by Jb Mcdonald
Dragon Traders
by JB McDonald
Ashe watched the thin metal camp cup rise in Katsu's grip, press for a moment against thin lips, and settle back down to the blankets spread across the ground. Steam coiled upward in the confines of the tent. His eyes flickered to the wiry man who'd been drinking. There was a look of absent concentration on Katsu's human features; Katsu's mind was obviously occupied.
It was almost a crime to interrupt, but Ashe was pretty good at crime. "Where'd you learn to make coffee?"
Eyes so dark they were nearly black glanced at him, then away. A graceful shrug of shoulders, narrow for a human but broader than Ashe's, lifted and fell as if that were the only answer needed.
Perhaps it was, but it wasn't very fulfilling.
"You make better coffee than anyone else I know," Ashe continued, determined to strike up a conversation. He kept plaiting as he spoke, nimble fingers searching out and repairing braids. As long as he did a few every day, none of the dozens of long braids in his hair turned too ragged. Letting them go untended quickly created a mess. He tucked the finished ones behind his pointed ears, ears that were a legacy of his elven birthright.
Katsu only grunted acceptance of the compliment and took another sip of coffee. Ashe's mug sat before his crossed legs, filling the little tent with a mouth-watering smell. Outside, he could hear Eddie, the only other member of their temporary crew, humming a ditty she'd picked up somewhere. They'd ridden ahead of the other mercenaries, the three of them able to travel faster than a whole group. It gave them a few days to do Katsu's job before joining the gang again.
Ashe wasn't positive they'd really need Eddie, though a group of three was safer traveling than a group of two, he supposed. Katsu had wanted the extra sword in case of bandits; the dragon eggs were to be sold, not stolen.
Not that they could be sure they'd sell them all. In fact, Katsu seemed sure they wouldn't, though their crew's leader, Nate, had been positive that this particular merchant would want dragon eggs. Nate had also warned that they shouldn't trust Byron Tackalle in the slightest, that he'd try all manner of illicit things rather than pay them. Katsu had decided it was still worth the risk: not many people had enough money and power to buy something so rare and valuable. For a small fee Nate had helped set up a meeting, sending messengers ahead of them on horses clearly not pure-bred; Ashe could sense too much magic from them. It was too bad, really, that the privatized postal system here on the outskirts of the country refused to sell the animals. Ashe would have loved one.
Instead, they were stuck with regular horses to deliver highly valuable dragon eggs. Ashe eyed the saddlebags, filled with straw to cradle their precious cargo, that held the eggs. Each egg was the size of a large man's fist, and had a strange, creamy tone. Except one -- a smaller one, faintly green, that Ashe swore had faded to a opalescent foam color. He'd shown Katsu a week earlier, but Katsu had only chuckled and said it was a cuckoo egg, explaining briefly that some dragons would lay eggs in other dragons' nests, leaving the young to be reared by others. Either way, Katsu said, the egg was dead without a nesting dragon to hatch it. Dead maybe, but still pretty. When the subject of payment for Ashe's help had come up not long after, he'd asked for the little egg. What was he going to do with piles of money, anyway? Humans were obsessed with it, but he'd rather have something attractive. Katsu had told him he was worse than a sparkle-crazy crow, but finally agreed, and now the little opalescent egg was his.
Ashe started on another braid, cutting out the leather thong that had held it in place, then wincing as he tried to untangle it. Finally, he took his knife and cut through the worst of the knots, too.
Looking for another conversational gambit, Ashe asked, "Where did you learn your craft?" He glanced at the eggs. Katsu claimed there were all sorts of medical uses for them.
This got a response, though still short. "Mostly at home. Picked up more methods elsewhere in my travels."
"And you've been traveling long?" Katsu had only been with the group for a little over eight months, and he looked to be in his mid-thirties. No one knew much about him.
Not even Ashe, and they'd been sharing a bed for the last two weeks.
But Katsu only grunted again. "You're curious this morning."
Ashe grinned, pasting over the itchy, frustrated feeling he'd had lately. Getting Katsu to talk was like catching fairies -- nice in theory, almost impossible in reality. It didn't make much sense; everyone Ashe knew wanted to share their life stories with people they liked. Heck, people shared their life stories with him all the time. "Just want to get to know you better."
Katsu's eyebrows rose, black against his golden skin. "I think you know me pretty well." He set aside his tin mug, then moved Ashe's out of the way as well.
Ashe paused in his cutting.
"You're going to go bald," Katsu murmured, shifting closer, "if you keep hacking at your hair like that."
Ashe's mouth dried up. Hot damn, but even without the life stories it had been an eventful few weeks in Katsu's bed. The camp medic got much more privacy than anyone else did, and he was remarkably creative. "Never know," Ashe quipped thoughtlessly. "Maybe you'd like me bald."
That earned a short chuckle. "Nope." Katsu reached out, taking Ashe's long, light-brown hair in one hand. Several braids slipped through his fingers, coming to rest once more with the quiet click of beads against the coins and feathers Ashe had also braided in. Enough hair remained in Katsu's broad palm, though. Enough to tug on and draw Ashe close. "I like your hair."
A pleased flush went through Ashe, no matter how sternly he told himself that he was too old to get so excited over a simple compliment. Still, it wasn't like Katsu gave many of them. "You do?"
"Mmm." Katsu kissed him, tongue sliding into Ashe's mouth possessively, as if he knew exactly what he wanted and exactly how to get it.
Actually, he did. Ashe groaned as Katsu kept pulling, drawing his hair slowly to one side so he had to go with it, gently and inevitably down to the blankets. Katsu was a warm weight above him, compact and solid like humans often were.
Katsu's strange, five-fingered hands pushed under Ashe's shirt, caressing smooth skin that was far paler than Katsu's. Ashe arched up, pushing into the callused hands. Old calluses, he knew from examining them. Sword calluses, though Ashe had never seen Katsu handle a blade -- except the kind meant to heal.
Katsu's hands brushed upward, bunching cloth and taking it along until Ashe's torso was bare. They had to break the kiss to get his shirt up and off, and Katsu left it tangled around his hands before returning to suck on Ashe's nipples.
Ashe squirmed. Katsu might have started out a little unsure, wondering where the boundaries lay in having sex with an elf of the Keela empire --or perhaps it was simply having sex with another male, though somehow Ashe didn't think so -- but he'd definitely figured it out pretty quickly, much to Ashe's benefit. Katsu licked his way down Ashe's chest, a touch of his tongue there, a swipe here, the brush of lips. The tie to Ashe's trousers only gave Katsu a moment's pause; he was pretty adept at undoing them.
Ashe's arms were getting more tangled by the moment; the laces up the front of his shirt had come undone, wrapping around his fingers and stalling his ability to figure out what went where. "You did this on purpose," he gasped, thrusting upward when he felt warm breath on the base of his cock. "Didn't you?"
Katsu chuckled agreement, pulling Ashe's trousers down his thighs and no farther before moving to bend Ashe's knees to his chest, then ducking behind and between his legs.
Ashe stopped worrying about the shirt. He had much, much better things to think about. Things like the warm mouth on his cock, spit sliding down his perineum and over his hole, chased by a blunt human finger. Katsu pushed it slowly inside,
lubed with saliva. In the same moment Katsu mouthed Ashe's cock, teasing with the lightest suck imaginable. Ashe clenched and bucked, but Katsu only chuckled - the sound thrumming through Ashe's skin and making him catch his breath -- and rode it out. Then Katsu's finger slid farther in, mouth slowly engulfing Ashe's length until Ashe was sheathed and impaled, all at the same time.
Ashe's breath came in short pants, legs tensing and hips pulsing rhythmically as Katsu stroked deep inside him, hitting just the right spot again and again. With every thrust upward, Ashe sank deeper into Katsu's mouth, and with every movement downward, he pushed himself farther onto Katsu's finger.
Then Katsu pulled away and out, yanking off Ashe's trousers with swift, economical movements and tossing them to the corner of the their little tent. Ashe began to work his way out of his shirt, but hadn't gotten halfway clear when Katsu flipped around to put a knee on either side of Ashe's gracefully pointed ears. Katsu's cock hung heavy and erect in front of his face while Katsu bent forward, bringing his own face down to Ashe's cock.
Katsu looked between their bodies at Ashe's face, his mouth poised over Ashe's length. He raised his eyebrows archly.
It took Ashe a moment to even comprehend the switch in position, much less what he should be doing about it. Then he grinned and licked the tip of Katsu's cock. Two could play the teasing game.
Except a lick on Katsu's cock earned a lick on his own, and two fingers barely nudging his hole. "Now that's just mean," Ashe breathed, and felt warm air as Katsu chuckled. He licked precome off the tip of Katsu's head, jerking when Katsu mirrored the movement against Ashe's own cock. Finally yanking one arm out of his shirt, he wrapped that arm around Katsu's hips and pulled them lower. Screw foreplay; he was so hard he thought he might come any minute, and he would much rather spill down Katsu's throat than into the air. He sucked Katsu's cock into his mouth, groaning loudly when the action was mirrored, with fingers sliding into his ass at the same time. It was too much, and it was perfect, and he focused on breathing through his nose while his muscles loosened to take Katsu deeper in every way possible. Then Katsu did something -- crooked his fingers, stroked just right, a butterfly feeling inside that Ashe couldn't quite place -- and Ashe whimpered in place of howling and sucked hard, fucking his mouth on Katsu's cock and tightening at the feel on his own erection.
Just a few thrusts and he came hard, arching up and swallowing Katsu farther into his mouth, focusing to not bite down as Katsu drove fingers into him, taking him deeply. When Ashe was completely wrung out, Katsu shifted, mouth pulling away, cock carefully remaining in Ashe's throat. Nearly too deep, but not; Ashe swallowed around it, moving his tongue where he could.
Katsu shifted somehow, hips flattening out until Katsu could watch between their bodies, lifting a little before thrusting carefully back down. Ashe guided with his hand, closing his eyes to better feel it, making little noises because he knew how it felt to be on the receiving end, and shivering when Katsu sped up, fucking him with quick, short thrusts before tensing and coming down his throat.
Ashe swallowed, sucking to draw every last little shudder of his partner.
After a long, frozen moment, Katsu pulled out and flopped over to the side, leaving Ashe to gasp and pant and lick the come off his lips. Neither of them said anything -- Ashe didn't have the energy to think, much less speak.
Katsu finally got up, muttering in a foreign tongue, and laced up his trousers before tucking his shirt in. He opened the tent flap and ducked out into the brightening morning.
"And," Ashe said forlornly to the empty tent, "I still don't know where he learned to make coffee."
***
Ashe scanned the horizon, gaze lingering on the smudge of the city up ahead. Probably another hour's ride, though it looked farther away. The number of travelers on the road had increased, though. They'd passed a few wagons, been passed in turn by two women with several guards on fancy, high-stepping horses. Everyone had glanced at them, ignoring Ashe's pointed ears and Eddie's trousers, only to lock on Katsu's golden skin and tilted eyes. The women, in particular, had slowed their horses and tried to strike up a conversation, while their guards glowered darkly as if the women's interest was Katsu's fault.
Katsu had given them the same amount of attention he'd give anyone else, and they'd grown bored and moved on shortly.
Still, something about it unsettled Ashe. He felt his ears twitching, as if still able to swivel the way his ancestors' would have. He was so intent on the road that he almost didn't notice Eddie riding up beside him, pulling her horse back down to a walk once they were side-by-side.
"I hear things are going well," she drawled, her bay tossing its head.
He startled out of his thoughts, glancing away from Katsu and the pack horse.
"Sorry?"
"You and Katsu." One red eyebrow arched. "I hear you two are doing really well."
Ashe gave Eddie a smile, but his heart wasn't in it. At her quizzical look, his smile faded. "Not really."
Both eyebrows shot up her freckled face toward her flame-colored hair. "I know the sex is good. Could you two be any louder?"
Ashe shrugged; it wasn't his problem humans had strange standards of propriety. "The sex is great." He glanced at the line of Katsu's back. Even under the sun, Katsu kept his forearms wrapped with lengths of dark cloth, hiding the tattoos Ashe had become so familiar with. Tattoos that unfurled along his chest, arms, torso, front and back. They were everywhere except for his face, hands, and feet. Lines pooled into dots and ran back into swirls with no rhyme or reason that Ashe could see. They were beautiful, but strange.
After two weeks of sex, Ashe still didn't know how Katsu had gotten them -- though his own experiences earlier, when they'd been hunting dragons, had taught him that they were for healing.
"The sex is great," he repeated quietly, dropping farther back, letting distance gather between them and Katsu. "I just... I mean, I guess if we only ever have sex, that's fantastic. He's gorgeous, and great in bed."
"You've said that," Eddie said. Her voice had gone quiet, matching his. "You want to tell me what's wrong?"
Ashe glanced over at her, meeting her green gaze with his brown. "I don't think he likes me." It was depressing to just say it out loud like that. Everyone liked him. Except, well, Katsu, who had never seemed to like anyone. But then they'd hunted that dragon down (okay, it had hunted them down), and they'd had fabulous sex, and nowadays Katsu invited him out to get herbs or go on trips into whatever towns they passed for salves and medicines. It was just...
Eddie watched him closely, as if she could read every thought off his face.
Ashe sighed and tucked his braids back behind his shoulder. "He doesn't talk much."
"That's because he's Katsu."
"Even if I ask him questions. He just... distracts me."
Eddie nodded as if she knew exactly what he meant.
"But he never really touches me otherwise, and he's not really... well, he's just not what I'm used to." He looked up at Eddie, almost beseeching her to tell him he was wrong. "Is it a human thing?"
Eddie glanced at Katsu, then back at Ashe. "Honey, I'm sorry," she said finally. "I thought maybe he was sweeter to you when there weren't people around."
Which meant that, even for humans, Katsu was keeping Ashe at arm's length. Ashe nodded and looked at the road, as if his horse couldn't pay attention on its own. "If he didn't like me, he wouldn't keep having sex with me." Even to his own ears, it sounded weak. Katsu was just the type to keep someone around for a useful skill, and if there was one thing Ashe was good at, it was sex.
"Yeah, sure," Eddie agreed.
"That was pathetic," Ashe muttered.
Eddie laughed, apparently shaking off her sympathetic melancholy. "It was. Just find a willing someone in town, and maybe you'll feel better. Maybe you just like Katsu because he's exotic. Or because he's your new conquest."
"Yeah," Ashe said, forcing himself to cheer up. "Maybe that's it." But he knew it w
asn't. There was something different about Katsu. Something special.
He wished there weren't; Katsu didn't seem to feel the same way.
***
The road into the city was plenty wide enough for three horses abreast, while the packhorse, carrying the eggs for their buyer to look over, trailed behind them. Ashe maneuvered them subtly, putting Katsu in the middle as they walked by the guards stationed on the outskirts. Two guards glanced them over. One did a double take, elbowing his compatriot and pointing. His long finger was aimed accusingly at Katsu.
Katsu bestowed his glower on everyone without bias, expression getting blacker as the crowd thickened inside the city walls. For a moment Ashe wasn't sure that Katsu even realized he was being singled out. Then Katsu's horse broke into a trot, and Katsu yanked it back roughly. Normally a graceful rider, that told Ashe more than anything that Katsu was feeling the tension, too.
Ashe took a deep breath and blew it out purposefully, releasing magic into his blood in case he might need it. He glanced across Katsu to catch Eddie's gaze, and saw her sitting her mount loosely, with a fighter's fluid readiness. One hand rested on her sword hilt. She was better with a bow, but it wouldn't do her much good in this confined space.
Buildings rose on either side of them, the streets turning from dirt to cobblestones. Carriages clattered by, fighting for space with small bands of riders. A group of wild-eyed dwarves hung on to their stocky ponies while bellowing for an ostler at a nearby stable.
The crowds moved and shifted, blocking their path before opening up. People stared at Katsu, breaking the normal flow of traffic for moments at a time, sending a ripple effect through everything else. One carriage nearly hit a man on foot.
Shadows spread over the ground. The sun -- still rising -- was blocked partially by the clutter of buildings. As Ashe's group rode through the fringes and deeper into the city, the buildings grew, reaching two and three stories high. It made Ashe feel claustrophobic, though he knew this wasn't uncommon in the larger cities. This, supposedly, wasn't a large city, but it could have fooled him. Large enough to have its own guard, and farther toward the interior of the country than Ashe commonly traveled. Mercenaries weren't usually needed where the lords had enough money to protect their towns and cities on their own; the crew tended to keep up north, nearer the fringes of the country, and Ashe himself was from the mountain range that bordered the northern edge. He'd been in cities, of course, but never felt comfortable in them.