Taming A Predator

Chapter 49

Xander's POV:

I sputtered through the tears that didn't want to end, holding her to me somehow tighter than before.

Trying to process everything at once, but my attention fell towards one in specific momentarily.

The sensation of the words she spoke worked in finally taming my pestering instinct down to where it should be.

The ones that put an end to the annoyance that had been on and off again for months.

Ever since the day after the last bloodmoon to be exact.

The intense difference I felt throughout my body was unreal now that I'd finally gotten what I wanted. What I needed.

Now that it- that I had full assurance of what I'd wanted. Hearing it with her voice... softly yet confidently against my ear.

It was as if I'd been carrying a weight around my chest that hindered my breathing, constantly bit at me, and couldn't be removed save for a few seemingly unattainable solutions.

She was the only thing that could distract me from it, and now she'd taken it off for good.

Through the result I'd wanted more than anything but never expected.

The comfort, the relief from its absence... from something so uncomfortable that I'd just forced myself to get used to.

I felt like a completely new man.

The astounding relaxing feeling from it actually caused me to stagger, nearly falling completely into Doe's hold over the time of a much-needed deep exhale.

Which ended up revving into a purr towards the end. One I didn't think was going to stop for a while.

Her grip tightened through my endeavor.

"Woah now Xander this doesn't mean that I just suddenly gained the ability to carry you," she warned, but still shifted her stance like she was going to try her best anyway.

The movement got a pathetic little laugh that I could manage at the moment, that already warm feeling in my chest for her spreading further.

The love and adoration I had no reason to suppress under walls that would easily break.

I fixed my footing and instead used my hold to lift her a few inches off of the ground, getting praised with her excited little squeal.

Love... she loves me. She loves me!

Holy shit...

I still couldn't get over it, and it hadn't fully sunk in yet, but even now I didn't know what to do with myself.

I never expected that I'd get this far, and my emotions for sure we're going through one hell of a ride.

The tips of my fingers still trembled from the residual adrenaline I'd built up from preparing for my inevitable rejection, but my heart was speeding now for a completely different reason.

Her hands lifted to my shoulders after I set her down, guiding me back until she could look up at my face.

With a soft, alleviated smile that just looked so... real.

I knew she still had some security when it came to showing others how she felt, and mostly showed her positive emotions through jokes and such, so seeing her now almost felt like I was seeing something vulnerable.

I didn't expect it would be much different from just hearing everything she had to say prior but it was.

My eyes stayed on hers while her hands skimmed up to hold my face, carefully wiping away the tears while I hurriedly sniffled and wiped away the snot with my sleeve.