by Lucas, Naomi
With her head still back, her knees rising where she is straddling, my human finally manages to work herself off my shaft’s girth. Good, human. Guttural noises tear out of me. Aida falls back down on me with a cry. YES!
I cannot help the spurts of seed that streak out with each flutter of her sheath.
“Yes,” I growl when she moves faster, taking me in like the huntress she is. Hunting pleasure.
My human rider.
Not on my back, but on my shaft. Shifting my tail between us, I flick her sensitive nub with my tip. Animalistic noises sound from my throat. Her head flips forward, her dark eyes meet mine, glisteningly wet and squinting with need.
My hands grip her hips hard, slamming her up and down my length. She screams and I do it again, taking over.
Pumping into her, my gaze leaves her shocked expression to her bouncing breasts. Her tits are tight and peaked now, begging for suckling. Another difference between our species I like. Leaning forward, I capture one honey bouncing tit between my lips.
Aida’s hands leave my thighs to claw my back.
I graze my teeth over her.
She scratches me. It is not enough.
My thrusting grows faster. I want to break her in two, need to feel her strangle me and pull out my seed. She is no longer able to keep up with my speed and lets me take over.
I get my submission.
Using her soft yet lean little body, jerking, shunting upward while I force her hard down all to my pleasure. Her cries spur me on. Her arousal grows in the air, and I suck it deep within me, feasting on the smell of her and my seed mixed.
Right when I am about to explode, burying my face between her breasts,, Aida clamps down hard on me, flinging wildly out of my grip.
Stunned, my eyes snap to hers just as they fall back into her head. Her body shoots up straight, her mouth poised in a silent scream, and her deep grows so wet, so tight, uncomfortable pressure—breathtaking pleasure—clenches my shaft.
Her core pumps, pulling the seed out of me forcibly. I explode, roaring in satisfaction.
She falls into my chest, breathing hard, then going silent as wave after wave of my seed jets out. Seed that has burned inside me for countless years, priming for my mate. I shoot up to my feet, still holding my human to me and keeping her on my cock as my hips thrust and the spewing continues. My tail goes straight and stiff.
I feel her belly expand against mine.
Raw power floods me. My mate.
Take me, take it all. It is yours.
When the overwhelming pressure begins to fade and my spurts come to a blissful end, I realize there is something wrong.
Aida is limp in my arms. Her legs have fallen, and she is only held onto me by my grip.
“Human?” I grasp her hair and pull her head back. “Aida?” Her eyes are hooded.
No response.
Any satisfaction dies, leaving shock and worry behind.
“Aida?” I say louder, laying her on the ground, pulling myself out from between her legs. The scent of mating builds, ignored.
She does not move. I put my hands to her neck, her chest—there is movement beneath. Calming down, I lay my ear to her and listen for her heartbeat. Thump, thump; thump, thump.
It is strong, but that gives me little relief.
I knew humans were weak.
I did not care, forcing her to accept me anyway.
Sensations of something slimy squeeze my chest. Something I have not felt since a young dragonling.
Guilt.
I throw a clean hide over her, gather her into my arms, and rush out of the cave, searching for anyone who may be able to help. I see sunlight at the mouth of the cave and hasten my steps.
And run head-first into another human.
The human falls back. “Oomph.” Muttering, the human rebalances.
“You, help me! She is not responding,” I order, laying Aida down in the grass outside the cave. Rain falls from the sky but it is nothing like the day before, a wispy shower. Still, I move Aida closer to the rocks and shelter her as best I can. My guilt grows, seeing her limply lying there.
The other human settles next to me with a gasp. “Aida!” Her hands go to Aida’s cheeks.
I hiss low in warning, and the human moves them away.
She turns to me. “What happened?”
“I seeded her,” I say, keeping my eyes on Aida.
“Seeded her?”
“Mated her, rutted her if you will, filled her with my seed so she may breed my young.” I finally lift my eyes to the female next to me. How does she not understand? Do human males not seed their females?
I did not ask. Another stab of guilt hits me. If my seed kills my mate…
The other human is staring at me, glancing at Aida before looking back at me.
“Can you help her?” I ask.
“She’s my sister. Of course I’ll try.”
12
Delina and Zaeyr
Intensity wells within me and I can’t stop it. My aching muscles relax, my core tenses, and Zaeyr’s cock pounds me like he’s pounding my soul. Any pain or discomfort fades to bliss as the burning heat within soothes it away.
Each gush of his seed brings on another wave, and soon the pain of penetration and stretching is a distant memory.
It’s too much to bear, I try to tell him this, but he doesn’t hear me, pounding away. Lifting me, holding me against his chest, thrusting in and out, in and out.
Water sluices over my skin, followed by cloth. I moan but can’t seem to rise. Settling to the comforting touch of cool water, knowing I might be stunned, I let myself be tended to.
I feel the shift of movement and soon the scent of herbs, wood, and the ocean hits me, and I know I’m no longer in the caves.
Does mating stun? I wonder. I’ve never heard of such a thing.
It hurts, yes. It’s overwhelming. But never once did any of the elder Sand’s Hunters women mentioned falling unconscious… or the amount of male cum…
Dragon cum. Has to be. It’s inside me still, doing strange things to me. Relaxing me in a way I can’t resist.
“Well?”
Zaeyr’s voice. I try to respond but my lips refuse to move.
“She’s fine. Just needs rest. Aida doesn’t take care of herself as well as she should.”
Delina.
More water is poured onto my skin, and the hands and the cloth that follows are clumsy. It’s Delina cleaning me, I note. But then a strand of my hair is pulled behind my ear. The warmth that ignites from it is caused by Zaeyr. I know it.
“How much longer?” he asks.
“I don’t know.”
“Guess!”
“Let her sleep through the night,” Delina answers hurriedly. I don’t want to sleep. I want to be awake. I’ve been asleep long enough… I should be helping my tribe. I want more time with Zaeyr. I can’t remember a day in my life when I did nothing but lie in the hides. “When she wakes, make sure she rests. She’ll need food too. I can stay and watch over her.”
I hear a grumble and nothing else. I’d grumble too if I could. Silence descends between them and I hear the crackle of a fire.
Falling back asleep, I wake up sometime later to Delina’s voice. Swimming through the haziness of my mind, I discover she’s asking Zaeyr questions.
“…you were a dragon yesterday. I’ve never seen a dragon or heard of them either until lately. Were you frightening?”
“Mmmm.”
“I’m sure you were… Your horns and tail are beautiful. I always envied the merfolk for their tails.”
It feels wrong listening in—or trying to at least—without them knowing, but my curiosity is piqued. I don’t like my sister speaking to Zaeyr like this, not when it should be me or when—I’m assuming—they’re alone. Trying to rise again, I find there’s enough strength to shift my arm a little, but it’s not enough to rouse.
“Thank you,” Zaeyr mumbles. “What is this used for?”
Del
ina chuckles softly. “That’s a headdress. It’s an adornment—” Delina moves “—a female wears during the mating celebration. I wore this not long ago. Here, let me show you.” There’s a rustling sound. “See? Isn’t it beautiful? Those pieces there are the dress and these are the accessories. I could put those on too?”
My heart hammers. What’s my sister doing?
“Mating celebration?” Zaeyr asks.
“You don’t know anything, do you?” Delina teases.
“Not when it comes to humans,” Zaeyr’s voice is low and gravelly, almost curious. It floods me with renewed warmth, but also mortification. “Dragons do not celebrate mating,” he says. “A femdragon goes into heat, more so during the red comet, and calls out for a male to nest with her. She seeks the best, denies the weakest, and if more than one finds her at the same time, we fight to the death for her attention. It becomes increasingly painful for a male dragon to be in heat from a femdragon’s pheromones without seeding. Oftentimes, those that survive a battle for a femdragon will perish without satisfaction. Or, if they are lucky, find a female drake or wyvern of the lesser species to empty their shafts, so they may live.”
Oh.
My… that’s nothing like humans.
My sister echoes me. “Oh… Males fight over females?”
“Yes.”
“That’s amazing! I can barely imagine it. To have such a choice…”
“I would not describe it that way. Why do you?”
Delina coughs. “Human males are rare, very rare. The elders between tribes fight for them, and when they come of age, they’re given as mates to the most fertile, deserving female of the chosen tribe. We don’t have a choice, like your males, I suppose. It’s why we celebrate such an event.”
My sister’s words hurt, bringing back bitter memories of all that happened between us in the past month. How the elders picked her over me when I had been chosen and prepared for the honor and responsibility since childhood.
I don’t want Zaeyr to know.
My chest tightens.
But Delina continues, her voice softening. “The elders chose me to be the best mate, the best female. Aida was supposed to be given the honor, but they decided that I’m better able to carry children, perhaps more desirable to a male—the strongest male.”
Trying with all my might to rise, blood rushes through me, straining. If not to stop Delina, then to run away. I hear her move closer, approaching where Zaeyr breathes. I would know where he is even if he didn’t make a noise. The bond, it’s because of the bond.
Even bonded, I don’t know if Zaeyr would not take another—perhaps more—if offered. Would he?
“Backwards,” Zaeyr spits. “Elders should not choose who mates. How can they know what others want?”
“It’s not about what others want, dragon, but about ensuring our survival,” my sister whispers. “Your survival too. Look at me.”
A grunt. “Why?”
There’s a rustle of cloth.
“What are you doing, human?”
I want to cry.
“Unlike Aida, who passes out, I know how to mate. I see your cock—it’s hard, it can’t feel good like that, but I can help. Let me give you relief, and I’ll show you what Sand’s Hunters chosen female can do. The strongest male should be with me. And you are the strongest, are you not?”
“Is this what you human females do? Battle for the best male instead? Even when your opponent is down?” he snarls. “Do you dare to presume that an alpha dragon does not make his own choices?”
My hands finally move. I clench my fingers to my palms, finding the movement difficult but manageable. My eyes snap open and I scan Delina’s hut, finding her bare-chested and wearing the mating headdress. She’s sitting right before Zaeyr by the fire.
“You understand it, don’t you?” Delina hums, reaching up to rub her breasts. “This makes sense.”
I look away when Delina reaches for Zaeyr. I wish I was still sleeping. I don’t want to see this. Pain constricts my chest.
If Zaeyr allows my sister to have her way, I won’t recover. I won’t. Not this time.
And what makes it worse, I know, is that I’ll still want him afterward, against my better judgment, always remembering that moment on the beach. Even now, the sensation of my innocence broken is there between my legs—the stretching, the needy ache building untoward. His smell fills my nostrils with every breath, making everything worse.
My head falls to the side, pulling my arms instinctively into me when noises I don’t want to hear reach my ears. I realize I’m moving. The feeling of betrayal is helping me rise.
“Zaeyr, please,” Delina whines as I sit up straight.
Jumping to my feet, I pivot to them.
Delina is sprawled on the ground, legs open and on her back, dark eyes wide, and Zaeyr… He’s baring his teeth, his arm on her shoulder over her, eyes wild. They turn to me at once.
My cheeks redden at the sight. My chest is going to explode from indignation.
“Aida,” Zaeyr says, dropping his hand from my sister’s shoulder, rising to his full intimidating height. His horns scrap the ceiling, his tail twisting behind him and the sapphire scales on his body twinkling. The sight of him twists my gut.
Knowing that Delina is scrambling up, holding her shirt to her chest, twists me further.
How dare they?
And, though paralyzed, I was right here beside them.
“Don’t!” I snap. “You’ve made your choice. Don’t let me stop you now.”
The next instant, I’m out the door and running away, my heart unraveling.
13
Red Comet Rays
I run through the village and to my hut, where I hurry to gather my things. I had already been packing for my now-absurd search for a dragon and still have enough to get me safely to Shell Rock, Issa’s tribe down the coast.
She offered for me to stay there the day she delivered Leith to us, and I didn’t take her up on it. Idiot. I wanted to, but finding a dragon—that horrible hope—had been on my mind. Now, I wish I had left with her days ago.
I wish it more than anything.
Pain lances my chest, a cold sting in my veins. I should’ve gone with her when I had the chance. Keeping my tears at bay—Zaeyr and Delina don’t deserve them—I make for the door and through the thick jungle trees.
Days ago, they were lit up with banana-bee candles for Delina and Leith’s mating celebration.
There’s branches, broken trees everywhere, some huts are destroyed, the bonfire is in disarray. But my people are all back, cleaning up the mess.
A twinge of guilt stabs at me, asking me to stay, to deal with my hurt like I always do, to put my tribe first, but my body continues to the lift, hands reaching for the lever that rolls it up.
Throwing my satchel on it, jumping before it’s even fully to the top, I hear Zaeyr behind me.
“Aida!” he roars, seeing me. “Do not go down!” He’s a god in fury, like the terrifying dragon he is inside—his long white-blue hair rippling outward—and my hands falter. But the image of him and Delina flashes in my mind and I release the ropes. The last thing I see before the cliff blocks my view is him running toward me. “No!” he yells.
He’s still at the top when my feet hit the sand. I tie the rope into a knot so he can’t bring it up.
“Aida!” he screams, his dark voice carrying in the ocean breeze. The lift shakes and rattles as I back up and he tries to make it rise. “You will pay for this!”
“Aida, stop!” Delina appears on the cliff next to him.
“To the deep with both of you!” I curse them, picking up my spear and throwing my bag over my shoulder and running down the coast. It’s childish, but it gives me satisfaction. Zaeyr’s voice carries behind me and I tune it out, knowing that if I don’t, I may turn back and allow him to hurt me again.
Rounding the bend—where the cliff walls that keep the jungle separate from the narrowing beach—I run head first into
Leith.
He falls backward into the grass, dropping a basket of plants. “Oww!”
“I’m so sorry,” I breathe, flustered, helping him to his feet.
He eyes me in the dawning cloudy light. “Aida? You’re awake? Delina said you were seriously hurt.”
My eyes narrow as I catch my breath. “Why are you out here alone?”
“Delina sent me to get healing supplies to help you,” he says, brushing the sand off his legs. “And I’m not alone. Elae and Jye are with me.” He points to the water where two mermaids watch us. Bright red and yellow tails rise from the water to wave at me.
“You shouldn’t be alone out here, not even with them. What if something came from the jungle? What if a naga was on the hunt?” All thoughts of Zaeyr and Delina fall from my head for a moment as my mother’s words about duty return.
“I can take care of myself,” he snaps. “I’m sick of everyone babying me. First Issa, now you? I’m not a child!”
Startled, my mouth purses. “That’s not—”
“Treat me like a man.” He shoves the basket of plants at me. “Here, this is for you. Though I don’t think you need it.”
“Leith, I’m sorry. The tribe—”
“To waters with the tribes!” he fumes. “I always thought you were better than them, Aida.”
“I’m sorry.”
He peers at me, and I remember that, just a month ago, Leith and I were going to be mates. The loss I felt when he was taken away… It blooms with the anger coursing through me now, but instead of envy, love settles instead. Familial love, brotherly love. Leith with his boyish features and wavy shoulder-length hair.
The way I feel about Leith is nothing like the way I feel about Zaeyr.
“It’s okay,” he says, forgiving me. “I should get back to Delina anyhow. She’s probably worried about me by now. And you know… you berating me will be nothing in comparison to what I’ll hear if anyone else catches me alone.” He chuckles, but there’s no mirth to it.
My mouth shuts tight. He doesn’t know. Of course he doesn’t know. Delina betrayed him like Zaeyr betrayed me.
