Agatha

Our kiss turned searing, passion igniting between us. Under the water, I felt the insistent press of his erection against my belly. I was no blushing virgin, but the girth of his shaft made me wonder if I could take him.

In an instant he'd pulled away the fabric and boldly, I gripped his length, my fingers barely meeting around the thick root. He groaned into my mouth, large hands roaming my slick skin, cupping my ass possessively.

His lips blazed a trail down my wet throat. "I want to give you what you need," he rumbled, the words vibrating against my pulse.

"Yes," I breathed. "Please."

"Not here." In one fluid motion, he scooped me into his arms and carried me to shore, laying me down on a bed of soft moss.

I stretched out, eyeing his impressive cock with a mix of excitement and trepidation. But instead of covering me with his bulk, Norsuk slid down my body, settling between my parted thighs.

Wickedly sharp claws grazed my knees, my calves, raising goosebumps in their wake. Then he gripped my right foot, strong fingers kneading the arch.

"What are you—" The question died on a gasp as he pressed a kiss to my instep.

"You have pretty feet, Agatha." His deep voice sent shivers racing up my spine. He lavished attention on my left foot, massaging firmly.

"How did you know?" I managed, writhing under his sensual onslaught.

His dark chuckle vibrated against my skin. "The way you squirmed when I checked your injuries— I noticed."

Then he sucked my big toe into the wet heat of his mouth and I nearly levitated off the ground. "Oh my god..." Pleasure streaked like lightning to my core, my hips undulating restlessly. He worked both feet in tandem, reducing me to a trembling, mewling mess.

Almost of their own volition, my fingers crept to my aching sex, seeking relief. At the first brush of my fingertips over the swollen bundle of nerves, I detonated, my climax ripping through me with the force of an earthquake.

Norsuk drank in the sight of me pleasuring myself, pupils blown wide and dark. Gripping my ankles, he bent my knees back, spreading me open completely. But he nudged my hand away, replacing it with his wicked tongue.

I keened high in my throat, fisting my hands in his hair. "Yes, right there..."

He lapped my clit mercilessly, the pressure exquisite. I could scarcely believe this fierce warrior, this deadly predator, had uncovered my deepest secret. No one had ever paid such intimate attention to my feet before. The taboo thrill only heightened my arousal.

Coiled tension built at the base of my spine, my legs shaking. Norsuk redoubled his efforts, sucking hard as he worked two thick fingers into my trembling sheath. I froze for a moment, terrified about his claws, then relaxed at the realization he must have sheathed them, and let myself go once again, drowning in pleasure.

Curling his fingers just so, he found the hidden spot within me and stars exploded behind my eyes.

Pleasure knifed through my body, whiting out my vision. I tossed my head back and forth, mindless sounds spilling from my lips. Just when I thought I couldn"t take any more, he closed his teeth ever so carefully over my throbbing clit and I shattered completely.

Rapture crashed over me in endless waves, obliterating any semblance of restraint. My world narrowed to the electric drag of his tongue, the delicious fullness of his fingers buried inside me. I lost myself to the maelstrom, letting it strip me bare and rebuild me anew.

Even as wereached the city gates, my nerve endings buzzed with aftershocks. I felt drunk on endorphins, giddy and flushed. Twining my fingers with Norsuk"s, I practically skipped beside him.

"It"s beautiful here. Magical, even."

I expected a sardonic quip, but he surprised me with a lopsided smile. "Certainly different." His rugged features hardened slightly. "But we have no idea what might lurk inside. There must be a reason this place is abandoned. Stay alert."

Easier said than done with my brain still pleasantly sex-fogged. I gave myself a mental shake, trying to focus.

The second we crossed the threshold, signs of decay leapt out at us from all sides. Crumbling stone, collapsed roofs, riotous overgrowth of those strange pale vines. The once-great city had fallen into disrepair, abandoned to the ravages of time.

"Was that...kinky, what we did back there?" I asked abruptly, needing to fill the loaded silence. "Weird, I mean?"

Norsuk shot me an unreadable look. "You enjoy having your feet touched. So what? We both had fun."

That was an understatement. I still couldn"t quite wrap my head around the intensity of the experience, how wholly he"d mastered my body. Sex had always been mediocre at best—some sweaty grappling and grunting in the dark. But that...

Norsuk sighed, the sound edged with frustration. "I"m not seeing any obvious way to the surface. We"re much deeper than those mine tunnels."

"Maybe one of the buildings along the cavern wall has a passage, some kind of elevator?" I mused. "Whoever built this place must have needed to come and go."

"Possible. Or they were entirely self-sufficient down here." He raked a hand through his hair, glowering at the alien architecture. "Guess we keep searching."

Carefully, we picked our way through the rubble, the only sound the gentle burbling of running water. An oblong pool came into view, the musical tinkle of the small fountain stirring sense-memories that made me shiver.

"Where"s all the water coming from?" I asked, determinedly pushing those erotic images aside. "It"s so clean and fresh."

"Same source as the lake, I"d wager. There"s likely an aquifer in the chamber above us, supplied by a surface seep. The builders harnessed the flow to power these water features."

I noticed a low wall punctuated by graceful arches, what looked like cultivated plants spilling through the gaps. "Aqueducts, maybe? For irrigation?"

He shook his head. "Too unstable. We should head for the city center, look for a defensible shelter."

Something about the quality of light nagged at me as we walked. A specific ultraviolet frequency, perhaps, emitted by the korun crystals? If the builders" physiology was drastically different from ours, they might have favored crops that thrived under those unique conditions.

Crossing an eerily barren stretch of soil that divided the inner and outer districts, we passed beneath a soaring archway of glossy black stone. Pinpricks of light danced across the polished surface, reminiscent of stars against a midnight sky.

Here, the buildings soared to even more dizzying heights, the architecture taking on a surreal, almost dreamlike quality. Delicate flying buttresses linked cylindrical towers, geodesic domes bloomed from tapered spires, immense skeleton frames of some copper-bright metal twisted in Escher-esque loops and whorls.

I craned my neck, mouth falling open in awe. "It"s breathtaking."

"It is," Norsuk agreed, the words strangely intense. "But only because you"re here to see it with me."

Heat rushed to my cheeks and I ducked my head, giving his wing a playful swat. "Flatterer."

We wound our way deeper into the labyrinth of streets, each turn revealing new marvels. Gradually, I became aware of an insistent brightness stinging my eyes, washing out the cool tones of the korun lamps.

"There!" A thick column of pure, blinding radiance shot up from the city"s heart, making me shield my face. It looked for all the world like a pillar of captured sunlight, wreathed at the base by lush vegetation. Broad leaves the size of dinner platters, clusters of buttery flowers in every conceivable shade of gold and amber.

"Some kind of solar collector," I breathed, squinting against the glare. "But how is it funneling light from the surface? The shaft would have to be perfectly straight, with a colossal series of lenses and mirrors..."

"I have a sudden urge to sunbathe," Norsuk deadpanned. "Want to work on our tans?"

Despite the dire circumstances, a hiccuping laugh burst from my lips. Trust him to cut through the tension with bone-dry humor.

The light made it difficult to judge the cavern"s true dimensions, the top vanishing into a haze of brightness. Shading my eyes, I counted at least four other towers, placed at geometrically significant intervals. If I tilted my head, the pattern almost resolved into a glyph, a complex rune heavy with alien meaning...

Norsuk"s voice dragged me out of my reverie. "We need a vantage point. I"m going to try to fly up, get our bearings."

I whirled to face him, eyes wide. "Already? But your wings are so new! What if you?—"

"I"ll be fine," he cut me off gruffly. "Just stand clear."

Biting my lip, I backed up several paces, heart in my throat as he unfurled the great golden sails. The first downstroke kicked up a whirlwind of dust and debris, the displaced air buffeting me like a mini cyclone.

Norsuk"s face contorted with effort, tendons jumping in his neck as his upper body rippled and flexed. Pectorals, lats, delts—a dozen bands of cable-thick muscle writhing beneath the iridescent scales. It was raw power given form, primal and savage in its beauty.

For a breathless moment, nothing happened, Norsuk straining against gravity"s iron shackles. Then, slowly, ponderously, his feet lifted off the ground.

One beat. Two. Three. Each wrenching surge of his wings drove him a little higher, sweat pouring down his contorted features. He angled into a banking turn, fighting for lift, and managed a single halting circuit of the nearest tower complex before all but crashing on a relatively flat rooftop.

Leaning heavily on his knees, he sucked in great whooping lungfuls of air, visibly trembling with exhaustion. I called up to him, trying to bite back my worry. "That looked... difficult. Are you all right?"

"Hells beneath," he gasped, "I had no idea... how much strength it takes. Everything aches." Gingerly, he rotated his shoulders, wincing. "Hells of a workout, though."

Despite myself, I grinned up at him. "Maybe you should take it easy, stick to the buddy system until you build up some wing stamina."

"Trying to cramp my style already?" He arched a sardonic brow. "And here I thought you liked my wild, untamed side."

I held up my hands in mock-surrender. "Fine, but don"t come crying to me when you faceplant in the middle of the plaza."

Norsuk just snorted, the effect somewhat spoiled by his full-body flinch as he shakily spread his pinions once more. With a run and a mighty thrust of sinewy thighs, he launched himself off the parapet and glided awkwardly to the ground. The impact buckled his knees and he had to windmill his arms wildly to avoid toppling into me.

"I thought dragons were supposed to be graceful," I teased, resisting the urge to steady him. The stubborn male wouldn"t appreciate my coddling.

He shot me a withering look. "This dragon is still learning to fly, woman. Cut me some slack."

"I suppose I can"t expect perfection." Stretching up on my toes, I pressed a kiss to his stubbled jaw, reveling in the rasp against my lips. "Good thing you have other talents to make up for any aerial shortcomings."

His eyes darkened, hands flexing at his sides. "Careful, or I"ll be tempted to show you just how deep those talents run."

I opened my mouth—to issue a challenge or a plea, I wasn"t sure—but my growling stomach chose that moment to make itself loudly known. Norsuk blinked down at my midsection as if it had personally offended him.

"When was the last time you ate? Hells, when was the last time either of us had a proper meal?" He raked a hand through his hair, scowling. "I haven"t been thinking clearly."

"Hey, no worries. We can worry about food after we find a marginally less freaky place to crash for the night."

A thought struck me and I paused, brow furrowing. "Actually, that might be easier said than done. I"m not sure this city was built by beings who think like us. Or perceive reality as we do."

At Norsuk"s quizzical look, I gestured helplessly to the nearest architecture. "Look closer. See how there are no straight lines or right angles? How the ground isn"t flat, just cleverly camouflaged to fool our brains?"

Comprehension dawned on his face and he muttered an oath under his breath. "Explains why staring at it too long makes me dizzy. Nothing is as it seems."

"Exactly. This place follows its own internal logic, some higher-dimensional math beyond human keen."

"Dizziness aside, we need shelter. And the outer rings are too unstable—we should stick close to the solar towers."

I nodded reluctantly. "At least the light"s warm. Might help keep any nasties at bay, too."

Norsuk"s expression turned distant. "I wonder... have you noticed the utter lack of large fauna down here? Barring those white hell-beasts, I mean."

A shiver walked down my spine at the memory of the vicious pack. "I"ve been trying very hard not to think about it, thanks."

"One would expect a thriving ecosystem in a self-contained biosphere like this. Megafauna to keep smaller species in check, a robust predator-prey balance."

"But instead we have a handful of relatively benign critters barely eking out an existence," I mused. "Almost like..."

"...something wiped out everything else," Norsuk finished grimly. "Or drove them into hiding."

We lapsed into uneasy silence, the implications hanging thick in the air between us. Suddenly, the city"s cavernous streets took on a more sinister cast, long shadows pooling like spilled ink.

Wordlessly, Norsuk took my hand in his much larger one, the warmth of his touch an anchor against the icy unease in my gut. With unspoken accord, we drifted away from the clusters of towers at the city"s heart, aiming for a less unsettling section of the settlement.

Near the perimeter wall, a dense thicket of flowering vines caught my eye, deep purple fruits hanging heavy and ripe amid the leaves. My mouth watered at the sight, stomach pinching with renewed hunger. The plants looked well-tended, not choked with pale deadwood like the gardens outside. A good sign, right?

Checking that Norsuk was occupied scanning the skyline, I snagged one of the plump fruits and took an experimental bite. Ambrosia burst over my tongue, the flesh firm and sweet with just a hint of tartness. I barely suppressed a moan, devouring the rest in three quick bites and reaching for another.

"One thing we absolutely cannot do," Norsuk growled without turning around, "is start sampling the local flora. We have no way of knowing if anything here is compatible with our vastly different biologies."

Guiltily, I gulped down my current mouthful, wiping the incriminating juices on my sleeve. Then inspiration struck. Clutching my throat, I let my knees buckle, hamming up a dramatic swoon.

"Agatha!" In a flash, Norsuk was at my side, eyes wild with panic as he caught me in his strong arms. "What is it? What"s wrong?"

I let myself dangle limply for a moment, fighting the urge to grin. Oh, but I was wicked. Peeking up at him through my lashes, I took a large, crunchy bite of fruit, chewing with relish.

Norsuk"s expression morphed from stricken to murderous in the space of a heartbeat. "You conniving little minx," he snarled, giving me a small shake. "You nearly scared the scales off me!"

Unable to maintain the ruse any longer, I collapsed into gales of laughter, clutching my stomach as I kicked my feet weakly. "You should have seen your face."

Norsuk glowered down at me, but I noticed the corners of his mouth twitching. "You"re going to pay for that, you know. I"ll think of a suitable punishment... maybe a good spanking."

Wiping tears of mirth from my eyes, I held out the half-eaten fruit in supplication. "Here, call it a peace offering. This thing is divine, I swear."

Expression still stormy, Norsuk leaned in and took a deliberate bite, his lips brushing my fingers. Slowly, he chewed, face going slack with bliss. "Hells. That"s actually pretty incredible."

"Told you." I polished off my own illicit snack, savoring the last burst of sweetness. "I wonder if there are any more of the trees nearby. I could go for a whole bushel of these babies."

Norsuk snorted, but his eyes were warm as they met mine. "Let"s not push our luck. I"d rather not discover the hard way these fruits have some kind of freaky side effect after all."