by Amelia Jade
“Look out!” she shouted “Or we’re both dead!” The blue dragon reacted instinctively, looking straight ahead just as the carcass of the green dragon went flying by, limp and lifeless as it fell toward the earth below. Her unwilling mount banked hard to the left to avoid it, sending Ana’s legs flying into thin air. She was secured only by her four fingers, nothing more, until her opponent leveled out again.
She craned her head, trying to find Ferro in the sky, but she couldn’t see him. Below her the blue dragon tried to flick her off once again. She felt him inhale sharply, and realized with shock that he was going to try and burn her off.
“Are you nuts?” she yelped. “If you do that, you’ll kill us both!”
Either her ride was dumber than an insect, or he knew something she didn’t, because his mouth opened. Ana closed her eyes and sent off a last thought to Ferro, knowing that this was the end. She screamed as fire slapped her hand and over her head, burning so hot she felt only ice cold pain. It coated her entire body so fast she didn’t have time to realize she was dying.
A solid chunk of fire dropped into her mouth and she crunched on part of her own head, closing her jaw around it to prevent more from getting inside her.
Feels like ice, she thought morbidly.
Wait a minute.
It was ice! Ana shook herself vigorously and slabs of frozen ice shattered, falling away behind her. She spat the chunk from her mouth as slow realization dawned on her. Apparently not all dragons could use fire. No wonder this one had used its breath weapon upon her. The ice didn’t even stick to the membrane of his wing.
He must have been hoping I’d lose my grip as I froze.
She snarled. Clearly the dragon didn’t know who he was messing with. Angry at her treatment, and aware she could survive his frigid weapon, even if her body was responding sluggishly, Ana pointed her free hand into dagger-form and drove it mightily through the weakened wing membrane once again, this time closer toward the body.
A shadow passed over her, blocking out the little moonlight there was. She looked up just in time to see a rust-colored underbelly pass over her. A fireball spewed from Ferro’s mouth, impacting the blue dragon in the eye, blinding it to her actions.
Taking advantage of that, Ana slid down his wing until she reached his body. Her motion was stopped by the appearance of Ferro’s scale, wedged tightly between the wing and the body of the blue dragon. An idea suddenly came to her. Looking around, she spied Ferro up high and off to her side.
There was no sign of the red dragon. After several attempts, she managed to convey her idea to Ferro by basically miming it out. He nodded his understanding, and as they both scanned the sky one last time, he dropped into position. Ana grabbed the scale, tugging it free and ready to do her part.
Here goes nothing.
She oriented the scale so its broken end pointed down. A quick glance showed her the dragon was still flying straight, dealing with the pain in its eye. With a shout she drove the scale deep into the thin material of the wing membrane. It penetrated like a knife and Ana threw herself off the dragon, holding on to the scale. She slid down the wing, slicing a huge gash that started to whistle as air surged through it.
“Ferro!” she cried as the wing flicked unexpectedly. The scale tore through the last of the wing, separating it into two distinct sections and sentencing the dragon to death as it fell from the sky. It also sent her flying into empty air, instead of down where Ferro was waiting.
She spread her arms and legs wide, spread eagle as she fell through the air, orienting herself downward, trying to slow her fall as much as possible.
A loud roar came from above as Ferro dove after her, tucking his wings in tight. Her eyes began to water profusely from the rushing air. The ground was coming up at her scarily fast. She screwed her eyes shut and said a quick prayer of hope.
“Ana!”
Her eyes snapped open. The thunderous shout had come from below her. The wind tore at her eyelids, her hair whipping behind her and tugging at her scalp. But none of that mattered just then. Somehow, below her was the miraculous sight of Ferro, timing his dive to match hers.
“You must get closer!” he shouted.
She nodded, bringing her legs and arms together a little. Her rate of fall increased and the distance closed.
“Faster!” he roared. The ground was coming up toward them too fast.
“Shit!” she shouted and slammed her legs closed and her arms to her side.
She fell like a stone. Ferro’s scaled back rushed up at her, and she opened her arms at the last moment, scrabbling for purchase.
“I must pull up!” he shouted.
“Not yet!” she screamed.
Her fingers slipped over one scale and she slid ten feet closer to the edge of his wide body. Around her Ferro’s wings began to spread, slowing their fall slightly.
“I have to go now!”
Her fingers slid into the crack of a scale and she pulled herself in tight.
“Go go go go!” she hollered at the top of her lungs over and over again.
Broad ocher wings snapped outward, and the g-forces reached out and slapped her into Ferro’s back. Her cheekbone shattered upon impact, blood spurting from her mouth as she held on with every ounce of strength in her body.
A loud noise assaulted her ears, growing in strength and vibration. The roar finally ripped free of Ferro’s throat as they skimmed free over the top of the trees, the downward momentum halted with less than a hundred feet to spare. A particularly tall tree had its tip snapped off as Ferro’s underside slammed into it.
“Ow,” he grunted, his voice strained with pain.
She couldn’t respond; her face was too swollen from the impact. Her cheekbone was definitely broken, and she wondered if her jaw was as well. Ana hoped not. That one always threw her speech off for a day as she healed, for whatever reason.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his voice full of concern.
Her garbled response was loud enough for him to hear, and she pounded on his back three times to reassure him, hoping he would get it.
“Thank goodne—”
His voice chopped off as a fireball exploded in the trees ahead of them.
Ana clamped tight and turned to look behind her. There, thirty feet to the right and fifty feet up, the red dragon was closing quickly.
Up ahead was a clearing.
“Get ready to jump!” Ferro shouted.
She goggled in amazement. Jump? Was he serious? How was she supposed to do that?
But Ferro didn’t give her a chance. He swooped low, pulled on the brakes and twisted slightly to the right.
Cursing as loudly as she could, Ana put her trust in Ferro, and threw herself free.
Chapter Twelve
Ferro
“Civilization,” he said with a strangled sigh.
“A bed,” Ana echoed, her voice slightly slurred.
It had been like that all day, though it had grown progressively better as the day went on. The process of healing a jaw did that to her she had explained, once it didn’t hurt her too much to speak.
“Sleep,” he echoed, exhausted.
“Shower,” she said with as much excitement as either of them were likely to manage.
“Good idea,” he said.
The two of them peeled off their clothes, making a beeline for the bathroom together. He let her go in first, his hand sliding down her back to cup her rounded rear end.
“I do not have the energy for that,” she said firmly.
Ferro laughed. “Me neither, but the look was too fabulous to pass up.”
Ana laughed and swatted away his other hand as he ensured neither cheek felt left out. He continued anyway while she fiddled with the water. Seconds later a cascade of liquid came from the ceiling, steam quickly building up. They stepped inside, the clear glass door closing by itself behind them.
Dirt and grime was swept away, momentarily darkening the water as it sluiced over them. He grabbed
the provided soap on the wall and proceeded to rub it across her back and sides, then down her arms as he thought over the events from the day.
After telling Ana to jump, Ferro had gone into full-blown attack mode. The red dragon eluded him for the better part of ten minutes, but he had eventually caught up with him. The pair had battled fiercely, trees snapping and groaning as they repeatedly skimmed across their tops. Ferro had finally gotten the upper hand, a hard whip of his tail slamming into the red’s face. Stunned, the other dragon had dropped from the sky, landing hard against a rock outcropping.
Ferro had gone in close to ensure that he stayed down permanently before rushing back to find Ana sitting in the field, alive, if not uninjured. As they found out, her jaw was broken, in addition to the cheekbone. It was mostly healed now, but the swelling that made it difficult to talk would take a day or so to settle.
From there, they had had a rather uneventful trip. As the dawn came, he had descended from the sky and the pair had made their way into a larger village. From there, it had been simple to secure an actual motorized transport to the capitol. The first decent-looking hotel they had come across had gotten his money.
“What an eventful few days,” he said as they dried each other off, comfortable in the presence of each other like they had been doing it for years. It still struck him as odd how fast things were progressing between them, but his dragon was right at ease. If anything, it was urging him to move faster.
“You don’t say,” Ana replied dryly, patting down his chest.
He growled happily, pulling her in tight to kiss her.
Ana put a finger to his lips as he went in hungrily to find her lips. “Gentle,” she said, stressing the fact that her voice still wasn’t right.
“Of course,” he purred, brushing his lips ever so gently against her, restraining his innate desire to overwhelm her. Instead, they shared a soft, intimate moment very unlike much of what they’d had to date.
Even as she melted into him, Ferro realized it was just what they needed. An intimate moment where they weren’t rushed, weren’t running from someone, and where it wasn’t adrenaline coursing through their veins that made them act. This was true passion fostered by the feelings developing between them. Their first time had been more of a carnal need; they hadn’t stopped to truly get to know each other. It was going to be different this time, he already knew it. There was a bond of sorts forming between them.
Was it just feelings? he wondered. Or was it something more?
Long ago, when it became clear to him that he was unique, Ferro had buried the idea of ever finding someone to be with him. But as he aged, and more shifters appeared, he had grown lonely. Other shifters often found mates, people that they were bonded to, that they would spend the rest of their lives with. Even his children had found mates as the dragon bloodlines stabilized and grew.
But never Ferro.
It wasn’t the first time he had considered the possibility since he had met Ana. He pulled his head back, gazing once more into the big blue seas that lived in her eyes, becoming lost in their depths.
“I will never grow tired of looking into your eyes,” he murmured, lowering his forehead to hers.
“Just imagine how good I look on regular sleep and having ten minutes to make myself look presentable,” she teased.
Ferro chuckled. “It sounds like you found some energy,” he teased, his hands sliding down her sides.
Ana’s eyes flicked down past his waist. “As I would say, did you,” she replied, tossing him a wink.
“I will always have energy for you,” he purred, his hands tightening around her waist.
“Flatterer,” she said lightly, jumping slightly as he lifted her from the ground.
“And yet, you do not object,” he teased in return, lowering her to the bed.
“No,” she said between kisses. “I do not.”
The towels had long since fallen away, and he admired the naked curves of her body, this time from a position of comfort compared to their last night together. This bed was sinfully luxurious when put side by side with their prior accommodations. Ana’s eyes rolled up into her head, and he couldn’t tell if that was from his hand sliding between her legs, or the relaxation of sinking into the fluffy bed.
“I didn’t say stop,” she replied from on her back.
“Yes, my dear,” he said, catching himself before substituting another word that would have thrown her off.
Don’t get ahead of yourself.
He dropped to his knees, kissing his way up toward the fire he could feel burning there. The silence from Ana made him wonder if she had dropped off to sleep, but the moment his tongue dragged slowly across her clit, she gasped and began to moan as he continued his motions. Reassured she wasn’t going to fall asleep on him—not that he would have blamed her after their ordeal—Ferro let himself be swept up in the moment.
He let his motions be guided by Ana. As her cries subsided or wavered he would adjust his touch, until she was practically shaking under him.
“Right there!” she cried.
Ferro fought every urge in his body to speed up or change his rhythm, knowing that when she said that, she wouldn’t want him to change a thing. Her eyes met his as she watched him pleasure her, the look in her eyes making him hard. His efforts were successful, and moments later Ana’s back flexed, arching her up from the soft bed as she was wrapped in the throes of her orgasm.
He continued to give her as much attention as he could, until she wrapped her hands around his head, gasping that she needed a moment.
“Of course,” he told her quietly, his lips instead kissing up and over her stomach, giving light attention to her breasts before settling in to the crook of her neck, where he began to nip at the soft flesh there.
As she recovered her wits, Ana made to move between his legs to return the favor. Ferro grabbed her shoulders and gently pulled her back up.
“You broke your jaw,” he told her wryly.
She gave him a sad look. “But that was amazing,” she protested without much effort, “I want to repay you.”
Ferro smiled. “This is not about keeping score,” he told her. “But if you feel so inclined to focus on my pleasure for a bit, I feel sure we can figure something out.”
“Oh?” she asked, arching an eyebrow at his mischievous tone.
“Absolutely,” he promised, rolling onto his back. “Now, come here,” he told her, pulling Ana up until she was straddling him, his cock pressed hard to his stomach by the swollen flesh between her legs. She was still quite slick from his earlier ministrations, and she used that to her advantage now, sliding her hips back and forth against him, coating his cock in her wetness.
“Is this what you wanted?” she asked innocently, looking down at him as she batted her eyes.
If it was possible, his cock grew even harder.
“Yes,” he hissed as her motions brought her in contact with the tip of his cock, the added sensations driving him wild.
“Are you sure?” she asked sultrily, leaning forward so her breasts hung tantalizingly close to his face. “Or is this what you wanted?” She was slowly reaching behind her, and suddenly he felt fingers wrap firmly around his shaft, pulling up on it slightly to direct it to her opening.
“That... works too,” he managed to get out as she sat back into his hips.
Ana gasped as he penetrated her, his thick cock filling her up. He desperately wanted to grab her hips and pull her roughly onto him, but he waited those precious few seconds first, to give her time to adjust to his size.
Then he grabbed her hips and pulled until his entire length was taken.
“F-f-fuck,” she stuttered, her body shaking slightly as if hit by repeated shocks.
“Feels so good,” he replied through clenched teeth, concentrating hard not to succumb immediately to the warmth that coated his cock. It was so tempting, but he didn’t. He let his muscles relax slightly to give them more time to explore together.
/> “I agree,” Ana forced out.
He looked up at her bobbing up and down slowly, becoming lost in the view as she flexed her leg muscles. Her breasts swung ever so slightly with the movement until she took her hands from her thighs and cupped them.
“You like watching me?” she asked, clearly having picked up on the flare in his eyes as she began to gently pull on her own nipples, still moving excruciatingly slowly up and down his cock.
Ferro nodded jerkily, not trusting his voice just then. He in fact found her so attractive all he wanted to do was slam her against the wall and fuck her has hard as he could.
There will be time for that later. For now, you need to learn about each other.
Part of him vehemently disagreed with that theory, but Ferro was strong enough to ignore that voice. He wanted this to last, to carry the moment with Ana on for as long as he possibly could.
After what was to come next, he knew it might be the last time they could be this relaxed for quite a while.
With a growl Ferro shoved that thought from his head, wrapping his large hands tightly around Ana’s hips. He began to help her with her movement, lifting her up slightly before pulling her hips back down to his and impaling her upon his cock, which just then felt harder than steel.
Ana gasped and moaned, at one point throwing her head back as her pace quickened. Ferro added his growls and grunts to the mix, beginning to exert himself as he moved Ana faster and faster. He could feel her walls tightening around him, but he forced down his matching reaction, clamping down hard any time his body tried to rebel. He wasn’t ready to finish just yet.
The same couldn’t be said for Ana. He felt the sudden shudder from within her, and her motion stopped suddenly as she began to writhe on top of him, her walls tightening far harder than before as they tried to convince him to reciprocate.
He fought the urge, getting lost in watching Ana climax for the second time. It was so arousing to be able to see, to take in the entire action of someone as beautiful as her experiencing the ultimate in life’s pleasures because of him. He could get drunk off that sort of intoxication.
