Xander's POV:

My entire world slowed while I processed her words.

At the needful urgency behind it, and the wide-eyed display.

I just had to take a quick breather. Clear my head and make sure I approach this the right way.

That deep-rooted desire for her had already been heightened from tasting her blood in my own territory, but now... hearing her voice like that and seeing the matching, almost desperate plea on her face...

It stirred something in me. The necessity to give her exactly what she wanted.

And that dull pride that only ever existed in times like this.

The dual thumping of both of our heartbeats coursed through me now that I'd taken her blood.

One was beating just a bit faster than the other, yet I couldn't tell who's it was.

Doesn't matter, the other was catching up anyways.

My initial shock from her uncharacteristic, yet somehow not, words got replaced by the new goal I had in mind.

I didn't want to risk touching her before because I didn't know what that might urge the feral part of me to do.

I knew that even that part of me wouldn't do something that made her uncomfortable, but losing that control wasn't something that I ever wanted to do with her.

But if the request was coming from her, then the need to please her came before anything else I could possibly think of doing.

Call it a morale boost from the taste of her blood. Even if she was already my main focus without it.

I tried not to let my mind wander to how she's cemented my positioning between her legs, instead rubbing my tongue over the roof of my mouth to rid it of any remaining blood.

I don't think she'd mind too much tasting her own blood, but just to be safe.

I let my eyes wander, slowly this time, to what she'd gifted me with.

The intensity of her breathing could be seen even in her stomach. The dark grey fabric of the briefs she chose to wear when throwing these types of outfits together accentuated the difference between her waist and hips.

Then further down to those legs currently locked around mine.

Holy shit she was gorgeous.

Not that this was new information, just... further proof.

My claws were surprisingly obedient in retracting, though the feeling of her nails lightly skimming the underside of my wrists might have added to it.

Taking her blood had done... something to her as I'd previously guessed.

It couldn't possibly be the same thing a vampire would feel given that she wasn't one.

The fact that I didn't know the specifics of this, what it was, or where it was coming from did leave me wary, but it wasn't going to stop me.

After a request like that, there was very little that was going to stop me other than Doe herself.

Ab strength don't fail me now.

I lifted my hands from the bed just before she could take a hold of them and guide me herself.

A part of me wanted to figure it out myself.

Have us both enjoy this little adventure.

'Touch me' she says.

Yeah. I think I can do that.

That rumble in my chest thrived as I leaned down, placing a kiss on her cheek at the same time my hands found either side of her lower waist.

That delicate warmth underneath such soft skin had the power to drive me mad, and yet I treaded carefully as if I was handling porcelain.

Figuring this part her out from scratch. Wanting her to know- to feel all the precision and attention someone who loved her would take.

Even if she didn't recognize it at the time.

I did love her, that wasn't something I was just going to sit here and deny that.

She deserved to feel loved, and because of that, I refused to give her any less.

The short breath she let escape and the feeling of her relaxing into my touch led me to believe that I was on the right track.

"Like this?" Even my voice rumbled with the rest of me.

Her eyes squeezed shut, letting out the most strained 'mhm' I've ever heard from her.

It had my biting my lower lip to suppress a smirk, even more so when her hands returned to my hair, and back under the tank top I was wearing.

I drew my hand up painfully slow, my thumb pressing just a bit into her skin as I did.

She took the initiative to guide me back to her lips with the fist in my hair, acting like she was almost eager to get a taste of her own blood.

Those two heartbeats I was experiencing danced in unison at this point, the pure ecstasy of being able to fulfill that physical closeness drinking her blood set ablaze in me.

And her quiet gasps and quick little noises just stirred it more and more to life.

She was driving me crazy in the best possible way, although that constant ache for reciprocation from the bite grew as well.

I didn't dare go any further than the skin she presented me with, pulling my hands quicker down her sides.

This time, I splayed a hand over her stomach and drew it up that way.

The gasp she sucked in during the half-second we parted for air and the feeling of her arching her back and lifting her hips into the contact... shit.

The pads of her fingers pressed hard against my back, and the pressure behind them gave away what she was doing.

Her breath was hot against my face as I pulled back, meeting her eyes with a narrow gaze.

"Don't get shy on me now," I lightheartedly instructed.

The shift in her brows told showed that she was clueless as to what I was insinuating.

Taking my free hand, I lightly took hold of the arm reaching for my back.

There was no need for her to be using the pads of her fingers when she had perfectly good nails.

Realization flashed in her eyes, the hand in question losing its tension.

"I-I don't want to hurt you," She sputtered.

Hurt me? Well, funny thing is, that was kind of the point.

If she couldn't bite me, then maybe this would be a good substitute.

Something coming from her that had the possibility of drawing blood.

Though, I was also very much aware of how... careful she was of that spot Layla had brought her claws to my back.

But there weren't enough words to describe how different these actions were to me.

My hand dropped from her arm, spotting the goosebumps as I traced my fingers up the side of her neck to cup her cheek.

"It's different when it's you, trust me. Don't hold back on me." I assured her, "I want to feel you too."

Just so the biting need for it doesn't drive me insane. So I can stay in proper control here.

That look of hers melted as the picture became clearer for her.

She was exceptionally good at taking the differences between our species and just rolling with it. One thing of many that I admired about her.

Then without another word, she pulled me back in and returned her hand where it was.

It was like we hadn't stopped at all, like the heat between us had simply been put on pause and was now right back to the action.

The feeling on her nails against my back momentarily tugged at my attention but didn't hinder my movements in savoring her.

All it took were gentle fingers caressing over her ear for them to scrape down my skin.

The stinging sensation let loose a shudder down my back, and a deep, loud snarl to jump from my chest to my throat.

Within the second I had an arm hooked under the center of her back, and pulled her up so we were chest to chest.

I caught myself getting strangely angry at my shirt for just existing and keeping us from the skin-to-skin contact I didn't know I wanted so badly until right now.

The pain immediately shifted into a different kind of satisfaction and feed the yearning for fangs in my skin.

Yeah... Yeah, that worked better than I anticipated.

Doe, the mischievous little minx, found my reaction funny, feeling the blow of it on my cheeks and her hand rubbing momentarily over the places she'd rightfully attacked.

I took the liberty of switching up the location of my own, taking the one that wasn't holding her to me, and instead reached back to place it on her thigh.

The whimper that just barely squeaked out at I traces little circles on the outside of them had me pulling her impossibly closer, and those little nails of hers to find purchase again exactly where I wanted them.

With how her legs were locked around mine, it took me a moment to shift my knees further back on the bed and get the balance I needed to pull off what I wanted to do next.

Although she too distracted me from that the second she bit and tugged on my bottom lip.

My eyes nearly rolled back in my head, another shiver working its way through me and raising yet another primal growl. This time rumbling right into her chest.

I felt the squeeze of her thighs in response.

Here I thought that doing this would sate that desire for her, but she kept doing things that just kept fanning the flames.

I became hyper-aware of whenever her hips rose at the sound and every move that followed.

Oh fuck.

I blew out a slow breath, angeling my head to rest my forehead on hers, still breathing each other's air.

"You're playing with fire here, dove," I warned, a groan broke through my words.

"No," Her voice still heald that breathless, needful tone, and even still held that confident, teasing poise she had, "I'm playing with you."

I'll admit, her words were humorous, that same hint of innocence reflecting in her eyes.

She was going to kill me with it one of these days.

But until then...

I quirked up a brow, re-engaging that prior challenge that temporarily got interrupted, the sight causing a hitch in her breathing at the immediate understanding.

She's done it before, but every time she turns her head up to expose her neck to me as I move in that direction never gets old.

Except this time, I wouldn't be staying there for long.

I gave her thigh a quick squeeze, nearly melting at the feeling while kissing my way down her neck and chest until I got met with the fabric of my own shirt.

One of these heartbeats was beginning to pick up the pace again.

I again splayed my hand fully against her back, making sure that I had somewhat of a comfortable hold on her before skipping over the two buttons that remained, and landing my lips on the exposed bottom of her sternum.

Perfectly timed to feel it rise as she sucked in another gasp.

I peered up at her from my position, that sense of pride blossoming with the knowledge that I was her prime focus.

Even as I watched her face deepen a few shades, she didn't shy away.

I steadily drew lower, doing nothing but simply grazing my lips over her skin and exhaling heated air.

It was the softer actions that seemed to get more of a rise out of her, finger now curled tight into the hair at the top of my head and another few scratches down my back.

Or maybe it was simply because of the tease it caused.

Her half-suppressed whine confirmed it, her head falling back onto the pillow as I sucked right above her belly button.

And the movement of her hips again...

Dear God, I was going to lose it.

"Are you... getting warmer?" her pitifully quiet voice breathed.

Shit...

"Mmhm," I casually replied, "It happens sometimes."

As the first physical sign of vampiric arousal.

I was usually so good at pushing those kinds of thoughts away or shooing them into the back of my mind, but this time...

In my territory, with her fresh blood, and everything we've been doing since, it was setting myself up for a battle I was bound to lose.

And fighting this goddamn hard-on was starting to yield the same results.

It was the one and only thing we had to compare to the bodily control the women of our species possess, and yet I was failing at it!

It wasn't something I had to do too often if at all!

No, I just needed to take a second to focus.

Focus on her and absolutely nothing else.

I nearly tapped into my advanced senses to get any sort of hint as to what I could do better for her, just to immediately stop myself.

I didn't want to check in on my sense of smell in fear of what I might find.

With the way she was reacting... With the constant movement of her hips...

If I did happen to catch even the slightest hint from her, I didn't know what that knowledge may awaken in that part of me I was not struggling to control.

I was scared that it might push me a little too far, and that wasn't how I wanted to go about having sex with her.

I had a plan... and this wasn't it.

That, and I wanted her to have a clear mind from the beginning, not distracted from whatever haze taking her blood seemed to put her in.

Not yet. In time but not yet.

The definitive decision miraculously worked in taming that part of me, which I truly wasn't expecting.

Tonight was just about this. A blissful end to a day well spent.

Letting her experience these little moments without expecting something else to follow.

I let the fierce want in all of her movements and timid sounds take my senses, saving each and every one to memory for future use.