by Juno Wells
“Think again, dragon boy. I'm not letting go of you again.”
Very well.
Amelia looked around and took in Braxan's scorched body and his singed wings. “Can you outrun them? In the state you're in now?”
Yes.
Braxan changed shape just a little, becoming sleeker and extending his wings further.
Remember, I will not let you fall. Not now and not ever.
The deep voice resonated through her mind, and she knew it was true. “Let's go.”
Immediately he shot straight up, and kept going faster and faster, calmly beating his huge wings. And before Amelia knew it, she could see that they were about to leave the atmosphere.
“Are we going much higher? Looks like we're about to go into space.”
You will come to no harm. I am shielding you.
“Well, it's not shielding I need, exactly. It's air. To breathe?”
I am shielding you from all that is space, he assured her.
It got darker around them, and Amelia noticed that she could no longer hear the beating of the wings. She looked back. Ah. They were no longer moving, but folded back into a new position. And something seriously weird was going on around the tips of the wings. They were blurred and had ghostly blades coming out of them, and the blades appeared to be stretching infinitely far out into space in every direction, shining in all the colors of the rainbow while at the same time being obviously black, and they passed in and out of existence very fast ...
She looked away. That was not something she could keep staring at and expect to stay sane.
But it wasn't important right now. She squeezed him, hard, and placed her cheek on his skin. She could breathe just fine.
Braxan leveled off. It will take the Guards a long time to get this high.
The planet Belzon was under them, and Amelia saw the crater and the jungle beside it, a dark red and green oval against the yellow and brown rock and sand around it.
“Where are your friends?”
They have left this planet for now and are attempting to regain control of my old spaceship. I suspect they will fail.
“Is there something wrong with it?”
In a sense. It was taken over by our Emperor. The ship and everything in it.
“Sounds pretty bad.”
I was happy to pay that price. I received a hundredfold in return. My love, something is going on with our jungle.
Amelia turned her head and saw a most remarkable thing. The whole forest was ... detaching itself from the planet. She could see it casting a shadow on the ground underneath it, and it looked like that whole gigantic thing was rising slowly into the air.
“Looks like the spaceship Marqatzo can fly after all. You know, Braxan, I've seen a whole lot of weird things these past few days. But that – yeah, that has to top the list.”
It looked like an entire continent hovering in the air. The whole jungle was still attached to the top of Marqatzo's oval hull, like a green/red fur, and it rose higher and higher. The shadow it cast on the planet's surface grew blurry at the edges.
Believe it or not, my sweet, but it tops mine too.
They watched in silence as the immense spaceship came up towards them. It was so humongous that it looked like it was rising slowly, but Amelia realized that it was moving at a terrific speed, straight upwards.
Let's meet them.
Braxan dived down, and it felt like plummeting towards the ground. But Amelia was getting used to his moves and the speeds and the height, and now she only felt exhilaration. She had once been on the back of a motorcycle going at a hundred and thirty miles an hour while weaving among cars driving much slower. That had been both extremely frightening and totally cool at the same time, but it was child's play compared to riding on the back of an actual dragon swooping down towards a spaceship the size of a country.
I can't land on the jungle. An invisible field is keeping me out.
They flew around the underside of the alien ship, and immediately a large hatch opened.
“I think we're invited,” Amelia said.
I'm certain you are. But I get a feeling he's not too enamored with my kind.
“We'll try. If he wants to kick you out, he'll have to kick me out, too.”
Braxan slowed down. Beyond the hatch there was a brightly lit hall, and they flew into it and landed on a deck that was covered in a rubbery kind of fabric.
“Welcome, Amelia,” Marqatzo said, and this time Amelia was sure he was using some kind of loudspeaker and not just projecting into her mind. “Upon consideration, I decided I'm still spaceworthy.”
Amelia slowly got down from Braxan's back. There was no one else in this gigantic hall. “You look pretty spectacular. And I notice you still have the jungle on top.”
“Indeed. I have not been idle while I was stranded on the planet. I devised a shield that would allow me to travel in space with the forest attached. I just couldn't bear leaving it behind with all its lifeforms.”
When she turned back around, Braxan had Changed back to his humanoid form. And of course he was naked. He looked almost more imposing like that, because he carried himself with the confidence of a ruler of the universe, and that manhood of his was spectacular in any state.
Amelia took three steps and was finally in his arms.
He squeezed her hard. “My love,” he said, and he placed his lips on hers and kissed her deeply.
He took her hand, and then she was clutching something hard and small.
“You don't need it anymore?”
He looked at her with mild eyes. “It healed me. You healed me.”
“Well, you saved me first. So we're even. More or less.”
“Between a husband and a wife, no one is counting. We're one.”
“Damn right we are. Let's have the wedding soon, okay?”
Braxan nodded. “As soon as possible.”
“Marqatzo,” Amelia said. “After we meet the others ... if you have the jungle up there still, maybe there's a nice, clear pond too? In a clearing? With a nice beach and a little stream? Without too many dangerous animals around? Maybe a bush of some kind? I'm not completely guessing here.”
The spaceship's voice boomed through the hall. “I might be able to help you with that.”
“Also, before we see the guys – umm, do you have some clothes for Braxan? I mean, I'm not wearing any jeans under my pants anymore ...”
31
- Amelia -
“Ohmigod, he's totally dreamy,” Daria said so loudly it was obvious she wanted Braxan to hear it, too. “When he came flying like a damn meteorite and just took out those Pirgks down there ... I thought I'd faint on the spot. And you're going to marry him?”
Amelia shrugged. “What else do you do with a shapeshifter dragon who saves your life about fifty times and then saves all your friends from certain death and then takes you into space on his damn back? I just have trouble imagining any other guy topping that, even if they had a fast motorcycle. Oh, and I've been in love with him for a good while.”
Marqatzo had found some sheets or fabric, and Amelia had helped her fiancé fashion it into a kind of a kilt. His upper body was bare, mostly because she thought he looked good like that.
Daria openly ogled the Ultra Draco. “No kidding. But I know he has some friends of the same kind.”
Braxan was talking with Carl the chief medic, mostly because no one else had the nerve to talk to the dragon now that they knew who he was. Well, he and his friends had killed six colonists during the first attack. But in Amelia's book, they had atoned for that now. By a pretty big margin.
“He does. They're sort of busy right now, I think. But if you want to be introduced to one, I'll ask him.”
Daria grinned. “That would be pretty cool. So, did you do it yet?”
Amelia played innocent. “Do what?”
Daria punched her shoulder. “Oh, you know. It. I mean, you were alone with him there for a while. In the jungle. I mean, sure he wa
s injured, but still ... I'm not sure I could have resisted the temptation to just jump his bones.”
Amelia felt an enigmatic smile playing on her lips. “We did a bunch of things.”
Daria's eyes shone. “Ohmigod, you did! With a dragon!” She leaned in closer, whispering conspiratorially. “Was it good? Like, great? It pretty much has to be, right?”
“It pretty much has to,” Amelia agreed.
“I knew it! But of course, I shouldn't be surprised. You are a superhero, after all.”
Commander Hanson came over. “It seems we're safe. I wouldn't have believed it was possible.”
“Me neither,” Amelia said truthfully. “I pretty much gave up hope right before he came charging.”
Hanson nodded. “He did save us. Six hundred. Looks like he changed sides in the meantime.”
“Hey, Hanson,” Daria said. “You have the authority to wed people, right?”
The commander scratched his chin. “On Belzon Base I did. Right here and now, I'm not sure I have much authority left.”
Daria just waved it off. “Oh, don't be silly. Of course you do. Everyone is here. How about doing it right now?”
“Ooor maybe a little later,” Amelia rushed to say. “I'm not really dressed for it. And neither is he. Also, we have a date. Right about now, in fact. Okay. See you later.”
Now she wanted to spend some time alone with her new alien dragon fiancé. She went over to him and Carl, took his hand in passing, and he let her drag him with her.
“Sorry, doc. I need this one for a little while.”
Carl just nodded. “Newly engaged couples need time alone. I think that's probably the same way all over the galaxy.”
Amelia turned around and looked into Braxan's yellow eyes that were now half blue like before. “There's a lot I don't know about you. Will you tell me everything?”
Without a word he bent down and gathered her in his arms, lifted her and carried her away. “I will. In time. I asked Marqatzo how he feels about me. He's not sure, but he's willing to give me the benefit of doubt. He says he has a place ready for us, and I'm interested in seeing it. He says you asked for it.”
Amelia put her arms around his neck. “Oh yeah? And when did you have this long conversation with the ship?”
“I'm sure you have noticed that I can sometimes talk to you without actually making sounds. Well, he can do something similar. It's pretty convenient.”
A little hatch opened in the wall, and Braxan carried her inside. It was a small room with no other doors. The hatch slid shut.
“And I guess this little elevator will take us there? Also, you can put me down if you want.”
“I guess so too. Also, no thanks, I'll just hold on to you.”
She gave him a peck on the cheek. “You're possessive, huh? I kind of like that.”
He nodded thoughtfully. “I suppose I am. But not as much as I used to be.”
The hatch opened again, and yellow light streamed in. Braxan walked out, effortlessly carrying Amelia as if she weighed nothing at all. “Ah. I recognize this place.”
“Me too. I just thought I'd like to see that pond again. It's the closest thing to an island in the Pacific we're likely to find here in space. And now I want you to put me down.”
He lifted his eyebrows. “And if I refuse?”
She fluttered her eyelids innocently. “Then how will I take off these pants?”
He quickly put her down on her feet on the grass. “You fight dirty. I kind of like that.”
Marqatzo was on the side of the planet Belzon that faced the yellow sun, which always reminded Amelia of Earth. It was like a bright summer day in the little clearing with the babbling brook and the deep, clean pond. The sky was black and not blue, but the sun hung low over the artificial horizon, making it seem like a pleasantly warm late afternoon. The grass was soft and the air smelled less like rotting leaves and more like fresh flowers in bloom.
Amelia looked around. “Ah,” she said and pointed. “Looks like the bush with the berries likes the yellow sun.”
The little bush that produced the sensational purple berries was in full bloom, and it was bursting with white, star-shaped little flowers that were clearly the source of the wonderful smell.
Amelia tapped her lips with one finger. “Marqatzo? Can you hear me?”
“Barely,” the spaceship's computer said from a loudspeaker in the elevator they had come from. “I don't have much sensory equipment out there.”
“So you can't see us?”
“Not directly.”
“Okay. So can you make sure no one disturbs us here?”
“Yes,” the spaceship said drily. “I hope I'm not intruding.”
“No, no,” Amelia said. “It's pretty much your place, I guess. I forgot to ask: do you have food and things like that for the others?”
“The jungle produces various fruits and other edible things. And it is a big jungle. Since last time, I have saved up a store of food that will last them ... well, forever. But not meats. I will not have the animals in my forest eaten. That includes the fish.”
“Fine, fine. Sounds perfect.” She stretched her arm out and placed a palm on Braxan's broad chest. “How about a little dip, dragon man?”
He smirked. “Dip? Is that what it's called on your planet? Very well.”
Marqatzo made a sound as if clearing his voice. “I understand from context and the electrical fields I picked up from both of you while in the elevator that you'd like to perform some kind of mating ritual now. I recognize the pattern from some of the animals in the jungle. Rest assured that I will not be eavesdropping on that. You organics are extremely weird to me sometimes.”
The hatch to the elevator slid shut, and then it sank down into the ground that was really the hull of the spaceship.
“Very polite of him,” Amelia said and dropped her pants without ceremony. She had been more than ready for a good while, ever since she saw him shoot across the bottom of the crater like a fireball, clearing the way for the colonists.
Braxan took her in his arms again and kissed her with a passion that he didn't have to hide, and she lost herself in the flurry of love. “I thought I'd lost you,” he whispered. “My soul saw no reason to keep living if you were gone.”
Sudden, happy tears burned in her eyes. “You have me now, my love. You always will. You saved me. Again.”
“It is the male's duty to save his Mate. And I am happy that I had the privilege to do so.”
She threw her arms around her big fiancé and squeezed him as hard as she could, knowing he could take it. “Let's never be apart again,” she whispered into his ear, because she knew her voice would crack if she tried to say it normally.
“I agree,” he said into her hair, holding her tight and lifting her higher onto him with one hand. She clenched her legs around him and he held her easily while they kissed.
She fondled blindly with the waistband of the simple garment that they had been able to make, eager to remove them and feel his hardness bared against her. Last time, he had made sure that she was taken care of first, and then they had been interrupted by searching dragons when she'd tried to reciprocate.
He helped her and slid his pants down his legs, still easily holding her whole weight up with one hand. Immediately she felt his eager manhood poking her as it stood straight up, hard as a bar of steel.
“I'm ready now,” she whispered. She wanted this, wanted the ultimate togetherness with him, to be as one with him physically as they were mentally. He made her wet just by being there, like he had that first time she saw him in the sky.
He let her down, inch by careful inch, and she helped with her hand, positioning his alien manhood at her opening. She bucked in his hands as the hot tip stroked across her clit. “Slowly,” she pleaded. “You're the largest I've had.”
He gently slid the thick head along her slit, making it slick with her juices. His dry, clean and exotic scent filled her nostrils and made her head spin, and her
whole center glowed with embers that he was about to stoke until all of her was ablaze. He slid an inch into her, and her eyes widened. “Oh stars, that feels sooo good,” she moaned, wanting him to know the effect he had.
He lowered her another fraction of an inch, there was a 'pop' as he passed through her narrowest point and she whimpered in pleasure as her body again had to adjust to his size and allow him to penetrate her.
He lifted her before he was all the way in, then let her a little further down. “And you're the tightest I have had,” he growled, then gave her a roguish smirk. “And probably the wettest.”
Then she felt him bottom gently out in her and his alien cock stimulated her clit perfectly. She groaned and jerked involuntarily at the shower of delicious sparks that spread into her body. He lifted her again and fucked her slowly standing up, handling her full weight like she was made of air. She would never have thought it was possible. But it allowed her to concentrate on her own pleasure. And it rose fast with every thrust.
It didn't matter how fast he went – she was perfectly stimulated at all times. She heard his grunting get louder and more strained, and she realized that he was holding back his own climax until she'd had hers. That was fine with her. She could come at any time. She looked into those yellow/blue dragon eyes, let them penetrate her soul, and then she went over the edge and spasmed uncontrollably in his hands. And to her even greater joy, he roared out his own ecstasy at the same time. His cock jerked inside her and she felt the hard spray of hot juice. She let the orgasm take over her whole being, and it lasted for a long time while she hung around his neck and he held her in his hands and they were one.
32
- Amelia -
It would have been a pretty low-key wedding, because while Marqatzo could produce food, he had nothing that resembled nice clothes or silverware, just a white sheet that Amelia had modified into a wrap skirt instead of a bridal gown. But with four large and majestic Ultraco princes in attendance, the whole ceremony had an air of a major royal event. They were in their human form, but they towered over everyone else and they all had those thick muscles and the subtle hint of scales. And they had the airs and manners of immensely powerful princes of alien kingdoms.