Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Violet

It could have been worse, I guess. At least leadership bought Xaden’s story about the gryphon attack in Resson. At least they don’t suspect us to be traitors anymore—or at least not openly. At least they will give me and Xaden time off so our dragons can reconnect.

But…fuck!

Only one extended weekend every two months? With alternating schedules, that’ll give them only four days per month—even less with the flight back and forth.

“We’ll make it work,” Tairn growls into my mind, even his mental voice barely more than a snarl. Oh, he’s pissed.

“But what about Monserrat?” I argue down the four-way path between Xaden, me, and our dragons. “Three days were your maximum.”

Despite the frustration about these new orders, there’s amusement echoing through the bond—coming from…Tairn I think?

“Well, about that,” Sgaeyl hums, and I get the impression of her giving Xaden a mental head bump. Like a scaly overgrown cat. I still can’t believe how much her behaviour towards me has changed over these last couple of days. How she seems to accept me as equally important as Xaden and Tairn now. “I think you two should talk.” Then she and Tairn retreat, rebuilding their shields to, thankfully, block us out from what’s probably going to be a very intense farewell.

I turn to Xaden standing next to me and cock my head. “What did she mean by that?”

Xaden Riorson blushes.

. o O o .

We talk. For the entire night, Xaden and I stay in a secluded corner of the dining hall—not daring to go to my room, near a bed or any other private place—and talk. About our feelings, about trust, about secrets. And he lets me in. Not entirely, maybe, but enough for me to know that he’s not keeping any vital secrets from me on purpose anymore.

We’re not where we were about a week ago, before war games and Resson and Aretia broke what we started that night, on the parapet and in his bedroom. But when we kiss goodbye before he has to leave in the morning, I’m optimistic that we’re getting there again.

And we do. By the time he arrives at Basgiath twenty-six days later, the long time of pondering my feelings and his words combined with Tairn’s thrumming impatience to see Sgaeyl again softened me. So when he takes my face between his hands, gently, and gazes into my eyes like a man starving, all he finds there is love and forgiveness.

That night, our dragons’ shields aren’t as solid as they could be. Just like that night the snow fell, their lust and desire leaks through, echoing within Xaden and me, but this time, we’re not even trying to fight it. Because there won’t be any regrets in the morning. Or in the days after. Officially, I don’t have leave on the days before and after this weekend. But there is absolutely no possibility of me leaving my bed, leaving Xaden, not with emotions and desire boiling hot.

I’m sure Rhiannon will be able to make up some excuse for me. That I’m down with some illness or whatever. Fuck, I don’t care. I should thank her though, for the lack of interruptions and also for the trays with food and water occasionally appearing in front of my door. And I will. Once I can think straight again.

And even when Xaden and Sgaeyl leave again after four days, I can’t keep the wide grin off my face. Everything’s working out better than I thought it would.

For about two and a half weeks into the second month of separation, at least.

. o O o .

“Fucking shit, Sorrengail!” a rider from Third Wing shouts, cursing as she slaps out the glowing sparks on her jacket. “Get your dragon to back off, will you?”

“I’m sorry,” I call over, trying to give them an apologetic smile. “He’s just…”

But I don’t even bother finishing. She and the group of riders around her give me dirty looks and step around the still smoking scorch mark, leaving me standing next to Tairn’s leg.

“What was that?” I demand, a little unnerved. “That was already the third time you nearly torched someone this week.” And it’s not as if they came that close, either. He really has no excuse.

Tairn doesn’t give me a verbal answer, only growls low in his chest. I still get it, though, and my shoulders slump.

“You miss her that much, huh?”

Tairn shuffles, his tail with the spiked club at the end curling around us. “Yes,” he growls into my mind.

“I’m so sorry you have to go through this because of me.” I place a hand on his leg, the black scales smooth beneath my fingers. “I wish there was something I could do to make it right again.” Then I frown. “But I don’t understand. Last month, it didn’t affect you this much. What’s different now?”

Tairn gives me a strange look, intense and piercing. Then he lets out a grumbling sound that causes the last stragglers on the flight field to quickly leave and their dragons to take off into the sky without lingering. “What’s different now is that last month, I thought I could just wait it out and bear it,” he grumbles. “I thought it would get easier.” He snakes his head left and right, a tremor running through him. “But it doesn’t. It’s just as bad as last month, maybe even worse. Two years of this will be too much.”

My heart sinks. I doubt leadership will change our orders, not after they saw that Tairn and Sgaeyl made it through that first month just fine. “Tairn…” Absentmindedly, I stroke along his scales, aiming to soothe him. “I know it’s hard for you, but—”

Tairn huffs, a noise that sounds eerily like laughter. “Oh, you have no idea how hard it is, Silver One.”

Except, that I do. It’s there, at the edge of my mind, like some subliminal knowledge. No, that’s not quite it. It’s Tairn, his thoughts and emotions just hovering outside my consciousness. And I know this feeling, know it all too well. This feeling of cold nights and sticky sweat, trembling frustration. Something more than just longing.

It’s unresolved lust.

“Tairn?” I say out loud this time, alarmed. I withdraw my hand from his leg, and he groans. At the loss of contact?

“It’s a tricky truth, this tale about how mated dragons can’t live without each other.” Tairn bends his leg so his scales brush against my hand again. “It’s a ruse but also not a lie.”

Warmth prickles along my skin. “What do you mean?”

“When one of us dies, the other follows, that much is true. But being separated doesn’t affect our health, not directly.” He takes a step forward, effectively blocking out the rest of the world. “But we dragons are loyal. Once mated, this bond can never be undone. It’s a choice as much as it is an imperative, unbreakable. Or, to use your words, I’ll never in my life fuck another dragon but but the one I’m mated with.”

I blink, taken by surprise. Though mostly by his bluntness; I can feel his longing through our bond, after all. Then I burst out into laughter. “So, you’re saying you’re suffering from blue balls? That’s it? That’s the whole problem?”

Tairn growls, louder now, and his tail curls a little tighter. “Have you ever wondered how it is that we can fly across half the continent without a pause?” he says instead of an answer. “Or how we can fight and wield magic for hours and hours during a battle? How much energy that costs?”

Carefully, I shake my head. No, I haven’t. But thinking about it now, it must indeed be a lot, more than I can grasp without longer studies.

“Right,” Tairn scoffs. “And what do you think we do with that much energy when we don’t use it up? When we’re cooped up in these mountains with only your occasional flight lessons to think about?” He lowers his head, looking at me through eyes that seem to glow in the light of the evening sun.

Mutely, I shake my head. I don’t know the answer, though I feel like I can guess.

“We fuck.” Tairn’s words snap into my mind like thunder after a lightning strike. “What you and the shadow wielder sense occasionally are the moments we lose track of the world and everything around us, when we’re in too deep to care. What you don’t feel are the other times. You might call them quickies. The half-hours we steal here and there just to use up at least a tiny bit of that energy brewing in our bodies. For smaller dragons, once or twice per day is usually sufficient, but for Sgaeyl and me, anything under five times leaves us restless and aching. Ten times is better. So, yes, Silver One. I’m suffering from ‘blue balls’, as you called it. And it is intolerable.”

I bite my lip and look away, feeling bad for having laughed at him. This really isn't funny in any way. “But can’t you just...jerk off, or something? I don’t know. Rut against a tree, maybe?”

He lets out another huffing laugh. “That’s not how it works for us. Only another warm body will do.”

He comes closer still until my back hits the smooth wall of his scaled tail behind me. Without a warning, he opens his shields and foreign sensations flash through my mind, flooding it. Impressions of a thrumming tightness in my belly, of tingling limbs, yearning for the touch of the one that matters, insistent throbbing between my legs, so intense that it’s edging on pain.

After only one heartbeat, the sensations disappear as Tairn’s shields are back up again. But it still leaves my knees shaking, my head spinning, my hands fumbling for anything to hold on to.

“I—I’m so sorry,” I breathe, blinking to focus my vision again. “I…I had no idea…”

Tairn huffs again. “That was merely a memory. A memory of one of the times the shadow wielder got sent to a midland post for two days last year. If I were to let you feel how I feel now, it would tear your mind to shreds.”

A shiver runs down my spin at merely imagining it. How he must feel. He’s right, two years of this agony is too much.

“We have to do something.” I try to get back on my feet but still need to hold on to Tairn’s tail behind me, my knees still too wobbly to hold me. “Have to get them to change our orders. They can’t make you go through this. And not just you. How is Sgaeyl supposed to focus on fighting when she feels like this?”

“Your leadership won’t budge.”

He says it calmly, like it is just a simple fact, like stating the weather. And it is, I suppose. Because we both know they won’t.

“But you don’t need to worry about my mate’s safety—or the shadow wielder’s. Sgaeyl already found a solution.”

“She did?” I frown. “But I thought there is no other—”

“No other dragon, the mating bond is too sacred for that. But there’s another option.” Tairn’s tail moves behind me, gently pushing me closer to him again. “Another bond that’s equally sacred.”

I blink. There is no other dragon bond like the mating bond. Not between parents and their offspring, not even towards their elders. Nothing. The only other bond that might come close is—

My brain short-circuits.

No! No, that’s not possible. Tairn can’t mean…the bond between a dragon and rider? But that’s—

Soft calmness drowns my whirling thoughts, and even though I know it’s Tairn, I can’t fight against it. I’m not even sure I want to.

“Yes, Silver One. Our bond is the only one that rivals the mating bond, the only one that is equally strong. Equally important.”

“Okay, okay, stop there for a moment.” I hold my hands up as if I’d be capable of physically keeping Tairn from doing anything. “Our bond is strong, I get that. But what does that have to do with your current problem? I mean...It’s not like I could help you…blow off all that energy, or whatever.” I laugh, a little breathlessly. “I mean…all physical incompatibilities aside—”

And there are countless of those. It’s just impossible. Ludicrous. Insane. Just the idea of being in any form sexually involved with a fucking dragon, it’s…it’s… And just imagining what Tairn implied, that somehow Xaden and Sgaeyl… I shake my head, not to deny it but to clear it.

Because despite everything, the idea is not as disturbing as it should be.

“—I—I can’t do it. This. Whatever.” I take a deep breath. “I want to help you and I promise we’ll find a way. But I’m not going to go behind Xaden’s back. Or force you to go behind Sgaeyl’s.” And I won’t even be thinking about Tairn’s insinuations.

A low rumble sounds from Tairn’s chest, but it sounds more soothing than threatening. “I know, Silver One. I know your heart. But don’t you see? The four of us, we’re already linked, deeper and more intimate than physical relief can ever reach.”

The truth of his words sinks in quicker than I would have expected. Because he’s right, isn’t he? I’ve known it for months, ever since the night Oren attacked me in my sleep and Xaden brought me to the flight field, to this very spot. There’s a connection, not just between Tairn and me or Xaden and me. But also between Sgaeyl and me, between all four of us. We’re one.

“And…and you say Xaden and Sgaeyl already…” I switch back to talking mentally, a blush heating my cheeks. We might be alone out here, but I still wouldn’t want anyone to overhear this conversation.

“Yes, she told me when they were here,” Tairn growls, his mental voice rougher than usual, as if those memories alone set him off a few notches. A shudder runs through his powerful body, and I can’t blame him. Imagining it does things to me, too. “And in case you wonder why he didn’t tell you, it’s because he’s a coward,” Tairn adds with an amused huff. “Afraid of losing you again, or whatever. Because he still doesn’t see how hopelessly you’ve fallen for him.”

How unbreakable our bond is. Yeah, I get it. Xaden can be like this. The thought makes me smile.

But can I do this? Would he really understand? I only have Tairn’s word for it, and while I know he wouldn’t lie to me…

As I ponder, something else draws my attention. Something nudging against the edges of my consciousness. A message? No, a memory. A memory of me lying in my bed, deep asleep, exhausted from more orgasms than I could care to count. Xaden is leaning over me, brushing a kiss against my bare shoulder before he murmurs, “It’s okay.” Just these two words, out of context and without me even registering them. Except I did, this memory and its meaning planted into my mind for this very moment.

It’s okay.

Taking a deep breath, I refocus on the here and now, on Tairn all around me. “All right. How can I help you? What is it you need me to do?”

Chapter Text

Violet

I yelp as Tairn snatches me off the ground, apparently unwilling to wait for me to climb onto his back.

“So impatient.”

But I can’t really blame him. Now that I’ve agreed and accepted the idea—the idea of him fucking me. Gods, what am I doing?—I realise that…I want it, too. I always wanted it, I realise, just never allowed my thoughts to stray even remotely into that direction. But there’s just something about dragons, about their strength and size, the way they move, that…

A shudder runs down my spine as I let myself embrace all those forbidden ideas, and I’ve never been so glad about the chilled flight wind as I am now, my skin heating up in an instant. The flight takes a few minutes, bringing us well out of the vicinity of Basgiath, and it’s plenty enough time to have my head spinning, my stomach tightening with anticipation. I want it. I want it now.

We land in a wide clearing, the ground covered in soft green but that’s all I register as Tairn puts me down and then lands a small but safe distance away. The moment he settles, my focus shifts entirely to him, to what lies before us.

“And…what now?” I ask, my voice weak, high. Needy. Fuck, I’m already such a mess.

“Now,” Tairn grumbles into my mind, his mental voice sending a shiver down my spine. “You have a choice. About how you want it.”

“How?” I suppress a whimper as my body tightens.

Tairn hums, eyeing me intently. “I can make you forget who you are. Make you feel like a dragon feels.”

A wave of magic ripples off him, and my eyes are instantly glued to his form. The arc of his wings, the powerful lines of his flanks, his massive tail. All of it has me salivating. I want him above me, want his maw to hold my neck captive and my tail entwined with his as he—

I blink as reality shifts back into what I know.

“Or I can make you think this is something else entirely.”

Another ripple of magic and I’m not out in that clearing at all anymore. Instead, I’m in Aretia, in Xaden’s bed to be precise. My chest is tight with longing as Xaden prowls closer, his hungry eyes raking down my body. My naked body. And, Gods, do I want to feel every part of him against me. I want—

I shake my head, dispersing the illusion. I want Xaden, wish I could be with him at any moment of the day. But I want him for real, and not just a memory. Besides, right now, it’s something else I want anyway.

“No,” I breathe, looking up into Tairn’s golden eyes. “I want it real.”

A deep growl rumbles from Tairn’s chest, and from one moment to the next a need like no other floods my mind. Until now, it’s all just been me, my desire taking over all rational thoughts. But now, Tairn’s emotions are breaking through, his animalistic lust bursting the seams of his shields. Only minuscule tendrils break through, but even those are enough to make me delirious in an instant.

Momentarily, my knees buckle, and with a short needy gasp, I slump to the ground. A small part of my mind registers how soft the ground is, covered by a thick cushion of moss. But the far bigger part is focused on how my insides clench around nothing, almost painfully.

“Tairn!” I whimper, shaking with desire. “I…I need…”

“I know, Silver One,” Tairn growls into my head, sounding more like a groan than anything before. “Come here.”

I follow his command without any hesitation. No matter what happens now, I trust him.

On all fours, I crawl towards him, my eyes zeroing in on my goal. I’ve never seen Tairn’s cock before, but now it’s there, jutting out between his hind legs where he’s sitting on his haunches. And…it’s beautiful. Black like his scales at the base, it gradually turns more purple-ish towards the tip. His glans—if that’s what it’s called on a dragon—is not as round as a human’s but tapered at an uneven angle. Beneath it, hard ridges line his entire length all the way down to the base that appears to be a bit thicker, spongier.

But the closer I get, the more my heart sinks. He’s too big. Even though he’s by far not as big as he could be given Tairn’s general size, he’s still too big for me to take. The girth is just this side of too wide to reach around it with both of my hands, and if I were to stand before it, it would reach all the way up to my chin. And though part of that are his balls resting beneath the cock—so wide that my arms wouldn’t reach around one of them—there’s still no way this thing could ever fit inside me.

“Don’t worry,” Tairn growls, shifting so his cock juts out towards me at an angle. “It will work out.”

I shake my head. It’s impossible. But I’m incapable of words, can’t make my mind focus on such trivial things at the sight in front of me.

At the tip of Tairn’s monstrous length, a bead of liquid forms. It’s pearly white, all but iridescent and glowing in the light of the evening sun. And it’s impossible to resist.

With a low whine, I breach the last of the distance and press my mouth to it, desperate to lick that bead off. The moment it hits my tongue, the taste explodes in my mouth and everything else loses its meaning. It’s sweet and salty and sour all at the same time, a note of bitterness beneath making it addictive. I need more.

Eagerly, I move closer, licking and suckling at the tip, begging that there’s more. My hands press against the hard flesh beneath the tip, moving up and down, working his cock as best I can. The space around us is filled by my slurping and sucking noises, debauched and oddly enticing, accompanied by pleased rumbling from Tairn. Before long, a fresh bead of pre wells up, and it tastes even better still, making me groan around where I’m trying to fit as much of his tip into my mouth as I can.

It’s so good.

I want more.

I need more.

Feeling too hot, I get rid of my flight jacket and loosen the bindings of my corset, only pulling back briefly to get my tunic over my head. Even the warm summer air feels cool on my heated skin. I shed my trousers as well, unravel my bindings until no fabric covers my heated body anymore.

And I don’t even care that I’m entirely naked in the middle of this clearing now. All that matters is Tairn’s cock, the precious beads of precome I manage to suck out of him. How they roll over my tongue and make my entire body tremble. The pulsing heat in my veins, between my legs.

I don’t know how long I kneel there, sucking and moaning at every drop and pressing my entire body against his length. But eventually, Tairn’s patience runs out.

“That’s enough,” he growls, the muscles in his hind legs trembling. “You’re ready.”

I don’t know what he means, don’t really care about anything but the next droplet. But when he moves, pressing forwards, a spark of panic flares up in the roaring emptiness of my head.

No, he can’t push in deeper. I wish I could take more of him, want it like barely anything ever before, but I can’t. He’s simply too big, he’ll break my jaw, tear my skin and muscles apart, destr—

“It’ll be alright.”

Tairn’s words are like an order, impossible to fight against and forcing me to hold still as he pushes his cock deeper and deeper past my lips. My eyes fly wide as my mouth gets pushed open, wider than should be possible—yet nothing happens. There’s no snapping sound, no pain, no tearing or breaking. My body simply stretches to accommodate his monstrous cock. And yet…it doesn’t? I don’t know how this magic works, how it matches our sizes without truly distorting either too much. But it works. Amazingly.

It’s just barely enough for me to take him and still breathe, but I still feel the fullness of him inside me, how he stretches out my neck and how the ridges drag over my tongue and past it, deeper. I choke as he slides down my throat, almost gagging and tears leak from my eyes. And yet…

And yet I can’t remember ever feeling complete like this. Like being stuffed full of dragon cock was an essential piece of me that’s been missing until now. The thought is absurd and makes me chuckle, as best I can at least, and in return has Tairn letting out a pleased growl.

“How is this possible?” I ask, my mind strangely clearer now than it was before.

Tairn hums, using gentle motions to rock his cock—halfway inside me now—back and forth. “It’s the magic,” he all but purrs, and I just know he’s talking about the beads of pre. “It makes it work out. Stretching you or making me smaller, adjusting our bodies so it fits. I don’t know precisely. Does it even matter?” Pleased amusement swings in his mental voice, his rocking motions becoming a little broader, and I can only agree. In the end it doesn’t matter. All that matters is that I have him inside me.

And it feels spectacular.

I give myself over to his control. My hands and knees dig into the moss beneath me, but aside from that, I let Tairn do the work, pulling out and pushing back in at a slow pace. Just feeling the slide-tight-clench-fuck-yes! of every motion. My eyes rolled out of focus long ago, my sense of time evaporating. I just live in this moment, in this sense of fullness, between muscles contracting and giving.

I want it to last yet also want more. I want his full force, want him to fill me entirely. With every motion, my body clenches, wantingly, my sex dripping. I want…need…I…

When he pulls out—after a few seconds or a few hours, I can’t even tell—the emptiness hits me like a bucket full of icy water. Messily coughing up saliva, I heave in big lungfuls of air for a few seconds before it hits.

“Nngghhaaaaaaaaahh!” With a pained cry, I slump to the ground as the muscles in my lower belly cramp up. Fuck, fuck, fuck! I…I need… “Tairn!”

“Yes!” Tairn growls, sounding triumphant. “It’s time.”

Invisible bands of magic wrap around me, not unlike those he used to keep me on his back before the saddle, and before I know it, he’s turned me around so my backside points in his direction. I don’t have the strength to keep myself up, my muscles trembling and cramping with raging lust, my front all but sinking into the soft moss. I moan at the sensation of the cool moss sliding against my nipples, like the smoothest silk. But I can’t even focus on that for long as more bands of magic wrap around my hips, lifting them, pushing my knees apart. I probably should feel embarrassed, exposed, but all I feel is gleeful anticipation as Tairn’s body shadows me, my fingers twitching to clutch at the moss. Just anything to ground myself against what’s looming behind me.

“Silver One…”

Tairn’s voice sounds like a groan in my head, and something inside me clicks. Does he…want this? Me? Is this more to him than just ‘letting off steam’? A sensation like a mental nudge probes at my mind, and with a broken little moan, I push back against where I know Tairn’s hovering just behind my entrance.

Because this is more than just helping Tairn make it through this dry spell. For him and for me.

I let out a weak cry as his cock nudges against my sex, sliding through the slick wetness, back and forth. I’m nervous again, his size is massive. But I trust him, trust that it’ll work. When his tip catches on my entrance—finally—my eyes fly wide and my mouth drops open. He’s so big, so thick and long and hard and just—

“Relax,” Tairn huffs, something like a soothing touch caressing up and down my spine.

But that’s easier said than done, especially when he grows tense above me, when the pressure against my cunt grows, tighter, harder, until it gives. My cries turn louder as he slips into me, spreading me wide open around his girth. He’s so big—too big—filling my body within seconds. But he only pushes in deeper in slow measured thrusts, the magical bonds pulling me onto him.

I gasp and moan when those ridges drag against my insides, over and over, dragging over my G-spot in what feels like one never-ending flash of bliss.

He’s so deep that it feels like he’s past my belly button by now. Which makes no sense with him being halfway inside me already—he should be deeper. But still, there is no pain, no discomfort. Only pleasure, building, mounting, higher and higher.

“Oh…oh gods…” I mewl, my vision sliding out of focus.

Tairn chuckles, his entire body rumbling in a way that makes me go cross-eyed. “Your puny gods have no place in this.”

I can’t argue against that, not just because he’s right but mostly because even the last of my conscious thoughts get wiped from my head as he speeds up his shallow thrusts, his monstrous cock drilling deeper and deeper into me. Every ridge scrapes and drags along my insides, pushing me higher in ways I never knew were possible. With every movement, my body grows hotter, the coil of pleasure tighter. I can’t see, can’t speak, can’t hear. There is nothing but feeling, nothing but being little more than a sleeve for Tairn’s cock. And I love it.

A pleased growl rumbles in Tairn’s chest once he’s seated fully inside me, and he stops moving, only his cock twitching and pulsing eagerly.

And—fuck!—I’m a mess. I’m burning from the inside, tearing and breaking from how tense I am. My body is tight as a bow string, waiting for him to move, to ruin me completely.

“Look at you,” Tairn growls, giving minuscule thrusts that have me whimpering, teetering on the edge of madness. “Look how well you take me.”

I still have no control over my body, but Tairn’s command is absolute. Practically without my help, I push myself up on shaking arms, just enough to bend my neck and look down my body, and—

The sight—of Tairn’s cock bulging out my front all the way up to my sternum—shoves me into an orgasm in an instant. It comes out of nowhere, barrelling into me like a dragon in full flight, and it feels just as devastating. Pleasure sizzles up my spine and explodes in my head, the world momentarily flashing out of existence. My entire body clenches down on his massive cock, over and over, making me scream with every wave anew. It’s too much, too strong, too good. My hands tear at the moss, just anything, light exploding behind my eyes.

No, not behind my eyes.

It’s all around us, lightning crackling and thunder booming. Then even that doesn’t matter anymore as Tairn roars, then starts to move with purpose. I’m still riding the last waves of my orgasm as he pulls nearly all the way out of me and then plunges back in with such force that it leaves me no air to scream, no space to be.

All I am is this moment, this sensation, Tairn fucking into me with abandon.

. o O o .

Tairn

With one powerful roar, I let myself go.

After weeks of painful neglect, this is what I’m craving, what I need, what I am. Pure power, unquenchable lust.

My muscles shift, my claws digging for purchase, and then there’s no holding back anymore. Violet’s climax sealed the mating magic inside her, made her pliable to whatever I do, whatever I need.

And I need to fuck.

I throw my head back and howl at finally—finally—having a warm living body wrapped around my cock again. And I’m going to use it however long I need.

Muscles shift and move. In and out. Out and in again. Powerful! Deep! So fucking deep. Harder. Faster.

She is no dragon, doesn’t have the size and strength to compare, and yet...what I told her was the truth. Our bond runs deep, deeper than an ordinary bond between one of us and them. And with the mating magic in place now…

A growl rolls through my entire body as she’s thrown into a second climax right away, her body clenching down, so amazingly tight. I slow down, just a little, savouring the feeling of her clenching around my cock. True, she’s not Sgaeyl, but that doesn’t mean finally having her like this isn’t amazing. It’s what I’ve desired for months now.

I give her no time to recover, can feel that she doesn’t need it. No, she needs this just as much as I do, needs the heat and the power, to be consumed. Tightening my bonds to hold her in place, I fuck into her harder again. No holding back anymore.

Dragging my cock in and out of her, I let the time pass us by. I don’t even pay attention to how many times she cries out or tightens with yet another climax. We just exist in this moment, all lust and desire, the urge to let the fire consume us. More. Deeper. Faster. Never enough.

By the time the maddening buzzing inside me subsides and my muscles start to burn from exertion, the sun has long since set. Violet is a delirious mess, all thoughts having left her clever head long ago. Good; she needed this break just as much as I needed to finally let go of this tension. A shiver runs down my spine as I once again adjust my stance, hitting her deeper still, deep enough for my knot to be surrounded by her addictive tightness as well.

Oh, sweet fiery breath! I nearly lose control entirely as she squeezes around that sensitive part, my head swivelling left and right. The knot swells quickly, drawing another scream and climax from her, which only spurs me on even more. Instincts take over and I rut into her hot tightness. With my head thrown back and wings flared, nature takes its course. My knot swells further until I’m locked inside her, my balls growing painfully tight. And with a roar loud enough to shatter mountains, I come.

. o O o .

Violet

It’s long past nightfall when I regain my senses. Or something in that direction, at least. I’m naked but not cold, Tairn’s warm body curled around me. I feel sore but not in a way I’ve known before. And I feel heavy. Like I’m exhausted from far too much exercising, yet different. A weight dragging me down that I don’t recognise.

I try to move, to stand up or at least sit, but my muscles don’t obey me, just tremble weakly.

“Tairn?”

Even my tongue is too weak to form words.

Behind me, Tairn shifts, a low and oddly comfortable growl rumbling through him. His tail curls closer around us, one of his wings covering me like a roof.

“Everything is as it should be, Violet.”

I try to take his words as reassurance, despite how strange I feel, but then startle. “What did you call me?”

Something like a low chuckle vibrates through his body. “We’re mated now.”

I scoff. What, and before that, I wasn’t worth being called—being remembered—by name? But I let it slide as his words bring back the memories, the explanation to why I’m feeling so strange.

We’re mated now…

“So…that really happened, huh?” I probably should feel weird about it, but I simply…don’t. It feels exactly right, like something’s been missing until now.

Tairn shifts again, his head now bent to rest where he can look at me, and I marvel at how relaxed he now is compared to before. I apparently didn’t realise just how much his tension was buzzing in the back of my mind as well, not until it went away.

“Evidently, it did.”

There’s amusement in his voice, a hint of male pride maybe that makes me wonder. Curiously, I look around to see what he means, and gasp when I notice my own body. My very swollen, very round body.

“Oh, my…” I whisper, tentatively placing a hand on my round belly. It looks like I’m seven months pregnant.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Tairn huffs, amused. “We can’t reproduce, we’re not the same species.”

I roll my eyes. Of course, we can’t. “That doesn’t change how I look.” I throw back. “How am I supposed to go back to classes like this?”

“Don’t worry about that.” Tairn moves his head back into a more comfortable position. “Your body and the magic will have absorbed it by morning. Now rest. Your body needs it.”

I snort but spare us any comment. He’s right, after all.

Reassured, I settle back into a somewhat comfortable position, snuggled up against Tairn’s warm flank. “I don’t think I can do this ten times a day, though,” I send his direction as I’m about to drift back into sleep, and the last thing I hear is his quiet laughter in my mind.

“Don’t worry. Every two or three days will be enough.”

Oh, I’m fucked. But somehow, I don’t even mind.

Chapter Text

Xaden

It’s funny, in a way, I think to myself as I try to pay attention to Mira debriefing us. My girl is infamous for being the most ruthless and vicious dragon in all of our wings. And yet, the mental impression she’s giving me right now is more that of an overgrown cat nuzzling against my ankles for attention than anything else.

Behind me, Sgaeyl huffs, and I can’t fight the smile tugging at my lips.

“It’s not my fault I’m bored to death by the girl’s sister’s monologue,” she grumbles.

But she can’t fool me. “Yeah, and boredom is your only problem at this point, isn’t it?”

She growls, but there’s no bite in it, her true feelings more than obvious through our bond. I’ve been feeling her tension grow all day and know her pride is the only reason she didn’t drag me out into the woods the moment we returned from our patrol.

At that, Sgaeyl snarls, making the other two riders with me here take a few hasty steps away. “Don’t get cocky, boy.”

I grin inwardly, her threat falling flat. “But isn’t getting cock-y exactly what you’re desperate for me to be?”

This time, she makes a step towards us, stomping down so hard that the ground beneath us vibrates. It’s enough to let even Mira grow a little pale.

“All right, that’s it,” she finishes with a glance up at Sgaeyl’s bared teeth, probably a little earlier than she would have otherwise; I wasn’t paying attention anymore. “You’re dismissed for today. Don’t forget to get enough rest.”

The other two riders leave towards the gate, their dragons taking off in a rush, but Mira stays where she is, watching me as I linger. “You have something else to do?” she asks, suspicion clear in her mind.

I shrug. On most other days, her worries would have been dead on, but today, I don’t even have to lie. “I’ll take Sgaeyl for another flight. She’s restless without her mate and needs to burn through some of her energy.”

Mira’s face wrinkles at the reminder of how Violet and I are bound to each other but then just nods. “I see. I’d tell you to be careful should you stay out after nightfall, but…” She waves her hand at me.

A scoff. “Yeah, I’ll be fine. Everything’s under control.”

She nods, then turns with a wave of her hand and jogs off.

“You really think you’re in control?” Sgaeyl huffs as she just waits for me to reach her back and flies off before I’m fully seated.

It’s only my bands of shadows that keep me from being thrown off, and I can’t help but grin. “Am I not?”

. o O o .

We fly for about half an hour before we reach our goal—a new record; my girl must be especially needy tonight. It’s an abandoned hut with a small clearing next to it, hidden amidst the mountains. Over the last couple of years, Garrick and I’ve made some repairs and often use it to store weapons before delivering them to Syrena. But lately, the well-concealed field became useful in an entirely different way.

After we land, Sgaeyl barely waits for me to jump off her back before she turns her backside towards me, her tail halfway raised, and sways her hips left and right. It should be a funny sight, a dragon wiggling their ass in invitation. But before I can do so much as grin, she opens the bond between us a little wider, drawing my attention entirely away from reality. It's like an additional door, letting me into her mind. Or at least the edges of it. Once I step through that door, I’ll somewhat lose the connection to myself, and as always, I hesitate. It’s such an eerie feeling. Not bad, just…

Sgaeyl lets out a growl, her impatience growing. “Xaden!” she implores.

Down to my name already, seems like we’re getting right into it. Taking a deep breath, I close my eyes and step through that mental door, leaving my body behind as my mind drifts, becoming one with the power Sgaeyl channels. From one moment to the next, I’m everywhere and everything at once. I’m the shadows creeping in from underneath my feet and every blade of grass, from all around Sgaeyl. But I’m also her, seeing what she sees, feeling what she feels. There’s the scent of smoke in the air, a bonfire in the village on the other side of the mountain, a flock of birds disappearing in the distance. And the lust.

This always hits the hardest. I thought I knew what desire was until Sgaeyl let me into her mind for the first time when she couldn’t bear it anymore. Feeling like a dragon is like the raging ocean to a calm lake when compared to human emotions. So I don’t let her wait and give her what she needs. How could I not?

All around us, the shadows rise as the sun sets, waiting for my command. They wind around Sgaeyl’s legs, up and up, around her torso, holding her in place. It’s what she wants, what she needs from this. If it gets too much, she can push me out of her mind and back into my body again. But until now, that never happened, so I just do what makes her feel good.

Sgaeyl lets out a low growled groan as one shadow winds around her long neck, just a little tighter than would be comfortable, and the flash of need that sizzles through our bond would have brought me to my knees if my body still mattered.

“Naughty girl,” I hum, letting the band of shadows tighten just a tiny bit more around her neck. But I know this is not the time to play, not with how pent-up she is. So I let the shadows move further, restraining her movements until she has barely any room left. Then another shadow winds around her tail all the way from the base to just beneath the edged tip, squeezing it, and a shiver runs through me as she bellows out a needy cry. Who would have guessed that dragon tails would be so sensitive?

I let my powers flow, let them move on their own volition all around us. With my shadows like a whirling mess of limbs around her, I see and feel everything, how her muscles tremble in anticipation, how she jerks within her restraints. And how that fold right beneath her tail finally opens.

I groan as one solid tendril of shadows slides against it. Or is it Sgaeyl’s groan? I can’t even tell, just know that I feel it all, her pleasure as those shadows tease her before slowly spreading her open, but also the tightness of her around that shadow-cock, how incredibly hot she is.

It makes the last traces of my control slip away until I’m barely more than a conduit for her desire, guiding the shadows by pure instinct alone, everything for her pleasure—and by extension my own. It’s more reflex than anything else when that shadow-cock pushes in deeper, sliding in and out, to make it as solid and ridged as possible. Pushing deeper, spreading her wider. The ridges dragging along her sensitive insides. It’s a heady feeling, so strange yet powerful, the pleasure from it all-consuming.

Triumph washes through me as I reach that spot inside her that makes my girl all but whimper, a sound I’ve never before heard from a dragon. But it’s there, in the high keening sound, in the way she bends her neck within my hold, in her trembling flanks. And I take advantage of it without mercy.

Her noises grow louder, higher, as I keep my attention on that spot with every stroke, grinding and flicking against it. It doesn’t take long before her massive body becomes tight with coiled tension, until her impending orgasm tears down the last bits of my restraints.

I think I’m shouting with her as she comes, squeezing so fucking tight around my shadow, her pleasure flooding everything I am as if it was my own. And where I would at least slow down a little if I were with Violet, her pleasure simply demands that I keep going. That I go harder, faster. Deeper. So that’s what I’m doing. What the shadows do to both of us.

I have no say anymore as they fuck her, as they slam into that spot without holding back. I’m just pleasure, hers, mine, I don’t know, only follow instincts as the shadows grow more solid around her. Like gigantic wings folding her in, keeping hers pinned to her sides.

Sgaeyl howls as those shadow wings rub against her own, not the same as Tairn’s, not the same leathery slide, but good enough. She’s vibrating with the rise of her next climax, and when it comes, it’s even more intense than the first, sweeping me away as she bellows her pleasure into the night.

Once it’s over, her body falls limb in my hold, but I know she has one more in her. So I don’t grant her any break, just ramp up the thrusts, hard and deep. Pushing her to full lasting satisfaction. I think the shadows do something more inside her, something extra to that spot that makes her writhe and jerk this way and that, has her roaring with every thrust. I even hear her babbling in my mind, but I can’t understand it. Is this the dragon tongue? Or am I just too far gone to comprehend her words? I don’t know, don’t care, just know that the increasing urgency in her tone, the sense of pleading and begging, seems to resonate with my shadows. Their movements turn wilder, faster, a writhing mess. Frantic. Beautiful.

I think Sgaeyl shouts my name as she’s thrown into her third climax. But I barely have enough consciousness left to register it as I explode with her pleasure, my mind scattering. It’s too strong, too much, endless bliss, sweet torment. And with every wave of her orgasm, it only becomes more.

. o O o .

I don’t know how much time passes before Sgaeyl nudges me back into my body and head. She’s gentle, all things considered, but it’s still jarring, and I can’t suppress the shout rising from my chest. My body feels so tight around me, confining, my head throbbing with how dull my senses seem.

But even this momentary discomfort is not enough to distract me from the other sensations. I might have experienced the overwhelming pleasure of three orgasms, but that doesn’t mean my body found relief as well.

“F-fuck!” I curse through gritted teeth as I find myself on my hands and knees, my cock hard and throbbing like barely ever before. I apparently already took off my clothes, though when and how, I don’t remember. All I know is that all my muscles are locked tight with the tension and lust raging through me, that my arms and legs are shaking so much I can barely hold myself up, and that my cock is so sensitive even the wind brushing against it almost feels like too much.

“Sgaeyl…”

I’m not even sure what I want her to do, my mind still scattered and my thoughts unconnected. All I know is that I need something to happen, that I need her help, that I…

A low hum rolls from Sgaeyl’s chest, vibrating in the ground beneath me, and she snakes her long neck around from where she’s lying a couple feet away until her head is behind me. Before I can comprehend what she’s up to, her tongue slides between my legs and along my cock, and I cry out, unable to hold back.

Fuck, this feels…It’s too much, too intense, yet at the same time I think I might die should she stop. Whimpering, I can only endure as my hips move on their own accords, grinding against her wonderfully rough and solid tongue, just damp enough to provide the perfect kind of friction. I…fuck, I’m gonna…

Through our bond, I feel more than hear Sgaeyl’s chuckle, lazy and content, before she pulls back, leaving me desperate. “N-no, don’t you dare,” I gasp, my fingers digging into the grass.

“I told you not to get cocky,” she all but sing-songs, and I’ve never wanted to strangle a dragon like I want now. “But don’t worry. You helped me out and I’ll do the same for you.”

Her tongue is back against my skin in an instant. But before I can feel any sort of relief about that fact, I gasp a moan and my eyes fly wide. She’s not licking along my cock this time but over my ass, her tip teasing against my hole.

And—fuck!—does it feel good.

There’s a sense of excitement vibrating through our bond, smug satisfaction, but I can’t even feel indignation as her rough tongue slides against me over and over, my body growing even tighter.

“Relax,” she hums into my mind, amusement ringing beneath. “It’ll be easier that way.”

I would have laughed if I could. Relaxing; easier said than done. But I see her point and at least try to relax as she pokes against my entrance, gentle—for now—but persistent.

I can’t help but moan, strangely high-pitched, as Sgaeyl finally pushes the tip of her tongue past that tight ring. The sensation is intense, definitely pleasant yet still strange, and I’m pretty sure my arms would have given beneath me, letting me face-plant, if it weren’t for the bands of magic holding me in position all of a sudden. But I can’t even react—laugh or complain, whatever—to her reversing our situation. Not when the sensation of her inside me, the stretch and the rough slide, feels so insanely fucking awesome.

“Sgaeyl…” I moan, my eyes rolling out of focus as she moves inside me, slowly, in and out. Before long, my cock is leaking pre into the grass, and my mind is a pure mess of ‘fuck-yes-there-more-deeper-FUCK!‘ Especially when she finds a spot inside me that has me shouting, that feels like I might come instantly.

“Nggh, fuck!” I shout, going cross-eyed, my cock twitching. Then all coherent words leave my head as Sgaeyl chuckles, the vibrations intensifying the sensation. Then she tongue-fucks me for real.

Every thrust sends me screaming, every slide against that spot shouting until there’s no difference anymore. With her magic, she’s moving my body to help her along, and I’m helpless to let her do it. Fuck, as if I wanted it any other way.

I reach for my cock when it’s getting too much, gritting my teeth against the over-sensitivity, and stroke it in time with Sgaeyl’s tongue thrusting into me. My screams turn louder, I think, but there’s no way I could stop it now, could pause, could go slower. I feel it building inside me, feel the tension coil impossibly tight, my body locking down.

When the orgasm hits me, it feels like a blast, like an explosion. Pleasure erupts, setting every nerve in my body on fire. I spurt into the grass beneath me, once, twice, three times. On and on, my body keeps contracting as Sgaeyl keeps pushing for more, more waves of pleasure, more insanity.

When it’s over, I just manage to roll to the side and then lie there in the grass, gasping and trembling, my entire body twitching with the aftershocks. What…what the fuck…?

In my head, I hear Sgaeyl chuckle, amused satisfaction radiating from her as she stretches her neck and then curls her massive body around me.

“That…that was…” I mumble, having difficulties forming words. My mind feels like scrambled eggs.

“…only fair,” Sgaeyl hums. “I wouldn’t want this to be just a one-sided mating.”

Mating…

She’s used that word before, and we also already talked about it, but it still feels…strange. Being mated to a dragon? Something like that simply doesn’t happen. Especially not in this strange four-way entanglement we have now.

And yet, here we are.

Giving myself time, I sit up, slowly, and rest my back against her warm flank. “Do you really think it’ll be okay? That she…” I can’t even finish the sentence, not even in my head. I know there was no other way to help Sgaeyl and I always would do it again. Not least because it’s amazing, but mostly because there’s no way I could leave my girl hanging. But if Violet isn’t on board with this…

“Don’t worry,” Sgaeyl sighs sleepily. “I felt Tairn’s emotions the other day. It’ll all be fine, just like I told you.”

It takes a few moments before her words sink in, the meaning beneath them.

I startle. “So she and Tairn…? Really?” I already knew this was going to be happening if Sgaeyl was right. But still, knowing it did, imagining it…

I gulp. The images in my head are far too surreal to give them more space. And too intriguing.

Overall, I’m mostly relieved, though. On one hand because this means that Violet really is on board with this arrangement. And on the other…because I don’t feel the slightest spark of jealousy. I know how this, being mated to a dragon—loving a dragon—doesn’t change my love for Violet. And I trust her, trust that it’ll be the same for her.

Sgaeyl huffs. “That’s right. Good boy,” she teases.

I roll my eyes. “Yeah, whatever.” Grimacing, I push myself up on strangely shaky legs. “But we should head back now before someone comes looking for us after all.” I put my clothes back on, then ignore Sgaeyl’s chortling as it takes me three tries before I manage to get on her back.

“I can’t wait for when we have more time,” she sighs as we glide past the mountains and back to our outpost.

“Yeah, me too.”

Only one week. Then Violet and Tairn are due for their four days off. Then I can finally see her again, can hold her in my arms. Talk to her. About everything.

I can’t wait.