by Cameo Brown
This unspoken permission to fuck her soundly brought a gleam to his eyes, and he grabbed her hips, repositioning himself in her. “You are strong,” he said, admiration infusing his rumbling tones.
Shepherdess smiled and nodded. “I am.”
She gasped as his cock touched her deep inside, and she grabbed his wrists for support. She splayed her legs farther open and impaled herself fully on his rigid shaft. He lifted her up and down easily, helping her ride him and pressing his cock up and in.
With only a few wild thrusts more, Reiz exploded inside of her, and her orgasm came just after, sending shockwaves through her body and rendering her helpless once again. She surrendered to his arms, her energy spent and a slight sting emanating from her wound, but filled with a definite hum of satisfaction.
Chapter Four
The next time she awoke, she found Reiz staring at her intently, his gaze fixed on her in an undeniably protective way.
“What happened? Where’s Oliday?” she managed to whisper, although it came out so low and raspy she wasn’t sure she had said it at all. Reiz’s black eyes glittered brightly, with what Shepherdess had no idea. Reiz possessed emotional capabilities beyond any man she had ever known, and she still wasn’t sure she hadn’t dreamed all of the last few days.
“Ah, my fiery queen,” Reiz said, “you are awake now. You will live.” Had she just imagined it, or did Reiz’s voice hold a hint of relief?
She steadied her gaze at him. His countenance held lines of concern she had never seen before, and his eyes held a certain tenderness. His voice, though, no longer sent tingles directly to her clit, but sent waves of different emotions through her.
Shepherdess held her fingers up to Reiz’s chest to trace the tiny scar from the dragon’s tooth, the weight of which she still felt around her throat. She slid her hand down, stroking his balls as he nuzzled her neck.
“I will explain,” Reiz said.
Shepherdess nodded. “Please do, my King.”
Reiz grinned mysteriously, closing his eyes as a low growl vibrated in his throat. He rubbed his cock against her leg. He placed Shepherdess’ hand around his erection and thrust into her fist. She tightened her grip, enjoying the power of his desire in her hand and wanting to please him like no other had before. She moved down to take him into her mouth, but Reiz stopped her as her lips touched his phallus.
“No, Shepherdess,” he rasped, “it must be this way. You must see for yourself.” He secured her hand around his cock once again, sliding back and forth, growing more rigid and larger with each push. She found she had to use both hands to surround his girth completely. She gloried in the feel of holding his sex as he pleasured himself in her hands, and felt her own need grow in proportion to his excitement. With the next thrust, Reiz gasped and his seed spewed across her belly. Shepherdess lay there stunned as sparkling black liquid trickled down her torso. She’d never seen anything like it.
Reiz burrowed in next to Shepherdess, who was still too surprised to move. “You keep dragons, and you’ve never seen this?” Reiz’s voice held amusement as his fingertip traced a path through the sticky, dark fluid and wound its way up around her breasts and down toward her mound. She shivered at his touch and shook her head. She wanted to tell him Huntley never dealt with female dragons -- he didn’t consider them worthy for battle -- so there could be no coupling. However, words wouldn’t come to her.
Reiz’s sticky finger slid between her folds, massaging her clit, and her body responded immediately. “Watch,” Reiz quietly commanded. His thick finger slid lower and penetrated her. Reiz captured her gasp in his mouth as he crushed her lips with his, probing her mouth with his tongue while his fingers probed her cunt. In and out, in and out.
Shepherdess squirmed beneath Reiz, struggling to open her legs wider, and his pace quickened. She gripped his hand fiercely as he pressed harder against her clit and plunged his fingers in faster, stroking her toward imminent release.
She arched upward and her cunt spasmed against the wonder of Reiz’s practiced touch expertly bringing her to orgasm. Tiny explosions rocked her body all over, and she couldn’t move her limbs.
When her gulps for air and joyous exclamations subsided, Reiz lifted his fingers for her to see. They were stained with the colors of the dawn sky, the pinks, oranges, and reds mixing in an opalescent swirl. Reiz brought his middle finger to his lips and ran the tip of his tongue across it. “You taste like the finest golden honey, Shepherdess.”
Shepherdess stared at him blankly. Her moisture had never appeared any color at all before. What magic was this? This was madness!
Reiz smiled smugly. “You’ve responded well to the news,” he said, apparently taking her stunned silence for acceptance -- of what Shepherdess could not imagine.
She opened her mouth to say something, having no idea what her handsome bedmate spoke of, but she struggled for words. Finally, she settled for something simple, asking in a quiet voice for an explanation she wasn’t quite sure she wanted to hear.
Reiz grinned, showing his strange, uneven teeth. She hadn’t noticed how odd they appeared before, but then again, she hadn’t exactly been focused on his mouth. “Not every young lady, my Queen, would take it so well…” Reiz paused mischievously, obviously enjoying the moment until Shepherdess pinched him. Reiz yelped.
“Take what so well?” she demanded.
Reiz laughed heartily, a merry sound. “Why, the news she’s a dragon, of course!”
* * *
Shepherdess’ heart raced. She couldn’t breathe. The words Reiz had just said would have made her life complete on any other day, but today she worried they hid vengeance. He must be trying to get back at her for her attempt to erase his memory with the cut of the dragon’s tooth.
“No,” Reiz seemed to read her mind, “I do not seek vengeance on acts I myself would have committed to protect my brother. You are a dragon and my queen, unless such a fate is detestable to you.” At this, Reiz’s confidence seemed to flag a little, as if the thought had just occurred to him that being his queen would not be the highlight of Shepherdess’ life.
“Your brother?” was all she could muster.
“The baby dragon is my brother,” he answered quietly, his gaze intent. The truth hit her: Reiz was no warrior king. He was a dragon king. Oliday was his brother, and thus the urgency of his quest dawned on her. Such knowledge explained his behavior and strange ways. There were so many questions to ask, but Shepherdess couldn’t verbalize them all.
What made her heart ache was Reiz’s intensity, as if he had just now realized she might reject him in some way. She had to let him know such a thing would never happen -- he was her king, and her heart fluttered with excitement at the thought of being his queen. She wanted to be his, dragon or no.
“Take me, my love,” she whispered, and rolled onto her stomach so he could mount her from behind. He rubbed her ass, slipping his fingers into her pussy, and she lifted to meet his touch. Reiz brushed his lips against her shoulders and removed his fingers, easing her back to face him. He kissed her soundly.
“Silly female. You all get this way when impregnated,” he said casually, as if it meant nothing. He nibbled her ear and Shepherdess stilled. Though having lived among her charges for years, she knew not the ways of the dragon completely, and knew not how she could be one, let alone carry Reiz’s offspring. Now she was sure she dreamt.
Perhaps Huntley’s spear had put her into a death sleep, and the torture assigned to her in this fugue state by the gods was to hear all those precious words she had longed for, only to have the truth come with the dawn of the next day. She couldn’t stand it, and tears formed years ago dripped down her cheeks. Reiz’s caress did nothing this time to alleviate the pain in her heart. She was sure this would all be gone when she awoke next. She would be alone again.
“Shhh, shhh.” Reiz’s voice comforted her, and he brushed the tears away with his massive fingertips. “I will tell you of it, but first… I cannot stand your
tears, Shepherdess. Let me send them away.”
Reiz turned her over carefully, and she clutched the pillow in anticipation. He linked his arm under her belly and pulled her ass up to him, rubbing her sides and cheeks as he steadied her. He slid his cock into her opening, gloriously stretching her pussy and igniting a fire in her blood. “I am real, Shepherdess. Feel how real I am.”
Shepherdess surrendered to her desires and his, pushing back to accept his length while he fondled her breasts. He focused his attentions on her clit, and she climaxed quickly, collapsing under the pressure of his powerful strokes. Reiz slowly and rhythmically thrust into her while she still enjoyed the glow of her own orgasm, his release exploding in her depths and bringing a smile to her face.
“This is better,” he panted, and fell beside her. There they stayed, huddled together for a long time, and Shepherdess again felt content. Night had fallen, and as the pale moonlight cast itself through the window, Reiz began to tell her a story, his voice deep and rich and like a song to her ears.
“Once there was a little dragon. She was a princess in her brood. She was vivacious. She was headstrong. She was smart. And she disappeared. One day she played in the meadow, and the next she was gone.”
The story continued on through the night. Reiz spoke of how no one knew what had happened to her, and many had grown to believe she’d never existed at all, until a lone dragon wandered into their brood seeking shelter. He spoke of a shepherdess in a faraway land who stole men’s memories and set lost dragons on their way.
Finally, the brood knew the legend to be true. The maiden existed, and she had been trained well enough by her dragonkin so she would never expose the dragon secret. Some wondered whether she even remembered what the secret was. More dragons came, bringing news of a maiden helping to protect the dragon way, but they could never find their way back to her to bring her home. To do so would put too much at risk anyway. The man who’d stolen her was vile and greedy, and had hidden the shepherdess and the captive dragons well in the mountains. Most members of the brood assumed she was lost to them forever.
“One day, another little dragon disappeared,” Reiz continued, “and this time it was my brother, the one you call Oliday. He is a prince, as was I until I undertook this mission.” Emotion clogged his voice, and he stopped for a moment. Shepherdess stroked his cheek, and he buried his face in her hair.
“I am the oldest son, experienced in the ways of battling humans, and my father sent me to find my brother, promising me his kingdom should I take the offer. I would have gone heedless, but I could see my father growing weaker. He needed me to take my rightful place -- the time had come. To find my brother and return a hero would help in the transition. The other dragons would be able to accept the change more readily. So I sent word near and far disguised as a warrior king. I pretended to be desperate for a special black dragon with magical powers no enemy could defeat in battle. This is how I came to Huntley’s.” He paused for just a moment.
“I never expected to find the lost princess of our lore there, and at first I didn’t realize you were the shepherdess of which so many dragons had spoken. But when you came to my room and offered yourself to me for the baby dragon, I realized your attention to his wing in the hut was more maternal than anything. You thought yourself the Shepherdess of Dozah, Keeper of Dragons, but you are my mate, Sahwen of the Pello brood, and the keeper of the dragon secret who has become a legend.”
Shepherdess processed this slowly. “I have a name? I am Sahwen?”
Reiz nodded. His hands played across her stomach, still sticky with the remnants of his dark seed. He smiled. “Sahwen,” he whispered, and set to reminding her again he was real.
* * *
Sahwen had never been happier. In the days since she had discovered her true identity, Reiz’s band somehow procured a passable dress for her -- she didn’t ask how -- and Reiz brought her to Oliday, who nuzzled her once before falling back asleep. Soon he would be awake much more, but such a time had not come yet.
She discovered he’d been named Reval by his parents, which stung a bit. He would always be Oliday to her. Names didn’t really matter, though. He would soon be her brother-in-law and uncle to her child -- her own dragonling -- who would sleep for its first year of life before becoming a rambunctious little dragon with eyes, she hoped, like his father.
Sahwen’s wound had healed completely, which was no surprise. Reiz’s doctor, Nioral, had burned the spear from her back with a well-placed fire bolt, searing the remnant and cauterized its path to discourage infection. Huntley had not been so fortunate. Attempting to kill Reiz would have been bad enough, especially after making him pay so much for his brother’s return. However, when the spear pierced Sahwen’s back and she appeared to die in front of him, Reiz’s grief had taken control of his senses.
Huntley’s body parts lay strewn across the field by the stable, a silent testament to the power of dragon love and a loud warning to those stupid enough to value money over life.
Only one question still plagued Sahwen. She had yet to see another dragon besides Reval, even though Reiz and his band were all of the blood. She certainly didn’t feel like a dragon, and she didn’t feel pregnant either. Although Sahwen had seen her true identity in the evidence of their lovemaking, she still didn’t quite understand.
It also puzzled her that Reiz’s voice no longer stirred desperate, raw desire so much as great feelings of love and joy, although her urges hadn’t abated. They mated when the need overtook them, which it did quite often. If anything, their passion had grown stronger, but the nagging thought she was missing something important, some key to this whole new life, troubled her greatly.
Now the band had set out on their journey home, walking for miles. Their stamina as a group was impressive. Reiz and Sahwen walked at the front with Oliday, surrounded by the best guards in case of attack, which didn’t seem likely at this point, as they had entered the mountainous lair of the dragon broods, or so she was told. Humans never came this far in.
Reiz walked beside her, strong and virile, his presence comforting in the face of the unknown. They continued toward the Pello Den where Sahwen would be reunited with her family and Reiz would officially request her in bonding. Finally, they would head toward the Kilsh Den, where they would restore Reval to his parents and take their place as king and queen of the brood. Word of their impending arrival had been sent ahead to both broods, and the messenger brought back news of great joy in response. Feasts and joyful celebrations awaited them and the rest of the band, and Sahwen’s future, for the first time, looked incredibly hopeful.
Except she still couldn’t remember what she had known but forgotten as a child -- the dragon’s great secret -- and she still couldn’t figure out how she could be a dragon or bear dragon offspring or even mate with a…
“My Queen, you think too much,” Reiz’s voice interrupted her intensely melancholy thoughts. “It shows in your lovely face.”
Sahwen nodded.
“You will know everything soon. All will be well,” he said, his voice strong and reassuring. He squeezed her hand and she squeezed back, making him wince. “You grow stronger, Sahwen of the Pello brood.” Reiz grinned and shook the pain from his hand.
“I do,” Sahwen responded. She reached for his groin, but he sidestepped her, grabbed her around the waist and slung her up on his shoulder. He slid his hand up under her skirt, fondling her thighs and stroking the space between them.
“We will be able to stop and rest soon,” Reiz said, his husky voice inciting a delicious urge in her cunt.
Her muscles clenched in response. She spread her legs just a bit to give him enough access to her folds to maintain his interest. “I can hardly wait, my King,” she said with a suggestive giggle.
With his fingers firmly planted in her pussy, they continued on their way in an amicable, lusty silence.
Chapter Five
Raucous roars and bellows filled the air as they approached the den of t
he Pello brood. The earth trembled as would be expected with a thousand dragons dancing at once. Sahwen found herself getting caught up in the excitement, though fear coursed through her as much as the exuberant joy she felt in the air.
Reiz turned to his men and shouted loud enough for all of them to hear. “Go join the celebration! Be ready to leave in two days for the home of the Kilsh brood.”
In unison, the men whooped and cheered and started running toward the clamor. At first Sahwen laughed at the obvious eagerness of the group, joining in the gaiety of it all, but her laughter soon faltered as the scene before her changed. Bounding past her were strange creatures she couldn’t identify, going through some sort of transformation. As far back as she could see, the figures of the men galloping toward her morphed from human to something else she could barely distinguish. All around her, man changed to beast and sprinted past.
Astonished, Sahwen watched Reiz’s band, each man at full speed, drop to the ground and run using his arms and legs. As the men picked up speed, their arms changed to legs with talons digging in the hard brown earth, and their necks elongated. Tails grew behind them, and wings appeared on their backs. Scales covered skin, and what once had been a band of human soldiers was now a herd of splendid dragons calling to the others as they thundered by her toward the den.
The sight of it overwhelmed Sahwen, and for a moment, she almost forgot where she was. Her years as the Shepherdess of Dozah played through her head. All the times she had lain in the meadow with her charges, keeping watch over them when they could not escape and she could not help them. The first time she’d offered herself to a buyer and accidentally discovered her ability to control memories. All the bargaining she had done since. Tears dripped down her cheeks, and her chest ached as the futility of her old life weighed upon it so heavily again at the memory.
