The base of him expanding, anchoring us inseparably. I felt it: huge, pressing against my entrance, demanding access. He pushed harder and it caught, stretching me impossibly wider, burning, too much?—
Then it popped inside.
The sensation of being locked made me come harder than I'd ever come in my life. I was screaming, clenching around him, and I felt him pulse inside me.
"Taking my seed," he said through gritted teeth. "All of it. I'm going to make sure you're swollen with it. You're going to carry my young. Mine. Mine."
The breeding talk made me clench again. I could feel him coming: hot pulses deep inside me, wave after wave, so much of it that I could feel pressure building. The knot prevented any from leaking out. It had nowhere to go except deeper.
"So much—" I gasped.
"I haven't bred in two years." With his palm weighing heavy on my womb, I could feel the bulge of him inside me. "I'm going to fill you until you're swollen with it. Until your body yields completely."
He was still coming. Still pulsing inside me. The pressure was intense, not painful but overwhelming. I could feel my belly distending more, feel the weight of his seed pooling inside me.
Finally he stopped. We were both breathing hard. Locked together. His body covering mine, wings spread over us both, one hand possessive on my stomach where his seed was trapped.
"Eventually," he said against my neck, "the transformation will begin. Once your biology accepts the permanence of the bond. Could be days. Could be weeks. Your back will split open when it starts. It's going to hurt worse than anything you've ever felt."
"I know." My voice was completely wrecked.
"I'll breed you through it. You'll need me inside you constantly for the first week."
"Okay."
"You might hate me before it's over." His hand tightened on my belly. "You might beg me to stop, to kill you, to let you go. Iwon't. I'll keep breeding you until the transformation completes. Because that's what keeps you alive."
"Okay."
He shifted slightly and I felt the knot pulse again, another wave of seed releasing. "You're mine now. No going back."
"Good," I whispered.
DRAV
The knot released at dawn.
I felt it the moment my body decided she'd taken enough seed. The swelling subsided, my cock finally softening enough to withdraw. When I pulled out, the flood of my seed followed. It poured out of her, soaking the furs, more than I'd realized I'd given her.
She made a small sound. Protest or relief, I couldn't tell. Her body was completely limp, exhausted. She'd taken everything I'd given her. Taken my breeding cock, my knot, my seed for over an hour.
I should feel satisfied. Should feel complete.
Instead, I wanted to breed her again. Immediately. Make absolutely sure it took. Fill her again until there was no doubt my seed had reached her womb.
But there was something I needed to do first.
The courtship ritual.
We'd done everything backward. Bred before bonding, claimed before courting. But the ritual mattered. It was tradition. It was respect. It was how I showed her she wasn't just a body I'd mounted. She was my mate. My chosen.
I cleaned her carefully. Used warm water and soft cloth to wash away the evidence of our breeding. She barely stirred, completely spent. Good. She'd need rest for what came next.
Then I left the cave.
Hunting took three hours.
I flew to the deep canyons where the cliff rats nested. They were fast, intelligent prey. Required real skill to catch. The hunt had to be worthy. Had to show competence. Had to prove I could provide.
