“I just…didn’t know if I’d be as interesting without that primal need pulling at you. This last week has been great, but I didn’t know how much of that was real and how much was…your dragon, basically.”
“All of it was real, and half of it was my bloody dragon riding me. The fucking bastard is getting out of control.”
“Why all of a sudden?”
He tensed. “Because he senses what the future…might hold, and he has clearly forgotten what we’re up against. There is not a magnanimous bone in his big, scaly body. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. We’re not worried about the future. We’re focusing on the present.” He leaned down to kiss me, and then his voice reduced to a whisper. “Why didn’t you come to me this morning?”
“I woke up with you. What do you mean?”
“When you found out. When you felt the loss and sadness. Why didn’t you come to me for comfort?”
I stared up into his golden, sunburst eyes, so beautiful. So expressive. I didn’t know what to say. That had been the furthest thing from my mind, and not just because I feared how he’d take it. I’d never had anyone to go to for comfort. That wasn’t something my life had ever afforded. I dealt with things blow by blow, and I trucked on. That was all I’d ever known.
He clearly read the confusion and stroked his fingertips down my cheeks. “We may not officially be mates, but let me fill that role for you. When you need help or comfort, or a punching bag, come to me. I’ll never turn you away. Okay? We’re in this together.”
My emotions betrayed me again and tears leaked from my eyes. I ran my hand down his chest. “I’m not out of commission for vigorous fucking if you don’t mind a midmorning bath…”
He scooped me up into his arms. “The villages can wait an hour.”
While they did wait an hour that day, they could wait. Their time of sickness had come to an end. We worked long days, training people to care for the everlass and make the nulling elixir, teaching them who to treat with the crowded elixir.
More time passed.
In the beginning, I was the only one making the crowded elixir. A few other experienced healers and plant workers tried it and killed their patients. But a few unlikely villagers proved surprisingly adept at it, one of them Dash. He tried it on three people behind Hannon’s back and cured them. All of his learning from me, plus a natural propensity for gardening, had allowed him to shine despite his age. I hated putting the burden on his shoulders, but there were so few who could make the crowded elixir that we had no choice. He was happy for that fact.
Two months went by. When Nyfain tried to do too much, working day and night, I forced him to go to bed and sleep. I certainly didn’t need him as protection. After a couple of weeks, I was receiving big smiles whenever I entered a village, followed by stories of how the elixir had cured a sister, father, aunt, or grandfather. Children ran through the Forbidden Wood in the daytime to the nearest everlass fields, pruning and tending, as I’d taught them. Singing songs and helping.
The demon-be-gone elixir was also in high demand. In some villages, everyone who went out after a certain time was mandated to take it. If they wanted to get it on with a demon, so be it, but they’d do it with a clear head.
Alcohol sales went through the roof.
Nyfain and I basically shared the tower room. I’d fall into the covers in a heap, only to wake up when he slid in beside me in the wee hours of the morning. His big arm would pull me into his warm, strong body, smelling fresh and clean from a hasty washup. I’d snuggle in close, curling into him, and inevitably feel his hard length pulsing against my bare flesh. The slightest wiggle of acceptance, and he’d thread his large cock deep into my suddenly wet depths.
Most nights, I gave that wiggle.
Occasionally, when he’d had a tougher night than usual and his dragon was closer to the surface, his teeth would scrape my neck or shoulder. Sometimes they’d even dig in, nearly drawing blood, and a new sort of feeling would tingle across my heated flesh. Like little prickles digging down, sending a strange sort of electric pulse through my body. It was always over too soon, and shortly thereafter we’d come together in a tangle of limbs.
When I woke up for the day, only a scant few hours later, more often than not we’d have another session.
Even after a couple months, I still could not get enough of him. Each lovemaking session was better than the last. Each conversation felt like it could go on forever. Our animals were still major assholes, though, always pushing for more. They wanted to seal the deal.