Plat Principal

Amy’s heat-addled mind registered that something had changed. Some sound, maybe. Too much of her mental real estate was focused on her internal misery to give the disturbance much space. Though, when the sound came again, her ear twitched and she slowly recognized that someone was calling her name softly.

Her nose twitched and a shot of vigor surged through her. That scent. Could it be? She wiggled to the edge of her nest. That amazing scent. With great effort, she lifted herself and laid her head on the wall of tightly entwined fabric.

An imposing figure stood by the door of her room obscured by the darkness. A fresh run of hot tears rolled down her face. Amy couldn’t believe it. That silhouette of sharply upturned quills, the distinct scent of rich woods and coffee. It was him. He was here. Shadow had come! He was going to make all the hurt go away. Her throat tightened with sob, but she forced it back down.

“S-Shadow?” Her voice was little over a whisper. Touch me, Alpha.

“Amy…” Her dark gentleman approached and placed something on the floor while he knelt by her bed, bringing his face level with hers. The sliver of light escaping through the edges of her blackout curtains gave his worried ruby eyes an almost ethereal shade. Please, it hurts so much!

Her muscles stiff, Amy reached for him with an uncoordinated hand and her fingertips ghosted his cheek, confirming he was, in fact, real. Shadow held still as Amy fumbled for him and, eventually, she fully cupped the side of his face. “You came…” She blinked, her tears continuing to fall, but they felt lighter and cooler. Alpha is here. She was going to be okay. Everything was amazing now. He would take care of everything, now and forever.

Shadow leaned into her touch, sending Amy’s heart into her throat. “Of course.” He sounded breathless. “I promised.”

Something cracked inside and her ears pinned back. “Promises…” Amy whined, her awed euphoria shattered in an instant. Promises? She felt like her heart was being crushed and she didn’t know why. Promises! A gasping sob emerged from her throat. Promises were poison. Promises brought nothing but pain!

“Amy?” She felt the muscles of his face tighten under her fingers. His hand came up, pining hers against him. Shadow’s cheek felt so cool and Amy craved further contact. Why wasn’t he getting closer? “You’re burning up.” He released her hand and pulled away from her grasp. Amy whined and pawed at the open air. Her limbs were stiff and her joints burned, rendering her immobile and defenseless. “Hold on, please, ma pêche. Just a moment.”

She heard paper rustling and Shadow grumbled, “Je ne putain de vois absolument rien…” In the dim light, he fumbled at her bedside table and suddenly her lamp flared to life. Amy cried out at the sudden brightness, and she retreated into the dark confines of her nest, pressing her face into a fleece blanket. “Nique-moi. I’m sorry, Amy. I didn’t mean to startle you.” The light lessened but did not fully disappear. Amy peeked out and found the lamp missing from her bedside table, now casting illumination from the floor.

The paper shuffling returned until it was punctuated by a sharp crack. Amy tried and failed to lift herself back on top of her nest’s wall. Why was Shadow taking so long? The relief of his arrival was starting to wane and the horde of pain, fatigue, and sickly lust threatened to overtake her once more. “Shadow…” She whined quietly. She couldn’t see with what he was messing and the uncertainty was unsettling her on an atomic level. Her hand that had touched him shook uncontrollably from his absence. Amy curled into a tight ball and shivered despite the inferno frying every inch of her.

Amy felt a light touch on her shoulder, and she opened an eye, partially unspooling. Shadow leaned over her and held a bundle out to her. She sighed at his return. “Put this against your forehead or chest. Whichever feels best.” She blinked and frowned. “This will help.” He reassured her.

Slowly, Amy twisted in her cocoon of blankets and reached out with shaking hands. He held the object steady until she had a firm grip. The bundle was cool and soft. A package of something cold wrapped in a fluffy microfiber towel. Amy settled it against her chest. The bundle provided immediate relief to her sweltering body. Ohhhhhh…that felt goooood. She released a prolonged sigh.

“It’s not a permanent solution, but it’ll serve for now.” He leaned back down.

“In.” Amy moaned, weakly, her voice frayed on the edges.

Shadow’s head reappeared over her wall. “Hmm?”

“Get in.” Amy meant the demand to sound threatening or aggressive or really anything other than the whiny, petulant tone that emerged.

Shadow grinned, an expression that both sent her heart fluttering and irritation crackling sharply along the base of her skull. “Impatient.” He ducked down again. The irritation evolved into indignant vexation. Teasing motherfucker!

Amy groaned in frustration and clutched her cooling towel tighter to her chest. Despite his teasing, she was starting to feel better already. Tightness that had been building throughout her body was lessening and her frantic trembling was slowly easing. Her thoughts were still unsorted goop, but that was far less of concern to the incessant pain. As she stilled and relaxed, a massive press of exhaustion started to hold her down.

Something soft was pressed against Amy’s cheek and she nozzle it. Her nose twitched. Shadow had scented a cloth for her? Why would he do that? Was he planning on leaving her? A spike of panic forced her to flinch.

“It’s alright.” He reassured her. “Just bite down.”

“W-what?” Amy turned away. If she refused, he’d have to stay longer to make her. “No.”

She heard him sigh and Amy cringed. She was being difficult. Why was she being difficult for Alpha. That made her bad. Bad, bad, bad!

His hand touched her cheek and lightly rubbed it. Amy’s eyes fluttered, enchanted by the motion. “Humor me, please.”

Slowly, Amy opened her mouth, and Shadow pushed the cloth gently to her lips. She bit down weakly, but it was the best she could manage. Her fangs pierced something hidden within the cloth and a gush of cold liquid entered her mouth. Amy had never tasted anything so delicious. She squeezed her eyes shut and sucked on the cloth, drawing forth more fluid. It was sweet and salty and tangy and so, so refreshing. She released a satisfied moan.

“Like it that much, huh?” Amy cracked an eye with the intention of glaring at Shadow for his teasing. “It’s an oral electrolyte supplement.” Shadow’s fingers carded through her quills while Amy suckled, making her eyes roll up into her skull. “Dehydration is a huge concern for Omegas in heat, but you probably couldn’t stomach a sip of water right now. The cloth is just a trick I picked up to meter the flow…and you’re less likely to spit it out if it smells like me.”

Between the wrapped ice pack against her chest, sudden influx of nutrients, glucose, and water, and Shadow’s fingers slowly working the tangles out of her quills, Amy could almost forget she was naked, coated in her own fluids, and slowly dying painfully from a terminal case of not being actively penetrated. Almost. Amy took the temporary win and rested inside her body, feeling.

It took a moment to realize when Shadow started talking again. “You lose a lot of salt when you sweat, and hyponatremia lowers brain function.”

Those words probably had meaning, but she sure as hell didn’t know what it was. She pushed away the sports drink soaked cloth with her tongue. “What?”

Shadow chuckled. “Drink up.”

Amy attempted to growl, but it came out as a deep purr. She hated and loved the attention he was giving her. Hated how weak she felt, how obviously helpless she was, how patronizing Shadow was…But love for every moment of it issued forth from a deep, dark place in her heart, drowning out the hate with wave after wave of contentment, like the ocean beating the shore into sand. However, love did nothing for her pride.

Sure, a petulant segment of her brain thought ruefully, she’d drink up. She’d follow his instructions so well, his head would spin. She’d be good, such a good girl. He’ll see. Amy would be so obedient and receptive that he’ll feel shitty for laughing at her. That’ll show him. Ass.

As Amy drained the nutrient sack and cuddled an ice pack wrapped in a towel like some sort of premature infant, Shadow stood and took off his jacket. Looking around her room (which Amy hoped didn’t look as terribly messy as she was sure it was), he laid it over her desk chair. Next went his button up, revealing a white, cotton undershirt.

Amy’s mobility was quickly returning, and her thoughts were finally flowing faster than cold molasses. Intrigued, she sat up.

Shadow eyed her as he unbuckled his belt. “Feeling better?”

Amy nodded.

“Use your voice, Amy.” He smirked at her, sharp fangs glinting in the lamplight. She wanted to punch his stupidly handsome face.

She narrowed her eyes causing his grin to grow wider, gaining a wolfish quality. The hunger in his eyes made her shiver. She wanted him in her nest. She needed him in her nest. Please, Alpha, please, please come into her nest! “Get in.” Amy squeaked, teeth grit against the begging instincts inside her. She refused to beg. She’d die first, instincts be damned.

“Oh? What was that?” He was driving her insane. His belt hissed as it slid free of his suit pants. Amy tried to growl again, but it came out as purr. Shadow tried to cover a snicker by wiggling out of his pants and revealing a pair of burgundy cotton boxers with a pattern of six-pointed stars picked out in black. Amy found herself drawn to the line in the fabric that denoted the access portal. A prominent bulge ran the length of Shadow’s sheath that made her insides clench painfully. There was a great injustice threatening the world, namely that that holy relic wasn’t securely stored in her temple.

Apparently under the false impression that he was done disrobing, Shadow knelt beside the bed. “Amy, can I enter your nest?” He was…asking? Amy squinted, uncertain. Sonic never asked. He just climbed in and got to work…and maybe complained a little about the sogginess.

But being asked felt...amazing. Flattering. Empowering. Amy’s chest ached and she felt like crying again, but this time from something akin to happiness rather than pain and want.

“No.” She answered.

For the first time, Amy saw Shadow’s monumental control waiver as his teasing expression melted into a mix of surprise, disappointment, and uncertainty. And - oh, my god! – Shadow’s ears drooped and it was the cutest thing Amy had ever seen in her life. “N-no?” As powerful as making Shadow stutter made Amy feel, her heart shriveled painfully.

“Not with clothes.” She said breathlessly.

There was a beat, and then Amy watched Shadow go tauter than a bow string. Ears erect, his chest swelled from a single, shuddering deep breath. His shoulders twitched, the muscles underneath tensing and his fists balled at his sides. “Cette femme...” He growled in a deep timbre that sent a shiver racing up Amy’s spine. “As you wish.”

Without breaking eye contact with her, he quickly bit the middle finger on each glove in turn and ripped them off with his teeth. Amy leaned forward, the heat returning with a vengeance to her body, blazing across her cheeks and ears. With a single fluid motion, Shadow pulled his undershirt over his head and tossed it aside. Her eyes went wide, and everything faded away except Shadow’s broad chest, toned muscles apparent thorough his fur, crowned by a brilliant blaze of white.

Amy gasped and her womb clenched, a fresh dribble of slick issuing forth to soak nethers that had been enjoying their chance to dry. In an attempt to hide her intense interest (sure, let’s go with that), she rolled forward onto her hands and knees. She rested her head on the wall of her nest once more, her tail slowly wagging back and forth, hitting the sides of her rump with wet slaps.

He pushed to his feet and towered over her in the darkness, his breaths coming heavy and ragged, his eyes ravenous. Amy’s gaze broke with his and slid lower. He reached across himself and stuck a thumb into the waistband of his boxers. He pulled the elastic out slightly and ran the thumb along the circumference, smirking as her eyes followed the motion. Releasing the waistband led to slight snap as it pressed back into his hip and Amy’s ears quivered.

Seemingly finished tantalizing her, Shadow hooked both thumbs around the waistband, but Amy again said, “No.” She reached out and made a pawing motion. He stepped closer and her fingertips brushed the fine fur of his stomach, leading all the hairs stand on end when Shadow shuddered. Amy’s bare claws found the edge of the offending garment, and she weakly pulled it down. He watched her patiently, the fire in his eyes a warm smolder.

Once Amy got the waistband below his hips, the boxers freely fell to the floor and Amy could see Shadow in his full glory. He was the ultimate specimen of a man. Classical sculptors would never be able to capture the devilish perfection of his chest and abdomen. Amy’s arm fell down limply and she bit her lip. She wanted to run her fingers through his chest fluff and her tongue along the long patch of taunt flesh that hid the real prize.

Shadow knelt in front of her and gingerly cupped her chin with his hands. Amy trembled under the contact, whimpering softly. The soft pads of his thumbs gently rubbed the tear tracks along the sides of her snout. “Amy, may I please enter your nest?” Amy felt like she was melting, dripping like wax through his fingers under the heat of Shadows gaze.

Yes. Yes yes yes yes please yes please! YES!

“What are you…” Amy struggled to form words, his touch rendering her neurons largely useless, “waiting for?”

Shadow leaned forward and pressed his lips to her sweating brow briefly in a motion that left her head spinning. He smirked. “Good girl.” As much as the words filled her stupid Omega brain with a stupid eruption of joy, she wanted to scratch his stupid smug smile off his stupid handsome stupid perfect face.

Agonizingly slowly, Shadow crawled into Amy’s nest. She moved aside for him and then lay on her back. Her heart thundered as she spread her legs. Finally. Oh god, finally. The emptiness would be filled and she be free from this horrible curse for another month.

His lidded eyes ran down her body, scrutinizing every inch of her naked form, ending at her presentation. His eyes clouded and his jaw tightened. A long moment passed wherein Amy’s patience frayed further and further. Finally, he blinked and exhaled slowly. He placed a hand of each of her knees and pushed them together. “Not yet, ma pêche.”

A stabbing spear of rejection was deflected by indignant anger bubbling up so fast from her chest, Amy choked. “No!” Frustrated tears burned her eyes. “Now!” She was being too aggressive. Too whiny. That’s why he didn’t want her. She was defective and bad. A rotten Omega, putrid on the inside.

“Shhh, Amy.” Shadow leaned forward, placing himself over her. “Soon, I swear it. Please turn on your side.”

Gritting her teeth, her vision blurring, Amy whined. “No!” She was boiling alive with lust for his seed and he was torturing her sadistically. He must hate her. “Y-you don’t want me…” A crushing weight pressed down on her chest, threatening to splinter her ribs.

Shadow descended until his forehead gently pressed onto hers, drawing her attention from her spirally thoughts. He was so cool against her inflamed flesh, and it felt sooooo good. “I want you more than life itself, Amy.” His crimson eyes blazed with his sincerity. “I want to enter you so deeply I can never find my way out.” Amy’s eyelids fluttered. “But I need to do something about your fever, dear. The ice pack only does so much.”

Even his breath on her face was a balm. He slid his face down, rubbing his cheek against her. How could he be such a pleasant temperature? Why wasn’t he boiling as well? It was so hot in her nest. It was a kiln, a caldera, a crucible. “Please turn over, darling.”

It was like a spell, some magical spell. Amy mewled lightly and turned her head. Shadow lifted away and his strong hands helped guide her to lay on her side. He aligned himself behind her and pressed his body flush with hers. He was ice compared to Amy, but the sensation of contact was an instantaneous and immense relief.

She could feel his steel eagerness pressing into her back, the only source of heat in his whole body. Amy pushed back into him, trying to maximize her contact. Maybe if she rubbed him the right way, he’d disgorged and fuck her. It was a solid plan. She’d get to it shortly…she just needed a bit of a rest, especially when she was starting to feel kinda good actually.

His heartbeat was steady and slow. She could feel it through her back and soon hers was slowing to match his. Shadow’s arms curled around her, drawing her closer and wrapping her in a protective embrace. Amy was smothered in him. His body on hers, his scent mixing with hers, the sound of his voice murmuring quiet nothings in her ear. She relaxed in a way that was wholly foreign to her heats. Was this what it was like to have an Alpha? To have complete faith that she was safe and cared for, wanted and adored?

Amy felt a light touch and a bit of dampness on her shoulder that sent a pleasant tingle through her. It came again and again, rhythmically. Perhaps she should have been startled or at least curious, but something about the sensation felt so right. Her instincts were at peace, her body relaxed, and the cooling pleasant. She turned her head and felt Shadow nose graze the underside of her jaw.

He was grooming her.

Shadow ran his tongue over her in long, slow laps, working free the tangles in her fur and liberating the cloying secreted filth. When he finished her shoulders, he tilted her onto her front and began kneading the taunt, overwrought muscles of her back. Occasionally, his hands move up into her quills, working away knots and tangles and ghosting over her scalp, spreading a spiderweb of pleasant sensations through her mind.

Amy purred, a long, contented note. Shadow chuckled and she was too relaxed to reprimand him. She closed her eyes, succumbing to bliss. This must be a facet of heaven, she thought absently. The experience was surreal.

She’d never felt anything like this during a heat before, especially one so far gone. Heats were liquid, molten pain poured directly down her throat. But this? Where had this been her whole life? It almost made her cry to think about all the misery she’d gone through over the years…but at that moment she simply wasn’t capable of entertaining a negative thought.

“Why are you…like this?” Amy’s voice sounded strange paired with the unending purr from lower in her throat. Shadow hummed, quizzically, his hands not stilling. “How do you know all this stuff?”

Shadow’s fingers stopped and Amy released a piteous whine at the pause. She opened her eyes and twisted to look at him. “Shadow?” His crimson eyes were unfocused.

He blinked and met her gaze. He returned to his ministrations with renewed force and Amy moaned, her head falling limp. She felt herself drifting away, guided by his adept hands. She almost missed his answer. “My sister was an Omega.” He said quietly.

Was? Amy sighed, further melting into a pool of relaxed goo. There was meaning in those words, something heavy and sad and other emotions that didn’t exist in the paradise of her nest, but she didn’t have the capacity to contemplate them. She could barely even entertain the bubble of jealousy spawned by the idea that Shadow not only knew another Omega, but interacted with them like this-

Some construct of coherence in her mind smacked her across the figurative face. He said sister, it reminded her, you dumbass. Shame enveloped her. Amy’s chest tightened and she released a sob. God, she was so selfish!

“Amy?” Concern laced his voice.

“I-I’m sorry.” She cried. She was terrible. Horrible. Unforgivably nasty. A corruptive stain on the universe.

“What?” He sounded confused. “You don’t have anything to be sorry for, dear.”

Dear, he called her. Dear to him. Precious. Important. Valuable. All of the things that she wasn’t.

She didn’t deserve this. Didn’t deserve him. “Amy.” Nothing was right about this. “I need you to calm down.” She was a fraud, and he’d be so very angry with her once he realized. “Amy, open your eyes!” Oh god, would he kill her? Of course he would, that’s what she deserved.

“Amy, look at me.”

His Voice compelled her body to act without her consent and her eyes flashed open. She was on her back and he loomed over her, cradling her head in his hands. Her pupils and eyelids were paralyzed and the world shrank until only Shadow remained in all of creation. Her heart pounded against her chest and her vision began to fade at the edges. Tears welled, further blurring her vision.

“Shit. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” He leaned down, running a gentle tongue along the tear tracks besmirching her face and up to drink the gathering liquid in her eyes. The soothing sensation broke the compulsion and Amy’s eyes fluttered close. She was so exhausted she could sleep for a hundred years. She didn’t even have the strength to protest or purr as Shadow continued to clean her face.

Amy floated in an ethereal purgatory, a soupy mess of instincts and desires and fear and euphoria. Overstimulated and unfulfilled, the timeless white space went on for a frozen eternity. Until she became aware of a stillness. Shadow still held her, but they both lay unmoving. Amy’s eyelids lifted. His face hovered so close to hers their breath mixed. Shadow was looking at her lips, his pupils massive black saucers.

Then Shadow kissed her.

Amy gasped, her body springing back to life. He pulled away, terror gripping his features. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t-“ Amy’s hands sprang forward, fingers threading through his quills to grip his head and force him back down. She needed his lips on hers again like she needed oxygen.

They crushed together, messy, uncoordinated, and hard. Amy had nothing to go on other than unbridled desire. She needed him desperately, the softness of his lips on hers, the exchange of breath and saliva and soul. Shadow stiffened for a moment and then sprang to life, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her closer.

The pair pressed together, held firm in each other’s embrace, both trying to devour the other with reckless eagerness. Amy had never kissed anyone like this. Amy had hardly ever been kissed before. Shadow was breaking down her barriers with his tongue and his touch and his words and claiming all of her firsts. And she was giving them willingly.

Amy pulled away only for an instance to gasp in a fresh air, before diving back in for more. He smiled and nipped at her lower lip. Amy squeaked and parted her lips. In that moment, Shadow invaded her mouth. Surprise soon gave way to a fervent hunger, and she opened her mouth wider. Amy could taste herself on his tongue as the smooth muscle explored her.

He pulled away, leaving her breathless. Shadow returned quickly, kissing her cheeks and her eyes and her forehead and then trailing kiss down her jaw onto her shoulder to her scent gland. Amy’s back arched, pressure and heat exploding from her gut as the need returned hotter and stronger than ever.

“Shadow…” Her voice was tight and strained. “Now.”

He squeezed her tightly, his head nodding against her. “As you wish.” He agreed.

Shadow shuffled to the side to give her room to flip over, but Amy remained on her back. “No.” She said and watched his handsome face twist in adorable confusion. “This time I want to see your face.”

His lips parted as Shadow began to pant, his broad chest expanding and contracted rapidly. In a smooth motion, he threw a leg over her and leaned back onto his haunches. His hand reached towards his pouch. “No.” Amy said again and Shadow’s hand froze. She pushed up on an elbow and reached forward, running a blunt claw through the soft fur along the length of his sheath. As her finger neared his slit, the head peaked out, already glistening. Amy touched the soft flesh and Shadow grunted. The full length arrived into her hand.

It was a glorious instrument. Amy hadn’t the pleasure of seeing it the first time they’d been together and the size and girth of it scrambled her thoughts. The massive knot at the base made her inside clench in anticipation. All pretense of control or playfulness, any preamble at all really, dissolved in the ocean of need that infected her every cell.

Shadow smirked self-satisfied as he witnessed bold-faced desire cloud her eyes, but his tune abruptly changed when Amy wrapped her hand around the shaft and bent it down suddenly. Amy tried to spread her legs between his as she ineptly attempted to shove Shadow’s eagerness into her suckling darkness. “Fuck, Amy!” He snarled, falling forward and planting his hands on either side of her for balance.

Amy froze at her Alpha’s displeasure, but refused to relinquish her prize. Instead, she hissed.

Shadow laughed at her, the teasing bastard. “Tu es adorable.” In retaliation, Amy tightened her fist and watched Shadow’s expression contort and darkened. With a growl, he snapped his hips forward, the iron shaft under the flesh sliding forward while Amy’s hand remained stationary. She flinched at the sudden movement and released him. Shadow laughed again, but the sound had taken on a deeper, predatory tone.

With a light shove, Shadow pushed Amy back onto the blankets. “That’s enough.” He loomed over her, his eyes sharp in the lamplight. Amy felt pinned down by his attention. She’d had her fun. Now it was time for Alpha to take over. She took a deep breath, drawing in a thick cloud of his pheromones. She trembled and a fresh issuance of slick emerged.

His hands scooped under her and lifted her rump. Amy moaned as her spine curled. Ligaments and joints that had been inflamed and solid not long ago were loose and supple. Shadow pressed her thighs together. Amy frowned, curious, but then she released a shuddering moan as his length slid through the tiny joint between her legs and pelvis, bypassing her entrance and rubbing against her swollen nubbed.

Slowly, back and forth, he drug himself through the hole he’d formed with her legs. Amy keened at the contact and he grunted lustfully. It wasn’t right. It wasn’t what she needed. But holy shit did it feel good. “Do you know…Amy,” Shadow’s words were rough, being pushed out harshly between trusts, “…how much I have thought of you? How many times I touched myself while you ran my imagination to shreds?”

Amy’s hands gripped her sheets in two tight fists. Her head swam with sensation and her lips trembled. Speaking was impossible, but he probably knew that.

“You drove me insane. You utterly obliterated me.” His mouth hung open, the corners of his mouth damp as he panted. “Did you think of me?” His pace was increasing, and he held her legs firmly. There was no escape from the building pressure. “Did you moan my name like I yours? Did you touch yourself to the memory of me inside you?” Amy nodded her head. “Let me hear you, Amy.” He commanded.

Her back arched as he worked building a bridge to paradise. “Yes!” She cried in a long breathy shriek. His grip on her thighs tightened, his claws pressing into her flesh, and he leaned forward to increase force he was exerting on her sensitive spot. “Yes, yes, yes!” She was a broken record, scratching and repeating the affirmation over and over. “Yes, ye- ah!” Amy gasped.

The flood of pleasure erupted from her pelvis and rushed up her spine, building into a tsunami that leveled her brain completely, leaving a smooth, empty plain of bliss. Her legs shook uncontrollably under his firm hold. Shadow did not stop rutting into the crack he’d constructed, especially has her hips bucked up, trying to chase further shock waves.

Only when she fell limp did he release her, allowing her legs to fall open. Inside, Amy was empty. Occasionally her womb would clench, but those were small ripples on the placid lake upon which she floated. Shadow leaned down and took her mouth with his once more in a soft, long kiss. “Je tuerais pour toi.” He whispered to deaf ears. “Je réduirais le monde en cendres pour toi.”

After an indeterminate of time, Amy blinked, registering the smoldering ruby eyes looking down at her. “How are you feeling?” He asked softly.

Amy had to think for a moment, trying to remember what all those sounds meant. Slowly she remembered first how words worked and then that she had a mouth. “Better.” She said simply.

He smiled and lifted higher. Shadow had positioned himself between her splayed legs. “Are you ready to be a good girl?” He smirked.

Her snout scrunched in defiance, and she opened her mouth to utter some venomous retort, but Shadow jerked his hips forward, entering her deeply in a single motion. All that exited Amy was a single, long, filthy moan. “Fuck!” He exclaimed. “It’s not fair how amazing you feel, Amy!”

Not fair. Not fair? How dare he. What wasn’t fair was how he wasn’t all the way in! Her legs lifted and Amy wrapped them around Shadow’s waist. He had a split second to narrow his eyes at her before she gripped and yanked him forward. He grunted and as his knot slammed into her, white stars sparkled over her vision.

For a long moment, they lay silently, panting and still. Then Shadow began to move. Slow, long reciprocating movements, each time pressing his knot into her a little more forcefully. With each attempt to enter, Amy felt herself relax more and more. The competitiveness had faded. They worked as a team, him metering the preparation and she willing her body open.

She wasn’t just a needy hole and he was wasn’t just a greedy shaft. Together they worked to fulfill a purpose far greater and older than themselves. A private dance. An adaptable duet that could be harsh and loud or soft and quiet. United, together, making perfect harmony.

They both felt it, the instant their sizes matched.

“Ready?” Shadow asked breathlessly, his eyes cloudy and lidded.

“Ready.” Amy felt strangely clear headed.

Shadow’s knot entered Amy with little resistance and no pain. She sighed. Relief spread through her and Amy was filled with the absolute peace of being perfectly aligned in body, mind, and soul.

Shadow, however, was coming apart at the seams. His pupils were completely blown, large black seas with the slightest rim of red. He shook terribly and his body was burning hot against hers. Amy lifted her arms and pulled him down onto her. His head fell beside hers. “A-amy…” He grunted into her ear.

Using her leg’s grip on his waist, Amy rolled her pelvis forward, shifting him inside her. Shadow released a shuddering, high pitched moan. He had worked so hard to take care of her. She could bridge this last gap. Her chest was flooding with something dangerous and poisonously sweet. A deep adoration for his kindness, a cloying desire to see Shadow’s smile, a sucking pain of ever being out of his sight.

With each rolling curl of her hips, she could feel him tremble. Shadow buried his face into the crook of her neck, right above her claim gland and her head felt fuzzy. He was going to do it! Shadow was going to Claim her and then she would be his and everything would perfect forever. So close. She was so close to paradise.

“I’m close.” He moaned in her neck. “Putain. I can’t. I can’t!”

What was he talking about? No, no he had to. That was why he was here!

“Do it.” She heard herself say in a long mournful whine.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, ma pêche, I promised.” He grunted and lifted.

He didn’t want her.

Those warm sensations in her chest froze and died, like a rose in winter. Fresh tears welled in Amy’s eyes. Shadow frowned, his eyes lidded and unfocused against his oncoming orgasm. “Can’t.” He breathed. “I’m so sorry. I can’t.” Amy fell still, the rejection freezing her very soul. Shadow began to rut, but his face crumbled as she retreated into misery.

“No, Amy, please.” Shadow’s voice cracked. “I promised you I wouldn’t. I want to so badly, I really do. I want you! I want you! I want you so badly it’s killing me. It’s taking everything I have to not Claim you.” His lips were parted and she could see his fangs glinted with saliva. She needed those on her neck or she would die. “But I have to bite. I-I have to.” His eyes opened wide, a wild sheen growing.

The fire was already set. The avalanche already start. There was no going back, no stopping the runaway train. Amy lolled her head to the other side, blocking her gland, but presenting flesh nonetheless. Too far gone, Shadow didn’t ask for confirmation and pressed his snout in the crook of her neck. His breath was hot on her skin and she felt dampness as he pressed his lips against her.

It’s a consolation, she thought, deep in her rejection. A compromise that made no one happy. But that’s fine. They would always have this moment, even if it meant nothing.

His shallow thrusts start to lose their rhythm. “Amy. Amy. Uhnn-! Amy!” Shadow chanted into her shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her, pressing her body so close to his they truly might merge into a single being. His claws clawed through her quills, holding her head gently, the other hand’s digging into the flesh of her back fiercely.

Amy tightened her hold with her legs around his waist and mindlessly pulled on his back, trying to eliminate every last atom that wasn’t them from between their taunt, sweaty bodies. He trembled on the edge, his muscles rippling under his pelt. The sound of her name on his tongue started to rise in pitch, becoming strained.

She twisted her face, nuzzling it against his as he sucked on the join of her neck and shoulder. His ears jerked in time with his shallow trusts. Her tongue emerged and she licked a single, soft stripe up the shell of his ear and it froze, nearly vibrating from her attention. She wanted him to hear her.

“Yes.” Amy breathed.

Shadow’s teeth sank into her flesh just as he made a final, deep push into her furthest reaches.

Amy screamed as the conflicting sensations rocketed through her atmosphere, combusting and tearing her apart into scintillating, burning bits of color. Every weak, spent thrust pumping more glorious seed into her sent a fresh volley of fireworks. Every twitch of his lips or touch of his tongue on her bleeding shoulder was a chest rattling boom!

His seed doused her fire, settling deep inside her and locked in tight by his swollen knot. Everything was right with the world. As their hearts slowed, Shadow gently shifted them to their sides. Amy curled into the protective shelter of his arms and pressed her face against his chest. All the foolish negative thoughts evaporated like mist before the rising sun. Oh god, she was so tired.

“You did so well.” He whispered into her quills. “Get some rest, my dear.”

She nuzzled the white fur on his chest. It was ridiculously soft and through it she could feel his heartbeat, a slow, steady metronome. Her fingers curled, kneading the soft strands like a kitten. Exhaustion gripped her as solidly as Shadow’s arms around her. Amy closed her eyes, feeling, perhaps for the first time in her adult life, warm, satisfied, and safe.

And cherished.