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Chapter 3

Nothing improves breakfast like a little entertainment.

I try to be the best alpha I can be, to always be on the lookout for ways I can keep my flock happy. That said, there are certain things I just can't do. The old alpha, the good one, would swim out and catch great mouthfuls of fish and feed everyone all at once so no one had to hunt for themselves. I'm too little for that. I could fish all day and not feed half the flock.

Luckily, I have Fishbone. Between us, we're the best alpha ever.

On Fishbone's orders, some nice humans go out before dawn each morning and fetch fish so we don't have to hunt as much during the day. I told the swimming dragons to help, so there's always plenty to go around. Then they haul them up the hill and pour them into a big round dish made of wood and steel, right in the middle of the colony.

The food bowl is always bedlam in the mornings. The smart thing would be to wait until after the rush, but no one wants to risk there not being any left, so they pile on and push and squabble. On a bad day I can have to break up fights on an empty stomach.

Which is why this is one time I'm happy to let others give precedence to me. Being alpha is a lot of work, and I can't do a very good job without food in my belly. The flock knows that the sooner I eat, the sooner they can start pestering me. On this day, I scooped up a nice big mouthful and hopped up the the crest of a nearby hill so I could take my time eating it. Fishbone joined me a moment later, still blinking away sleep and gnawing on a bit of human food, and together we took a moment to survey our domain.

I kept a sidelong eye on him as he watched the colony come awake. He seemed happy. For the moment, at least. Ever since we had mated, Fishbone had been acting a little odd. Prone to fits of nervousness and melancholy, especially when his yellow-headed beta was around. I suspected he hadn't broken their courtship off properly, which was stupid of him and it meant it was his own fault he was upset. Still, even if he did nothing, she would get the message eventually. Everything would be all right.

Movement caught my attention, moving against the general flow of the crowd. I rolled my eyes. It was a particular pair of flamehides, showing off again. They had been courting for half a moon, and they had gone out of their way to make sure everyone knew it. He had nearly wrecked a human nest by dragging a flowering tree through the colony as a gift for her. She had kept the whole island awake singing him a love song that lasted halfway till dawn. It had been unbearable, and I wished they would just get it over with already.

Little did I know, I was about to get my wish. No sooner were the pair of them free from the worst of the crowd than the female slowed her pace, hips swaying as she fluttered her eyes back at her paramour. His eyes flashed and he surged forward, ducking her flicking tail. I barely had time to register that his member was out before he was on top of her, crowing triumph to the daybreak. Humans and dragons scattered from the display as the male sank into his new mate, taking her hard and fast, right there in the middle of the colony among all his feeding flockmates.

We watched the flamehides couple from a safe distance, a tangle of flamboyant wings and lashing claws. I gave Fishbone a sniff and stifled a chuckle at the change in his scent. I wondered which he watching more closely, the male or the female. The flamehides noticed their alphas were watching and made even more of a spectacle of themselves, throwing their hips together with wild abandon, letting fire cover their bodies in waves of rippling pleasure. The arousal colouring Fishbone's scent sharpened and I let one wing wrap lazily around his waist.

He squirmed against me as we watched the show. He made a few noises as though he might pull away and leave, but didn't move. Then the male flamehide shuddered and bore down hard on his lover, roaring his pleasure as he made her his own. Long, wicked teeth came down on her shoulder with savage restraint, piercing the scales just enough to leave a mark without doing serious harm.

Fishbone sucked in a breath and tensed against me, and I was struck with curiosity. The mating bite had been a part of courtship I'd assumed I would have to skip, what with my lover being so fragile. But he was watching the scene with rapt attention, leaning a little harder against me, stubby claws curling against my scales. I decided to try something.

Careful not to jostle him out of his reverie, I pulled him closer with a wing. Making sure he was still watching the coupling dragons, I leaned in and, teeth withdrawn, gave him a nip at the hollow of his neck and shoulder.

The response was immediate. Fishbone went rigid against me with a shudder and a gasp. He tried to twist to look at me but, since I didn't let go, the best he could do was look me in one eye with mixed pleasure and embarrassment. I only grinned at him and nipped a little harder, letting my teeth pinch just a little and reveling in the way it made his knees buckle.

We didn't get to see the rest of the show. Fishbone melted against me and I could feel his hardness through the coverings on his legs. With very little prodding, I got him to clamber up onto my back so we could fly away. He guided us toward the forest and I grinned in anticipation. If he was looking for a particularly private place to mate, it meant he wanted to be loud.

When our cove came into sight, I felt a frisson of glee. It had been a terrible place once, full of loneliness and hunger and despair. But then Fishbone had come to me and made me whole again, and the cove had become special, the safest place on the island. Nothing could or would disturb us here, and if it was a little cold and damp for Fishbone it didn't matter. I planned on keeping him warm.

He was barely off my back before I was on him, nosing my way between his shielding arms to give him a good sound kissing. I reveled in his little sounds of pleasure as he played his tiny tongue against mine, driving me wild with the caress of his paws along my jawline. He broke off after a moment, red-faced and panting, to stumble backward toward the rocks against the wall, fumbling with all the silly human things he straps to himself, eyes locked on mine.

I pursued him lazily, taking a sweeping back-and-forth path to let him get a good sidelong look at my member, already out and straining at the thought of taking him. The closest rocks were smooth and small, the perfect height for him to bend over.

Walking backwards, eyes on me, Fishbone began shedding his skins. By the time his chest was bare I had caught him, trailing my nose up his breastbone to nuzzle under his jaw. When he was struggling to free his legs, I hooked my paw into the soft stuff and helped him pull free. I told him he was beautiful, that I loved him, that he made me hard. He understood enough to make him blush. But instead of turning around like he was supposed to, he pressed against me and thumped a paw gently on the side of my neck.

Though I didn't understand, I obliged him and rolled on my back, watching the little human scramble up to straddle my tail. Curious, I rumbled out a question, only to get an answer in the form of a stubby human claw brushing against my tailvent! With a yelp of protest, I made to buck Fishbone off, but the little weasel was ahead of me. The digits of his other paw slipped themselves around the base of my member and squeezed and I was too helpless with pleasure to tell him to stop or to keep him from pressing one claw just a little bit into me. It felt... strange . Full, and yet not full enough. It didn't hurt. I remembered worrying I'd hurt Fishbone when I first claimed him, and how he'd let me do it anyway.

He was probably reminding me of that fact as he jabbered at me now, rolling his head side to side and grinning impishly. He crooned with the low, slow voice he uses when he's making fun of me, no doubt questioning my sense of fair play or worse, implying I was scared of that little nub of his!

I gave him a quick grumble and made a show of lying back and letting my hind legs splay wide, giving him access to anything he wanted. He rewarded me by caressing that wonderful, nimble little paw up and down my shaft a few times, keeping me relaxed as he worked a second digit into me. I did my best to let him work, knowing what was coming. It felt strange to have part of him inside me, gently easing me open, but after a moment I decided it felt nice. A moment after that, I decided it felt more than nice.

It was only fair, I supposed. Fishbone was a male too, and we were mates, so of course he would want his turn. It helped that he was was learning fast, the pleasure from his claws jumping straight up through my member and making me spatter my own stomach in slick juices. As he drew a sound from me that was half impatience and half desperation, I reasoned it was the generous thing to let him keep going. For his sake.

A strange tension wormed into my belly as Fishbone removed his fingers and slipped a little higher on my tail to line himself up. My breath caught. I felt a pressure against my entrance, building and building and then... Fishbone withdrew with a thoughtful hum. Stars help me, but I actually whimpered at the delay.

Soft human flesh caressed my spire and sheath, coaxing slickness from my tip and a whine from my belly. Fishbone scooped up some of my slickness and slathered it across his member, cooing with pleasure at the contact. He pressed forward again, and this time there was no resistance at all. He sank inside me with no effort, so quickly we both yelped!

Shuddering against the sudden intrusion, I snarled through clenched teeth to be more careful! He chattered contrition and leaned forward to give my member a little lick, which went a long way toward an apology.

He began to move, slick flesh sliding along my insides, and I purred. I leaned back and let him do all the work for once, arching myself back into his touch and letting bliss ripple up my spine. Legs spread, willing him deeper, I gave myself to my mate as he picked up speed.

My tailfin slapped hard at the ground, the flexing making Fishbone quiver as he mated me. The ground was cool against the side of my head as my spine arched. I had been missing out, I realised, only ever being on top. Fishbone took such good care of me everywhere else, of course he would make me love having him under my tail.

He pressed hard into me, getting as deep as he could inside, as impatient for more of me as I was for more of him. My straining shaft throbbed in his embrace, jumping against his digits. My hindlegs were flailing uselessly, so I snagged Fishbone with them, pulling him against me so he couldn't get away. Not that it looked like he wanted to. He was bucking and straining into me, his knees gripping my tailbase for support as he took me as hard as he could. I wriggled for him, crooning in ecstasy, doing what I could to help him as my member soaked us both with slick. He drove me onward, onward, winding every muscle in me with the tension of pleasure, spiraling towards--

He stopped suddenly, shuddering, doubling up on himself, groaning into my belly scales as his shaft twitched inside me. I wailed in despair as I felt my climax slipping away, trying in vain to press him deeper into me. I had been so close!

Fishbone was no help. He sprawled on my belly as his pleasure ebbed, little paws caressing my scales as though in a dream as he babbled to himself. Eventually, though, he recovered enough to take pity on me, twisting his head to look up at me as he began to move again. He was smiling, a rare predatory grin. I remembered feeling that way the first night I'd claimed him. I was his, and I loved it, and he knew it.

His member, softening but extra slick now, egged me on with a few short, expert strokes before he pressed himself just right against some special spot inside me and I mewled. That made him murmur in triumph as he went in for the kill. He trailed blunt little claws along the underside of my shaft and I broke, spine arching, innards clenching on him as I shot my seed for my little mate. Not that he was grateful. Even through the long, delightful ecstasy of my climax, I could hear him sputtering and complaining,

I felt him slip out of me and wriggled on the mossy ground and I struggled to regain my senses. By the time I got my feet back under me, Fishbone was busy rinsing himself in the pond, ankle-deep in the chill water. He's always so finicky about cleaning himself after we mate. I suppose I can understand not wanting to be sticky, but it gets rid of most of my scent as well. I try not to let it bother me.

FIshbone hadn't heard me approach, so I flicked out my tail to knock his legs from under him and send him sprawling on the sandy shore. I lay beside him and rubbed my head against his chest, enduring his halfhearted protests and sneaking an occasional lick at his ticklish spots. Nuzzling under his jaw in play-submission, I told him how wonderfully he pretended to be dominant, and didn't resist when he drew me up for a long, sweet kiss.

We stayed like that for as long as we could, but we both had a colony to run and the sun was already creeping down into the cove. He patted my nose and I helped him to his feet, and we started getting ready to face the day properly.

~~~

The next day, the situation with Fishbone's yellow-headed beta took a very strange turn.

Actually, I suppose I should use her name. I had finally decided that you can't very well have a rivalry with someone if you don't know what to call them, so I'd gone and asked the dragon who knew her best. Quillflower had been suspicious at first, and hadn't been willing to tell me unless I gave her Fishbone's name in return. I understood her reluctance, afterward. It was almost like sharing him.

It turns out Fishbone's beta is named Glimmer, for the gold in her head-fluff and the silver on the great big tooth she carries around. I snorted when I heard it. Leave it to a tail-flicker to take the fiercest warrior the humans have and name her after a trick of the light. Quillflower replied that Fishbone was a stupid name for an alpha, and I wound up leaving in a huff.

It had been one of those days, right from the beginning. Normally everyone knows to leave Fishbone and I alone for our morning flights, but today we had been interrupted by Stoneskull and her fat lump of a human, who barked at Fishbone until he gave in and had me follow them back to the nest. I assume it was important. It better have been.

Fishbone locked up my tailfin so I could get around by myself. He gave me a rub on the head and an apology as he let his subordinates drag him off. Then I'd barely turned around before a pair of dragons were bickering over the fish pile and I had to go pull them apart.

The day went on like that, one crisis after another. By the time I laid eyes on Fishbone again, the day's heat was fading as I lay on a cliff and watched the sun going down. The peculiar thump-click of his mismatched footsteps announced him long before he got to me, but I could barely muster the energy to lift a wing so he could slump himself against my flank. He smelled like sweat and soot. Around his wrist were a few of those white strips humans use to cover wounds, but when I nosed it he only patted me and leaned more of his weight on my shoulder.

Glimmer found us like that, half-dead from exhaustion, trying to muster the energy to feed our growling bellies. She tromped up with some bundles under her arm and said something to Fishbone, poking him in the leg with her foot. When he only grunted in reply, she dropped one of her bundles on his belly and made him sit up with a little squawk. But he breathed a happy little sound when he unfolded the parcel to show it was full of the strange half-burnt meat and fruit that humans like to eat. She had brought him supper.

I grumbled. It was an affectionate gesture, and I wished I'd thought of it. Before I could get too annoyed with her, however, Glimmer skirted around Fishbone's splayed legs to stand in front of me and worked open the second parcel.

The smell hit me before I saw it: a massive, fatty tuna, still cold and smelling of seawater. She held it out for me and I snapped it up and crunched it. Ecstasy.

Rivalry forgotten in the rush of satisfaction, I crooned gratitude and nuzzled her. She laughed a human laugh and plopped herself down between Fishbone and I. Any other time I might have seen it as a challenge, but the taste of the tuna was still on my lips, so I was feeling magnanimous. Then she beckoned me closer so she could rub my head, which took up all my attention while she spoke with Fishbone about human things.

Sadly, nothing lasts forever. The sun was just beginning to kiss the horizon when a clamour went up from the colony, a plume of smoke and yowls of surprise and irritation from both human and dragon. Fishbone and I gave a combined sigh of irritation, and he began to lever himself to his feet. So much for our restful evening.

But then Glimmer grabbed him by the shoulder and pushed him back down onto my tail, rising in his place. Fishbone made a half-hearted protest, but she silenced him with an impatient flick of her paw. She tilted her head to the side, toward the sunset, and gestured toward the clouds. Then her eyes moved to mine and lingered, the human female looking solemn. For a long moment she held my gaze as my mate gathered his things.

THe spell was broken as Fishbone yelped something grateful to her and clambered up onto my back, making the special sounds he saves for fun and flying. I obliged him with a sharp downbeat of my wings that had us off the ground and over the cliff at breakneck speed, as though Glimmer might change her mind and call us back. It was only once we were well clear of the island that I slowed, allowing Fishbone to relax a little and ease into the gentle rhythms of flight.

With the wind whistling between my frills, I thought back to Glimmer and the gifts she'd given us. They hadn't been much, on the surface. A bit of food for both of us, tasty but not special. A moment's companionship. The easing of Fishbone's burdens so we could go flying. They were simple things, the sorts of things any friend might do. But in that moment they had been exactly what we needed. And then there was that odd, long look. And there had been something... odd about the way she'd presented me with the fish. Something familiar.

She was showing us how well she understood us. How well she could fit with us.

It was a startling realization. She wanted to court us! Both of us!

That was what she had meant by that lingering look. She'd been giving me a present, and making sure I accepted it. The implications were staggering. I had assumed, quite reasonably, that by claiming Fishbone I had put the issue to bed, and that it would only be a matter of time before Glimmer got the message and gave up. Clearly, I had underestimated her tenacity.

I let myself drift as I pondered. It wasn't wrong, exactly. Just... different. My thoughts wandered as I mulled the idea over. I had always imagined myself the strong, confident type, the kind of dragon who finds a more passive mate to pursue. I had never imagined I'd be the one getting approached. At the same time, it wasn't hard to see the idea had appeal. It would make things a lot less awkward between the three of us, at the very least.

I had to be careful, too, that I hadn't just gotten the signals wrong, and this was some human behaviour that merely looked like courtship. I would have to make sure.

Banking to carve one wingtip into the side of a passing cloud, I struggled to think of courtship from the other side. Glimmer was trying to pursue Fishbone and I, except we both already knew Fishbone was interested in her, so really she was just courting me. So, assuming I was game, the next step would be to return the gesture. I had to find some gift to give her in return. Nothing too extravagant, not at first anyway. It wouldn't do to scare her.

~~~

The next day, I followed Glimmer as she went out hunting on a nearby island with some of our flockmates, staying well behind them and out of sight so Quillflower wouldn't see me and alert her. The woods on the islands were too thick for flying, so the humans let the dragons stay on some lovely warm rocks while they fanned out into the woods in search of prey. I avoided landing, coasting on a thermal high above the island, sweeping in lazy circles over the area I knew she was in. It was tough to track her through the branches, with only the occasional flash of yellow or silver or the movements of the island's goats to go by.

She became easier to follow as she passed out of the forest and into a high rocky part of the island, crouched low as she stalked an unaware ram. But there was an unlucky shift of the wind and he took off like a shot as her scent reached him, heedless of her futile efforts to pursue.

The goat bleated its triumph and relief as it escaped up the rocky slopes, but it was not to be. I hung in the sky until it was at the very top of its ascent before dropping like a stone to break its back, wings flared wide for an especially impressive entrance. My theatrics earned a squawk of surprise from Glimmer, and when I had made sure of my kill I looked up to see her on her rump, glaring reproach at me. Feeling smug, I took the carcass in my jaws and picked my way down the slope towards her.

By the time I reached her she had regained her composure, but she lost it again when I made an elegant bow and deposited the goat at her feet. It was a gratifying reaction. Glimmer likes to think she has the world figured out. She went a little quiet as she looked down at it, then at me as I waited for her response. She tugged the goat by one foot toward her, accepting the gift, and I purred.

With the formalities seen to, the human female grew apprehensive. She took a few big, cautious steps to the side, circling around me as she cast her eyes this way and that. When she was satisfied no one was watching she darted in suddenly and brushed her lips against my cheek. She was off again in a flash, scooping the goat over her shoulder and bounding off between the trees.

I tilted my head after her, tasting the air. That had gone well. At the very least, she had confirmed that I was right and she was really trying to court me, and court me properly, like a dragon. Briefly, I had worried that she wanted a human-style courtship, where we teased and flirted and did nice things for each other for years, with poor Fishbone caught in the middle. Allowing myself a self-satisfied warble, I turned to climb back up the slope so I could take off and head home.

Now, to see how she tried to top me.

~~~

As it turned out, I only needed to wait a few days. Glimmer began hanging around Fishbone's day-nest, getting him to help her do something with hide and mountain-bone, and every time I tried to get a peek they would team up to hide it and shoo me away. It was maddening. I knew it must be for me, but they were keeping it from me and it wasn't fair! Even when I stood on the nest and battered it with my forepaws to make the whole thing shake, they refused to yield. Eventually I gave up, If they didn't want to share, they clearly didn't need me around.

She next sought me out a few days after that. I had been sneaking a midday nap, using the shadow of a man-roost to avoid the heat of the sun and the nagging of my flock-- only for a few moments, of course. I emerged to find Glimmer leaning against the wood, waiting for me to reappear. She smiled as I blinked at her and bent in a greeting, almost but not quite submissive. She must have been feeling confident, because she stepped in close enough to trail a paw along my jawline and win a croon of pleasure from me. Then she turned and walked away. It wasn't until she looked back and babbled at me that I realized she wanted me to follow.

Fishbone was hanging around the front of the day-nest. as though guarding it while Glimmer was away. He perked up when he spotted us approaching and dashed inside, emerging a moment later burdened by something all wrapped in hide. He plopped it on the ground and made to undo the bindings, but Glimmer rushed forward and shooed him away. She wanted to do it herself.

Standing opposite me, and with obvious reverence, Glimmer unwound the clever arrangement of hides, revealing gleaming, polished mountain-bone. I sat still, despite my impatience. Glimmer was giving me a gift. It would be unsporting to muck it up by rushing her.

I eyed the present when it was revealed, twisting this way and that to try and make sense of it. Whatever it was, it looked splendid, gleaming like the sun in some places and a bright, rich red in others. I had no idea what to make of it, but it was clearly amazing. I accepted it quickly, then nosed it back toward Glimmer so she could show me how it worked. I was surprised when she looped the first part around my neck and fastened it to the hide-things that Fishbone keeps on me. I hadn't realised it was meant to go on me.

They were funny, trying to attach the rest of it to me. Fishbone couldn't help but caress between my frills, but would try to hide it from Glimmer. She, meanwhile, would every now and then interrupt her work to caress her little paw along my flank or under my wing. She didn't quite know what she was doing, but there was clear affection in it and, if I wasn't mistaken, a note of sensuality. Between them, I was purring madly and in serious danger of slipping out of my sheath and spoiling the moment.

I couldn't see most of it by the time it was on me, so Fishbone tugged me toward the little pool he keeps in his cave for cooling his masterpieces. I blinked when I saw my reflection in the water. I looked magnificent. The present had been a tangle of interconnecting pieces, like Fishbone wears when we go into danger They wrapped around me and each other in plates that went down my back and along my tail like a second layer of scales. gleaming mountain-bone protected vital places like my head and heart, while softer hide let my neck and tail move freely. Glimmer had made armour for me. She wanted to keep me safe.

With a grateful croon, I rubbed my head against Glimmer's arm. Then, deciding to mimic her little human gesture from earlier, I snuck up and kissed her cheek. Fishbone squawked and sputtered and seemed about to scold me, but Glimmer cut him off with some soft words and caressed my brow, leaving him blinking between us.

No matter how much I begged, Fishbone wouldn't let me wear the armour all the time. He insisted we keep it in the night-nest, next to his, where we could get at it quickly if we needed it. I spent long hours brooding over it throughout the next couple of days, pondering what I could possibly do to respond to such a gift. For the time being, I settled for spending time with Glimmer, being by her side whenever Fishbone was and even without him sometimes, on days when my first mate was busy but the two of us weren't. Glimmer read me well, returning my attentions with her brand of cool affection, idly stroking behind my neck while we lounged together, or splashing me with water one time while she was tending to her dragon partner's things.

Eventually I was forced to have an awkward conversation with Quillflower. She had seen enough of our displays to get suspicious and demanded to know what my intentions were for Glimmer, since I had already swooped in and stolen her human's mate-to-be.

I didn't see what the problem was, and I told her so. Glimmer had been set to be mated to one alpha and now she courted both of them. If anything, her situation had improved. But Quillflower persisted with her suspicious questions, acting as though I had insulted her human even after I explained what was going on. Eventually I realized that she was only pretending to be reluctant, trying to get something from me. For an unpleasant moment I thought she wanted to join in as well, but that was absurd. Three of us would be complicated enough, and I was only allowing it so we could have some hatchlings at some point. If we allowed everyone who wanted to mate with Fishbone or I to jump in bed with us, it would never end. Besides, I was pretty sure Quillflower already had a mate somewhere. I knew for a fact she'd already reared a clutch.

But I got my answer as Quillflower sidled up to me and mentioned, in an offhand sort of way, that she might be willing to overlook my bad manners if I made her my beta.

I snorted to conceal my amusement. Quillflower had already been my choice, and she probably knew it. If I ever wanted time alone with Fishbone and Glimmer, I needed someone to help me manage the flock, and Broad-Horn kept refusing. And though she'd never let me forget it if I she heard me say it, Quillflower is clever and loyal and had more than earned the position. So I pretended to scold her for pretending to be offended, agreed to let her be my beta and sent her off to find the big yearlings from the Ice Alpha's nest. I hadn't seen them all day, which meant they were probably destroying something. When she was gone, I was free to return to the subject of Glimmer's present.

Really, I eventually considered, I only had one option left. The biggest, most impressive present I could ever give. The only question was whether I was ready to give it, to tell Glimmer in no uncertain terms that I was willing to accept her as a mate. If I presented it to the female, my victory would be assured, and one way or another the courtship would be over. She would accept the gift or reject me, and I was surprised that the notion of losing her, however unlikely it may be, worried me.

I don't normally worry about things. It's just not in my nature, and it stuck in my craw. Eventually I realised I was being stupid and shook it off. Glimmer had been the one to start all this, after all. Of course she wanted me. And if she meant enough to me what I was afraid of losing her, then of course I wanted her. I had been thinking like Fishbone, I realised, sticking myself on every bad thing that could happen when the course of action ought to be clear.

With that settled, I turned my attention up the hill toward our night-nest, and began to plan.

~~~

That night, I announced my intentions to Fishbone by knocking aside the paper-scratches he was working on and stuffing my snout into his lap. My little human appreciates the direct approach, even if he never uses it himself. He swatted the back of my head in irritation, but only until I'd dragged my tongue along the growing bulge in his leg coverings. Then he seemed perfectly willing to do anything I told him to.

With that in mind, I nosed him up toward the chamber where we keep our nest, nosing between his rumpcheeks with a lusty growl to let him know exactly what I had planned. He may have proven he was perfectly capable of mounting me, after all, but there's really no substitute for having your little mate stretched around you and begging for more.

From his reaction, he agreed that a return to form was in order. He was eager, now that I'd got him thinking about it. Between his projects and my efforts to woo Glimmer, we hadn't had much of a chance to be intimate in the past few days.

Rump on the edge of the bed, Fishbone crossed one leg on top of the other and set about removing his false foot. When he noticed I was watching, he slowed, letting me see the way all the little tails on it twine together and wrap around his knee to keep it in place. He slid it off to reveal the stump of his leg, and I couldn't help a wistful sigh. It was a daily reminder of the best, worst day of my life, and I can never think of the joy of freeing my flock without also picturing my best friend tumbling, lifeless, into the flames.

Fishbone, at least, never seems to mind much anymore, and his new leg that he made for himself lets him do just about anything he wants. I only wish I had been a little faster that day, a little stronger, a little more aware. I might have prevented him ever being hurt in the first place.

With a shake of my head, I got myself back on track. I had a plan, and if it went well, old injuries would be the last thing on our minds tonight. As Fishbone set aside his leg and started to work off his day-skins, I snuffled in close in search of exposed skin to lick. He barked and pawed at me, but this was a game we played a lot when I was feeling amorous at bedtime, and his scent was already shifting for me. When his leg coverings came off, I tossed them across the room as though I didn't want them near him. He liked that. His upper skins got the same treatment and he was naked before me, smiling at me over his eager erection, completely ready for me.

That was when I stole his leg.

I was almost to the window with it by the time Fishbone could react, squawking in surprise and indignation and trying to leverage out of bed with only one foot to stand on. I had to drop his fake leg and tell him to stay there, and then tell him again and again when he wouldn't listen. He would ruin my plans, I told him, if he didn't stay still. When I was finally convinced he would do as he was told, I scooped up his leg and vaulted out into the night.

Glimmer was near her family's nest, helping Quillflower finish up her evening grooming. They both smelled like excitement and the sky, and the human's big tooth was dirty; they must have been off practice-fighting somewhere.

Something of my intentions must have shown in my attitude as I approached, because Quillflower, without needing to be asked, gave Glimmer an affectionate nuzzle and retreated to a respectful distance, watching with satisfaction and pride for her rider. The human, for her part, looked between us, straightening her posture and murmuring curiosity. With all the ceremony of any courtship gift ever given, I prostrated myself and laid Fishbone's leg at her feet.

It may have been a little confusing, as far as final gifts went. Strictly speaking, it wasn't mine to give. But I knew Glimmer would understand. I was willing to leave Fishbone vulnerable with her. I was trusting her to help me keep him safe. It was the most precious thing I could think to give her.

To my endless relief, she seemed to understand. With all the reverence I could have asked for, she knelt and picked up the discarded leg, hugging it against her chest. It was finished. She smiled at me.

I was thrilled, and not a little proud. Any dragon could win a mate, but only someone truly special would even think to get two, let alone two such prizes as Fishbone and Glimmer. Breaking out of the bow, I sprang to my feet and bounded right up to her. Tilting my head, I darted in and pressed my lips to hers, very gently. It was all right, I wanted to tell her. She didn't have to try to be a dragon all the time. I knew how to be mated to a human.

She blinked as I broke the kiss, bringing a paw up to her mouth and murmuring to herself. Still giddy with triumph and eager to return to Fishbone, I turned and offered my shoulder, extending a wing in invitation.

Looking amused, she moved to climb on. But then she stopped, paw extended, staring at my belly. I followed her gaze and snorted. Between my stripping of Fishbone and my anticipation of what was about to happen, I was pretty excited. My member reflected this, poking a ways out of my sheath and gleaming red in the light of the humans' little fires. Feeling impish, I gave my hips a shake that sent it waggling. I told her she'd best get used to it. She would be seeing a lot of it.

He mouth worked and the seemed to consider. For a moment I wondered if she somehow hadn't expected in courting a male would end with mating, but then she bit her lower lip, and dashed back into the shelter of Quillflower's nest. She undid come of her heavier coverings and left them behind, returned her dragon's knowing chirp with an affectionate caress, and leapt onto my back without any further ceremony.

We returned at the nest just in time. Fishbone had gotten tired of sitting and was struggling to climb out of the bed with just one leg, muttering darkly to himself. He looked up when he heard me climb back in through the window, a complaint already forming, but froze like a deer when he saw I had Glimmer on my back. He stayed like that, making helpless, stupid noises, until she had slipped off to stand on her own. Then he hunched down over himself and covered his bits with his paws, babbling frantically to the female.

Sometimes I think Fishbone must have had a hard life before he met me. Whenever he gets surprised he gets this look of dread about him and it takes forever to convince him something good is happening. His head snapped back and forth between Glimmer and I and he gaped like a fish, paws scrambling to conceal his flagging member. The poor little human cast about for his skins, but I had flung them all far from the bed and I ignored him when he barked for them.

Glimmer just stood there, looking between us, babbling to Fishbone in a soft voice and trying to hide a smirk. She set his leg against the wall, looking thoroughly amused. Looking to me, she gestured toward the nest as though asking a question. I bumped her toward him with my head and told her to stop being coy. She had gone to a lot of trouble to court Fishbone and I, and clearly we were saying yes. Or at least, I was. Fishbone would come around.

She laughed at both of us and began shucking her false skins. I sat back and watched the display, looking for the differences between her and Fishbone. Her skin, as it came into view, was a little paler, her scars fewer but larger. I finally learned what makes a female human's chest stick out like it does: a pair of soft, fleshy mounds that swayed and bounced as she moved. I didn't see the point, but Fishbone seemed to like them. She tossed the last of it aside, stretching in a way that got a little strangled sound from Fishbone. A new scent tingled my nose, like Fishbone's arousal but lighter, sweeter.

The arrangement between her legs was more sensible than Fishbone's. Just a simple slit with everything important tucked away inside where it belonged, and a little wisp of fluff for decoration. A yelp of protest came from Fishbone on the bed when I approached to give her a sniff, but Glimmer didn't seem to mind. There was the tiniest bit of dewy moisture clinging to her slit, and when I flicked my tongue out to collect it she gave a high, happy sound like the chirp of a bird.. Small, strong digits caressed my nose and brow, urging me to continue, so I obliged her.

She laughed at the sprawled, helpless human male as I burrowed between her legs in search of more of her tastiness. Fishbone, for his part, only gaped. His eyes flicked madly between her face, her body, my face, between my legs, back to her face. He was red as the sunset.

From her earlier interest, I thought she would go to Fishbone straightaway. Instead she leaned into me, arching her hips against my muzzle, enjoying my tongue as I enjoyed her taste. She made some lovely sounds when I pressed my tongue a little ways up into her. Eventually she pulled away, kneeling to embrace my head, sliding smooth skin across my scales and letting her head-fluff fall about me. Those mounds on her chest were warm and soft against my nose, but when I tried to nuzzle between them she laughed and pressed her lips to my brow. Her fingers slipped in among my frills, and she must have seen Fishbone playing with them because she knew just the right spot to make my member throb and my body shiver all over.

She gave a satisfied hum, as though she liked being able to make me tremble like that. With a devious grin, she slipped her paw across my cheek and suddenly scritched hard at that one spot just below my chin. Instantly my legs turned to jelly and I hit the floor with a thud. Sprawled like that, chin on the floor and rump in the air, I watched through a haze of pleasure as she knelt down to kiss between my eyes before turning to the bed, hips swaying very pleasantly.

Fishbone tried one last time to protest as she sauntered toward him, to get away from the strange scary good situation, but she shut him up by wrapping her slender digits around the tip of his member. He shuddered and fell silent, and I smirked. See how he likes it.

She leaned in close and began murmuring to him, a calm, steady stream of man-words that she punctuated with the motions of her hands along his shaft.

It must have been a convincing speech, because by the time she was done talking, Fishbone was panting and smiling as he bucked up against her hand. He lunged forward, wrapped her in his paws, and she yelped in surprise and delight as she was borne down beneath him on the bed. They pawed at each other, lips locked together, as he got his knees under hers. She wriggled back against him, grabbing his paws and putting them on her chest, and I could almost see clearly enough between his legs to be able to see when he slipped inside her. They moaned together and their lips found each other as he sank to the hilt inside her, Glimmer's legs slipping up around Fishbone, urging him onward.

I groused as I wobbled to my feet. I had been right. They had definitely done this before. Rather than be angry, though, I just licked my lips as I watched my first mate's hips begin to move. I could still taste Glimmer at the corners of my mouth. I wanted more.

I drew my tongue up the back of Fishbone's leg, tasting the salt and lust on him. It was all the warning I gave either of them before I struck. Pressing Fishbone's legs aside, I shoved my head between them and swept his bits aside so my tongue could reach the place where their bodies were joined.

They both yelped at the touch of my tongue against sensitive flesh, but Fishbone didn't let the surprise stop him. I listened to them murmur to each other as they mated, purring approval to them as I explored their joining, . By themselves their tastes were lovely, but combined this way, scents sharpened by passion and need and love, they were addictive. I needed more.

Alas, it wasn't to be. As I traced the contours of Glimmer's sex with the tines of my tongue, she abruptly arched her back and yowled, clutching hard at Fishbone as her passage fluttered against my tongue. Just as suddenly, Fishbone stopped his thrusting and I backed away. I recognized the signs: He had come close to peaking, but was having too much fun to want to be finished yet. I gave them a moment to collect themselves, sitting back and trying to lick my face clean of spit and juices. Not that I had much luck. I'd made a glorious, rut-reeking mess of myself.

Fishbone recovered first, his hips suddenly bucking in renewed passion. She wasn't quite ready, but she recovered quickly, calling encouragement and arching against him.

Now that Glimmer had had her fun, it was high time I got properly involved. I gave Fishbone's rump a nip to make him twitch and remind him I was still there. Just as I prepared to use my tongue to get him ready, a particular musty smell hit me and I grinned, withdrawing. Fishbone keeps a little pod of slick, fragrant goo near our bed to make things easier when we mate. He had been getting himself ready for me while I had been out fetching Glimmer.

I hung back for a moment longer, pondering what I was going to do as the motions of Fishbone above and within her drew a coo of pleasure from Glimmer. I locked eyes with the female over Fishbone's shoulders and she tightened her limbs around him, caressing along his back and legs. A triumphant smile creased her cheeks as he moaned into her head-fluff. The look in her eyes was easy to interpret.

Mine, she challenged.

I raised a brow. Clearly, there were still a few things to settle in this new arrangement of ours. I moved up onto the bed, stepping gingerly over their interwoven bodies as the increasingly-damp pile of furs sagged beneath my weight. Glimmer seemed surprised; she stammered my human name and shook Fishbone's shoulder. When he had been pulled out of his stupor enough to turn his head, he only smiled, crooning reassurances to her as I mounted them.

Fishbone grinned back at me, flush-faced and panting with lust. I got the distinct impression I'd been forgiven for abandoning him. When I slipped my straining member along the cleft of his rump he groaned and arched against me, and he clung hard to Glimmer as I sank myself inside. She watched with wide eyes as I claimed the human male, pressing forward with slow, gentle insistence, feeliong that incredible tightness slipping down my length. I hilted, and we both moaned. It had gotten so much easier over time.

I wasted no time in starting, since my lovers both had a head start on me. I hunched and pumped my hips, pulling out and sinking deep. Glimmer was along for the ride as I sought my stride, pinned beneath both of us, wide-eyed and mumbling incredulously to Fishbone. To get her focused on what was important I bucked hard into Fishbone, making him croon and pushing him in turn into her. She mewled and clutched at him, tightening her grip.

I decided it was a good time to show off a little. Hunching over as I pressed myself into Fishbones snug, slick passage, I closed my eyes for a moment and brought up my inner-fire, letting the warmth and power suffuse me. I must have looked striking in the dark, casting bright blue light all around me. Glimmer was staring, and Fishbone stopped his wriggling to twist and admire me. They were both all love and awe. Perfect.

There was only one thing I needed to make the night complete.

It took a bit of willpower to stop my thrusting, but I could tell Fishbone was getting close again and I needed him to slow down a bit. I ignored the wonderful quivering of him around my shaft and leaned down to nuzzle the back of his head. I slid my nose in a long, sensuous line down to his shoulder, and I could tell by the shudder that ran through him when he realised what I wanted. To my endless joy, he tilted his head to the side without hesitation, giving me total access. I closed my lips around his shoulder, savouring his absolute trust, listening to Glimmer's alarmed commentary. Then I bucked forward, hilting myself hard in Fishbone as I let my teeth sink just past the flesh.

Fishbone cried out and arched and pressed back against me, calling my name as he trembled. Mantling to keep my balance, I perched above the two humans, feeling Fishbone clenching around me and tasting the trickle of copper seeping around my teeth. Glimmer's eyes were wide in the light from my body, washed pale by my power. I kept my grip and grinned at her, a growl of pleasure percolating in my gullet as I ensured Fishbone would have a nice, even row of shallow toothprints.

Mine, I corrected her.

Fishbone was coming unraveled quickly, moaning and trembling between us. It wouldn't take much work to set him off, but I was so close myself that I didn't dare move. Then Glimmer, apparently feeling left out, pulled herself closer to Fishbone, locked eyes with me through his head-fluff, and nibbled on his ear.

He imploded. Shuddering, gasping, caught between two sets of stinging, teasing teeth, he bucked hard against me, against Glimmer, his passage clenching tight around me as he poured himself into our new mate. This was all the stimulation I needed, and I shuddered and tensed, my teeth releasing Fishbone's shoulder so I could snarl my climax! I bucked hard into Fishbone, flooding him with my essence, the excess of it spilling out onto the furs we lay on.

Fishbone and I panted into the still air of the room for a moment, minds buzzing, hearts hammering. Then, as one, we realised Glimmer still needed to be tended to. We fell on her together, though Fishbone had an easier time reaching her, since he didn't have to get around himself. I made note of how much she liked it when he played with the mounds on her chest, but it wasn't until he slipped his hand down to the junction of their legs and began fiddling about that she really started to squirm. We wound up with out heads on either side of hers, Fishbone murmuring in her ear as I licked the salt from her throat and shoulder, guiding her inexorably toward climax. Suddenly she arched and gasped and I, acting on instinct, thrust hard into Fishbone one final time, driving his softening member deep into her.

Glimmer's climax was lovely to behold, now that I could see it properly. She arched and shuddered, all her slender curves contorting, calling incoherent human sounds to the ceiling. Then she collapsed, limp beneath the sheltering bodies of Fishbone and I, struggling for breath and beaming. Sensing that things were winding down, I grunted and pulled myself out of Fishbone, getting a yelp from him and unleashing another slick flood onto the bed.

I flopped onto my side, full of sleepy self-satisfaction. I watched as my human lovers began to stir. little claws tangled in each other's fluff as the murmured sweet nothings to each other. Fishbone stood first, pulling a barely-conscious Glimmer to her feet and leading her over to me. I spread my wing in invitation and purred with triumph as they clambered up onto me. They were both dripping seed and other juices, completely saturated with my scent. It was a good feeling.

I cradled the two of them against me, letting them intertwine in my embrace. We'd made a terrible mess, though it was hard to tell which of us cared the least. Fishbone was already asleep, and as I leaned in to clean a last trickle of blood from his shoulder Glimmer reached out to caress my jaw, her own eyes drooping.

At the caress of my lips across her brow she shivered in sleepy pleasure, burrowing into the warmth between Fishbone and myself. I regarded them as their breathing took on the same long, steady rhythm. Pale skin gleamed against my glossy black scales, the flush of arousal beginning to fade. They were so small. Even combined, their weight wasn't uncomfortable against my breastbone.

I lay my forelegs on their flanks to keep them steady and folded my wings around their shoulders to ward away the cold. With a sigh of deepest contentment I curled to lay my head by theirs, drinking in the mingled scents of my lovers as I let myself begin to drift.

Mine.

THE END