Equal Measure

Story by Kulkum Al Stavich on SoFurry

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#4 of The Broken Mask

Getting to the actual main event, at last. I don't consider this to be smut. It is romantic erotica. Deal with it. :)


"I loved her against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness, against all discouragement that could be."

--Charles Dickens, Great Expectations

There was this period for all warm blooded creatures upon waking called sleep inertia; a period when the mind was not fully engaged and most actions were taken on instinct without full awareness of surroundings. That usually brief period when written words looked like a foreign language, time is incomprehensible, and the body is sluggish in accepting outside stimulation. This was also the moment when the mind was fully capable of shutting down and surrendering to sleep without memory of being awake at all.

For a mostly nocturnal mammals such as Nick, this state could last for hours when forced to wake up at the crack of dawn, and it didn't matter how many years he had been trying to adjust to it. The repeated, shrill 'beep-beep-beep' of the alarm was offensive to the ears, as was the light leaking in through the window, but he couldn't bring himself to move at first. The feeling of warmth and contentment simply wasn't going away, and the pillow he had curled himself around during the night smelled nice.

When it did finally become too much for him to handle, he released a small grunt of annoyance and with his eyes still firmly closed, he reached for the source of the sound blindly. When he didn't find it in its usual place, a small grumble escaped him and he rolled his head around until he saw it sitting on the annoyingly sunny windowsill through bleary eyes. Frowning a little, he reached out and slapped his paw down on top of it without thought. When a blissful silence followed, he allowed his eyes to drift closed again, turning back to draw his pillow closer so he could continue his dream for a few more minutes. That was until his pillow breathed in deeply, and released the breath in a slow sigh as she nestled back against him before going still again.

The haze of sleep burned away and the memory of where he was, and more importantly who was sleeping beside him, came back to him. The realization didn't come as a jolt or surprise. Just a rush of calming warmth and giddy excitement that had him wanting to simultaneously jump around like an idiot or curl in closer and just hold her. And because one would have required him to leave the bed, and possibly disturb the sleeping bunny, he decided on the calm approach. He opened his eyes for a moment, looking down at the grey and white fur nestled against him. A lot of grey and white fur, he realized. The sun colored t-shirt that she had worn to bed the night before was gone, discarded at some point in the night. And while he was relieved and disappointed when a quick check revealed that she was still wearing the snug fitting black panties, he was not in the least bit disturbed by the chance it afforded him. Just watching her sleep in the fur, taking in the way the grey blended into white down her chest and over her belly. He couldn't actually see much of the white because she slept on her side facing away from him, but it was enough for him to enjoy just watching her breathe for a moment. Enjoying the beauty of her; feeling a little ache in his chest when he lowered his muzzle between her ears and closed his eyes again to take in her scent.

"If you keep breathing so close to my ears, it's going to turn me on," came her soft voice, a voice that was not even slightly clouded by sleep. It wouldn't have surprised him at all if she had been awake from the first beep of the alarm, and he was glad that she seemed about as interested in moving away as he did. "And that's not fair because I still can't remember your stupid question."

"Too bad, Fluff. Not moving. And neither are you," he added when she started to do just that, making her laugh when he wrapped both arms around her chest and belly to draw her back against him firmly. "Too comfortable."

"Nick!" There was still laughter in her voice as she squirmed against him, laughter that increased to a fit of giggles when he lowered his muzzle to one of her ears and clamped it in his teeth for a playful growl. "I'm just trying to turn around, dumb fox!"

Deciding that he could have the best of both worlds if he let her turn and released her ear - the latter mostly due to the fact that her scent spiked at the bite - he relaxed his hold without actually letting her go. And because he was not a perfect gentlefox by any means, as she rolled to face him, he allowed his fingers to follow every step of the way. The pads of his fingers tracking a path slowly down her sides to her wider hips, feeling the short but intense tremble that raced through her when his claws ran up again through the fur at the small of her back . This was taken as a cue to drag her closer to him again, and she followed his guidance willingly until she was nestled against his chest, her fingers sliding into his fur lazily.

At least at first. She was not being a particularly lady like bunny when those paws spread out to either side of his chest. He watched her, his eyes follow their progress through his fur, mildly curious as to what she saw when she looked at him like that. Did she compare him to some standard? He wasn't built like a buck, at all. Male rabbits tended to be a lot like their female counterparts, only larger and minus the wider build of the hips. But he wasn't concerned that she might not find him attractive. Not in the slightest.

Not when the scent of her - which was sweet to his fox nose - deepened with every breath he took, and she seemed determined to outline every line of muscle under his fur with rapt attention. The fact that she seemed particularly fascinated with random things, such as the slightly thicker tuft of fur at the center of his chest, was as amusing as it was distracting. The caress of his fingers paused on their path up and down her bare side, and he couldn't suppress the rise of arousal when her paws skated under the still open front of his shirt to slide down his back. Even as she did this, she tilted her muzzle down to dip her head under the still loose loop of his tie. He found the action to be as arousing as it was sweet when she pulled herself up his body to lay her lips on his in a lazily sensual good morning kiss that sent fire right down into his soul.

Oh, Wilde, Wilde, Wilde. You are finished. Ended. Hustled again. She has your heart in those adorable little paws, and she can have anything she wants. And are you going to stop her?

No. No you are not.

The low sound that rose into the kiss was somewhere between a moan and a growl, and only seemed to spur her onward. Their grips tightened around each other at the same moment as the lazy kiss became a precursor for need. Going from contentment to a yearning so quickly robbed him of the ability to think long enough for him to forget that there was something he still needed. But oh, it was sweet when she ran her claws down his back and rocked her hips against his, making it impossible to focus on anything other than the warm, responsive bunny beside him. The same bunny that drew back, dragging the knot in his tie under her ears until it came free and hung loose in his collar.

"I love you, Nick," she whispered, the words caressing the side of his muzzle in a warm breath that made his body shake and weaken as emotion ran deep.

He savored the next kiss when she gave it, allowed it to linger as she played with the fur on the back of his neck. And then, quickly enough to surprise a cry and then a laugh out of her, he pinned her on her back and leaned over her until they were nose to nose. Well aware of his size compared to her, he kept his weight on his knees and one paw so that he hovered above her, using the other to cup her cheek and tilted her smiling face towards his. He nuzzled his mouth against hers twice briefly, but drew back each time she tried to deepen the kiss. Those wide, amethyst eyes almost seeming to be afraid when she looked up at him; but he knew better despite the rapid twitching of her nose and the way her ears were tucked back. It was much like the look she had given him when he had pinned her during training, one that he had been unable to recognize at the time because he had blinded himself to it. That visible desire so obvious now that he almost felt a little foolish for not seeing it before.

"I didn't bring the recorder pen," he said softly, his eyes not leaving hers as he stroked the silky fur of her cheek adoringly. "I am going to have to ask you to repeat that for me, Officer Hopps. Just to keep the record straight."

"Nick, I..." she began, and then trailed off when her eyes widened slightly and the paws that had been resting on his chest moved to cup his face. "Oh, Nick. Was that the question? Don't you know I love you?"

"I didn't know," he said, his paw cupping one of hers so he could turn and place a light kiss in the center of her palm. Then his gaze returned to hers when he saw the frown start to form on her muzzle. "'You know I love you' seems like an evasion, remember? I've known you love me as your partner, your friend for a while now. But that's not the same as knowing you love me. My mother told me once that saying 'I love you' is a question, and once you ask it to just wait for the answer. Don't demand, don't ask if you're loved in return, and don't make them feel guilty if they don't have your answer at that moment. Sooner or later, they'll say it back or they won't. But either way, you know that the answer is the truth. Because that one time they answer is the only one you need for it to be true every time after."

He realized that she was watching him with a warm intensity, and felt his ears drop a bit as he cleared his throat. "I mean, I know that the reality is more complicated than that. My mother always has been a rom..." He grew silent when she gripped both tongues of his tie and pulled him down into another kiss, this one short and sweet and more than enough to quite him.

"No, it's really not more complicated," she said, as he pressed his muzzle between her paws when she stroked them up the length of it. "Not this time. I love you, Nick."

How was a fox supposed to react to that?

"I love you, too, Carrots. Oh now, don't start that," he said softly, when he instantly saw the shimmer of tears fill those large violet eyes. He drew his paw over her ears to the back of her neck, and the other slipped under her to pull her against him as he rose to sit in the center of the bed. Pressing soft shushing sounds between her ears, he squeezed her close to him. He wouldn't have called it a crying jag, because it only took her a few seconds to calm as she burrowed herself into his chest, but it was enough for him to lightly tease her, "See? You bunnies, so emotional... Ow!"

He released a light chuckle at the punch to his chest, and she joined him as she looked up and wiped the wetness from her cheeks.

"Says the fox who refused sex for the sake of love," she said with a grin; then with a simply delighted look brightening her face, burrowed into his chest again and slipped her arms under his shirt to wrap them around him.

They sat like that silently for a few minutes, during which he allowed himself to enjoy the feeling he had only known with her. The certainty of it, as solid and real to him as their friendship. And like that friendship, getting here had been dangerous and nearly disastrous. But as she had shown him, the things he wanted the most were worth the effort.

"Nick?" he heard her voice, muffled by the fact that she seemed to be intently breathing his scent now. Every small huff of her breath causing a stirring in his fur, and his sheath.

"Mm?"

"You do realize that I am still in heat, right?"

"I am very aware of that at the moment, yes" he replied, though he made no move to change position. How could he not know? That sweetly alluring scent of aroused bunny was quickly deepening, and this time he didn't even try to hinder the affect that it was having on him. Nor did he stop the way her paws slid between them, and without even pausing for effect managed to unbutton his pants.

"If we don't have sex, things might just get violent."

He had a moment where he half wondered if she was joking, but wasn't given all that much time to think about it before she was trying to slip her paws into his boxers. He released a laugh that contained more nerves than he wanted as he reached between them and took her paws before they could reach his growing erection. Not by much, but he managed to draw them up to hold them against his chest.

"Wow, you are a smooth talker, Carrots," he said, trying to bring an ease into his voice that he didn't feel at the moment. "Your talent for seduction knows no bounds."

He watched her cheeks puff out and deflate in her annoyance, though her eyes moved over his face with concern, which was not what he wanted to see. She didn't let that stop her fully, he noted, as she wiggled her paws free and slid them into the fur of his chest. She looked up at him with a part in her lips that just begged to be kissed, and he released a slow sigh as he lowered his muzzle to do just that.

"Tell me what I need to do to seduce you, then," she murmured against him, tilted up to trace kisses along the lighter cream colored fur above his mouth. "Does my emotional fox need poetry? Love songs?"

"Listen, Fluff," he started, needing to pause for a breath when she lifted her mouth to his throat. "I was seduced a long time ago. That's not it."

The path of kisses she placed there sent little shocks of fire though him that caused the fur on the back of his neck to stand on end. His groan was throaty and pleased, and deepened in a light growl when she nipped at his shoulder. When she gave a firm shove against his chest, he took the hint and lay back, looking up at her as she scooted up so that she was straddling his chest.

"You're nervous," she said at length, her gaze moving over his face curiously with her ears high and trembling slightly. Just, he noted, as her paws did when she traced her fingers through his fur. This did manage to relax him, if only slightly.

"Extremely," he replied, reaching up to brush the back of one paw across her cheek slowly, turning it to slide his thumb across her muzzle when she closed her eyes and tilted into the touch. "And so are you. You're a bunny, Carrots, and hardly more than half my size. I keep thinking that if anyone gets hurt here, it's not going to be me."

"Nick," she said softly, and he watched as she took a hold of his tie to draw it out of his collar. "I've thought about it, too. A lot. For a long time. And I know you won't hurt me."

The heat that spread through him with that admission wore down his resistances considerably, and when he drew her into a kiss this time, it held and deepened. She moaned into the kiss when he rolled them again, pressing her into the bed as she tugged at his shirt to urge him to remove it. He complied, sliding out of it one arm at a time without breaking the kiss. He could feel the urgency when she touched him; feel it in the way her fingers dove into the fur at his shoulders to pull him closer as their tongues met in a curious little dance. The newness of it was taken to another level by what they were, and he refused to be rushed. Even when she released a sweetly needy little sound when he pressed his weight down, and ran the pads of his paw down her lower back just to feel her arch into the touch. She was a reactive little mammal, which he supposed didn't surprise him at all.

He broke the kiss, the taste of her lingering on his tongue as they locked eyes, panting lightly. The look in amethyst eyes was alight with the same need and hunger that he felt, but just past that he could see how terrified she was. Trying to hide it, trying not to let it stop them because even the fear wasn't stopping the way she tried to move her hips against him. Then again, she had never been one to let fear stop her from doing anything.

My brave, beautiful bunny.

"Slowly," he said in a low murmur that was as much to himself as to her, nuzzling her cheek softly before trailing kisses down the side of her neck. She never hesitated to tilt her muzzle to give him access, and he noticed that. Exposing herself to him, leaving herself vulnerable. Her hips stilled, maybe because she understood that he intended to take his sweet time about this, but she still trembled when his fingers danced over her. Little gasping breaths escaping her when he let his claws slide upward through the silky fur of her belly and chest, only to turn and smooth what the motion had ruffled. He savored every little twitch, every jolt that caused her body to tense and her breath to catch, and smiled slowly when a moan escaped her as his touch grazed her lower belly just under the band of her panties. She arched to him them, and he remembered the feeling of that needy motion well enough to know he had to pull back just a bit. When he did, sweeping his paw outward to her hip, she released a small but needy whimper that made him thankful she had already unbuttoned his pants. Slow as he wanted to be, she was in heat. And once the emotion started to turn towards sensation, he could see her patience gradually turn into desperation as her scent deepened.

But that was what he wanted, what they needed; for her to be more than ready, more than aroused.

And his paws remained a gentle but constant presence on her body as his mouth joined in the pleasure of making her need him. When he nipped at her shoulder with teeth that, to her, must have seemed dangerous on so many levels, her reaction was perfect. The surprised gasp, and a sensually charged moan of his name caused his own arousal to throb, and he carried the nip into a lingering bite that had his teeth dragging over her skin harmlessly. She was right about one thing; he would pull his own teeth out before he let himself hurt her. But his hurting her clearly wasn't on her mind, and he felt a thrill as a full body shudder rolled through her. The tiny paws gripping his shoulder fur tightened suddenly as she arched her back, released a high toned cry, and tried to pull him to her. Pull him on top of her, and between the thighs that parted under the touch of his paw.

There was something so deliciously erotic in how she reacted to him, something deeper and more primal than even her heat could have brought out. It was like some part of her, deep down, was reacting to the fact that he was a predator, just like there was part of him that wanted to take full advantage of it. It showed again when he obeyed his own desire and started to nibble his way down her chest, and the whimper of denial that escaped her when he didn't come to her as she wanted. Green eyes that were a little more predatory than normal rose to her, locking on hers when they opened to watch his tongue slide over the fur of her quivering belly. She huffed out some quick breaths, forced to release her grip on his shoulders as he moved lower.

The way she watched him made him feel like he was stalking her, and he was reminded for a moment of the museum. Just like then, there was no real fear in her eyes. But there was the same mad twitching of her nose, the fold of her ears, and a look of anticipation in her eyes when he turned his muzzle to nip at the inside of one thigh, and then the other. The desired result came with each nip, as her legs jerked apart and her hips lifted at the same moment.

"Damn it, Nick, please! I... Ah! Ngh!"

Whatever she had been trying to say, he cut off as he swept the crotch of her panties aside with one claw and slid the length of his warm tongue over the source of the scent that had teased him since the previous day. Just one long, slow lick that allowed him to finally understand why her scent was so damned tempting to him and how hot she was just on the surface of her sex. Her words were cut off by her own paws, and he had the pleasure of watching her slap both paws over her mouth to muffle herself when a strangled cry escaped her. The tension seemed to melt out of her for a moment as he took another taste - savored her from the softer flesh of her entrance to the tiny nub at the top - and returned to press his muzzle closer, tongue slipping deeper as his free paw came up to grip her hips. A grip that came just in time as they pumped up against his mouth and another muffled sound escaped into her paws, this one more intense than the last. He watched her back arch and felt her thighs squeeze around his head; watched the ripple of her stomach as toned muscle under fur came alive when she was driven over the edge.

The fact that he held a pure, almost greedy delight in the fact that she had cum so quickly couldn't be held against him. It was an amazing thing, watching his bunny lover ride through the orgasm as he felt her inner muscles squeeze tight around his tongue while the rest of her simply flowed with the instinct to mate with the source of her pleasure. The flavor of her altered subtly, deepened and heated at once, and he lapped at it eagerly as he allowed his eyes to fall closed. Just feeling her, tasting her, breathing her in as he listened to her struggle to muffle herself. She never seemed to come down, even as he started to explore a little deeper, began to lose himself in the pleasure of her. It wasn't until her voice became clear and trembling paws ran over his ears that he opened them again, finding himself looking into passion filled violet.

"It's not enough, Nick," she gasped, her voice edged with the desperation that he saw clearly in her eyes and the trembling of her muzzle. She added to it when he felt the tips of her claws sliding over his ears as she urged him to move. "It feels so good, but it's not enough!"

Maybe any other time he might have been tempted to resist her; teased her until she was in the palm of his paw. But right at that moment, he was in the palm of hers and moved when she called.

But he didn't leave without another lingering taste, one that he took as he hooked two claws at the hips of the little black panties she wore and slowly pulled them down. The flash of embarrassment that reached her eyes, even as she lifted her legs to let him slip them past her paws, as incredibly adorable as the look of need was sexy. He drew himself up onto his knees as he looked down at her, though 'looking' was probably too simple a term for it. He took in every inch of grey and white and now flushed pink that he could feast his eyes on. Did he have a bunny fetish? It almost seemed strange, even to him, that the answer was no. He had never seen bunnies or similar species as particularly attractive, and he never had. Cute, yes, in the same way a stuffed animal was cute.

But looking at her, loving her as he did, she was achingly beautiful. Achingly in the way it made his heart hurt, and his belly tighten when his eyes met hers again. And in the way it made his still trapped erection throb when she seemed to become impatient waiting for him and rolled unsteadily onto her paws and knees. The way the fluff of her tail twitched over the curve of her rear when she moved towards him, and the white and gray blended together to meet at the juncture between her thighs; even the way long ears were perked towards him, with the skin inside flushed almost red in her current state of arousal. All of it was sexy as hell.

All right, maybe I do have a bunny fetish now.

It was easy to be relieved when she came to a rest on her knees in front of him and reached out. With eyes that were as filled with curiosity as they were intense arousal, she returned the favor with careful paws. His tail twitched once at the widening of her eyes once his pants and boxers fell to the bed around his knees.

"Well... Damn, Nick."

He felt a slight flush crawl up the back of his neck even as the grin grew on his muzzle. He had half expected her to say 'sweet cheese and crackers' or something equally adorable. But the look of actual surprise that was mingled with a touch of trepidation and excitement all bundled into one had the grin softening into a smile. A smile that dropped into an 'o' of surprise when two small silky paws wrapped around the aching shaft, sliding upward in a curious exploration that made his entire body weak as pleasure rose to a whole new level.

"Ah ha," he laughed weakly, his voice failing and forming a gasp rather than the words he was trying to speak. There was more than innocent exploration going on with those paws, and it became a struggle not to growl in pure sexual delight as she squeezed both around the base where his knot would form. And form too soon if she didn't stop. "I thought you had seen naked foxes before."

"On my phone," she said, her voice sounding distant and more than a little dazed. He saw the rapid twitching of her nose, and the way her muzzle parted as she took in the feel of him. Her scent had also spiked, sharply, something that he hadn't even known could happen so soon after orgasm. Maybe it was a bunny thing. He really suddenly hoped that it was when she turned her eyes up to him with a look that reminded him that she had been conscious and aware while humping against him in the rainforest. "But the screen is small, and you Mr. Wilde, are not. I want you inside me."

He had to stamp down a sudden surge of lust that came on fast and tried to tear down his self-control. He had to stamp it down hard, because the way she looked up at him when she said that made him want to jump her and do exactly what she was asking for, quick and hard. But a shuddering breath later, and he was able to reach down reluctantly to draw her paws away from his aching length.

"I am not strong enough, or stupid enough to say no," he said, sitting back far enough to allow him to kick his pants and boxers the rest of the way off, sending them flying under the table across the tiny room. He was aware of the fact that she followed every move that he made, with her eyes and then literally. He chuckled softly as, when he moved to the head of the bed, she made a playful grab for his tail before he swept it out of her reach with a little tsk. "Don't grab a fox by the tail, Officer. It makes us cranky."

"That's a tiger," she laughed, her eyes never leaving him as he turned to lean back against the wall beside the window, his legs folded under him.

He reached up to cup her cheek when she came to him, and when she tilted her head into the touch he drew her closer. He was surprised, but didn't protest when she turned to face away from him halfway through the motion. This not only afforded him a view that was sure to become a favorite of his for the rest of his life, but also made it so that when she did sit, the aching length of his arousal was wrapped in the silky warmth of her thighs. He released a throaty growl, wrapping his arms around her as she pressed her thighs together and nestled her rear into his lap. He could feel the heat of her sex against his, and felt a yearning akin to pain to be inside of her. But he held her close, and pressed his muzzle into her shoulder to breathe her in when he heard her release a soft sigh.

"I woke up like this," she said, her voice trembling lightly. His muzzle went still in the process of nuzzling through the fur of her shoulder when he heard the emotion in that voice. "When I first went savage I was running from the fox, running from what I knew was my most feared predator. And when the fox found me, I ran again without hesitation. The fear was unimaginable, just this... Drive to escape from the jaws of death, to run and hide.

"Until you called out to me, and fell because you wouldn't stop," she continued, turning her face to nuzzle against his cheek. He listened in stunned silence, closing his eyes as she reached back to slide one paw down the side of his muzzle adoringly. "Even though you were hurt, you wouldn't let me go. And I was trying to figure out why, trying to understand what was so important about you - different about you - until I understood that you weren't just a fox; you were my fox. And even though there was a part of me that was still terrified for a moment, I ran to you. And then you touched me as gently as you're touching me right now, told me that I was safe. And it was all stopped."

"You weren't savage anymore?" he questioned, his fingers tracing lightly down the length of one folded ear.

"No, and that's just it," she said, and he saw the need for him to understand in her eyes. "I was still savage. Everything around me was still terrifying, I didn't even know who I was. But the instinct to fear you was just... Gone. All I knew was that you were mine, and you would keep me safe. Safe. So perfectly safe and warm."

Her last few words were soft in remembrance, and she was silent for a few heartbeats after that, during which he watched her. Wondering if she realized that what the story told was making him fall even more in love with her. But he said nothing, just hugged her closer and savored the thought of what she had shared with him.

"I woke up like this," she repeated, raising her eyes again. "Lying beside you, pressed back against you with your arms around me. And for a moment, I was back in the rainforest. I had that same feeling of absolute safety and contentment. Because that's what I feel when I'm around you, even before yesterday. And I want our first time together to be a perfect reminder that - no matter what - somehow we're right together."

Unable to speak for a long moment, feeling the heat of her, feeling this ridiculous well of emotions, he held her close to him as he tried to gather himself. He felt a little hitch in her breathing, followed by a little sniffle. Reaching around, he drew her gaze to him in time to see a single tear slide into the fur of her cheek.

"I'm sorry," she said, and though no more tears fell there was still a wobble in her voice. "I know, dumb bunny. So emotion..."

He quieted her when he cupped her muzzle and closed his lips on hers. After she melted into him, it was easy to simply allow passion to deepen the kiss as he carried her in a gentle slide down onto the mattress. Tucking her against him, keeping her pressed against his chest and hips, he slowly rolled without breaking the kiss until they were lying side-by-side. He released a small groan into the kiss as the shift in position caused the length of his arousal to slide along the heat of her sex, which resulted in a little whimper from her. Her thighs squeezed together tightly around him, and she rolled her hips back against him in a motion that was as eager as the thick throbbing that followed it.

"Like this?" he said in a low voice against the side of one ear before he nipped at it softly, drawing another little sound of pleasure from her.

"Exactly like this," she sighed happily in reply, her ears quivering under the gentle assault of his mouth. "Except for the part where you're still not inside me."

"You'll have to forgive that...Ngh." He was cut off by the growl that rose when she reached between her thighs to slide silky fingers over the head. When she parted her thigh, and slid one leg back to drape over his thigh, she inched herself forward until the tip nestled against the most amazing wet heat he had ever felt. A shudder ran through him with the effort it took not to just thrust forward and take her, but the restraint seemed almost unnecessary when she arched her hips back into him.

There was effort, and even as wet as she was, there was a moment where he worried that it wouldn't work. But after a brief pause, during which they simply panted and kissed each other senseless, a minor adjustment was made. Then tight, slick, blissful heat slid around half of his length, and all he could do was bury his face into her shoulder and groan in blissful wonder at the sensation. "Oh, sweet fox Jesus."

This drew a breathless and almost soundless laugh from her as she gripped one of his arms and hugged it tightly to her chest. "I don't remember you saying you were religious, Nick."

"I wasn't, until about two seconds ago," he said, trying to relax the strain in his tone as he kissed his way up the side of her neck until he reached the base of her ear. There he nibbled softly, grazing his teeth down to the skin in a way that made her body tighten. When she squeezed down around him, it drew a sharp cry from her, and he quickly stopped. "Am I... Does it hurt?"

"No," she groaned, and tilted her head back to look at him with a dazed sort of pleasure in her eyes. "Deeper. Please, Nick."

He did go deeper, though he took it slow. So slow that the ache of need bordered on physical pain as he gently rocked his hips against her, stroking and kissing every part of her that he could reach with his paws and muzzle. Every time he tried to stop, she would beg him deeper until he found himself mostly sheathed in the heated folds of the bunny beside him. The sensation was as amazing and glorious as it was terrifying. The scent of her surrounded him now, the humid fragrance of feminine desire strong in every breath he took, which did help to ease his fears and eventually stopped him from asking if he was hurting her. But there was one point that he was not willing to cross, and they found themselves in an odd argument at the worst of times. If it could be called an argument, considering that neither of them were willing to stop the motion of his body against hers.

"All of you, Nick," she gasped, her head rolled to one side as he nipped at the white fur of her exposed throat softly.

"The knot is too big," he countered, though half of the argument was lost as he buried his muzzle into her shoulder and growled sharply when she arched her hips back against him hard. Hard enough to slide the rest of him into her, and that blissful feeling of being fully sheathed inside of her caused him to swell instantly. He could have stumbled over the edge then and there, let himself go in the purely physical. But she was tight. Too tight, he knew, and one of his paws moved down to grip her hips tightly as he heaved desperate breaths into her fur to calm himself enough not to move. The thickening of his knot also caused a sharp cry from her, and pain to flare through his arm when she bit down on it and held on. He didn't try to pull away from the bite, however. He suffered it, held onto her, and stayed perfectly still as he pressed his cheek against her ears as she whimpered softly.

"It's okay. It's okay," he soothed, his ears pinned back as she released his arm to gasp in a few breaths before she turned to look back at him with pained eyes that cracked his heart. "I'm sorry, it will pass. We'll just lay right here until it passes."

"I... I'll adjust," she said in an unsteady voice, her paw sliding up to touch the side of his muzzle. "I didn't expect it to be that big, but I'll adjust. It only aches a little. Kiss me?"

She was lying, and he knew it. Every little motion made a wince curl her muzzle, but she looked up at him with hopeful eyes.

"Carrots, that's not going to help it go away," he said softly, though when she parted her muzzle as he leaned closer he was compelled to kiss her. He kept it soft, brief, but sweet as he slid the pads of his fingers down her ear softly, only to be surprised by her words when she parted her muzzle from his briefly.

"I don't want it to go away," she said, her paw still softly tracing the line on his muzzle where cream met red to keep him close. So close that he could feel the warmth of her words against his mouth. "I want this. All of this."

When she led him into another kiss, she didn't allow it to remain soft or short. She reached around his ears and drew him into her, her mouth parting to slide her tongue eagerly over his canines until he surrendered and returned it. And she was relentless with the kiss, as he knew she always was when she really wanted something. The hunger that she put into it left him wanting more, and pulled a groan from low in his chest when she suckled softly on his lips for a moment to draw him back in when he tried to break it. Euphoria was too neat a word for the things she was doing to him, and he laughed lightly as he drew his claws slowly up her side.

"Sly bunny."

"Hm," was her only reply, her eyes closed as he watched little shivers raced through her when his paws moved inward over her belly and chest. "You're a really good kisser, did you know that? And really good with your paws."

"The vast experience that comes with age, Fluff," he said, his muzzle drawn back into a cocky smirk when she rolled her eyes and flopped her head back against his chest. "What? I remember being your age. Remember? Small and emotionally unstable? You're going to think back on this age when you're over thirty and wonder where the time went."

A snort of laughter escaped her, followed just as quickly by a small moan when that adventurous paw slipped between her thighs. He felt the roll of her hips against his, and stilled for a moment to watch her face for any signs of pain. But there was none. Just a look of contentment and calm, also with an almost silly smile on her muzzle when she looked up at him. Intense amethysts held simmering embers of passion and love in equal measure.

And his resistances fell to rubble. He tried to be gentle, but she urged him to passion with every slow roll of her body around and against him. It wasn't long before he found himself lost in her again, and the paw that had moved to her hip to calm the pace was soon pulling her back into every thrust. He soon gave up on the reasoning behind being gentle as she moaned for him to move faster, take her harder, and the slick heat of her body made it impossible to resist doing just that. They were past the point of slow and easy, and took each other with the joy of the fact that somehow they fit together.

When his muzzle closed on one slender shoulder, the press of his teeth against her skin sent her into a shuddering orgasm that rocked her smaller form and caused her to tighten around him almost viciously. And he was not far behind. A sound somewhere between a moan and snarl vibrating through them both as he pressed tight against her, savored the feeling of being fully buried in her as his arms moved to wrap almost protectively around her chest and belly to draw her closer. The pleasure nearly blinded him, did blind him to everything but her, and while there were no fireworks or trumpets or any such nonsense, he still didn't want the feeling to end.

He was unmoving aside from the quick rise and fall of his chest as they pressed together afterwards, drained and sated in ways that he had never known existed before her. With his nose resting between her ears, exactly as it had been when they had woken up that morning, he didn't feel the need to say anything more. It was a feeling she seemed to share as they lay there listening to each other breath in the tiny apartment. There was no need for words now, no need to wonder or doubt. They had already figured out the question.

And they both knew the answer.