Just a quick disclaimer before I get around to the good stuff so bear with me a moment while I try to appease the pack of rabid lawyers that I keep tied up in the basement of my studio apartment by brushing up on my legalese. Ahem, Fur after dark is intended to be enjoyed purely as an anthology of short standalone stories that deal with mature themes and adult subject matter of an entirely erotic nature. Written either to the specifications of those who have commissioned a work or simply to flex my creative abilities the ideas, situations and relationships found herein will undoubtedly contain graphic depictions of sex some readers may find unsettling or simply not suited to their particular tastes. Or in other words Fur after dark is intended to be the place where the dispossessed are made to feel welcome, and because while I myself have fought to find acceptance in a world that would deny my very existence, that doesn't mean I can go around pissing off the powers that be by shoving that very fact in their faces, in short, anything that would never make it into my main body of work will probably end up here, and that means I'll be writing in genres or styles typically involving themes found in Yaoi, Yuri, Seijin, Seinen, Josei and Bara. And to be clear, I'm referring to the Japanese cultural aspects of those ideas rather then to the Western world's perspective as that's how I was introduced to them and quite frankly treating sex as a natural extension of life rather then as something shameful that should be denied is in line with the teachings of the Zen Buddhism I practice. However, because discretion is our guarantee should a piece be either a commission or an original work the distinction made will be contained in the title heading per the established terms of service while the author and artist in question reserves all right to neither endorse nor support the attitudes and opinions of those who might find the material contained within offensive. Oh, and NSFW, must be over eighteen or regional equivalent, I think you've heard all the other shit before. Enjoy!

A congress with dragons

  Watching as the dragons danced among the clouds while she lay upon a grassy hill that overlooked a small mountain village below, Lien felt herself begin to grow increasingly restless as the day wore on. Elsewhere, preparations were already underway in order to celebrate those who would eventually be chosen to become Dragon Riders and while the entire village had become a hive of activity and was busy preparing for the festivities to  follow she herself had long since reached the age of majority and had already passed the time when it was considered appropriate for a woman of her years to be caught staring at dragons and dreaming of being among those chosen to ride them.
  Not that ideas of what was right and proper for a young woman kept her from reaching out her hand and weaving her fingers through the air. Imagining that the dragons soaring through the sky were resting in the palm of her hand, the sudden breeze that ruffled her fur and left her daydreams lying in pieces in the grass around her caused her to seek out the source of the disruption that had disturbed her. 
  Though his landing had been as silent and graceful as any she'd ever seen the dragon who approached her now had a long sinuous snakelike body covered in both soft silvery fur and strangely scintillating scales. Recognizing him as Liwei, the elder dragon who served as liaison between the dragons above and the villagers below, Lien lowered her eyes ever so slightly as she tried to keep all manner of excuses from pouring forth from her lips. For while Liwei was no stranger to her headstrong ways and stubborn desire to do whatever she wanted when she wanted, he was also her mother's closest advisor, and that meant anything she said to him would inevitably reach her mother's ears as well. 
  Seeing the disapproval writ large upon his face Lien felt her heart suddenly skip a beat. No doubt he'd come looking for her only to reprimand her for some slight she'd uttered, or some act of youthful indiscretion. It wasn't fair, other girls her age were free to attend the festival, to walk and talk with the young men of the village without earning so much as a passing glance but as one who'd been raised to succeed her mother as the Maiden of the Shrine who carried the wishes of the people to the Lord of all dragons who currently resided in the temple she was to be held to a higher standard, and Liwei would brook no such foolishness in one he had raised as closely as he would his own daughter.
  Rising slowly to her feet, Lien straightened out the robe she wore and addressed him by the name he'd long ago earned after displaying his power to the people. "Honored Lord of the Summer Storms," Soft as a feathers touch and yet with a strength in it that was not unlike coiled steel, Lien felt the words she'd been about to say disappear from her mind as one of the elder dragon's whiskers wrapped itself around her wrist with a gentleness that belied his immense size and power.
  "Listen Lien," His eyes scanning the skies for any unusual movement, his words came out short and clipped. "It isn't safe for you to be alone right now. We, that is your mother and I, there is still a great deal we haven't prepared you for." Liwei was shaking his head as though the admission pained him. "One day, when you're older, you'll understand why we made the choices we did."   
  When you're older. His words, meant to be comforting, only raised the spectre of an old fear hidden deep within her heart. Lien had never known the man who had fathered her, and while her mother never spoke ill of the man who had shared her bed, neither did she speak of him at all. And while rumors abounded among the village that she was in some way an illegitimate heir to her honored mother's position, no one dared voice such things in Liwei's presence. Not after a sudden series of storms that had passed over the village had mysteriously struck the businesses belonging to those who'd dared to voice the most tasteless of opinions with bolts of lightning.  
  "Ho, Lien," Struggling to crest the top of the hill in order to catch up to them a familiar voice said. "You're looking well today."
  Like her, Huan's fur was a deep russet brown interspered with black that covered his hands like a glove, even the red and white markings that made up the masks on their faces seemed a perfect compliment to each other.
  "Listen, I'm so glad I was able to find you, I couldn't wait to share the good news." All but ignoring the presence of the elder dragon standing beside them Huan's words came out in a rush. "I've been chosen as a Dragon Rider. I get to meet my future mount at the temple tonight."
  Losing herself in his eyes as her heart swelled with pride, Lien let out a girlish sigh. As a Dragon Rider Huan would travel to far away places and see fantastic sights. Liwei on the other hand made no secret of his distate for the arrogance of the young man who was even now seeking to take hold of Lien's hands and hold them in his own.
  His lips curling back in a snarl that revealed row upon row of razor sharp teeth the fur all along his back began to bristle as his talons began to tear at the earth beneath his feet. Gone was the air of nobility he had surrounded himself with mere moments ago, all that remained now was a truly fearsome beast.
  As Huan went on and on about how great his future was going to be oblivious even to the growing danger he was currently in, Lien saw Liwei's whiskers begin to tremble as though they were riding an invisible wave of energy.  
  Don't do it. Offering up the words as a silent prayer she felt the air growing heavy and thick as the fury of a summer storm gathered around Liwei. Releasing all but the barest fraction of his power to command the elements of wind and fire Huan let out a startled yelp as a bolt of lightning struck the earth beside his feet. It was a sobering display of a dragon's fury ruined by the fact that even now Huan was stalking off while complaining that his precious tail had been singed and his fur left black and smoking.
  It was too much for her to handle. Letting her hands ball into fists Lien turned on the one who had just called lightning forth from the blue and shouted at him. "How could you even think about embarassing me like that!"
  Acting as though she had just struck him a vicious blow, Liwei seemed to be genuinely taken aback, before he regained his composure as an elder dragon and said. "Huan is not a man worthy to even stand in your presence. The fact he would seek to curry favor with a future Maiden of the Shrine despite not even having earned a warrior's braid speaks to the depths of his disgraceful behaviour."
  All he wanted to do was talk to me! Lien all but shouted at him in her mind. What could possibly by so disgraceful about that?
  "Of course," She said aloud as she fell obediently in line beside him. "It is as you say." Refusing to even acknowledge the whisker that was even now questing out towards her in an attempt at fatherly reconciliation, Lien knew there would be no further discussing the matter, the great Liwei had spoken, and that as always was that.
  Following along sullenly as he led her home, Lien knew that in public she would be all but forced to accept his decision, for while in public the belief in the abilities of an elder dragon acting in his capacity as consul were considered sacrosanct, but while in private, she'd seethe with fury and resentment, and at the first opportunity during their evening meal, she would slip a little something extra into his dish. Something hot and spicy, that would burn his tongue and make his bowels run with fire.

  Built in order to satisfy both the needs of dragons and those who shared their lives with them the palace occupied by the Maiden of the Shrine overlooked both the temple where the Lord of all Dragons dwelled and the village proper. Though typically illuminated by dozens of lanterns, tonight they'd all been left unlit as those who usually tended to them were needed to help prepare for the evening's festivities.  
  Ignoring the sight of the carefully tended garden where her mother held usually court, the familiar smell of her mother's cooking was the first thing to greet her as Lien crossed the threshold into the much smaller building they called home.
  Never one to spare any expense when it came to celebrating the Dragon Rider's festival the sheer variety of dishes her mother had arranged on the low cut table in the center of the room all but overwhelmed her as she tried to decide on the best place to start. Even the sweet and spicy soup that was Liwei's favorite food was in evidence.
  "Welcome home," Said Meilin as she lifted the lid from a pot of freshly steamed rice. "I heard the sound of thunder from an empty sky earlier," Testing to see if it was done she added. "Neither of you would happen to know anything about that now would you?"
  "Ask the Lord of Summer Storms over there." Said Lien as she seated herself on one of the more comfortable cushions. "I'm sure he'll be happy to tell you all about how he was able to drive off the terrible threat to my maidenhood"
  "Hmm, Huan again I take it?" Waving the issue away as though it were a matter of little importance, Meilin said. "Well, after tonight he'll be too busy getting to know his dragon to be anyone else's problem."
  Chuckling under his breath as though sharing in some private joke, Liwei arranged his body into something resembling a divan, so that whenever her mother was ready to take her place at the head of the table, the Lord of Summer Storms would be there, waiting to embrace her.
  Helping herself to a bowl of rice as Liwei devoured his soup, Lien knew it was a sight she'd grown up with all her life, but tonight it seemed different somehow, familiar, and yet infinitely more intimate.
  My father should be the one sitting there, She thought as Liwei shifted his position in order to make her mother as comfortable as possible. Not you. 
  As if sensing her unspoken thoughts, Meilin turned to her and said. "You shouldn't be so quick to judge Liwei harshly, after all, he has very good reasons for wanting to keep you as safe as possible." 
  Watching as her mother began running her fingers through the fur around Liwei's ears in a way that was making him purr with obvious delight, Lien rose to her feet. "I have to wash my hair." It was a thinly veiled excuse and she knew it, but she needed something, anything, to get away from the sight of them treating each other as though they'd been lovers for the better part of their lives.

  "I never wanted it to happen this way," Said Liwei as both he and Meilin watched from their bedroom window as their errant daughter dropped from the roof and started to run towards the temple. "Now I feel as though she's going to hate me forever."
  "Well," Said Meilin as she let the robes that she wore fall to the floor. "We were going to tell her the truth tomorrow anyway, so what difference does it make if she finds out on her own." Feeling a feather's touch caress her shoulders and chest, a secret smile played across her face as Liwei's whiskers travelled from her breasts towards things lower and tighter on her body. "Now if she finds out the same way that I did . . ."
  "And that's exactly what I'm afraid of," Said Liwei as he remembered all the times that Meilin had drained him dry before consenting to become his wife. "She's a strong willed woman with a mind of her own and when the time comes upon her to choose the dragon she wants to take as her mate, well, he's going to have to be one tough bastard to survive what she's going to put him through."
  "And who do we have to thank for that?" Feeling the hesitation in her lover's touch as he stopped fanning the flames of her desire, Meilin just turned to him and said. "What's the matter, you seem . . . distracted."
  "Nothing," Said Liwei as his tongue started to tingle in an unusual way. "Nothing's the matter . . . I just," He was suddenly overturning the bedding as he scrambled towards the bedroom door. "I just have to run to the privy that's all!" 

  Getting into the temple without being noticed wasn't the hard part, after all, what need was there to post guards on a building where any treasures kept inside would have been in the possession of those whose fangs could sunder stone, and whose claws could cut a man in half as soon as look at him, no, the real problem was that once inside, she had no idea where she was going, or even where to start looking.
 Built in order to be as unassailable as the mountain itself, the entrance had been carved from its face, while the interior ran with corridors that spread throughout its heart. Even now wishing she had thought to bring a torch, Lien stumbled forwards while keeping her hand pressed upon the wall in order to help guide her. What little light there was either came from the windows that were open to the moon, or from the cracks below the doors of those chambers which were currently occupied and while she wasn't sure what it was she had come looking for, the thought of turning back now and returning home with her tail tucked betwen her legs was simply unthinkable.
  Find Huan, Came the thought unbidden to her mind. He'll know what's going on.
  But where to begin looking? There were no servants to guide her, no map drawn on the wall that would indicate where she was or where she needed to go.
  Walking slowly but surely down the hall, moving from door to door as she went, Lien pressed her ear to each, listening intently, until finally she heard the voice of the one she had been searching for.
  "Of course you're the only one for me, who else could there be?"
  Forcing the door open just enough for her to peer through, Lien turned to look through the crack and stifled a gasp as what she saw tore her heart in two. Beautiful Huan, lovely Huan whom she both adored and cared for, was on his hands and knees in the center of the room. His tail held high he was looking at the dragon who shared the room with him with an undisguised longing in his eyes. "Trust me, we're both going to enjoy this."
  It seemed to Lien to be all the invitation that was needed as the dragon hesitated only a moment longer before eagerly covering Huan's body with his own. Trying to mount his young rider without much success the dragon continued humping him until finally Huan reached between his legs, took hold of his inexperienced partner's penis, and then helped guide it into his waiting tailhole. 
  Was this what a dragon rider was meant to be? Thought Lien as the two of them began to cry out in mutual satisfaction.
  Turning away from the sight of Huan and his newfound lover discovering the limits of their pleasure, Lien suddenly felt more lost then she had ever been before. For even now   the only sound that she heard coming from behind every door was laughter mocking her naivety. Was she the only one who hadn't known, the only one who hadn't guessed?
  Running as fast as her legs could carry her, no longer worrying about where she would end up or who would find her, Lien ran into a room she thought was empty and slammed the door shut behind her.
  Falling to the floor, she clutched her knees close to her chest and began sobbing softly. "Stupid, stupid girl," She said to no one in particular. "Liwei tried to warn you, but no, you wouldn't listen to him. Huan, you jerk!"
  There was a moment of absolute stillness that hung suspended in the air, before being shattered forever by the dragon's roar that reverberated throughout the room like bottled thunder. "Who dares! Who dares to intrude upon the solitude of the dreaded Lord of all dragons Longwei!"
  Covering her mouth with both hands as she sought to stifle the cry that was even now trying to claw its way out of her throat, Lien thought she would have died right then and there of fright, and instead felt something low in her body begin to tighten and her pulse begin to quicken the moment she laid eyes on him.  
  A survivor of countless bloody battles, with a body crossed with scars that made all of his movements slow and measured, the golden dragon who occupied the room searched the shadows with a dreadful countenance that radiated hate and fury, but when he set his single remaining eye upon her, Lien saw something akin to fear cross his face.
  "You," He said as though struggling to find his tongue. "You should not be here. Where is the Maiden of the Shrine, where is her consort, the Lord of Summer Storms."
  "My mother couldn't be here right now," Finding that she still had the courage to feign an insolence she didn't feel, Lien rose unsteadily to her feet. So what if he claimed to be the Lord of all dragons, she had dealt with Liwei's overbearing protectiveness all her life and what did he mean, consort? "In fact she's probably wondering where I ran off to, and if not she'll no doubt have sent Liwei off to find me again."
  "You are Meilin's daughter?" Taken aback by the news, Longwei's tone held a sense of awe and wonder. "Yes, yes I can see traces of her in you, but when last we spoke . . . she never made mention of the fact that she had concieved a child." Rising into the air on an invisible current of energy, Longwei opened the window that had been built into the roof of the temple to allow access to those who could fly. Mostly he did it so that she would not have to hide in the dark, but also so he could better see for himself the young woman who was even now calling out to him in a way he hadn't thought possible. "Tell me," He said as the moon bathed the room with its pale light. "Who was the one that sired you?"
  Hearing him put it so formally, Lien's short laugh was harsh and bitter. "I don't know, my mother never talks about my father."
 "Forgive me," Settling himself on the floor once more, Longwei bowed to her. "I've no doubt my question was rude and ill-considered. It has been a great deal of time since I last spoke of wordly concerns with anyone, and I know that serves as no excuse for my actions, so for my trespass, you have my most sincere and heartfelt apology." 
  "Since when do dragons apologize for anything?" Said Lien without even thinking. "I thought that, just because they could take whatever and whomever they wanted then to hell with what anyone else thinks."
  Realizing that Liwei would have lectured her to the ends of the earth and beyond for daring to speak such thoughts out loud, Lien set her shoulders and braced herself as she waited for the inevitable litany of reprimands that was sure to come.
  "Such refreshing honesty in one so young." Choosing his words carefully, his tone held more then just a simple note of admiration. "Truly if it was not your mother, then at least there is someone in your life who helped raise you to be a proper Maiden of the Shrine."
  Thinking about all the times in her life when proper behaviour had gotten her into more trouble then it was worth, Lien just looked at him and said. "And what would you know about raising someone to be a proper maiden?"
  Longwei simply bowed his head as he conceded her point. "I have known a great many Maidens in my time, you see, I was here to welcome the first, and have no doubts that I will also be here to welcome the last."
  Feeling as though she'd finally found someone who could give her the answers she so desperately sought, Lien gathered her courage and said. "Honored Lord of all dragons, I your humble servant beseech you . . ." Trailing off as a golden furred whisker waved her concerns away his reply surprised her more then anything else ever could.
  "Please, spare me the honorifics, I have long outlived their usefulness. It is your right as the one who will succeed your honored mother's position as the Maiden of the Shrine to hear the history you share with dragonkind. You have but to ask, and if it is within my power to answer, then I will do so."
  "Well," Said Lien as she secretly wondered just how truthful the Lord of all dragons was willing to be. "Then I want to know what's really going on in this temple, tonight I saw . . ." Trailing off as her hands started to tremble Lien fought to find her voice once more. "I don't know what it is I saw."
  "You saw someone being fucked by a dragon no doubt." Using his whiskers in order to illustrate his point, Longwei added. "Oh, try not to act so surprised, that is what a dragon rider does after all, they ride a dragon." 
  Lien could hardly believe what she was hearing, and the way he was acting as if it had always been obvious to everyone but her. "We offered you the best of us," She said as he continued making lewd gestures with his whiskers. "The strongest sons, the most noble daughters . . ."
  "Did you really?" Offended by the notion that he had been offered the best of anything, Longwei fixed her with a steelly gaze and said. "Answer truly now, would this, Huan of yours, ever really gone on to sire fine sons? Huan, who cares only for his own pleasure and glory, who abandoned all thought of duty to family, kith and kin the moment he was offered the chance to ride a dragon?"
  It hurt her to admit that he was right, but still she wanted to know. "How do you know of Huan?"
  "They always come to me first, the hopefuls, the would be heroes, they hear tales of an elder dragon no man has ever been able to conquer and so consumed by thoughts of their own prowess they convince themselves that they will be the one to win me over, and in doing so win a name for themselves that will live in song forever." Recalling to mind all of the countless attempts that had been made in a foolish effort to seduce him, Longwei snorted with undisguised contempt. "Empty headed fools, they abase themselves before me, prostrating themselves while they offer all manner of empty promises, treasures they do not possess, victories in battles they have neither fought in nor yet earned. As if such things could ever be of concern to one such as I."
  Once her eyes had time to adjust to the dim light of the moon, Lien saw that the room was nowhere near as empty as she'd originally thought it to be. Alcoves that were filled with scrolls lined the walls, maps of distant lands drawn by a dragon's keen eye littered the floor, and tables bent with books took up any and all remaining available space. Here was a wealth of knowledge beyond her imagining, a treasure that few would ever see, let alone be able to grasp.
  And that was the moment when Lien began to understand that beyond the temple walls Longwei would be considered little more then a liability, a wounded warrior who'd lived long beyond his time, but here, in the world he'd created for himself, he was a scholar of the first order, a man who'd seen time and time again the discord that conflict with others inevitably created and instead of pursuing the same path that so many others before him had taken, had sought to bring to his life some semblance of balance and structure.
  Seeing the scars that covered his form with fresh eyes a new admiration for the Lord of all dragons awoke within her, here was no foolish boy playing at games in order to win a woman's heart, but a man who had forged a life for himself through his own strength of will and innate cunning. And while Huan had sought to curry favor with her, once she in turn compared him to Longwei who offered her no promises and held back no secrets, it really wasn't much of a comparison at all.
  Moving slowly but surely to close the distance between them, She said. "I thought all men dreamed about was combat."
  Longwei shook his head softly when he said. "I fought only because I had to fight, not to prove that I was stronger then others, or because I sought to win for myself some vain notion of honor or glory."
  "Then," Said Lien, feeling a strange sense of disappointment. "Are you really that old?"
  "Old?" His head thrown back as peals of laughter echoed off the walls, Lien found the sound was both rich and musical. "And pray, tell me, what difference would my age to a mortal woman make? Still as dragons reckon time . . ." Longwei was silent as he thought for a moment. "I was born before the founding of what you call the Three Kingdoms, in an age where the only thing you could truly call your own was that which you had the strength to hold. In such times, following the warrior's path meant being ruthless beyond measure, and I welcomed the ages that followed because it meant that only those willing to put their own lives on the line were the ones willing to challenge me. Though I freely admit, in the arrogance of my youth I reveled in the knowledge of my own strength and power. It was only after all my enemies lay dead before me, that I truly understood what it meant to be alone in the world."
  Considering his words carefully, Lien said. "When I was still a little girl, Liwei used to tell me stories about warriors who gave up their swords in order to become philosophers instead, he used to say that it took more courage to love a man then it did to kill him, I'd always thought he was trying to dissuade me from pursuing one as a potential husband, but he was talking about you wasn't he?"
  "Who can say?" Dipping a whisker into the ink he kept prepared for the times when he felt the mood to paint strike him, Longwei began moving it across the piece of paper in front of him in long delicate strokes. "In order to attain the strength to kill a thousand men, one must first possess the compassion to bury a thousand men, for when dragons rage across the skies and the earthly kindoms tremble beneath us, it is the heavens that weep for all the lives that are lost, not us." Looking at the work that would undoubtedly fetch a handsome price should he ever let it out of his sight, and yet always seemed to somehow disappoint, he added softly. "Never us."
  Lost in a vision of a time long past, Longwei looked to the moon that hung in the sky like a faintly luminous pearl, it was the same moon that had borne silent witness to the war that had all but destroyed dragonkind.
  "You see, though dragons may be sharp of fang and strong of claw, there are still those among us not fit to claim for themselves a mate, and though the chance of dying during a mating flight is very rare, we were already dangerously close to wiping ourselves out, and so in order to protect the fledgling peace, a bargain that was meant to be of benefit to both our races was struck." 
  "The dragon riders festival." Said Lien as the pieces began falling into place. "Outside the village, people think its just an excuse to celebrate the bonds we share, but for those of us living here . . ."
  Longwei simply nodded sagely. "And so we dragons, who were once the masters of all we surveyed, surrendered ourselves to the whims of earthly companions, for if we could not find love among our own kind, then what more terrible burden could there be for us to bear, then to experience life's greatest passions denied, and await only the inevitability of fate." When next he spoke a single solemn eye bright with unshed tears looked out at her from the ruin of scars that had marred the better part of his face. "You see, even if it is vast beyond all imagining, even when it burns with all the wonders of a many faceted jewel, when you fly with no one there beside you, the sky becomes a very lonely place."
  "So that's why Liwei didn't want me to be alone when so many dragons were filling the sky today." Said Lien more to herself then anyone else. "He wasn't afraid I was going to dishonor him, he was worried one of them might have tried to claim me as a mate!"
  "Yes," Said Longwei as he rose slowly to his feet. "Though perhaps if I had understood the price to be paid by future generations, the price that continues to be paid . . . I would not have been so quick to bind ourselves to such a short lived race."
  Fearing to hear the answer, and yet still needing to know, Lien felt as though the world she had known all her life was even now crumbling around her when she said. "What do you mean?"
  "You hold congress with dragons, you shape the world in your own image and yet build temples to our shared glory, did you think that wouldn't change you, or indeed those who would come after you?" Having heard the disbelief in her voice, Longwei found he only had himself to blame for the foolishness that had replaced reason with fantasy, as it only served to endanger everything. "Those whom we mate with will in time come to share some of our longevity, our strength, and in exchange we will share with them the burden of their own mortality." Letting a trace of his power bleed into the air around them, his words were ominous and dire when he finally said. "For while a dragon could live for a hundred of your lifetimes or more, one who has taken a mortal companion as their mate will know only the fullness of their own companion's life." Giving her no time to adjust to the truth that he'd so long sought to deny, he asked her. "Now, can what you offer us in return ever be worth paying such a price?"
  Having now burdened her with such a terrible secret, to Lien it seemed as though their discussion was at an end.
  "Liwei seemed to think so." She said softly as the truth of all he'd given up in order to stay by her mother's side struck her like a sudden blow, "Why else would he risk his own chances at an endless life to raise such a headstrong daughter."
  Even as she spoke the words aloud Lien knew few men would ever capable of making such a choice, of choosing honor over passion, of being able to bear the burden of being hated, even reviled by the ones they cared for, if it meant giving them the best possible chance at finding love.
  Waiting as Longwei considered her words carefully, Lien felt a nameless hunger within her begin to awaken and wondered if the dragon who stood before now her was capable of making a similar choice.
  "Do not look at me with such eyes," He said in response to the question that even now hung unasked in the air between them. "You who have barely even discovered the power of your own womanhood. I've no wish to see the truth of myself, battered and broken as I am, reflected in the eyes of someone who could come to love one such as I." Hanging his head ever so slightly in shame when next Longmei spoke, it was with all the weight of his lonely years. "My own bitterness is companion enough, I've no wish to compound it by adding yours."
  "Is that why you've gone and locked yourself away in here?" Said Lien, refusing to be swayed by his self-pity. "Because you're afraid of what others might say when they find out, or is it because you're afraid that somehow you're the one responsible?"
  There was an impact to the air without sound that sent paper flying and overturned the tables. "I am the one responsible!" Before the fury of the storm he'd unleashed even had time to settle, Longwei shouted until his roar shook the walls of the temple. "It was by my will alone that the others finally submit themselves, my fangs that tore the throats from those that dared to disagree, look upon the truth of me, and know now my thousand years of despair." His movements tight and controlled, Longwei stalked towards her, his fangs bared, his fur bristling. Each word he spoke was edged with venom and fraught with portent and danger. "Kinslayer, oathbreaker, lord of fools, each scar that I bear is a reminder of a life that I have taken, each wound a memory of a dream that I alone had a hand in ending. What remains of us, the truth of our past and the secrets of our history, all reside within in me, and had I but the courage to take my own life, then perhaps this intolerable existence might finally be ended, but no, mine is the name that will be cursed by dragonkind throughout eternity, and an eternity I shall wait, until all memory of my mistakes are expunged from history."
  Allowing the force of his power to wash over her as though it was nothing more then a gentle summer's breeze, Lien felt his fury begin to falter as she made no move to run and hide like a frightened child. Finding her own footing as she stood her ground in front of the Lord of all dragons, Lien opened herself to the same flow of energy that he had used to unleash the impact without sound and claimed it as her own.
  The effect it had on him was nothing short of electric. "You have the blood of dragons within you," There was more then a touch of wonder in his voice when he added. "But how?" 
  Letting her robe fall to the floor, she kneaded her fingers into her own sex until the tips came away slick with her own wetness. Holding her hand out to him she saw his nostrils flare wide once he'd caught wind of her scent. Standing before him in a way that offered him more then just her hand, she said. "Taste me, and find out."
  Drinking in the sight of her naked body like a man who had been long dying of thirst, Longwei took his time as he admired her slender hips and firm breasts. It had been so long since he'd last had the opportunity to taste a female dragon in the throws of estrus that her's was an offer too tempting to pass up. Still, fearing the loss of reason that all male dragons succumbed to whenever the scent of a warm and willing female filled the air Longwei approached her slowly, cautiously, but once he close enough to touch, his whiskers wrapped themselves gently around her waist and held her fixed in place.
  Placing her hands upon his head as the warmth of his breath brushing against her body made her shiver ever so slightly, Lien barely stifled a gasp as his tongue slid between the folds of her lower lips and began seeking out her most intimate secrets.
  Already it felt better then she had ever thought possible, the way he alternated between long slow strokes that made her body tense and her pulse quicken, and fast hard flicks that used the roughness of his tongue to tease and excite her clitoris. Sparing no effort to make the experience as satisfying as possible for both of them, Longwei growled low in his throat and let the vibrations from his subdued roar travel along his tongue.
  Feeling her climax approaching like the gathering of a summer storm a sudden hunger awoke within Lien that she'd never been aware of before. "More," The word barely had time to pass from her lips before she grabbed hold of the horns atop Longwei's head and began thrusting her hips towards him in order to drive his tongue as deeply into her wet sex as possible. "I want to feel more of you inside me."  
  Nodding ever so slightly as he no longer needed to hold her in place with his whiskers Longwei shifted their position to better take advantage of the fact that he could tease and excite her breasts and body at the same time.
  Feeling the subtle strength in his whiskers play across her body, it was then Lien knew with a certainty that rocked her to her very core. "Liwei is my father isn't he?"
  Caught between wanting to finish what he'd started and telling her the truth, Longwei wondered how much he could trust her with, how much he should trust her with.
  "Yes." He finally said as he withdrew his tongue from her sex and licked the last of her from his lips. "You are of his line, and you hold the potential to pass his power on within you." 
  Wanting to claim him for herself now more then ever, Lien forced herself to stand still as a statue as she waited for him to go on.
  "It is our most closely guarded secret, though we did not realize it at first, there were still signs that some of those who were born of the union between mortals and dragons had inherited more then just their parents longevity.
  "At first all we had were vague suspicions, it was only several generations had passed that I was able to discover that we dragons weren't the only ones who being changed by our contact with mortals. Our power to command the elements was also being passed on, but only through the female line." Having come too far to turn back now, Longwei said softly. "Your sons, your daughters, should enough blood of the dragon reside within you then there is no telling which of your descendents could inherit it, or how strongly."
  "Then why test me in such a way," Reaching out to embrace her wounded warrior there was a part of her that understood his reasoning, even admired it, but still she needed to know. "Why not trust that I could handle it responsibly?"
  "Because it belongs to dragons," Said Longwei as he leaned into her touch. "And to the children of dragons." Offering her the last of his secrets lest they become a wall between them he added. "And there comes a time where we either learn to master our power, or our power masters us. Ignorance is no defence, and so every father who sires a daughter must watch, to see if that power begins to manifest, and to protect them from those who would claim it for themselves if need be."
  "All those times Liwei acted on my behalf," Said Lien as the last of the pieces fell into place. "Did my life ever truly belong to me, or was I simply being guided to this moment by unseen hands?"
  "You have touched upon the very heart of a question that I have asked myself these last thousand years and more. Do we truly have the power to decide our own destinies, or are we mere puppets forced to dance according to the whims of some invisible being pulling our strings."
  The moment Longwei began to withdraw into himself, Lien began to feel his absence like a dull ache in her soul. "You know I carry the blood of dragons within me and still you would deny me, why?"
  "It has been so long since I last joined myself to another." Tempted by her in a way he never thought possible, Longwei felt his words were the last defence he had. "If I were to let you claim me in such a way, would I ever again belong only to myself?"
  "Of course not," Said Lien as she gently wrapped her arms around his neck. "We would belong to each other."
  Turning her words over in his mind as he searched for a seed of deceit Longwei rose to his feet as some invisible tension seemed to flow out of him. Shifting his position to one that revealed rather then concealed the intense erection that had been bothering him for some time now he saw the subtle smile that crossed her face and blushed a bit at finding himself being admired so. In Lien's eyes, he was easily twice the size of the dragon that had mounted Huan, and that suited her just fine.
  "Would you prefer to make love face to face," Said Longwei as he lay the better part of his body upon the floor. "Or shall I wrap myself around you the way a serpent would?"
  Straddling his hips, Lien let the heat between them set her heart racing. "Your letting me decide?"
  "Dragons are a matriarchal race, for us, it is always the female who decides when she wants to mate, and who she wishes to mate with."
  As close as they were, Lien could sense the subtle vibrations that he was trying to hide as the slightest touch of her fingers on his enormous shaft sent shivers up and down his body. "I see, that's what you meant when you said I had barely discovered the power of my own womanhood isn't it. Its because you were afraid of not being able to think with something other then your dick."
  "Its almost impossible to resist," His words were little more then a hiss. "The instinct to prove ourselves worthy of a female's attentions . . ." Longwei trailed off as Lien took the tip of his penis into her mouth and began teasing him with her tongue. 
  "Even now I have to fight to keep hold of my own mind," He said between gasps. "Lest the sight of you drives me into a mating frenzy."
  "Oh," Said Lien, her voice low and husky. "We wouldn't want that now would we?"
  Allowing Longwei to position himself so that the sinuous curves of his body supported her hips and gave her something to push back against as she sought to satisfy the flames of desire that had awoken within her, Lien let out a throaty purr as she felt him slide into her as though they had been made for each other. But even as full as she was, the feeling  of riding him while still earthbound barely took the edge off of her hunger. "Something's wrong," She said. "I need . . . I need . . ."
  Rising into the air in response to her desire for more, Longwei wrapped himself around her so that when the two of them were held suspended several feet above the floor of the temple by his will alone, then using his whiskers to take hold of her hips, he lifted her up until only the tip of his penis renained inside her, and let gravity do the rest.
  Crying out in unbridled ecstasy as he repeated the motion again and again, Lien had to fight to get him to stop just long enough for her to be able catch her breath.
  "I didn't know dragons could do this." She said as things low in her body urged her to let him continue.
  "Not many of us can." Sensing that she was closer then she'd ever been before Longwei whispered softly into her ear. "But then, only a mating flight can satisfy a female dragon, and while you may not have the body of one, you certainly have the heart."
  It was all the recognition from him that she needed. Letting him resume where he'd left off, Lien wrapped her arms around him and cried out with renewed vigor. 
  Hearing the satisfaction of his mate as his pace began to quicken, the sensation of Lien grabbing hold of his horns while squeezing him with her thighs was what finally pushed him over the edge. Unable to hold back any longer, Longwei's roar no doubt shook the foundations of heaven as he began pouring his seed into her again and again. 
  Her own climax not far behind, Lien rode each wave of shared pleasure as it crested within her, and though each was shorter and weaker then the last, the knowledge that they had barely even begun to discover each other left her wanting more. 
  Weightless, motionless, their bodies slowly starting to separate as Longwei relaxed his grip on her just enough to be able to hold his newfound mate gently in his embrace, Lien let out a deeply contented sigh and with her first taste of flying still fresh in her mind she looked deep into his one remaining eye and said. "How long am I going to have to wait until you can do that again?"