“I will make arrangements to marry you tomorrow morning. I have a few friends who can speed up the process, and we will take care of the license and have done with it.”
She sat back, her sapphire eyes suddenly spitting fire. “Have done with it? Have done with it?” She repeated his words, unable to believe he had actually said them. Right now she wouldn’t marry him if he were the last man on earth. “I wasn’t asking for any favors or a commitment from you, Aidan. Nor do you have to protect my honor.”
He was watching her carefully, all at once still. “We have the ultimate commitment between us, Alexandria. We are lifemates for all eternity. We will remain together until together we choose to meet the sun. But your very imaginative, idiotic-boss would not respect that bond, would not even understand it. He will, however, understand the human ceremony of marriage.”
“I don’t understand this lifemate business, either. Yet, like Thomas, I do understand the sacrament of marriage. Not that you asked me. Not that you respect the institution I was raised to believe in. I find your attitude extremely insulting, Aidan.” She was working at hiding her hurt from him, but her expressive face, the glittering sheen to her eyes, would have given her away even if he had not been able to read her thoughts.
He shook his head sadly. “We share everything, Alexandria, including our thoughts. I have unintentionally hurt you, and I certainly did not mean to do so.”
She stood up, water pouring from her skin. “We may share our thoughts, but we don’t seem to understand one another.” Grabbing a towel, she wrapped it around her like a sarong, her eyes studiously avoiding his.
“I think perhaps we do. You would have liked me to ask you to marry me in the human way.” He reached out, a lazy rippling of muscles, and shackled her ankle with his fingers, a steely vise preventing her escape.
The oddly intimate act sent flames racing through her bloodstream. Alexandria resented his ability to turn her body to liquid fire with just a touch, just a look. She could feel the electricity arcing between them, see the hunger in his gaze.
She shook her head. “Don’t, Aidan. This is important. You can’t just hurt me anytime you like and then make love to me until I can’t think straight.”
At once his expression changed. He stood up so abruptly, she stepped back, intimidated by his sheer size. “Do not do that, cara mia.” His voice was a caress, a plea. “Do not ever fear me. I would never willingly hurt you. We are already one. I thought you understood that. You are irrevocably tied to me for all time. It is a much deeper and stronger tie than a marriage ceremony. I must admit, I should have considered that you would have thought the marriage ceremony important, but I was assuming, as you are now Carpathian, you would realize that we are already ‘married,’ bound together for all time. It was done the moment the ancient words were spoken. The ritual was completed when we shared our blood, our hearts, our body and soul. But the words alone were irrevocably binding. It is the ‘marriage ceremony’ of our people.”
His arms swept around her stiff, resisting frame. “Forgive the presumption, cara, and know that I want to marry you in the human ceremony because it is important to you.”
His mesmerizing voice washed over her like water, cleansing away her resentment as if it had never been.
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?”