by Ruby Dixon
I cannot wait to mate again. I lean forward and breathe deeply of his scent. Already mine is changing to smell more like his. I love it.
I am so…happy.
* * *
Gabe’s skin turns curiously red in places as he sleeps. I curl up next to him, content to watch as his pale groin flushes a deep red and the pale parts of his legs do, too. How interesting. Is this his mating flush? Should I wake him and we can mate again? I like that idea. Has he not slept long enough? The sun has moved high in the sky and is now close to setting. Impatiently, I push my thoughts against his.
Wake up. I want to mate again.
He stirs, his thoughts drifting from pleasure…to pain.
I frown.
What the fuck? His eyes snap open and he regards me for a brief moment before he shields his eyes from the bright sunlight. Did I pass out on my back? Why’s my dick on fire?
His thoughts are jumbled with sleepiness, so I eagerly help out. It is bright red, I tell him. It has flushed redder as time has passed. Are you in mating heat now that we have joined spirits? Let us join again. My cunt is empty and wants your seed.
Mating…heat? Wait. Hold on. He sits up and winces, and I can feel the ripple of pain moving through him. Why am I naked…? Goddamn. He looks down. My dick is roasted. My legs are roasted. Jesus, what a sunburn.
I don’t like the flash of pain that ripples through my mind. You are hurting. Stop.
Stop…hurting? He looks at me in surprise.
Yes. I do not like it.
He barks a laugh and glances down at himself again. “Why am I naked, Teva?”
I tore your clothes off because I wished to look at you. I pluck at a scrap on his shoulder. You look much better this way.
Gabe sits up and groans again, touching his bright red hips. “I need to wear clothes, Teva. They protect my skin from the sun. I don’t have scales.”
I lightly run a claw along his fine, fine arm. You mean in this form. Surely your battle form—
“No battle form,” he says, wincing as he shifts his weight and gets to his feet. “Fuck me, my balls are on fire.”
Does this mean you do not wish to mate? I fight back irritation.
He cups his cock in his hand and walks in a curious fashion, his legs as far apart as possible. It is a strange sort of waddle, I decide. And no battle form? That is unheard of. If you have no battle form, how do you hunt?
He waves his hands in the air, his back to me as he hobbles away. “With these bad boys.”
Your hands are…bad boys? I frown at his pale, pale backside. Where are you going?
To find clothes and some aloe vera lotion.
And…then we will mate? I say eagerly, jumping to my feet.
“Teva, sweetheart, last thing I want to do is have my dick touch anything but a block of ice.” He winces, doing that strange hobble as I catch up to him. “Maybe we can just talk until my cock no longer looks and feels like a cooked hot dog.”
Cooked…hot dog? What is this? A mental image flashes through his mind and I pause. It is a food? The resemblance is close, I admit.
“Thanks,” he says flatly.
He seems displeased. I find this curiously frustrating. I want to mate and he is angry with me and wants to talk.
Talk. Pft.
You are angry? I ask. I just wanted to see you naked—
“Not angry,” he says, and I catch another wave of pain drifting through his thoughts. “You didn’t understand the clothes were for my protection. Now I’m just a little roasted in a few tender places.” He continues to clutch at his cock and balls, hobbling into the shade and toward a part of the strange cavern that smells like him.
I follow behind, curious. What is this place? Why does your cave have no walls?
“It’s a parking garage,” he says.
I do not know what that is, but from his thoughts, I pick up that it was once a place to house…cars? Metal things that people climbed inside and went very fast. How strange. It does explain some of the smells, though. I touch one of the boxy looking “cars.” The metal is cool under my fingertips and I think of Gabe and his hot balls. Perhaps you should sit here.
He glances over at me, a wry grin on his face. “Not a bad idea, baby girl. Will you get the lotion for me, then?” He sends a mental image of a green tube and a cloth bag of some kind. “By the fire barrel.” He hobbles to my side and hops up atop the car, and his eyes close as he spreads his legs on the metal. “Okay, you’re right. That is a bit better.”
Curiously, I lean forward and touch his cock with the tip of one claw, undeterred when he draws away slightly. He is handsome, this mate of mine. I want to lick him all over. I admire his skin, all savory reds and browns. He is pleasing to look upon, and he makes my cunt slick. I clench tightly on nothing, and think of how he filled me just a short time ago. Now we can mate?
“Aloe, Teva. Focus, baby girl.” He sends me the mental image again.
Oh. Yes. I move over to the belongings, noticing that his scent is thicker here. There are so many scents here in his nest that they tend to be overwhelming, but his is easy enough to follow. I want to pick through all of his strange belongings, to uncover more of his scent and wonder at each object he carries with him. So many things. It is not the drakoni way to own so many possessions, but Gabe’s lair is full of all kinds of things, and many, many of the “car” things.
“Those aren’t mine,” he adds, picking up my thoughts. I can sense his amusement. “They just don’t run anymore and they’re too heavy to move.”
Even more strangeness. But there will be time to go over his unusual nest later, when he is not in pain. I sift through my thoughts, looking for the aloe he mentioned. Green tube in bag. Green tube in bag. I can remember this. I find the satchel and open it, and my claws brush over the green tube. Triumphant, I return to his side and present it as I would the finest kill. After all, the female is the huntress, is she not? It is right that I should provide for my mate.
He gives me a pained smile. “Perfect. Thank you, Teva.”
He uses my name a lot. I pick up from his thoughts that he does so because he worries I will go wild again. I do not think about such things, though. Ever since he has shared his spirit with me, I feel good. My belly fires are silent, and the endless angry screaming in my head has gone silent. There is only his presence, and I love the feel of it. It has been so long since I felt another mind touch mine, and I adore it.
Something small howls nearby, the sound loud and indignant. I jerk, startled, and realize it came from a strange box near his satchel.
“It’s just one of the cats,” he tells me, and sends a visual image to my mind of a four-legged predator, small and mottled with black and white and orange.
Food? I ask. You have trapped it so you can eat it fresh?
“No, that is Miss Scarlet. She’s a pet. There are four cats here that are pets. Companions.”
Why would you make companions of meat?
“There is enough meat that we don’t have to eat those, I promise.” He takes the tube from my hands, and his fingers brush over mine. Just that small touch distracts me, and I lean in, inhaling deeply of his scent. “Just don’t hurt them, okay, Teva? It would make me really sad if you did.” His voice is gentle, but firm.
I don’t want him to be sad. I want him to look at me with delight and hunger in his eyes. I will find you other meat, I offer. What is your preference?
He chuckles, the sound low and pleasant and it sends a curl of delight through my belly. “While I appreciate the thought, baby girl, right now the only thing I want is for my dick to stop burning.” He takes one end of the green tube and flips it open, squirting a clear, thick fluid onto his hand. It smells strange, and I watch with fascination as he takes the fluid and immediately slicks it over his cock, sighing with pleasure. “Fuck. That’s much better.”
I press my cheek to his arm, leaning over him and watching as he carefully moves his fingers up and down his growing shaft. He�
��s getting hard right before my eyes, stiffening despite the burn. I sift through his thoughts, wanting to know what he’s thinking about that is arousing him so…and find that he’s thinking of me. He is utterly focused on my nearness, the nakedness of my body as I press against him. Oh. My body heats, and I send a flurry of mental images to him, letting him know just how much I like that he is thinking about me in such a way.
I like that he’s thinking of me as he strokes his cock. I take the tube from where he has placed it atop the metal surface of the car and flip open the top like he did. I squeeze it and the cool paste coats my palm. I move closer to him, pushing his knees apart so I can wedge my body between them. I want to touch you.
Gabe groans. He wants that, too. It’s all over his thoughts. “Just…mind the claws.”
His spoken voice is raspy with hunger. I like the sound of it, but I like his thoughts more. I curl my fingers around the thick root of his cock carefully, noticing the flashes of both pleasure and pain that buzz through his mind. When the pleasure outweighs the pain, I carefully move my slimy hand up and down his length, watching his face.
His golden eyes flutter closed and he tilts his head back, as if my touch is too much for him to handle. He presses his palms against the car hood, leaning back, as if giving himself over to me. Even as he does, I can feel his cock growing thicker in my grip, and my strokes become more urgent, more excited. The scent of his need thickens on the air, and I can smell my own arousal, the muskiness of our scents impossibly exciting. Do you like this? I ask him even as I work my hand up and down his shaft. If I go faster, will that please you more? I squeeze, just a little, and then drag my hand upward again. Hot pain rushes through him, but it’s quickly followed by more pleasure, more hunger, more need.
“Damn, Teva. Your hands. Your thoughts.” His legs jerk slightly, and he thrusts into my grip. “You’re killing me.”
Since his thoughts are full of pleasure and not death, I think he is lying. I laugh, and then there’s a rush of delicious sweetness that bursts through his thoughts. It is the first time he has heard me laugh, and he adores it. I want to laugh more, just for him, just so I can feel that rush again. You are not telling me to stop, I say playfully, and give him another long, intense stroke, squeezing the head of his cock as I move my hands up.
Gabe sucks in a breath. “You’re going to make me come all over those pretty hands if this keeps up.” He sends me a mental image of my hands wrapped around his bright red shaft, the head spurting with his seed, and how much he likes the image.
I am horrified.
I release him instantly. I don’t like that image. I don’t like that thought at all. You want to give your seed to the air and not to your mate’s cunt? Why? Hurt burns in my heart. Or perhaps anger. I’m not sure which is stronger. Have I disappointed you so much, then? Does my touch dissatisfy you?
Confusion fills his mind and swallows up any pleasure that remained. “Teva?”
I hiss at him, furious. I just want to get away, and so I push back. I stumble backward, my steps clumsy in two-legged form. It is far easier in battle form, when I have four legs and a long, powerful tail to catch me.
“No, baby girl—”
I flash my claws. I thought you were different. That you wanted your spirit connected with mine! Instead, you are like all the others, using my body and giving nothing of yourself back. I bare my teeth at him, growling. Is that why you will not mate with me? Why I touch you and you declare you will spill your seed elsewhere? Because you think me a child?
I want to hurt him. I want to hurt him like he’s hurting me. I should switch to battle form, because there I am less vulnerable. Nothing can hurt me when I am powerful, not this puny human—
Teva, STOP.
His mental snarl makes me pause, cuts through the chatter rushing through my head. I watch, blinking, as he gets up and moves toward me. He grips my arms and holds me tight, leaning down and staring into my eyes.
“Yes, I am human, Teva. I’m not a dragon. We’re different. It’s becoming clearer to me by the moment just how different. You’re going to have to trust me, all right?” He meets my eyes, shifting and locking his gaze with me even when I try to look away. “I’m probably going to say or do things that you won’t understand or that will make you upset. It’s not because I’m angry at you or I don’t like you. It’s that we’re two different people. But instead of running away, we have to talk. You have to tell me, ‘I’m angry at you, Gabe’ so we can talk it out. Okay?”
I glare at him. I am angry at you, Gabe.
He lets out a slow breath. “That’s better. You want to tell me why?”
I try to jerk out of his grip, halfhearted. He doesn’t let me go, his hands tight on my arms, and for some reason, I find that…comforting. My two-legged form is stronger than his, but I truly don’t want him to let me go, either. I want him to realize how insulted I am. When a male does not find a female worthy, he will not give her his seed. He might mount her, but then he will spill his release anywhere but her cunt to show her that she is not mate material.
I can feel Gabe’s astonishment. Then his anger. He’s furious. It boils through his mind, thick and immediate, and I’ve never felt such anger coming from him.
I’m astonished. He is this upset…for me?
“You’ve had that done to you?” His hands tighten on my arms. “Someone did that to you?” His jaw clenches tight as he grits the spoken words out.
Of course. I am a female. His nostrils flare and I can feel the simmering rage in him. It is astonishing to me. Your males do not do such things to females?
“No,” Gabe says flatly. “Some might, but I never would. And right now I want to straight up murder anyone that ever touched you like that.”
His reaction is confusing. I slide closer to him, all my anger forgotten in the swell of his possessive thoughts. I brush his hands off my arms and move against him, sliding my hands around his back and letting my claws play lightly over his skin. No one will ever touch me again. I am yours. We are together…and we should mate. Should we not be mating more now that we have shared our spirits? Surely he has not impregnated me so quickly?
“Teva,” he murmurs, cupping my face in his hands. “My beautiful Teva. While I would love to, I think my dick needs to rest for a bit longer. And I think we should talk more.”
Talk.
My new mate wants to…talk. Has any female ever been talked to by a handsome mate instead of thrown down and mated hard? I bite back a sigh of disappointment. Perhaps he is right. Perhaps humans and drakoni are very, very different…and for a moment, I worry we are too different.
8
GABE
Teva’s pissed.
Well, no, pissed isn’t quite the right word. Frustrated, maybe. She obviously wants to mate with me. It’s evident in the looks she casts in my direction, as well as the flurry of sexual thoughts that keep pushing into my mind. She’s thinking about my dick. She’s thinking about my chest. She’s thinking about me covering her and ramming deep.
All of this is killing me. My cock aches with frustrated need—I’m a man, not a saint, and no one could withstand such a pretty woman who insists on having lots of sex. Like I don’t want sex? I do. Badly. She’s terrifyingly beautiful and like no one I’ve ever met before. There’s a feral, wild edge to her, but she’s also as dainty and feminine as any woman I’ve ever met. That dual nature is fascinating…and the fact that she wants sex only makes it harder to resist her.
The only reason I’ve been able to resist? My dick’s a cooked sausage at the moment.
And I know my resistance is frustrating her. I’m not doing what she wants. I’m not doing what a drakoni male would do, and I’m willing to guess that right now, she’s being driven purely by instinct, just like she has been for so long. It’s just that now, she’s including me. It doesn’t mean she’s all better.
It just means I can talk to her.
I haven’t given this enough thought. I thought
I’d fuck her, be the hero, and then go on my way. I’m a fucking moron. Teva’s a person under all that pretty red skin and the mass of glorious red hair. She’s a person, and she thinks I’m her mate.
And of course she thinks that. I gave her my mating bite, didn’t I? This is a problem entirely of my own creating.
But…Teva’s a person. So I’m going to talk to her and get to know her, and give my dick time to recover from the raging sunburn I’ve acquired. Maybe by then, Teva and I will reach an understanding.
But for now? I can tell things are going to be a little…tricky.
I’m connected to Teva’s mind, and while it’s fascinating to pick up her thoughts, I can also feel that her mood is…mercurial at best. Anger and frustration are quick to flash up, and I suspect that’s a side-effect of the dragon-madness this world inflicts on them. So until we build up some trust, it’s going to be a lot of talking and explaining and patience.
I hope.
She’s smart, though. So smart. Sometimes I’m amazed at how quickly her thoughts race when I touch them. There are things that crowd into her consciousness that tend to distract her, like the shifting breeze, or the cloying amount of scents in the parking garage that I never noticed before but are overwhelming to her.
And she keeps asking for sex.
Some of that is instinct, I suspect. There’s no denying her attraction to me and I’d have to be blind, deaf and dumb not to think she was sexy as hell. Even the way she moves—predatory and confident—makes my dick hard as a rock. There’s a deeper connection between us that makes it hard to resist her. It’s our mental bond, and it’s telling me that mating with Teva is the most natural thing in the world. Why won’t I touch her?
It doesn’t hurt that she’s gorgeous and lithe and completely and utterly naked. Her thoughts are full of how fascinated she is with me and how much she wants to mate, which isn’t helping.