Dark Gold (Dark Series - book 3)

by Christine Feehan

  Her tongue found her suddenly dry lips. “I can’t breathe.”

  He physically touched her then, his hand curling around the nape of her neck, forcing her head down. “Yes, you can,” he said calmly. “This panic will pass.”

  She dragged great gulps of air into her burning lungs, fighting the sobs tearing at her throat. She could not cry aloud. She couldn’t do anything but try to inhale. His fingers began a slow massage, so gentle, so light, but her body responded, an easing of the terrible tension at the calm command of his hand.

  “Why didn’t you just kill me?” The words were muffled by the quilt, by her aching throat.

  “I have no intention of killing you. You are innocent of any wrongdoing. I am not a cold-blooded killer, Alexandria.”

  She looked up at him then, her large eyes meeting his. “Please don’t lie to me. This is hard enough as it is.”

  “

  I

  am

  a hunter,

  piccola

  . But I do not kill the innocent. I am a sentinel of justice for our people, appointed by our Prince, the leader of our people, to guard this city.”

  “I am not your kind. I’m really not.” She knew she sounded desperate despite her every intention to remain calm. “There’s been some kind of mistake. You have to undo it.” Her voice was trembling, her body shaking. “If you would just listen to me, you would understand. I’m really not like you.”

  His hand closed over hers, eased her clenched fingers, his thumb lightly stroking the frantically beating pulse in her wrist. “Stay calm, Alexandria, you are doing fine. You will heal fast. I know you did not get a look at yourself last night, but you are already remarkably healed. And you will find much to love in your new life. You will be able to see in the darkness as if it was high noon. You will be able to hear things never before heard, see things never seen. It is a beautiful world.”

  “You don’t understand. I already have a life. And I have to take care of Joshua. Joshua can’t be without me during the day. He’s just a little boy. He needs me to take him to school. I have to work, too.”

  Aidan said he was no killer, but Alexandria was not blind. He was beautiful but deadly beneath a thin veneer of civilization. She could not, would not, become like him. She had to care for Joshua. Aidan sighed, soft and gentle, a quiet exhalation she felt right down to her toes, and she had the horrible feeling that he knew what she was thinking, that he really was somehow in her head with her, sharing her thoughts and emotions.

  “You will be able to care for Joshua. Your things have been moved into the second-floor rooms. You and Joshua will maintain living quarters there. It will be essential for you to keep up the illusion of human life. Only during the afternoon, when you are at your most vulnerable, will you come down to this chamber and sleep. Joshua remembers nothing of the vampire. I could not allow him to be traumatized for life.”

  “You can’t allow him to know the truth,” Alexandria guessed shrewdly. “We have our own home. As soon as I’m able, I am going to take him away from here. “

  Out of this city if need be, away from you, so far away that no harm can ever come to him.

  There was a small silence that seemed to stretch into eternity. For some reason, she could feel her heart pounding in alarm. When Aidan moved, every muscle in her body froze. He was silent, but he terrified her, the way he moved so silently.

  “There is a bond between us, Alexandria.” His voice was pure, like the sound of a clear stream running over rocks. “It is unbreakable. I will always know where you are, as you will always be able to find me. If I was going to harm Joshua, I would have disposed of him long before now. You will stay here and learn what you must to survive. At least give yourself time to adjust to your new life.”

  “I want to see him, right now. I want to see Joshua.”

  For some inexplicable reason, she was finding it impossible to breathe again. Emotions whirled and danced, raged and exploded, until she thought she might go mad. Instead she sat quietly like a polite child awaiting his agreement. He stood staring down at her with his golden eyes, his face an expressionless mask.

  Afterward Alexandria had no idea how it happened. One moment she was sitting quietly, the next she had launched herself out of the bed and flung herself at him, unable to contain the rage racing through her. Aidan’s sensual features remained cool and calm even as he caught her small, flying figure. She was already desperately fighting to regain self-control, horrified at her behavior. She had never done such a thing before. Aidan restrained her easily, clasping her wrists behind her back so that she was held tightly against his hard frame.

  And at once she was aware of the thin shirt covering her bare skin, her curves fitting against his body. She was aware of him as a man, of herself as a woman. That horrified her. Everything about the situation horrified her.

  “Shh,

  piccola, cara mia

  , be calm,” he soothed her, one hand pinning her wrists while the other tangled in the heavy fall of hair at her nape. “We will get through this together. Hold on to me. Use me. Use my strength.” He released her wrists even as his hand tightened on her neck.

  She thumped his chest once, twice, trying not to scream out her frustration. “I’m crazy. My mind is crazy. It won’t stop.” She rested her head against the heavy muscles of his chest, the only refuge, the only sanctuary left to her. Her brain was racing, a terrible, chaotic jumble of desperate thoughts. Aidan was solid, an anchor of strength, the calm in the eye of the storm.

  “Breathe, Alexandria. With me, breathe.” The words whispered softly over her skin, seeped in through her pores, penetrated to her heart and lungs.

  He seemed to be doing it for her, his breathing regulating hers. Aidan held her almost tenderly, not asking anything of her, simply holding her until the terrible trembling ceased and she was able to stand on her own two legs. Almost reluctantly, he released her, putting space between them, his hand trailing down the length of her thick braid until his arm once more dropped to his side.

  “I’m sorry.” Alexandria pressed her fingertips to her temples. “I’m not normally a violent person. I don’t know what got into me. “

  Itwas so unlike her, this craziness. The vampire’s blood must be still in her, and Aidan did not want to reveal the truth to her.

  Aidan could read her fear, that the vampire was still in her, directing her actions. What nonsense. He shook his head. “Fear itself can make us act out of character. Do not worry yourself so. Are you ready now to see Joshua, to be calm enough to reassure him? I know you need more time to adjust to all this newness, and I will not insist, but your brother is beginning to worry. Young Joshua thinks of himself as your protector. As much as he trusts me, he needs to see you, to touch you.” Deliberately, he directed her thoughts to the child, the only one capable of taking her mind off her terrible transformation.

  With a shaking hand, she reached for the jeans Aidan had had brought from her boardinghouse. “Fill me in on what I should know, what Joshua expects. I can’t remember everything you told me.”

  Aidan couldn’t drag his gaze away from the slender length of her legs. His body hardened unexpectedly, his blood pounding and hot. He turned away from her to hide his hunger. Hunger for erotic, steamy sex. He had never felt its pull with such intense heat.

  “Aidan?” He heard the whisper of the zipper as her voice skimmed over his skin. Fangs exploded in his mouth, and his body clenched with need. He was barely able to suppress a low growl of aggression. His fingers curled into fists, his knuckles white. As Carpathians aged, everything increased in intensity. Including emotions, if they could feel. Pain, happiness and joy, sexual need. He had known that, but he had never experienced it before. It was not easily controlled when it was so new.

  He let his breath out slowly, the red haze before his eyes receding, the demon struggling for supremacy leashed and muzzled. He had an eternity to win Alexandria. She was bound to him, soul to soul, mind to mind. He
would find the patience to give her time to come to him willingly.

  “Aidan?” This time her voice trembled. “Is something wrong?”

  “No, of course not. Let me review things for you. Joshua believes me to be an old family friend. He believes that the two of you had been planning for some time to move into the suite of rooms on the second floor and that your illness at the restaurant merely moved the schedule forward.”

  Her large sapphire eyes glinted at him; then her long lashes swept down. “Just how good of friends are we supposed to be?”

  A small smile tugged at his mouth, and for one brief moment he looked almost boyish. Then the illusion was gone, and he was a powerful predator once more. “Oh, I would have to say close. Very close. And, fortunately for me, Joshua likes it that way. He is my staunch ally.”

  One eyebrow shot up, and the dimple near her mouth deepened. “

  You

  need an ally?”

  Again he glimpsed her mischievous nature, and it prompted another small smile. “Absolutely.”

  Aidan had a way of tipping his head to one side and looking at her with such hunger that it took Alexandria’s breath away. It might have been a trick of the light, except there was no light. She concentrated on his words, trying not to react to his sensual looks or the mesmerizing sound of his voice.

  “A rather odious friend of yours tracked you down here and demanded to see you. Aside from upsetting my staff, he did not get very far, he did return some property of yours. You are aware, of course, that both your friend Henry and little Joshua instinctively disapproved of this childish game maker. In fact, Josh has secret plans to make money so you do not have to sell your art to such a man.” Aidan reached behind his head to secure the thick mane of hair at the nape of his neck. “He has a smile reminiscent of a shark, do you not agree?”

  Alexandria was held spellbound by Aidan’s simple act of securing his hair, finding the way he moved incredibly sexy. She shook her head, angry that such a ridiculous thought should even occur to her. “Are you talking about Thomas Ivan? Because if you are, show some respect. The man is brilliant at what he does. He actually came by here looking for me?”

  She grabbed on to that notion. It was human and normal in a world gone mad. Thomas Ivan was someone she could relate to. Someone who had things in common with her. She ignored the fact that Thomas Ivan’s smile

  was

  exactly like a shark’s toothy grin. She ignored the fact that this creature in front of her was the most purely masculine man she had ever seen and that

  his

  smile alone held a fascination for her.

  “The man’s story lines are idiotic drivel. He does not know the first thing about vampires.” There was contempt in Aidan’s voice, yet it still held such a purity of tone, she found herself leaning toward him and had to pull herself up sharply.

  “No one knows anything about vampires,” she corrected firmly, “because they don’t exist. They can’t. And his work isn’t drivel. His games are brilliant.”

  “I had not heard that about vampires not existing,” Aidan responded with a mocking grin. “I wish I had known earlier. It might have saved me a great deal of trouble over the centuries. As for Ivan, I fear I must agree with Joshua. The man is a pompous ass. In any case, he returned your briefcase, and I told him you would get in touch with him when your doctor says it is all right to do so.”

  “I don’t have a doctor.”

  Aidan’s white teeth flashed, and his golden eyes gleamed with wicked amusement. “I am your doctor. I am your healer.”

  She could not meet that heated gaze. His amusement was as sexy as his sculpted mouth. “I think I’m getting the picture. So, what else has my little brother been told?” She glanced about the room. “Aren’t there any shirts of mine around here?” She lifted the tails of his elegant silk evening shirt. “Some that don’t reach my knees?”

  He cleared his throat. He liked her wrapped in his shirt, surrounded by him. “Well, actually, as Joshua knows, that is one of your annoying habits. You like to run around in my shirts. You think they are much more comfortable than your own clothes.”

  Alexandria regarded him with wide blue eyes. “Oh, I do, do I? I take it you grumble about it.”

  “Often, to Josh. We laugh together about the idiosyncrasies of women. He thinks you look cute in my shirts.”

  “And what would give a little boy an idea like that?”

  He looked unrepentant. “I might have mentioned it a time or two.”

  His golden eyes slid over her body, making her aware of her bare skin beneath his shirt, of every curve of her body, of the fact that they were completely alone in some secret chamber of his home.

  “It is true, after all. You do look cute in my shirt.”

  “Why do Joshua and I have to stay here?” She was going to keep this conversation on track and away from these frighteningly new sensual sensations.

  “Joshua is a beacon to guide our enemies to us, as Marie and Stefan are. As long we have human ties, we are anchored to them, and those who wish to destroy us can easily find us. Where most of our kind can remain hidden at will, our enemies know that we will never be far from our human connections, especially Josh, a small child. You are far safer from our enemies, here in my home.”

  “What enemies? I don’t have enemies.” Aidan spoke matter-of-factly, yet Alexandria could feel her heart begin to pound all over again. She sensed he was speaking the truth, and whoever the enemy was, it was no ordinary assailant.

  “Paul Yohenstria was not the only vampire in this city. There are others, and they know I am hunting them. They will know of your existence quickly, and they will turn their powers to acquiring you.”

  Alexandria felt her stomach muscles clench. “Why would they want me? I don’t understand any of this. Why is all this happening to me?”

  “You are a true psychic, a human woman capable of becoming one of us. And even vampires are Carpathians before they turn. There are few women among our people, and they are greatly treasured.”

  Her chin rose belligerently. “I have news for you, Mr. Savage. ‘Your people’ hardly seem to treat women like treasures. No wonder there are so few.” She touched the ragged wounds still visible at her throat. “I can’t imagine too many women wanting the honor. I can truthfully say

  I’m

  not happy about it.”

  “I have asked you to call me Aidan. It is necessary, even when we are alone, that we continue to behave in the human manner and keep up the pretense that we are close friends until it becomes so.” His golden eyes glinted for a moment, nearly stopping her heart.

  Her fingers twisted in the tails of his shirt, her agitation increasing at the quiet, soothing tone of his voice. “Who else lives here? I know there is a woman. I remember she wouldn’t call an ambulance even when I begged her to.” Despite her attempts at normalcy, Alexandria could not keep the fear and bitterness from her voice.

  Aidan advanced a step, suddenly close enough that she could feel the heat radiating from his body. “My housekeeper, Marie, was extremely distressed over your condition, Alexandria. It was not her fault, and I hoped that you would not place the blame with her. She knew no human doctor could help you. I was the only one who could ease your suffering. Just so you are aware, she was very angry with me over your condition. She has been my housekeeper and a member of my family for many years. She is the one who will look after Joshua for us while we are unable to do so in mid-afternoon. For that reason alone you should find it in your heart to become her friend.”

  “Do you control her? Drink her blood? Make her do whatever you want, like a puppet?” Alexandria burst out.

  “I have never taken blood from Marie, nor have I ever controlled her thoughts. She has chosen to stay with me, as did her family before her, of her own free will. She stayed by your side while you were so ill because she felt compassion. I will repeat myself one last time so that you might understand. She did not call an ambul
ance because no human physician could have eased your suffering.” He felt it unnecessary to inform her that, in addition, the human doctors would have discovered the new abnormalities in her blood, and his species could never allow such a discovery. They were often hunted by more than only the undead. Human “vampire-slayers” sought them out as well.

  Again his voice was cool and even, yet her mouth went dry with fear. He could convey menace quietly far better than most people could with roaring anger. She nodded, trying to look agreeable when in truth she was crumbling inside, her mind fragmenting and her body trembling almost beyond her capability to control it.

  “Take another breath. You keep forgetting to breathe, Alexandria. Your mind is trying to deal with the trauma of what has happened to you a bit at a time. Every time a new piece of information is processed, your body reacts to it. You are a very intelligent woman; you have to know this will not be an easy transition, but you will get through it.”

  A small, humorless smile curved her trembling mouth. “I will? You’re so certain of that. Is that because you’ve decreed it?” Her chin lifted, and for a moment her eyes flashed in defiance. “You’re so sure of yourself.”

  He simply watched her in that calm, infuriating manner she was becoming familiar with. Alexandria finally sighed. “Don’t worry. I don’t blame the woman.”

  “Marie.” He whispered it softly between his white teeth, a whisper of velvet over iron. His golden eyes were growing hot, molten gold that could so easily engulf her.

  She swallowed hard. “Marie, then. I’ll be nice to her.”

  He held out a hand. Alexandria stared at it a moment, then, carefully avoiding contact, slipped past him to the door. Aidan moved with her, a silent shadow, yet she was aware of his every rippling muscle, body heat, his very breath. He was so close to her, she felt their hearts were beating the same rhythm.

  The tunnel they entered was narrow and wound its way upward toward the first floor. She was forced to stop no more than halfway to their destination, a wave of dizziness overcoming her. She gripped the stone wall and fought for breath. At once Aidan curved an arm around her waist.