The monster lifts its head over the surface and looks at us with three big, round eyes. Then it calmly turns around and swims out of sight, trailing tentacles and fins.
My heart beats like crazy. “That was close! Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I hoisted you up instead.” He looks at me with unashamed interest and his cock twitches. “But let’s not talk of that monster anymore. Inside the hut there’s another that you like much more. Shall we check?”
My fear slowly turns to lust. And it’s a strong lust. I need that. “My turn to state the obvious: yes.”
He grabs hold of me, lifts me to his chest and then kisses me. “My turn: good.”
He carries me into the hut and lays me down on the thick layer of leaves. The scent of crushed greenery rises around us, mixing with the intoxicating smell of his skin.
Vyrathion kneels over me, his weight braced on his forearms, and for a moment he just looks, like he's trying to memorize something. His star-shaped pupils have gone to slits, dark and hungry, but his hands are careful when they trace along my jaw, my collarbone, unlearned territory he's mapping for the first time.
"You're remarkable," he murmurs. His voice has dropped to a rumble I feel more than hear, vibrating through his chest into mine.
"So are you." I pull him down by the shoulders, feeling the ridges along his spine flex under my palms. "Show me how remarkable."
He kisses me again, slower this time, deliberate, and I arch up into him, impatient, done with waiting. His low growl against my mouth tells me he feels the same.
The leaves rustle beneath us as he lowers himself closer, murmuring my name like it's something precious. The two of us tangle together in the dark of the hut, learning each other by touch and breath and heat, the world narrowing to nothing but skin and scales and heartbeat and the low sounds we can't hold back.
19
- Vyrathion-
Morgan begins that cycle which she calls sleep. Her breath is calm and she goes still.
I watch her for a while, despite the darkening hut.
What a strange thing she is. Often so scared her whole body trembles, sometimes so reckless it seems like she wants to die. She smiles and she makes faces and she talks to me in a way that no lesser being should ever dare. And those things she says! So strange, so surreal, and yet so ensnaring that I can’t help but play along.
Very strange things are happening here. I’m staying here with her. On an island that keeps her here, but which doesn’t limit me in any way.
I get up and walk out. The jungle is darkening fast.
My pants have dried, which I expected, so I pull them on. Morgan’s ludicrous dress is still damp, but I suspect it won’t get any drier right here, where water drips from the trees above.
I take it and hang it inside the hut instead, which I made so as to only allow the tiniest amount of water to drip through its structure.
I briefly consider walking over to the disappointingly gold-less tribe and steal more food from them, but they will be on their guard now that they know I’m nearby. It might be unwise to enter that village again. I’d prefer to not lose more ichor.
I wander along the bank of the river, looking down into the dark water and hoping to see the glimmer of gold among the sand and mud. But I did the same last night too, and there was nothing of interest.
Instead I pick some fruits that I select carefully, avoiding the bitter ones she dislikes.
Halfway through, I stop.
Why do I know which fruits she dislikes?
I shake it off me and set them outside the hut. Then I lean on a tree, imagine that I’m in my lair, lying on top of my hoard and pass the time that way.
When Morgan wakes up and crawls out, she’s wearing her dress. She rubs her eyes. “Mm. I can’t remember the last time I slept so well. You don’t know what you’re missing, Vyrathion.”
“Indeed I have never been unconscious,” I reply. “It appears a total waste of life, especially in such a short-lived species. I will last for centuries, and I haven’t wasted a minute of it.”
She sits down by the fruits, which I have supplemented with some nuts and berries that I noticed her liking. “Good for you. I actually kind of like it. Sometimes I have cool dreams.”
“The dreams of being a dragon,” I sigh. “Yes, I have heard of that. As a dragon, I have nothing higher to aspire to, to dream of. I am the pinnacle, and it is just as glorious as you think. Well, it is when I’m not stuck on a mud planet like this.”
