by Ruby Dixon
“What do you need?” I ask her between kisses.
She shakes her head, holding onto me. She doesn’t respond, and I don’t think it’s because of shyness—I think she genuinely doesn’t know. I change the angle of my hips on my next thrust, determined to bring her to climax.
Just give me your seed, Teva tells me. Nothing else matters.
But…it does matter to me. With those words, I lose my erection. I can’t stay hard when it’s clear she’s not into it. There’s something I’m doing wrong.
You did nothing wrong, she reassures me, sliding her hands on my chest. Gabe, please.
“It’s okay, Teva,” I murmur, and kiss her. “We’ll figure it out. It doesn’t have to be now. Plenty of time for us to figure out how each other works.”
Then will you just hold me? I like your skin pressed against mine.
I nod and press another kiss to her soft mouth.
I want to just stay in your arms this day, she tells me, ducking her head against my shoulder. Her thick, wild hair brushes against my chin, tickling my skin even as her hand strokes my chest. Let us stay here and you can come inside me once you are hard again.
Ouch. I know it’s another cultural difference between us but I’m not going to get hard if she acts like I should just use her. It makes me wonder if this whole thing was a mistake.
Maybe a human isn’t enough for a drakoni woman.
Nonsense, Teva sends to me. You were strong enough to win a challenge, so you were strong enough to win me. We can mate again.
I won that challenge by trickery alone, but I can’t help but grin at her determination. “Much as I’d like to, there’s too much to get done. Laziness fills no bellies. I’ve learned that again and again the last seven years.” I give her another kiss, unable to resist, and then regard her for a moment. We need a change of venue, I think. “Want to go shopping with me?”
Shopping? Her thoughts are filled with curiosity. What is this?
“You’ll see.” It might be what we need to make us both forget about what just happened here.
11
TEVA
Gabe’s plan is to gather things for his human hive. His thoughts fill with all the things he needs to bring back, to provide for his elders and friends, and I close my eyes, breathing in the sheer joy of his thoughts tumbling through mine.
I am not alone anymore. I am not lost. Gabe has me.
I do not even care that our mating did not finish. He did not spend his seed outside of me, so it was no insult. It is simply just us needing to learn each other. He was not pleased with my inability to come, so I will have to try harder next time. It can be figured out, given time.
Until then, there are kisses and mind-touches and I am happy with both. I’m smiling even as he gives me one last fierce kiss and then detangles from my grip. We are wasting the day, and it is full of opportunity. I watch as he quickly bathes and then puts his coverings on his body again, hiding his glorious cock from my view. I want to tell him to keep his coverings off, but then I remember how the pale parts of him turned bright red and pained him. Perhaps the coverings are wiser after all.
He comes to my side with a wet towel and gently washes my thighs even though there is no seed on them, and I practically purr with pleasure at his touch. Are you sure we cannot stay here this day? We can go to your nest and I promise to let you use your tongue on me anywhere you like.
There’s a flash in Gabe’s mind of frustration, but it’s quickly gone. He smiles at me even as he pulls on a foot covering. A boot. “You’ll like shopping. And I could use the help.”
I like the idea of helping him. Of being a team. It’s been so long since I had any sort of companion that the concept fills me with a flush of happiness. Very well then. Shall we eat first? I move toward the dead deer and rip a fat, juicy haunch off. It is still warm with blood, and I hold it out to him, pleased to provide for my mate.
The look on his face is not one of pleasure, though. He takes the haunch from me, and I pick up from his thoughts that he is surprised at my strength, surprised the deer hide is still attached to the haunch, and surprised that I expect him to eat it raw.
This is bad? I ask. Do humans prefer their meat burned?
“Not necessarily burned, but if we roast it, that gets rid of a lot of parasites and bacteria. I’m not sure if I have to worry about those anymore with the dragon blood, but it’s still a good idea.”
Parasites? Bacteria? I sift through his thoughts, trying to understand what these are. Sicknesses? Bah. Are humans so fragile?
Gabe laughs and moves to my side. “We’re not fragile. Just different.”
Hmm. Perhaps fragile is not the right word. Perhaps…weaker is right.
He grabs me around the waist with one surprisingly strong arm and tugs me against him. His grip is tight at my hip and my breasts push up against his hard chest. Gabe stares down at me with a mixture of amusement and annoyance. Weak, huh?
I am dizzy with his nearness. The mating need churns through me, and I gaze at his mouth with hungry awareness, thinking of how he’d touched me and gave me so much pleasure until it all went wrong. I love the strong arm that holds me pinned against him. No, he is not weak. Gabe is anything but weak. I have never met a male who overwhelmed me like this one does.
Good, he tells me, and his mind is so strong that it makes me tingle. Now, will you roast this for me? He holds the haunch back out to me, a gleam in his eyes.
I turn my face up to him. For you I will do anything.
He gazes down at me with a curious expression, and for a moment, I feel his concern at how quickly I have become attached. I want to tell him he is being ridiculous—we are mates. Of course we are attached. But he is still unsettled over how things are between us, so I simply take the haunch from him and roast it slowly with trickles of flame from my throat as he packs a bag. We have much to learn about each other, I think.
Perhaps this “shopping” will help.
A short time later, I am pleased when Gabe tastes the meat I charred, declares it delicious, and then eats large, hearty mouthfuls. The small creatures—the cats—meow pitifully as he eats, so he strips the bone clean of all meat, chops it into fine bits, and then spreads it on the hard ground for them to devour. He touches their heads affectionately, and then glances around, looking for a missing one.
He hides from you, I say helpfully. His scent is nearby but he will not come while you are out.
“We’ll leave him a bit to eat, then,” Gabe says, and prepares another handful of bits, setting it a short distance away from the others. He cleans his knife and then walks to my side, picking up his pack. “Ready to go?”
I am more than ready. I take the hand he stretches out to me and grin, flashing my fangs. Let us feel the wind, my handsome human.
Gabe chuckles, letting me pull him forward as we move out of the cool shade of the dwelling and into the bright morning sunlight. “We might be too low to the ground for much wind, but—”
His words die away as I shift to battle form.
Instantly, the madness rushes in, threatening to take over my mind. It is storms and chaos, smoke and flame. It is voices crying out, and it is utter silence in my spirit. It is all of these things and I am overwhelmed.
You are back, my belly fires say, the thought petulant. It is as if you do not want to be drakoni anymore.
I—I am always drakoni.
Are you? You have taken a human for a mate.
I unfurl my wings as if to protest, but the moment I do, instinct threatens to steal the last of my thoughts from my mind. The wind shifts, pushing against the sails of my wings and then I smell him.
My mate. Gabe.
Teva? Your eyes are black.
I look down at him. He stands a short distance away, hands on hips, a frown on his handsome, hairy face. He is calm, no fear in his body, but he does not like that I am struggling. His presence soothes some of the chaos from my mind.
Talk to me, I ask him. Pleas
e.
Are you okay? You seem…strange.
My head is loud. I shake it back and forth as if to clear it.
It is because you are not the only one here, my belly fires tease.
Go away, I tell them. I do not need you to talk to. I have a mate. I focus on Gabe, and even though my belly fires try to speak again, they fade into nothing, because they do not exist. They are part of the madness…but Gabe is real. I breathe in his scent, lowering my head toward him.
He touches my nose. What do you want me to talk about?
You can tell me how attractive I am, I say, teasing. I am already feeling better, though. His words drop into my mind like cool rain, and I feel better with every moment that passes. I uncurl my wings, stretching my strong body and reveling in the sensation. It feels as if it has been forever since I took this form again, and it feels good to be back in it, now that the madness is ebbing.
Gabe shields his eyes and gazes up at me. “Look at you,” he murmurs appreciatively, and I can tell he likes the sunlight glinting on my scales. I am strong like this, and powerful, and he is not afraid. Instead, he finds joy in my pleasure.
I forget all about the madness. It is silenced in the wake of Gabe’s smile.
Let us go, I say to him, and scoop my mate into my claws. The moment I have him secured, I launch into the air, thrusting us forward with my powerful hind legs. My wings flap hard, hard, hard, gaining air and moving us high with a few short strokes, and then I feel the pleasure of flight as my entire body is buffeted by the wind.
There is nothing better than flying…save perhaps a quick and dirty mating with Gabe, one that ends with pleasure.
“Holy fuck!” he calls from below me. I can feel his hands gripping my claws tightly, as if worried I will drop him. “How did you get so high so quickly?” There’s a hint of fear in him, but it’s quickly overpowered by wonder. He, too, is enjoying the flight.
Because I am strong, I tell him proudly.
He laughs, breathless. “You really, really are. Hot damn.”
I love his joy. I love that he loves this part of me, too. He has no battle form, but he does not resent mine. I can carry you all the time, I offer eagerly. You weigh nothing at all when I am in battle form. I hold him tight in my claws and tilt my wings, letting us circle lazily in the sky. There is no joy quite like flying.
“Think you could wear a saddle? A harness? So I could sit more securely?” Even though his voice is ripped away in the wind, I can see the mental images he is projecting — a way for him to be seated upon my back, tucked safely between my shoulder blades.
Of course. If that would make you more comfortable, I would happily do so.
“Man, I would fucking love that, Teva. You’re amazing.” His thoughts are full of wonder. “Look at how high we are.”
It’s obvious from his thoughts that he never considered flying with me. This is a surprise pleasure for him, and it makes me equally happy that he likes it so much. I want to show off, so I do, flying high only to dive quickly again, twirling in the air, and acting like the youngest do when they first acquire their fires and the ability to shift. He enjoys all of it, the thrill of flight singing through his blood.
“Can you fly higher?” he asks. “I want to see where we’re at.”
I do so, and turn when he instructs. He gazes down at the ribbons of road below us, noting a loop and a thing called an “exit,” where the road branches off into a different area. He knows this place, and he sends me a mental image.
“Can we go here? It’s a store, a big one I’ve only been to once or twice because it’s so far out.” His mental instructions are clear—if we follow along the “exit” it will take us to a big box of a nest that is filled with all kinds of things for him to take.
This is “shopping” apparently.
I turn and head in the direction indicated, content to listen in to Gabe’s thoughts as we pass over buildings and wrecked human settlements. He marvels over how fast we travel, and I can feel the hint of envy in him. I have just crossed in moments what will take him all day to travel, and he thinks of all the places we could go, the things we could see.
Anywhere you want to go, I promise him. Drakoni are territorial, but if you wish to see new places, we will go together.
“Maybe in the future. For now, I have obligations at the fort.” And his thoughts fill with his elders and the other humans waiting back at their hive.
I sift through his thoughts and do not like that a female or two come to mind. I do not want any females to touch him, or to consider him for their mate. I do not want to think about him touching other females and making them come, or giving them his seed. Not after our last mating.
It makes me feel possessive. Angry. My belly fires threaten to rouse, as if they sense trouble and want to pounce.
Gabe’s hand strokes on the scales of one of my claws. No need to be jealous of anyone, Teva. I’m here with you, not them.
So he is. I fill my thoughts with pleasure, leaning in to nuzzle at the soft hair covering his scalp as I fly.
12
TEVA
We make it to the store in an impressively short amount of time. Gabe’s thoughts are impressed at my speed, and when I go to settle on the roof, he directs me to the parking lot instead. It is full of more of the dead metal cars, but I find a clear area toward the back, where the grasses grow thicker, squeezing out between cracks and raising their heads toward the sun. In the distance, game bounds away, their scent thick on the air. More deer. Hungrily, I think of devouring one…or two. I did not eat this morning. I was too distracted by my new mate and watching his beautiful mouth as he chewed.
Set me down and go hunt then, Teva, Gabe tells me, his hand on my scales. I can take care of myself. Will you be all right if we separate?
Why wouldn’t I be? I land gently and then spread my claws, placing him on the ground carefully so his boots hit first.
He turns and looks up at me, his eyes studying me. He sees nothing but gold in my gaze, and that makes him relieved. I just…this is still new to you. I don’t want to lose you to the madness again. Gabe reaches a hand out.
Automatically, I lean down and press my muzzle against it. His hand is small compared to my battle form, but his touch sears me all the same. Just talk to me while I am gone? I like the sound of your voice. It soothes my thoughts.
I will. He looks up at me, and then impulsively leans in and brushes his mouth over my scales, as if he can kiss my dragon mouth. The thought is amusing, and I give his face a lick—slathering his cheek with wet affection—before I step backward and take to the air again.
I will not be gone long, I promise him. Only to eat a deer. Perhaps two.
I’m not going anywhere. His thoughts are amused, as if nothing ever truly bothers easygoing Gabe. In fact, it’s going to take me a little while to find a decent buggy or two. As I fly away, he sends me a mental image of rusty metal carts with squeaky wheels. Most are scattered across the parking lot, and when he finds one, he normally finds one missing a wheel or two, and therefore unusable. Take your time, Teva, we’ve got all day.
Do you need the cart? I ask him as I soar through the air, picking up the scents again. There. My mouth waters with hunger as I fly higher, looking to go against the wind and then trick the deer into thinking I’ve gone. If they see my shadow, they will run, and while I can chase them, I do not want to bother. I want to get back to my handsome mate.
If this store is as full as it was a few years ago, I’d like to get as much as I can. The cart helps me carry things. He sends a mental image of picking items off a shelf and putting them into the square cart.
I see.
His thoughts continue on, talking of nothing at all as he checks cart after cart, and the occasional thread of a strange song or two twists in with his thoughts. He whistles and makes music as he works, eventually pulling out a tool and taking a wheel off of one broken cart to fix another. As he does, I hunt my deer down, managing to snatch on
e in my claws before the herd scatters. I devour it quickly, then rise again to chase a straggler and fill my belly.
By the time I return to Gabe’s side, he’s heading toward the entrance, pushing the squeaking—but whole—buggy in front of him. He pauses in front of the entrance and shields his eyes again, watching as I land in front of him. I can feel his approval at the sight of me, his fear gone.
Finished, Teva?
For now. I eye the door and stretch my wings one more time before tucking them against my body and then switching back to my two-legged form. I rise, moving to Gabe’s side, and then push his hands away. I will control this.
He laughs. “All yours, then.”
I should be pleased that he lets me have my way, but for some reason…I am not. It irritates me, like sand against the skin, and I cannot say why. I shove the cart forward, and it squeals and creaks as we move into the store. It is a large, dark place, full of dust and old, terrible smells. The stink of thousands of human feet from long ago lingers, and I wrinkle my nose. And things. So many human things. Gabe looks around with interest.
“It seems to be untouched from the last time I came here. That’s good.”
It is?
“Yeah. Means there might be some good salvage.”
Ah. His mind flashes through with all the different things he wants to get, some of which I recognize—food, coverings for his body—and some that I have no comprehension of. I do not know what a “toiletries” is, or what a “tampon” is. Gabe points at a section past a small row of islands with many carts parked in front of them. Old “registers,” his clever mind alerts me.
“Over there. I think that’s our first stop.”
What are we getting? I give the cart another shove as it groans its way forward.
“We’re hitting the pharmacy first, looking for any medicine that might be left. Then, supplies for the women at the fort. Sanitary stuff, shampoo, and probably some toothbrushes and the like if we can find anything.”