“Yes, I have one.” His eyes flickered up to hold mine again. “I’m an Alpha Were—of course I have one.”
For a minute I considered asking if I could see it…then pushed the thought aside. That was completely inappropriate—what was wrong with me?
“And that’s why you’re not allowed to, er, breed a female like that?” I asked instead. “Because your, er, knot gets so much bigger when you’re in your Fur Form and it’s hard for her to take?”
I wondered how big his might get and then pushed that thought aside too. What was going on with me tonight?
He frowned.
“Well that and…breeding in Fur Form can create some…complications with the ensuing pregnancy.”
“What kind of complications?” I asked, frowning. “Like…birth defects?”
Nick looked away.
“Something like that, darlin’. McCain must not care though, considering how he’s encouraging his Alphas to act.”
I thought there was something he wasn’t telling me, but I decided not to push it.
“I still think the girls should have tried to run away,” I said instead.
He shook his head.
“I told you—almost all of them were deep in Breeding Fever. Their Heat Cycles were out of control—they needed to be bred and unfortunately, they weren’t in any position to deny the Alphas who were breeding them—even if they did do it in Fur Form.”
“I still don’t understand about Breeding Fever,” I protested. “What does it do?”
“Don’t you remember?” he frowned at me. “Basically, it makes a female insatiable. At the beginning it’s just her breasts filling with nectar…”
He was dabbing the ointment on the scratches on my breasts now and some of them were quite close to my nipples. I sucked in a breath as I watched his long fingers circle the wide brown band of one areola.
“Nectar?” I whispered. For some reason his words seemed to bring back the shadow of a memory I had tried to forget. I pushed it away again.
Nick nodded.
“It’s a sticky, sweet liquid that fills the female’s breasts at the beginning of her Heat Cycle. If you let it go too far and the beasts fill completely it has to be either sucked out…or fucked out,” he finished in a low voice.
I shook my head, feeling like my breasts were aching for some reason. Maybe it was just the gentle way he was touching the right one, stroking the ointment around my wide, puffy areola without actually touching my tight, aching nipple.
“I…I don’t understand,” I whispered.
“Either a willing male has to suck the nectar out of a female’s breasts or he has to breed her,” Nick explained, looking up at me.
“I get the sucking part but not the, er, fucking part,” I confessed, feeling my cheeks get hot. He was spreading the ointment on my other breast now and my nipples felt hot and tingly, even though he hadn’t touched the tender tips but was still only circling my areolas.
“When a male knots a female, it helps her nectar flow freely,” Nick explained. “It’s a kind of biological reaction. That’s why so many of the females there tonight were releasing their nectar as they got bred.” He frowned. “You really don’t remember any of this? You used to know about it, I thought.”
I shook my head.
“I don’t remember a lot of what happened back when we were here in Wolverton together,” I admitted. “I…I think I blocked it out as much as I could because it hurts too much to remember.”
“Oh, baby—I’m so sorry.” He stopped rubbing ointment into my scratches and cupped my cheek instead. “Would it help if I promised not to leave you again?”
“Only if you think it’s a promise you can keep this time,” I told him seriously. “I mean it, Nick—don’t say things you don’t mean.”
“We’ll make it work this time,” he promised. “We were young back then—I didn’t know what to do when you started…well, I didn’t know what to do,” he finished lamely, leaving me to wonder what I had ‘started’ that had driven him away. I wanted so much to believe him when he said he’d stay with me, but the practical part of me wouldn’t allow it.
“Ten years is a long time,” I pointed out. “You can’t promise to stay with me now—we’ve both got our own lives. This little ‘reunion’ has been fun but I need to get back to Massachusetts and you need to get back to California.”
“Not until I’m sure you’re safe and okay,” Nick said firmly. He had finished with the scratches on my belly now and he sat back, frowning. “Do you have any other injuries?”
I showed him a few more on my arms and he dabbed the ointment on them.
“All right,” he said at last. “I think you’re all set now. Ready for bed?”
I nodded.
“It’s been a long day. I’m exhausted.”
“There’s only one bedroom, I’m afraid.” Nick frowned. “But that’s okay—I can take the couch.”