The words came from his soul, not just his heart. “Te avio päläfertiilam.” He used the ancient words of his ancestors, the sacred language imprinted on him from birth, carried in the bloodline of both Dark Blood and the house of Tirunul. “You are my lifemate. Éntölam kuulua, avio päläfertiilam. I claim you as my lifemate.”

Somehow in uttering the words, he actually felt as if thousands of strands of silk began to weave them together soul to soul. He wrapped his arms around her tightly, holding her to him, willing her to feel the same wonder and joy that filled him.

“Ted kuuluak, kacad, kojed. I belong to you.”

She kissed his chin. “Ted kuuluak, kacad, kojed. I belong to you, Zev, now and for all eternity.”

“Élidamet andam. I offer my life for you.”

“I offer my life for you,” she repeated, looking into his eyes.

His heart gave a small stutter. “Pesämet andam. I give you my protection. Uskolfertiilamet andam. I give you my allegiance. Sívamet andam. I give you my heart. Sielamet andam. I give you my soul. Ainamet andam. I give you my body. Sívamet kuuluak kaik että a ted. I take into my keeping the same that is yours.”

Branislava pressed kisses along the underside of his jaw and down his throat, murmuring the ritual binding words back to him, her voice soft, but firm. Zev felt love bursting through him, an overwhelming, perfect emotion completely tied to her. He knew what it meant to belong, and he was grateful he belonged to her.

“Ainaak olenszal sívambin. Your life will be cherished by me for all my time.” He knew what the word cherish meant. He’d never cherished anything in his long life until Branislava had come along. Whatever they faced, however bad, he wanted this time with her, and he vowed to make every minute count, to make her feel valued as the treasure she was.

“Te élidet ainaak pide minan. Your life will be placed above my own for all time.” He found that as he uttered each declaration, he felt the bond between them growing stronger.

Zev closed his fist in her hair and pulled her head up to his. Her lips parted. Those perfect lips he’d spent a lifetime dreaming about. He lowered his head to hers, his mouth claiming her even as his soul claimed her.

Te avio päläfertiilam. You are my lifemate. He kissed her over and over, devouring her molten fire, feeling an answering firestorm building in his body.

His mouth drifted down her chin, lower, down her throat to the soft swell of her breasts beneath the thin material of her dress. His teeth scraped gently, persistently back and forth over that pulse calling to him.

Ainaak sívamet jutta oleny. You are bound to me for all eternity.

His teeth sank deep and she arched against him, crying out. She buried her hands in his hair, clasping his head as he drank from her very essence. There was that addictive taste. Her honeyed cinnamon bursting through him, yet this time, there was heat, as if deep inside that smoldering fire was building, waiting for him to ignite a firestorm of passion.

Ainaak terád vigyázak. You are always in my care.

Zev swept his tongue across that sweet swell of her breast and lifted his head. He knew his face and eyes bore the stamp of a predator, but he hoped she could see—and feel—the love in him. His body raged at him. He wanted her with every single cell. That was there for her to read as well. He didn’t bother to attempt to hide the way he wanted her.

He was a rough man, demanding, and he wanted her in every way he could conceive, but he hoped she would always feel safe with him, that she would know he would put her pleasure above his own first.

Branislava smiled at him and slowly unbuttoned his shirt, running her hands over his bare chest. A tremor went through his body. She leaned forward and licked along his heavy muscle, swirling her tongue over his flat nipple before nipping at his skin with her teeth.

His cock jumped and thickened beyond anything he believed possible, stretching the material of his trousers. His hands dropped to the buttons to ease them open, desperate for relief. The material was far too painful. He figured the night air might help to ease the urgency of his need, but the moment he released that heavy erection, he felt as if he’d opened the cage of a raging monster.

The small droplets of mist touching his sensitive skin only added to the pleasure building in his body. Branislava dropped one hand down to stroke a caress over his shaft and then slide her thumb across the large head, before closing her fingers around him. At the same time, her teeth drove deep.

The sensation was almost too much. Pleasure ripped through him, bordering on pain it was so finite and exquisite. He felt the wolf rising, a howl of pure bliss as she took his blood into her. He needed to feel her skin beneath his hands, all that soft silky skin.

Get rid of your clothes, he whispered into her mind, half command, half entreaty.

Before the thought had completely pushed from his mind to hers, the long flowing dress was gone and she was naked against him. He found he liked the feel of her bare while he was nearly fully clothed. They were deep in the forest, the mist surrounding them, enclosing them in a blanket of privacy, and Branislava stood completely naked feeding from him, offering her body to him.

Zev ran his hands down the smooth line of her back to her buttocks. She felt firm and strong as he gripped tight, massaging her firm cheeks and the sensitive bundles of nerves hidden beneath that flesh, half lifting her against him. He didn’t want to wait. He wanted her right there. Right then. He felt as if he’d waited centuries for his woman and he knew nothing he could imagine would match the red-hot fire in her body.

Branislava flicked her tongue across the small wound on Zev’s chest. His body was hot, burning as if he had a fever. His hands on her buttocks were rough and demanding, sending a little thrill through her. She hadn’t thought that such a dominating lover would appeal to her, but she found a secret excitement in the way he touched her.

She liked that he felt possessive of her. That he took their vows to heart. Her body did belong to him and she wanted to please him with it. She wanted him to enjoy her. It mattered to her that she brought him every kind of pleasure she could. In return, she trusted he would do the same for her.

His hand moved between her thighs, forcing her legs open. She looked down, and deep inside she gave a little gasp of shock. She hadn’t considered that he would be so large, but he was a big man and a wolf—she should have known. More, his hands looked huge as he ran them up her leg, near her center.

Her heart gave a wild lurch and tiny flames of arousal danced up her thighs in his wake. She closed her eyes when his hand covered her mound. She could feel hot, damp liquid seeping onto his palm.