His tongue melted slowly, viciously through my body. Sweeping across my flesh. Pushing along back and forth, sliding deep up inside me. I tensed, and held, and relaxed as the tip of his tongue eased back down again, only to push back once more the moment my guard was down, tasting me more sweetly still than before. Never giving me a moment's rest, as he ate and sucked and licked and pleased me, seeming to enjoy the taste of me on his tongue, as much as I was enjoying the intense, almost violent waves of pleasure that now swept across my body, reducing me further and further beneath the rolling sweep of his flesh through mine.

This was wrong, I knew. I shouldn't be enjoying this. I should be worried sick. Waiting for Baill to come bursting through the trees at any moment. Exploding into a rage. Killing us both on the spot. And if not that, then I should be worried about him finding out about us– he would find out, of course, sooner or later. It was not so much a matter of if, but a matter of when.

I should be worried about where this all might lead. It felt impossible that it might lead anywhere, but to sheer oblivion. That I could possibly have any sort of a future with this man. This strong, kind, silver-tongued man...

How could I? How could any of this lead to anything but heartbreak? To despair? I wanted something that I knew could never be. That I knew could never be allowed, if not by my father, then by Baill.

Yet here it was. It was happening, now, in spite of its impossibility. And despite the shadow of worry I now felt, in the deepest recesses of my mind, it was impossible to afford it any serious real estate in my thoughts at that moment. Not with Fri, that incredible man, down on his knees behind me. Eating me so steadily Devouring me. His hands on my ass, shimmying up and down my thighs. His tongue sweeping along my folds, lapping up every delicate inch of my flesh. Pushing up inside me, causing me to scream as he pressed against my most sensitive, aching needs, satisfying me beyond what words could describe.

He moved his entire head up and down against my body. He slashed his tongue back and forth over every inch of me, sometimes going so far as to draw it up between my cheeks, evoking unexpected moans as he rolled back down again, leaving my heart racing in my chest.

The pressure just kept growing and growing. It burned brilliantly between my trembling thighs, then blossomed upward along the length of my body, hurling me desperately toward my uppermost limits. I grew wetter and wetter, dripping along his lips and chin as he pressed himself further and further into me. My arms trembled, and my nails dug deeper and deeper beneath the bark of the tree, causing it to crumble in my grip as the pleasure reached its apex.

And then, in a sudden, desperate wave, I felt it. The collapse. The desperate implosion of everything I was.

I shrieked. I trembled. I threw an arm back, and grabbed him by the neck, stuffing his face between my cheeks, holding his tongue as far up into me as I could get him. He gripped my ass for support, staying exactly where I wanted him, keeping that glorious tongue focused on exactly the spot where it needed to be.

I craned my head back, looking up at the sky, and bellowed out a long, desperate moan.

Orgasm radiated through me, pulsing through my body with a dizzying fervor. Hot, desperate waves of it, rising to crescendo after crescendo inside me. Long, glorious plateaus of sensation, dying down again for moments on end, only to rise again, to a peak still higher than before.

I wasn't sure how much longer I could stand this. My knees straining inward toward one another, my whole body threatening to buckle beneath its own weight. On and on it went, each trill of sensation feeling certain to be the one that did me in.

And then finally, when I didn't think I could stand it anymore, I felt the sensations evaporating, into thin air, like they'd never even been there at all. I groaned, and let my head fall heavily down, my breasts heaving as I leaned against the tree, my palms scraped from the bark as I'd clutched it for dear life at the apex of my delight.

Slowly, sensually, I felt Fri's lips melting away from my pussy. His absence was immediate, intense, and overwhelming. Thankfully, though, I knew that it wouldn't be for long...

I felt the scratch of his beard against my thighs, and turned my head back to see him rising under the moonlight, his perfect lips now glistening with my want for him, turning me on worse in that moment than I could possibly have anticipated.

I opened my mouth to say something to him, but suddenly the power of speech seemed to have left me. This worked fine in the end, however, as Fri drew his body up over me, mounting me from behind as he'd done upon first positioning me here, his cock sliding up along the crack of my ass. He took full advantage of my parted lips, leaning in, and kissing me slowly, breathing me deeply into himself, the taste of my pussy on his tongue driving me mad with desire for him.

I could feel him getting harder and harder for me all the while, his jizz dripping, and rolling cool and soft down the hills of my buttocks. I wished to God that he would stop torturing me in this way, as much as I loved it, and just put himself inside me already.

Thankfully, it turned out, I didn't have to wait all that much longer.

As though reading my mind, Fri drew his body back, and angled himself up between my legs. I felt the tip of his cock hovering just against my opening, the heat of him scalding as his flesh grazed my own every couple of seconds. He placed his hands against my own, holding them against the trunk of the tree, and then he eased his body forward, pushing himself slowly up inside me.

Instantly I was shaking, struck by a feeling of unprecedented fullness, and his tumescent maleness still only a fraction of the way up inside me. I breathed desperately, straining just to keep air in my lungs. I felt him stretching me, loving every moment of it. Pushing up and up inside me, the walls of my vagina tightening around him, driving him greedily into myself, my body begging desperately to his own, praying for it never to leave.

At last he settled all the way up inside me, his tip pressed hard against my g-spot. His body doubled over mine. His breath hot and delicious against the back of my neck. The whole of my being dedicated to him in that moment– him, and only him, and the pleasure that now flowed so viciously between our united bodies, the two of us joined as one.

“You really did want it,” he whispered in my era, tightening his ass, and pressing gently forward with the head of his cock, so that sensations poured through my body like liquid, becoming more and more intense with every passing moment of sustained contact.

“Mm-hmm,” I sighed desperately, nodding to him, my eyes clenched shut from the pleasure. I heard him laugh, then felt the sudden drop of pressure from within. I gasped, feeling dizzy as he withdrew himself from me, sliding back out all the way to his tip.

Resting there for only a fraction of a second, he then launched himself back up inside me as hard as he could, filling me up all over again, striking down hard against my body with a loud, resounding clap.

I screamed with pleasure, and he slid one hand down to the small of my back to steady me, and hold me in place. He drew his body back out again, and started fucking me, moving in a hard, steady rhythm, wasting no time at all in building his way up to a fast, deliberate speed.

I don't think I'd ever felt anything as sweet as the planes of those muscles gliding over me. His powerful flesh rubbing against my soft form, as he hurled his cock up into me with a devastating force, hammering away at my g-spot.

I was entirely his in those moments. There was no longer any Baill. No royal lineage, no Earth dragons. It was just he and I. His arms wrapped around me. His massive body swinging so effortlessly into mine. Each reunion, and each departure of his flesh and mine bringing a fresh sweep of sensations from my head down to my toes. Making me ache for him. My desperate want for him becoming unbearable, even as he subjected me to more and more of himself, so much more than I thought I could possibly stand.

Harder and harder, deeper and deeper he went. I tried to think of a time I had ever felt happier, more secure, or more loved, than I did in those moments. Writhing in his arms. Screaming with pleasure. Listening to his growls of want, and the loud, echoing thunder of his body's desperate collision with my own.

But I couldn't.

I had never known such bliss before. Such sheer joy, both physical and spiritual.

I was already beginning to wonder how I might go on another day without it. How I could possibly survive without this man and his unfathomable talents. His seemingly endless affection for me. The love I saw, whenever I gazed into those golden eyes of his.

As though sensing my despair, Fri seized me all the more desperately– a kind of vow, it seemed, that he would never let me go. That he would always be there for me. That nothing, from that point onward, would ever come between us. He was mine forever, just as I was his. And in those carefree, blissful moments, as he rode me harder and harder, the two of us racing further and further toward oblivion, I almost allowed myself to believe this. I almost allowed myself to surrender to it, to the truth of that moment, as impossible as it seemed that it might extend any further beyond that.

And it was that surrender, that giving in to my desires, so fully and completely, that made the next glorious moments so magical, so unimaginable, and so unlike anything I had ever experienced before.

Fri let out a wild roar, and threw himself up into me at full force, nearly displacing me from his grip, my knees shaking as he held his full weight up against me. Instantly he'd filled me, ejaculating so heavily that it spilled from my body in torrents in a matter of seconds. His fingers pressed hard into my flesh, and his body continued to spasm on top of me, his muscles tense, his breath hot and deep against my neck. He continued to pulse inside of me, filling me with his warm, beautiful essence. It spilled from me in its abundance, and I cried out, losing control at last, the sensations mingling with the sweet intensity of my insemination too much for me to bear.

My heart raced. My shoulders pushed together. My back arched against him, and my ass tightened. I moaned, and felt the brilliance of orgasm, surging through me yet again. Rising in my belly, tearing me down to my foundations. Rolling along my body in massive, brilliant waves. Sweeping me under. Pleasure so sweet, so severe, that I began to cry.

On and on it went, a unity between the two of us that was incomparable to anything I'd known. His arms holding me tight, keeping me safe. The heat of his body guiding me through these impossible heights. His grunts of pleasure, the warmth and the sound of his breathing, all conspired together to bring me through securely to the other side. Colors flashing in front of my eyes as at last the sensations died down again, and I was left stunned. My head spinning. A smile on my face, slowly fading, and my heart seeming to thump between my ears in its intensity, very gradually settling back down again.

Slowly the two of us worked our way apart from one another, and settled down in the undergrowth. A cool breeze blew over us, chillier than it would have been thanks to the streaks of sweat pouring along my glistening body. A part of me wished Fri would reach over and wrap his arms around me, but he seemed as stunned as I was at that moment. And so instead, the two of us simply lay there on our backs. Staring up through the forest canopy at the encroaching stars. Breathing heavily at first, clouds of steam pouring up from our open mouths. Gradually, though, we settled back down. Our breaths shallow. Neither one of us hardly making a sound.

And then, all was quiet. Too quiet, for what seemed a long, long time.

I felt uneasy. My mind reverberating with the reality of what we'd just done. Putting it all into focus. Realizing, now, the implications it might entail, for any future we might once have hoped to have with one another.

“This was a mistake...” I said, after a long, long spell of quiet and instantly regretted the choice of words.

“What?” asked Fri, his brow furrowed with worry. I sighed.

I turned to him, and shook my head.

“I don't think so,” said Fri defensively, and I felt bad for having set into motion the line of thinking I could almost see getting underway behind his golden eyes.

“It's too soon,” I said. “We should have waited...”

“Oh– God, I– I'm sorry, I didn't mean to– I thought you wanted– “

I put a hand to my head. “No... No, I'm not saying what I mean...”

“What do you mean?” he asked, and I had to think. Wanting desperately to get it right this time.

I lowered my hand, and stared earnestly into his eyes.

“What I mean is... Well... I liked all of that. A lot. I don't regret that it happened. I'm glad that it did. And it's not that I wasn't ready for it, emotionally, it's just...”

“Just what?” he asked, when I paused for a long moment without saying anything.

“It's... Baill,” I finally managed to say. Immediately I saw Fri's expression darken.

“What about him?” he snapped angrily. “Endia, I've seen the way he treats you, and everyone around him for that matter! You deserve so much better than him! I don't understand how you could be in love with– “

“I'm not in love with him!” I shouted, disgusted at the very notion. This seemed to quiet him down a little bit, offering him relief against his worst fears. “It's not like that, okay? I'm not hung up on any sort of feelings for him. It's the practicalities that I'm worried about. What my father will say if I refuse to marry him. What the Earth dragons will say, and what it will mean for the kingdom...”

“You're going to marry that complete dick just to make your dad happy?” snapped Fri. “From what I saw, the two of them weren't getting along particularly well the other night...”

“I don't want to marry him at all!” I snapped. “But I should have controlled myself... I shouldn't have given into my impulses, and done what I just did. Not while Baill and I are still technically together. Not while we're still engaged...”

“Technically?” said Fri, and the word seemed again to kindle some hope in him.

I nodded. “I don't want to go through with it Fri. I want to see if I can get out of it. You were right, about what you said– about how I feel, whenever I'm around you. It's the same with me, as it is for you... Like– like I'm dreaming or something, whenever we're together. I've been happier these past several days than I have been in a very long time.”

“You make me happy too,” said Fri, seemingly appeased at last.

“I want us to be happy together,” I said. “But there's a right way to do things and a wrong way. If we aren't careful, I'm afraid of making things worse than they already are. Making it even harder for the two of us to be together...”

“I– I guess I see your point now,” said Fri, looking embarrassed, and I felt bad about this.

Frowning, I reached over. I placed my hand to his face, and tilted his head toward me, staring into his eyes. “I enjoyed every minute of this. I don't regret it at all. But we need to slow this down for a day or two, and do it the right way...”

“You're right,” he said. “You're right... And I enjoyed it too. A lot...”

I grinned, actually blushing at this. “I could tell,” I said playfully, and rose slowly from the ground. Fri did the same. “Right now, though, it's getting pretty late. We should probably each get home before anyone figures out we're still together. Maybe don't come around for a couple of days. Stay busy with something else, until I've had a chance to speak with my father. I want to see what he has to say about Baill and I breaking up. And whether he has any thoughts about getting any of this to work, without sending Baill into a rampage...”

It was clear, as much as I'd try to reassure him, that Fri was still a little bit sulky about all of this. Like he understood, but he couldn't totally stop it from hurting him all the same. And that, in turn, was something that I could understand.

I reached over, and put a hand to his face, staring deep into his eyes.

“We'll figure this out,” I said softly. “I promise you. I'll let you know as soon as I've made any progress. Either with Baill, or my father. Until then just lay low. Okay?”

“Okay,” Fri said stubbornly. I sighed. I wanted to tell him I loved him, though it felt premature after only so much time in his presence, no matter how true it may have been. Instead I leaned in to him, and gave him a slow, deep kiss, hoping that this might suffice. He returned it hungrily, clearly grateful for the reassurance, and we pulled apart after several long moments.

“Stay safe, okay?” he said, and it made me feel a little bit better about all of this for some reason. “If you need anything at all, if Baill gets out of hand– “

“I'll let you know,” I said, nodding and smiling at him. “We'll see each other again soon. I promise.”

“You can count on it,” said Fri, and I gave him a last look. I knew he'd accepted my decision, I only wished that I could make him understand it the way that I did.

The fact was, I'd known Baill for a lot longer than he had. I knew the things he was capable of, the scope of his rage, and how disastrous it could be for any future hope of our relationship if we did this the wrong way.

It was like trying to diffuse a bomb, I thought, as I took off from the ground with a glance back at Fri, my clothes and my bag gripped in my rear claw. This had to be done with finesse– the right wires cut at just the right time, or else running the risk of having the entire thing blow up right in my face.

Of course, there was very little reason to believe that that wouldn't happen anyway, no matter how I tried to handle this...

For right now, though, I decided I would be best off starting small. Keeping the focus on my father. What I would say to him. How I could convince him that Baill and I really weren't right for one another.

Had I attempted to have this conversation with him just a few short days ago, I felt as though I would have had very little reason for optimism. But so much had changed, in such a short time since then. First there had been the incident with the thief, which had left my father furious at Baill to begin with. And then, on top of that, Fri had shown up out of nowhere, and I think it was clear to my father what a deep distinction there was between the two men.

The primary reason, I was convinced, for his insistence on my betrothal to Baill, had been my father's friendship with Baill's old man, as well as his family's status as the Earth dragons' noblest warriors. Beyond that, I'd never really picked up on much in the way of personal affection between the two men– my father was longsuffering toward most of Baill's nonsense, at best, but there certainly didn't seem to be any warmth there. Fri, on the other hand, he seemed to be quite fond of. He'd sung his father's glowing praises, and treated Fri more like a son than he'd ever done Baill. And hey, for that matter, Fri's father had actually been a king– a position of even greater nobility than Baill's own family.

The more and more I thought about it, the more and more compelling my case seemed to become that I could actually talk my father into all of this. I could get him to see things my way. With his blessing, I could end my sham of a relationship with Baill, and I could be with the man who truly made me happy– and together, the three of us, my father, Fri, and myself, could deal with any potential fallout from there.

I felt sure of it by the time I landed in front of the castle, and slipped back into my clothes. Positive that my father would come around, that he would see the wisdom in all of this, and that he would want, more than anything, to ensure his only daughter's happiness.

I marched up the steps of the castle with a smile on my face, thinking about Fri and the future we would have together. Twiddling my engagement ring around in my fingers, and feeling a great relief at the prospect of never having to wear the damn thing again.

I strode through the front doors, through the main foyer, down a hallway, and through the doors of the throne room, determined not to leave until my life had been granted the change it so desperately needed.

“Father! I need to speak with you about something! Father?”

But the throne was empty. I stood there, frozen in confusion, wondering why the room was so lit up, with absolutely no one here occupying it.

But then my eyes rolled slowly downward. Down, below the stairs to the throne. Catching, instantly, on the sight of the lifeless, withered body, lying at the foot of the stairs. His eyes staring vacant at the high ceiling. A thick white layer of froth, sizzling quietly around his mouth.

“Father!” I cried, stampeding across the room, the tears streaming from my eyes.