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Daph rolls her eyes with a petulant scoff. “No.”

“Good. I’ll give you what you want, just don’t run from me. I can’t handle you running.” I whisper, nuzzling her neck and pining her with my body.

The firm warning is all I can give when my instincts are goinghaywire.How tightly I’m holding onto my control but recognizing that means finally realizing her instincts are riding her too. How difficult it is to lie there and let me play. We’re just two people driven by urges we can’t control. Two people fighting to make it out unscathed.

Daphne’s eyes are hazy, lips parted on the sweetest sigh, but her fingers drum against my body. Unsettled. “Dez, I need?—”

I prefer delayed gratification. Reaching and clawing for every orgasm. I think Daphne will too, but that’s going to have to wait.

We sigh when we’re skin to skin, clothes gone, and inhibitions lowered.

“I knew you’d look like this. Fucking incredible, Dez.” Daphne strokes my arms and sides, admiring my body. How long have I wanted an omega to pin me down and rut me dry just because she needs me?

Fucking forever.

“I can’t stop staring at you,” I confess. My nerves are gone, fears burned by the lust dripping from her words and between her pretty thighs.

“Bet I feel even better.”

Laughing, I want to spill everything. That watching her come undone will be the highlight of my life. That I see the fear in her eyes, but I’d never hurt her. She needs to know I’ve dreamed of having an omega for years, but Daphne’s so far beyond what I expected, I’m not sure I deserve her.

Maybe when this is over, we can talk about our damage. If she stays. If she chooses me. For now, I fist my cock, coating myself in slick. “Ready for me, gorgeous?”

“Are you ready forme?” There’s a glimmer of mischief in the haze as Daphne rolls those hips again, sliding against me once before pulling me inside her.

Goddamn.She feels like nothing else.

The rut’s on the edge of my consciousness, desperate to press forward until all she feels is me. My hips stutter as I try to hold it back. The first time I’m inside my omega is fucking biblical and I don’t want instinct interfering yet. I want to pause and enjoy this moment. Commit it to memory.

Daphne doesn’t feel the same.

Her nails dig into my arms, thighs tight on my hips as she tries to urge me faster, harder, deeper. “Please, Dez. I need your knot.”

“We have to wait. Just a little longer.”

Tears wet her cheeks, and I lick them up, savoring her on my tongue. The only thing holding me back is knowing my knot’s big. She needs to come before she takes it, or I could really hurt her.

“No, now!” In one move, Daphne plants a foot on the bed, sinks her claws into my ass and shoves our hips together.

The moment my knot slips inside, it swells, locking us where we are. The pleasure’s intense, but it’s a secondary thought as Daphne’s mouth drops, brows twisting.

“That’s really big.” Her voice is thready, the hint of pain in her body and scent absolutely wrecking me.

“I know. That’s why I wanted you to come first.”

The nest is silent as I work her over, back so tense it aches as I hold myself motionless above her. Inside her. Desperate to get rid of the strain on her face.

Daphne’s first orgasm is a relief for us both. She settles fully into the mattress, face relaxed and scent sweet once more. Meanwhile, remorse threatens to drown me.

I hurt her. I hurt my fucking omega.

Maybe this is why I’ve never had one before. Maybe Shelby knew she couldn’t trust me to take care of her. And because I didn’t figure that out, Daphne’s paid the price.

“Mental note, you can’t go first again.” Daph’s joking, but I can’t stop thinking my negligence ruined the moment. So eager to knot someone for the first time that I didn’t stop and use my brain.

My scent darkens to something awful and Daphne’s nose scrunches. “What’s wrong?”

“I hurt you.” God, it kills me to admit that, but it’s the fucking truth.