Crystal

I've gone from a gentle doze I was unable to stop overwhelming me to being awakened by a huge, dead, six-legged deer and Drelix covered in the purple blood of the poor creature.

He. Is. Naked.

Very, very naked.

And, boy, he is easy on the eyes. But also…no junk? I mean, I know I'm not exactly a space veteran, and my time on Station X42 has introduced me to a myriad of species, but not his.

I know which ones to avoid (Habosu, Bognarok, Drahon) and I know which ones are generally friendly (Jiaka, Oykig, Lepke, Bosszanto), and which ones make good marks (Belek). But I've never encountered a Sarkarnii, or even heard of them.

And given how big, clawed, and fanged he is, that surprises me a little. After all, it seems at some point, whether they want to or not, everyone ends up at Station X42. Except, it seems, not the Sarkarnii.

However, I'm letting my brain sidetrack me. What I need to be dealing with is the congealing corpse and the blood-soaked, naked Drelix who has a look of confusion on his face. Which is marginally better than the mask of annoyance he wore when he left in a huff.

Like it was my fault he got stuck here. I didn't ask him to get involved in my dispute with the Habosu or to take me prisoner and crash me onto a moon.

I fold my arms.

He huffs out a great stream of smoke and a couple of embers.

"Woah! What the hell?" I jump back and immediately regret my actions as my leg gives way and I'm yet again…in Drelix's arms.

"Get off. You're sticky." I scrabble at his scales. "And you're on fire."

"I am Sarkarnii. We can make fire and change our form," he says, those stunning eyes studying my face.

"Change your form?" There's a creeping realization stealing through me.

The thing I thought was a nightmare, some sort of fever dream, the thing with teeth and wings.

"Dragon!" I squirm more. "That was you!"

Drelix grins down at me, all of his confidence returned. "I've heard humans call us dragons before. Do I scare you, little morsel?"

I finally manage to wriggle free of him. "I can't be scared of anything so sticky," I blast, scrubbing at my face before attempting to hobble backwards.

I can't. I can't move without searing pain. Instead I sink to the floor with a pathetic whine, hating myself for being so useless, so unable to get away from this half insane monster.

"Is it bad, little human?" A velvet and sin voice drips in my ear.

I nod and sob at the same time.

Drelix nuzzles at my neck as he slowly unwraps the bandages around my calf. I want to recoil. I want my body not to react to him, given he is both covered in blood and far too free with catching me when I fall.

My leg is a nasty mottled green and blue with a large gash down my muscle. I feel sick.

"You need more venom," Drelix says in his delicious voice.

"Venom? When did I have venom?"

"My rut…I am able to produce a venom which aids in healing, but I used it directly on the wound, and I believe you require it directly."

My hands are shaking as I try not to look at my leg.

"How do you know your venom didn't do this?" I ask, unable to keep the tremble from my voice.

"Your wound is healing. It is the flesh around it which has been damaged by the disruptor," Drelix says.

Fuck! The disruptor! In everything which has happened, I'd almost forgotten about the illegal weapon. The one which got me into this mess in the first place.

I feel light-headed.

"What do you suggest?" I ask weakly.

"You let me administer the venom as it should be done."

"And how is that?"

"With a bite."

"No." I rear away from him.

Drelix doesn't move from his position on the floor with me. His eyes, filled with flame, don't leave mine.

"No," I say, softer.

He continues to gaze at me. My leg throbs with an intensity I know isn't good. Being ill, being incapacitated when you're already basically a snack for quite a lot of aliens and an annoyance to many others—it's not safe to show weakness.

But I am weak, and Drelix knows it.

"Maybe," I say eventually, my mouth dry. "What do you need to do?"

Drelix runs a clawed finger through my auburn locks, tracing it down behind my ear onto the sensitive skin of my neck and down to my décolletage.

"I need to bite you in order to envenomate you. You can return the bite if you wish," he says, hesitant.

"I'm…not, er, venomous."

A shudder runs through Drelix. "I had heard that about humans, but I wasn't sure. Sarkarnii females are venomous."

"What happens when you bite?" I ask, with a hissing intake of breath as pain spikes through me again.

"You will feel nothing. My venom will heal you and you'll not even notice," Drelix says.

Why do I think this is a terrible idea? What if he's some sort of reptile vampire and he simply sucks me dry?

He'd have done that already, Crystal.

Common sense, of a sort, reasserts itself, but I'm in pain, and I don't really know what the alternatives are on this uninhabited alien moon.

"Okay." I nod.

"Are you sure?" Drelix says, his handsome face so close to mine, I could kiss him.

"No, so get on with it," I snap.

A grin appears, a wicked, sinful grin filled with something I can't quite fathom as he draws me closer, lapping over the exposed skin of my collarbone.

I don't mean to groan at his touch, but I do, because it tingles and feels…nice.

"I'm going to bite you now," Drelix murmurs, his breath hot over my flesh.

For less than half a second, there is a pinching, and then there is only bliss. It fills my entire being, sending my body soaring, and the pain is entirely gone. My core pulses, and I'm convulsing under him, unable to stop myself, breath ragged and arms limp.

I have climaxed from his bite, and if I'm not mistaken, I'm going to orgasm again.