Tropical Dragons Series Box Set: Venys Needs Men: Books 1-3 with Exclusive Short Story

by Lucas, Naomi

  “Nessst will be pleased,” is all he says. He slithers away, dragging me by my heels.

  For a time, there’s nothing but the sound of our passing. The terrain is rough, but at least the net is thick enough to soften the worst of the impacts. I am bruised, but not scraped, though with each tree we pass, I brood a little deeper.

  This fiend caught me! How? Had I not been following Iskursu’s trail all along? Had it been this one’s trail instead? And if so, why did he know to leave an emerald at the end?

  Naga’s aren’t known for baiting humans. They linger in the deepest parts of the jungle where they have less competition for food.

  Iskursu’s not like them because he was alone… partially raised by Milaye.

  My head whacks against a root, and I groan.

  “Iskursu!” I scream at the top of my lungs.

  My captor pauses to hit me with his tail before continuing on. Pain radiates through my limbs, but it’s not enough to frighten me off. I realize my silence is making his kidnapping easy.

  If he thinks I’m going to quietly let him take me to his lair—

  “Iskursu!” I yell again.

  The naga pivots, the thin slits of his nostrils widen, and he raises his tail in warning. “Sssilence!”

  My eyes widen. My lips part, knowing the choice I’m making is going to hurt. A lot.

  “Iskur—”

  A roar and thump fill my ears, cutting me off.

  Suddenly, blood sprays from the naga’s chest, covering me. There’s no time to be surprised or to brace—my captor’s tail thuds on my chest along with his body.

  I groan as I take his dead weight. Shocked, I stare upward, blinking at the fluttering leaves above, stunned, unsure what is happening. I’m pinned completely, and when I try to inhale, the pressure of the naga’s body keeps my lungs small.

  Hot warm liquid gushes from him, spilling onto my bare legs and drenching my coverings. When the naga doesn’t move, doesn’t make a sound, I realize he’s dead. Really dead.

  The blood was his after all. Horror strikes as my lungs heave for air. I can’t breathe, and I’m stuck under a dead thing, and now I’m just waiting here to die, trapped as an offering to whatever meat-eater smells the blood. It won’t be long.

  And what killed him?

  Am I next?

  I hear a grunt. Then the naga’s corpse slides off me.

  Iskursu is here.

  Relief floods me as I heave a lungful of air. He lifts the corpse with his tail, like it weighs nothing, flinging it away. I hear a crash and a thump somewhere far off.

  “Iskursu,” I groan, trying to roll over, but he’s upon me the next moment, cutting the net off of me. “You came…” He lifts me from the jungle floor.

  “Haime,” he rumbles as our eyes meet. “Eshka is dead.”

  Eshka?

  But Iskursu’s beautiful bright yellow eyes fill my vision. I exhale, sagging into his embrace.

  “Are you okay, little one?” he says.

  “Yes.”

  He holds me against his chest, his tail wrapping around me. His warm, velvety scales are soft under my cheek. With a resigned hiss, he starts to move through the jungle with an eerie silence not even I can manage—especially while carrying another.

  But I trust him. I know he’s taking me somewhere safe.

  “You ssshould not have let him catch you.” His voice darkens.“Not even for me.”

  “I was following your trail.”

  “What trail?”

  My brow furrows. I try to look up at him, but all I can see is the underside of his chin. He’s facing stoically forward. “The trail of bent branches up in the trees. The one that led to the gorilla. I found your emerald, but I lost it.”

  Iskursu growls. “I did not leave a trail, nor an emerald…”

  “Oh…”

  The wrinkle of my brow deepens.

  Iskursu continues before I can dwell on it. “I never leave a trail. You know this. I heard your screams while I wasss attending the gorilla’s corpse.”

  “You killed it?”

  “Yess.”

  “Then who’s—”

  “Eshka,” Iskursu responds before I can ask.

  “Eshka,” I mumble.

  Iskursu hisses but it turns into another growl.

  “He is dead! Impaled by my mighty ssspear. Do not sssay his name aloud. I do not want to hear it come from your lips. He is unworthy of your attentionsss!”

  Unworthy?

  My confusion grows. It has been years since a second naga roamed this area of the jungle. And why would another naga go after a human? Had he been watching me? Like how I’ve been hunting Iskursu?

  “Where did he come from?” I ask a little hesitantly. Iskursu seems upset, and I’m worried he’ll flee. I don’t want to go years without seeing him again.

  “He rose from the naga pits in the deep greens of the jungle, where rabid serpents dwell.”

  “Then why was he here?”

  Iskursu shakes his head. “You.”

  “Me?”

  But Iskursu doesn’t answer, either because he doesn’t want to or because of the booming roar of water that now fills the air. The thick jungle trees open up, revealing a stream that slopes downward, ending in a waterfall. At the top, I lean from Iskursu’s tight hold to look down. A pool of water lies beneath the falls, rocks protruding throughout. The stream bows deeper into the jungle before vanishing around a bend.

  Iskursu pulls me back to him and slithers down the moss-covered rocks on the side of the falls.

  As we approach the pool, the heat of the sticky blood on me grows unbearable, and I shift in his embrace. “Let me down.”

  “No.”

  “What? Why? I can walk to the pool.”

  He takes us directly into the water, heading for the center. “Iskursu…” The water gets deeper and deeper until my dangling feet are submerged. “What are you doing? There could be—”

  I say no more because he dunks us under the water. Its chilliness envelops me, and I shriek, wiggling in his embrace. He keeps me trapped against him as the currents pull my hair from what’s left of their braids, forcing the strands to fan out everywhere. Between my hair and the whirling water, I see nothing else.

  Then his hands are on me, moving me in his hold so our chests align. My breasts are pushed into him, my legs fall on either side of his tail, curling around his hips. It’s what I’ve always wanted, always dreamed about late in the darkest hours of the night. But my need to breathe grows heavy, and though I like being so close to him, I start to struggle.

  Then there is a rush. And not towards the air. I’m disoriented, and all I know is that we’re moving fast—really fast, still under the water—and it’s getting darker by the second. The daylight vanishes, and now it’s pitch black. I’m freezing.

  I pound at Iskursu’s chest, and we finally emerge. I gasp, flinging away. “Are you trying to drown me!” I shout, pulling my hair from my face—which is hard to do while plastered to his body and desperate for air.

  He still doesn’t let me go. “No,” is all he says.

  “Well, you almost drowned me,” I snap. But the rocks… Shiny.

  There are electric-blue sparks upon them, and the sight has my lips closing up. I stare at the strange light in wonder.

  Iskursu carries me out of the water and onto a landing. I don’t even know when he finally releases me. The blue sparks are bugs, I find, and they’re making this place glow blue. It’s so beautiful.

  It’s not until I hear the crackle of fire that I’m able to look away. Iskursu is feeding a campfire pit fresh logs with his tail.

  “What is this place?” I ask, glancing beyond him to the rest of my surroundings.

  “My den,” he answers.

  My heart thrums.

  His den. His… home.

  There are dozens of hides draped everywhere, each meticulously placed on the cave walls and ledges. They thicken in a circle around the fire. In the back, the
re’s a distant beam of light, and above is a hole where the smoke drifts up as jungle vines fall through. But there is also a large basket, one attached to the opening with a thick braided rope.

  To climb maybe?

  Where the light hits is a barren spot. There are large primitive tables on one side made from stacked rocks. A dead gorilla lies on one of them. There are no hides there, but those that are curing and being stretched. Clay pots and woven baskets line up around the space, all in sets of threes, all from biggest to smallest…

  I catch Iskursu’s eyes as I continue my perusal. He’s watching me. I glance away and turn full-circle.

  Behind me is a large pool of water, glistening despite our disturbance and mirroring the blue glow-bugs above. Like a magical starfield… It beckons me to jump back in and swim with the water stars.

  “Nagas don’t make their nests in caves,” I mumble, pulling my attention away from the water and back to Iskursu.

  “Caves are all this naga knows.” He cocks his head. His long black braid falls to the side. “Caves provide protection and…”

  “And?”

  “And are a good place to hide.”

  I purse my lips. “From me, I’m certain. Why bring me here then?”

  He doesn’t answer. He just stares at me.

  “Why?” I ask again, demanding he speak.

  “It is close by, from where I sssaved you.” He slides his long tail around the fire, curling it on the ground near my foot. “Are you hurt?”

  Wishing he would elaborate, I know he won’t. In our long history of hunt and evasion, Iskursu was never much of a speaker, at least not with me. Milaye once told me she was teaching him our language… but that was so long ago…

  Patience is not one of my virtues, nor one I care to have… but with Iskursu, it is all I know. I grumble, glancing down at myself.

  I’m soaked. At least the blood has washed away, but I’m standing in a pool of water. Testing my limbs, I find nothing broken. There are only scratches and bruising. And even the bruising wasn’t that bad. My scales shielded me from much of the blows.

  “I’m not hurt.”

  “Good.”

  With one last look around Iskursu’s home, I move to his side, approaching the fire. He tenses but doesn’t move away.

  Instead, his tail drifts near me. I itch to run my fingertips over it. If Iskursu was a Titanoboa, then he’d be able to swallow me whole. Thankfully, he isn’t one.

  He’s my naga boy.

  And he’s staring at me. It’s making me twitchy. This sudden intensity from him reminds me of that day on the beach…

  3

  A Naga’s Heat

  “You didn’t tell me why you brought me here,” I say.

  “Haven’t I?”

  I lick my lips. “I’m not hurt enough to need tending. You could’ve easily left me—”

  I never finish what I planned to say. I can’t use my mouth. Iskursu’s lips are on mine.

  Surprised, I go rigid. His mouth is soft, softer than in my fantasies, but intense and eager. My hands rise to press into his chest because he’s pushing against me. Lamely, I freeze. In my dreams, I am suave; now I am not.

  His mouth grows demanding with my failure to respond. His hand comes up to cup my neck, and he grazes my pulse with his claws.

  I shiver.

  His tail presses into my back as his kiss begins to roughen. His tail forces me to arch. He pins me against him, pressing me between tail and chest.

  Heat rushes through me. Red hot lust. I clench, imagining him claiming me with his two large pricks. Pricks that have haunted my dreams with feverish need.

  No ordinary male could compare to my naga, especially not after I behold his swollen desire for me. Once, I didn’t know males from other species were gifted with such deviant sexual appendages, but ever since I saw Iskursu that way, I knew he was the only one for me.

  I’m a dragon female. A human-dragon female. I have only my experiences to know what that means, but I demand the best and know no human male compares to Iskursu.

  But this kiss from him is so sudden and unexpected. After a lifetime of seeking it, his kiss leaves me stunned and a little… confused.

  “Iskursu,” I say, pulling back. His mouth stays, swallowing his name. My palms push against his chest and meet his hard scales. “Iskursu!” I gasp. The tip of his tail wanders down my back until it is pressed between us—between my legs.

  It pulls up my skirt and finds my naked sex. His tail flicks against my thighs.

  I jerk, gasping even louder. “Iskursu!”

  But then his tailtip is delving to the most private parts of me, searching for where I’m clenching.

  And waters, am I clenching. I want him to find my core, to fill it. My body softens, the resistances dimming, and now I don’t even care if it’s his tail that fills me. Just as long as I am filled. Another shiver courses through me. It’s big, even the tip, as thick as the rest of him, but I know I can take it. Nothing will stop me from taking it.

  His sharp naga teeth grip my lip. His slitted eyes meet mine.

  And for a moment, he pauses, and we stare at each other.

  “Iskursu,” I whimper. His teeth let me go. He pulls back, and I sag in his embrace, frustrated by his hesitation—by his tail staying so near—but there is relief too.

  “What, little Haime?”

  “Why are you kissing me? Why now?” I ask it a little too quickly. I need to know. I have a need to continue but…what if he ruts me and then leaves?

  His eyes narrow. “I did not like seeing you with Eshka. He is a treacherousss male.”

  I inhale. All the while the tip of his tail is stroking me between my thighs.

  He continues, “He tries to take what is mine.” His tailtip finds my sex and pushes my legs open, just enough to give him room. “And now he is dead.” He presses his tip—so slightly—into me.

  Iskursu’s words make me shudder. He pushes a tiny bit deeper.

  “You were jealous?” I squeak.

  He cocks his head. “Jealous?” His tail stops.

  I shake my head, panting, wiggling my hips for him to continue. “A feeling,” I gasp. “A feeling that maddens you when you see someone else have what you desperately want.” My voice pitches higher, the words tumbling from me as his tail circles inside me, stretching me hard and fast and rubbing that secret female pleasure spot I had only heard others gush about.

  “Madness, yesss!” he growls. “His death was the only answer.” He leans down to take my mouth again.

  Somehow, I shake my head, pushing at his chest.

  “You stop me?” he growls again. “When his smell still lingers on your flesh!?”

  His anger makes his tip plunge deeper into me, and my hips jerk. “No!” I cry. “Don’t stop.”

  But he pulls back. “Did you want Eshka? Did you want his pricks to enter you, and his tail, like mine is now? Is that why you are resisting?” He lifts up his chest, his pelvis, displaying his hard and heavy cocks. “Are mine not enough?”

  “Iskursu!”

  “Or is it because I am not one of your kind? An un-nested naga boy with no clan to offer?”

  Now he’s making me angry, angry and frustrated. “I have thought about no one else but you since that day on the beach!”

  He stops and his eyes glint as we pant together.

  My nostrils flare. “Waters! Iskursu, why else do you think I’ve been chasing you all these years? Can you not see—feel—how badly I want you?” I drop my hands from his chest and grip the bottom of my hide shirt, pulling it off. Breasts bare, I spread my legs as wide as I can, which isn’t far since the large part of his tail is still coiled around me.

  “I didn’t even know this Eshka existed until today. I thought it was your trail I was following…” I flush with the shame of being caught and add with a whisper, “I needed it to be your trail.”

  His eyes snap to my bare chest and back to my face. His hands tense at my waist and squeeze, t
witching, like he wants to cup my breasts but is holding back.

  “You are a human.” Is all he says.

  Not that I truly felt human.

  But he continues, “You are meant to be with another human. Not with me.” He starts pulling out of me, sliding away. “I cannot give you babies.”

  I grab his tailtip, keeping him from leaving me completely. I meet his gaze and confess what I’ve never said before. “I’m meant to be with you. I don’t want to be another human broodmare. There are others much more suited for that job.”

  “I have nothing to offer you.” But his voice still darkens, though now there’s hesitation.

  It gives me hope.

  “Then why did you really bring me here?” I probe.

  He’s strained, his eyes flash. I’m just as tense as he is, holding my breath.

  “Because you are mine and I cannot bear Eshka’s scent on you when it should be mine! My ssscent! My cocks will claim you for the first time! Any male who touches you will die. All males who touch you will die!”

  I lick my lips.

  “I thought watching you would be enough, protecting you—stalking you—but it is not! Now Eshka’s scent remains, and I know you must still have a human, but… I demand to be your firssst, to have you completely before you leave.” He dives down and captures my mouth again.

  I want to tell him he’ll be more than my first, that he’ll be my only male, my last one as well. But his mouth denies me. My mouth denies me as well.

  Because all I want is to kiss him back. Grabbing hold of him, I stand tall and meet Iskursu head on, clasping him to me, bracing my now sensitive breasts against his chest. His tail leaves my sex and I don’t care, I want more, and I move to straddle him. With a satisfied groan, I rub my sex along his cocks, trapping them between us.

  I’m so slick with arousal that I slide along him. Long, guttural snarls fill my ears. His tongue pushes between my lips and invades my mouth. It’s just as slick as my sex. It licks me everywhere until I push my own tongue against his and lick him back. His saliva is sweet and addicting. I want it to fill me.

  Everywhere.

  The thick part of his tail pushes against my spine, giving me leverage, and I brace my feet on either side of him. I rest my tail against his. His hands slide up my sides and cup my breasts. His fingers graze my nipples—then pinch.