Savage's designs on her.
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    Thomas reached for his own voice. A smoldering anger began to burn in him, giving him the impetus he needed to deal with this man. He was Thomas Ivan. He owned his own company, was wealthy, famous, a force to be reckoned with. He was no coward to snivel on a doorstep.
    "I'm glad we could meet again under more auspicious circumstances." Smugly superior, he offered his hand.
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    The moment Savage gripped his fingers, Thomas winced at the man's enormous strength.
    Savage wasn't even trying, didn't even seem to notice his own casual power. Cursing silently, Thomas shook hands. And then Savage smiled. A gleam of white teeth. Strong. Sharp. No humor, no welcome. A predator's smile that never once warmed those strange, unblinking eyes.
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    "Do enter my home, Mr. Ivan," Aidan invited, stepping back to give him room.
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    And all at once entering that house was the last thing Thomas wanted to do. He actually stepped backward, a cold shiver of fear racing down his spine. Savage's mouth curved into a cruel yet almost sensual smile.
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    "What is it?" The voice, so calm, so smooth, like velvet, was taunting all the same.
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    The two detectives had been there for well over an hour, and in that time the demon in Aidan had been growing stronger and stronger. He had all but sprouted fangs as one of them did everything but beg for a date with Alexandria. Did she really need yet another suitor? He was going to have to post a sign on the lawn stating that all males courting Alexandria Houton did so at their own peril.
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    Alexandria walked the two detectives to the door, and at once Thomas Ivan