The dragon shrugged. “I need rest too, you know.”
Ottis had so many questions, and no answers to any of them. “Don’t you want to sleep on me to make sure I don’t escape?”
A strange expression flickered through the dragon’s face. “Maybe one day. Besides, you agreed to be kidnapped. The likelihood of you running away is very low.”
“Well, true.” Ottis followed when the dragon opened the guestroom door.
The bed in there was king-sized, and the covers looked so plush, Ottis wanted to leap onto the bed and snuggle in. He stepped out of his shoes.
“Clothes off,” the dragon said.
Heat razed through Ottis’ body. His breath caught, and his cock twitched. “Is it probing time?”
“Yes. Both you and your phone. Strip and get on the bed.”
The dragon’s commanding tone made him wet. Breathlessly, Ottis wriggled out of his shirt. It was only when he was undoing his pants, that he hesitated.
The dragon frowned. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s just... You’ve seen me limp,” Ottis mumbled.
“I won’t judge you for it. You should know that.”
Ottis shrugged self-consciously. “It’s ugly.”
Then he realized he’d said the wrong thing. The dragon was scarred, too.
Ottis froze in horror. “Crap! I don’t mean you! I meant my leg!”
In a hurry to prove himself, he hopped and squirmed awkwardly, trying to untangle himself from his pants. Then he tripped and fell sideways onto the bed, weakly kicking off his pants and underwear to show the dragon the thick, ropey scars running down the back of his right knee and calf.
The dragon’s mouth fell open. “That’s not... Sweetheart, that looks like it hurt a lot. Maybe it still hurts, even now.”
Ottis never looked at his own leg for very long, if he could help it. It was the result of a stupid mistake, and he would always blame himself for it.
He curled the leg under his body, trying to hide the scars. The dragon made a low sound.
He grasped Ottis’ shoulder with his paw. With his other paw, he took Ottis’ ankle and drew out his bad leg, inspecting the damage. Ottis cringed.
It’s ugly,he almost said again. But he didn’t want the dragon to think he judged those crumpled scales as harshly as he did himself.
As the dragon trailed his paw over Ottis’ scars, warmth soaked into his leg, soothing the ache that had accumulated from all that walking.
“Huh,” Ottis breathed. “It hurts less.”
The dragon lit up. “This helped?”
Ottis nodded. “Feels better with heat and a massage.”
The dragon began to knead those sore muscles, working up and down his leg until Ottis went limp.
“That feels so good,” Ottis moaned.
“Good,” the dragon purred. He set Ottis’ leg gently on the bed and massaged his other leg too. “Now, lie on your back.”
Ottis flopped onto his back, spreading out his limbs. By itself, nudity wasn’t a big deal amongst shifters. They couldn’t shiftwith their clothes, often removing them before shifting to prevent unnecessary clothing damage.
But now that he knew what the dragon wanted... This was different. The dragon raked his gaze up and down Ottis’ nakedness, causing warmth to bloom between Ottis’ legs. He could smell his own slick; the dragon didn’t seem to notice it. Instead, the dragon climbed onto the bed, looming over Ottis. Ottis gulped.
