The Dragon's Lover Read online

  Raine examined the gaping hole in the mountain, nonplussed. This was what she had been looking for, what she expected to find, yet she still wasn't quite certain what was driving her. She strolled toward the entrance and without hesitation, entered the cavern.

  And cavern was an apt description. This was not some hole in the wall, some dark, dank cave. It was well-lit by the sun streaming down through a gigantic opening in the ceiling and the enclosure itself was enormous. It even had a lake of sorts, so large was the opening inside the mountaintop. It was quite a stunning sight, with elaborate rock formations on the shores of the lake.

  A stone clattered to the ground and Raine froze. Whatever had compelled her climb, whatever had drawn her in, whatever had so attracted her to this place…

  Was now behind her.

  A scratching, abrasive noise, like stone-on-stone emanated from the rocks she had just passed. It was like the scales of an armored reptile scraping across rough ground, a very, very large reptile. Raine slowly and methodically turned around as the dragon's head rose above a jagged rock formation in a sinewy, serpentine fashion. The creature then moved its massive body out into the open with a lithe grace that nothing that size should possess.

  Raine gazed at the creature in wonder. It was a deeply saturated red color, the heavy plated scales reflecting light in millions of tiny rainbows. There were hints of a brilliant yellow which would flash in the light as the dragon moved, creating an illusion that the creature was made of fire. The skin in places was rough with sharp, protective spikes protruding that could easily impale a man. In other places, the skin was supple and smooth, the muscles flexing and rippling beneath the scaled surface. The dragon had a mouthful of wicked looking, razor-sharp teeth and stunning gold eyes also flecked with red. The golden eyes examined her as the dragon came completely into view. A long silence ensued as Raine simply stood there, then at last exhaled.

  “You are beautiful,” she said.

  The dragon was taken aback, yet also clearly amused.

  “You are a strange little creature,” the dragon said. “Most come into my presence in terror or with fake bravado, yet I sense no fear in you at all.”

  The dragon was female and it was clear to Raine that she was very old and very powerful. Her voice was low, with a dangerous but sensual edge to it. Raine bowed low, making no effort to go for the weapons at her disposal.

  “I apologize,” she said formally, “it was rude of me to disturb you simply to satisfy my curiosity.”

  “So you sensed me,” the dragon said, now even more intrigued by the little creature before her, and Raine realized she had revealed more than intended. She also realized there was probably very little she could hide from the creature in front of her.

  “Yes,” Raine replied.

  “Hmm,” the dragon said, the scales scraping across the rock as she moved to examine the girl from a different angle. “So what should we do to compensate for this transgression, this trespass of my domain?”

  The dragon leaned down close and Raine could feel the heat of the monster's breath. The sensation created an odd disquiet in her, a fluttering twist located in her abdomen, an extraordinarily odd reaction more akin to pleasure than fear. The dragon sensed the reaction and thought she must be misinterpreting the response because it felt more like desire than anything remotely appropriate for the situation.

  “What is it you wish from me?” Raine asked, struggling to focus and remain calm under the dragon's now pronounced scrutiny.

  The dragon drew back, pleased. “You have a secret,” she announced. She again examined the girl at length, both physically and mentally. “I want you to show me.”

  Raine sighed. She had known this was fairly inevitable from the moment she had encountered the dragon. She began methodically removing her weapons, laying them on the ground one-by-one. The dragon was impressed with the weaponry, but her attention was immediately diverted when the girl also began removing her armor. This was truly unexpected, but not necessarily unwelcome. The ancient creature wondered if the girl was going to strip naked and could not imagine what the outcome of that potentiality would be. The young woman turned her back to the great drake and the dragon now wondered if this were a sudden attack of modesty. But the girl removed her long-sleeved jerkin with a flourish and the dragon instantly understood.

  There were elaborate, beautiful markings on the inside of the girl's forearms and spread across her upper back. They were mythical, unmistakable, less tattoos than inlaid filigree, a brilliant royal blue and gold woven beneath the skin in a process so painful and permanent that only one race could survive the process.

  The dragon exhaled. “You are Scinterian,” she said with immense pleasure.

  “Yes,” Raine said simply, “I am.”

  The dragon drew back, still unable to believe her eyes or her fortune. “The closest allies of dragon kind in all the world. But I have not seen a Scinterian in hundreds of years and I did not think there were any left.”

  “I may be the last of my kind,” Raine replied.

  At this comment, the very space around the dragon shifted as she began to transform. The great creature shrank as bones, tendons, and ligaments transitioned into their alternate phase, then re-formulated, re-spawned into human-like form. The dragon was now a stunningly beautiful older woman dressed in imposing red armor that also at times appeared to dance with flame. Her hair was silver and brushed back from her face. Her cheeks were high, chiseled into her face, and her eyes were still a deep gold color filled with wicked amusement.

  Raine stood dumbfounded, then swallowed hard. She normally was master of every situation but at the moment, she was at a complete loss. This was very unexpected.

  Weynild stared at the girl, slowly grasping the effect she was having and quite surprised by it. As a shape-shifter, she could morph into any form she wished, young, old, ugly, beautiful, voluptuous, spare. But her current form was the most similar to and consistent with her dragon form in all ways, age included. And the girl just stood there, stunned.

  “Is it possible,” the dragon-human said, “that I am more dangerous to you in this form than my other?”

  Raine again swallowed hard, a deep flush spreading out across her cheeks. “Not just possible,” she murmured, “but highly probable.”

  Weynild stepped forward, a matching desire flaring within her. But she was far more in control than the one in front of her and there was something else here. She placed her hands on the slender hips and pulled the lithesome frame to her, gazing down into eyes that were now having a hard time meeting hers.

  “You have another secret,” Weynild said with growing certainty, “and you will show me this one as well.”

  Raine's eyes sought refuge anywhere, the lake, the rock formations, the entrance that now beckoned so invitingly. But they could not evade the golden eyes that were seeking her deepest secret. Very slowly, the dragon leaned down and touched her lips to the girl's, and a shock of electricity went through them both, causing Raine to jerk backward and reveal what she could not hide from the dragon.

  Weynild stared down into eyes that were a deep violet, a color so beautiful it would make the flowers in the field weep with envy. They were deep purple, a color that would put royalty to shame.

  “You are Arlanian as well,” Weynild whispered, unable to fathom the creature she was holding. What kind of improbable union could have created this being? And had there been any doubt as to the outcome of their meeting, it was now removed. She took the girl to the ground, shredding and stripping her clothing with nails that had lost none of their sharpness in the transformation. The armor that hugged the curves of her body retracted, revealing magnificent breasts that occupied all of Raine's attention for a brief moment before Weynild bit into the side of her neck, creating intense pleasure. Then the tongue was in her mouth, gentle but insistently dominant, and although she had kissed few in her life, somehow Raine knew exactly what to do and matched the dragon's passion.

/>   Then the trail of fire went down her body, down her sternum, to one breast, then the other. Raine was not as endowed as the creature on top of her, but sensed the woman's pleasure in her. And when the dragon fixated on the firm muscles of her torso, then went lower, the girl writhed beneath the incessant brutal sensuality of the creature.

  Weynild returned to her position on top the girl. “Although I am female,” she said, “I am also a shape-shifter and capable of many things.” Raine was not quite certain what this pronouncement meant, but it became immediately clear when the woman penetrated her with some fortuitous appendage she had constructed. Raine arched upward in both pain and pleasure, holding onto the woman who briefly paused. Weynild glanced down between the girl's legs where her hips were now buried.

  “You are untouched,” she whispered, surprised and pleased.

  “Well, I was,” Raine said, stating the obvious.

  The dragon's pleasure only intensified, although she moderated the size of the appendage she had created. But she did not slow the pace or strength of her thrusts and quickly drove the two of them to a precipice much higher than the one Raine had just scaled. Although the violet-eyed beauty beneath her was inexperienced, the gorgeous creature was not unskilled, clearly inheriting all the gifts of her Arlanian parent. Her body answered with unrestrained passion and although Arlanians could be forced to climax against their will, that was not remotely an issue as the two moved to a complete and explosive union. In the end, the girl cried out at the overwhelming sensation she had waited centuries for. The dragon's climax was simultaneous, the experience in a way as novel for her as it was for the vestal creature beneath her. Never had a lover so completely sated her.

  The older woman rolled over, carrying the younger with her. The two lay side by side, their limbs comfortably intertwined. Despite the suddenness of their conjoining, conversation seemed unnecessary. The silence was lengthy and enjoyable and was only broken when the humor of the situation impressed itself upon the dragon.

  “So are you always attracted to women a thousand years your senior?”

  Raine stretched languorously. “I have met only one, so apparently yes.”

  The golden eyes assessed her carefully. “And don't you wish to ask me which form is truly mine? The dragon or the woman?”

  “No,” Raine said casually, “it does not matter. And you might as well ask me if I am Scinterian or Arlanian because I am quite impossibly both.”

  “Yes,” Weynild said, shifting her weight so her hip rested against the girl's. “And how exactly did that come about?”

  Raine shrugged. “My parents died when I was very young, so I remember very little of them. But it is said my father was fierce on the battlefield, and my mother fierce in bed.”

  “And did you get the best of both of them?”

  Raine grinned mischievously. “Now that's not something I can judge personally, now is it? Clearly that is something someone else must decide.”

  The dragon examined the long graceful limbs, the slender muscularity of the torso, the intricate blue and gold markings on the forearms. “Well I can attest to at least one of them. Which brings to mind another question. Both your parent races are long-lived, and although you are young, I am still guessing you are several centuries old.”

  “I am,” Raine said. “I am almost three hundred, in fact.”

  Weynild traced the outline of the girl's cheekbone with her finger. “Then how is it that an Arlanian remained untouched all of that time? Surely you had numerous suitors?”

  Raine's words were still casual, but with a slightly harder edge. “Arlanians don't have suitors. They have masters, they have keepers, they have owners.”

  The golden eyes locked on the girl. “Your people were not always slaves. They were worshiped by the Alfar long before the sons of men discovered their existence.”

  “Nevertheless,” Raine said, “Scinterians have no masters, no keepers, no owners. And they only ever had one equal.”

  Weynild rolled the girl onto her back, easily pinning her with strength that belonged to her other form. She stared down into the violet eyes with great pleasure.

  “And is that why you have had no lovers?” she asked. “You could not find a dragon?'

  The mischievous grin returned. “I found you.”

  The beautiful older woman smiled at the renewed desire of the youngster beneath her. “You should be careful what you wish for, small one. Dragons are notoriously insatiable and known for grinding their lovers into dust.”

  Raine clasped her hand behind Weynild's neck, pulling her downward and kissing her deeply. Weynild's desire, too, returned full force, inflamed by the playful actions of the woman beneath her. Raine's fingers caressed each breast, then traveled lower, stroking the softness between her legs.

  “You are remarkably skilled for someone so inexperienced,” Weynild said between gritted teeth, then gasped as the fingers gently entered her, exploring. She captured the girl's mouth with her own, her tongue probing as deeply as the fingers inside her. The two seemed to engage in a dance, the tongue and the fingers, each matching in opposite but complementary rhythm. The rhythm increased, and the body beneath her rocked in a gentle motion that became quite insistent, again pushing the dragon to a pinnacle, then over the edge.

  The two kept up their dance for hours, each pushing the other to heights of pleasure that few would ever experience and most would not survive.

  Raine rolled over on the ledge. At some point in time, they had made it to the small raised platform on the far end of the cavern, the floor of which was lined with hides and fleece. It was quite comfortable, like a large, warm nest. A fire burned in a nearby pit and Raine idly wondered if Weynild had lit it by traditional means or simply ignited the inferno from her lungs. The latter she would have enjoyed seeing.

  The water beckoned invitingly and Raine stood, stretching. Weynild was nowhere to be seen and Raine imagined she was out hunting for food. They had spent days locked in nearly non-stop sexual union. The dragon truly was insatiable and Raine apparently possessed both her mother's desire and her father's stamina. This thought brought a smile to her face as she dove into the water, surfacing with a gasp as the chill took her breath away. She floated on her back for a while, gazing up at the sun shining down through the jagged hole in the mountain.

  She became aware of a pair of golden eyes watching her intently and she paddled back toward the shore. Weynild sat near the fire, once again cloaked in her fiery scales. Raine waded from the water, no concern for her nakedness even when it was in such stark contrast to Weynild's fearsome armor. Weynild did not disguise her admiration for the lithe, sinewy form, or her admiration for the casual confidence in which it was displayed. Raine shrugged her undershirt over her head and pulled on the soft shorts she wore beneath her clothing.

  “You need not get dressed on my account.”

  “I am a little chilled from the water. Otherwise I am quite comfortable wearing nothing at all.”

  Weynild glanced to the blazing fire. “Then I shall do my best to keep you warm at all times.”

  A dark heap drew Raine's eye and she peered closer at the form half in shadow. It was the bloodied remains of a cow, or at least half a cow as a very large chunk of it was missing.

  “Are you hungry?” Weynild asked mildly, unperturbed at the bloody carcass or the implication of the jagged bite.

  Raine's response was as nonchalant and understated as the silver-haired woman's. “Yes, actually I am famished.” She pulled one of the shortswords from her pile of belongings and sliced off a large piece of the rump, skillfully separating out a choice cut. She speared it cleanly with the spit and placed it over the fire.

  “Would you like me to cook you some?” Raine offered, raising an eyebrow in question.

  The fire glinted off the golden eyes. “I already ate,” Weynild replied, causing a smile to tug at the corner of Raine's mouth.

  “Very well.”

  The meat cooked quickly
and Raine ate ravenously. She had lost all track of time and now wondered if she had been here for weeks rather than days. She finished the steak, then walked to the edge of the water to rinse the grease from her hands. Weynild spoke to her as she knelt down at the water's edge.

  “You have most pleasantly delayed my return to the lowlands, but I can delay my departure no longer.”

  The pronouncement seemed to have little effect on Raine as she continued to scrub, seemingly dissatisfied with the results of her attempted cleanliness.

  “Ah,” she said over her shoulder, “you have a home in the lowland wilderness?”

  “Yes,” Weynild said, watching her closely, trying to assess the girl's response or lack of one. She continued, her tone even, testing the preoccupied youngster.

  “And do you wish to depart with me?”

  Raine stood, examining her hands closely. It seemed they finally passed muster. “Well of course I am going to return with you—,” she said, starting to turn around then glancing sharply upward over her shoulder. She was forced to take a step back. Weynild towered over her in dragon form, fairly menacing, or at least would have been to anyone who was not so aroused by the display of power.

  “Were you going to eat me if I said no?” Raine asked mockingly.

  The dragon's golden eyes glowed with amusement. “No,” came the throaty, sensual reply, “but I would have chained you to my bed for the next one hundred years.”

  Raine considered the threat while gathering her things. “I don't think we should take that option off the table.”

  “You are incorrigible,” the dragon replied with pleasure. The sinewy neck snaked downward. “We will travel much quicker if you take to my back.”

  This prospect brought a flush of joy to Raine's cheeks. No one was ever allowed to ride a dragon. They were intensely proud creatures and the only recorded instances of shared flight in all of history were in Scinterian legend. Still, she could not repress her humor.