Confused by the omission, it is not a side of Father that I know. But I know Mother, and she doesn’t lie.
I exhale, and with my breath, it feels like all my confusion finally goes with it. All that remains is…
Relief. I didn’t know how badly I needed that answer.
Zaeyr grunts, pulling me back under his arm. “It does not matter. Leith is nothing to us. Aida is with me now. If he kisses her again—”
I circle my arm around his waist. “I’m with Zaeyr,” I declare.
Mother’s eyes finally go to him, and all her softness fades. I hold onto Zaeyr harder, uniting our front.
Relief or not, it’s not enough. My thoughts are jumbled.
After Delina was chosen over me, I never thought I’d have a partner of my own. Dreams of having young dashed to pieces. But it’s not only this… Zaeyr is a mighty male. Any tribe would fight to have him.
And here we are, possibly leaving.
He’s done nothing to deserve this treatment.
“Delina is my daughter too, dragon. She is Aida’s blood sister,” she says stiffly. “But I will have you stay if it keeps Aida here where it is safe. This is her home. And you, you are just one male. If she is with child, she needs to be with her people.”
I glance around and for the first time, I notice many of my tribe looking upon us from the shadows. Above, the moon rises, and the eerie glow of the comet rubies the land.
I love them. I love this place.
“Your people do not deserve her,” he fumes.
“That may be so—”
“Mother,” I intervene, unable to go through another fight, not tonight at least. They stop to look at me. “We will go to the caves tonight and tell you our decision on the morrow. It has been a long few days, for all of us.”
“Daughter…”
“Tomorrow,” I say, my voice lowering.
She slowly nods. “Tomorrow then. Take this.” She hands us a bag strapped to her back. Inside, I find food and dried meat. She steps back and gives us room to leave.
I swallow hard, holding the bag to my chest.
Zaeyr practically pulls me to the lift and lowers it down for us. He leads me to the caves. We light a torch and head deep within, procuring hides from one of the stashes and setting up a cozy camp by the water.
When we finally settle, I glance at him. He’s staring at me with an unreadable expression.
“I do not like it when you hurt,” he says, reaching out and tugging me into his arms.
Lowering my head against his warm chest, I let him hold me.
“What do you want to do, little human?” he asks.
“Nothing, not right now. Nothing but lie with you.”
“That,” he exclaims, holding me even closer, “I would be happy to oblige.”
Tomorrow.
Tomorrow, we will choose to leave or stay.
“Do you forgive me?” I ask. “Can you forgive me?”
“There is nothing to forgive.”
There is everything to forgive. I brought him into this mess, into humanity, into our looming extinction, into my family…
But his hands go to my hair, his fingers caress my scalp, and with nothing but the sound of his heart beneath my ear and the crackle of torchlight, I push all concerns from my mind and fall asleep in my dragon’s arms.
20
Loving a Dragon
I wake to find Zaeyr between my legs, licking my sex. A shocked moan escapes me, and I spread my knees. Long fingers slide up and through my private place, where he explores and plays.
I don’t know what time it is, whether it’s morning or still night. All I know is his sharp tongue ramming into my deep place and his dark groans. He spans his hands and gropes me everywhere.
“Time to breed,” he groans, rearing up like a wild beast over me. I lift my hips as he spreads me out and open. The hard tip of his thick prick nudges my opening. His eyes glow bright upon me, lighting the space with blue.
I’m barely ready, but he thrusts, pinning me to the hard ground with his hips. I scream, stunned by being spread so abruptly.
Gasping, he slams slow and rough, each shunt a beating of my body to his—to the floor. Slower still, I’m fluttering and clenching, pushing him out as much as trying to keep him rooted.
I hook my legs over him, once again finding my feet unable to connect. I strain my neck to look upon his face.
But he’s over me, his huge body not even arching so our lips can meet. I kiss his torso and chest to get his taste in my mouth.
Thrusting faster now, he snarls like an animal. My dragon. And with a roar blaring out, he shoots his seed.
Heat pools into me—so much heat—and I clamp my sex around him. My thighs grab what they can while I cry out. His seed spreads slick between us as he forces me to take everything. And when I’m about to wilt with exhaustion, he releases me.
“Zaeyr,” I moan, curling to my side, the sensation of his cum spreading throughout my body. Like the first time we mated, my body shudders, paralyzing me on contact. But I remain conscious this time.
Relighting the torch, he picks me up and carries me to the cave pool, tugs off my remaining coverings, and slips us into the cold water together.
“You are ovulating, human. Your pheromones have sweetened this night,” he groans, moving his hands all over me. “It is maddening, and I am already mad.”
Ovulating? My heart skips a beat and I find the strength to whisper, “What does that mean for us?” I ask coyly, allowing him to move me, wash me, pet me. I couldn’t stop him even if I tried. My body is still weak.
“It means we should stay here until it is over, so
