filled her with my seed so she may breed my young.” I finally lift my eyes to the female next to me. How does she not understand? Do human males not seed their females?
I did not ask. Another stab of guilt hits me. If my seed kills my mate…
The other human is staring at me, glancing at Aida before looking back at me.
“Can you help her?” I ask.
“She’s my sister. Of course I’ll try.”
12
Delina and Zaeyr
Intensity wells within me and I can’t stop it. My aching muscles relax, my core tenses, and Zaeyr’s cock pounds me like he’s pounding my soul. Any pain or discomfort fades to bliss as the burning heat within soothes it away.
Each gush of his seed brings on another wave, and soon the pain of penetration and stretching is a distant memory.
It’s too much to bear, I try to tell him this, but he doesn’t hear me, pounding away. Lifting me, holding me against his chest, thrusting in and out, in and out.
Water sluices over my skin, followed by cloth. I moan but can’t seem to rise. Settling to the comforting touch of cool water, knowing I might be stunned, I let myself be tended to.
I feel the shift of movement and soon the scent of herbs, wood, and the ocean hits me, and I know I’m no longer in the caves.
Does mating stun? I wonder. I’ve never heard of such a thing.
It hurts, yes. It’s overwhelming. But never once did any of the elder Sand’s Hunters women mentioned falling unconscious… or the amount of male cum…
Dragon cum. Has to be. It’s inside me still, doing strange things to me. Relaxing me in a way I can’t resist.
“Well?”
Zaeyr’s voice. I try to respond but my lips refuse to move.
“She’s fine. Just needs rest. Aida doesn’t take care of herself as well as she should.”
Delina.
More water is poured onto my skin, and the hands and the cloth that follows are clumsy. It’s Delina cleaning me, I note. But then a strand of my hair is pulled behind my ear. The warmth that ignites from it is caused by Zaeyr. I know it.
“How much longer?” he asks.
“I don’t know.”
“Guess!”
“Let her sleep through the night,” Delina answers hurriedly. I don’t want to sleep. I want to be awake. I’ve been asleep long enough… I should be helping my tribe. I want more time with Zaeyr. I can’t remember a day in my life when I did nothing but lie in the hides. “When she wakes, make sure she rests. She’ll need food too. I can stay and watch over her.”
I hear a grumble and nothing else. I’d grumble too if I could. Silence descends between them and I hear the crackle of a fire.
Falling back asleep, I wake up sometime later to Delina’s voice. Swimming through the haziness of my mind, I discover she’s asking Zaeyr questions.
“…you were a dragon yesterday. I’ve never seen a dragon or heard of them either until lately. Were you frightening?”
“Mmmm.”
“I’m sure you were… Your horns and tail are beautiful. I always envied the merfolk for their tails.”
It feels wrong listening in—or trying to at least—without them knowing, but my curiosity is piqued. I don’t like my sister speaking to Zaeyr like this, not when it should be me or when—I’m assuming—they’re alone. Trying to rise again, I find there’s enough strength to shift my arm a little, but it’s not enough to rouse.
“Thank you,” Zaeyr mumbles. “What is this used for?”
Delina chuckles softly. “That’s a headdress. It’s an adornment—” Delina moves “—a female wears during the mating celebration. I wore this not long ago. Here, let me show you.” There’s a rustling sound. “See? Isn’t it beautiful? Those pieces there are the dress and these are the accessories. I could put those on too?”
My heart hammers. What’s my sister doing?
“Mating celebration?” Zaeyr asks.
“You don’t know anything, do you?” Delina teases.
“Not when it comes to humans,” Zaeyr’s voice is low and gravelly, almost curious. It floods me with renewed warmth, but also mortification. “Dragons do not celebrate mating,” he says. “A femdragon goes into heat, more so during the red comet, and calls out for a male to nest with her. She seeks the best, denies the weakest, and if more than one finds her at the same time, we fight to the death for her attention. It becomes increasingly painful for a male dragon to be in heat from a femdragon’s pheromones without seeding. Oftentimes, those that survive a battle for a femdragon