Prey

Chapter 96

He fell into my guidance with very little pressure, lowering his head down towards mine.

"Can I..." my face flamed at just the two words that made it out.

Okay... Maybe I wasn't as good with this as I thought I was.

He had asked for some sort of assurance before, so I just copied him.

That, and I wanted to hear him say that he wanted this too.

Thankfully, he got the message.

One of his arms lowered and pressed hard against my lower back so I was pushed into him, a mischievous little smirk planted on his face.

"Always," He whispered, the words holding the smallest hint of an ache as his other hand tilted up my chin.

We were kissing within the next moment, the gentle meeting being similar to the last time.

There wasn't as much heat raging between us as there was the first time we did this, but I found it enjoyable in its calmness regardless.

Given how I didn't know such a relaxing exchange like this was possible.

Still, in the strangest way, it left me wanting more, aching for something else.

I'll have time to figure it out later. For now, this kind of contact was more than enough to keep me sated

A blissful sigh fell from my lips as we parted.

I wondered how long it would be once we get there that I'll call in that offer to have sex with him...

I couldn't imagine it would be that long with the route we had taken now, though I didn't want to get too ahead of myself.

"Did um- have you gotten all of your stuff together?"

His smile widened just a noticeable amount at my odd wording, yet his eyes softened.

"I have. I think we're both pretty set for tomorrow. All we have to do now is sleep."

I quirked up a brow, "It can't be that late yet."

"It's almost three in the morning," He responded, obviously amused.

"What?!" I exclaimed, looking past him to the clock only to discover that he was entirely correct.

I didn't think that going through our stuff would have taken that long.

Although it was a lot of stuff... And we did only start close to midnight.

"Wow," I breathed out my quick defeat, " And we have to be up by nine tomorrow?"

"We're leaving by nine," he corrected, "We gotta be up and ready before then to help Nico with whatever obscure plan he came up with to get us out so fast. But long car rides make me tired, so we can catch up on the sleep we missed on the way."

Hm... I guess he's thought this through.

I felt his hands lower, his body bending down a bit as well.

I didn't have time to question it until I felt his hands on my thighs, and my feet were no longer touching the ground as he lifted me.

I grabbed tight to the front of his shirt- or whatever it was with a squeal to steady myself, my calves interlocking behind his waist to do the same.

His half-suppressed snicker filled my ears as I feigned a glare down at him for the embarrassing sound he pulled from me, promptly starting his way over towards the bed.

Whatever, I'll let this one pass.

"I don't know if I'm gonna get a whole lot of sleep, to begin with." I began.

"Oh yeah? Why's that?"

I had so much to think about. So much to wonder.

"I've just got too much on my mind. Thinking about tomorrow and everything that's going to follow. I guess I'm too excited for it to all happen." I explained.

An entirely new area, new experiences, new everything. All with the aid of a vampiric Prince.

He maneuvered me down onto the bed with my help.

"Y'know, all of that will come quicker if you sleep," He mentioned, lowering himself onto the bed beside me, "You'll get to meet your excitement sooner that way."

"Thanks, Xander, that really helped," was my flat reply, finished off with a roll of my eyes.

He blew out another short laugh, laying on his back and fixing the blankets.

"Sorry, I thought maybe that knowledge would overpower your racing mind. I honestly think I'm in the same boat as you with that one. I can't stop thinking about where we should start once we get there. I can't wait to show you everything that I think you'll love about my home."

My annoyance got quickly overpowered from the softness and genuineness of his tone.

"Really?"

"Really," He confirmed, reaching over to hit the remote that turned off the light before guiding me to lay on his chest, "There's just so much I want you to see, and I haven't figured out yet where to start. We'll probably just figure it out once we get there, but I cant help but dwell on it."

He was getting excited over me? Or I suppose over us would be more accurate.

I tightness I hadn't realized was there unraveled in my chest.

I think I'd underestimated how much he wanted to be by my side after we finally managed to get out of this territory.

It was my main concern the first time it got brought up, but now it almost felt like it wasn't relevant.

He'd be there no matter what. He wanted to be there no matter what.

I relaxed into him, taking in his scent and the sound of his heart to try to ease me into accepting the exhaustion I already knew was there.

Fingers skimmed up my back as quiet words caressed my ears.

"Rest now little dove, we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

Tomorrow. My first step into a brand new beginning.

A brand new life that I couldn't yet begin to imagine.

All in a world I no longer had a reason to fear.

The End

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A/N : Look out for book two very soon ;)

Hope you all enjoyed!