I don''t want to think. I nuzzle my nose into Clayton''s neck and breathe him in, hearing Selene growling in the back of my head. "For what?"

    "For all of it. But for claiming you when you told me no." I can feel his hands brushing against my neck, and pleasure and pain course through me. I can still feel him in my head, but the presence is fading. He sounds puzzled. "It didn''t take, though. Why didn''t it take?"

    I shake my head. "I don''t know." But I can guess it has something to do with me.

    Clayton continues to caress my neck. "This looks terrible. Like a wolf tore your neck apart. It looks like I tried to kill you."

    "Mmm." I''m tired, and trying to ignore the little flares of heat in my abdomen that are trying to come back.

    My body can''t take another round of this. But I want one.

    "You were a virgin," Clayton continues. He''s very talkative after sex, I guess.

    He sounds grim. I finally open one eye to look at him, and he looks furious. "I''m sorry?"

    "No, I''m sorry. Your first time should have never been like that."

    His fingers trail through the tangled strands, gently working out the knots. I can''t help but lean into his touch, savoring the tenderness, the gentle affection.

    "I''m so sorry, Ava," he murmurs, his breath warm against my temple. "I never wanted to hurt you like this. I tried so hard to stay away and keep you safe."

    A pang of guilt twists in my chest at the remorse in his voice. I already know he never meant to hurt me. He did everything he could.

    "It''s okay," I whisper through the roughness in my throat. "I understand."

    Clayton shakes his head, his fingers continuing their soothing motions. "No, it''s not okay. Your first time should have been special, not a frenzied mess driven by instinct and heat." He presses a tender kiss to my forehead. "I promise, when this is all over, I''ll make it up to you."

    A flicker of hope ignites within me at his words. The idea of experiencing true intimacy with Clayton, without the haze of heat and desperation clouding our senses, fills me with a longing I can''t quite put into words.

    It''s something I''d hoped to find with Lucas.

    "Just rest now, my love," he murmurs, his fingers trailing down my spine in a featherlight caress. "Let me take care of you."

    I can feel my heat creeping back into me, desperate for more. His tender affections feed it, and my starving soul.

    "Yes," I say, as Selene groans in my head.

    You don''t want pups, Ava.

    I probably don''t, but my brain and body are united in wanting Clayton to breed me right now.

    Thankfully, Clayton seems to be more in tune with himself than I am. "I''m so sorry," he whispers, leaning forward to brush his lips against my head. The kiss is chaste, in direct contrast to his wandering hands and gently rolling hips. "I promise, I''ll take care of you and our pups. You won''t want for anything."

    "Wait, wait—" the reality is starting to catch up to me, just a little. "There''s no guarantee I''m pregnant. Right?"

    "Well—"

    Well—

    I grind against him in frustration with his movements, even as I''m telling myself to stop.

    But I can''t.

    "It''s only a probability, right?" I hope I''m not. Shit. I don''t even know what I''m going to do if I am.

    "Not if I can help it," he growls. Selene sighs in my head, but all my misgivings disappear as Clayton''s movements become more frantic. His eyes are wild again, his nostrils flaring at my scent. His kiss is gentler than I expect, even as his fingers dig into my ass and hips. I know I''m going to be bruised all over by the time this is done.

    This tickles my brain for some reason. Injuries. Wait. Why am I not hurting from the accident?

    Oh, you are, Selene mutters. But you''re too horny to care right now. Even if you get pregnant with an entire litter of pups!

    Clayton bites hard enough to draw blood from my lower lip, before suckling it away. "Stop thinking," he orders me in a way that should have me annoyed.

    Instead, it goes straight down, down, down, right into my pussy as I clamp around him with a moan.

    The resulting sound that comes out of him does all sorts of things to my insides, and all his gentleness disappears as my heat rises to a fever pitch again.

    And again.

    And again.