by Lucas, Naomi
Would they accept him?
Would they accept me? If the male holding onto me like I’ll run from him at any moment felt like I felt inside at his nearness, and if the bond was truly to be believed… that we were bound together. If my tribe shuns him, they shun me.
Unless this bond fades? He says it’s irreversible. But how many human and dragon bonds has he heard of or come across? Heavy sorrow clouds my heart. I don’t want this connection to go away, selfishly so. My mind keeps drawing to his hand on my flesh, and the comfort it gives, even though it should do the exact opposite.
But could I leave my tribe for this, this feeling? Could I spend my whole life with a being that hates me?
My foot snags on a root and I fall forward. The male catches me and pulls me against his chest. I stiffen; he stiffens. His shaft moves against me, and a soundless gasp escapes my throat. I don’t even know his name. Does he have a name?
Then my stomach growls and my brow furrows in humiliation.
“A day, in the light? Perhaps two.” His voice is so deep, so low, it takes me a moment to realize he even said anything. Let alone what he means.
“To my territory?” I lick my lips. “Yes.”
“We will stop here and resume tomorrow,” he murmurs.
I wait for him to let me go, but he doesn’t. We stand there together, my backside against his front. His grasp on my arm loosens but his nails linger, trailing little caresses back and forth across my bicep. His prick stabs my back.
If he were given to me, we’d spend our first night together rutting. And the next night, and the next. Until I was heavy with his child.
My mouth dries up.
Images of our bodies coming together bloom in my mind—of him entering me, and me taking him in—of kisses, licks, and strokes. My knowledge of sex is well versed, being the youngest woman of my tribe, the only salvation Shell Rock has of continuing. I learned what sex was because Leith had to learn what sex was. And our tribeswomen and men who are mated are not shy with affection and their love. Mermaids are especially not shy.
His other hand comes up to reach between us and adjusts his cock. Every muscle in me goes rigid. His claws continue to do that torturous caress that tickles me to the core.
“I smell your pheromones,” he says.
I feel myself wilt a little, chagrined. “I haven’t properly bathed in two days.” River water doesn’t count, not without salts and flower butter. It’s enough to clean dirt and sweat but…
He rubs his shaft from side-to-side upon me. Clenching, I fumble, desire rising with my embarrassment.
“I do not mind,” he grumbles. “I mind that my new body responds to them. How weak I have become.” His voice is angry but… almost hesitant, like he’s considering something.
Does he even know what mating is like between humans?
“You hate me…”
He hisses. “Yes.”
Please let me go, and I’ll curl up under a plant to perish and await the crocodiles and jungle cats to return to take my body.
His hands let me go and I quickly move away, turning to face him, wrenching my hands shut against the jumble of feelings plaguing me. His hand remains on his shaft, and I don’t know if he’s relieving its hardness—hardness I know firsthand by now—or trying to put it away. I almost feel bad for him. It can’t feel good.
I can make him feel better. The thought scurries through my mind. Then my stomach growls again, reminding me I haven’t eaten since early this morning.
His hand goes still, as does his body. His head tilts in my direction. His face is nothing but a series of looming shadows upon darker shadows with a soft outline. I wish I could see his face, know what he was thinking.
“That sound. What is it?” he asks.
“Hunger,” I answer, pressing my palms to my stomach. “Human bellies make noises when they need food.”
He does something that startles me to my core. He drops to his knees, grasps my hips, and presses his ear to my stomach. I suck in, and everything goes stiff. His ear and chin are pressed against me. So soft, there’s not even a hint of scruff on his face. My hands go to the top of his head to hold on. Whether it’s to stop him from moving closer or farther away, I’m not sure.
He remains there until my belly grumbles again. His lips part and he pushes closer as if it’s the most interesting sound in the universe. Something hot and wet slides across my middle. A noise escapes me as his tongue drifts over my flesh. I struggle but he holds me close and licks me. My nails dig into his scalp.
He growls, holds me captive, and continues despite my rigidity. Licking, swiping his blunt, hot tongue across me again, drifting further outward with each swipe. Leaning back, his large hands grip me harder, covering so much of my sides and back they’re like a wall.
When his tongue dips under the band of my skirt, I yelp and wrench a cluster of his long hair in my hands and tear him away. My stomach sounds again when his head tilts up to look at me.
“Hunger?” he asks, his tone little more than an angry grunt.
“Y-yes.”
He releases me and I stumble back. He unhooks the satchel from where it rests under his arm and tosses it at me. I catch it before it drops. “Eat,” he orders, rising to his full height. “Eat before I eat you.”
He storms away, and I watch his outline grow smaller before it disappears altogether. Dropping to my knees and pulling out a fruit, I eat, wondering when he’ll come back and touch me again.
I have just enough time to finish the fruit before the crunch of dirt and leaves returns and his massive body reappears. As well as intermittent curses.
“Come,” he orders, gripping my arm again, hauling me to my feet. “I have found a den for us to wait out the night.” He tugs the satchel from my hand and hooks it back over his shoulder.
Tossing the core of my fruit away, stumbling close behind him, there’s nothing else for me to do but follow the dragon-man deeper into the wild jungle.
11
Kaos Suffers
Loosening my hold on the human, my hand struggles to leave her flesh. But the sounds of the jungle force my hand and, paranoid, I move away.
She is tired, I note as I watch her settle where I leave her, closing her eyes. When her breaths deepen, I move to investigate our surroundings further.
In the hollow of bones from a long-dead ancestor, I walk around the structure twice—despite my awful legs—ensuring its safety. Vines and plant-life have overgrown and covered the bones long ago, and by ripping through them, I reclaim what was lost.
For a night. He will protect us. Even dead and gone, he lingers still, a guardian in my territory.
No hungry beast approaches while I am vigilant. Sniffing my flesh, I discover I have retained my dragon scent, but while at rest, the hungriest may still try, the bravest—or dumbest—might stalk forward to steal what is mine.
Not everything here is frightened by the hunting femdragon. Not everything is scared of me, not anymore. Hours ago my teeth were the biggest; now my teeth are small.
Getting these blasted human limbs under control and reclaiming my strength is paramount. My shaft aches painfully. Growling out, I release some steam. Miscreant bugs nibble the parts of my skin not covered by scales, and even what scales I have retained are far weaker than those I have lost.
Finishing my circuit, my nostrils fill with her scent again.
Her scent. Coming to a swift, tense stop, my hands clamp into fists. I strike out to hit the bone wall beside me, stopping short before making noise. Resting it against the wall, my lungs open up, and my throat widens to take more of her aroma into me, even when I try to stop it.
I will not have her see me like this. Snarling under my breath. She did this to me against my will. And my cock pounds relentlessly to drive home between the deep of her thighs. It is all I can think about. It has stolen my senses.
If we were not so unprotected here—
And these bugs! My teeth grit.
; The only mercy I have left is that my flesh continues to heal quickly, and these horrid bites are gone as fast as they come. Sometimes they take my mind off my instincts to mate for a split second, only for those instincts to return again a moment later, worse than before.
The female human’s smell is merciful and tortuous—and with every inhale, it is worse. Potent ecstasy and unrepentant anguish, each ruling my body at the same time. My stance widens as I take her aroma in, knowing her arousal is as gripping as mine.
I growl. It is everywhere! Everywhere!
I should be curling up with the femdragon right now—I grit my teeth harder—not needing the creature that destroyed me. My hips pump once into the humid air, searching for tight satisfaction where there is none. The female’s scent is flowery and rich, heavy with water lilies and… and ocean water. Like her pheromones have come from the ocean’s sands and now bask in the sun.
My body is wet and needing such delicious sun. I have been sleeping beneath the jungle’s canopy and cool waters for far too long.
A twig snaps and my ears twitch. She is moving.
She is awake? If it weren’t for the bone between us, she would be within arm’s reach. Settling my body as best I can, I move around the bend to the entrance, ducking through the hole of the dragon’s eye.
She notices my approach and her body stiffens, answering my question. I hear it more than see it happen; I know her reactions to me well at this point. My stumbling before was not only because of my new limbs—it was because I was not paying attention to much else but her.
Moving next to her and sitting down, silence lingers. The only sounds now are breathing and the night music from the jungle. Frogs croak, courageous birds screech, an occasional distant flutter as plants and branches shift. Eventually, they tune out as the human’s breaths deepen again.
Annoyance hits me. Sleep is so far from my thoughts—it should be far from hers too! Her mind and body should suffer the same torment as mine. Without realizing what I am doing, I pull her body to my side. Her resistance returns. Good.
Cursing, misery hits me hard and terrible, feeling that lithe, soft body of hers everywhere—touching me. Yet when she does not bend closer, I snatch her leg and pull it over mine and slide us down to the grassy ground until we are nearly lying side-by-side. My back and head are slightly perched upon the dragon skull. Thus, if it were not dark, I would be able to see the human female lying stiffly upon me.
I would be doing the same thing to the femdragon right now, were I still a dragon. I would be protecting her smaller body after a vigorous bout of mating, ensuring her safety with my claws, teeth, and tail, using my large frame to cover hers as completely as possible.
The anger I need refuses to return though, and instead, it is satisfaction I feel. Satisfaction I should not have, should not accept. But I am feeling it regardless.
The human female is warm. I muse instead. Unlike femdragons. Femdragons are slight but hard, fast, and brutal. They do not share their warmth and affection with anyone but their young. They are independent creatures to their very core, much like their male counterparts.
But this human… is not a dragon.
She is able to curl around me as I curl to protect her, like we are equals. The warmth in my chest builds at the thought.
“What are you called?” I murmur, spanning my hand across her back to pull her closer upon me. So small, even under her thin armor, her bones can be felt.
I feel her mouth move on my flesh a short time before she answers, sending strikes of pressure straight to my shaft. “Issa,” her soft voice fills my ears. Femdragons rarely deigned to speak to their mates unless it was to relay their needs. “What are you called?” She repeats my question back at me just as softly, exhaustion lacing her words.
Wanting to snarl in fury at her audacity, the anger still fails to return. Instead, considering her generosity in answering such a private question, the only recourse I have is to do the same.
“Kaos,” I tell her, my tone stronger and more admonishing than I like it to be. It is as if I want to impress her, show her my worthiness to hold her as such. A hiss escapes me.
Her body had begun to loosen before my name but it tenses again. She tries to pull her leg off me, but one sharp snarl makes her stop. “Stay.” My hiss turns into a growl.
We lie there for a while, listening to the jungle. She rises and falls with my chest as I take in air and release it. Slowly, she begins to relax again, and I find myself relaxing with her. Reaching around her gently, I fan a cluster of her long hair over my chest, enjoying the simple play of pulling out the twists in it.
“Kaos,” she whispers my name, and my hand stops. “Why did you lick my stomach?”
Hmm, the taste of her skin comes back and staggers me. “The noise it made sounded like a dragonling.”
Issa exhales. “A baby dragon?”
“Yes.”
She nods then falls silent. Soon after, the last of the tension leaves her and I know she is asleep.
Listening to her snores, the night passes without me finding rest. And when a mild glow of light returns the jungle-green to my surroundings, I find I do not want the night to end. Gazing down at the female who stole my life as color blooms all around… Finally, a surge of anger comes back to tighten my throat and lock my jaw. Whatever calmness within me flees with the light.
My shaft stiffens painfully as radiant, long blonde locks fill my gaze, and a soft golden body appears from the deep shadows. Kissed with sunshine, shaped and loved by it. Kisses that created little freckles over the bump of her nose and curves of her cheeks. What was red and dark last night is delicious and intriguing in the growing dawn.
Her bare leg is still draped over mine, taunting me to push to the side—take the other—and open her up. Her delicate human hand rests on my chest.
My chest. Snapping my gaze from her, I take in my body. The surge of anger rises up to burn my lungs and tongue. And my shaft. It aches wickedly.
Flicking my gaze back to her, a dark sound tears from my lips.
My fingers curl to pin her down and consume all that she is, eating her until there is nothing left for me to feel but gratification and sated vengeance. The need to take back all that I have lost—all because of her—is her burden to bear.
Shoving the human off me, rising above her, I order her to awaken.
12
Pressure Builds
Snapping my eyes open, sleep leaves me fast and hard. I shriek as I’m pinned by a large male body with sharp, furious eyes. Pushing deep into the leafy ground as far as I can, Kaos fills my vision. His skin is a light green, his hair black and long like snakes. His eyes are ebony one second and emerald the next. My eyes flick to his wing-like appendages along his arms.
The events of last night hit me even harder, and my mouth opens. He’s not the man I began to trust in the deep shadows. He’s—my toes curl—still a dragon.
“Issa,” he rasps, and his voice ignites fear and heat through me all at once. Holding back a moan, I stay as still as possible. “I am done suffering on your account.”
Widening my eyes, I don’t have time to respond as he flips me onto my belly and pushes up my net and skirt. Large, groping hands grip the backs of my thighs and pull them apart. Shock slices through me as he spreads them wide, exposing me to his view.
Rising up, I try to flip back over, to kick out. His strength stops me. “Kaos!” I screech even as my core clenches and opens, knotting and filling with heat, responding—against my will or part of my will, I don’t know. My nails bite into the plants beneath me as I continue to struggle. “Wait!” I beg.
My struggles cease as he lets me exhaust myself, holding me open, holding me down. I have the most endurance of anyone in my tribe, and yet I exhaust myself in no time. Shame fills me and I sag to the ground.
Try and relax, I tell myself, closing my eyes. This isn’t how I expected our rutting would happen, but I also never thought I would be with a male not of my s
pecies.
But penetration doesn’t happen, even when I arch my hips up, easing the way and exposing myself further. I’m ready and waiting—willing—now that my shock is gone. His hands on my thighs begin to excite me, a warm sensation flutters through me. This is right… How it should be. We’re bonded.
He hates me, the thought rises and my brow furrows. I’m about to mate with a man who hates me.
Still, nothing happens.
Twisting slowly to look back at Kaos, I see him staring between my legs. Reacting to the intensity in his gaze—trying to close myself off—his grip strengthens. Heat rises to my cheeks, and I reach back to cover myself with a hand.
He growls, and the full force of his weight covers me from head to toe. His lengthy prick bumps and slides against my butt, across my hand, to settle between my legs.
His mouth brushes my ear. “How do I fill you?”
Tensing, I fumble. “What?”
His cock rubs me and he reaches down to knock my hand away. “The deep part of you that takes my cock, show me,” he orders, his teeth nipping my lobe.
He doesn’t know. My chest constricts. How could he know? I don’t know how dragons mate…
His body pulls back from mine and his hands are pulling apart my buttocks. My knees bend slightly in embarrassment.
“Show me!”
The order elicits shivers and twitching and more moaning from me. Saliva fills my mouth. A deep grunt comes from above, and I know I’m not the only one dizzy with need.
Reaching back again, sliding my fingers between his hands, over my behind, I find the core of me—and it’s wet and slick. This is the place. Even if those who are mothers to me had not taught me how my body works, I would still know this is where his prick goes.
