“Ugh, nn... not the neck, either— don’t... don’t nip me....”
“Ha... why do you keep telling me not to.”
His voice was sharp with irritation. For a moment I wondered if he’d finally come to his senses, but his eyes were still unfocused.
The intensity of the situation was completely beyond what I could handle. My body was roused by the physical stimulation I didn’t want, and my mind kept dissolving into haze.
“Hey, please... just stop....”
Before I knew it, moisture pooled at the corners of my eyes. More shameful than being pinned under Varen was the fact that I was crying while this was happening. I clenched my teeth and forced the tears back.
Varen licked my hot eyelids as if telling me not to cry. Even so, the slow grinding motion of his hips didn’t stop.
At this rate it was genuinely dangerous. His weight crushing down on me, every sensitive place getting provoked at once.
With a dragon in full rut dictating the pace, a human male’s body kept reacting no matter how much I resisted.
It was obviously overwhelming— far more than I could manage— so why did I keep feeling like it wasn’t enough?
“Please... just finish already....”
If everything would just end quickly, that would be better. At my begging, Varen suddenly froze.
His tail, which had been dried out and flat just a moment earlier, curled around my neck. His body heat had risen; the sensation was different from usual.
Instead of tightening to choke me, Varen’s tail cupped my face with deliberate gentleness. It wrapped beneath my jaw to keep me from turning my head, holding me in place.
“Ha... Ceryl....”
“Hhic, hurry... I said finish....”
“Look at me. Say my name.”
Wherever that relentless gaze touched, heat rose. For some reason I couldn’t disobey the commanding tone of an aroused dragon.
I lifted my teary eyes and met his blue ones. His stare didn’t leave me, as if it were piercing straight through.
“Ugh, Varen... hurry, hurry and finish....”
The moment our eyes locked, Varen’s hips grew more frantic. He wasn’t pounding away without sense, nor awkwardly rubbing— it was neither of those.
My own length, slowly swelling, met Varen’s— already fully hard— with only our clothes between us.
Why was his like a stone all the way down to there. He ground down with force as if driving something in, the stimulation sharp enough to hurt.
“Ah... Ceryl, Ceryl... ha....”
Varen kept calling my name again and again. The friction made the heat between our bodies surge even more.
I wasn’t even doing anything, yet I panted like I was out of breath. When my lips parted, Varen seized the moment and pushed inside.
“Mm— nn....”
My arms and legs were pinned by Varen, and my head was held still by the dragon’s tail.
So there was no escaping the deepening kiss. As Varen’s tongue speared down to the back of my throat, a hot, viscous rush bloomed below at the same time.
“Mm... pfhh, p‑hah....”
He ended the short kiss and released my mouth. I gulped for air, while Varen took a slow, shuddering breath.
He looked as if he’d just sprinted at full speed— every ounce of strength gone. His head dropped with a dull thud. The tail holding my face slackened and slipped away.
Summoning whatever strength I had left, I shoved the unconscious Varen off me.
“Ha... h‑h, move. You’re heavy....”
He rolled half a turn away and lay there already asleep. I couldn’t tell whether the wetness on his face was cold sweat or saliva from his excitement.
Once everything was over, my senses cleared. The cold night air cooled my skin, and I could hear Kallen’s snoring and Varen’s easy breathing.
My sense of smell and touch sharpened along with my sight. I didn’t want to see it with {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} my own eyes, but there was no way I could just fall asleep like this.
I pushed myself up, bracing mentally. Like someone peeking at something they shouldn’t, I covered my face with both hands and looked through my fingers at my lower body.
“...Shit, I really did come a lot.”
Maybe it was because of his size— or maybe all dragons were just like this. The amount of fluid he released was unreal.
I wasn’t even the one who came, yet my whole lower half was soaked like I’d been the one to make a mess.
The thick stench of semen rising from below made my stomach churn. I pressed a hand to my forehead, feeling utterly wretched.
“There should be... a stream nearby I can use to wash...”
I wanted to cry. To think I got treated like this by the dragon who went around calling me his cub and clinging to me so protectively.
And I was the one who spread my own legs, wrapped my arms around him, begged him to finish faster.
On top of that, I nearly got aroused myself at the end.
I glanced sideways with a complicated expression. Maybe it was just my imagination, but the sleeping Varen looked completely refreshed.
I barely stopped myself from punching his irritating face. No point— it would only hurt my hand. Violence wouldn’t help me, either.
Instead, I came to a decision. It might be hard to find the proper tools in this world, but back in the one I came from, I was a specialist in this exact field.
“I’ll... absolutely... without fail...”
I’m going to get this bastard neutered.
***
I trudged off alone, washed my pants in the stream, and came back.
I only had one change of clothes, and I couldn’t just wander around bottomless, so I walked through the jungle in my damp pants. I figured they’d dry faster that way.
Thanks to that, once the morning sun rose, the pants were still a little clammy, but wearable enough.
“Oh my, Ceryl, your face doesn’t look good. Did you not sleep well?”
Kallen, looking fresh-faced after a deep sleep, asked cheerfully.
I rubbed my tired eyes and shook my head.
It wasn’t just the laundry that kept me awake. Every single hour I had to face an overwhelming slap of reality.
“You don’t look good, Ceryl. Let me carry you.”
The root of the problem shamelessly turned his back and crouched down.
I stared at his awkwardly bent form and then raised my foot to shove his ass.
Varen stumbled, almost losing his balance, then whipped around to glare at me.
“What the hell was that for?!”
“Don’t talk to me.”
I shot the line coldly as I walked past him. I picked up my pace, but with his longer stride, Varen caught up in just a few steps.
“Why can’t I talk to you?”
“You really need to ask? If I say don’t talk to me, then don’t talk to me.”
“I don’t want to. I want to have a conversation wi—”
I came to a sudden stop and looked up at him through half-lidded eyes. Varen flinched and took a step back when he saw the purple glint in mine— something I’d never shown before.
“I swear I’ll just ditch you here.”
“......”
Faced with my blatant stormcloud of a mood, both Varen and Kallen stayed quiet.
And I used that silence to finally take some time alone to think things through about Varen.
The first time he kissed me, I let it go, since he didn’t know what kissing meant.
Even when he begged for kisses in dragon form or human form, I figured it was just affection— his first ever attachment figure, finally expressing something like love.
After all, even Berry used to lick me constantly, asking if I slept well in the morning and telling me to sleep tight at night.
The first time we used tongues... well, that was treatment. And the second time, it was a kind of transaction.
“Haah... what the hell am I going to do with him...”
The truth was, I’d already realized for a while that Varen was starting to treat me with a different kind of affection. I’d just been desperately pretending not to notice.
But I couldn’t pretend anymore.
Varen saw me as a mating partner. And we weren’t even the same species.
And animals had far stronger reproductive instincts than humans did. Their entire lives revolved around breeding and leaving offspring.
So why, how on earth, had he come to see me— someone he couldn’t even reproduce with— as a mate?
Could it be aftereffects of the torture? Yeah, maybe. The magic was strong enough to wipe his memories from the egg. His brain might have been damaged.
And if not...
“Is this bastard just disrespecting me?”
Male animals in heat sometimes mount other males. Especially with dogs, mounting is often more about asserting dominance than sex.
A kind of I’m above you in the hierarchy...
“Pffh, like that idiot even has a hierarchy to assert over me.”
I shook my head and brushed the thought off immediately.
It was weird enough that he saw me as a mating partner— but thinking Varen was trying to establish dominance over me? That made even less sense.
Either way, whatever the reason, things couldn’t go on like this.
I saved that poor dragon from a cage and decided to bring him home.
I’d made up my mind to soothe his adolescence and protect his growing years.
But helping him through his mating season was never part of the deal.
What I needed now was distance. A clear line between me and Varen, just like with any male monster.
I’m your guardian. You’re a monster. Yeah, that’s how it needs to be.
I glanced back. Varen and Kallen were following from a distance.
For once, they seemed to be getting along— chatting about something.
Kallen in particular looked oddly excited. Her face was flushed, and she was snorting out little puffs of breath.
She stood on tiptoe, not even reaching Varen’s shoulder, and cupped her hands to whisper into his ear.
I didn’t know what they were scheming, but for now, it was a welcome sight.
