Chapter 19

CHAPTER19

Tristan stared at Opal’s reflection in the lake, unable to keep his eyes off of the very, very visibly broken horn. The jagged edges where the sword had swept through it still looked red and new. Of course it had only been a few hours, and even dragon magic could apparently only do so much.

Opal reached up to touch the break, wincing and brushing his hair back instead. “It’s a little stylish,” Opal said. “Romantic? We can tell everybody it broke during a very daring fight.”

Tristan reached out, wanting to run his fingers through Opal’s hair, but he drew back. He didn’t deserve to caress those silken locks, to feel the familiar pleasure of touching someone he… loved.

But people didn’t do what he’d done to people they loved.

“One where you rescued me,” he said, forcing a half-smile onto his lips.

“No, no. You definitely rescued me,” Opal corrected him, his voice so cheerful that Tristan almost wanted to shake him for not taking this seriously enough. “That evil sorcerer captured me. All my siblings will never let me live it down, but that’s okay. Ugh, Iolite is going to get so haughty when I see her. I warned you about mixing magics. Or whatever, Iolite just likes to lord things over people.”

Opal finished wiping himself as clean as he reasonably could.

Tristan wished they could take a bath now that the biggest—literally—secrets were behind them, but the mountain lake was too cold. It would be a surefire way of getting himself killed, and he morbidly wondered if maybe he deserved it.

Ugh. He had to stop thinking that way. Opal didn’t even seem angry with him, and Tristan couldn’t keep beating himself up when it upset Opal for him to do just that.

On the other side of the small clearing, Feather stamped her feet as if to distract them. Maybe Opal was right that Feather was jealous—but that was silly. She was just a horse, and she would have to deal with this new state of affairs.

“What… are you going to tell your siblings about me? Opal, I’m really not a hero,” Tristan said. “But it’s not like I want them to know that I…” He winced, trailing off. For all that he’d royally fucked up, he didn’t want Opal’s siblings to know what he’d done. He’d have killed someone for doing less to Evan.

“You are definitely a hero,” Opal said, standing up. He held out his hand for Tristan, who hesitated before slowly taking it and twining their fingers together. “You went against all your beliefs to do the right thing! That’s so much cooler than being perfect from the start. It builds character.” Opal lowered his gaze, some of his hair falling in front of his eyes. “Even though I was the one who tricked you, and made you… I was terrible to you too, Tristan.”

Tristan sighed, his shoulders slumping as weariness made them feel heavy. “Not as terrible as cutting off body parts,” he said. “But we both fucked up pretty bad, I guess.”

At least Opal wasn’t treating him like a character in a fairy tale any longer.

“Where do we go from here?” Opal asked quietly. “I want to stay with you. But…” He sighed. “I don’t want to go on a dragon-killing quest.”

It felt strange to hear that. Opal had been on board with the whole quest since the start, but he supposed Opal was done telling Tristan what he thought he wanted to hear.

Tristan was silent for a moment, gazing out over the water at their reflections—dark and light, human and dragon, with so little in common for all that they loved each other.

“I’ve been thinking,” Tristan finally began. “Evan… He wasn’t perfect. And if he and Sasha were trying to break into a dragon’s lair and steal from it…” He trailed off. “I don’t know what to think. It killed my brother, Opal.” He tried to keep the pain from his voice, but the wound was still raw. No matter how much he tried to run away from it—no matter how often he tried to drink it away—the truth wasn’t going anywhere.

“I can’t promise you that no dragon will ever kill a human again,” Opal said, squeezing Tristan’s hand. “I won’t lie and say no dragon has ever killed a human for less than noble reasons. It just… happens. All dragons have their own personalities, like humans. There are some humans who kill, or worse. Some dragons like a quiet, peaceful existence, and others are less so.” Opal’s lip quivered. “But I am sorry about what happened. There’s no way of fixing it. All I can do is be here for you and try to ease some of the pain and sorrow.”

“You have,” Tristan said, looking away from the water and up to look at Opal. “The grief isn’t as crippling as it was. I doubt I’ll be done mourning my brother any time soon, but… I can think again. Gods, I still want a fucking drink, but I didn’t start drinking that much until after his death. I know it’s not a good thing, Opal, and I have you to thank for helping me realize that.”

“Oh. Um. You’re welcome.” Opal bumped his shoulder against Tristan’s. “For what it’s worth, I know this isn’t actually a fairy tale. But you make me feel like I am in one.”

Tristan’s smile was genuine, even if tears gathered in the corners of his eyes. “I’ll try to be a better knight. Just for you. And even though you aren’t a damsel in distress… I’ll protect you to the death, Opal.”

Opal’s eyes started getting watery, too, and he reached up to wipe some of the tears away with the palm of his hand. “Thank you. So much. I… I’ll protect you too. Because you’re my treasure. Which is significant. In dragon terms.”

Tristan pulled Opal close, and he kissed him—softly at first, then a little more firmly. He didn’t plunge his tongue into Opal’s mouth, but he didn’t shy away from the kiss, either. When he finally pulled away, it was only to tug Opal in the direction of the blankets they’d laid out on the cold ground near the fire.

The late afternoon sun gave Opal a beautiful glow, with his scales shimmering in a golden hue. And, finally, Tristan was looking at the real Opal, not the illusion of a human.

They sat down on the blanks opposite each other, still holding hands.

“How do you want to do this?” Opal asked, his voice unsteady.

Tristan couldn’t tell if Opal was happy or unhappy or otherwise, but he tried to quiet the guilt that continued to course through him. How could he make this up to Opal?

He couldn’t.

But he could give Opal something more special.

“I want to see you,” Tristan said. His voice was hesitant, so quiet that he wasn’t even sure Opal could hear him. “I’ve seen you as a dragon, but I haven’t seen you as a… a… well, like this.”

Opal smiled and dipped his head. “I’d like that. I have to admit, I was running out of ideas on how to avoid showing you my cocks.”

To his own surprise, Tristan laughed, for all that it was a little awkward. “Yeah, I feel like an idiot for not noticing, but you were very good at hiding it.”

He should’ve noticed. But he’d been too drunk, or too… No. He wasn’t going to think about what Opal had done, just as he wasn’t going to think about what he’d done to Opal.

Opal carefully guided Tristan’s hand between his legs so he could feel the cocks through the skirt. “I bunched one of them up in my skirt usually,” Opal explained. “And we mostly fucked in the dark.”

“Still.” Tristan shook his head, but he squeezed one of Opal’s cocks before switching his hand to the other. “They’re very large.” He cracked a smile. “Doesn’t that get inconvenient? And gods, you must’ve been aching only getting relief from one of them.”

“Why do you think I wear skirts?” Opal said with a giggle. “No, I’ve never noticed it as an issue. My brothers don’t wear skirts. And if I get relief from one, it’s less important to come again with the second one.” Opal pulled his shirt off and added it to their pile of blankets.

Surely, he had to be getting cold… but that was what Tristan was there for, wasn’t it? To keep him warm on a cool day like this, upon a heap of blankets and near a fire.

Tristan took in a deep breath as he gazed at Opal’s torso. “All right. I’m ready,” he said, pulling his hand away. “I’m also very curious about your… er… anatomy. Do you have two sets of balls?”

“Nope.” Opal reached down, and after only another breath of hesitation, took his skirt off. He kept his thighs apart so that Tristan could get a proper look at him. He wasn’t hard, but it was… interesting.

Attractive, even, in their own way. The cocks tapered at the tips, and the smooth skin was interrupted by bumps and ridges. Tristan had touched one of those cocks at least once, right? And somehow, he hadn’t noticed the different texture.

Gods, he really was unobservant.

Tristan kept staring at Opal’s two cocks, and he swallowed hard. “They’re… not what I expected.” Of course, he hadn’t had much time to form an opinion of what to expect. Again, he reached out, touching the cock on the right and stroking it slowly. “Now that I know, I see how different it feels.”

Opal gave an encouraging nod. “You can take your time. I mean, I wasn’t lying that I like it a little rough, but I want you to be comfortable and have fun and feel good and…”

“I can do it a little rough,” Tristan said. He smiled again, for all that it was hesitant at best. “You’ve spent plenty of time making me happy. It’s past time for me to do the same for you.” He kept stroking Opal’s cock, and he gingerly brought his other hand up so he could touch the two in tandem. “Just one cock feels incredible. Two…” He shook his head. “That has to be beyond amazing.”

Opal gasped and lifted his hips, bucking into the touch. “Y-yes. I mean, I don’t know what it’s like to have only one?” He moaned when Tristan tightened his grip and stroked harder. “I usually only do one at a time.”

“Do you want me to do it that way?” Despite his question, Tristan continued to take his time focusing on both of them in alternating pulls and squeezes.

Opal bit down on his arm to stifle his sounds. “However… however you want to do it…”

“Don’t do that,” Tristan said softly, releasing one of Opal’s cocks to pull his arm away from his mouth. “I want to hear you, all of your noises, everything. I’m…” He laughed self-consciously. “I have no idea what I’m doing, but I want to make you feel good.” His eyes went to Opal’s horn, and he winced when he saw the way Opal’s smile dropped. He had to stop obsessing, even though if there was ever anything to obsess about, this was it.

“If you don’t want to—” Opal said, propping himself up onto his elbows.

Tristan interrupted him before he could finish speaking. “I do want to. I just… I feel bad, yeah, but I want to touch you. I want to make you feel as good as you’ve made me feel.” He gave Opal another hesitant smile. “Is that okay?”

“Yes,” Opal answered, sounding just as shy. “I… if I’m honest, I don’t usually have anyone focusing on me during sex. So I feel a little strange too.”

“I should’ve been focusing on you,” Tristan said fiercely, angry at himself for being such a self-centered prat. “I was always so relieved when you insisted I didn’t have to. I was just…” He shook his head. “No. No ‘just.’ There isn’t an excuse. But I’ll do better for you. Much better.” He shifted so he was between Opal’s legs, so his face was impossibly close to Opal’s right cock, and Opal gaped down at him.

Opal’s cocks were already half-hard from the touches, and apparently seeing Tristan in this position did something for him, too, because he thrust his hips up a little.

Tristan swallowed hard. He wasn’t going to do this, was he?

What was stopping him?

Inexperience? Propriety? Neither of those things had ever stopped him before.

Tristan licked Opal’s right cock, and Opal keened. “Tristan! You don’t have to… um, I mean, I want you to, very badly. Please keep going.”

Tristan paused for only a moment. “It isn’t… I mean…” How could he say this? What if Opal thought he was only doing this to get a sensation like he did when he drank? That wasn’t what he was after, was it? “Your semen…” He hesitated, then went on, “Ah… I want to do this, Opal. But I don’t want you to think that I’m doing this for… for some high.”

“Thank you,” Opal said softly. “Now, um… could you please continue? Please?”

Tristan laughed, and the slight tension that had been between them dissipated. He didn’t reply aloud, instead running his tongue along the underside of Opal’s right cock before doing the same to the left. He started to kiss and suck on the skin, taking turns between the two until he was sure he was driving Opal crazy.

Precum dripped out of one cock, and Tristan looked Opal in the eye before very pointedly licking it up. Opal’s pale cheeks flushed red, and his eyes fluttered closed for a moment before he forced them back open.

“Please,” Opal begged.

Tristan didn’t quite know what Opal was begging for, but he couldn’t be doing anything too wrong if Opal was reacting like this. He gripped one of Opal’s cocks, which was leaking profusely, and started to roughly fondle it with fingers callused from hours upon hours of swordplay. “Is this what you want?” he asked, his voice hoarse.

“Yes, like that. Please, more.” Opal bit down on his lip, groaning loudly.

“Anything you want,” Tristan murmured. He could feel the effects of the dragon semen now that he knew what he was looking for; he was feeling a little dazed and off-balance, and his voice was already starting to sound a bit slurred, but he’d chosen this. He was doing this of his own free will, and…

And he wasn’t doing this to escape the way he had been when he’d been drinking. This was a byproduct, not a goal.

Tristan kept licking, kept sucking and squeezing, enjoying the sounds Opal was making.

“Tr-Tristan,” Opal stammered. “Yes. Yes, right—”

Tristan finally enveloped the head of Opal’s right cock with his warm mouth, fondling his other cock even while he swallowed all of Opal’s cum down.

The sweet flavor exploded across his mouth, so different from the bitterness Tristan had expected. He’d licked his own cum once, when a woman had complained of the flavor, and he’d secretly agreed that it wasn’t entirely pleasant.

It had been one of the reasons he’d been in no rush to suck Opal off.

This was even better than kissing Opal, though. A faint buzz spread from his tongue down his spine, and Tristan’s cock hardened faster than he’d ever experienced before. He reached down to his trousers to undo the laces, just so he could get some relief.

“You taste so good,” Tristan murmured. Dizzy with pleasure, with need, he licked Opal’s cock clean. “Fuck, how do you not have a million suitors already, Opal?” He sped up his hand on the second cock. “Beautiful, and cheerful, and fun, and the sex is always good.”

Strange, though. He’d almost expected to not have any control over himself at all. His limbs still worked, and he still knew he was with Opal, and that he didn’t want to do any of this with anyone else.

He thought Opal was smiling, but he was too focused on Opal’s cock to pay much attention. He wanted to lavish the same kind of attention on Opal as Opal had given him.

His own release wasn’t even that important, as long as he made Opal happy.

Opal patted Tristan’s scalp, replying, “You’re… the first one who cared…”

Tristan didn’t even have to think about how to answer that. “Then they were all stupid,” Tristan said immediately, squeezing and playing with Opal’s cock—and with more vigor now, more enthusiasm, as he licked up the cum that had leaked out of his mouth. “So stupid. Just like I was stupid. I’m so…” He went back to licking for a moment before whispering, “I’m so glad I have you. That you…”

Tristan went to the cock that was still hard and took that into his mouth then, sucking on it eagerly. He was too far gone to care whether it was because he wanted more of the taste—of the high, even—or because he just wanted to please Opal.

Opal arched his back with a gasp. “W-wait, Tristan!” Opal grasped Tristan’s shoulder. “Fuck me. Please, I want to feel you inside me.”

Tristan blinked sluggishly at him, and it took a moment for the words to register with him. But then he nodded, rising up and covering Opal’s body with his own. He crushed their lips together.

With some effort, Tristan managed to shed them, and Opal grabbed the hem of Tristan’s shirt to help him pull it over his head.

“Oil?” Tristan barely remembered to ask once he was stark naked, his hands going down to spread Opal’s ass cheeks apart so he could finger his hole.

“Use my precum… or…” Opal faltered for a second, moaning as Tristan’s finger barely penetrated him. “It’s fine. I’m more flexible. A little more… everything.”

Tristan nodded. If he had any doubts, they’d long since been washed away by the fact that they’d done this without preparation or oil before… and he was too far gone from Opal’s semen to really worry about anything other than their pleasure. He moved quickly to poise his cock at Opal’s hole, and without hesitation, he pushed inside of him with a low groan. “Fuck. Fuck!”

Opal groaned and spread his legs wider, hooking one around Tristan’s waist. “I love you,” Opal said, shifting his hips higher to get more of Tristan inside him.

Tristan buried the entire length of his cock inside Opal, and Opal gasped, his breath coming raggedly. For several seconds, Tristan couldn’t get any words out at all, then he finally rasped out, “I love you, too.”

The way Opal’s smile brightened was almost enough to make Tristan come.

This truly was the best position. Maybe he couldn’t get quite as deep as he could with Opal on all fours, but getting to see Opal’s beautiful face, those iridescent eyes, his expression of pure pleasure, knowing he was the one Opal had chosen, despite all his flaws—

Opal squeezed his ass to really clamp down around Tristan’s cock—and it drove Tristan wild. Tristan growled and thrust forward, sending Opal scooting up a few inches of their little blanket nest.

“More,” Opal mewled, bracing himself for the next thrust.

Tristan obliged him at once, thrusting harder, faster. Anything to make Opal feel good. Anything to keep them connected.

Opal’s fingers caught on the blankets, but it didn’t help. Each one of those thrusts pushed him up, making him cry out in pleasure and pain alike, and Tristan gave Opal everything he had.

Opal’s eyelids slid shut, and his scales caught the sunset—Opal’s natural glow, no makeup required.

Tristan bent down to kiss Opal, uncomfortable position be damned. He was too overcome with emotion to worry about his future aches.

“Tristan…” Opal murmured against his mouth. He nipped Tristan’s lower lip, but the next thrust had Opal groaning and arching his back once more.

He also did something with his ass that felt like he was massaging Tristan’s cock.

Tristan let out a strangled cry, his movements becoming more erratic as he got closer and closer to his own climax. “Touch… Touch yourself,” he panted. “I want to feel you come when I do.”

Opal reached down to grip his erect cock and stroke it, gasping a little when he brushed the soft one. “Tell me you’re close,” Opal said between moans. “I can’t hold back much longer.”

“I’m close,” Tristan promised, pounding Opal even harder. “Come. I want you to. Come for me, Opal.”

Opal gripped himself even harder and cried out as he came all over himself. His cum spilled all over his hand, his stomach, and a few drops even landed on Tristan’s chest.

Tristan’s orgasm came on the tail end of Opal’s, and he spilled inside Opal in what had to be the most glorious orgasm of his life.

For several moments, Tristan was silent, then he rolled over and pulled Opal with him. “Gods,” he said, completely and utterly dazed.

Opal rested his head on Tristan’s chest, and Tristan tightened his arms around him. “Yes.”

The stars shone above them, with the moon in a beautiful crescent shape. The fire crackled and warmed the air, giving them a comfortable little nest far away from civilization.

Opal squeezed his ass, as though hoping to keep Tristan inside him, but as his cock softened, it slipped out—a lot slower than usual, though, and Tristan thought that if he wanted to, he might be able to go again.

Those dragon fluids really were potent.

More important than sex, though, was the beautiful creature in his arms.

Tristan held Opal close, his eyes fluttering closed. “Love you,” he murmured again, letting out a contented sigh. “I have never felt this amazing in my entire life, Opal.”

“Me neither,” Opal said. He kissed the side of Tristan’s neck. “My handsome, dashing knight.”

“Let’s rest,” Tristan said, heedless of their nudity. “I want to sleep with you in my arms and know that you’re safe.”

They would be. Tristan would make sure of it.