Part 2

"There was something magical about her. Something sexual, but sweetly so. Sweet in a way that made him want to lick at the tips of her ears just for a taste and sexual in a way that made him not wish to stop until his tongue was lapping at the feminine core of that sweetness. Such thoughts made him wonder what her voice would be like when it cried his name. And such a question had him understanding that he had to have her. Species be damned, he wanted Ceres for his own."

Catelyn Cottonburrow
Red and Grey

10:00pm

Two Hours to New Year

Thinking about the monumental ass he had been over the past few days was one way to get past the anger of the their little fight the night before. And Nick knew that the naked fox staring back at him through the bathroom mirror was being an ass. He had intentionally been one on multiple occasions in his hustling days, even at moments as important as his first meeting with Judy. He simply hadn't been able to stop himself. Every time she tried to act like everything was normal when it clearly was not, it made him angry. Angry because she didn't even know why there was tension between them.

Oh, he could see that much clearly. Since becoming partners, they spent more time together than apart. They worked long days together, which he knew as both the hardest work he had ever done and the best times of his life because he was with her. They often shared meals after work and relived the more interesting moments of the day through comfortable chats. Even on their days off, he would often find himself roped into showing her the sights of the city that she still hadn't seen. He had even been to visit her family in Bunnyburrow once, where she had been all too eager to show off her new partner and best friend.

But that was all he was. Her friend. There was no wall to the 'friend zone' quite as massive and impassible as the one built between species, and she had made this completely clear with her 'It's not like you're a bunny" comment. Not that he blamed her, at least not intellectually. It wasn't like there was a club of foxes and bunnies than ran around proclaiming their love for each other. In fact, it wasn't like there were many foxes and bunnies that could even count themselves as friends. That did not stop the fact that her words had been like a punch to the throat, and his partner could punch hard. The lack of cruelty intended by the words, which had come from someone trying to cheer him up, almost made it worse rather than better. The idea had simply never crossed her mind.

You should let it go, he told himself, paws resting on the sink in the still steamy bathroom as he stared at the blurred image of himself. Reaching up, he angrily swiped the mist from the mirror so he could look into his own eyes. Eyes that were haunted and hurt and angry. It was never a good sign when he could see these things in his own eyes. Let it go, focus on letting things go back to normal. You'll get over it, Wilde.

He imagined he might, in time. Then his rebellious mind reminded him that someday, maybe someday soon, she would find herself a buck. His mind told him that it would be a slow, torturous process. She would date this buck while focusing on her career, and over time she would spend less time with him for the sake of spending more with this phantom rabbit. She would talk about him while they worked, complain about him while they ate lunch, come to work looking blushy and satisfied after a long night doing what bunnies did best, and excuse herself from drinks or dinner with her partner because she needed to get home. And one day she would come to work positively glowing with happiness, eager to share the good news with her best friend and show off the sparkling ring. The wedding would be beautiful, of course. A real Hopps family moment, where their oddball cop daughter finally settled down with a good buck and started a family. Nick might even be an usher or something else equally token. He would even smile while she walked down the aisle.

While he slowly bled to death inside.

"Not on your life, Wilde," he said, feeling a bit of that bleeding begin just imagining those things and shutting it down as he drew himself up. He gave himself a hard look in the eyes. "You will not stand by and say nothing. You made it through the academy. You've faced down lions, arrested an elephant, took down a gang of insane biker mice. You can tell her that you love her."

Years as a hustler had advantages and one was having a variety of methods at his disposal to say pretty much anything. And expressions. Which was what he did as he stood away from the sink and put on one of his best hustler masks. Ears perked while his face relaxed into an easy grin, eyes lidded just a bit, and for the finishing touch a quick snap with both paws before he pointed at the mirror. Getting into the swing of it again was easy enough and he released a slow sigh as he remembered that he had worked on his various faces for two decades.

"Still got it, Wilde. Looking good. Now, about that bunny," he muttered, shaking his paws out and taking another deep breath before he slipped on his best serious and earnest expression. "I love you, Carrots. No, wait. I'm in love with you, Carrots. No, damn it. Judy. I'm in love with you, J…"

The knock nearly scared him out of his fur, his paw clutching the damp fur of his chest for a moment as his expression snapped out of 'hustler ease' and into a curious annoyance. His ears pinned back for a moment when the knock came again, urgently this time. Followed by Judy's voice.

"Nick? I know you're in there," she said, her voice unsteady enough that he could hear how unusual it sounded even with a door and half a bathroom wall muffling it. His first thought was that she was still upset by the argument, which she had every reason to be. "I think you know we need to talk."

He didn't even think about it beyond a muttered "Oh, I know we do," before he was marching towards the front door with the intention of telling her exactly what he had been practicing in the mirror. The fact that his hustler mask was gone didn't matter. The fact that she had caught him off guard showing up at his front door didn't matter. The fact that he was convinced that this would just lead to rejection didn't matter. None of it mattered as he twisted the dead-bolt and swung the door open to face his partner with determination in green eyes…

"Oh, sweet cheese and crackers…"

…and not a stitch of clothing adorning his still damp, towel-ruffled, and very naked body.

The groan that escaped him may have been the most mortified sound ever to escape the fox, his paws slapping to the top of his head to pull on his ears before dragging down over his eyes. Embarrassment caused heat to rush through him, that special kind of horror that came only when one did something so completely idiotic that it was impossible to brush off as an accident, even when it was. He refused to look at her even as he moved to close the door again. He didn't have to face her reaction. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't mean… I just… Damn it! I'll go get dressed. You wait here, just one minute."

More than ready to be behind a closed door so he could crawl out the window, slide down the fire escape, run to the nearest taxi and take the first train to the middle of nowhere, it took him a second to realize that the door didn't budge when he tried to move it. Blinking slowly, he glanced at the door itself for the cause of the obstruction, freezing when he saw the small paw pressed against it. Dreading what it could mean ,as thoughts of her gleefully snapping pics with her phone to tease him with later filled his mind, he turned his gaze to her. She wasn't in the blushing, horrified, quick escape mode that she had been in when he had been caught with his cock in his paws a few days before. Quite the opposite, in fact. She was staring at him, right at him, with an earnest and curious look in beautiful, violet eyes. He was forced to take a surprised step back when she took one forward. And then another. And he realized that, while there was a blush running up the length of her ears, those ears were still high and quivering. And while her nose was twitching as she advanced on him, driving him back another few steps, she was the one who turned to swing the door closed and flip the lock with a decisive sound that almost made him yelp.

He considered retreating into the bathroom for a moment, though he couldn't take his eyes off her. Her behavior was unreadable, and he was a fox who prided himself on being able to read mammals. She was clearly flustered, had clearly been shocked to find him naked when he answered the door, and now seemed determined to not to turn around to face him again. But she had been staring at him boldly, had advanced into his apartment without even allowing him time to cover himself, and had locked them in together without a word. Aside from the nervous discomfort and the slow rise of hopeful excitement that would have come over any male who found himself naked in his own home with the female he loved, he was drawing a blank to explain this sudden and dramatic change in her behavior towards him.

"I heard you, through the door," she said at last and he was hard pressed not to make himself look even more foolish by reaching down to cover his sheath to hide himself from her when she finally did turn around. A little clutch in his stomach was accompanied by a sinking feeling had him reaching up to rub the back of his neck at her words.

"Just now?" he questioned, wondering if it would be possible to outrun her if he had a mad dash to lock himself in the bathroom.

"Well, that, too," she admitted, standing where she was and looking particularly adorable in blue jeans a red flannel shirt. It reminded him of what she had worn when she'd returned to Zootopia to find him, even if the shirt was darker. She reached up to tug at her ears, pulling them down to one side until they rested on her shoulder as she stroked them. That made the shy nerves shine through, becoming obvious for the first time, even if her eyes remained locked on his. "But I am talking about a few days ago, when I caught you masturbating."

It could have been the fact that she was showing her nervousness for the first time, but the admission of that didn't disturb him as it should have. The quick drop of her gaze from his when she said the word 'masturbate' was adorable. As adorable as it was surprising when he realized that the shift in her line of sight had her eyes resting on his sheath. The flush was so deep that it could be seen on the tip of her rapidly twitching nose. But she didn't stop looking. In fact, the way she was looking at him had the muscles in his belly tightening and that sheath thickening as her mouth parted for a moment before she slowly raised her eyes to his. It suddenly struck him.

"You knocked."

"I couldn't admit it to myself at the time, but I was curious. No," she said, shaking her head as she tugged on her ears again to drag them over her eyes for a moment. The way she hid her face was just so damned cute, he wanted to gobble her up where she stood. Maybe the hunger lingered in his eyes when she finally released her ears and let the raise again, because she swallowed visibly when she met them. "No more half-truths. I wanted you to open the door because I was interested. Turned on. I heard the rhythm of your paw and the grunts and moans. So, I knocked. But I wasn't ready for you. The way you smelled, the way you looked, your shorts tented right in front of me. It was like every fantasy I'd ever had about bucks was crumbled up, thrown away, and replaced with something so much more appealing. Replaced with you."

I'm dead, he thought as he watched her with wide eyes and a complete lack of intelligent retort to what she was saying. I slipped in the shower, hit my head, and died.

"And I panicked. I denied. I buried it so deep that I didn't even know I was denying it, that I had been denying it for some time." As she continued, he was even more convinced that he was in his own private paradise when she started to move towards him. She wasn't being seductive: there was no intentional sway to her hips, no sultry looks through smoldering eyes, no tongue sliding over her soft pink lips invitingly. If this had been a scene from a book like Red and Grey, she might have done these things. But what he saw was Judy, the bunny he was paws over tail in love with, being Judy as she closed the distance between them. "After I ran away - because I realize now that I was running - when I was alone, I was so turned on that I even had to lie to myself. 'Just the first time I've been exposed to the fact that he's a male, that's all. Any bunny would react that way.' Stupid, right?"

It must have been some credit to how interested he was in the story, because the touch of her paw on his belly fur came as such a surprise that he was forced to bite his lip to muffle the moan that escaped him. "Mmhm!" was his squeaked reply, the only sound he could manage when that paw traced up, his gaze following the tracks her fingers left in his damp fur as they burrowed deep enough for her tiny claws to touch the skin. Everywhere that her paw touched felt hot, making his knees weak even as his sheath filled until he became very aware of the cool air of the room on the emerging tip of his arousal. She noticed the same - stared at his growing length so openly that it only enhanced his lack of control over that increasingly excited part of his anatomy.

Too fast. Too fast.

"Carrots, wait," he said, trying to soften his rough voice as he reached down to cover her paw with his own, pinning it over the hard hammering of his heart. The other moved to cup her cheek, to touch her muzzle but hesitated just before making contact when his eyes were drawn to the dark claws on the tip of each finger.

Renard watched her flinch away, very nearly jumping back when he tried to touch her. Her eyes darted to the claws at the tips of his fingers with fascination and fear mingled, then to his paw. It was like the spirit was drained out of her, because she feared what his touch could do rather than what it would do. "Don't touch me with those," she whispered, her fear preventing her from seeing the agony in his eyes.

Withdrawing the paw slowly, he started to close it to hide his claws before she noticed how close they had been. Then the light pressure of a silky paw on the pad of his palm stopped him, drawing his gaze to her face as she looked at him with understanding in her eyes. His mouth went bone dry when she cupped the back of his much larger paw and drew it towards her muzzle, causing an electric thrill of lust to gather in his gut when that tiny pink tongue slicked out over one blunt claw slowly. It wasn't the sensation - because there was more of a tugging on the tip of his finger than anything tactile - but the act itself that had him releasing a shuttering breath when she placed a kiss on the pad of the same finger. The guile of it - followed by the innocent, questioning look she cast up at him - had the length of pulsing crimson unsheathed and at full mast before he could even think to control himself.

"I don't want to wait," she chirred softly, her nose twitching rapidly as she took another step closer to him. On taking a deliberate step in retreat, so that she wouldn't inadvertently brush against his arousal, the couch bumped the back of his knees. Surprised that he had been pushed so far into the apartment, he was very quickly grateful for it when she simply closed the distance again. When the paw that had been on his chest skimmed downward towards his more-than-eager length he danced back, ducking down until he fell onto the couch and out of her reach.

"Carrots, stop! What's gotten into you?"

The confusion at his rejection was obvious on her face for two or three seconds before her muzzle scrunched up and her ears dropped back. He wasn't ready for the tears that filled her eyes as her paws clenched at her sides. The array of emotions that he had seen pass through the bunny in the few minutes since he had opened the door made for one confused fox.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, reaching up to swipe at the first tear that fell even as others spilled over to replace it. "I don't really know how to do this and I'm making a mess of things again."

"Do what?" he asked, his voice holding a little more demand that he meant it to. Seeing her in tears had him wanting to go to her so he could comfort her as her friend, but for the fact that he was still very naked, very hard, and had no way to cover himself. His gaze darted around the couch and he was at least partly relieved to see the black shirt he had worn after work that day haphazardly tossed over the back of it. He snatched it up and slipped it on, reaching down to button it as he focused his gaze on her again.

"Why are you so much better than me?" she cried, almost accusingly as she waved one paw towards him. The fact that he could make no sense in what she was saying made his paws stop before he managed to hook the first button. "You're a better mammal than I am without even trying to be."

"What are you talking about?" he shouted in reply, the little growl in his voice and the fact that he stood suddenly causing her to take a step back. Confused and frustrated, aroused and hopeful, worried and uncertain: having this mix of emotions running through him all at once amplified his reaction and rounded it back on anger. "You know that's not true. I don't even know what's going on here, Carrots!"

"Come on, Nick! You know exactly what I mean," she said, the momentary step back reversed by an aggressive step forward that put her almost toe to toe with him. The height of emotions was apparent in the fact that she didn't seem to notice that this had the tip his arousal brushing her shirt and he didn't care. "I came to this city wanting to be some paragon of understanding and the first thing I find is a fox who proves exactly how speciest I really was. And even when I'm sure I'm past that, when we became friends, I just managed to screw that up royally. You were the one who saw it! And I promised myself when I got you back that I would never let something like it happen again. That I would be open and understanding and not blind to my own prejudice."

"So, I opened your eyes a little. That's just a great reason to stir me up before yelling at me when I'm naked in my own living room, Fluff," he said, rolling his eyes as he turned to head towards the bedroom. Now seemed like a good time to get dressed and head off the anger that continued to rise in the place of confused hurt.

"I'm not finished!" Though her words didn't stop him, he didn't get more than a few steps before she bounded in front of his bedroom door to block his path. Beautiful lavender eyes were angry now, rejected but needing to finish. Her face was set in the expression of determination that he had learned to respect. Because when she wore it, she always finished what she started. "I thought you opened my eyes only to have you prove me wrong again. My best friend. My partner. I didn't see you as more than that, wouldn't let myself see you as more than that, because you're a fox and I'm a bunny. But you feel more, don't you? And I hurt you because I didn't let myself see it."

"Yes, I feel more! I love you!" he snarled as he took a step closer to her. Some part of him was jarred when she didn't pull away from him, standing her ground unflinchingly even when he bore the teeth of a predator. If anything she looked stunned and on the verge of crying again but that didn't stop him. "And yes, you hurt me! I'll just have to deal with that, because you can't control how you feel. And I am not going to let you come in here and try to seduce me because you think it will make things better. I'm in love with you, but I won't lose you because you don't feel the same!"

"But I do!" she cried as the tears spilled over again, her paws clutched in front of her chest as she rushed onward. Not that she really needed to: the sudden jack-knife in his chest had struck him dumb for the moment. "I didn't come here to seduce you, Nick. I just got caught up in… Well, you. I came here to tell you that I love you and to say that I'm sorry. I messed up again; I did the same blindly speciest thing again because I let myself believe that I was beyond it. You don't know how important you've become to me. And…"

"Wait, wait. Stop," he said, waving his paws in front of him for a moment before he placed one of them over his eyes as he processed the unbelievable. He took a deep breath before opening them to look down at the sniffling bunny, focusing his ears on her. He had to be sure to catch every word clearly this time. "Let's rewind to what you were saying before you started attacking yourself."

"I'm sorry," she said, rubbing at her cheek with the back of one paw as she held his eyes.

"No, before that."

"I didn't come here to seduce you?" This time she said it with a hint of a smile. A hopeful little smile that managed to be playful and watery at the same time. The teasing note in it had him resting his paws on his hips, an exasperated pose he had taken a dozen times in front of her. And in this case, the contact of paws on bare fur reminded him of his lack of pants.

"I'm standing naked in my living room in front of my partner and she's making jokes," he said, rubbing his paws over his face again with a sigh of mock exasperation before he looked at her over the tops of his fingers. "And don't think that part doesn't disappoint me. But after that."

"I…" she began and paused when she reached up to tug her ears to the side again. It was both incredibly cute and incredibly sexy the way she ran her paws down them shyly as she met his eyes. "I love you, Nick."

"Say it again," he said, taking a step closer to her and lowering himself to one knee so they were closer to eye level.

"I love you," she replied, releasing her ears to raise them as she took a step closer to him. One paw rose to rest on his chest again, this time intentionally resting over his heart as she raised her muzzle so that it was almost touching his. "And I'm s…"

"Stop," he interrupted, cupping her cheek in one paw so he could feel the silky fur against the pad of his palm. This time, there was no hesitation or fear that she might be afraid of the claws that came with it. It was impossible to think so when she tipped her muzzle into the paw, her eyes shining up at him as her own fingers curled into the fur of his chest. "I love you, too. And that means the rest of it doesn't matter anymore, right?"

"Right. But I am sorry I hurt you," she said quickly and even though there was truth in the words, he still rolled his eyes as his tail swept across the carpet behind him in a steady wag.

"Carrots?"

"Yeah?" she said, her voice dropping to a whisper as he leaned in close. Very close. He could feel the warmth of every breath that trembled out of her parted lips, and smelt something sweet lingering around her. Something feminine that called to him as a male and as a predator.

"Be quiet while I figure out how to kiss you," he murmured, the tip of his muzzle brushing over hers. A tilt of his head caused fur to touch fur as their muzzles came closer and he could feel the warmth of her tongue as it licked out over her lips. He snapped almost on instinct, catching the slick pink muscle with his lips as his paw moved to cup the back of her head to draw her closer. When she melted into him, not even hesitating to press the advance of her tongue when their lips met, he released a little groan in the back of his throat at the taste of her.

The kiss made it impossible to focus. The real world melted away, drawing him into a world of sensation and heat that robbed him of his ability to think clearly. He couldn't take any one sensation away from it because it was overwhelming. Hot. Lust driving out affection until there was nothing left but the base need to have her wrapped around his cock.

He found that some parts of the story were right and some parts were laughably wrong. He could focus. In fact, he was hyper aware of everything about her. Maybe it was the predator being so close to prey, but his mind drank in and absorbed every second of the act of kissing her. The taste of her on his tongue when they met and tangled carefully; the way her tiny tongue curiously and fearlessly slicked over the length of his canines between breaths; the touch of her paws on his chest, fingers combing up through his fur until she was almost painfully gripping his shoulders; the roll of her hips when his paws slipped down to grip them. And the unbearable heat of her. It was like her temperature shot up the longer they kissed, so much so that he was panting by the time they broke apart for the first time.

"I lied," she whispered into the fur of his throat, a shock of lust and pleasure racing down his spine when she bit him. Bit hard enough that aching tingles lingered where her larger front teeth gnawed on his skin. Slow breaths escaped her as heat into his fur, heat that came with mumbled words that had him hardening against her belly as she writhed against him. "I did come here to seduce you. God, you smell good."

Her actions and her words undid him. Every little fantasy he had lived in his mind where he was tender and gentle with her to show her that predators were capable of being careful lovers was crushed and scattered to the wind. Without thinking, he reached up to start the process of unbuttoning the front of her shirt. He ripped it open when his fingers couldn't move fast enough, sending buttons snapping and flying. It startled a laugh out of her, one that was cut off when he lowered his head and pressed his nose into the fur of her chest, nuzzling around until he found one pink nipple hidden under white fur. When his tongue lapped at it once, she moaned through clenched teeth. When he closed his teeth on the tiny bud lightly, a cry escaped her as she arched her back and gripped the back of his head - the sweet scent of her arousal thickening in the air around him.

"Nick, my pants," she groaned, the hitched stutter of her voice delighting him as much as her obvious need. His paws moved down to the front of her jeans without hesitation and found her paws already there, thank god, struggling with the button. He hooked two claws into belt loops on either side of her hips and, once the band loosened, yanked them down and off until they hit the floor. His next breath was thick with the scent of horny bunny, sweet and fragrant, causing his mouth to water even as he nuzzled his way across her chest in search of another nipple to tease. With paws that refused to be still, he did what he had dreamed of doing more times than he could count as she kicked the jeans away: he cupped the toned - but still so soft and perfect - cheeks of her rear in both paws, making her yelp and laugh breathlessly. Rather than pull away or protest, she pressed her hips back into the squeeze of his paws as her chest arched into his muzzle.

"Bedroom?" The single word a question that escaped him in a growl that made her shiver against him, made the muscles of her ass clench in his paws. It was almost enough to give him pause, worried that fear had caused her tension. It was a concern that was wiped away by her whimpered reply.

"Too far," she gasped and jumped up to wrap her legs around his hips while the paws on hers kept her aloft. "The wall's closer."

"I love you, Fluff," he laughed breathlessly, managing to drag himself to his feet again before stumbling over to the wall with her in tow.

Their mouths locked again when her back hit the wall, and she was just as ravenous as he was in taking what she wanted. Her paws gripped his ears to drag his head down to her, forcing his back to arch as she crushed her muzzle against his. The tangle of tongues was only a momentary distraction as she clenched her legs around his waist, urging him to move forward. The size difference between them required an adjustment. As one paw moved from her hips to her back to support her weight, a step back was taken; one that caused her paws to grip the front of his shirt as she glared up at him, daring him to stop. She stilled, even if she didn't relax her grip, when it allowed him to drag her hips down until the tip of his cock nestled against the hot entrance to her sex. Knowing she was aroused did not prepare him for the slick heat of her. Just that first nudge told him that she was soaked, tight, and eager. Nothing he had ever experienced compared to it when he nestled the tip against her, her hips bucking slightly as an unmistakable cry of pleasure escaped her.

"Oh fuck, Nick. You're huge," she whined, her eyes darting down the length of her torso to watch as the first inch was squeezed into her. The curse escaping her so easily startled him as much as it aroused him, and the words were more than a slight boost to the ego. Nor did it hurt his feelings when her tongue ran over her lips when she saw him, the heat in her gaze burning bright when she turned that gaze up to meet his. She tugged on his shirt. "I need it. All of it. I made myself cum before I came over here, imagining you on top of me. Your teeth were at the back of my neck, every inch of you inside of me. Your knot squeezing into me while your claws dug into my hips. And I need it to happen, Nick."

If her intention was to motivate him, she did one hell of a job. The need in her eyes matched the unwavering tone of her voice, even as she rolled her hips forward so that those first few precious inches slipped into the clenching heat of her body. The very idea of her alone in her apartment, thinking of him while she rocked her hips against her paw was all he needed. The next roll of her hips was met with a forward thrust of his, her cry all but drowned out by his growl when he drove his hips forward with far more force than he intended. It wasn't until his sheath was nestled against flushed outer lips and his sac rested against the white fur of her rear that he realized she was ripping his shirt in her attempt to pull him even closer. And she felt like heaven. A wet vice squeezing down on every inch of him until every throb ached with the need for him to continue. It made it easy for him to forget everything but the fact that he wanted her and she wanted him. Her small size, the fact that he was a predator and she was prey, any thoughts that she might fear him. All of it vanished when he drew his hips back and slammed into her again.

Her cries of pleasure were mingled with his hungry growls as his grip on her rear tightened, drawing her into every drive of his hips until the apartment was filled with the muffled sound of furred hips meeting furred hips. The tightening of her legs around his hips urged him not only to take her hard, but to stay inside of her. Keeping the thrust hard and quick and eager. Whatever plans he may have made for being tender were long forgotten as the need overcame them both. Every lusty fantasy he had indulged in was nothing compared to the fact that her hunger matched his own with every meeting of their bodies.

"Judy," he began, even now ready to warn her that he needed to pull out. He felt the pleasure rising, felt the tightening of his belly muscles as every pulse of his cock became more purposeful.

"I can feel it," she gasped, her head pressed back into the wall for a moment with a stunned look on her face before she shot forward and clamped her arms and legs around him. Even with her face buried into his chest and blood rushing through his ears, he could hear her clearly. "Don't stop! Don't you dare! So. Close!"

Feeling her small claws biting into the back of his shirt as she trembled and bucked her hips against him with renewed vigor almost cost him his balance. A balance that he regained by stepping forward and pressing her back fully against the wall as he obeyed her, driving his hips up into her until he felt the swell of his knot impede each thrust. Quicker, shorter thrusts increased the friction as the mass at the base of his length thickened, locking him inside of the exquisite heat of his mate and still swelling until the pleasure was almost painful.

"Oh God, I can feel every inch!" she babbled, her voice sounding lost between rapture and agony as her inner muscles squeezed down around him. "It's more than the knot. All of you is getting biggerrrr-Argh!"

That realm between pleasure and pain was one that he shared with her when her body froze and she came around him. She was so hot and wet, but also too tight. So tight that he couldn't move for a long moment as her sex bore down around him and made movement impossible. It was a blissful torment that prevented him from finding his own release even as his knot reached full size and every inch of crimson buried inside of her begged to join her. It wasn't until she tightened her grip on the back of his shirt and started to pump her hips up and down in a rhythm that his hips were compelled to match that he felt the friction return. It only took a few seconds from there before the ache became an intense tingle and that tingle became a throb of pleasure that caused his balls to tighten. He pressed into her firmly, shoving her back and pinning her against the wall as he humped himself into her as he fought his way through the most intense and needed orgasm of his life. Somewhere through it, as he pumped her already tightly packed body full of his seed, he lowered his head and clamped his teeth down on one long ear. It may have been love or simple instinct that prevented his teeth from breaking the skin, but her reaction was one even his lust clouded mind could remember.

It was easy to remember when a bite to the ear caused a female to cum again, after all.

Heavy breathing and trembling of bodies was all either one could manage for nearly a minute afterwards. Every throb of his length inside of her caused another little whimper to escape her, though he had long ago realized that these whimpers were pleasure rather than discomfort. When she moved again, it was simply to bury her nose into a patch of cream-colored chest fur exposed by the destruction of his shirt before she was still again. The little shocks of pleasure that came every time he released more of his need into her eventually caused his legs to wobble, forcing him to turn and lean against the wall as he slid down it to sit with her in his lap. Dazed green eyes looked down to watch her curl into him, looking as tiredly content as he had ever seen her with her chest resting against his chest and her eyes closed. For a minute, he believed that she had fallen asleep and took advantage of that fact to just look at her.

His eyes wandered her face for a long moment; soft pink lips that were just a little darker because of the rough kisses were parted by slightly uneven breaths; her eyes were closed with brows relaxed and wrinkling just a bit every now and then when his knot throbbed inside of her; long ears, one still damp and mussed from his bite, were relaxed and half-rested on his shoulder. She had been cute the first time he laid eyes on her, and remained cute to this day. But she was beautiful, too. So soft and lovely…

"How long do we stay like this?" she questioned without warning, jarring him out of his thoughts so suddenly that he jerked just a little. Her eyes opened, turning to him just as a lazy and pleased smile spread over her muzzle. He may even have heard a little moan slip out when the sight made him throb inside of her.

"It depends," he replied honestly, reached down to slide one paw down the length of her ears slowly. "Fifteen minutes to an…"

He paused a moment to let a growl out when she squeezed down around him deliciously, rolling her hips a bit in the process. The spark in her eyes made it clear that she was delighted to have caused him to briefly lose the power of speech.

"If you keep doing that, we're going to start all over again before it ever goes down," he commented, his paws sliding down her back to her butt. The little squeeze he gave around the base of her tail made her moan her way through a laugh before he smoothed his paws out to cup each cheek on one paw. She watched him intently and whimpered a little when the twitch of her tail, combined with holding that rather perfect rear in his paws, made him pulse thickly again.

"You like my butt?"

"I love your butt," he replied honestly, flashing his teeth in a grin that had her smirking. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to watch you walk around in that tight blue uniform all day without reaching out to cop a feel? I want to bite it."

"Mm," she groaned a little, and he was surprised to feel her sex quiver around him as she reached up to slide her fingers along his muzzle. "I want you to bite it."

"Getting back to the previous question," he said, turning his muzzle to lap at her palm softly - to distract himself from the fact that he really did want to bite it. "Anywhere from fifteen to thirty minutes is average."

"Good," she said, smiling a little dreamily as he passed another lick over her paw softly. "Are you always this affectionate after sex?"

He almost wanted to argue that it had been making love, but realized how sappy it sounded. Besides, what had just happened had been more about pent-up need and denied desire than love, even if love had been the spark that started it. "Really fantastic sex, yes. Yes, I am."

"Good," she mumbled, placing a kiss to his chest lightly before she placed her cheek over his heart. "I love you, Nick."

Staring down at her, hearing her say the words he had never believed he would hear her say outside of friendly banter, he felt a happiness sink in that he had never experienced before. He would make love to her tonight. Take her into his bed, start the slow and amazing process of learning what pleased her while letting her learn the same for him. He would show her that he could be gentle in passion as well as lusty and out of control. He would show her that he loved her, no matter what species they were.

"I love you, too, Judy," he replied softly, finding it mildly amusing that neither of them seemed inclined to mention the fact that his paws were still cupping her butt cheeks.

The sound of fireworks outside, and cheering and merriment from surrounding apartments, made them both aware of the dawning of the New Year. Judy raised her head as he glanced over at the wall clock, which showed midnight. Their eyes met, they both smiled, and - rather than the tradition of saying the words - they welcomed the New Year with a warm, languid kiss.

"This is a million times better than the book," she murmured against his mouth, drawing an absently dazed sound of agreement from him. It took a full minute before her words really struck him. A flush of embarrassment raced up the back of his neck and heated the inside of his ears, and it was a slightly fearful, entirely curious fox that looked down at her.

"Wait. What book?"

(Notes: As some are aware, my DA account has been suspended. It is a one month ban-hammer, and I accept it. If you are here from DA, welcome! If not, welcome

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