need grew with every pull from her mouth. He heard her hum of approval as she swallowed. Wadim felt her love and desire through their mating bond, which was growing stronger now that they’d both exchanged blood.
He didn’t want her to stop, but he knew it was enough. “Zara,” he breathed into her mind. “Let me love you.”
She hesitantly released him and licked at the wound on his neck. It would heal in a matter of minutes. Wadim found himself wishing it would stay, as his mark would stay on her. He liked the idea of her mark on his flesh. He also liked the idea of her smelling like him, which she would after tonight. His scent would seep from her pores, letting any wolf near her know she belonged to him.
When she sat back enough that he could look in her eyes, Wadim saw no fear, only love, desire, and longing. He wrapped his hands around her waist and picked her up so she stood in front of him. Keeping his eyes on hers, he began to pull the hem of her shirt up. If there was even a moment of hesitation in her eyes, he wanted to know immediately. But she simply stared back at him in adoration. Slowly, Wadim undressed his mate. It was the most precious gift he’d ever unwrapped. His lips ghosted over her skin when she pulled his head toward her. He obviously wasn’t moving fast enough. “We have all night, beautiful,” he teased. “And then eternity after that.”
“It won’t ever be long enough.” Her voice was husky even in his mind. He couldn’t disagree. As his fingers traced her skin, his eyes following their path, he knew he would never get enough of her.
“You’re breathtaking.” Wadim’s voice was deep with the need to join with her. “No matter what you look like, you will always take my breath away.”
By the time they were both undressed, Wadim was finding it very difficult to make himself slow down. When he covered her smaller body with his own and their flesh touched from ankles to chests, he could barely catch his breath. Nothing had ever felt better. Nothing, that is, until their bodies joined. Their bond grew stronger as he made love to his mate for the first time. Her hands roamed his body, marking him with nails, but also with fingerprints that no one would see, though he would remember the feel of her hands for all of his life. “Mine,” he told her. “My mate, my love, my forever.”
Zara heard Wadim’s voice in her mind and tried to focus, but her senses were on overload. Never in a million years had she known being loved could be like this. She’d never understood that a man’s touch could make her feel as if she was the most precious thing in the world.
“You are.” Wadim looked down at her. He pressed his lips to her cheek, her jaw, then her lips as their bodies moved. “There is nothing more important, save our Creator, than you.” His eyes were glowing with his wolf, and she could feel her own wolf rising to meet their mate. A moment later, Zara’s eyes widened as she sensed the bonds fall away that had held her wolf in check. But instead of feeling out of control, she was in sync with her inner beast. The mate bond was complete, and her wolf was safe, protected, and loved.
“I love you,” Wadim said. His emotions poured freely into her mind, filling her heart until it overflowed.
She stared up into the eyes of her mate, her skin tingling from his attention. Her heart pounded in her chest, and she panted from pleasure. “I love you more.”
Wadim leaned down and nipped at her bottom lip with his teeth. “Not possible,” he growled, though his voice was filled with heat, not anger. She’d agree to disagree, for now.
Her mate spent the rest of the night showing her what it meant to love selflessly. He put her needs above his own, and she felt treasured. It was much later, as she lay sated and exhausted, draped across his body, that she wondered why any mated pair ever left their beds. Her head bounced on his stomach as he laughed, having heard her thoughts.
“Don’t you think you’ll get hungry at some point?” Wadim ran his fingers through her hair.
“Food is overrated,” she whispered. Even her lips were too tired to move.
Wadim’s chest rumbled, and she felt his