Brian broke into a sprint, brought to an adrenaline rush by the ominous touch of the wolf’s humid breath on his neck. The taste of victory was on his tongue; 1 more step, and the game would be won. As his lips started to curve into a wide smile, a great shadow passed above his head. The white fox knew he was doomed. A shudder ran through his entire being, and his body went completely stiff. One tenth of a second later, what felt like a thousand pounds of pure muscle fell upon him at once, throwing him towards the earth. As he fell, he could not help but picture his imminent fate: he would be a mere pancake beneath his competitor’s heft, with his ribcage crushed flat and all his blood squashed out. His opponent slammed him into the ground as foreseen, voiding his lungs and spewing the contents of his stomach into the end zone. He lay pinned under the greater canine’s chest, with his outstretched arm holding the football a single inch away from the goal line. As he felt his soul begin to leave his body, the coach blew his whistle to signify the game’s end, and the beast rolled off of him. Instead of gloating and dancing alongside his teammates, Brian’s former assailant reached a paw down to help peel him off the turf.

“You okay there, buddy?“ asked the black-and-gray wolf with genuine concern. Brian simply coughed: all his atoms hurt like hell, but he knew he would be fine. Despite his kindly demeanor and hideous injury, Aaron was the most fearsome man on the field: quite capable of swatting down anybody who may try to tackle him, standing too tall to be intercepted, and unlikely to show mercy to anyone in the heat of the game. Back in the changing room, however, the lads watched Aaron with pity and disgust instead of terrified respect. Beneath his gray cotton T-shirt and a tight corset of bandages was an awful hole. It stretched from the bottom of his chest to his upper groin, and nearly reached his sides by width. The surrounding fur was caked in dried blood, which had seeped from the bottom of his wound to stain his crotch a dull red. While the other boys compared biceps and hit each other with towels, Aaron was busy unwrapping himself: without a shirt on, he looked like a mummy from his waist to his ribs. After any intense workout, he had to peel off his sweaty old bandages, which stunk to high heaven and dripped with all manners of vile fluid. Some of his fur was pulled out with the adhesive, stinging him annoyingly. His pals carried on friendly conversation with him as always, but they had to look away awkwardly. Some felt the need to plug their noses, owing to the heavy smell of blood that poured out of Aaron’s torn-open gut when the bandages were off. For this reason he took his shower in the far corner of the room. Rather than enjoying the hot water, he rinsed himself off as fast as he could, not wanting to subject his classmates to his unpleasant state any longer than necessary. He bound himself with a roll of clean white dressing from his backpack, and by the time the others had finished showering, he was ready to accompany them to their lockers for further banter.

When he reached the bottom of the stairwell that day, he found his girlfriend leaning on his locker, eagerly awaiting his arrival. Only five feet tall and skinny as can be, the white-furrred bunny never failed to lift his spirits with her energetically-sweet attitude. Still unaware of the gaping wound on his tummy, she squished her face into his abdomen and hugged it tightly; a sharp pain wracked his body as she pressed on his nearly-bare nerves and muscles, protected by neither skin nor fat. He said nothing and kept a slight smile on his face as he put his massive arms around her, unwilling to interrupt her moment of joyous affection. He fell to his knees and bowed his head so she could kiss the tip of his snout. Even then, she had to stand on her tippy-toes to reach it. He gave her face a slobbery lick in return — his classmates found this quite amusing, since his tongue was wider than her head and stronger than her neck. Being savored with such a slurp from Aaron would have made anyone else shiver with prey’s fear, but Holly giggled at the slimy sensation, at once totally assured that he would never hurt her yet enticed by the prospect of becoming his food. She felt utterly safe in his presence, but the thrill of dating such a dangerous beast still lingered in her heart — after all, a man with predatory intent would not necessarily present himself as such. She had read stories in the paper about how they lure bunnies like herself into false security, sometimes over the course of months, before gobbling them up and disappearing into the night. Sometimes, it was not planned; even seemingly-decent men can lose control and end up digesting their girlfriends or wives. She knew that Aaron was hungry for her, though he never once commented about how tasty or filling she looked. He had only acted predatory once before: she was waiting for the bus, and he was getting some ice cream for the two of them. A red fox casually sauntered up behind her and began to murmur in her ear, cruelly teasing her as sadistic predators do. He foretold her acidic doom through slick innuendo, with his arms loosely draped over her shoulders to convey the futility of flight.

Luckily, Aaron came back before the fox could drag Holly away. He tapped him on the back, and the unfortunate sod nearly wet his pants. With his face an inch away from Aaron’s steel-stiff abs, he heard the ten-foot-tall wolf’s stomach gurgling with hunger, and could feel his drool and hot breath cascading upon him from the cavernous maw up above. Watching the cocky, dominant look on the fox's face melt into pure fear when Aaron stared him down was priceless. She could see his heart pounding through his shirt as he shook with horror. He gave a very sorrowful- and genuine-sounding apology to Holly when Aaron told him to do so. He left the stronger man’s shadow at an urgently brisk trot, breaking into a full-on sprint after a few steps without looking back. She often found herself hoping such an incident would occur again; watching her towering leviathan of a boyfriend reduce another male to total submission for her sake turned her on like a lamp. All it really took was a stern glance; anything more than a growl was overkill. And today was the day they would finally enjoy some truly private time together:

“Hey, stud” she whispered thirstily in his ear while stroking his broad chest, “my parents are out, wanna drop by my place and get nasty?”

A desire not to seem pushy caused him to withhold any sexual overtures he considered making towards her, but his carnal urges had never stopped tormenting him since they met. After the initial shock of the invitation faded from his face, a fierce grin of animal anticipation crossed his snout. Though nobody else had heard what Holly said, they could surmise the couple’s intentions based on Aaron’s hungry expression and impatiently-wagging tail. She squealed when he effortlessly scooped her up with one arm, cradling her between his monstrous biceps and thick pectoral muscles. He carried her all the way to his car in this manner, drawing amused, jealous, and concerned looks from all around the parking lot. He set her down in the passenger’s seat, gave her another wet lick upside the head, planted a firm smooch on her snout, and hunched himself over the steering wheel. The low ceiling of the car, in combination with his gargantuan stature, forced him to curl nearly into the fetal position to fit in the driver’s seat. His elbow constantly hovered beside Holly’s head, owing to the length of his arms; his heat and scent filled the enclosed space quickly, to her absolute delight. His father had given him the thirty-odd year old jalopy as a gift, not willing to buy him a new car until he was sufficiently experienced on the road to avoid denting his vehicle. Thankfully, the summer was almost over, and dad had promised to take him to the dealership to get a convertible upon graduation. 

————

When Aaron and Holly arrived at her house, he predictably went straight for the fridge. Holly tried to warn him of its emptiness to soften the blow, but she was too late. He opened the door and screamed internally as he cast his eyes upon the great bare racks; the endless voids within the drawers struck despair into his heart. The only thing on the shelves was a jug of orange juice. Aaron had grown quite thirsty during gym class, so he snatched the bottle from its place, unscrewed the cap, and began to chug. He sealed his lips around the spout and sucked down the pulpy fluid greedily, draining the entire thing without taking a breath. He closed his eyes as he enjoyed the cool sensation of it flowing down his throat; his blissful disregard for all non-juice matter radiated off of him. Holly watched each mouthful of juice run through his neck, completely entranced by the rhythm of his gulps. When he finished, he sat down on a chair, leaned back, and lightly patted his flat tummy. He licked a few more drops of the drink off his lips, savoring the last of its sweet flavor. Holly was enjoying the spectacle herself, taking the opportunity to glimpse her boyfriend’s maw. An unbelievable quantity of saliva, clear and thick, dripped from his teeth and tongue.

“~Haaaaaaaaah,” Aaron sighed in satisfaction, “That hit the -URP- spot. ’Scuse me.”  

The joy of quenching his thirst soon gave way to hungry discontent. His belly burbled angrily upon receiving its load of juice, disappointed at the lack of a solid meal. Holly only giggled, blushing red as a beet.

“You sure you don’t have anything else to -HUOOOOOORP- eat around here? I’m still -BURP- starving. A man can’t live on -BRAAAAAAAAAP- juice alone, I need some real -URRRRRRRRRRRRRP- food. Preferably -HUORK- meat. HRAAAAAAAAAAAP.”

“Forget about food,” she said as she took his hand and led him upstairs, turned on by his display of unabashed gluttony, “I have a better way to satisfy you.” 

Before they even reached the bedroom, Aaron’s 18-inch boner was already threatening to tear through his shorts. Its heat scorched Holly’s back, though it was not quite touching her. 

“Wait here,” she said before entering her room and closing the door behind her. But as she got undressed, the fish tank caught her eye. Three dozen tetras swam through the water with careless innocence, each about 2½ inches long. A brilliant, sinister idea entered her head. She had bought them because they looked cool, but the novelty wore off quick. She had wanted to get rid of the useless things ever since; they ungratefully demanded her time and money, and provided absolutely nothing in return. If anything, their appearance of perpetual boredom served to dampen her mood. Yet, years of caring for these external parasites had formed a slight bond between them, just strong enough to stop her from ending their lives. She could never bring herself to flush them down the toilet, but now she had a good excuse to dispose of them: her hungry wolf boyfriend was suffering outside her bedroom door, waiting to take her virginity on an empty stomach. That simply would not do. She pictured the little pests swimming around idly in his stomach. Pfft, she thought, I bet they won’t even be able to tell the difference between out here and in there. In a few minutes, they would all be dissolved, and she would not have to worry about them anymore. Plus, Aaron would get a nice full tummy for an hour or two. At this point, she thought, it would be cruel not to feed them to him. 

“Sorry, fishies!” she told her aquatic companions with a dastardly smirk. Cheerfully unaware of her murderous intentions, they did not react in any way whatsoever. She started for the door, but then the muse of evil struck again. She took an empty fish bowl (last used as an isolation tank for sickly fish) from the closet, dipped it into the main tank, and extracted eight creatures from the tank. She set the fishbowl aside, and told its residents:

“Congratulations, boys! It’s your lucky day!”

She covered up the fishbowl and let out another snicker before flinging the door open, revealing her nude figure to an extraordinarily pent-up Aaron. Oddly enough, he had removed his pants and underwear but kept his shirt on. Holly decided not to think about it.

“So, I found you some food…”

Aaron entered and looked around the room. The only thing worth noticing was Holly herself.

“As in, you want me to eat your pussy? “ he inquired in a voice of disappointed confusion, after a few seconds of silence.

“No, silly!” she said with amusement, “I want you to eat my fish!“

Aaron turned his head towards the fish tank. Its contents actually seemed pretty delicious

“Holly,” he asked with wide-eyed concern upon realizing she was serious, “are you absolutely sure about this? Once I swallow your pets, they are not coming out. They are all going to die. They’re going to melt and disappear like anything else I eat; there’ll be absolutely nothing left of ‘em. No bones, no scales, no nothin’. Just an ordinary lump of shit, exactly the same as all the others. It’s really not that important that I eat right now; if you love your fish even just a little bit, we could go buy something at McDonald’s and fuck later. A few burgers will fill me up fine. Meat is meat and nothing more, after all. I mean, your fish look tasty enough, I just don’t want you to make a decision you’ll regret.”

“Believe me, Aaron, I won’t regret a thing. I am positively enamored with the idea of sacrificing their puny lives to sate your empty belly and fuel your enormous bulk. If you want to satisfy me, you will do this. I look forward to watching them struggle as they flop around your big, sexy maw and vanish down your throat. Besides, I’ve been looking for a way to get these fuckers off my hands for years. I honestly couldn’t care less if they ceased to exist. Please do swallow them, dissolve them, and crap them out quickly and remorselessly. If you take sadistic pleasure in their destruction, that’s even better. I don’t like to see you all sad and hungry like this.”

He gripped both sides of the tank, but hesitated before lifting it up:

“If you’re having any second thoughts or want to say some final goodbyes,” he said over his shoulder, “now’s the time.”

“Just eat the damn fish already,” snapped Holly.

“If you say so…” said Aaron, licking his lips ravenously. 

In a feat of herculean strength, he lifted up the fish tank and tilted one corner towards his mouth. Its contents spilled out in a large waterfall; the fish tried to swim away, but the current was too strong. They swirled round his maw once or twice before being washed down his throat and into his belly, where a whole lot of stomach acid was waiting to melt them. More meat and water flooded in, stretching the acidic vat far beyond its ordinary capacity. It took a minute, but Aaron managed to gulp down every single animal in the habitat. Holly watched him drain the tank’s last drop in awe, hardly able to believe that her boyfriend had just downed 40 liters of water and 28 fish without breaking a sweat. She knew he was hungry, but could not fathom the idea of someone being that hungry. As he began to digest his prey, he fired a loud, wet, stinky BURRRRRRRRRRRRRRP directly at her.

“It’s been a while since I’ve had a big, spirited meal like that,” said Aaron, satisfied. “They’re really squirming for their lives in there; I can feel them rubbing up against the sides of my tummy. It kinda -URRRRRRRRRRRP- tickles.”

“Are you sure they can’t wiggle their way out?“ asked Holly. She already knew the answer to her question, but she wanted to hear him say it.

“Nope, URRRP, not a snowball’s chance in hell. I’d give em’ about 5 minutes to live, maybe 10.” 

He softly rubbed his midsection, gratified by the sound of his prey sizzling away in his belly. Their scales were already starting to sting; Aaron sensed them zipping around in panic as he gurgled them up layer by layer.

“HRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP~”

“Holy geez, Aaron, I have never heard you burp like that before. Keep that up, and I’ll squirt before you can even lay a hand on me.”

“Yeah, they feel amazing in there. Let’s fuck, before I get hungry again.”

“Nuh uh,” replied Holly, “we’re not done with the fish yet”

Aaron blinked and tilted his head in confusion: “Uh, we kinda are done with the fish. I ate them all, remember? They’re soup in my guts, never coming back, dead and gone, nothing but meat, all that jazz?”

“Are you suuuuuuure?”

“Yeah, I’m sure. I can still feel them flailing. Do you want to go in and count ‘em?”

Holly lifted the towel that had been covering the auxiliary fishbowl, revealing 8 surviving fish: “Looks like you missed a couple, after all.”

“Well,” said Aaron as he stepped towards the fishbowl, “let’s remedy that, shall we?” He began to raise it to his lips, but before he could pour his hapless prey down his throat, Holly stopped him.

“Wait,” she exclaimed as she pulled a fish from the bowl, “I saved these ones for something else. I want you to churn them into thick, hot wolf batter in your giant balls.”

She dangled the flopping fish by the tail, slowly bringing it towards its long, hard grave. 

“When his head pokes into your urethra, suck him up.”

Aaron took the fish from her and started towards the bathroom. Holly grabbed his wrist and pulled him back into the bedroom.

“I know how to turn a fish into cum, Holly, I’ve done it a thousand times before. It’s seriously grim; you can see their outlines spasm and freeze up through your ballsack when they die. It gets tight in there; you can see them gasping for air as they crumple up and liquefy. I suppose fish don’t gasp for air, but rats do. They soften up so damn fast — after about 30 seconds or so, you can squash them flat with a gentle squeeze. I was under the impression that girls didn’t like to watch; sure, they enjoy the bigger load, but it’s kinda disturbing to watch the poor guy squirming as I suck him into my dickhole and melt him down in my balls.”

“Says who?” replied Holly punchily.

Her boyfriend shrugged and grinned, gave the fish back to Holly, then sat down on the bed. “You are one sick puppy, Holly. But if you’re into it, I’m into it.” 

He looked her in the eyes and pointed at the tip of his dick: “Feed me.”

“Yes, master,” cooed Holly as she positioned the fish just above it.

“Watch your fingers,” warned Aaron, “You don’t wanna get sucked in.”

She cautiously lowered the fish, letting go with a frightened “Eep!” when Aaron’s cock pulled it in. A small bulge sank down his veiny shaft before landing in his semen with a loud plop. Aaron was not lying: If she had released his cocksnack a quarter-second later, her arm would have been yanked in as well. 

“Don’t be shy, keep ‘em coming. I could take a few dozen of these puny things at once.”

One by one, the fish disappeared from the bowl and reappeared as bulges on Aaron’s sack. Holly watched his prey lose shape before her eyes; by the time she had put all the fish in, the ones at the bottom of his balls had already melted completely. She nuzzled and massaged his nuts enthusiastically, treating him to a hefty dose of pleasure and helping him break down his prey. Faint grugles and glorps came from his swollen gonads, heavy with added weight of fresh cum. His powerful musk hypnotized her, driving her to lick and fondle him with ever-increasing lust. She squished every bulge she saw, smashing his prey into hot cum for Aaron to pump into her later. He panted from the obsessive touch of her paws, enjoying the sensation of the fish thrashing, melting, and dying below his shaft. The fun did not last long, however: Aaron was too efficient for his own good, destroying all 8 pets in under two minutes, with his girlfriend’s help.

“I can’t believe it,” she exclaimed, “they’re already gone!”

“Told ya I was fast! Now, what should I do with all this cum? I’m way beyond capacity; I don’t know how long I’ll be able to hold it in.”

“I’ll gladly take it off your hands, big boy. Get naked and pound me flat.”

Aaron slowly pulled off his shirt, suddenly wracked with acute worry. He feared it all might end there; he expected her to vomit at the sight of his disfigured midsection. Could she bear to settle down with a man with a two foot wide crater in the middle of his abs?

“Hoe-lee-shit,” Holly gasped, “that’s nasty. What happened to you?”

“I got into a bit of a disagreement with a coworker a few years back: a tall, skinny yellow fox dude, about the same age as I was, maybe a little younger. We were painting somebody’s bathroom. He wanted it to be white, I wanted it to be blue. We were planning to paint the sunroom white, so I didn’t want to waste all our white paint on the bathroom. The downstairs bathroom was already painted blue as well, so I thought we should make them match. He got all pissy and started insisting on white; he had been working for the company for a few months longer, so he generally called the shots for the two of us and took it personally when I disagreed. He was always a bit of a hothead even about petty stuff, so I didn’t think the paint swatches really meant that much to him; I didn’t expect him to jump at me. So I kept trying to explain to him why we should do things my way, and he snapped. The whole predicament was entirely avoidable, and I should’ve relented, but I stood my ground for some reason. It’s honestly astounding how we’re so quick to go ballistic over stupid shit; I don’t know why I thought it was worth getting into an argument over bathroom colors when it was so clearly rubbing him the wrong way. He dove at my belly like a bolt of lightning and started tearing out my guts. So now I’ve got a hole.“

“Did you win the fight, at least?”

“I don’t know. I managed to get my jaws around his shoulder and tear his arm from its socket before he could eat too much of me, so I’d say he got the short end of the stick. At that point, he scampered away.”

“Wow,” she chuckled, “That’s actually pretty badass.”

Aaron continued: “We haven’t seen each other or spoken since, but I’d imagine we’re both changed men. You could say we’ve become part of each other in more ways than one. Honestly, I wish him well. Anyhow, sorry for the mess down there; if you dump me because of it, I completely understand. I suppose it’d be pretty bothersome if I start bleeding all over you while we’re mating.”

Holly looked at him as if he were nuts: “What do you mean, ‘sorry?’ There’s nothing gross about blood and guts; every man’s got ‘em. I think it’s kinda hot, knowing that the only thing standing between me and your internal machinery are these flimsy old bandages. Can I touch em’? Please?”

Aaron blinked, pleasantly surprised by his girlfriend’s tastes.

“I thought they were nasty, though?”

“Yeah, like, sexy-nasty. C’mon, just let me give you one lil’ rub?”

“S-Sure! Just be gentle please; it hurts if you press too hard.”

Aaron and Holly lay side by side on the sheets, with her ear pressing against his abdominal obliques. Juice and water sloshed around loudly inside him; she could hear waves crashing against the sides of his stomach. She heard his inescapable tummy growling as it broke down her pet fish, liquefying their living bodies to fuel his own. Watching him relax so contentedly while his prey sizzled painfully away into nothingness made her afraid. At any moment, he could just as easily gobble her up and consign her to a similar fate. She knew how good it would feel for him, to have a tasty, filling meal like her melting in his belly. It would just feel so right — his kind, after all, had been eating bunnies for millenia. Though he tried to hide it, she knew he thought about it a lot. The way he got all shy when eating in her presence, the way his belly would start growling when she entered the room, and the unusual amount of saliva he had to swallow when she was around told her all she needed to know. When she was watching, he ate his meals in little nibbles, but when he was unaware of her, he would devour his food in larger chunks, tearing it apart like a bleeding, struggling animal before sending it down in massive, unceremonious gulps. She could have sworn he swallowed a burrito whole once. Even when they kissed, she could see the hunger on his face. But today, he dropped the facade: he was a predator, and he knew he could not hide it from her forever. If she found his barbarous mannerisms and temptations appealing, then they would stay together forever, and if his biological urges scared her off, then he would not have been able to make their relationship work long-term anyways. Rather than simply tolerating his beastial nature, however, she found it positively attractive. The deadly power of his muscles called her to servitude, and the uncaring efficiency of his gut commanded her to massage it. His powerful heartbeat echoed in her ears, shaking her diminutive frame with the sheer force of its pumping. The heat of his titanic body conducted through her fur, making her sweat from arousal and temperature alike. He supported her back with an affectionate arm, holding her tight enough to convey his desire without making her feel dominated or forced to snuggle. She stroked his tightly-bound midsection with great relish, rubbing his titanium abs, covered only by a few rough bandages. She pictured the red, raw flesh behind the bloody curtain, and she could no longer put up with her separation from his bare muscle. She looked up to see him blushing like a branding iron, and took it upon herself to ease into a deeper level of intimacy with him. She dug a paw under the fabric, pushing it eagerly towards his inner areas until she felt something warm soaking into her fur. She pulled it back out, and sure enough, it was stained a brilliant crimson. A searing pain absorbed the lower part of Aaron’s belly, but he clenched his teeth and tried not to ruin the moment. He did not want to get in the way of her satisfaction, but eventually, he had to express his discomfort:

“Please be -hn!- careful,” he said as Holly tugged longingly at the edge of his bandage. But when she gave him puppy dog eyes, he replied with a smile that said “Keep going.” Upon receiving this assent, she slipped her paw under Aaron’s wrapping, and into his dark, sticky insides. 

“This is so fucking cool. I can feel your actual abs.”

As she worked her way up from the edge of the bandage, running her paw over the lower mounds of his rectus abdominis, she found where the muscle itself had been torn. It could almost be considered a slit, being six inches tall at the center and almost four times as wide. Though Holly drove her paw into the chasm slowly and carefully, Aaron tensed up from the friction at its edge. 

“Oh. Em. Gee. I can feel your organs squirming and pulsasting in there. It’s so warm and slimy!”

Elbow-deep inside him, Holly placed her hand on his chyme-packed intestine. She felt the digested goop pumping through it, thick and hot as fresh porridge. It was just as Aaron had described it — not a single bone remained to blemish the homogenous soup running through his guts. Quiet gurgles and glorps escaped from his sensitive tubing. Every sound corresponded with a vibration in the fluid within, fully sensible to Holly’s fingertips on the outside of the fleshy pipe. A pained exhalation escaped Aaron’s lips when Holly pushed her hand deeper, but he held his peace. She was now feeling up the stomach itself, full of acid, blood, and dying fish. She gave the bloated sack a quick squish, causing it to release a chorus of grwlls and gwrrns. Judging by the tender and moldable consistency of it, his prey had clearly lost all solidity. Another poke forced a horrid URRRRRP out of Aaron’s stomach, spewing blood, spit, and scales all over Holly. 

Unable to restrain her lust or curiosity any longer, she resolved to enter him completely. She wiggled her shoulder under his bandages, reaching towards his heart. She forced her other arm inside, creating a sizable gap between skin and bandage between her two arms. She managed to slip her head into the bloody tunnel, pushing herself in with her feet on his thighs. He helped her along, placing a massive paw just below her tail and pressing her into his wound. She thought she heard him utter the word “Deeper…” between his labored breaths. The hot, tight, wet, and stuffy confines of his abdominal cavity welcomed her graciously as he pulled her inside with his intact upper abs. It hurt, but the thought of having her sweet frame happily curled up behind his muscles, totally cut off from the world beyond, was too tempting for Aaron to resist. Organs noisily shifted aside as she wedged herself between them, nestling herself inside the beast’s inner core. His sultry tissue squished her from every side, soaking her fur with sticky gore until it could absorb no more. She was getting a little woozy from the lack of air, but she could not bring herself to leave the comforting warmth of her boyfriend’s loving body. She wanted to let him savor her captivity before putting him through the ordeal of letting her back out. With one final grunt of anguish, Aaron stuffed Holly’s feet into the gash, sealing her in a universe of pure intimacy. 

“Would you mind sitting still for a while, hun? I really need a break now.“

A barely-audible squeak of agreement came from the base of his ribcage, and Holly stopped moving. The pain slowly subsided to an easily tolerable level. Aaron released a sigh of relief, stroking his chest and belly with adoration. His bandages bulged out slightly from the volume of the rabbit. She let herself fall completely limp, lost in the perfect pleasure of Aaron’s viscera. Every thump of his heart was like an earthquake to her, and she could hear every fizz and bubble of his stomach acid. She felt his lungs expand and deflate with every breath. With her head nestled behind his great liver, she hummed a weak whimper of joy and fell asleep, infinitely safe in the caring caress of the wolf’s flesh.