“I gave you my word, Benedek,” Silke said. “The concerns I have for our marriage have to do with my shortcomings, not worries about you.”
She lifted her chin and looked directly into his eyes. Her heart skipped a beat and her stomach flip-flopped when his eyes focused so completely on her. He might be as gentle as a lamb when he spoke with her. When he was saying beautiful things. Inside his mind, she found that tiny place of vulnerability. He had one. But the majority of Benedek Kovak was a ruthless, merciless hunter, a predator without many equals. He was being sweet and gentle, coaxing her toward theirvows, toward committing wholly to him of her own free will, but she saw his intention. If she reneged on her promise and tried to get out of their bond, he would tie them together without her consent.
“You see what I am, and yet you still think the problems lie within you,” Benedek pointed out, revealing that he’d deliberately allowed her to see his intentions.
“You want me to know who you really are,” Silke said. “You’re testing me, whether you know it or not.”
His eyebrow shot up and he dropped his hands. “Why would I do that?”
“To see if I’ll keep my word. You need to know if you can trust me even when I’m afraid.” She gave him a faint smile. “I’m not nearly as afraid of you as you’d like me to be.”
“Or maybe that isn’t it at all, Silke. It could be that I like the way you see me, and I’m trying to decide if you’re right and I’ve been wrong all these centuries.”
That was the last thing she expected him to say. “Why would you give credence to anything I think or believe? I’m a stranger to you.”
“You’re highly intelligent. I would be beyond arrogant right into pompous and overbearing if I didn’t take into consideration your opinions.”
“We should do this so we can get back to Fenja before the end of the night. I had wanted to introduce you to some of my greatest allies, but I suppose we will have to wait.”
“I’ll be honored to be introduced,” Benedek said. “After we’re bound together, when we’re separated it will be difficult for you. I’m in the ground and you won’t be able to reach out to me. For a lifemate, it can feel as if their partner is deceased. Grief is very real and sometimes dangerous. The tendency for a lifemate is to follow his partner into the next realm.”
Silke bit back a protest. Intellectually, if she knew he was alive, there shouldn’t be a problem, but clearly others had had difficulties.“Would you be able to find a resting place beneath my home? I could guard you, and with you closer, perhaps that would lessen the effects.”
Even as she asked, she felt his instantaneous rejection of the idea. Then, reluctantly, he allowed himself to consider it. “Carpathian hunters rarely allow anyone to know their resting place. We’re completely vulnerable in the paralyzing sleep of our kind.”
“I see.” She did. “It was just an idea.”
“A good one if it helps you through the daylight hours.”
She stuck her chin in the air. She’d always handled problems. She could get through a day without a man. Even if there happened to be compulsion involved. “Let’s do this.”
Benedek’s dark eyes moved over her face and then he nodded. He took both hands in his, facing her, keeping her close. “Te avio päläfertiilam.You are my lifemate.” The rasp in his voice was more pronounced than ever.
Strangely, Silke felt every nerve ending in her body come to life at his words. Deep inside there was a stillness, as if she were waiting for something huge.
Benedek pressed her palms against his chest, right over his heart. “Éntölam kuulua, avio päläfertiilam.I claim you as my lifemate.”
That something so frozen, so still, suddenly came to life, reaching for him.
His fingers began to move in slow caresses over her bare skin. “Ted kuuluak, kacad, kojed.I belong to you.”
In that moment, Silke felt that Benedek did belong to her—and she to him. She felt the rightness of it. There hadn’t been a mistake. She was definitely Benedek’s true lifemate.
“Élidamet andam.I offer my life for you.”
That rasp in his voice became more pronounced as a million tiny threads began to weave an unbreakable bond between them. She knew she wasn’t the only one feeling those ties. His expression hadn’t changed, but there was even more intensity in his eyes. The pads of histhumbs continued to whisper soothing caresses over the backs of her hands.
“Pesämet andam.I give you my protection.Uskolfertiilamet andam.I give you my allegiance.”
Around them, the plants swayed and rustled without the wind coming close. The dragon lilies moved closer to her, the rolled petals of several bending toward her to brush against her legs. She felt the camaraderie. The need to ensure she was safe. The lilies seemed to accept Benedek. After hearing how the forest creatures had raced to his aid when he had been so brutally attacked, she wasn’t surprised that the ones she called friends and allies approved of him.
“Sívamet andam.I give you my heart.” When he uttered that line of the vow, his hands covered hers and pressed her palms tighter against his chest. “Silke, I don’t know what’s left of my heart, if anything, but I swear to you if it is there, it belongs to you.”
Silke didn’t know what to say in the face of his complete sincerity. She nodded, hoping the tears burning behind her eyes would stay put. This was her marriage ceremony. When he finished, she would be this man’s wife. The thought was profound. Overpowering. Overwhelming.
Benedek leaned down and brushed the top of her head with his lips. “Sielamet andam.I give you my soul.”
The threads drew tight between them, weaving his soul together. A burst of triumph radiated from Silke to Benedek. She had kept his soul safe, and it was back where it belonged. Benedek would have a solid anchor to keep him from ever turning vampire.
