Alexandria rested against him, pressing close for comfort. “This life is so scary, Aidan, I want as many things as possible to be normal, or almost the same as they were. Just simple familiar things. I can handle it better that way.”
“You know, piccola,” he teased, brushing her cheek with gentle fingers, “Carpathian men never ask their mates. They simply claim them. But shall I ask you formally?”
She rubbed her face against his chest. “It would mean a lot to me if you would,” she admitted.
“So I guess I had better do it right,” he said softly, taking her hand and going down on one knee. “Alexandria, my only love, will you marry me tomorrow morning?”
“Yes, Aidan,” she replied demurely. Then she spoiled the effect by laughing. “But we have to have blood tests. You can’t just get married in a minute.”
He rose.
“You forget the power of mind persuasion. We will be married tomorrow morning. Now get dressed, cara. You are tempting me all over again.” His hands wandered down her slender body to caress her bottom.
Her smile was slightly wry. “You’re going to give me all kinds of trouble with your chauvinistic ways, aren’t you?”
He laughed in answer. “I was just thinking you were going to give meall kinds of trouble with your independent thinking.”
She tilted her chin. “You have heard the word compromisebefore, haven’t you? You do comprehend its meaning?”
He looked thoughtful, taking his time before replying. “As I understand it, compromisemeans you do what I say as soon as I command it. Is that about right?”
Alexandria pushed at the solid wall of his chest. “You wish, Mr. Savage. It’s never going to happen.”
He pinned her arms to her sides and nuzzled the top of her head. “We will see, my love. We will see.”
Laughing, Alexandria pulled away from him and began to dress. The dawn was brightening the sky, and with it came the terrible lethargy she was becoming familiar with. She wanted to see Joshua, to have normal mornings with her brother. Dress him, feed him, spend time with him before he went off to school.
Aidan allowed her to escape him, letting her keep her illusions of normalcy as long as possible. He liked to see the happiness in her, and he had a bad feeling about the vampire’s blatant challenge. The creature was up to something. He was the last one remaining from the group that had come to the city, terrorizing the population and leading the police on a wild goose chase. The vampire was not stupid; he would have studied Aidan and his strengths and weaknesses before issuing such a challenge. What was the undead up to?
He glided through the house silently, inspecting each entrance, window, and pathway leading to the house. Every safeguard was in place. The house was impenetrable, even with him sleeping beneath the earth in his secret chamber. No, the vampire could not strike at the house. Where, then?
He followed the sound of hoeing and found Stefan in the huge garden. Whenever he was upset or tired, Stefan gravitated to tending his plants.
When Aidan joined him, he leaned on the hoe and regarded his master steadily. “So, you feel it, too. I had trouble sleeping last night.” He spoke in their native language, another sure sign of his state of mind.
“The vampire howled last night. A distinct call for vengeance. I thwarted their plans, whatever they were, and now the one remaining undead intends to destroy me. How he will attempt it, I do not know.”
“It will be through one of us,” Stefan said sadly. “We are your Achilles’ heel, Aidan. We always have been. He can bring you down using Marie, the boy, or me. You know he will.”
Aidan frowned. “Or Alexandria. I fear her reaction to what must come.”
“She is very strong, Aidan, very courageous. She will be fine. You must have faith in your chosen lifemate.”
Aidan nodded. “I know what is in her heart and mind, but I want her happiness above all else.” He gave a humorless smile. “I remember a time many years ago, I went to the aid of Mikhail. He had found his lifemate, a human woman. She was very strong-willed, and I remember thinking that he should better control her, make her do his bidding at all times so that she would remain safe. We cannot afford to lose even one of our women—you know that. She was so strange to me, so unlike the women of our race. She showed no fear even of me, a Carpathian male she did not know. I vowed if I found my lifemate, I would not do as Mikhail and bow to her wishes. Yet now, I cannot stand to see sorrow in Alexandria’s eyes. I feel sick when she is hurt or upset with me.”
A grin spread across Stefan’s face. “You’re in love, my old friend, and that is the downfall of all good men.”
“Even Gregori, the dark one, allowed his lifemate her freedom because of her fear of him. How does one strike a balance between keeping a woman happy and protecting her?” Aidan mused aloud.
Stefan shrugged. “You’re in the modern world now, Aidan. Women rule their own lives. They make their own decisions and generally drive us all crazy. Welcome to the twenty-first century.”
Aidan shook his head. “She thinks she is going to work with that madman, Thomas Ivan. Yet I know what he wants to do with her.”
“If she wants to work, Aidan, have you any choice but to allow it?”
The golden eyes flashed. “I have a choice, Stefan. Still, perhaps the line of least resistance is to have a little mind-to-mind chat with Mr. Ivan. I am certain I can make him see things my way.”
Stefan laughed. “I wish I had that particular talent, Aidan. It would come in handy with some of my business dealings.”
“Do not allow Joshua to go to his school this day. The vampire will, in all likelihood, try to strike at us through him.”
“I agree,” Stefan said. “The boy is the most vulnerable.”
“Use Vinnie and Rusty again. Keep them around for the next few days,” Aidan advised. He glanced up at the sky through his dark glasses. “The trouble will come today.”
Stefan nodded in agreement. “I will keep a close watch. There will be no fire this time to destroy all we have built.” He looked down at the ground, still ashamed of a past catastrophe even though it was not his fault.
Aidan clapped him on the shoulder. “Without you, Stefan, no one would have survived that day, perhaps not even me.” He had been safely buried beneath the soil, but the loss of his “family” would have been devastating. Because of that time, so many years earlier, when a vampire had used a human to try to trap them in an inferno, and he had lain helpless beneath the soil, he had redoubled his studies and his safeguards, strengthening his power and abilities. Never again would he be caught unable to aid those he cared about.
Joshua’s laughter reached him, and the soft, carefree sound did something to his heart. The child touched him in ways no other had. He was so like Alexandria, so filled with the joy of living, and he had the same beautiful blue eyes.
“No one will harm the boy, not if I live,” Stefan said firmly.
Aidan turned away. He did not want Stefan, who knew him so well, to realize how those words filled him with dread For all his powers, Aidan was vulnerable in the sunlight, and a vampire could use human puppets, minions, to capitalize on the weakness the day brought. Even with his ability to project during the daylight hours, a feat few of his kind had accomplished, Aidan would still be leaving Stefan without his physical aid, and Stefan was no longer a young man. Aidan did not want to lose his friend any more than he wanted to lose Joshua.
Joshua burst from the kitchen laughing, his blond curls bouncing. “Help me, Aidan, she’s after me!” he hollered as he charged toward them.
Stefan stepped squarely in front of his prize tulips, while Aidan glided in to wall off the roses. He caught Joshua’s flying figure with one hand and swept him up to his shoulders. “Who is after you, young Joshua?” he asked, pretending not to know.