Alexandria’s hand covered her mouth in horror. Aidan, stop it right now!

I cannot imagine what you are accusing me of,Aidan returned innocently from the living room. His voice was unconcerned, virtuous, and placid.

Thomas fled down the driveway to the safety of his car. Damn the man, damn the house, and damn every awkward thing that had happened! Savage was not going to drive him away forever! From the sanctuary of his vehicle, he waved to Alexandria, happy to see that she looked somewhat distressed for him. He almost wished he had allowed the bee to sting him; she might have insisted on nursing him back to health.

Alexandria shut the door with more force than was necessary. “You are the most infuriating man in the world,” she accused him.

Aidan raised an eyebrow. “One of my more annoying yet endearing qualities.” His slow, sexy smile was teasing.

Alexandria nearly lost her train of thought, distracted by the melting warmth that smile caused. Abruptly she caught herself, straightening her shoulders and summoning as much anger as she could manage under the circumstances. “Nothing about you is endearing. That was so... so—” She broke off, searching for the right word, but her vocabulary failed her. Nobody should have his smile.

“Brilliant?” he prompted, helping her out.

“ Insensitivecomesto mind. Childish. Are you going to behave this way every time he comes here?”

Her hands were on her slender hips, her sapphire eyes flashing sparks. He wanted to kiss her. His golden eyes warmed, and his gaze dropped to her mouth. Instantly her body responded to that dark, sensual look. She backed away from him hastily, her hands up for protection. “Don’t you dare, you escapee from an insane asylum.”

“Do not dare what?” His voice was soft, mesmerizing, seductive.

She could feel the touch of it like fingers stroking her skin. She ached with it, went liquid with it. “Just stay across the room from me. I mean it, Aidan. You’re lethal. You ought to be locked up.”

“But I have not done anything.” He smiled and moved slowly toward her. “Yet.”

“Marie!” In a panic, Alexandria called out as loudly as she could.

Aidan laughed as the housekeeper hurried in. Little coward, run while you can. Although they were half a room apart and Marie was squarely between them, Alexandria felt the brush of his fingers on her skin, her face, her throat. They trailed lower, feather-light, to touch the aching swell of her breast before the sensation was gone.

“What is it, Alexandria?” Marie asked, her hands on her hips, glaring at Aidan.

He held up a placating hand, laughing. “I am innocent. I was a perfect gentleman to her visitor.”

“He spilled Thomas’s coffee, made him sneeze, smeared whipped cream over him, and chased him with a bee,” Alexandria accused. While Marie struggled to keep a straight face, Alexandria delivered the final outrage. “And he was going to wither my flowers.”

“Aidan!” Marie reprimanded sharply, but there was laughter in her eyes.

Aidan was really laughing now, his head thrown back, his golden eyes glowing, his face transformed, almost boyish with mischief. Neither woman could resist the pure joy, the fun he was experiencing for the first time in centuries. It made Marie want to cry with happiness, and it was an aphrodisiac to Alexandria, knowing she wielded so much power over such a creature.

“She is not telling the truth. Ivan spilled his own coffee and dipped his arm in the cream puffs. I was nowhere near him. And the bee probably just happened by. How can I be responsible for an insect’s attraction to that man?” He looked wide-eyed and blameless. “As to the flowers, I was only glowering at them because she was acting so silly over the damned things.”

“Silly?” Alexandria echoed. “I’ll show you silly, you savagebeast.” She started toward him purposefully, but Marie held up a hand.

“Now, now, children. Joshua is up, and we wouldn’t want him to find the two of you fighting.”

“We wouldn’t want him to find out his hero has feet of clay,” Alexandria corrected, glaring at Aidan.

He moved toward her then, a deliberate stalking, gliding around Marie in his silent, fluid way, making Alexandria’s heart pound frantically in anticipation. His perfect mouth was curved in a taunting smile. Hastily she stepped backward, tripped, and would have fallen if he hadn’t reached out a hand and caught her.

“Running away, little coward?” he whispered softly, teasingly, dragging her close into the shelter of his arms.

Marie discreetly left the room, deserting the younger woman to her fate, hiding a grin behind her hand as she went.

“Aidan.” There was an ache in Alexandria’s voice. She didn’t mean for it to be there. It was just that he was so close, the heat of his body enveloping her. His mouth was inches from hers, their hearts matching the same desperate rhythm.

His thumb brushed her lower lip in a light caress, sending a flame shooting through her soul. His golden eyes held hers as he lowered his head, his mouth finding hers with unhurried hunger, slowly savoring every inch of the silken interior, exploring, coaxing. His hands slid to her hips, his fingers tightening, pulling her against him, pinning her softness against his hard, demanding body.

There was a trace of resistance in her, as if she were still fighting for survival, her sense of self-preservation warning her she was in danger. But the bond between them was growing with their proximity, with each blood exchange, with the explosive chemistry between them. Already her mind sought his; her soul reached for him. Even her heart was softening, becoming willing. Her body cried out to his. Only her head, so stubborn, prevented him from claiming his rights as her lifemate.

His mouth moved over hers, deepening the kiss, sweeping aside her objections on a wave of fire, dragging her deeper and deeper into a world of sensuality, of the night, of all that went with the demands of their blood.

“Holy macaroni!” Joshua’s voice was awed and disgusted at the same time. “Do you like that gross stuff, Aidan?”

Alexandria jerked herself out of Aidan’s arms and rubbed at her mouth, trying desperately to regain her breath.

Aidan ruffled the boy’s blond curls. “Yes, Joshua, I like that stuff, but only with your sister. She is special, you understand. Someone like Alexandria only comes along once in a few hundred centuries.”

Joshua was regarding his sister with a speculative grin. There was a devilish light in his eyes. “She seemed to like it, too.”

“Well, I didn’t,” Alexandria denied adamantly. “Aidan Savage is a jerk, Joshua. A big jerk.”

The grin spread. “She did like it,” Joshua stated. “You must kiss pretty good, Aidan. She never lets anyone kiss her ‘cept me.” He turned his face up for Alexandria’s kiss, his little arms circling her neck as she bent to do so. “Nobody else better kiss you either, ‘cept Aidan and me.”

“That is the way it should be,” Aidan said complacently. “We will have to be especially vigilant now that Mr. Ivan has hired her to do his drawings. He has that look about him. I would be willing to bet he wants to kiss Alexandria.”

“Don’t worry, Aidan. I won’t let him,” Joshua said staunchly. “If she does go to work for that guy, I’ll follow them everywhere and make him stay away from her.”

“That would be just the thing, Josh.” The approval in Aidan’s voice had the little boy beaming proudly.

“I can’t believe,” Alexandria interrupted, “that you are having this conversation with a six-year-old.” She hugged her little brother tightly to her and returned the warmth she had been missing. He had been too long away from her. But not so long that he couldn’t still argue with her.

“I’m almost seven.”

“It’s still inappropriate.”

Joshua smirked at Aidan. “Don’t worry. She always says that when she doesn’t know what else to say and wants me to shut up.”