Page 24 of Bred By the Dragon

That puts a smile on my face. “I’ll be fine. I promise. I won’t overwork myself.”

“Thank you.” He lets out a breath of relief. “I’ll see you soon.”

We say goodbye and hang up, and I just hope Friday comes quickly.

ZAKARION

She’s doing it for the good of my species, not because she likes me. And that’s... that’s fine. That’s good, even. It’s like we agreed: no emotional attachment.

It still hurt, though Sammy did nothing wrong.

When I’m not hunting to keep up my strength, I spend the afternoons soaking in the remaining autumn sunlight and warming my body, hoping it will help on Friday night. I worry endlessly about how much Sammy is working, if her defensive tone was any indication. I want to pay her, even just supplement her income so she doesn’t have to push so hard, but I keep thinking about what that gryphon said.

Is my hoard really not... mine?

By the time our meeting day rolls around, I’m so pent up that my cocks keep extruding from my slit when I so much as think about Sammy, or her bouncing breasts, or her big, curly hair. But I carefully don’t attend to my needs, turning my mind to less appealing things like stinky, old meat, so I can save all of it for her.

No, wait. For my future hatchling. That’s why we’re doing this—to get me the thing I’ve wanted most. And how sweet it will be, to lie curled around my small offspring, teaching them all the ways that my parents taught me. Ancient secrets, and words of wisdom, and another chance for my kind to go on into the future, as uncertain as it might be.

When it’s finally time, I launch into the sky and make my way to Sammy’s house. Her beat-up vehicle isn’t there when I land in the yard, so I lie down in the grass and wait for her.

Soon, she pulls up and hops out. Her dark eyes are big, and her smile is wide and radiant.

“Zak!” I stand up as she jogs over to me, and she looks like she’s about to throw her arms around me when she stops a few feet away. She seems to remember herself then, and claps her hands in front of her instead. “You beat me back. It’s nice to see you.”

“It’s wonderful to see you,” I say, realizing too late that I should probably tone it back, too. But her face brightens even more, and I subconsciously preen, my neck rising up and curling to show off my wings.

“Do you want dinner?” she asks. “It’ll be a while until sundown.”

I should probably tell her that I’ve already eaten all of my week’s sustenance, but I’m eager to spend more time with her, so I agree to dinner.

She cooks up a pair of steaks she bought, and prepares them with some vegetables that will taste awful, but I’ll tolerate for her. Dragons don’t need anything besides red meat, and in fact, I don’t think my body can process what she’s making. But I know it will make her happy to eat together, so I sit down on the floor in her kitchen as she serves the food.

She has a cute little house, but I have to make sure I stay down on all fours because the ceiling isn’t quite high enough for my long neck. Sammy apologizes quite a few times, until I assure her that I’m fine and even my own caves have low points, so I’m used to it. I’m just happy enjoying her personal sunshine.

After we eat, we sit in the backyard on a blanket and wait for the sun to fully set. The brilliant orange light bathes Sammy’s face like liquid gold. I think again of how much it bothers me that she left such a good job at DreamTogether for my hatchling, and I have no way to repay her.

“Sammy,” I finally say. “I want you to know how much this means to me. I wish I could compensate you?—”

“We’ve talked about this, haven’t we, Zak?” she says in a chiding tone. “You don’t need to.”

“—I know, but I want to help, in any way I can.” I furrow my brow, wishing she could understand just how deeply I feel the need to provide for her, to make her life easier. “I hope that you’ll call on me any time you need me.”

She gives me a wide, affectionate, sincere smile. “Thank you. Your gratitude is all I need. I’m happy to be doing something that matters, you know? I’ve always wanted that. I tried to get a degree that would help people, but...” Sammy flops back on the blanket and rests her head on her hands like a pillow. “That dream was too big for me. I want to make change still, but in small ways. That’s why I live out here.” She gestures at her big yard. “Nobody else wanted this dingy old house, so I bought it. I wanted to make it nicer, to clean up the land, plant some native plants. Try to live in ways that will leave the smallest footprint possible.”

I open my mouth to tell her, if that is what you like, perhaps you should try my mountain, but that would be far too bold. No, from everything I’ve gathered, Sammy enjoys her life here. I’m simply glad that her generous, kind heart has chosen to help me.

“It’s become a very beautiful place,” I tell her, meaning every word of it. She has clearly taken a dull stone and polished it into a gem here.

“Aw, thank you.” Sammy adjusts like she’s going to lean against me, but stops herself.

“I think you change everything you touch,” I tell her. “You take light around with you.”

Her head tilts so she’s gazing up at me, her mouth round. “You know how to compliment a girl,” she says with a giggle.

I know that she’s trying to diffuse my compliments, and perhaps she’s right to. But I mean all of them. Just Sammy’s existence changes the world, a little at a time.

As the moon rises, we sit closer and closer together. Her sweet smell fills up my head, and soon my cocks are ready to slide out of me, to find their way inside her again to that warm, perfect place where they belong.

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