The Twilight Dragon

AN: Thanks to everyone for all the lovely votes! I have been sick with a cold for quite a while but that's given me lots of time to write. I hope you enjoy this next chapter, I am putting every effort to get these chapters out as fast as I can :)

*****

The heat came again mid-day as we were walking towards the valley. Thankfully Duke's large form created a nice shadow that Donya and I hid under. In the shade, it wasn't quite so bad. Duke seemed unaffected by the heat, proclaiming loudly that, "What a wonderful day it is to not be tied up in the back of a cart!" We had to laugh at that.

In fact, aside from the heat, it was an incredibly nice day. The grass was incredibly green, and there were no clouds in the light blue sky. I let myself feel grateful, grateful to be alive in this moment, with my boyfriend and my friend by my side.

"This would be a perfect day to have an ale and enjoy a lazy afternoon." Donya commented. Duke and I could only agree. Now seasoned travelers, we tied our headbands to our heads to wick away the sweat. Duke looked at us with amusement. "Looks like you two learned a lot."

"Lianne already knew this trick, she taught me." Donya said, looking at me fondly.

"Well when you've been on your own for so long, you learn a few things." I pointed to the once imposing valley. "This is the place the bandits forced us to go through. I think with a dragon by our side I'm ok with taking this short cut this time."

Duke smirked. "I'd feel sorry for any bandits that come across us." He paused to spread his wings, stretching widely. We stepped away to give him room. He looked quite fearsome with his wings spread out, I'm sure they were each longer than a full-grown man, and dark enough to block the sun's rays.

"Ah...much better." He said with a hrmph before tucking them away. Donya looked impressed, and I'm sure the expression was mirrored in my own face.

"Hmm I've never been here..." Duke said once we entered the quiet valley. "Eerie." He studied the pulverized rocks on the ground, kicking the sand with his clawed foot. He looked up at the sky to see the birds circling overhead.

"They must know there is potential prey to be had here." He noted.

I suppressed a shudder. "Let's get out of here."

Once we were far enough away from the valley we decided to take a break. The hill leading up to the valley had been exhausting, and Donya and I were both drenched from sweat.

"Can we walk to the river? I think that's enough walking for today, and we should be setting up camp."

"A nice bath would be lovely." Donya commented.

"We can bathe in the river."

****

"I'm starving, I'm going to catch us some fish." Duke said once we reached the river. We walked along the river until we found a part where it widened, and the current flowed lazily. Donya hurried over to splash water on her face. I did the same, the cool water immediately rejuvenating my spirits.

Farther down, Duke ran into the water, splashing water on his body. It was a shallow part of the river, and the water only came up to his hips. He started washing his horns, and I thought that was quite a good idea. Donya and I stripped to our underwear and followed him into the water.

"Oh this is fantastic!" I washed the dirt and grim from my body, scrubbing thoroughly. Duke was rolling around in the river to try and get clean, and with a laugh I half-walked, half swam over to him.

"Here, let me help you."

"Ah, thank you." I splashed water onto his back and scrubbed him with a rock until his scales gleamed.

"Mm...now there's a sight." He rumbled, eyeing my bare breasts that were half submerged. "I missed these too." He said, reaching over to fondle my breasts.

I let out a soft gasp at his touch. I had forgotten how good that felt. "Let's set up camp first." I scolded, and he grumbled.

"Fine." He looked down and his eyes lit up.

"Fish!"

"Okay, why don't you work on that and Donya and I will set up camp?"

I swam over to Donya, who was washing her hair.

"Duke says he has dinner covered, why don't we set up the campfire and the sleeping area?"

"Sure."

It was a shame to leave the cool water, but we had work to do.

We moved the backpacks to a distance away from the river and started making the rock pit for the fire. We heard a loud splash and we both watched as Duke stood up with a curse, empty-handed.

"Might take him a while, why don't you look for firewood?" I suggested.

"Sounds good." Donya said, tying her hair up into a ponytail. She put on her bra and underwear on but left the other clothes for later. I did the same, it was too hot for clothes anyways, especially with the fire we were going to build. I walked to the forest to grab some small sticks to make a fire when I heard Duke walking up behind me. He was dragging a large piece of driftwood.

"Making a fire? Why bother with that small stuff? Stand back." He stuck the pale white wood in the middle of my rock pit and inhaled. I backed off and watched as he breathed a steady stream of fire from his mouth onto the wood. It took a while but then the wood caught fire spectacularly, and then we had a campfire.

"Wow." I said, clapping my hands. Duke gave a small bow just as Donya stumbled into the clearing with a large bundle of sticks. "I found a great stack of-oh." She dropped the sticks on the ground, dejected as she saw the large fire Duke had built.

I walked over to her and helped pick up the sticks. "These will do great for cooking the fish, thanks Donya."

"No problem..." She said, staring at the fire in wonder as Duke headed back into the river to try and catch fish.

I sharpened the sticks into fishing spears for Donya and I. Duke had so far been unsuccessful in catching any of the fish, and seemed to be growing more and more agitated.

"Let us help." I said once we had waded back into the river. He eyed the spears dubiously but nodded. "Sure, why don't you two try your luck."

With two pairs of eyes on me, I aimed my spear at one large looking trout, and thrust! And missed.

"Shit."

Duke laughed and moved away farther down the river to give us some room.

Donya stayed with me, and we continued trying to stab at the enticingly fat trout. Every time we failed, I saw Donya look over at Duke to see if he had caught anything. She must've been really hungry. "We still have the dried meat in my backpack." I reminded her.

"Huh? Oh...no, I'm good, thank you." She said distractedly, brushing the wet hair from her forehead, she returned to the task, her brow furrowed in concentration.

"Here, why don't I make some waves and scare them over to you." I said, splashing the water.

Donya thrust again. "Hm...nope, but I was closer that time, please keep doing that."

We tried that technique a few more times, and then...

"Oh! I got it!" Donya said with a squeal. "It's trying to escape!" I rushed over to help and used my spear to help pierce the trout. We let out cries of triumph as we carried our prize back to the fire. Duke heard us and followed.

"Hm...a bit mangled, but still edible." Duke said.

"I'd like to see you do better." Donya said with a fake haughty air, though I could tell she actually looked quite proud that she caught the first, and possibly only, fish.

"Gimmie that." Duke said with a growl, taking my spear. "Challenge accepted."

Relieved of spearing duties, I cleaned the fish and got it cooking on another stick. I watched the two as they returned to the river, stabbing the water futilely until they decided to work together. Ah teamwork. About a half hour later they were both back, this time with a large bounty of speared fish.

Donya helped me gut them and put them on sticks in a circle around the fire to cook while Duke left and returned with a large tree trunk for Donya and I to sit on. He returned later with his own tree trunk to sit on across from us, spreading his wings out to dry.

"Is this done yet?" Donya asked, taking one of the sticks after a while.

"Only one way to find out." I said. She peeled at the crispy fish skin, revealing the juicy-looking meat underneath. "Mmm smells done." She said, breaking off a piece and putting it in her mouth.

"Tasty...tastes like victory." Donya teased Duke, who scoffed and grabbed a stick on the other side. He gnawed on the fish while Donya and I picked at our fish with our fingers.

The sun was setting, creating a comfortable, contemplative mood as we sat there, eating the fish.

"Do we still need to sleep in shifts?" Donya asked as she licked her fingers after we had finished all the fish.

"I'm not sure, what do you think, Duke?" I asked.

"I don't think there's anything that would pose a threat to me." Duke said confidently. "But I can stay up and tend to the fire for a bit if you want."

"I can do that, you've had a rough few days." Donya said, but Duke waved that offer aside. "Sleep."

Now that the sun had set, it was starting to get cold again. I shivered and went over to my backpack to put my clothes on. We washed the grease from our hands in the river and headed back to the campsite. The heat of the campfire was very welcoming now, and I slipped into my sleep roll gratefully. Duke sat beside me and stoked my hair. And still it was cold. I could see Donya hiding in her sleep roll across from me.

"Why don't we share your sleep roll, Donya?" I called out to her. "It's really cold."

"Oh sure." Donya agreed easily, and I got out to join her in her sleeping roll. Being the shorter person, I decided I would be better suited to be the one facing the fire. Donya's sleep roll was much better suited for two people, and we both turned to face the fire, our bodies slightly touching. "Better?" Donya asked.

"Oh yes, much better."

Duke watched us and yawned widely before returning his gaze to the fire. With two people in the sleep roll it soon warmed up to a comfortable temperature, and I fell asleep.

***

I woke up to Duke's arm wrapped comfortable around my waist, his body spooning mine. I smiled, my eyes still closed as I reached down to touch his hand. Wait. My fingers brushed the smooth fingernails and I remembered who I was sharing the sleeping roll with. With a soft sigh Donya snuggled up to me, still sleeping. I felt my cheeks flush. Was it wrong to like this? It was still dark out, so I shut my eyes again.

I woke a while later to some movement behind me. I could feel the light against my eyelids, and so I rubbed my eyes with one hand. "Lianne?" I heard Donya whisper behind me. "Are you awake?"

"Yeah." I tensed. Why was Donya whispering? Adrenaline shot through me as I looked in front of me, scanning the stumps, the river for any potential threat. Snake? Bear? Bandits? It could've been anything.

"Good, I'm getting out, Duke is spooning me." I could feel Donya starting to move and I suppressed a giggle at the thought of Donya trapped between the two of us, not wanting to disturb anyone. I grabbed her arm as she reached over to lift the blanket. "Don't leave. Just stay here."

"But he thinks I'm you." Donya said. There was brief moment of quiet. "He is enormous." She said in a mixture of awe tinged with some apprehension. I could hear Duke's heavy breathing, still asleep. Donya groaned, burying her face in my hair. "I have corrupted you."

"Nothing that wasn't already there beneath the surface." I said, patting her hand happily. The warmth of Donya's body felt great against my backside.

"Duke!" I called out to my sleeping dragon, who snorted. "Wake up."

He sat up and let out a confused grunt. "I thought...I'm sorry if I disturbed you Donya." He said as he stood over us, slightly baffled.

"Don't worry about it." Donya said, and she poked me in the side when I giggled. "Brat."

"Whore."

"Tell me something I don't know." Donya said with a scoff as she headed to the river to wash up.

We set off for home, freshly rejuvenated from the long sleep. We managed to get home in a decent amount of time. It was dark when we returned and it was raining lightly, but thankfully the full moon provided plenty of light as we headed back down the path to our town.

"You'll be ok walking back?" I asked Donya when we neared my home.

"Oh yes." She chuckled. "I could do this path in my sleep." She said.

"See you at work then. And...thanks. For everything." I gave her a hug and she reciprocated. We hugged for a long time until Duke cleared his throat. Then we finally broke apart.

"Well, good night." Donya said to both of us. We waved good bye to her and headed back to my place.

***

I groaned as I sat down on a tree stump near my house. "My feet are killing me." I complained. Here under the shade of the large tree house, the rain bothered me very little. "We are alone at last." Duke sat down on the ground as I took off my shoes. He took my feet in his large hands and rubbed them gently. "We are alone at last."

"Oh that is heavenly." I said with a happy sigh after a few minutes of the massage.

"Just wait, it's about to get even better." He said with a sneaky grin as he leaned over and unfastened the laces on my pants. I pulled him in for a kiss, my heart already pounding. I breathed in his musky scent before he pulled my tunic up and over my head. How I've waited so long for this! He unfastened my bra, letting my breasts bounce free. His tongue came out to wrap around one breast while I ran my hands over his horns. I could feel my nipples tighten immediately at his touch, and a gasp escaped my lips. He pulled me into his arms, the heat of his body warming me even in the chill of the night. I caressed his chest, his shoulder muscles. He released my breast to kiss my forehead. "Give yourself to me, Lianne." He said in a deep tremor of his voice. And so I did.

My discarded clothes became a makeshift blanket that he laid me down upon. We continued kissing, our kisses heated. His hands ran over my body, exploring. I touched his arms, his abs, remembering what he felt like.

He parted my legs and his tongue found its way to my folds, around the area at first before delving deeper. I groaned as he entered me, it felt like I had been without him for so long. He used his hand to tease my clit as he continued to flick his tongue upwards, hitting my g-spot. I came fast and hard, clenching onto his tongue repeatedly until I was spent. I lay gasping as my sweat cooled quickly in the night air as Duke sat over me, looking smug. "You're so cute when you come."

I blushed and smacked his hand. "You're making me self-conscious."

"Fine, let me distract you." He said, sitting back and pulling me into his lap where his desire was still rock hard.

"Oh." I said with a small laugh. I touched his shaft gently with one hand and he inhaled sharply. "Grab me." He insisted. "I want you so badly it hurts."

I tightened my grip and he grunted. "Better." I stroked him with both my hands, up and down his black and red striped cock. "Fuck." I heard him say. This only went on for what seemed like a short period before I could see him start to tense up. Then he came in quick bursts, shooting ribbons of white cum onto the both of us. I stroked him for a little longer before he pushed my hands away. "Thank you." He said, and I wrapped my arms around his waist, effectively smearing his cum all over our bodies. The feeling seemed to excite him, and soon he was ready again.

Once we were finished, I laid on my clothes while he spooned me from behind. I sighed happily, my hands clasped with his.

"You know, if we worked together, I could probably build a larger house for both of us." He suggested in a casual tone. I knew him well enough to know that he was serious. I gazed up at the sky of brilliant stars as I thought intently upon my answer.

"Ok."

***

Of course, it was easier said than done. When I wasn't at work, Duke and I were making plans for the design of the house, counting how many trees it would take, what it would look like, the doors and windows.

My tree house seemed a lot easier. With Duke's size, everything had to be doubled. He was gone for a few days and returned with the tools we would need. Even with Duke's strength the work was difficult and exhausting, and some days we would argue, sometimes about plans, sometimes about nothing at all, just venting from all the frustration.

Both of us would lament over how much easier life was when we were not working on this large project, and question why we were so ambitiously stupid.

"How dare you trick me into performing all this hard work with your enticing personality." He would say when the sun was out and even he was sweating under the harsh sun.

"How dare you trick me into performing all this hard work with your loving devotion and enormous cock." I would say, and we would both laugh uproariously.

On days when I came home from work I would still see him sawing wood or gazing over our plans, his brow furrowed. But it was times like this that I loved him the most.

***

"I can't wait for when this is completed." He told me one day as we looked at the almost completed house, the culmination of almost a month of hard, almost constant work. The brown bark of the trees gave the house a rustic look, and it was very sturdy, Duke made sure of that.

We had a bedroom, a kitchen, and a living room, with a window in each room. There were a few more things that needed to be done, like sanding down various areas inside the house and furniture placement and other details, but at this point we were able to appreciate the beauty of our creation. "Me too." I said, kissing his hand. "Now come and let me take care of you."

***

It was late afternoon when I went into work, the doorman giving me his usual leer that I ignored as I went into the brothel. I hummed happily to myself as I took the laundry down the hall.

Donya's door was always closed now, she must have had a very lucrative month. With a pang in my heart, I realized that I had not seen her ever since the end of the trip.

"Is Donya with a client?" I asked one of the other girls, who shook her head. "No one's come by today, it's been slow." She complained.

I took care of the laundry and knocked on Donya's door afterwards.

"Come in."

I opened the door. Donya was sitting on her bed reading a book. She looked surprised to see me.

"Hey." She said with a small smile.

"Hey."

"I don't have any laundry today." She said before returning to her book.

"Ya, I noticed." I said, a little taken aback by her indifference. "So...how's work?" I asked, standing near the door awkwardly. "Been busy?"

"It's been more or less the same." She said uncommittedly.

Ok that's enough of that. I walked over to the bed and sat beside her. Again she was surprised but she put her book down at least.

"So, whatcha reading?" I asked, taking the book from where it was laying on her stomach and flipping through it.

"Just something I borrowed from the library. It is about how to make traps for hunting uses."

"Cool!" I studied the pictures. "I've made this one before."

I told her a story about one of the travelers that came to the village, and how we had traded information. I had taught him which berries near our town were edible, and in turn he showed me that useful snare. It was several days before I was successful in capturing a fat rabbit. Donya listened intently, clearly intrigued.

We talked for a long time, our conversation flowing easily from one topic to the next. Donya was not one to be judgmental, and so I felt comfortable sharing any story with her. I was finishing a story about how once I had to track down a deer who had for some unknown reason, taken my pants when I was bathing in the river when I suddenly became conscious of Donya watching me.