Page 36 of Under the Moonlight

Only none of that would happen now. She was surprised that Xander even bothered to follow her with the way she’d shut him out. She just didn’t know how to get right with what she was and what that meant for her and Xander. Perhaps she was punishing him a bit because the very obstacle that they had both had reservations about was no longer between them. She wasn’t human anymore.

Compared to how Greer had reacted to becoming a shifter, Jill was the freaking poster child for bitten humans. Greer knew that she’d been spending a lot of time with Dereck, whether it was completely platonic or not, she didn’t know for sure. What she did know is that Dereck had decided to stay in town, crashing with Xander. So, if she had to hazard a guess, Greer thought soon the two of them would be making everything official.

Suddenly, Greer was knocked for a loop, rolling until she was on

her back. Xander stood above her, snarling at her and she snapped back, pulling a hunk of fur from his neck.

He shifted swiftly, his body contorting until he was human once more. He held himself over her, glowering.

“Stop it, Greer. Talk to me. Whatever you’re feeling or thinking, if you tell me what you need, I can fix it.”

He wanted her to talk?

She shifted beneath him and as soon as her paws became hands, she pushed against his chest with all her might. The cold of the snow stung her back like needles, but she was too frustrated to care.

He didn’t budge, the bastard.

“It’s the same thing with you repeatedly, Xander. You want me to open up and bare my soul, but you can’t do the same. You dog me even after I ask for space, but I barely press you, and you lash out. If you want there to be something here, then you have to open up too.”

“What do you want to know? I will tell you anything you want if you just talk to me. If you’ll come back to me and be that girl I fell in love with.”

She blinked up at him. “What?”

“I said, I love you. I knew it the first time I held you in my arms.”

She didn’t say anything, couldn’t. Her mouth was completely frozen shut.

“You need more, fine. I walked into my house when I was twenty-three after a bachelor’s weekend in Vegas to find my father on the floor, his skull bashed in. It looked as though they had just unloaded two clips into each of my brothers. And my mother was tortured and raped. That is what I didn’t want to talk about. Can you see why?”

“After that, yes, I was obsessed with revenge. It was all I’d been living for, all that kept me going for five years. Even when I met you, it was hard to give that up. And I am sorry it took you getting abducted to realize that, but even if you hadn’t been taken, I would have figured it out if you ignored me long enough, because I’ve got to tell you, Greer, the last two weeks have been awful. I thought about you every second. Missed the feel of you in my arms and I just need you to know that I’m done running. I want you. Nothing else in my life matters if you aren’t a part of it.”

His words rushed through her like a soothing balm. Greer’s eyes filled with tears, and all the hurt and resentment melted into the snowy grown beneath her.

“But if you really need space, I’ll give it to you. I’ll give you whatever you want, Greer.”

When he started to climb off her, Greer lifted herself up and latched her arms around his neck.

“I want you, Xander Thorson.”

And before he could say anything, she pulled him down for a kiss.

24

Xander had no idea what had triggered the impromptu kiss, but after two weeks of misery, he was not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Lowering his body so she didn’t have to stretch so far, he kissed her, unable to hold back or be gentle. His fingers curled under her, into the snowy ground. Without another thought, he lifted her up in his arms, carrying her back toward her house. Greer wrapped her legs around his waist, her arms locked around his neck and she continued to kiss him.

When her nails traced across his back, scratching his skin lightly, he stopped and pressed her against the side of the nearest pine tree. He reached between them, gripping his cock in his hand and rubbed the tip against the wet folds of her pussy.

Xander pulled away from the kiss, his gaze boring into hers. “I’m yours, Greer. And you are mine.”

His thumb found her swollen clit and he pressed it in a firm circle.

She threw back her head and yelled, “Yes! Fuck, yes.”

With a hard thrust, he seated himself inside her, the walls of her body hugging him, gripping him tightly. He pulled out and pushed in again, listening to the moans, the squeals, the delicious, breathless sighs with each motion.

He wanted more, still. He wanted to mark her as his.

“Greer. I want to bite you so fucking bad.”

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