Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 142916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 715(@200wpm)___ 572(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 142916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 715(@200wpm)___ 572(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
“And the last line?” she prompted.
“Silke.” Benedek pulled his shirt over his back. His voice was barely there, as if he’d talked too much and his vocal cords had given out.
“The last line, Benedek,” she insisted.
He turned to face her, those dark eyes gleaming. Very gently he framed her face with his palms. “Hängemért.”
The single word was uttered in a low, almost loving voice. Definitely reverent. A whisper of a promise.
“ ‘Only her.’ Hängemért means ‘only her.’ You, Silke. My lifemate. There will always be only you. No woman came before you. No woman will ever come after you. I can give you that vow. I may be a flawed Carpathian, but I can offer you loyalty like no other.”
The pad of his thumb slid across her full bottom lip, tracing the curve. A multitude of butterflies fluttered in the pit of her stomach. It didn’t make sense that he could look at her with that focused stare, never blinking, and turn her inside out, yet each time he did.
“The vows I take with you will be forever imprinted on me and I will keep each one. I have that to give you. It may not sound like much, but I swear I will make you happy.”
He didn’t believe he was good enough for her.
“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 their vows, 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.