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

by Lucas, Naomi

  Pride swells. Excitement builds. She lowers her head, and I lay my hand on her snout. Gold dust sticks to my palms. Rays of golden sunshine streak across her form, and darkness floods from my jewel to eat it up. The light is balanced between us. Never have I heard of a human turning into a dragon.

  Never across the lands of Venys has such a show of magic been done.

  A dark dragon and a light dragon, two rarities in a large world, finding each other. I clutch my chest, wiping Milaye’s gold dust across my coverings. Inside, I feel what I have always longed for. A profound sense of rest.

  Ownership, belonging. Darkness and light, and all the suffering I endured to receive such a gift. Power, the power I once wielded over all the lands I claimed. This is the pleasure of soaring over the ocean, of breathing fire. It has all returned to me. Through Milaye.

  She stumbled upon me. Touched my dead dragon form. And revived me with her strength. There is human and dragon in both of our souls now.

  It makes sense. She is my tough, human huntress. She did not allow an alpha male to do all the protecting. She just needed to save me first…

  And she needed to wake herself up as well.

  Now that she is a dragon, there is no place in all of Venys we cannot go. We need no tribe, no other. Only each other. She and I against the world.

  My light bringer. My lips cock into a smile. I am the luckiest male in all of Venys.

  Milaye, panting, cants her sleek, feathered head in question at me.

  But she is not fully a femdragon yet… The power she now wields is nothing to the greatest dragon gift of all. To experience invincibility.

  She has no idea. No idea at all.

  But soon she will…

  “Fly,” I yell.

  And I watch her assail the sky, vanishing into the setting sun.

  21

  Home

  Two Weeks Later

  * * *

  I stomp the ground, pounding out the jungle soil around the old naga’s nest. I have spent the day clearing a path from the cave’s entrance to the beach. Not only that but, as to Drazak’s instructions, I have claimed the land north of Sand’s Hunters, marking it with my pheromones so any animal or beast that dwells here knows who it belongs to.

  Me.

  Nothing will harm me or mine once the creatures know my scent.

  Drazak teaches me more every day how to be a dragon. There is much to learn.

  I swing my tail out and snap two jungle bushes in half. Then I crush them into the ground as well. Birds flutter into the sky, and I lift my neck, gazing down the path towards the sea.

  “Is it clear?” Drazak asks beside my wing.

  I shimmy. ‘Yes.’ It’s easier to have him read my body’s language than to talk in a tongue that twists my mouth.

  “Good.” His voice is deep and filled with appreciation.

  It makes me preen.

  He is my male, and he has won the right to rut me. Now that I am a femdragon, it makes perfect sense in my head. When I needily bare myself to him, he just laughs, ordering me to reshape into my human form for that. He runs his hand over my wing and steaks his fingers through my feathers, telling me how beautiful my dragon form is, and that there will be plenty of time to rut later… when I am truly ready.

  Which relaxes me because I don’t want to release this ball of fire burning within me. Two weeks have passed since I transformed, and I’m afraid if I let the fire go, returning to my human form, that I might not be able to experience this again.

  Not only that, but the sun is blissful on my scales.

  Besides, I am much more useful as a dragon right now. I can help my sisters and brothers at Sand’s Hunters rebuild their huts, the ones I accidentally destroyed. It is much easier to gather wood, to drop them off a tree in this form. I have done it many times now, foraging for other resources in the process. I can access places I couldn’t as a human.

  Rocks. Reeds. Even mouthfuls of fish. I load my body, carrying everything I can between the other tribes along the Mermaid Coast. Granted, most of the other tribes fled when they saw me, and I’ve learned to remain away from the villages between trips. But they know me by now.

  They know Drazak too.

  A new surge of supplies isn’t the only change to the tribes my new form has brought.

  Not all the changes are good…

  There’s been a resurgence of huntresses questing for dragons. I told them there were none nearby—I don’t sense any but Drazak, Zaeyr, and Kaos—but they would not listen. My words have only led the larger hunting groups to travel farther afield.

  I know some will never return.

  All I can do is scent my tribe sisters, to keep them safe during their journeys. Each member of Sand’s Hunters now wears one of my dragon feathers in their hair for protection. I will not stop them searching for a mate of their own. If they are willing to face danger for the hope of a family, who am I to stop them?

  “I have finished clearing the hole,” Drazak says.

  I twist my neck to the cave entrance.

  The tree that once hid the hole from view is partially fallen over. It fell when Drazak turned human, causing the hole to fill up. I ripped out the broken roots, and opened it up enough for Drazak and I to dig. He did most of the digging since I had enough to do: exploring all that is now ours, gathering everything we will need for our new home.

  The familiar scent of the cave’s cool darkness releases into the air, pulling me from my thoughts, and I am eager to feel it upon my human skin. My nostrils flare. Excitement fills me.

  I am desperate to be back in Drazak’s arms again. Not everything about being a dragon is great. I cannot be as close to my mate as I want. As I need. But will I be able to change again?

  Ugh.

  At least I am comforted that Drazak remains with me always, that our child is nestled safely inside me.

  Drazak wipes his brow.

  The smell of his sweat spreads through the air. My wings flutter. I miss having him inside me. Tonight, I want to sleep nestled in his arms, in our cave. Soon it will be a homey den for us and our younglings. I want to journey into it with him. This first time, together.

  It is time.

  Drazak straightens and steps away from me. Tense, he pins me with his dark eyes. He knows. I see the anticipation on his face.

  The need.

  I reflect it back to him.

  Shaking my sleek frame, I loosen up. I focus on the fire within and imagine it sputtering out, cooling off, becoming smaller. I envision my body fading away. First my wings, my tail, my large, crooked legs. I see my scales drop off, my feathers flying in the breeze, and I feel an ache as my neck and snout pull in.

  The fire dances, becoming a core deep within. As the flame pulls inward, my dragon limbs grow cold. My weight and strength disappear. My head spins. I implode.

  I black out.

  When I reawaken sometime later, I’m being carried. I open my eyes, and darkness meets them. The rich scent infuses me. Drazak’s delicious smell fills me too. I curl my arms around his neck. His hold on me tightens.

  I’m naked in his embrace.

  “I’m human again,” I say aloud, curling my toes.

  He laughs. I love the sound. “Yes,” he agrees.

  He lowers to the ground and I peer out curiously, seeing the ledge beneath us. He slips us over it without ever losing his grip on me. When he straightens again, I press my face into his neck.

  Then we’re at our ‘camp’ and a feeling of nostalgia zips through me. The dark is not as dark anymore. I can see through it, even lighten it some with what I am now. Lightness. Though I have no jewel like Drazak. The aroma of charred root and wood, even fire moss still threads through the chilly air, welcoming us. Drazak lowers my feet and I stand. He lays out a thick hide onto the ground which he had draped over his arm.

  “Wait here,” he says when he is done.

  “Okay.” I allow him to leave because there is no way he’ll be gone long. I list
en to his quick steps fade. Our bond pulls tight and uncomfortable, and I inhale from the pressure. I shake out my limbs and busy myself with positioning the hide and looking around.

  The cave is as it was several weeks ago. Nothing has disturbed it since, not even the naga boy.

  The naga boy… I have not seen him since the day we escaped together.

  Though he remains nearby. I can sense him, and when I was a dragon, now and then I would smell his scent. He lives here; he’ll be back one day. And when he returns, I’m going to offer him an alliance. I would offer him his den in the back of the cavern, but Drazak would never go for it. An alliance is enough though. Nagas are primal creatures, and living with humans wouldn’t be easy for him.

  Now and then, I’ll leave a gift for him outside. A feather atop my dragon’s crown. Protection within my territory.

  I hear the crunch of footsteps and turn to see Drazak. His arms and tails are full of some of the supplies we brought with us. There’s firewood, baskets filled with fruits and dried meats, more hides, and several spears resting in the crook of his arm. He sets his procurement on the other side of the campfire, taking a grouping of branches after and placing them atop it. I lower and make myself cozy, watching him.

  He reaches into a pouch at his waist and pulls out fire moss. I smile as he starts our fire.

  “Now you are the light dragon,” I tease as the flames rise between us.

  His eyes twinkle dark and mischievously. My body warms, making me very aware of my nakedness, of the wetness gathering between my legs, and the scent of arousal coming from the both of us.

  “I will be everything for you, light or not. You are my female.”

  “Milaye,” I correct with an arch of my lips.

  “Milaye,” he says, his voice honeyed and low. My heart quickens.

  He pins me with his eyes, prowling toward me from around the fire. The flames dance over his long form and honed muscles, his frighteningly sharp horns. He unties his loincloth and lets it drop. Dripping dragon prick fills my vision. My mouth waters when a droplet of his seed beads at the head of his cock.

  “Milaye,” he rumbles again, standing over me. My palms drop to either side of me, and I lean back. “Milaye.”

  His voice saying my name forces a blush to my flesh.

  My lips part to say his name back when his tails curl around my ankles and jerk my legs apart. I gasp as he lowers over me, holding me open and prone. I dig my nails into the hide. On his knees, he looks to the wet core of me and licks his lips. My whole body shudders.

  I slowly lie back, keeping my eyes on his face.

  “I have smelled your arousal for weeks, endured its torture, and have been denied the ability to mount you, my little human, my sweet femdragon. I will not wait any longer,” he growls.

  His tails spread my legs out a little wider.

  His nostrils flare.

  “Don’t wait,” I whisper, clenching.

  His hands spread over my inner thighs. He pushes several fingers into me.

  I arch back and moan. “Don’t wait!” I scream, jerking my hips.

  Drazak roars and traps me, pressing forward. His tails force my knees to bend, and his fingers slip out, leaving me dripping. The next moment his prick takes their place and thrusts deep.

  My hips rise into the air, into Drazak’s pelvis, from the stretch. Two weeks… and my core forgot him. A thrill goes through me at the thought of having to relearn my male again. I try to close my legs around him but his tails keep me taut. He thrusts like a crazed man, and each rough stroke makes me scream.

  Each stroke plays my inner flesh, rubbing and ruining my sensitive spot. Deep darkness steals my vision, his darkness pooling over and into me. I grip the hide hard as it bunches under me. Drazak claims me vigorously, harshly, like his two weeks of torture demands aching retribution.

  I need it, holding on, tense and open to him. My body jerks with each rough thrust. This is a dragon’s rut. And my femdragon starves for it.

  He says my name again, and my bliss comes hot and fast. I cry out as every nerve ending seizes. I don’t know how, but my legs clamp around him. “Drazak!” I shriek.

  If his rutting couldn’t get more brutal, it does.

  He covers every inch of my body, using it to show me how much he craves me—this—and my bliss shocks me with wave after wave of his possession. My body eagerly takes everything he gives. I need him as much as he needs me.

  He roars, and hot liquid pools into me. I cry out again as he goes rigid, his thrusts now short and hard, each with more seed. When he’s done sometime later, I’m nothing but a sated mass sprawled across the hide.

  Drazak lifts up on his elbows and meets my gaze.

  He’s no longer pumping, but he’s still hard inside me.

  “I will take you many times tonight,” he warns. “Do not think you will be allowed to rest long.”

  I grin.

  We greet the next morning still awake, exhausted and relaxed. Hides are strewn around us, and the fire blazes. Drazak has his back to me as he stokes the flames. Yawning, I watch him, petting one of his tails.

  Already, this cave feels like home.

  And in the weeks and months after, Drazak proves to me he can provide me anything I could possibly want or need. I do the same for him… when he allows it. Each day our cave becomes a sanctuary. Each inch has been touched by us, and together we take what was once Drazak’s prison and turn it into his quiet haven.

  Quiet, for his mind. He needs time to adjust, and I want to make sure he has all the time he can get before his youngling comes. He thinks I'll be laying eggs, and I laugh. There’ll be a surprise in store when I don’t.

  The urge to unleash my dragon comes daily, and with each transformation, the shift becomes easier. Drazak and I practice together in hopes that one day he’ll be able to shift back too, and we can fly the skies together. I know it will be soon now; I can sense his dragon strengthening in our bond.

  Though it is many weeks yet from this night.

  “I love you,” I say, listening to the crackle of the fire.

  Drazak turns to face me. His tail curls around my wrist. “You do?” he asks, hesitantly.

  “Yes.” I will tell him it every day if it gives him peace of mind. “I love you.”

  He smiles. I sprawl back and pull him down to me. He captures me against him.

  “I can prove it,” I tease.

  “You can?”

  I nod.

  “How?” There’s a hint of curiosity.

  “You’ve got me tucked away in your cave. You’ve got me tucked away, and I have no qualms about it, and nor do I wish to leave.”

  “How is that proof, human?”

  “If I didn’t love you, I would never settle in such a place,” I continue to tease. “I hate bugs. I love you more than I hate bugs. That’s proof.”

  He goes quiet, and I wonder if I said something wrong. I bite my lip.

  “Ah, but that is not proof.”

  My brows furrow. “It’s not?”

  “No, because you are now part dragon, and dragons all settle in places like this.” This time he teases me. “And there are ways to banish bugs.”

  “It’s proof for me.” I pout.

  Drazak twists to his side to face me. It reminds me of when he first began moving not all that long ago. “I do not need proof.” He brings the back of his finger to my cheek. “I feel it,” he says.

  I curl my hands up at my chest. “I feel it too.”

  “I love you too, Milaye, my protectress, my huntress of the Mermaid Coast, my beautiful femdragon, and mate. I loved you the moment I heard your voice and I was not sure if it was in my head or not. From the moment I laid my eyes on you in the darkness, and again in the light. I once thought all I had left to look forward to was the smell of petrichor invading my cave, but now there is everything and more. Your silken raven hair, your gold and white scales, your fear of these bugs… I have it all. This feeling is my proof.” He pl
aces his hand over the ones curled into my chest. “I never want to sleep again. Tonight or ever. I will miss you if I do.”

  “Then we won’t.” I smile, rising to push him onto his back and lean over him. “Not tonight at least. Perhaps not tomorrow night either.” I press my lips to his.

  It is a good feeling, this one we share. This thing between us. It is everything I could have ever wanted, ever desperately pined for, and so much more. Drazak puts his arms around me. Now, I’m finally finding peace in our cave.

  I’ll never tell him, but I’m thankful he survived for me. That fate—poisonous as it was—bit him and he was here, waiting for me all along. I just had to find him.

  Touch him.

  And wake us up.

  I cup his cheeks and kiss him deeply.

  Epilogue

  One Year Later

  * * *

  I hear the snap of a twig and the rustle of leaves. Looking up, eyes squinting, I peer into the brush to my left. There’s nothing but foliage, though it’s settling from whatever disturbed it. I stare at it for a while in case whatever disturbed it decides to show itself. But nothing does.

  Eventually, I turn away and head back home.

  Haime is waiting at the entrance, sharpening arrowheads.

  I sigh. “Does Aida and Zaeyr know you’re here?” I ask, walking up to her and setting down my basket of fruit.

  “Has he come back?” She doesn’t even look at me. There is only the grating sound of her work.

  I glance behind, my gaze returning to the jungle path I just crept out of. “No, he hasn’t.” I turn back to scold her, “You shouldn’t be out in the jungle alone.”

  Haime shrugs. “Why does it matter? I have your feather with me, I’m safe.” She sets a sharpened stone aside. “Can you help me find him?”

  “My feather won’t protect you from the many beasts that don’t care about markings. It won’t protect you from tripping or falling, or drowning.” She shrugs again, I’m not answering her question. “Besides, finding him isn’t the issue, I know exactly where he is.”