Ascend

Racha was fascinated by the human’s reluctance to bed her. All the others had participated so enthusiastically. She was brimming with the power they had fed to her and could taste how willingly the humans had given of themselves. All except this one. That he’d resisted participating thus far either meant he was physically incapable, or he had some other aversion to the act. And the evidence of his body’s willingness was as plain as day.

Tired of the vast distance still between them, she gave in and left the comfort of her bed. She’d slept there long enough already. Perhaps it was the bed itself he had a dislike for?

As she approached him, a bright flush rose up his neck and into his cheeks. He kept his eyes averted, first to the floor, then to the side when she stood before him almost close enough to touch.

“Do you prefer males?” she asked, leaning up on tiptoe to whisper the question in his ear. The answer was evident from the swell in the front of his britches, but she enjoyed the irritation on his face nonetheless. It almost got him to look at her again.

He clenched his jaw and shook his head. “I prefer a woman I can talk to, that’s all.”

“And my naked body is not worthy of words?” She gazed down at herself and slid her hands over her curves. The touch felt nice, but not as nice as his hands might feel—his hands that were now balled into fists at his sides. She began to slowly walk around him. When she paused in the direction his head was turned, she saw his eyes were tightly shut.

“Racha …” he began in a desperate tone. He opened his eyes finally and let his gaze rake down her length. Her nipples prickled tantalizingly when he lingered on her breasts. His hands relaxed and he raised one up. He gently cupped her jaw and she gasped, surprised at how warm and gentle his touch was against her skin, especially in contrast to how rough his callused fingertips felt. “You are worth more than a word or a touch, I’m positive. You might be worth the entire universe, but until I know more about you, this …” He swept his hand in a gesture down the length of her body. “… isn’t happening.”

She let out a deep sigh, expelling a cloud of thick, iridescent breath that she manipulated into a diaphanous gown to cover her naked body.

“All right,” she said once he’d finally relaxed a bit more. “Let’s sit and talk.”

She sat cross-legged right where they stood and peered up at him. From a lower angle, he appeared even more impressive than before. She’d liked the look of him the second he’d walked through the door, and even found his obstinacy endearing, in a way. He was so very different from the male dragons she knew, all bent on their various seductions, eager and willing to devote their unflagging attentions on as many partners as possible. It became a game to most, even the females, to collect multiple lovers just to prove their prowess.

Racha had tasted the Nirvana of five of the humans who had entered the temple, and the essence of the dragons who had coaxed it from them. It was power she would not keep, however, for it was the power with which she would awaken the rest of the sleeping brood that occupied the smaller chambers throughout the temple. The human man who sat before her was the key, and he seemed oblivious to the effect holding that power in check was having on her.

She could be patient for a time. She would have to, even though the scent of him had made her almost uncomfortably wet and caused the power she held to pulse insistently in her core, seeking release. Now she watched the play of the muscles beneath the fabric of his shirt when he finally bent to sit across from her, knees bent and his arms resting casually across them. It was a defensive posture, unlike her own. Even though he couldn’t physically see her spread labia, the light brush of her gown over her skin made it difficult to forget how aroused she was.

“Tell me what you would like to know,” she said. “I am an open book.”