Expanding the Family
#39 of The Life and Times of Jarzyl Mintaka (Slice of Life Stories)
Jarzyl's parents plan the future of their family.
Rating: Explicit
(7,086 words)
Landing neatly on the balcony, Zilarin Mintaka folded in her wings and strolled into her home. Her commute from work to home was very short, yet even that brief flight was enough exercise to get her hearts beating at a regular, healthy pace.
_Ba-dum-da-dum._Dragons had two hearts--one that was always beating, and a secondary heart that provided enhanced circulation during exertion. That was basic biology that young hatchlings would learn about from school, and Zilarin was a healer working at the city's medical centre--her knowledge vastly exceeded a basic science class.
Ba-dum-da-dum. The azure blue-coloured drakka took a few seconds to catch her breath, yet her rapid heart rate didn't slow. If anything, that quick pulse sped up even further from stress, but not of the physical kind.
There was another dragon waiting in the living room. He was a drake covered with golden yellow scales, and his neck frill perked up as he saw her arrive. He'd been reared up on his hindlegs, wiping the table with a damp cloth--so casually domestic, and handsome without trying. "Zil! Welcome home," said Galon Mintaka.
Zilarin dipped her head in a stiff, nervous bow towards her mate. For decades now they had been paired, but today his mere presence made her anxious in a way she hadn't felt in years. She never floundered in the medical centre, whether it came to working her magic on patients or managing her ward of healers, medics, nurses, and other staff. Yet here with the one who knew her best, she felt such anxiety. "Galon...!"
Galon strolled over and affectionately licked her on the side of her neck, then he used his jaws to bite and yank on the quick release straps of her flight harness. He lifted her harness off her back and carried it away towards the kitchen, where he would later wipe it clean. The straps of Zilarin's flight harness were dyed with crimson red, as was the attire of a healer. On worse days in the past, Galon had washed off bloodstains from those red harness straps before--but today was not such a day, and Zilarin was nervous for a different reason entirely.
"How was your day?" Galon coolly asked.
"Busy," Zilarin replied immediately. That was always her reply. The medical centre was always busy, with too few healers and too many patients. Without further prompting, Zilarin forced herself to elaborate. "I had my last few appointments in the morning, then I finished up my reports and made sure everything in the ward was handed over neatly to Amatrin. Then... some last few rounds. It was busy, yes."
"Not too busy, I hope?"
Zilarin chuckled. "Ahha... No, not too busy. No sudden emergencies this time. Nothing to disrupt our planned trip tomorrow. It won't be like the last few times we tried this, with something always coming up at the last moment. This time I'm sure. The medical centre will survive for these few days without me. We can leave the city."
"Great. We're all ready to go then. It's been a long while since we've had the chance to go on a vacation together!" Galon returned from the kitchen, where he had traded Zilarin's flight harness for a small trolley cart laden with food. He used his tail to tug the cart over to the table, then he unloaded their dinner--bread, freshly toasted and crispy, and a thick meaty stew with tomatoes. It was a simple, hearty meal that was served piping hot, and the smell alone got Zilarin's mouth watering. All as routine, all as normal.
Zilarin went to the dining table. She sat on the floor cushion at her usual spot, right beside Galon's usual spot. "Has Jarzyl eaten her dinner?"
Galon nodded his head in the direction of their daughter's room, down the corridor. "She ate when she got back from school. I told her to go ahead first since she looked hungry."
Zilarin used the damp tablecloth to wipe her paws clean, then she scooped herself a bowlful of stew, before dipping the bread into it. As the two dragons ate together, Galon slid his tail over towards Zilarin's and loosely entwined their tail tips. Zilarin responded by partially unfurling her right wing and resting the flight surface over Galon's shoulders and his furled wings.
Even as she kept eating, Zilarin subtly channelled her affinity and sent out a tendril of healing magic through her wing, and into Galon's form as he sat beside her. Just as how she would diagnose a patient, Zilarin now peered into her mate with her power. His body was warm and healthy, but Zilarin pushed further beyond just observing and used her magic to rejuvenate everything she could. A small scratch on his hindpaw was wiped away in an instant, leaving behind pristine, unscarred flesh. She sensed a minor bruise on his shoulder--there was no visible surface damage to skin or scales, but Zilarin repaired the faint inflammation anyway. Her power could even clear the tiredness and miniscule stress done to bones and muscles from a routine day's flying, and she did so.
Healing affinity was one of the rarest varieties of magic, so the medical centre needed every healer it could get. It was a sacred job to heal the sick and wounded, and healers had an oath--their magic was uniquely attuned to the flesh, so every scrap of power was supposed to be used for those most in need. The medical centre was for significant injuries, not just minor scrapes that would quickly heal on their own. Yet the magic was still hers to command, and Zilarin chose to splurge some of her power on keeping her family well.
Zilarin also had another reason to use her magic on Galon--she just liked listening to his heartbeat. It was oddly comforting to sense the steady, solid thump of his heart in his chest. Decades ago when the two of them had first starting courting, Zilarin had even tried to use that as a measure of Galon's emotions. By listening to the pulse of his body, she had thought to gauge his interest in their conversation together; but all she had learned was that resting her wing on his back, or her paw over his, was already enough to get his heartbeat rising. Now they were used to the physical touch of each other, yet it was still a comfort and a shared pleasure.
Gallon lowered his snout to slurp up some stew from the bowl, then he spoke up. "You seem nervous."
Zilarin froze for a split-second. Of course he would have noticed her nervousness. "Perhaps."
"Worried about the trip? I know it's been a few years since we've travelled out of the city."
Zilarin flicked her wings in a shrug. For their short vacation to the Outer Colonies, the planning, packing, itinerary, bookings, and such travel-related things had all been done by Galon, and she trusted him to do them well. But now she had a last-minute development to tell him about. "Actually, today I was speaking with some of the other senior healers--"
Before Zilarin could continue her explanation, there came the sound of a bedroom door being slammed open, followed by the faint clink of dragon claws. A young fledgling, lanky in figure with scales of warm amber orange, came briskly trotting down the corridor with an impatience stride. "You're home!"
Jarzyl scampered over to the table and briefly hugged her mother, throwing her wings around Zilarin. Not too long ago Jarzyl had just been a tiny hatchling, but now she was well on her way to fully grown drakken, and easily three-quarters the size of her parents. Whereas previously the young dragon would have needed to rear up on her hindlegs, now she was tall enough to affectionately bump her snout against Zilarin's neck with ease.
"Jarzyl. Good to see you well." Zilarin licked the side of her daughter's snout.
Releasing her hug, Jarzyl grinned cheerfully. She strolled over towards Galon and then playfully stole a bite from the slice of bread that he had been eating.
"Still hungry? There's more dinner if you want." Galon gestured towards another of the floor cushions placed around the table. "Come sit with us and talk."
Jarzyl grabbed another bowl and spooned out more stew for herself, but she didn't sit down. "I got... schoolwork to do."
Galon looked amused but sceptical, but he didn't push it. "You do remember that your mother and I will be going for a short trip out of the city this weekend?"
Jarzyl tilted her head and her neck frill perked up, but then she nodded. "Mm... Yes, that sounds vaguely familiar. Have a good trip."
"Are you sure you don't want to come along?"
Jarzyl immediately shook her head. "No thanks. I've got plans already for this weekend. Got a project meeting, and you already said I could have some friends over for a sleepover."
"Atlas and Caden?" Galon asked.
Jarzyl nodded. "Pyxis too. And maybe Indry and Nerlin."
"Do behave yourselves," Zilarin said.
Jarzyl's response was to frown and flick her neck frill dismissively. "You behave yourselves...! I'm not a hatchling anymore," she muttered.
"Jarzyl," Galon said, with his voice talking up a firm tone.
Jarzyl put on an innocent expression. "I mean, yes, of course I'll behave myself. I give my complete assurances that my behaviour and conduct shall bring honour to myself, this family, Clan Mintaka, and drakken civilization as a whole." The fledgling slurped up her bowl of stew with a loud, rather impolite noise, then she licked her snout clean and trotted back to her room. "You two enjoy your trip! I'll enjoy having the house all to myself. Hehehe, yes..."
After the sound of Jarzyl's bedroom door slamming shut, Zilarin sighed faintly. "She really is growing up so fast. And she's picked up a sharp tongue. Jarzyl was always so curious and cheery of a hatchling, but now she's very sarcastic, isn't she?"
Galon chuckled softly and flicked his own neck frill. "Hehe. Definitely a fledgling thing. Hatchlings are fully dependant on their parents, but once they fledge and learn how to fly, they suddenly love their independence and want to carve out their own identity. Jarzyl's figuring herself out. She still needs our guidance and support, but also some space to be herself."
"Agreed. And speaking of space... As much as I enjoy family trips, it'll be nice to have some time and space for just the two of us alone." Zilarin distracted herself by eating some more of her dinner, then she leaned closer towards Galon. "There is something more we should discuss."
Galon raised and eye ridge curiously. "Oh?"
No more use delaying the conversation that needed to be had. Zilarin detested procrastination and preferred tackling problems head-on. "I was speaking with some of the other senior healers. As far as the medical centre goes, we are, surprisingly enough, better staffed than we've been in years. The newest batch of healers who came in this year was almost triple the size of last year's batch, and they are very talented with their minds and their magic."
"That's good," Galon said.
"It's more than good. We have enough healers that the medical centre could do without my magic for more than just our weekend trip. I could be out of office for... a week, or even a month, if there was a good reason." Zilarin shuddered slightly. "We talked about this years ago, but I always kept putting it off. I always said that work was too busy, but now it's not so busy anymore, and we can fulfil that promise we made to each other so long ago."
Galon's eyes went wide, and through her wing which was still on his back, Zilarin could feel her mate's heartrate picking up. "You mean...?"
Zilarin nodded, and their gazes locked. "Two weeks is enough time for gravidity and to lay an egg. A month, maximum." Her voice came out softer, and unintentionally sensual. "Shall we make a sibling for Jarzyl?"
Galon's neck frill perked right up, standing up around his head. "Oh, yes. Yes, yes, yes. Please, yes."
Zilarin realized that she had been holding her breath, and she let it out in a gasp. "Huh. It just feels so sudden. And I don't know if... are we ready for another child?"
With eyes bright, Galon nodded enthusiastically. "I'm ready. And I think you are too? You're a good mother. We've raised Jarzyl from egg to hatchling and now to fledgling--and we can do it again."
"I don't mean being mentally prepared for parenthood. I mean that there is much planning to be done," Zilarin worried. "There's the financial cost, and we'd have to free up one of the house rooms to be a nesting space, and... and we'd need to request from the clan membership quota..."
Galon was undeterred. "Don't worry about that. It's all manageable. I've been waiting and planning for this moment for years." He was confident and eager, which Zilarin found reassuring, but also slightly guilt-inducing.
"I'm sorry it took so long. I also promised you that we would have children even from those very first few days we started courting. I've wanted this too, but work has just been so busy that... I couldn't. The medical centre needs all the healing it can get. When I was gravid with Jarzyl's egg, I lost my magic for two months, and we were so short of healers at that time. I was useless, sitting around at home, recovering, powerless, while at the medical centre they turned away those that we should have helped. I even needed some of the other healers to heal me when I should have been helping them. Broken bones, left to heal with nothing but a splint and time, when we should have been able to work them together. Lacerations fixed with stitches, when we should have been able to repair flesh with power. All because we didn't have enough healers, and didn't have enough healing affinity--huuhh..."
Her words trailed off, interrupted by a soft sigh as Galon reached out his wing and wrapped it around her shoulders. "I understand." His snout brushed against the side of her neck, and Zilarin couldn't help but shiver. Galon's magic was not like hers--he had stone affinity, allowing him to control and manipulate rocks with his magic--yet when he touched her, it often felt like he had the power to control her body too.
Galon licked her neck, then his attention moved upwards and he gently licked the side of her snout. "I love you, Zil. I love you for who and what you are, and I understand that you serve the noblest duty of all, working in the medical centre. But this is a duty too--to continue creating the next generation of our family, our clan, and even the medical centre." Galon paused for a moment. "If all your healers are too busy to have children, then where will new healers come from?"
Zilarin held back a laugh. "Ahh. That's true. Although... technically, it's only the female healers who take a month or two to make an egg. The time investment for male healers to father an egg is much briefer."
She felt her mate's warm breath against her neck as he snorted. "No, it's not. We're not talking about making an egg. We're talking about making a child. Feeding and caring for a hatchling, then nurturing and teaching them in time--that is a decades-long commitment."
"Not for some clans. Or even for some sub-clans within Mintaka," Zilarin pointed out. "They raise their children communally, where grandparents, aunts, uncles, and even unrelated clanmates act as caretakers for the hatchlings."
"Not for our family, or for our lineages. I want us to be the ones raising our children. Can you imagine if we hadn't raised Jarzyl, and had just left her egg to be raised by clan caretakers? No, what an unhappy idea that would be." Galon kept licking gently at Zilarin's snout and her neck--it was a friendly, affectionate gesture, which simultaneously made her feel more and more relaxed, but also more and more worked up.
"I know. I agree wholeheartedly." Zilarin shivered. "I have two regrets in life. That I have only a limited time to heal dragons in the medical centre, and that I have only a limited time to spend with you and Jarzyl both."
"It's a balance you just have to make between work and family... which I do keep track of, as you well know." Underneath his soft, lavishly affectionate tone, Galon's voice took on an undercurrent of stony, solid determination. "That's why I always ask you to eat dinner with us, even if your shift ends late. And that's why we still have to go on vacations too--like our trip together tomorrow. Because if you won't take care of yourself, that I damned sure will."
Zilarin burst out into laughter. "Hahaha. Ah, Galon. I am so, so glad that we met when I was still in medical school. If we hadn't started courting before I graduated, I would never have made the time to do so. And if it wasn't for you, I would have probably worked myself to death at some point."
Galon's neck frill twitched, and an amused smile crossed his face. "I don't think so. You get amorous enough that the itch to find a partner would have pulled you to start courting anyway. But fates had us become mates, and then fates had us make our daughter."
"Jarzyl..." Zilarin pulled slightly out of Galon's embrace, and she glanced over her shoulder towards the corridor. "She's growing so fast. It feels like for so long she was this tiny, adorable hatchling always climbing up onto tables or clambering onto my shoulder. But then she learned how to fly, and now she's so big."
Following Zilarin's gaze towards Jarzyl's bedroom, Galon smiled warmly. "She's a fledgling. That's what they do. Blink, and suddenly they've grown a little bit bigger. And sometimes she gets... emotional, but that's normal too."
Zilarin nodded. "Just the other day I saw her with her flight harness overstuffed with all sorts of papers and crystals and things--materials for some project work, I think it was. So, I offered to fly with her to school and help her carry some of all that. Can you guess what her response was?"
Galon laughed. "Oh, I've made that mistake before. Let me guess--she complained that you were treating her like a hatchling who needed to be carried everywhere, pointed out that she was fully capable of flying, and insisted on carry everything herself?"
Zilarin let out a huff. "Humf. Precisely! And then she struggled to even take off. I think she managed it only through sheer, brute-force stubbornness."
Galon laughed warmly again. "Ahaha. She's still so young, but not as much as she once was. And she'll get her magic soon--a year or two, perhaps. Maybe less."
Zilarin sighed softly. "Sky sprits, I don't know how to feel about that."
"At least she hasn't started flaring with wild magic yet. I get the feeling she'll get into all sorts of trouble if her magic doesn't come under control quickly," Galon said.
Zilarin waved a paw dismissively. "Magic flares are just an occasional, transient developmental phase side effect that happens to fledglings. I'm more worried about Jarz's long-term, and what sort of affinity she settles into. Partly I'm hoping she inherits my healing affinity just because we need more healers, yet I'm also hoping she gets some other type of magic so she doesn't get pulled into the serious responsibility of the medical centre. She's so playful and curious, that I'm not sure how she would handle it."
Galon was quiet for a moment, then he shrugged. "I think she could thrive with any kind of magic. We'll support her no matter what, as will the clan." Sliding to his feet, the drake started clearing up dinner.
Inside the kitchen, while Galon was washing up plates, Zilarin went over to her flight harness which was hanging up on the wall. Reaching into one of the pouches, she snagged out a small bottle. "So we're sure about this, then? Another egg, another hatchling?"
"Yes." Galon paused in thought. "Not that it's guaranteed. Even if we try, it might or might not take."
"Why wouldn't it take? I know we're both healthy because of my magic, and we've already produced one egg--the second egg is usually easier."
Galon shrugged. "We're not as young as we were when we conceived Jarzyl?"
Zilarin responded with a snort. "Pfft. Don't be ridiculous. We're not old. Jarzyl might make you feel old with her youthful antics, but it will take another century before we can properly claim to be reaching middle age. Anyway..." Zilarin waved about the small bottle she had taken from her harness, which was partially filled with a clear liquid. "This is... oh, you wouldn't remember the pharmaceutical name, but it's an oestrus inducer. I've started drinking it over the course of today. If I finish the dose, by some time tomorrow or the day after I'll start going into heat."
Turning off the water, Galon stepped away from the sink and trotted over towards her. "Sounds like the opposite of the medicine you normally take."
Zilarin nodded. "I've been suppressing my heat for so long. The last time I was properly in heat was... maybe a decade ago? That last time when we tried for a child, but I got dragged back to work and I think the sheer stress made me crash out of my heat cycle. That won't happen again this time, I'm sure of it."
Moving close, Galon took the bottle in his own paw and peered at the label and the contents. "Hmm." With a claw extended out, he carefully worked off the cork, then he put that small bottle to Zilarin's mouth. "Drink, then. My lovely mate, go deep into that heat you've been putting off for years, and we'll make that egg."
His words sent a shiver through Zilarin's body, and she obligingly let the medicine fill her mouth as Galon tipped the small bottle back. Though the medicine was at room temperature, it was oddly spicy against her tongue. That liquid slid down her throat in one swallow, coming to rest in her stomach with uneasy, restless warmth that faded out through her form. Most of that sensation was placebo, surely--it would take hours, even days before her body worked itself into the fertile state of oestrus, where she would be ready to produce an egg.
Zilarin went to the sink and turned on the tap to lap some water, before swallowing again. Then with her mouth clear, she pressed herself against Galon and threw her wings around his body in a hug. She lavished his snout with licks, then tilted her snout at just the right angle for their mouths to come together in a kiss. Deep, well-refined affection interwove with intense lust. She only paused for a breath, drawn shakily, followed by a needy sigh. "Huuuh... I need you."
One of Galon's forepaws rested around her shoulder, while his other paw pulled her waist close. He was breathing heavily too, with his neck frill perked up high around his head. "Does... does any of this change our travel itinerary for our trip?"
Zilarin had been so busy in the medical centre that she'd let Galon plan out all of the short vacation. "Not really." Lust was clouding her thoughts, but then her medical knowledge came through. "Mmh, when planning to conceive, the general advice is to plan around a heat cycle, or take an inductor. Avoid liquor, incense, and other sorts of things which I wouldn't have been doing anyway. We just need to mate, a lot, but that was already the plan regardless."
"An excellent plan," Galon murmured. He kissed her again, and it was good.
Before either of the mated pair could do or say anything else, they were abruptly interrupted by the sound of a bedroom door being noisily thrown open, followed by the impatient pitter-patter of fledgling paws. Zilarin and Galon both jerked out of their entwined embrace--and just in time, for Jarzyl came trotting into the kitchen with her head held high.
Galon pretended he had just been drying the dishes, while Zilarin fiddled with her flight harness as it hung up on the wall. Affection between two mates was normal and not something to be hidden, but deep intimacy still called for privacy.
Their daughter paid them no particular attention. Instead she immediately navigated right towards the larder and nosed through all the foodstuffs contained within, then she lifted up the lid of the adjacent icebox and rummaged about. Wispy clouds of chilly vapour spilled out from the lid of the box, emanating from the frost enchantments that kept the contents cold.
"Still hungry?" Galon casually asked.
"Mmh." Jarzyl's reply with an affirmative hum and a casual flick of her neck frill. She coiled her tail tip around a carton of milk, then she picked up a box of cookies in her jaws, before slamming the lid of the icebox shut and trotting out of the kitchen again. The sound of her room door followed shortly after.
Zilarin and Galon both let out a breath of relief. "Should we tell Jarzyl that she's probably getting a sibling?" Zilarin wondered.
Galon thought about it, then shook his head. "No, not until we're sure. Even once you've laid that egg, it'll be incubating for months, or up to a year depending on the size. Jarz will have plenty of time to get used to the idea of a younger brother or sister."
"Ok." Zilarin walked over to the larder and also looked about within, which made Galon chuckle.
"Hah. You're still hungry too? We just had dinner. Are my portions too small?"
"No, your portions are a good size. But fledglings are growing fast, which makes them frequently hungry. And drakka going into heat can get increased appetite too, as the body prepares to make an egg. Speaking of making an egg..." Zilarin closed the larder and strolled over to Galon, letting her hips and tail swing from side to side as she walked. "I am very hungry... for you and your... uh... large portion...?" While this sentence had seemed enticing in her mind, it sounded considerably sillier once vocalized.
Galon laughed so hard he had to tuck his head under his wing, and still his body shook from barely restrained mirth. "Hehehe..."
"Sky spirts. We've been bonded mates for decades, and I still find it awkward to initiate," Zilarin sighed, though not with any real unhappiness. "Quit cackling, you banana-shaded drake. It's time for you to fulfil your matrimonial responsibilities."
Galon just kept giggling, and his laughter was only finally cut off when Zilarin let her tail tip drift against his underbelly. The golden-yellow drake snapped his head up from under his wing and a shudder ran through his body. "Ooh! Ok, ok. Yes. To the bedroom!"
Inside the bedroom, Zilarin locked the door behind them while Galon went to close the balcony doors and drew the curtains across, and then they both met on the bed. Galon yawned lazily and he flopped back onto the mattress, and Zilarin quickly interjected herself by sprawling atop her mate's supine body and pressing her snout against his in another kiss. "Mmh."
"Zilarin," he sighed, like it was some potent spellword. His paws pulled her against him, but then he paused. "Do you want to take a shower first?"
"For my comfort, or for yours?" Zilarin asked, followed by putting it in a more straightforward question. "Do I stink?"
"Haha. No. You don't stink." Galon sniffed at her neck, then he stuck out his tongue and gently licked the scales there, cleaning and grooming them. "I could lick you clean. All over. Slowly."
Another faint shiver went up Zilarin's spine. For a dragon to lick their own scales clean was a time-consuming activity--soap and a sponge or rag was much faster, albeit a less pleasant way to do cleaning. But to lick another dragon's scales clean was a gesture of care and affection. "I would like that very much... but later. Let's mate first. I've been thinking about _sex_all day."
Zilarin leapt off the bed and used her wing to snag a large bath towel that was folded up on top of a cupboard. Galon rolled off the bed as well, and together they spread the towel over their bedsheet. With that quick, practical preparation done, the two lovers lay together again, loosely entwined.
"How would you like it?" Galon asked. His left forepaw slid down Zilarin's chest and towards her underbelly, gently, teasingly touching her there. "How may I please you today? I can offer my paws, tongue, or even tail as an appetizer, unless you'd like to go right to the main course?"
"I'm spoilt for choice. You can do whatever you want with me, as long as it ends with a good hard hump, and you making a big mess deep inside me..." Zilarin sighed happily, and she rocked her hips to hump against the slow rubs of Galon's paw.
"I think that can be arranged," Galon murmured softly. Zilarin had been casually staring into the wide, bluish pools of his eyes, but now she moved her gaze down the slim lines of her drake. Galon had a lean, slender form, with strong shoulders meeting wide wing muscles, but his body was otherwise thin and sleekly aerodynamic. At certain points his bones were faintly visible under skin and scales, whereas Zilarin had slightly more flesh on her frame, though the two of them were still quite close in overall size and weight.
Most pertinently, below the flat of Galon's abdomen there was one particular area of interest to Zilarin. The scale plates continued in their smoothly tessellating rows, but there they grew extra fine and a faint cleft was visible. Galon's erection wasn't yet visible, though there was a faint bulge in his genital slit from flesh that was trying to swell and enlarge, but still being contained by muscle control.
A quick touch of Zilarin's paw fixed that. Galon drew breath in a soft gasp as she groped him right over the vulnerable, sensitive flesh of his genital slit--for a brief moment his whole body tensed up, but then he loosened and Zilarin could feel his slit muscles relax. Now no longer constrained, the tip of Galon's penis poked out from his slit as blood pressure made the drake's reproductive organ swell.
With a subtle touch of her healing magic, Zilarin could feel the blood flooding through miniscule vessels and filling up the warm living flesh of that slender, unscaled length as it enlarged and engorged, preparing for action. Galon's erection pulsed in her paws, throbbing to his heartbeat as a visible symbol of masculine arousal and sexuality. For a brief moment Zilarin felt oddly hungry, and she slid her tongue against her teeth as she remembered how her mate's erection fit right in her mouth, but then a greater, more primal need to be filled took precedence. "Put it in," she murmured, then she rolled onto her back and spread her legs, exposing her own genital slit.
Galon's neck frill was perked up around his head, and the hint of a smug smile crossed his snout. "In good time," he promised in a soft, silky voice.
Letting her head drop back against the bed, Zilarin sighed with exaggerated frustration. "Huuh. Oh no, you're going to tease me..."
That hint of a smile materialized fully into an amused smirk. "You like it when I tease you!" Galon shifted their positions, rolling Zilarin fully onto her back while he crouched over her body on all fours. He mantled out his wings, letting the flight surfaces brush against Zilarin's wings as she splayed them out against the bed. "I did ask. I sought your preference about whether to start with a paw, my mouth, or jump right to it, and you said it was up to me. I get to choose--slow or fast, what position, anything..."
Then with aching slowness he brought their groins together, but deliberately at a difficult angle. His erection was fully grown now, rigidly jutting out from his underbelly--a gently tapering, sleekly shaped length of virile flesh. The tip glistened slightly with a bead of pre-ejaculate, which intermixed with her natural lubricating fluids as Galon let his erection slide against Zilarin's slit. He was so close and could have just pushed in, but instead he ground against her body, avoiding proper penetration.
"Hggh..." Zilarin let out a needy sigh. Her slit felt warm, wet, and ready, but her muscles clenched down on nothing and left an unsatisfying sensation of emptiness. Casually she rested her forepaws against Galon's waist and gently pulled him towards her, urging him to properly mate with her. "Quick. Let's go. I'm ready."
Galon shifted his wings to brush them against hers, bringing the dry rustle of scales sliding against scales. He even entwined his tail against hers, then he gently peppered her snout with a series of affectionate licks, then her neck. "Impatient today? Is that the medicine working, bringing you into heat already?"
"No. This is only regular arousal and regular impatience. If you try this teasing tomorrow when I'm all worked up from being in heat, I'll flip you on your back and take charge." Zilarin squirmed about. Galon was still moving his hips, letting his erection slide against her slit and sending gentle doses of tingly pleasure up her spine. It was good, but it wasn't anywhere near enough. He was so close to filling her.
Galon used a forepaw to grab his erection and line it up. But then he paused--and he waited right until Zilarin lifted her head to look him in the eyes, then he finally stroked in. "Ahh."
"Galon...!" Zilarin was staring right into Galon's eyes, but her gaze went unfocused at the sudden sensation. Both dragons moaned out in pleasure. Galon slid his erection in only about a quarter of the way, then he withdrew slightly before pushing further in, gradually working his way deeper until they were slit to slit. Zilarin clenched her four paws, savouring the delightful sensation.
Fully penetrated, Galon shuddered against her. "That is so good, Zil," he sighed.
Zilarin nodded. "More," she demanded, greedy for more stimulation, more pleasure. "Like that. Just like that..."
Galon started to move, gently rocking his lower body to draw himself out of her, before easing his way back into her depths. Zilarin shifted under him, getting a good angle so that she could shift her hips in time with each of his thrusts. Together they moved through the ancient, primal dance of mating. Wings touching, tails entwined, pleasure flowed smoothly.
But then a sound made them both freeze up again--the sound of Jarzyl's bedroom slamming open. Zilarin and Galon both turned their heads to check their own door, which was latched closed. There was the faint clink of their daughter's claws against the floor outside, but the young fledgling scampered down the corridor towards the kitchen instead of coming to her parents' room.
For a moment both Zilarin and Galon remained still, then Zilarin chuckled softly. "Hah. Almost interrupted, but not quite."
"Like she's unconsciously trying to not become an older sibling. Grrr," Galon growled. He raised his wings and spread them wide, before stretching out to touch his wingtips against the wall behind the bed. From her healing affinity and the touch of her body against his, Zilarin could feel Galon's muscles tensing as he channelled his own magic. The stone walls of their home shifted and flowed, with a thin layer of material sliding to cover the doorway and muffle away noise. Galon had architected and then built their home, and he frequently redesigned it as he pleased.
Galon released his magic and glanced around at his effort, assessing it with a trained eye. "That should be a little quieter." Although stone affinity was far more common than healing affinity, such precise control of power was still impressive.
Zilarin took the chance to hug her mate close, and she clenched down on his erection, which was still fully inserted inside her. She wanted him, and she wanted to never let go. "Keep going."
Galon restarted his motion, now picking up to a quicker pace as the soft friction of sensitive, blood-engorged flesh against flesh was thoroughly slickened by natural fluids dripping from them both. "So good," hissed the drake, and his breath came in steady, soft pants. "Ah... ooh..."
After another minute, Zilarin's eyes had slid closed and she let out repeated, soft moans with each thrust. The small doses of pleasure were building together, flowing into each other into something much grander. But then suddenly Galon slowed the motion of his hips. "I've had a thought," he announced.
Zilarin didn't open her eyes. Hugging Galon's body against hers, she loosely put her jaws around his neck and nibbled. "Gnnaw, mmm. Uh, keep going. Don't slow down. Keep going just like that," she murmured, and she moved her hips against Galon's slowing thrusts to pick up the pace again.
Galon obligingly sped back up, but Zilarin could feel his throat vibrating under her mating bite as he spoke. "I was just thinking, I'm getting pretty close here."
"Wonderful! Then fill me," Zilarin told him.
Galon let out a carefree chuckle. "Haha. But I... I was just thinking, maybe I should hold off? Because you aren't in heat yet, correct? You only took the heat-inducing medicine right before, so you won't be in heat yet and maybe I should be saving up until you're actually in heat?"
The idea of Galon _not_pumping her full of his seed was decidedly unsatisfactory. "No, just fill me..." But then some rational thought reengaged, and ZIlarin blinked her eyes open even as the humping continued. "Uhh, biologically it doesn't matter. Sperm can survive for up to several days once released from a drake's body, if they're in the right environment--that being the inside of a drakka. That's why it's possible for a drakka to become gravid if she had sex right before going into heat, even if she never mates while actually in heat."
"Ah. That makes sense." Galon kept thrusting, but he nodded. "So I should finish inside you, then."
Zilarin nodded. "Of course. Share your genes with me and let's make that egg."
Galon growled softly again, and his next few thrusts were extra deep and forceful. "I would love nothing more than to breed my mate."
Zilarin could feel her whole body tingling with pent up energy, right on the verge of being released. She reached a paw down to rub around at her genital slit, just above the point where Galon was steadily thrusting into her, and that minor added stimulation was enough to kick her over the edge.
"Ohh...! Yes. That's it." She clutched Galon close, breaking the rhythm of his strokes to just get him as deep inside her as possible. A thunderstorm of pleasure broke out from her underbelly, lancing up her spine and deluging her entire body with mindless, blissfully overwhelming satisfaction. Everything was wonderful and warm and perfect, and Zilarin writhed about under Galon's weight as her orgasm rolled through her. "My drake. Mine, mine, mine, mine, mine," she gasped, delirious and senseless.
Galon tried to make a few more thrusts, but then he went fully still and shuddered against her too. "Arggh, Zil!" The drake let out a groan as if he was suddenly in great pain, but Zilarin knew her mate and knew it was the exact opposite. His erection jerked and pulsed inside of her, and it felt so good that Zilarin thought she would die. It felt so instinctually correct to couple and mate and breed, fulfilling that ancient, primal desire. Waves of pleasure rolled back and forth between them, as reproductive instincts cycled again and again, firing reflexes and making muscles clench. That one short instant lasted for an infinity.
Zilarin actually saw stars and felt lightheaded from the sheer, unrelenting intensity of that climactic moment. She almost blacked out, but finally the pleasure began to wane, and she could breathe again. Panting tiredly, she clutched at Galon's body as he rested atop and inside her, and together they both gasped for air.
The two dragons lay together, limbs and tails entwined, holding each other close. Galon hadn't even pulled out, and his erection remained stiff enough to stay within her still. Zilarin would have been content to remain like that for a long while, basking in the satisfaction of an intimate moment with the one she loved--as a healer, she knew it was neurochemistry and hormones flooding through her bloodstream in the comedown for an arousal high, as natural biology induced deep affection for her partner--yet that didn't make it any less real.
After another minute, both of them shifted to look each other in the eye again, and they spoke together.
"So I--" "I was thinking--"
Zilarin cut herself off, as did Galon. "You go first," Zilarin decided.
Galon laughed that warm, easy laugh that lifted her spirits. "Haha. I was saying, it's still early days, probably too early to even think about it, but I wonder what we should name our next child. Our hatchling number two..."
"Huh." Zilarin shook her head. "I'm not even in heat until tomorrow. It will still be weeks before the egg is laid, and months or maybe even a year before it hatches. Don't worry about a name just yet. We've got time."
"True." Galon bumped his snout against hers in an affectionate gesture. "Now your turn--what were you going to say?"
Zilarin sighed, and she stretched out her limbs even as Galon remained atop of her. "Uh... that I should probably go take a shower. And after what we just did, you need a shower too."
"Right you are," Galon replied.
TO BE CONTINUED