Chapter 3

CHAPTER3

Jade hadn’t felt this sated in a long, long time. He didn’t usually cavort with humans—too fragile, too simple, too… something—but Larkin’s naivete had been much more endearing than the usual knights who came to battle him. And he was very pretty, with deep, strawberry blond curls, bright green eyes, plush lips… and yes, a very nice body. Smaller than Jade, but humans tended to be.

Jade licked the back of Larkin’s neck and took a deep breath. Larkin smelled so nice too. Most human sweat smelled rank to Jade, but Larkin’s scent was enticing. That was what had drawn him out of his cave in the first place, that rich scent that promised something spectacular.

Larkin stirred next to him, letting out a soft sigh that caused those perfect lips to part slightly. Jade was tempted to give him something pleasurable to wake up to, but Larkin had taken so much of his seed the night before, and he’d hate to have to eat him if the human got too… vigorous with his needs.

But it seemed the effects had faded, at least enough for Larkin to sit bolt upright and stare at Jade in abject disbelief—and horror. “You—” he started to sputter. “No. That was a… a… very bad… dream…”

Jade patted Larkin’s thigh, allowing one nail to bump against his soft cock. “A very good dream. Have you ever experienced such pleasure before, little gem?”

The human’s eyes were wide like a doe’s, so sweet and terrified all at once. He scrambled back in the large nest, trying to put distance between himself and Jade, and the deep blush that colored his cheeks was even more alluring. “It… it wasn’t…” he stammered.

Jade sat up and stretched, pushing his long hair over his shoulders. He needed to braid it again, so he was more presentable. “I guess you’ve never experienced any pleasure before this. I’m glad I was able to make your first time so… memorable.”

“My first…” Larkin swallowed hard, avoiding Jade’s eyes. “No, it wasn’t my first time,” he blatantly lied.

Larkin’s reactions alone had given him away, but now Jade was completely certain that he’d taken Larkin’s virginity. It was nothing tangible, but it still felt like he’d received a great treasure. Jade smiled to himself. Maybe he would write down an account, so it could be shared with others across the ages. Let them all know what treasure he’d taken from…

“Which kingdom did you say you were from?” Jade asked. “Wait, hold on while I get something to write on.” He rose from the nest, not bothering to secure his robe around himself, and walked over to the nearby alcove where he stored all the writing supplies. Flat stone tablets for carving, fragile paper and ink for the more delicate works.

“Kithage, of course,” Larkin said, a little hotly. “The kingdom you currently reside in!” He grabbed one of the blankets from the nest and arranged it around his waist, hiding his cock from view.

Writing everything on paper would be faster than carving, but Jade didn’t like the idea of this story disintegrating with the ravage of time. Stone would be more permanent… No, he’d write it down, and then make a proper plinth for it. He’d translate it into several languages too, so dragons and humans of the future would always know what had happened.

“Of course, Kithage. Apologies, that wasn’t its name a century ago. Your family has been in power for… three generations now?” Jade didn’t usually bother with human politics, considering how fast things changed. It was unfair to expect him to remember who was ruling what piece of land.

He dipped his pen in ink and wrote down Larkin’s many, many names, along with the year—in dragon dates—and both the land’s human and dragon names. He frowned when he looked at how long Larkin’s name was. “Come here, did I spell this correctly? I still don’t have a sense for the human runes.”

Larkin only stared at him. He gave a quick shake of his head. “I’ll stay right here, thank you.” Though his eyes darted past Jade, looking at the entryway to the alcove as though he was thinking about making a run for it.

“All right, but if your name is misspelled in future annals, that’s on you, then.” Jade began penning his narrative, grinning to himself. “Why did you come up the mountain? Just to slay me?”

“You were supposed to be a wyvern,” Larkin said, fidgeting with the blanket he was using to hide his lap. “I wouldn’t have bothered you if I’d known you were a… a dragon.”

Jade sniffed in disdain. “Wyverns wouldn’t come near my den. But you’re lucky I was in a good mood. If you’d caught me twenty years ago, I would have eaten the whole lot of you.” He looked back at what he’d written so far and read it aloud: “Prince Larkin of Kithage made his way up the mountain. His horse constantly fought him, but he knew there was glory to be found by slaying the wyverns that made their nest at the top of the mountain. If Prince Larkin were better informed, he would have known that wyverns preferred steep cliffs over wooded mountains…”

“What are you doing?” Larkin demanded. “Are you… writing this down?” He sounded so offended, though really, he should’ve been honored that Jade was writing down his tale. He didn’t write down everything that happened. “I forbid it.”

Jade chuckled. “Oh, do you? I generally forbid trespassing in my den, but here we are.” He added another few sentences and continued reading, “An alluring scent from the cave drove most sense out of Prince Larkin’s mind. He abandoned his steed and stepped inside, believing that his human eyes could see well enough to allow him to fight off several wyverns in the pitch black.”

“Oh, come on,” Larkin complained. “There wasn’t an alluring scent. And it wasn’t pitch black inside. Now you’re just making things up.”

“Every historian makes things up.” Jade scratched out a few words and fixed them to be more poetic. “I know you humans tell of some famous dragon slayer, Ellar or whoever, and I’ll have you know that he was just Lazuli’s pet.”

“He was no pet!” Larkin said, that same offended tone in his voice. It was as though he thought he could change the truth by challenging it, which was such a human quality that it was a mixture of endearing and annoying. “He slew the dragon and returned with its head to present to the kingdom.”

“You’ve seen that dragon head personally, have you?” Jade stopped his writing to consider his next words. “Would you say your first impression of me was awed or intimidated? Perhaps instant attraction? Although that’s a bit cliche, isn’t it.”

“Well, no, it would’ve rotted over the years,” Larkin said, his fingers tugging at the blanket. “But everyone who was there saw it. It was recorded in the history books, and those are a lot more accurate than yours. And,” he added more sullenly, “I was not impressed.”

“Intimidated, then.” Jade hadn’t been this motivated to write in years. Apparently, all it took was an encounter with a human to get his creative juices flowing. And other juices. Jade chuckled to himself and absently stroked one of his cocks. If he wasn’t careful, he would end up writing the rest of this one-handed.

“I was not intimidated!” Larkin said. “You don’t intimidate me.” Never mind that he’d tried to run, of course, but Jade politely didn’t point that out.

“If you take issue with what I’m writing, come take a look and give me a few pointers.” When Larkin didn’t move, Jade smirked at him. “Unless you’re too intimidated to do that.”

Larkin’s jaw clenched. He’d really looked so much prettier in the throes of passion, rather than showing this stubborn mulishness. He stood up, fumbling a little with the long fabric of the blanket before holding it at his waist and joining Jade near the paper. “Give me that,” he demanded.

Jade passed the parchment to him, ink side up. “Careful, it hasn’t had time to dry yet.”

Larkin rolled his eyes, then promptly tore the parchment in half.

“I suppose I’ll add predictable to your list of qualities,” Jade said with a sigh. He set the quill and ink aside and stood up, stretching deliberately to show off his cocks. “Fine, if you want me to pay more attention to you. You can simply ask, though. No need to get jealous of a bit of paper.”

Larkin’s eyes briefly caught on his groin, then that familiar blush colored his cheeks as he jerked his head back up. “I don’t want you to pay more attention to me. I want you to stop this foolishness.”

The blush really did bring out Larkin’s beauty. The vulnerability, the impossible innocence. Jade brushed his fingers through Larkin’s hair. “The real foolishness was yours, wasn’t it? Are you mad at yourself for succumbing to me? You shouldn’t be. Stronger humans than you have fallen to dragons.”

Larkin jerked back, only to wince when Jade’s fingers caught on a few tangles in his hair. “I haven’t… I don’t… I didn’t…” he stammered, his eyes flicking back to Jade’s cocks before looking him in the eyes. “This has been quite enough. I’m leaving.”

Judging from the quality of the light coming through the cave wall’s opening, it was early afternoon. Jade considered his options, then nodded. “If you can make it to the foot of the mountain before nightfall, I could let you leave.”

Larkin blinked at him. Even shock looked good on this pretty human—whom Jade had no intention of letting go of any time soon. But this could be fun.

For Jade, at least.

Pulling at the blanket and displacing some of the straw and pillows, Larkin started toward the entrance of the alcove. “Farewell then, dragon.”

“My name is Jade!” Jade called back. There was no answer, but he hadn’t expected one.

He waited while Larkin got dressed—Jade’s nose wrinkled in disgust, remembering the state of the undergarments—and he heard Larkin running out the mouth of the cave. After another ten breaths, Jade yawned.

Then he dropped his human form, shifting into his true, dragon form. His tail and wings filled much of the space. Colors grew even brighter, his eyes no longer hampered by the small human shape.

And Larkin’s scent filled him with every flick of his tongue.

That was enough of a head start for Larkin. Jade ambled out of his cave and launched himself into the skies, letting out a gleeful roar.

Time to have some fun.