"Without conscious thought, the words formed in his mind. --You are my lifemate. His ancient language, the sacred words to bind them soul to soul, rose up before he could think, before he could guard against them. He was a Carpathian male, his body buried deep in the body of his lifemate, joined skin to skin. The ferocious hunger would never leave him, and the need to bind them together for all time overwhelmed him. The words poured out of his soul--aloud--from his soul to hers. " --I claim you as my lifemate. --I belong to you," he whispered his fierce claim. " --I offer my life for you. --I give you my protection. --I give you my allegiance. --I give you my heart. --I give you my soul. --I give you my body. --I take into my keeping the same that is yours. --Your life will be cherished by me for all my time. --Your life will be placed above my own for all time. --You are my lifemate. --You are bound to me for all eternity. --You are always in my care." With those formal words, a male Carpathian bound his true lifemate to him for all eternity. Once they were said, she could never escape him. Mikhail really had no intention of binding her to him, but every instinct in him, everything he was, forced the words out of his soul so that their souls were one as they were meant to be. He felt the threads weaving them together, soul to soul as they were meant. Their hearts were finally united, their minds one."