5. A Short Time Coming

We had an awkward time arriving home, with the cabbie giving me a confused double-take as I bent down to climb into his car. Considering the state of my clothes, it was thoroughly deserved. Hell, it would’ve been perfectly reasonable to say that I needed to get another ride. Evgenia whispered that she had asked Cynthia to grab literally anything for me to wear while they were shopping. Returning to the apartment, I found myself absolutely exhausted and allowed my eyes to shut while we rode in the cab. I fleetingly wondered if I should go buy some gold or something similar to have around the apartment. Antonin didn't think it was exactly what would help recover my energy, and I certainly hadn't had any after I used my power Friday night, but it couldn't hurt. Cynthia had asked that final situational question intentionally, assuming I would simply be unable to resist the allure of material wealth. The only issue was that I was just too haggard to feel any ambition. I was too overwhelmed by everything that had changed to go out again.

I collapsed into the bed in my room before realizing that we were back in the apartment, my face digging into the pillow as I collapsed on my chest. My drowsy mind was pleasantly surprised that the sheets smelled fresh, faint hints of floral scents wafting into my nose. Beth must've followed me to the bedroom because I faintly heard her stripping off her clothes alongside the bed. Shortly, she was lying on my back, her petite body barely distinguishable from a heavy blanket, and I drifted off to sleep to the sound of her soft breathing and the comforting warmth of our connection.

When I awakened, I was mildly disappointed to recognize that I was alone. Not that it was fair to hold Beth hostage, but the physical contact and solidarity of someone else going through this insanity was comforting. There were a pair of nondescript grey sweatpants and an oversized black hoodie tossed onto the bed beside me, and wonderful smells emanated from the hallway. My stomach grumbled in anticipation. As my mind slowly returned from the depths of sleep, I could see it was still very much daytime outside, although the sunlight was fading to orange. That was good, as it meant I had only slept for an hour or two. At least, I hoped it wasn’t now morning with the sun rising instead. I wasn’t sure which way the sun rose from in this apartment.

I gathered up the new clothes and realized that, of course, Cynthia hadn't had my actual size when she bought them. I wasn't even able to give it to her. So, I went swimming in my oversized sweatpants on my way to the kitchen, even the drawstring struggling to hold them around my waist. Beth must've heard me stirring because I could feel anxiety coming over our connection. It was accompanied by other, less intense flecks of adoration, anticipation, love, and lust.

I wandered into the living room and saw Beth and Cynthia in the kitchen while Sam and Evgenia sat at the table. I understood where Beth's anxiety was coming from — she was cooking for me and wanted it to be perfect because it was her first time doing this. She needn't be worried — her intentions were way more meaningful to me than the actual quality of the meal, after all — but she sought perfection regardless. She felt it was vital for her to have something besides her body to offer. Which I could understand, but the fact that she didn’t have any knowledge of this world and was going through this process at the same time as me was just as much a contribution as Sam’s experience was. Her being in the same position of ignorance was valuable to me. She didn't see it that way.

I joined Evgenia and Sam at the table as Cynthia and Beth worked on the finishing touches. Sam scowled at my presence, and even a blind fish would have recognized her anger directed at me. Confusingly, the scent she was exuding was almost as intense with guilt and despair as it was with vitriol. She was heartbroken about something, even if she wanted to be angry at me about it. I didn't say anything and just listened to Cynthia instructing Beth on how to handle the cooking she was doing. Evgenia noticed the icy atmosphere growing and was perfectly content, existing without inserting herself in it, avoiding bringing any attention to herself. She also seemed to shun any interaction with me, leading to an uncomfortable silence at the table, contrasting harshly with Beth and Cynthia's carefree chatter in the kitchen.

Eventually, Beth served us. With Cynthia's guidance and support, they made chicken parmesan with pasta and garlic bread. The food was delectable, and after I told Beth my opinion, she glowed with pride. The conversation was substantial once Beth and Cynthia joined us, injecting their vitality into the dead air, but the topic was absolutely vapid. We talked about what things they had purchased for the apartment, which scents and brands of personal hygiene products the girls preferred, and what they liked on me. Sam avoided acknowledging anything I said, doing her best to avoid speaking after I did. Confusingly, she had no contempt for Beth and offered several suggestions for shampoos she could use for my hair since I would probably buy the cheapest available otherwise.

Eventually, dinner came to an end. Sam was still trying to kill me with her eyes any time she looked at me but also wracking herself with guilt over fantasizing about my death. I thought we had been friends, and I had no idea what I had done to change that in the last twenty-four hours. The previous evening, she had thanked me for being invited to stay here, and now she seemed prepared to either leave or remove my presence forcefully. I had recognized that it was related to my burgeoning relationship with Beth, but simple jealousy or distaste at my actions that had caused the situation wouldn't come attached with guilt. I needed more information, and only one person had any.

"Sam, can we talk?" I asked quietly while Beth took the dishes to the sink to rinse.

She sighed performatively, acting put out and offended at being forced to interact with me, but said, "Fine."

"I guess, in my room? Would that be alright?"

"If it has to be."

This was building up to be a lovely, pleasant conversation. I walked to my room, pulled the chair out from the desk, and tossed the clothes that would no longer fit me off of it. Sam sat down in the chair, and I looked at her. She shot daggers at me, but her eyes looked sad and tired instead of simply hateful. She no longer had the energy to maintain the fires of her anger, although she was trying. Which was good because I was also feeling tired. And overwhelmed and confused.

"Hi."

"What do you want?" She shot back at me. She didn't finish the sentence with an 'asshole,' but it certainly would've fit right in with her tone, alongside a slap to my face.

"What's causing this, Sam? Why are you upset with me? I don't know what I did, and I can't do right by you until I do. Last night you seemed happy, and now you’re clearly bothered."

She sat silently for a few moments, her eyes burning a hole in my head. Eventually, she took a deep breath and spoke, but it wasn't with the tone I had expected, "I don't know. I'm sorry, J. It's not really fair to you, but I'm so angry with you. There's no way you could've known, not really." The hate she had been forcing out earlier broke, and guilt became the predominant emotion I could recognize. Loss and grief were recognizable in the cauldron of feelings Sam was brewing.

Unfortunately, what she had given was an unhelpful non-answer. She was angry with me for unjustifiable reasons, and she wanted to be mad at me despite knowing it was unfair, but she hadn't answered my question and told me why. "Could you explain any more? What did I do?"

Sam looked away from me and closed her eyes. "You were kind of my only friend when we were kids. It was hard for me. I really liked you. But you were a norm, and I was a witch's daughter with a pitiful but technically existing spark of magic. Turning you down when you asked me was one of the hardest things I've done. Romeo and Juliet shit — They would've killed you and punished me if I told you the truth." I could see now that she was softly crying, light tears dripping down her face. Her hands white-knuckled as she gripped at her pants while she spoke.

"I considered giving it up a couple of times, to abandon this world and join yours fully. I knew too much and for too long. The cost and skill for them to remove my memories and hide my magic from me were out of mom's reach. After a couple of times that I told you to leave me alone, you stopped pursuing me like that. But you were still my best friend — probably my only friend. Kyle was friendly to me because you were, and everyone else left me alone. You were the only one who tried to connect with me.

"Eventually, we graduated, and I got away from you. I thought it would be easier if you weren't there, trying to connect with me and humanize me every day. It wasn't. I got so fed up with all the games the powers play, the political maneuvering and the socialization for status, and the bullshit posturing they do. It's so exhausting and fake and calculating, and it made me miss your company all the more. You didn't know I had magic and didn't care — you wanted to be my friend because you knew I needed one. Your purity and honesty were just so painfully obvious once I had left them behind, and I knew I had hurt you when I rejected you. Mom and I are empaths — we can feel emotions; Mom can almost read minds with how precise her reading is and how experienced she is doing it — and feeling you hurting when I kept pushing you away was the worst.

"So I got a job, following in my mother's footsteps. Using our powers to help people transition into our world, making sure they wouldn't have to feel alone and scared in a place they didn't understand. Then, Friday night, some asshole was blasting his power to the heavens in a frankly disgusting show of egotistical arrogance. He kept me up all night with his display, so with my little government badge and a stubborn head of steam fueled by a lack of sleep, I followed his country-sized bonfire of power to his surprisingly modest apartment, and I was going to give him a damn good piece of my mind.

"It turns out it wasn't an asshole pushing as much as he could. It was a magnificent boy who had no idea what he was doing while he was trying to help a terrified, lost girl. It was the boy who I spent my childhood wishing I could chase. He had a source now! Not just that, but he had an overpowering, overwhelming, intoxicating spark burning so, so brightly. Just being in the same room as he was made me feel like a giddy schoolgirl again, and I wanted to just ask him out to lunch there and then so we could get back to my place, lose our clothes, and then get married and have a happily ever after.

"I could pursue what I wanted to at last! This boy was back in my life, and I could tell him the truth and show him who I was without hiding between the lines separating our worlds. But then, not even a day later, another girl is in love with him head over heels. She doesn't have all my baggage, and she hasn't spent a decade lying to him about who she was or forcing him away from her. She's cute and fun and perky and energetic and determined."

The tears were pouring down her face now. Her makeup was running, and she looked miserable. Sam had drawn her knees up into her chest, and she was rocking back and forth on the chair. I was scared she would either tear her pants with how hard she was grasping them or perhaps fall off of the chair, but I wasn't going to interrupt her now. She desperately needed to uncork all of this pent-up emotion.

"And then I can hear them going at it that night. She's going off like a firecracker. This guy I've spent years dreaming about is getting her going hard. That should be me in there. He should be doing that to me. And then the guy broke down my door, terrified that he'd somehow hurt her — he needed my help to fix it. The pure terror coming off you was disorienting even for me; There's no way anyone would believe that you weren't in love with her, too. I was jealous of her for a moment, even though I thought she was really hurt. I wanted you to get that scared over my well-being. I was envious of a girl I thought was inexplicably unconscious. But she was okay. Well, she was terrified that you had left her, but you hadn't really, so it was fine.

"I had a horrible thought there, and it was completely irrational, and I know you're not even capable of it. But standing in your room, with the inconcealable aftermath of the two of you fucking there, jealous as all hell of listening to it, I thought that you were just rubbing my face in the thing I couldn't have. You were laughing at me, getting revenge for when I had pushed you away and been a bitch to you years ago. It made me so angry. I know it wasn't true. You didn't even know I was interested, and when you knocked on my door last night, you probably would've died for her if it could have helped. You didn’t even mean to knock on my door.

"But now, instead of being here with the boy of my dreams as he learns how powerful and special he is to everyone instead of just to me, I'm forced to watch while you're an inch out of my reach. It's not your fault, but to have my hopes crushed like that right in front of my face and then paraded around in front of me — I'm just so angry and upset. And I was an absolute cunt to you today, and instead of being unpleasant back or even just avoiding me like anyone else would've been, you brought me aside and asked how you could help. Fuck you, James. Why can't you just do something wrong so I can be angry with you and not feel awful about it?"

She practically screamed the last sentence at me, her voice raw and hoarse and her eyes bloodshot and puffy from crying, before burying her head in her knees and sobbing unrestrainedly. That was a lot to take in.

I slipped off the bed and wrapped my arms around her. Initially, she tried to push me away, but when I didn't immediately acquiesce, she melted into me and fully let go. Her cries were violent and loud, and they shook her entire body. I picked her up and sat down further on the bed. I pulled her into my chest and let her cry.

"What the fuck is wrong with you, James? I told you I was acting like a cunt to you for no reason, and you're holding me while I cry. Fuck you." Sam stuttered out her words as she tried to catch her breath. I looked into her eyes, and the rich deep blue looked back at me. I could probably drown in them. Her words were harsh, but the venom wasn't reaching her face anymore. She didn't want to be angry any longer.

"Just let it out, Sam."

"Fuck you. Let go of me. I hate you." She did not attempt to escape my embrace, staying pressed against my chest as I held her. We stayed there quietly, her tearfully releasing a decade of lies and a single night of torture in my arms for another ten minutes. I rubbed her back, and she whimpered into me.

"Why can't you get angry at me for being irrational so I can get over this?"

"Because you still need a friend. And I need a friend who knows your world. And everything you said makes sense. None of us caused this; it's just an unfortunate set of circumstances. It's okay to be angry and upset when you think you have something, or at least the opportunity to pursue something, and then it disappears in front of you. I don’t want to give you a reason to be angry at me, and I don’t want to be upset with you. You’re my friend, and you’re hurting, but being angry isn’t going to help. Giving you a reason to be mad wouldn’t help you get over this. It would just make it worse."

Sam's speech mainly had returned to normal as she recovered somewhat. "I can't even be angry at her. I want to be, so badly. It would make this so much easier if I could just be mad at one of you. I want to feel like she took you from me."

Sam sighed, a terrible and tortured release of air so infused with emotion that it practically burned my skin. "I talked with her a bit today while you slept. She said the best night's sleep she's had in years was last night, and the quick nap with you earlier was probably the second best. In a new bed, in a new room, in a new city, with a guy she literally just met. She said it was the first time she felt safe enough to sleep deeply that she could remember. Making dinner with my mother was the first time she had a positive interaction with a parental figure in a long, long time. She's a terrified kid no more guilty than you are. How could I hate her? I want to hold and protect her — and you're doing that perfectly already."

I was slightly worried about how the information I had learned this afternoon would go down. "Yeah... Sam, I should tell you this. The archivist thinks I made her my familiar. Just, not like any other familiar — I guess my connection with Beth runs both ways. So, I’m hers as well? I don’t know. He wasn’t even sure what to make of it. Said he wouldn't have believed it if we weren't sitting in front of him."

"Of course you did. Why did you have to be a super-powerful, special, unique mythical legend? Why couldn't you just have had a tiny amount of illusion proficiency or something so then I could date you and have a normal family and give my mom grandkids to grow up in a little suburban house. You were already special to me, and now I can’t have you because you're special for everyone."

"I'm sorry."

Sam tried to deflect my apology by intentionally misconstruing my somewhat imprecise words. "God, you're such a dweeb. I'm here complaining that your life is too special and promising, and you're apologizing."

"No, Sam. I'm apologizing because you're in pain. I'm sorry that my decisions hurt you, even if I didn't know they would when I made them. You are one of my friends, the only one I’ve got now, and I don't like to see you in pain. I wish I could help you get through this."

She kissed me. She turned her torso, wrapped her arms around my neck, and planted her lips on mine. She kissed me hard, pressing herself entirely against me, her breasts squeezed against my chest as she clung needily to me. It was a kiss I had been desperately imagining for a long time, and it was, frankly, glorious. Being pressed against the girl who I had daydreamed about forever, holding her in my arms while the heat of her desire spread in the contact between our lips was rapturous.

Then she separated, and she had terror in her eyes. She mumbled, "Oh, fuck. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, you must hate me. Oh god, I've fucked everything up again." She bolted out of the room without offering me a chance to respond. I heard another door shut firmly — she must've run to her room. For a fleeting moment, I had forgotten all of my concerns and the complications of my new life, lost in her impulsive action. I hadn't given Beth a second thought while Sam had locked her lips with mine.

I sat on my bed, trying to figure out what exactly that conversation had accomplished and what I could even do about what I had learned. I spent a minute wandering the uncertainty of my mind when I heard movement in the room. Beth came in and gently shut the door behind herself.

"Hey," she said softly, "Are you alright? Don't lie to me, though. I know you're not."

I gave her half a smile, all I could muster, and she sat beside me on the bed.

She continued, saying, "Alright, I can feel that you feel bad about something, and I saw Sam run out of here crying and looking awful. What have you done? Did you hurt her?" The accusation in Beth’s questions wasn’t quite matched by her tone, but it did tell me that she was feeling protective of Sam. I was surprised, but at this point, almost everything that happened was surprising.

"Yes, but not how I thought I did." I repeated the entire conversation with Beth, including the emotions I could feel from Sam during her unraveling. "So, what the fuck do I do? Being here is akin to torture, but it's also what she wants. Well, not exactly, but she also doesn't want to be anywhere else, either."

Beth sat still and thought for a moment. A flash of inspiration crossed her face, and I caught a hint of lust through our bond. Her eyes found mine, and she started to speak softly, gently prodding me, a calculating, smug grin spreading on her face.

“So, let me make sure I understand this.” She paused and moved closer to me on the bed, placing her hand on my leg. “Sam wanted to be with you in the past, but her situation wouldn’t let her. We already knew that, or at least I knew it, even if you were too much of an oblivious boy to see it. She was happy to find you again when she thought she had a chance but felt like you were rubbing it in her face that she wouldn’t ever be with you because you already had some kind of bond with me. She doesn’t want to leave but isn’t happy with how things are?”

“Yeah, I would say that about sums it up.”

Beth made sure to look into my eyes before she spoke again, the green fields searching my soul for the truth. “Don’t hold anything back. Why are you in pain about this?”

I sighed. “It feels like I’ve caused this. It feels like I’m wronging someone I care for. I know, logically, that I didn’t intentionally do something harmful, but my choices and my actions have hurt someone who I need now. I think that, overall, my decisions have had a net positive outcome, but it feels like I betrayed her.”

Beth’s tone shifted slightly, and it felt like she was challenging me. “So, why don’t you change the situation to stop hurting her?”

I shook my head and looked at her with a level of incredulity. “What could I do that would help her? She was hoping for a romantic relationship.”

Beth lifted her eyebrows and gave me a look that suggested what she wanted me to realize was painfully obvious. When a moment passed, and I hadn’t reached her conclusion, she sighed and slumped her shoulders, her patience exhausted. “Why can’t you give her the relationship she wants?”

I was now even more confused about what Beth was trying to suggest. I very cautiously answered, “Because we’re already in a relationship because I’ve swapped pieces of our souls. I have to be committed to you. What are you trying to get at?”

She smiled weakly at me, and as she spoke, I could feel a level of concern coming through our connection. “J, I love you, and I’m glad that you’re getting comfortable with me, but you didn’t exactly ask me to date you after being friends for a while. You didn’t get a choice. I’m really happy about that, and you’re coming around to the idea, and every time I get that feeling over the connection you made for us, I think I’ve died and gone to heaven. Feeling you mentally smile while thinking about me is the best experience in the world.” She paused and looked around the room before her eyes returned to rest on mine. “The girl in the other room is someone you would’ve chosen, someone you tried to choose. And she wants you now that she’s allowed to want you. Why not give it a chance?”

“Won’t that be horrible for you? Why would you be okay with this?”

She shrugged, “Last week, I had a meaningless hook-up with a guy because he bought lunch for us. It was a shit pre-made sandwich from the store we worked at. I don't even remember his name, or the color of his eyes, or what we talked about while we ate. That was my entire life before you came along. Nothing meaningful because I had no time to chase meaning while simply trying to survive. You’ve given me more real feeling in the past day than I’ve had in years, and I know just from feeling your intentions in your heart that you won't go anywhere. If there’s a possibility you could have a real connection with Sam, too, you should go for it. Just as long as you let me watch.”

She had said the final statement as a joke, but I could feel there was some sincerity in the request. I scoffed at the absurdity of what she was suggesting.

“Why the change? Run me through your thoughts, please. The first night, you put up a brave face and then cried yourself to sleep. Last night you felt threatened by Sam, and you threw yourself at me because of it. Now you’re saying I should pursue her. Help me understand what’s going through your head.”

She closed her eyes, and I felt some guilt leak out. “That first night, I didn’t have a plan yet. I was just trying to do anything I could to get you to think of me. I was just trying to survive.” She cringed and looked away from me as she continued, guilt leaking out over our bond, “You acted like an easy mark, so I figured I could leech off you for a week or two pretty easily, probably longer. I was a vulnerable younger girl lost in the big scary world, but I wanted to cement that idea in your head and really get you to think about providing for me. I had no friends, which was true, but I sold it to you like I was lost and helpless and so scared. I went to bed crying with you, and it wasn’t exactly fake, but I certainly didn’t try to stop myself from expressing my pain to a stranger.

"Then we woke up, and I could feel your emotions, only a bit then. We went through that whirlwind yesterday, and I realized I had to hold onto you because not only did you actually care about me for some crazy reason, but you were also able to care for us. So yeah, I threw myself at you in hopes you wouldn’t pick her instead and leave me somewhere. I’m kinda used to that. But then, today, I found out you literally gave me a piece of your soul to hold onto. More than that, when you were told about it, you felt proud about doing it. You felt good about what you did. Then I felt when you reacted to him saying you could get out of it by killing me. So I’m feeling very secure right now. I felt how you felt, and it was great to be wanted like that.

“But then I felt how much you ached when Sam was in here. You can give her exactly what she wants but won’t simply because I’m here and in the way. Yeah, yesterday I was a bit worried that she would take you away from me — but now I know that’s literally impossible. Like you just said, you 'have to be committed to me.' But it doesn't have to be only me. Why not give it a go? She wants it and is going to stay here torturing herself to help you, and you wanted it before I was here — but I’m giving you permission to try it. I trust you because I can literally feel what you’re feeling. I know you aren’t going to leave me. You’re already beating yourself up over the thought that you’re hurting me and have twisted me into wanting this, just thirty seconds after I told you I was planning on using you for nothing more than a roof over my head and an occasional meal.”

I shook my head in disbelief, “Beth, this is insane. I don’t even know you, not really, anyways. I feel like I’m taking advantage of you already, and now you want me to pursue someone else.”

She shrugged, “You don’t need to know me when we both know exactly how the other feels. You’re not taking advantage of me when I ask you to do it. You’re uncomfortable with it; I can feel that. Is there anything besides our relationship that is bothering you?”

“How do I approach Sam about this? You know she’s going to be incredibly upset with me if she thinks I’m going behind your back or taking advantage of our unique relationship circumstances to force you to accept whatever I want to do. Or, you probably don’t know, but she’d crucify me, and I’d deserve it. How can I look Cynthia in the eye if Sam hates me? Isn’t this going to be incredibly uncomfortable if it blows up in our faces? How would we continue living here if we alienated both of them?”

I paused for a moment and then continued, “If you’re genuinely okay with this, we need to approach it delicately. As interesting an idea as it would be to simply take her, I won't pursue it if her consent is even ambiguous. I already did that to you, and I hate it. I already did it to Evgenia, and I hate it. I know you don’t feel the same, but I’m sorry I did what I did, and I’m not going to intentionally do that again.

“Actually, let me frame it like this: You hate how much I fret over these moral quandaries because of the uncertainty. If we get Sam explicitly onboard, you won’t ever have to hear my doubts about including her.”

Beth pursed her lips, and I felt acceptance through our bond. Her radical impulses had been hindered for the moment, so she began contemplating a way to coerce Sam into being open to her desires. I realized just how serious she was about including Sam in our insane relationship from the determination that resounded through our bond. My own thoughts wandered, and I found myself speculating that perhaps now that Beth was now in possession of a shard of dragon soul inside herself, it was causing her to desire either more mates for me or a mate for herself. Perhaps something to bring up to Antonin, as unlikely as it was that he’d have an answer.

Beth tentatively said, “Why don’t we go out to breakfast, just the three of us? We don’t have to say anything obvious for now, but if we just act like she’s with you, she’ll probably start to feel that way herself. You can be extra nice to her, telling her it’s just because she was so upset today, and I’ll encourage it. Worst case scenario, she feels a bit better about exploding on you and knows you’re really not upset with her because I’m willing to bet she’s in her room crying about how she’s really ruined her chances with you now.”

Beth must’ve received an echo of the guilt I felt because she continued, “Don’t. You won’t help it now. If she thinks she’s fucked up, tomorrow will work better.”

I sighed and responded, “I suppose that makes some sense. Just feels awful to know that she’s tormenting herself for no reason. Feels gross to use that emotional vulnerability to coerce her into the idea, even if it’s what she actually wants in the end.”

Beth moved to straddle my lap and kissed me with the tenacity and passion I had come to expect from her. She then looked into my eyes and said, “Bring her to the magic lessons with Antonin, too. She needs to connect with you if we’re going to make this work, and that’s a starting point.”

“Why are you so invested in getting her and me together?”

Beth halted, and I could tell she wasn’t being entirely truthful when she said, “She’s hot as fuck, I like her, and I want to see you rock her curvy world and give her everything she’s dreamed of.” I didn’t think Beth was outright lying, but she wasn’t telling me the whole truth.

Beth kissed me again, and she said, “I do have one request before I get you to rock my little world again, which you’re going to do before we go to bed tonight. When you talk to Antonin, get him to give you all of the information about your lust bites as you can. I want to know if making you bite me will ruin me forever or if we could do it once and see what it’s like.” She bit her lower lip as she looked into my eyes.

I lifted one eyebrow, an unspoken inquiry about what she was thinking.

She responded, “Look, I wouldn’t want the entire rest of my life to be that way, but for an evening of playtime, being your mindlessly addicted little sex kitten fuck doll sounds really hot, alright? I know what I said last night, but I don’t really want kids yet, either. So figure out if you can give me a half dose or something.” I’m not sure if she was completely aware of it, but she started grinding her hips against me while she spoke.

“You’re very interested in experiencing that?” I already had my answer from the rapidly increasing desire she projected through our bond, and the gyrations of her hips, and the damp trail she was leaving on my thigh.

She bit her lip again, and her pale skin flushed, but she responded, “I’ve spent my entire life having to be entirely in control so that way I could fight for my next meal, my next bed to sleep in, making sure no one came and stuck a knife in my back or stole my phone to get their next fix. Letting go completely while knowing you would never hurt me, being putty in your hands to play with… Yeah, that’s a really nice idea. Not that you need the help turning me into putty.” She was practically panting as she finished her answer.

I let my hand wander up her chest to massage her breast through her thin shirt, her nipples firmly erect and nearly sharp against my hand. I lowered my head and began kissing down her neck.

She moaned, the heavy, throaty rumble tumbling out directly into my ear. After a sharp intake of breath when I moved my hand underneath her shirt, she airily said, “Fuck. You could just bite me now.” The lust that came torrenting through our connection combined with her moans to ensure that I quickly caught up to her arousal. The dragon suggested I listen to her and get it over with; just press my teeth to her neck, and both of us would experience exactly what we wanted. She was right there. My teeth were just a hair's breadth from her skin. Let them sink in. Give her the sensory experience she's desperate for.

I pushed her away from my chest for a second and lifted her shirt off her, distancing myself to avoid the temptation. She slid off my lap completely, standing in front of the bed, and said, “Clothes. Off. Now.” as she removed her own shorts.

Not inclined to disappoint her, I rapidly shed my sweatpants and shirt before sitting back on the bed. Beth knelt before me, softly gripped my cock in her dainty hand, and promptly inhaled my entire length. I could feel the transition as my head slipped from her mouth into her throat, and I could see her eyes water at the intrusion because she kept them open the entire time, staring up at me. She swallowed around me, and the sensation was so intense that I nearly finished right then. She went from zero to one hundred faster than the beefiest muscle car.

“Oh, fuck me, Beth, that’s really nice. You better stop if you don’t want me to pop right now.”

She slowly withdrew, and after a small gasp when I completely disengaged, she gave me an incredibly mischievous grin. “God, you even taste amazing. That’s so fucking unfair. Hot, powerful, important, smart, loving, loyal to a fault, fucks like a stud, oh yeah, and his juices taste like candy. Fuck. I hadn’t had you in my throat yet, and I figured you were overdue there. Now, before you spurt all over me, I have a little question. Do you think that maybe you might be able to do your half-dragon transformation again?”

I wasn’t sure since I had only done it once before, so I shrugged my shoulders and said, “I’ll give it a go.” I figured that my bedroom was a reasonably safe place to practice the transition, and I would surely need much more practice doing it anyway. I didn’t see the harm in trying for her. I closed my eyes and took several deep breaths while calling the inner beast forth in my mind. I felt the other presence brush up against me, and this time, he knew what I wanted without speaking. I felt the bed shift under me, and I heard Beth gasp. The burning sensation reappeared but was significantly subdued. In just a moment, I was returned to control, now a massive man with two enormous wings spreading into the room and a scaled tail wagging across the bed sheets.

I opened my eyes and saw Beth standing before me, prominently chewing on her lower lip with her eyes half closed in wanton lust. She moaned out, “Fuck, J, you’re so fucking hot. You’re so fucking hot, and you’re mine. Fuck.” One of her hands had wandered to massage one of her pert breasts as the other slipped between her legs. Evidently, she immensely enjoyed the enormous muscular frame that my transformation resulted in.

She crawled into my lap, truly dwarfed by my new stature, and between kisses and moans from my groping, she whispered, “I wanted you like this when I first saw it. I want you to just take me. You’re so big and strong; there’s no way I could resist you. I know it’s not exactly what you want, but can you fuck me hard? Just take me? Make me scream for you? Remind Sam of what she could have if only she would reach out and grab it?”

Surprisingly, I found myself perfectly amenable to the idea. It wasn’t my usual cup of tea, but perhaps the dragon transformation had also modified my desires because I was very inclined to give her exactly what she was asking. I growled into her and pulled her petite body around me, so she was lying face down on the bed.

I wrapped my wings around her so that she was trapped between them and the mattress, and climbed behind her before she could react to the change in circumstances. I pressed my hips into her slight frame, completely pinning her against the bed. I felt her shiver as she whimpered, and I surrounded her legs with my own. I lowered my torso to her back and moved my face directly behind her ear.

I slithered one of my arms under her body, running it down her torso and over her taut stomach until I found my target. She was absolutely soaked, and I felt I was giving her exactly what she wanted over our connection. What she had craved but had been too scared to attempt with anyone else. I spread her nether lips with my fingers and pressed my length into her, sheathing myself entirely in one smooth motion. I was surprised to find myself no longer at the precipice of finishing, and I intuitively knew something Antonin hadn’t told me. Of course, there was no conceivable way for him to have known it, but in the draconic form, I could seemingly control when I would finish. I could derive all of the pleasure I wanted from Beth’s taut nubile form, only ending when I was ready to be done.

I lazily rolled my hips back and forth as I moved my other arm across her chest under her body as well, holding myself up with my wings to control how much I smothered Beth into the mattress. I slowly maneuvered my hand across her breasts, stopping to tweak her nipple momentarily, until it reached her throat, where I softly held it against her trembling form.

I ran my incredibly sharp teeth over the back of her neck directly under her ear, and I let her feel the warmth from my breath as I spoke, “Is this what you wanted, little girl? To be used by the terrible dragon for his own pleasure? A toy to appease the beast?”

No words were forthcoming from her mouth as a mewling moan replaced whatever she had intended to say. I pressed my fingers slightly harder into the skin of her neck, and I could feel every vibration of the noises she made. I used my grasp there to hold Beth in place, and I began to selfishly fuck her. No longer lazily rolling my hips, I was now aggressively rutting with the flustered pixie of a woman underneath me, using her body for my satisfaction.

My hips impacted her backside with every stroke, and she was deliriously moaning every single time I filled her completely. Her insides fluttered around me as they desperately tried to withhold my shaft within her, intuitively pulling me further inside her. Still grasping her neck firmly, I began to press my fingers hard into the flanks, careful to avoid cutting off her actual ability to breathe but restricting the blood flow to her brain. With my other hand, I gently brushed against her clit, my fore and middle fingers taking up residence on either side of her pearl.

I continued my rapid pace, furiously driving in and out of Beth until I felt my lungs starting to ache from the exertion. Ignoring the burn, I reached out in my mind and found my connection to Beth. Her feelings were fuzzy and incoherent, and I recognized that she was nearing the maximum amount of time my hand could be around her throat. I released my grasp there, dragging my fingertips down her chest before pinching one of her nipples and cautiously twisting it between my fingers. At the same time, I pressed the heel of my other hand into her clit, causing her to fiercely grind her sensitive nub against my palm with every forceful stroke of my hips.

As the proper quantity of oxygenated blood returned to her brain, I felt her thoughts find the crispness they usually had for an iota before she exploded as she violently came. Her thoughts became a jumbled mess of adoration and satisfaction as she twitched and shuddered underneath my ministrations. Her entire body became unbelievably tense before she released an incomprehensible scream. Her hands reached to pull mine away from her suddenly too-sensitive spots, and I relented as she writhed underneath me.

Feeling just how fervid her release had been, I let myself finish, completely emptying myself inside her. She recognized my warmth spill forth inside her and instinctively pressed her still squirming body back into me. An indecipherable jumbled mess of words and moans were released from her mouth as she tensed and released around me again before she collapsed into the bed, her face buried in the scrunched-up blankets she had been clinging to a moment ago.

As we both attempted to recover from the glorious climax and catch our breath, everything but our undulating chests was still for the moment. Satisfied with my finish and with the dragon’s predatory instincts quelled, for the time being, I whispered into her ear, “You’re mine, beautiful, forever.”

I could feel through our connection that her mind was still trying to restart and that she was effectively incapable of any complex thought. The portions that were capable of any concepts at all swooned at my words, unfiltered dedication bubbling up through the haze of her nonfunctional, recovering conscious mind.

I slowly pulled out of her, and she shuddered and whimpered when I was fully withdrawn from her depths. I carefully crept from my room and through the hallway into the bathroom, retrieving a washcloth. I was grateful that no lights were slithering under any of the doors, and I hoped everyone else was asleep. If they weren’t, they definitely heard Beth a few moments ago. Honestly, she probably woke them up if they were already asleep. I quickly cleaned myself before rinsing the washcloth with hot water and bringing it with me.

When I returned to my room, Beth was still unmoved in the center of the bed. I could see her chest rising and falling in time with her languidly recovering breath and was relieved that we didn’t have a repeat experience of the previous night. I hesitantly placed the cloth on the inside of her thigh, and when she moaned pleasantly in response, I began wiping up the remnants of our coupling.

She cringed when I touched her sex with the cloth and groaned, “Slow, slow, sensitive…” I continued very patiently washing her as best I could for the night. When I had done what I could, I returned the washcloth to the bathroom, rinsing it out and leaving it hanging over the side of the sink.

I felt immense satisfaction from Beth’s recovering consciousness as I returned from the bathroom for a second time. She flipped over and moved up the bed to rest her head on the pillows. She heard me enter the room, and without opening her eyes, she said, “Holy shit, J. Like, last night was good, but holy shit. Are you sure you didn’t bite me before we started because, like, fuck, that was really intense.”

I softly smirked and exhaled as I crawled into the bed beside her. “I’m sure I didn’t bite you. It’s not an unknown I was particularly inclined to chance. I want to know more about the long-term effects before I condemn my girlfriend to a life of mindless-”

I didn’t get a chance to finish my statement because Beth practically tackled me, kissing me even harder than her already stringent standard. After a moment of trying to press herself through me, she released her mouth from me and pulled back.

“I love you. That was the first time you called me your girlfriend, and it was just, wow. Might need a dry towel this time. I've got enough liquid.”

I smiled back at her devotedly adoring face and softly kissed her again.

She suddenly spoke anxiously, “Um, could I ask you for another favor tonight?”

“Of course.”

“Can you not change back before we go to sleep? Is it tiring to stay like this? I kinda would like to sleep in both your arms and your wings. At least to try it, for tonight.”

Instead of responding, I rolled onto my back, pulling her onto my chest and into my arms. Once she found a position where she would be comfortable enough to sleep, I cloaked her in my wings. She snuggled into my chest and practically purred as she whispered, “I love you, J. I hope I never wake up from this dream. It’s too good to be real.”

I fleetingly pushed my affections back to her over our bond as we drifted off to sleep, united physically and mentally. I fell into slumber easily, but my final thought, before it was lost to the abyss of sleep, was of how much better I had felt now compared to leaving the archive.