Ash judged it to be about seven when he woke up. He and Betony were lying side-by-side on some broad, sloping rocks near a lake, naked and still steaming from a night spent running through the woods.

Betony may not have been a wolf, but even as a fox, she more than kept up with him. He wondered what a park ranger would think if he stumbled over their prints, a fox and a wolf, running together for miles.

“Betony,” he said gently.

She was deep asleep and didn’t answer, but that was all right. He could just enjoy looking at her for a while, at her perfect pale body still shining with sweat. Her feet and hands were dirty with drying mud, and there was a smear of blood on her mouth from a rabbit they’d shared.

The sun rose higher and higher, pouring bright sunlight on them, and finally, Betony stretched and opened her eyes.

“Is it Sunday?” she asked, yawning.

“Yeah.”

She rolled on top of him—the soft crush of her breasts on his chest made his cock twitch—and kissed him. It was a copper-tasting kiss, but he loved it. He buried his hands in her thick red hair.

“It’s a shame West is always too busy for this,” she said, biting Ash’s bottom lip. “He needs to get out of the city more often.”

“I know he does,” Ash sighed. “I hope he’s sent that human girl away by the time we get back.”

“Don’t be stupid,” Betony whispered, trailing kisses down his neck. “We’ve known West for years.”

“So? What’s your point?”

“So we know what he likes, and she’s it. And we know that he does whatever he wants.” She nipped a soft spot on his throat. “You told me he was lovestruck, Asher, and I believe you. He doesn’t care if the girl’s human. He’s with humans all the time. He’s used to them. If he’s hot for her, he’ll never get rid of her. That’s what I think.”

“She’s not a shifter, Bet! He knows he can’t keep her.” Ash frowned. “He wouldn’t. He knows it isn’t right. He won’t.”

“Living in the city isn’t ‘right,’ either.” Betony shrugged, pressing her hips deliciously against his. “That didn’t stop him. West is a man who gets what he wants, Ash. He doesn’t care what other people say. He should’ve been an Alpha.”

Ash wrapped his arms around Betony, enjoying the silky softness of her hot, freckled back. “I know, but he doesn’t want that. He never has.”

“Yes. That’s my point. He does what he wants. He preferred to dominate in the human world rather than in our world, and no one could stop it. He used all that natural authority he oozes with to succeed in business . . . and get as rich as sin.” She licked Ash’s mouth. “I suppose there’s something to be said for the way he lives. But I can’t approve of his human girl.”

“Well . . . I don’t know,” Ash said, nipping Betony’s creamy throat. She purred. “He’s my best friend, my brother. If he keeps her, I’ll have to accept her for his sake. I mean, we both will.”

“Not me. I refuse.”

“Please. For him. For me.”

“No. Besides, he doesn’t care what I think, and neither should you.” She peeled away from him, and he groaned at the loss of her warm, creamy body. “I’m just a vixen. Don’t you think it’s time you found a she-wolf, Ash?”

“What, and you’ll find a tod?” he asked, rolling back on top of her and taking her face in his hands. She smiled. “And then you’ll have a mess of kits? Is that really what you want?”

“Well . . .” She wrinkled her adorable nose. “Yes.”

“Don’t lie.”

“It’s what I should want.”

He gave her a deep, possessive kiss, pressing his tongue into her mouth. She gave herself up to it without a fight, surrendering to the passion behind it.

“Bet,” he breathed when he finally broke it off, “I don’t care that you’re a fox.”

“Don’t talk like that,” she panted. “And get off me.”

He ground his hips against hers, and she mewled. “No, I won’t. I think you want me.”

“You might be right,” she admitted, giving him a wicked smile. The sparkle in her brown eyes went right to his manhood.

“Spread your legs,” he growled.

“Hmm.” She gave him a teasing smile. “Are you gonna make me?”

He gripped her thighs and shoved them apart. She raised them and closed them against his waist approvingly. Tangling his hands in her hair, he kissed her mouth, biting her lower lip.

“You’re strong,” she purred breathlessly. “I love it. Take me, wolf.”

That was all the permission he needed. He sank inside her soft, wet heat with a grunt, and she yelped with delight, a foxish sound.

“Yes,” she sighed. “Yes, yes!”

He fucked her hard, stroking in and out with unbridled strength, wild desire. Bet’s cunt was the best there was, tighter than a drum and hotter than a summer day. And her mouth, the taste of her kiss . . .

“Bet,” he growled, pounding her. “Bet, honey. My Bet. Oh, fuck.”

“I’m not yours!” she gasped as he hit a sweet spot inside her. “More, Ash! Deeper!”

“Not mine?” he asked, his voice deepening. “You want me to stop?”

“No! No, don’t!”

He kissed her, a rough, insistent kiss. “Should that be the last kiss, baby?”

“No!” Her face was turning pink. “Just fuck me, Ash! Stud me!”

He did, wildly. Her back lifted off the rock. His hips slammed into hers. He came, filling her pussy with seed, the muscles of his rock-hard stomach tight as piano wire.

“Ash,” she whined. “More. Please. I need more.”

He pulled out of her—always a sacrifice—and pushed himself down so he could eat her. Her clit had swollen out of its hood, easy to lick, and he showed it no mercy. She yelped as his rough tongue ran over it.

“Yes! Ash!”

He ate her with unrefined enthusiasm, attacking her clit with his tongue, pressing two thick fingers inside her. It wasn’t long before her glistening folds seized on those fingers and her clit jumped wildly in his mouth. She came in a gasping rush.

And then he shifted up to lie next to her and rolled her hot, melty body into his arms. Birds were singing. The water was still.

She stroked his cheek. “Let go of me,” she whispered, “before I say something we regret.”

“Like what?” His eyes were eating up her beautiful face.

“Something stupid.”

“That you love me?”

She said nothing.