Accounting for Drakes (Stand Alone Tales #21)

Chapter Three

“I am using my employee discount,” Abil muttered as she got two pods in the same area.

Yorath grinned. “Thank you. I will pay the final tab.”

She snorted and got into the scenario suit. Yorath went very still when she got naked, and she glanced at him as she shimmied the suit over her hips. “You aren’t getting changed?”

“So, nudity isn’t an issue for you?”

Abil shrugged. “It’s just a body, and we both know that they are transient. We can switch them at any time.”

“Right. Yours is lovely. It is an amazing default.”

“Thank you, but are you joining me?”

He blinked and shook his head as she pulled the suit up and over her shoulders, shimmying everything into place before closing the front.

She paused. “So, you don’t want to go into the simulation?”

He jerked upright. “Yes, I do.”

She started to align the suit with the sensitive parts of her body, twisting to make sure her elbows lined up. He stripped, and she watched as he had to press his erection down to get it lined up in the suit. That was going to stress the closure.

He sealed the suit and faced her. She snorted. “They didn’t show you how to fit the suit?”

“I told them I did not need intervention.”

She smoothed the sensors into place and made sure that all the contacts were in the right place. His body was hard and warm, and he was frozen in place while she adjusted things. It pained her, but she adjusted the groin sensors so that everything would line up properly.

“Right. Turn.”

He smiled. “Did you enjoy that?”

“I have done it dozens of times on men and women. This is a simple adjustment. Most of them do not have erections while I do it, though.” She got his suit settled.

“Do you need me to check your back?”

“No. I can feel that the contacts are right. I have been in a suit a few hundred times. You get used to it, but soft tissue moves and has to be compensated for.”

She shrugged. “Do you want me to help you settle in the pod?”

He opened his mouth and then nodded. “Right. Please.”

She smiled and set him up, pressing the face surround onto him. “I will be right with you, and we can drop in together.”

He nodded. “You can trigger it?”

“Sure.” She tapped on his chair and sent control to her pod. She jumped in, triggered the filaments to lock to her suit, and pressed her facial surround onto her face. She murmured, “Scenario in three, two, one.”

The world went light, and then, she knew it was wrong when the scenario formed around her.

“What the hell am I wearing?”

“You are my damsel, and we are on a quest.”

She looked down at the silky froth that wasn’t doing much to conceal her, even if it covered her from wrist to ankle. She felt like she was dressed in mist, and he was standing next to her in leather.

“What did you do?”

“I changed our scenario. The drake wanted to play, too.”

She stared for a moment. “Play how?”

He grinned, and she heard the rustle of scale against scale. He stepped back, and a familiar figure swung downward and picked her up in his claws before flying to a mountain cavern nearby.

Abil was set carefully down on the stone floor, and the drake nuzzled her, sniffing her from neck to knees.

She frowned and felt her language fading. She grabbed his head and rubbed her cheek against the drake, stroking his ears carefully and rubbing between his eyes. Her mind reached for his, but the mind she was seeking was inside Yorath, in the physical world. She was stuck again with no doorway.

The drake looked surprised but pleased as he nudged her to a very soft-looking bed. She looked at the princessy bed and back at the drake. He huffed, but amusement was in his serpentine eyes.

She felt sleepy and knew it was the scenario. “It feels stupid that the scenario knocks the female out ten minutes in.”

The drake huffed and lay his head down near her feet, guarding her from the intrepid adventurer.

She grumbled as she fell asleep.

* * * *

Y orath climbed the mountain and stepped into the cave. “Where is she?”

The drake faced off against him and huffed. A spark of flame curled out in front of the muzzle, and he blocked access to the fair maiden sleeping beyond.

Yorath paused. “You are really playing this up?”

The huge head nodded.

Yorath drew his sword. “Fine. Surrender the maiden!”

The drake moved, and the tail swatted at Yorath, sending him back to the base of the mountain.

Yorath looked up and rolled rapidly to the side as the drake took a shit off the edge of the cliff face.

He huffed as he got up and looked at the mountain. “It seems that nothing is going to come easy.” He started back up the rock face and glanced back. “And we are going to talk about your diet.”

He was grinning as he continued the arduous climb for the second time. He was eager to see Abil’s hair out of that braid she managed to bring into this adventure.

He climbed faster.

When he pulled himself back onto the ledge, he saw the dragon, holding her carefully and combing her long pale green locks with the claws at the tip of his wings.

There was a soft croon that he was directing toward Abil, and Yorath was stunned. It was like he was tending a child or something infinitely precious.

The soft waves of her hair were combed and silky, but the woman slept on.

“Drake, stand aside!”

The drake looked at him and shushed him.

Yorath blinked. “What?”

The drake held a wing claw to his muzzle and shushed him again.

The slow path to the woman in the drake’s embrace wasn’t blocked or interfered with. “Damn, she is stunning. Is she glowing?”

The drake nodded again and crooned again.

Yorath suddenly understood. “You are calling out her drake to play.”

There was a soft chuff, and he crooned again. Abil’s body heaved upward, and she drew in a gasp as the drake flew out of her form and headed for the opening of the cavern. His drake flew after, and he smiled and turned to Abil.

Her skin was chalky, and she was still asleep. He smiled until he realized she wasn’t breathing.

There was no way to summon assistance, so he leaned forward and began to breathe for her. Her heart was beating, but it took six breaths before she woke enough to suck in air.

* * * *

H is mouth was touching hers when Abil woke. She blinked and smiled as he woke her. He leaned back, saw that she was awake, and crushed her in a hug.

“Thank. You?” She wanted to ask why he was upset, but the words slipped away.

She touched his cheek and frowned. She stroked his cheek again. He kissed her, and she met him halfway, doing what felt right with every slide and caress between the two of them. He kissed his way down her neck, and she felt a slight pause and then a slight pain that sent ripples of pleasure through her. She moaned softly and clutched at him.

He pulled her to him, and she bent her leg, stroking the side of his thigh.

She paused and found the words, “My drake is out?”

“She is.” He kissed his way into her cleavage, and the fabric parted as he eased her breasts out.

She focused and got out, “And other parts of me are out as well.” She looked down at him wryly. One of his hands had gathered up her skirt while she was distracted by the bodice. There was a disconcerting breeze.

Abil whispered to him, “What are you doing?” It was coming easier to her. She felt his mind close to hers.

“Getting to know you better. Each part of you tastes different, did you know?”

“Um, I can’t lick myself under most circumstances.” The image made her frown.

Yorath looked at her and grinned. “I will do it for you.”

“Wait, how do I taste like anything? This is a simulation.”

“Well, the computer reads your body, and it translates it here.” He licked at her breast, and his tongue was moving around.

“I know that, but it... never mind.” She huffed and threaded her fingers into his hair, making a fist as his mouth settled over her nipple.

He chuckled and sucked softly, causing her fingers to flex and her hips to twist.

Abil looked at him, and then, her eyes fluttered closed as he did something with his tongue that made a soft, warm bomb go off in her abdomen.

He shifted, and his hands stroked, and she just closed her eyes as she arched and twisted against him as his fingers delved into her, and she did nothing but gasp. Her words were gone again, but her body spoke for her.

He eased her toward an orgasm, and she flexed her thighs around his head. His hands held hers at her hips as the strange undulation into her via his tongue took her breath and her focus.

She understood in theory, but Mbrak had encouraged self-experimentation over playing with others, and Abil had never gotten used to the idea. Now, she believed a little practice might have been nice so her own body didn’t constantly catch her by surprise.

The shriek that came out of her as heat built to an incredible degree, there was a bolt of pain, and then wave after wave of tension released from her with sounds she didn’t know she could make.

His tongue slowed and withdrew carefully. “Abil, are you all right?”

She was still gasping but muttered, “Yes?”

He kissed her hands one by one and lifted himself to look at her. His expression hardened, and then, he got a soft expression on his features. He stroked her cheek and kissed her softly. She could taste herself on him, but the flavour faded quickly.

His leather pressed into all the parts of her he had exposed, and she whined and then noticed someone over his shoulder.

Her drake was on the floor with her head propped on a rock. Yorath’s drake was draped over her with his head next to hers.

She blushed when she realized that they had been watching. She didn’t have words.

* * * *

Y orath rolled to her side and held her against him. A drake. He had a drake bride, and she needed him. That was a heady mix. He guessed that as they lived their lives, her social gaps would fill, and he would put out a proclamation that anyone mocking her for it would lose a finger or their family homes. Either would do.

He smiled. “Do you want to conclude the scenario and get back to the station?”

She looked around and nodded.

Her drake huffed and sighed, getting up and pushing the other drake off. She walked back, and Abil had to fight her way out of Yorath’s embrace.

Yorath was laughing at her as she got her clothing into semi-decent lines and pushed her skirt down as she wobbled to stand off the bed.

* * * *

A bil fell against her beast’s muzzle, and the drake slowly walked into her, disappearing to the frustration of Yorath’s beast. Abil blinked as she realized that her drake had gone much further than she had. It was a good thing that no one could get pregnant in the scenario. The male had been intent and the female delighted. The skies had not been safe for public consumption for hours. Wait. Hours?

She focused and said, “Time remaining?”

Time expired. Emergency extraction beginning in three.

She looked to Yorath and his beast. And then they were gone.

She pulled her mask off as Viida fussed around her. “Easy, Abil. You guys were in there past the safety protocol.”

Abil’s muscles jerked as she tried to move. Halla was getting Yorath out of his link and helping him sit up.

Viida frowned. “The computer turned off the safeguards when you were in there.”

She focused. “I checked.”

“That is what made the safeguards kick in.”

“How long?”

“Eleven hours.”

“Oh, no.”

“Come on, he’s in good hands. We will get you changed.”

Abil couldn’t say anything. She was stunned, and her senses were dull. She dressed in the new outfit she had bought or, rather, Yorath had purchased for her. As she was ushered out, a series of imperial guards came to get their emperor, and Viida kept an arm around her as the door closed and cut off her view.

“Well, you certainly went above and beyond for the station. What did you two get up to in there?”

“The drakes flew together.” She focused her words.

“What? His and...”

“Mine. My drake likes to fly with his.”

“So, your drake really came out? I thought that was just a rumour.” Viida chuckled.

“No. She came out. Mbrak ordered me off the station as it came out. I will go tonight.”

“You are talking a lot.”

“My mind finds the words are closer right now.” She paused and gripped Viida’s wrist. “Can you make sure that he is all right? I would hate for my influence to have injured him.”

“Mbrak won’t let another of his kind come to damage here. He’s already headed down. Now, where do you want to go?”

“Well, there is no delaying it. I suppose I should head to the first cargo bay. It is time to go. I would apologize for my awkwardness, but I had no control over it and did all I could to fit in. I am sorry that it didn’t work, cousin.”

Viida paused. “You want to go to the cargo bay?”

“Yes. I am going to fall through the magnetic shielding, get far enough from the station to shift, and then let my drake take me on adventures.”

“What about him?” They got into the lift and hit the cargo level.

“No words, no promises, nothing that he hasn’t done a thousand times with hundreds of different women.” She sighed. “My drake got that from his drake. While she is wanted, I am disposable. So, I will see what the worlds have to offer.”

“Does he know?”

“I left his mind cycling in the scenario for eleven hours. He doesn’t know if he has feet right now. His guards will watch over him until he is ready to leave the station or choose another bride. Mbrak has a bunch of us, and only a few work in the entertainment unit.”

“What?”

“There are dozens of us here. All descended from Mbrak and his carefully chosen brides over two thousand years ago.”

Viida softly asked as they started toward the cargo area. “How do you know that?”

“A drake told me long before I came here. He sent her to guard me until someone came, but she was injured and could not shift to human. The drake guarded me and taught me. When the mining company sent their exploration units, she told me what to take and how to build. I learn through images and physical action. That is not what the teaching is here.”

Viida asked, “A drake raised you?”

“Yes. Her wings were damaged in the same meteor storm that crashed my family’s vessel.”

“How can you speak now?”

“Yorath touched his mind to mine, and it gave me focus. Don’t worry, my focus is shifting, and I am losing the ability to form the next sentence.”

Viida walked her toward the area with the shielding, and she triggered the first of three security doors. “I am sorry it has been hard for you.”

She nodded and kept walking as Viida hit the second door lock. Her skin was glowing, and her drake wanted out.

Mbrak was standing behind the final door to the cargo area. “What happened?”

She struggled and said, “No words. No promises. I hurt him. Drake wants out. Link faded.”

He paused and sighed. “Of course, he would just make assumptions. Right. Little drake, go and enjoy the stars.”

She smiled and hugged him. She looked at the dress Yorath had bought for her and looked to Mbrak. “Return this and get him the money back?”

Mbrak nodded. “Of course. Fly well, little drake.”

She dropped the dress and took the steps toward the magnetic shielding, jumping through it and spinning into the stars, trying to clear the station and get to some more debris.

A shuttle cruised in close, and to her astonishment, it sent out a bundle of shiny metal and gleaming jewels. She looked at the shuttle, and it had the imperial markings.

She caught the first piece, and it disappeared at her touch. She grabbed the next and the next as they drifted toward her, and it disappeared as well. Necklaces, tiaras, bracelets, and belts all dissolved at her touch.

Her drake knew what they were for, and when the last of the offerings were absorbed, she transformed.

Her wings were wide and batlike, and she slowly began to stroke through space, using the heat from distant stars to move her body and navigate.

It was wonderful, and she knew the path she was taking as clearly as if she had flown it a thousand times. Her drake took her through the stars with joy and hope.