Wadim chuckled. He hadn’t thought of it that way, and she was right. He had already begun to feel guilty over the fact that he was going to find her scar-less body attractive, even though he’d been attracted to her before. Wadim sobered as he stared deeply into her eyes and pushed through their bond for her to open it all the way for him. “Are you sure?” He felt her walls drop and finally let him in. It seemed as if he could breathe for the first time in a week. Having any distance between them was hard, but with the bond shut down, it was excruciating.
She met his gaze with a steady one of her own, and her voice didn’t waver. “More sure than I’ve ever been of anything.”
Wadim released Zara and then cupped her precious face in his hands. He leaned down until their lips were barely touching. “You humble me, my beautiful mate,” he whispered. “I am going to get it wrong many, many more times, but I promise you I will spend the rest of my existence loving you, protecting you, providing for you, and most likely driving you a little crazy.”
Zara’s lips turned up slightly. “Crazy is better than bored to tears or scared out of my mind.”
He closed the distance between them and felt her raise up to press her lips firmly against his. Zara wasn’t overly affectionate, but when she was the more aggressive one, he loved it. It meant she felt confident with him, that she knew he would respond to her.
She opened her mouth at his mental prodding, and her taste invaded him. She was exquisite. Like the finest wine, he sipped her, wanting to savor the taste as long as possible. But then he felt her hands tugging at the hem of his shirt. His need to go slow evaporated.
Wadim let her pull his shirt up and over his head, then he swung her up in his arms and carried her to their room. He sat on the bed, keeping her in his lap, one of his hands running up her thigh, the other up and down her spine. There was way too much material between them, but he forced himself to let her set the pace.
He continued to kiss her, almost frantically, until she finally pulled back. When he moved forward, prepared to chase her delicious mouth, she pressed a finger to his lips, stopping him. “Tell me what to do,” she whispered.
Wadim’s brain froze momentarily. He shook the lust from his mind. When his mind started working again, he tried to figure out what she meant. He knew she knew what sex was because of… Wadim shut his mind down. All that line of thinking would do was piss him off. He wouldn’t allow any memories of her past to soil her first time. She sent an image through the bond. It was of her biting him. And he realized what she was asking. “Your body will know what to do,” he assured her with a cheeky smile. “Kind of like how it will know what to do once I’ve got you undressed.” His eyebrows rose and lowered suggestively.
He guided her head to his neck. Though he couldn’t see them, he sensed the glowing eyes of her wolf coming forward. Zara was still under the spell Rachel had put on her to keep her from shifting, but Wadim had faith that the Great Luna would make sure his mate could complete the bond, despite that issue.
When her hot breath caressed his skin, he bit back a growl. But when her tongue darted out and licked his flesh, there was no silencing his groan. Wadim felt her teeth on his neck, her bite tentative, but then she bit harder, and her fangs pierced his flesh easily. The pain lasted a second before it was replaced by the pleasure only the mating bond could produce. His hand tightened on the back of her head, pressing her against him as his 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.