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I lifted the saddle onto my flight partner's back. "I'm not joking," I said. "They want another trip out of us."

Riane growled as she shifted her wings to help settle the seating over her sunset-red feathers. "You are certain they have a replacement, Torio?"

"The messenger said they were evaluating the available candidates for that schedule, but replacement would be guaranteed." I looped the straps around her shoulders, then started working on the ones around her hindlegs. "The letter said when they arrive we give them one run through the route. That's it. Three more weeks and we'll be back in the Empire with more than enough payment to pamper ourselves silly."

"Sky's blessing. A real city, with real food and real bedding," she said, cyan eyes gazing towards the north. I patted her neck once the last strap was secure, and she broke her reverie to stretch, making sure the fabric and leather flexed over her feathers and golden-brown fur. "Real males, too."

"Hey now. I may be short, but I've been reliably informed that I'm a real male."

She chuckled and lightly cuffed me with her wing. "Then I am sure a lovely woman will enjoy your company all the more."

"Sounds like a deal," I said, grinning, before securing the rest of the supplies to the saddle. This would be our eleventh week in the wilds. Our conversations were probably keeping us from going mad.

Riane chirped once I finished securing the gear. "Everything feels secure. If this good weather holds, we should reach the camp early. Leaves more time for stories. Ready?"

Before I answered, I checked the treated leather satchel looped around my chest. It was waterproof and sealed, with the insignia of the Aurel Empire on the front. After ten deliveries, I'd never seen the contents; to avoid forfeiting the contract, I never tried to. All we had to do was carry it.

"Ready," I confirmed, and she lowered her front half so I could mount her. Vaulting into the saddle was simple with her shoulders closer to my thighs than my chest, especially since her wings made the design less stable than a horse's. Fortunately, she was far more intelligent than a beast of burden. My hands secured the ties around my legs and waist with practiced ease. I patted her neck twice for the all-clear, and she stood, walking towards the exit.

The late morning sky was clear and inviting, just as she'd said. The wind was almost cool enough to be uncomfortable, but my riding clothes and a cap over my black hair kept the worst out. I pulled my flight goggles over my eyes as Riane stopped at the edge of Daggermouth's official landing zone--a fancy way of saying 'flat, painted ground ending in a four hundred foot drop.' My heart rose into my throat as she leaped off the edge, and within moments her wings caught an updraft and sent us soaring through the air.

I looked over her and couldn't help but grin. Her feathers seemed to glow in the morning light, taking on a fiery color from her head to her wings, and down her back. Her lion's tail parted the middle of the fan of feathers, twitching as she tested the currents of air.

Flight was a freedom I could never stop loving.

---

Sunset was still several hours away when we touched down at our first base camp, but we needed the time to rest for our next flights. Why the message satchel to Frontier could wait three days, but not the two weeks by water, was among the many mysteries of our contract.

Unpacking was a largely silent ritual, with only soft syllables to warn of shifting loads or check for discomfort. Our packs rested on a table-like rock, and Riane purred in appreciation as I removed the saddle. I habitually checked the satchel slung around my chest to check that the reason for our journey was still in perfectly sealed condition.

"We flew well," Riane said once I'd set the camp stove to boil the pot of gathered water. "I think last night you had mentioned difficulties with a merchant's sister?"

I couldn't help but grin. We'd been trading stories for weeks to pass the time. As we grew more comfortable and used up the tamer subjects, we grew more bold with the material. "Ah, yes. It's another tale of courtship and seduction, if you're so inclined."

"Those are some of the best kind," she said, settling down next to me. Light from the stove glinted off her dark yellow beak. "How does this one begin?"

I placed the pot of water on the metal grate of the stove. "It happened a few months ago. We were three days from leaving for Port Evermist, and I think you were out of town until then. Clan ritual?" She nodded, and I continued. "I was invited to a party thanks to the the--what were the names? Our last Gold contract. So it's a formal event, there's dancing, and I find myself in the company of a very interesting lady. Lillian. Witty, well-spoken, an impish sense of humor. Apparently out of my league, judging by a few of the looks my way."

She snickered, and her beak parted in a gryphon's version of a grin. "Somehow, Tor, I doubt even your charming manners could impress the stiff-tailed nobility."

"I'll take that as an insult to them. Anyway, Lillian had an overbearing silver-spoon trade baron for a brother. He acted like he owned her." I sighed at the memory. Some of the 'old guard' nobility kept outdated and unfortunate views about maintaining the family lines. "We were about to take a walk through the gardens, but the pompous ass had her escorted away. He even made a few veiled threats against my person."

Riane's eyes narrowed, and I could see her ears fall back and hackles stir. "You never told me you were threatened. What was his name?"

I held up my hands to placate her. "It's okay, Ri. I made it rather clear who I was and who had invited me. He was smart enough to back down when he learned I was in the Flight Corps." She calmed at that, and I reached over to scratch behind her ears. "Unfortunately, he forbade me from seeing her again. Probably overheard us talking."

"Shame the two of you could not slip away where he would be none the wiser," she said, leaning into my hand with a soft purr. "But I assume the story does not end there?"

I smirked. "Good guess. He hired a guard for her 'protection.' Something about brigands prowling the streets."

Riane chuckled. "But you kept prowling."

"Prowling? I'm no brigand. I_schemed_." The water reached a boil on the stove, and I set it aside to make room for the other pan. "She was able to find me and figure out a couple ways to stay in contact." I talked about the next two days spent flirting and planning, with near misses from the guard and shared gazes from across streets. "By the third day we couldn't figure out how to get her away. At least, not until we realized the guard didn't follow her into Meditation, and there was a back way out."

"Ah. And without his watchful eye..."

I chuckled and lowered my voice. "The two of us slipped away to an inn, where the brother and his lackey would be none the wiser. Having less than an hour meant foreplay kinda went by the wayside, but we managed." I grinned at the memories. "Oh, we managed."

Riane tilted her head to the side. "I have not heard 'foreplay' before," she said, almost stumbling on the unfamiliar word. "What does the word mean?"

I felt a little heat go to my face, though it could have been from the lingering images in my mind. She knew the Imperial tongue quite well, but on occasion she didn't catch a word. Dodging the question was right out. We were flight partners, and open honesty was what kept us close friends. "It's, ah, something partners do before sex. Mating, in your terms." She nodded for me to continue. "Touching each other with our hands, and sometimes the mouth, where it gives the other person pleasure. Talking can be part of it, too. Does that help?"

She pondered my explanation before her ears perked up. "Oh, I understand it now. Our claws are not as nimble, perhaps, but the right ways of grooming and touching and talking do make the mating far more enjoyable."

I chuckled and rubbed her beak. At least the subject wasn't as embarrassing as I'd thought--not that I should have been surprised, given the stories we'd been trading. "That's one way of putting it. Though now I'm curious, how do you, uh..."

"Get a male to mount me?" she finished, her expression mischievous. "If in two weeks our arriving replacement is male, I may just lift my tail for him straight away. You would have an excellent demonstration."

I tried to fight down laughter. "That'd be quite a show! They didn't cover more than basic customs during training, and I don't trust most of what I heard in the barracks."

"You do not know how gryphons court one another?" she asked. I shook my head. "It is not so complicated." She explained the meeting, the talking, and how the two interested gryphons would pursue each other for weeks, months, years, or mere hours depending on their intentions. There were different details and traditions, of course, but it seemed pretty similar to human dating. "If all goes well, the two will agree to mate. Usually by initiating foreplay," she continued, licking her beak. "A good chase does make the end all the sweeter..."

I couldn't help but notice her faraway look, and a smile spread over my face. "Okay, there_has_ to be a story behind that."

Her ears folded back. "I am not sure it would be of interest." She caught my wince before I could hide it, and crooned at me. "You are not prying, Torio. I simply doubt it is worth telling."

"You've had some pretty good ones before. If it's not too personal to share, I'm interested." I took a moment to dump the stew mix in the pot, then slowly scratched behind her ear. "We have plenty of time."

That got another chuckle from Riane, and a nod. "I suppose it is only fair. This was before I joined the Allied Flight Corps, and I was back home in the Steam Mountains. I had just passed my first heat cycle--per tradition, it passes in solitude, with no males or herbs to sate the urges."

I wondered at that. Perhaps it was a rite of passage, or there was some physical concern with the first cycle, or both. Her story continued, and I brought my attention back to her words.

"There were males who then sought my attention, but many did not hold my interest. One by the name of Diarmi did, though, and I held his interest in turn. His feathers were the colors of burning embers, his body was strong and quick, and he held wisdom beyond his years." Even without lips, she was clearly smiling. "We would talk for hours over the painting of runes, or crafting skins and trinkets, or when we'd steal away to practice our hunting."

Her voice grew softer, and I leaned a little closer to keep listening. "As the days came and went, we started to get closer. Our wings would brush while we walked, or our talons would touch over runes. When we talked, our beaks would get so close they nearly touched. Soon we were spending hours tucked close to each other, and he would hold me in his wing, or we would wrestle each other until we were too tangled together to continue.

"Then, one day, something changed. We were starting to wrestle, but I wanted to feel more of his body." She licked her beak again. "So I pulled him closer, and nibbled at his neck. He started doing the same to me, and as our paws moved over each other, it felt like a fire growing in me. His touch, his smell, every part of him only fueled it. I had seen his sheath many times while walking, or bathing, but now I could feel it swelling against me, and... and I wanted, I_needed_ him. So I stood and raised my tail, inviting him to join with me."

I could see a mental image of Riane, my friend and flight partner, presenting herself for this fire-colored male. It was an odd thing to think about, especially with the vivid picture she painted, but I didn't feel bothered by it. If anything, I wanted to hear more.

Her voice took a somewhat husky edge as she continued. "For a brief moment, I was worried he would not. Then, I felt his weight on my back, felt his paws holding me tight while he tried to enter me. Between our efforts he finally did, and... I felt his strength, and his thickness in me, and pleasure like I'd never imagined, waves of it each time he moved, and it was all I could do to not drop to the ground. It just built and built until he cried out, and the heat of his essence poured into my depths until I could not help but cry with him..." She trailed off as a shudder ran through her body, eyes closed as she relived what she'd just described.

I was glad the stew didn't require my full attention yet. "Whoa," I said softly. "Good story."

Her eyes flew open, and she fidgeted with the ground before turning her head away, ears flattened. "I am sorry, I got... carried away."

"It's fine, Ri, that happens." I rubbed her neck, trying to comfort her. "Sounds like it was a very good memory for you."

She slowly, somewhat raggedly exhaled. "Too good. It was a bad idea to recall such things when it has been too long... ah, I mean, when--" She closed her beak with a click, keeping her gaze averted.

"Ri. Hey, c'mon, look at me," I said, gently petting over her cheek and neck. She turned an eye towards me, but didn't quite catch my gaze. "It's okay, we're both in the same boat here. I'm trying not to think too much of that lovely lady's legs." Her head turned towards mine as she listened. "We knew this contract would be rough, and now we're going a little stir-crazy. Like you had to keep me from grabbing those berries two weeks back."

That got a chuckle from her. "You wanted to eat them before even making sure they had no poison."

"Did not," I shot back. "I was going to show them to one of the merchants."

"Did so. 'Something fresh, a quick bite will not hurt,' you said."

"It was a_joke!_" We were both shaking with laughter, and when it finally died down I slid over to wrap an arm over her neck. "It's us against the wilds for just three more weeks, and we'll have some new faces for the last run. If not, I'll take us back to the Imperial Eyrie and claim breach of contract. You've got my word."

Riane frowned at me even as she leaned into my side. "That may not win us very many points with our client."

"I'll throw in hardship severance. The long route affecting our health, which they can't really object to."

"Three more weeks," she echoed, letting out a deep sigh. "I think we can do it. Just keep reminding me how many crests we will have to spend."

I patted her neck. "I'm already planning our 'honeymoon,' so to speak. It'll dent our earnings, but we'll still have enough for the next two seasons." My fingers moved through her coat, searching for any bent or loose feathers. "So, um. If you don't mind my asking, what happened in the end? With Diarmi?"

"I do not mind," she said. "We stayed together for nearly a year, and we could have been a mated pair. He wanted to go on a Wild Hunt over the mountains and see more of the world. I felt a similar pull, but in another direction, and with him being the only real reason I stayed with the clan..." She shrugged, though I could feel the weight behind the gesture. "I am still fond of him, but our callings lay elsewhere. Two years ago, I left for the Aurel Empire after hearing stories of the Corps. Whatever humans and gryphons could accomplish together, I wanted to be part of it."

"I think I know where this tale goes from here," I said softly. "And that was definitely worth sharing. I can't guess how it felt to leave your first love and home behind, but I'm glad that despite everything else, we ended up as partners."

She purred and drew a wing around my back. "It hurt to leave, but I have stopped wondering what might have been different. What matters is the present, and I do not regret the adventures we have shared in the slightest."

My other arm circled her neck, and we pulled each other into a warm embrace. Moments like these reminded me of everything we'd shared together. She was right. We were delivering important packages across some of the roughest terrain, and other flight partners were mapping the wilds or exploring for resources. For all the limited scale of the alliance between our two species, I knew it was the start of something greater. I would do anything, risk anything, for Riane, and I didn't have to ask to know she would do the same in return.

We sat together for a long while, and the only thing that interrupted our reverie was remembering to stir the stew. The dry mix of barley, meat, vegetables, and beef stock simmered into a hearty meal for both of us. With the rest of the camp set, we both settled in for a full night's rest.

---

The second day of flying came and went, with claw-like mountains and untamed wilds passing below us. A great expanse of water greeted our eyes as we descended past the last of the mountains; our second camp was on one of the foothills mere miles from the sea that separated Ethana and Isiram. The night would be spent gathering our strength for the long flight across to our third camp on the latter continent.

Beyond that lay our destination: the creatively named frontier outpost of Frontier. Many rumors, and few truths, were shared about its purpose.

The rain started soon after we landed, and for most of the night we sat together under her weather tent. Light conversation gave our minds a rest from the subjects of the previous night--or so I thought. Sleep my dreams taunted me with vague and sultry images. More than once I could have sworn a woman was rubbing her warm body against me and whispering in my ear, or maybe she was on all fours presenting herself to me, but when the excitement woke me there was nobody else in my bedroll. When I stepped out to check the camp I saw Riane twitching in her sleep and heard her murmuring under her breath. I wondered if her dreams teased her too, but I didn't want to wake her to ask.

After breakfast the next morning we made the long flight over the sea. A merchant post on the far side had a pack of dried fruits and meat jerky set aside for us, courtesy of Frontier's backers, and after a welcome break and fresh meal we continued along the path of a wide river until we'd reached our third and final camp at the foot of a small mountain. Tomorrow would be the trip to Frontier and back.

"How does a bath sound?" I asked Riane once she'd been unloaded. "The water should be warmed up a little bit, at least."

She nodded, but said nothing; she'd seemed preoccupied all day. Whether it was her dreams or something else, I was determined to get more than a couple syllables out of her. Before we departed, I made sure the satchel was safely stowed away with the rest of the gear.

We walked down to the edge of a nearby brook, where I set a small bucket down and stripped to my underwear. The water was cool but refreshing after three days of flying. For a short while I simply ran water through her fur and feathers, then rubbed over her with a sponge until her coat looked as clean as the day we'd set out. Her muscles gradually unknotted under the pressure of my fingers, and soon I could hear soft noises of contentment.

"I am sorry I have been distant," she said, just as I was getting ready to broach the subject. "My thoughts keep running astray, and it has been a struggle to keep from distraction."

"You too, huh?" I couldn't help but chuckle. "I guess it's too late to keep from sharing that story of mine."

Riane shook her head, focusing her gaze on the ground. "This tension has been building for weeks. If it was not your story, something else would have brought it up." She took in a slow breath, then exhaled. "Some needs can only be ignored for so long."

"Believe me, I'm right there with you." The thought of my usual solution to such dry spells surfaced in my mind. "Hey, don't take this the wrong way, Ri, but... what about taking the edge off?"

She tilted her head, brow furrowed. "I do not catch your meaning."

"Sorry. Do you have ways to pleasure yourself?" I asked. "It's what I've done in the past." I didn't tell her I'd had a few discreet outings over the course of our trip, and there were times at the Daggermouth outpost where I took advantage of my room's privacy. "Back home, what do you usually do?"

Her ears twitched as she thought it over. "My preference is a certain type of rock we smooth down and shape for ourselves. I did not think to bring one, so I can try to make do without," she said, ruffling her wings, "though I should do so away from camp."

I started working a particularly tangled knot out of her fur. "It's no problem if you want privacy."

She glanced back at me. "I was more concerned about your comfort. The camp has the most level ground."

"Whatever works best for you, Ri. I can take a walk around the hill when you need some time for yourself." I nearly stopped my work when I realized how little the thought fazed me. "Or not even that, just give me warning and I can turn my head."

"You would not be bothered by it?" Her voice held both caution and an energetic undercurrent, as if hoping against hope. "Perhaps it would be best to have you in camp, in case something unexpected happens."

Something in her tone caught my full attention. "Something unexpected? You're not planning anything dangerous, are you?"

"No... well, not dangerous," she murmured, and her ears half-flattened. "I have had difficulties with other techniques, or at least ones that would be available here. Only a few would pose chance of injury, and those I would leave as a last resort, though they may well be more effective."

I took in a breath. "I want to say whatever you have to do to let off some steam, do it."

She tilted her head. "But?"

"But," I continued, "I also don't want you to get hurt. I'm your flight partner, it's my job to keep you safe and healthy." I slowly exhaled and smoothed the fur under my hand. "It's something you need to do, but is it worth the risk?"

Riane nudged me with her beak. "It is not such a terrible risk, Tor. I know what I must do, and how to do it carefully. It is no worse than you cooking, or shaving yourself in the mornings. I would like to at least try."

I nodded. It seemed she was more unsure about how well it would work than the possibility of harm. "Okay, I trust you. It's more not knowing how you could be hurt that got me worried."

She sat back on her haunches, brow furrowed. "You are unsure at the techniques I would use?" she asked. "Or... you do not know how I would pleasure myself at all?"

I held my hands up with a slight smile. "Both? We didn't really learn more than basic anatomy, and reproduction was more focused on the end result. I never really heard or saw more."

"Not even all these times you have helped to wash me?"

"Not even--well, glimpses, but I didn't exactly want to stare."

"Ah." Her tufted lion's tail slowly waved back and forth. "I have not seen yours either. Even when bathing you often keep clothes on, like now." She pointed at my pants with a talon.

"Because not all of us are lucky enough to have fur and feathers," I said. "The wind can have a bite up here."

Riane padded closer and spread her wing, enveloping me in the warm, soft feathers. "I can always keep you warm. Then you would not need clothing so often."

"Aww, thanks." I leaned against her, then nudged her side with my elbow. "Though you seem set on getting me naked. Should I be suspicious?"

"I am entirely trustworthy." She kept a straight face for a few moments before we both started laughing. "In seriousness, would it ease your mind to see how I would pleasure myself?"

I blinked. "Wait. You would actually show me what you're going to do?" It certainly wasn't what I was expecting. "Are you sure? Don't get me wrong, I want to help however I can. But that would... it's very personal, and private." I touched my hand to her neck. "I don't want you to feel you_have_ to do something you wouldn't want to, or feel uncomfortable about, just for my sake."

She turned enough to gently press her beak against my shoulder. "Tor, it would not trouble me to show you. I would trust you with my life." A gryphon's smile parted her beak. "In addition, you would not have to wonder how I look under my tail."

"I... alright, I am a bit curious." It felt a little strange to say, but we were miles away from anyone who could see or care. I reached up to rub her neck all the way up to her ears. "Speaking of which, I guess it would be only fair... were you curious too? About my privates, I mean. You show me yours and I show you mine."

Riane leaned into my hand with a soft purr. "I must admit I would not object to looking. We have seen all the rest of each other, this should be no different." A slight twitch of her ears could have been anxiety or anticipation, like the flutter in my stomach, but we weren't about to second-guess each other.

I trusted her as much as she trusted me.

"We're clean and I'm only in underclothes, so now would be a good time, I guess," I said, and she nodded. I untied the cord around my pants and slowly slid them off, tossing them to the side with the rest of my clothing. Between the sun and her wing still around me, my skin actually felt warm. "Do you, uh, want to look first? It's probably not much compared to a gryphon."

She nudged me with her beak again, chuckling. "I can already see you, and do not be so modest." Her head tilted so she could get a better look, and after a moment she made a noise in her throat. "Though I am assuming it becomes larger?"

I shifted on my feet. "Yeah, by a fair bit. It probably wouldn't take much." Before I could question my decision, I dropped my hand down to slowly stroke myself, closing my eyes for a few moments to make room for some favorite memories. My shaft stirred in my grasp, rising until it stood hard and proud. I let go before my touches became a little too good to stop. "There," I said, opening my eyes.

"You were not understating the change," Riane murmured. "Different in shape and size than a gryphon." She lowered her head until she was less than a foot away, and the warmth of her breath sent a twitch through my length. "But our males are not terribly large in comparison."

The lull in conversation grew as she kept looking, and I felt my cheeks flush a bit. She was almost close enough to touch me. I wasn't sure what would happen if she did. Before I could say anything, or reach out, she let out one last breath and backed up, looking me in the eyes once again.

"Quite interesting," she said. "I can see your charm is not the only thing that impresses women."

Despite my lingering uncertainty--and the distracting sensation of blood pulsing through my still-hard shaft--I had to grin. "Flatterer."

"Simple truth," she said with a wink. "I shall turn around now."

It took me a moment to realize what she meant. "Oh, right. Go ahead." A few deft steps turned her completely around, and I shifted closer to her hindquarters. She looked past her wing at me, and I was suddenly aware of my heartbeat as both the fan of feathers and tufted length of her hybrid tail lifted.

I'd seen enough of her muscular haunches while helping wash her, but now my attention was deliberately settled on her rump. There, only a couple inches below her tail, I could see the outline of her nethers. The shorter and thinner fur around it was tousled enough to obscure some of the view. I leaned forward and placed my hand on her thigh for balance.

It took a moment before I realized my hand was pretty far up. "Sorry," I said, even though I doubted she'd be bothered. "Just a little difficult to see through the fur."

"I have not groomed yet, so it is probably out of place. If it would help you can move it away." She shifted her hindlegs further apart, chuckling when she caught sight of my frown. "Tor, I will not be offended in the slightest."

"Thanks," I said, giving a reassuring smile--though I wasn't sure which of us needed it more. "Just let me know if I should back off." I gently placed my other hand on her rump before I lost heart. The soft fur yielded to steel-hard muscle underneath. My thumb carefully traced down the inside curve and smoothed back some of the tousled fur. I could see the dusky red slit with more ease now, and I repeated the motion along the other side.

The difference from a woman was apparent even before I finished pushing back the fur. Her slit wasn't longer that I could tell, but it was a little wider and shaped like a narrow, upside-down teardrop. I imagined my partner was lifting her tail for a male gryphon, the sight driving him to lunge forward and mount her, gripping her shoulders for purchase as he drove his hips against hers, both of them crying out...

I drew in a little closer. How much could she take? How much of him would there be to take? I had no way of knowing, but I did need to get a better picture of how she'd make up for 'his' absence.

My thumbs spread out to the sides this time, barely parting her folds to hint at her hidden, glistening depths. Her breath seemed to hitch for the briefest of moments but settled so quickly I could have imagined it. She made no other moves save to lift her tail a little higher, as if knowing I needed more room. With my next breath I could smell something more than her faint earthy musk, but the spicier undertones eluded identification.

"So," I said, trying to re-order my thoughts. "You were going to show me what you would do?"

"Yes, it is fairly simple. I hope." Riane tucked her talons into a fist before bringing it towards her hindlegs. Her back curled as she shifted; her body itself was fairly flexible, but her legs didn't have a terribly large range of motion. "Rubbing back and forth should be stimulating enough."

"Okay, that's not so bad," I said, leaning away from her. It seemed silly to have worried over something that little; unless she seriously slipped, her claws wouldn't even be touching her, let alone in a position to hurt. It was better to know, I supposed. "I think that should be enough, thanks. Should we figure out what we're doing, when, later tonight? At least if we want privacy."

Riane nodded and turned back around to face me. "I think it may be best if I try tonight, I do not want to wait much longer if possible and we will not have far to travel tomorrow. After dinner it will be easier to relax."

"Agreed," I said. This was certainly shaping up to be one of the most unusual evenings I'd ever experienced. It wasn't until I grabbed my pants and started stepping into them that I noticed my cock was still fairly hard.

Riane had seen it, too. "Does it stay at full length for long?"

I shrugged a little as I pulled my pants up. "Sometimes it doesn't, sometimes it does. It varies." I'd probably been a little too effective in my initial effort to get it up. "I'll probably take care of it sometime tonight."

She chirped in assent, and went back to her preening as I finished clothing myself. Our eyes met once we were both finished, and with a soft smile between us we started back to camp. A week ago I'd never have thought we would have been so daring with one another. We were close enough that it was more illuminating than intimidating. Still, it had been an odd exchange.

The day would probably get even stranger before it was done.

---

I was walking around the sparse woods on the hillside when I heard Riane's curse of frustration. She wanted to start her self-service after dinner, and while she wasn't opposed to my staying, I still offered to give her privacy. Would staying have been wrong? I wasn't sure what to think about the whole thing, and needing to take care of my own urges probably didn't help my state of mind.

Those thoughts were put on hold as I rushed back to the camp. She was on her side facing away from me, though she turned as soon as she heard my footsteps.

"What is it?" she asked before she saw my expression. "No, I am fine. Not hurt," she said, pivoting onto all fours. "You need not worry, Torio."

I had doubted she could be seriously hurt, but I let the relief sink in anyway. "Okay, just, you know." I quietly let out a breath. "Wanted to make sure."

She smiled and softly trilled. "You are sweet. But no, there is nothing to be done." Her exhale was much more forceful. "I wish I understood why these feelings gnaw at me so."

Her scent was in the air, but even without it I could make the connection pretty quickly. "It didn't work, did it?" I asked.

She shook her head. "It did work, but normally my releases would offer relief. I still find myself... distracted. These feelings are normally rather easy to control."

"It's the same for me," I said, and gestured to the north. "Daggermouth has a private room, so it's pretty easy for me to rub one or two out. But it's just..."

"It is not enough," she finished for me. "I want to feel another body against me. In me. Simply imagining it is not enough." She glanced away. "I do not know what can be done, and it is driving me mad."

I rubbed her shoulders and murmured my agreement. "We've been out here too long, I think. Spending a night with someone would help a lot. I sure as hell want it too, but it's just the two of us out here. It doesn't leave many options."

"Indeed," she said. "I admit to wishing we were not different species."

I had to chuckle at that. "Yeah, we're not all that different. I think I'd prefer to be a gryphon, though. We'd make a good fit, and I'd give up a lot to be able to fly."

She nudged me with the edge of her wing. "Your kind has plenty of advantages. Fingers, for example. Very nimble, yet surprisingly strong. There are very many things you can do with them that we cannot."

"Fair point." I spread out my hand in front of us. "They do have their uses."

A soft purr rumbled in the back of her throat. "A few come to mind, though right now, I admit to wanting them under my tail."

"Well, if you insist!" I would have passed it off as a joke if an idea hadn't slammed into my mind: why not? Objections bubbled to the surface, but they were fleeting. We weren't the same species, but our earlier exploration showed how we really weren't that different. We were just friends, but we were open and even experimental. Ultimately, we shared a mutual problem of unsated desires and there was nobody else around to help--or judge.

Why back out of an opportunity to help my flight partner and best friend?

Riane had either made the same connection along with me, or she had seen my expression and figured it out from there. Either way, we both shared a long look, one filled with unspoken curiosities and halting thoughts. I don't think either of us wanted to break the silence, to put the audacious idea into words.

Riane did anyway. "I meant... but is such a thing possible?"

I pressed my hands together to keep them still. "I don't know. Probably, though, and it might work better."

"It very well could," she said before I could continue, "but I would not wish to impose such a responsibility on you."

"So don't," I wryly replied. "I was about to offer." When I'd woken up this morning I never thought I'd be volunteering to feel up my flight partner. She was right, though: we both needed something more, and we needed to control it before we grew desperate. "I mean, as long as you'd feel comfortable with it. If what we've been doing isn't working, we could try something new?"

She opened her beak, then closed it again as her ears twitched in thought. "It is not that I would not... it is a matter of returning such a favor, Tor. As I said earlier today, I trust you entirely." She nuzzled my shoulder with her beak. "And it warms my heart you would offer to help."

I smiled, but kept my eyes on hers. "But?"

"But," she continued, "if you were to do this for me, with me, I would feel negligent if I could not help you in turn. It would only be fair."

It was heartening that she wanted to give back, though I didn't know what would happen if I thought about the subject of our conversation. It was easy to push the future to the side; we were dozens of miles from the closest thing to civilization, and faced a fairly immediate problem. Solving it was first in my--our--minds.

My stomach was still in a knot, though.

"It's fine," I said, holding up my hand. "I am a bit better built to taking care of myself. Nimble fingers."

She nodded. "Still, if it would not take both of your hands..."

"I don't know. It might," I said, trying to remember how her intimates looked. "Though I guess there's one way to find out. At the very least, I owe it to you as a flight partner, and as a friend, to offer my help. If you don't feel comfortable with it, I won't hold it against you at all."

She took in a breath; being conflicted was only natural, but I could see from the way her ears swiveled and her pupils widened that she wanted it. It was her choice, though, and I kept silent until she looked at me without any further hesitation in her eyes.

"Thank you, Tor," she said, and pressed her beak against me one more time before turning around. "Let me know when you are ready?"

I did, and she withdrew long enough to turn around. For the second time in one day, her tail rose to show herself to me. Even in the fading light I could see the change: the red lips of her slit were puffy and spread apart, revealing the entrance to the muscled folds I'd only briefly seen earlier. This time I explored around the edges with my fingertips, feeling the inviting warmth and pressing my first two fingers along her entrance. Her hips shifted towards me at the same time, and my fingers smoothly slid inside her.

I could quickly tell she was built bigger than any woman I'd been with, which didn't surprise me in the slightest; but not so large that her muscles couldn't provide resistance to my intrusion. My heart fluttered as the reality of my situation caught up with me: I was getting intimate with my partner and friend, a gryphon, because I'd offered to help. Did I even know what I was doing? How would this change things between us?

There wasn't really time to think about it all. I slid my fingers in and out, twisting and curling as I did, watching her reactions so I could keep doing what she liked. One spot drew a gasp from her throat, and a shudder ran through her when I circled my fingertips over it. I could smell that almost-spice edge mingling with her natural scent--the source was unmistakable. It probably drove male gryphons crazy, and I had to admit it was starting to grow on me.

"How am I doing?" I asked, shifting away from the camp stove. It was getting a bit warm. Riane almost answered, but I hit that spot again and a soft, crooning groan cut off whatever she was about to say. "Sorry!"

"Do not stop, it is fine," she replied, breathless. "Please." Her wings fluttered against her sides as my fingertips found another area to tease. Those inner muscles kept tightening and relaxing around my digits, and I found myself wishing I could be inside her to have those sensations wash over me.

A small part of me wondered: what was stopping us from doing just that? It would take care of both our needs in the best possible way, and--no, I took a breath and tried to rein that fantasy in. It would be wrong, somehow, like taking advantage of her need.

Another gasp from her brought me out of my brief reverie. "This is... feels amazing. Unfair for you to be left out," she murred.

I smiled up at her. "It's fine, Ri, I can take care of myself after." A twinge of amusement ran through me as I realized my shaft was nearly tenting my pants. "Gotta admit, though, I'm wishing I could be a gryphon right now."

"My tail would be up for you in a heartbeat," she said. A frown creased her features a moment later. "Wait. Tor, wait." I stopped and pulled my fingers out, and she turned to look at me better. "Why not anyway? If you were to mount me, we would both be satisfied."

"I'm not a gryphon, though," I replied, but I knew that wasn't answering the real question. "I, uh." I sat back on my heels. What was stopping us? I didn't know if laws existed against it, though we were far enough from any civilization that it didn't matter. Zealots and idiots--usually the same kind of people--decried gryphons as dumb beasts, but if Riane was just an unthinking animal, we all were. She was not a woman, or even human, and that was still a barrier. "We are rather different, Ri. I don't know if it'd even work."

"I think it would," she said, flicking the tip of her lion's tail. "Your malehood is similar enough to a gryphon's. We have gotten this far together, and I do not just mean the events from moments ago. Our needs are similar. Are we so terribly different besides our forms?"

I had to admit my doubts didn't stand up against that one. "No, we aren't, are we?" I took a deep breath to try and steady myself. "I guess I just don't want to... I don't know. We're friends, I don't want to jeopardize that. Are you sure you're okay with it?"

She simply backed her hindquarters into my hand, letting me feel the heat and wetness. "If you are willing, Torio, then I would want nothing more than to have you inside me, properly. It is simply to sate our needs, and as you said, we owe it to each other to make the offer. It would be much better for both of us."

I exhaled and nodded, feeling a coiled pit in my stomach battle with the throbbing in my loins. This was actually going to happen. "Alright, one second," I said. It took a moment of fumbling with the ties before my pants and everything underneath fell to my ankles. My shaft had lost some of its hardness, but a good look at her slit and remembering the feel quickly fixed that problem. I stepped up behind her, one hand holding myself while the other rested on her haunch. The feathers of her tail tickled my chest. "Are you ready?"

Riane bent her hindlegs to line herself up with me. "I am, when you are."

This was it. I could feel the heat of her on my exposed skin, and I knew there was no turning back. I hoped this would not be a mistake, or that someone didn't decide to drop in on our camp, or that I wasn't so pent up I would hardly last, or...

The tip of my shaft met her entrance. In a slow, smooth motion, I pressed myself into her until I'd buried all but an inch in her hot, wet embrace. The size difference was almost hard to tell, and when her inner muscles tightened around me it was all I could do to keep still and in control of my urge to frantically bury myself in her until I was spent. My newly freed hand flew to her hip when she pressed back almost hard enough to unbalance me, and a strange thrill ran through my body at the reminder of just how much strength and power she had compared to me. My hips were flush against her furred rump, and underneath the softness I could keenly feel the hard muscles she used to push both of us off the ground. She could tear me apart in an instant if she chose.

Instead, we were sharing the most intimate of experiences.

I took a breath and drew my hips back, then plunged back into her. The flash of pleasure drove my air out in a gasp, and I could hear Riane's soft moan over my pounding heartbeat. I thrust into her again, and again, setting a steady rhythm of motion until I angled my hips to find the spots I'd been fingering; I also wanted to find new ones before my mind got lost in the building haze of lustful ecstasy. A particularly deep thrust caused her to push back hard enough to leave me gripping her hips to keep from stumbling back, though I waved off her apologetic chirp, keeping that reaction in mind for later.

"This is--" My words caught in my throat as her tunnel tightened around me again. I wondered if it was instinct or control. "Oh, you are amazing, Ri..."

She looked back at me over her shoulder, beak parted and tongue almost hanging out. "You f-feel as good as any gryphon, Tor," she murred. "Please. Do not stop..."

I nodded and leaned forward to drive myself even harder into her. There was still a pit in my stomach and doubts gnawing at my conviction, but the edge had been melted away by the heated, velvety grip she had on my manhood. I was harder than I'd been even in the months before we'd left the city. Her exotic scent filled the air, and I imagined myself as a gryphon, letting the subtle tones of it inflame my passions even further.

The next thrust hilted me inside her, and I could feel a ring of muscle give a hot squeeze around the base of my shaft. A choked groan was all I could manage as the rippling tension moved down my length, rhythmic and intense, as if trying to milk me. It nearly succeeded as I barely managed to pull back before the sensations overwhelmed me. Even if it was just an unconscious reflex, she had a level of control I'd never seen in any woman. My hands were grabbing handfuls of her fur; shudders ran through her form, and both of us were panting hard.

I wanted to open my mouth to compliment her, to beg for more, but there was no more room for talking.

My hips slammed into hers, throwing caution to the wind as I couldn't do much to harm her, then quickly drew halfway back before she could start her inner massage. My new pace kept her off-guard until I started hitting that spot deep inside her; when she caught up and began to move in time with me, her walls were once again squeezing around me like fingers. Waves of heat ran through my body while Riane's moans filled the air, only broken when she uttered something in her own tongue.

The tension in my loins built fast and strong, fueled by nearly three months of forced celibacy. As my breaking point approached, the doubts began to resurface. I was about to loose my seed into her, to consummate our tryst, and despite the agreement we shared I feared one or both of us wouldn't want it going this far.

I readied myself to pull out, but then her muscles gave another squeeze, and she pressed back against me, and any thought of breaking free was lost. A low groan escaped my lips as I thrust as deep as I could, grinding my hips against her furred rear, my balls tightening against my body; the tension in me broke as heat welled up through my loins and through my shaft, sending thick strands of my seed into her depths. I hung on to her backside as my legs threatened to give out. I could barely hear her low, hearty moan over the roar of blood in my ears. The stars soon passed from my vision, leaving the ebbing throbs of my shaft as it slowly dripped the last remains of my climax into her, aided by the rolling motion of her hips.

I wasn't quite sure how long it had lasted, and it took a few more moments to catch my breath. Once I'd regained enough of my wits I found my balance and stepped back. Her tail remained high, probably out of reflex, so there was no hiding the sight of her dusky, glistening slit. A trail of our mingled juices dripped to the ground, and my face flushed with heat. I had done that.

We had done that.

My chest tightened, and I met her eyes only for a moment as she settled down on all fours. Both of us looked away at the same time. I knelt down and shifted my pants out of the way, hoping they hadn't gotten wet at any point. I would have to take a washcloth to get the worst off both of us, and leave the rest until morning. I looked around, still avoiding her gaze, though I could see her ears flattened against her head.

My mouth was dry, and not entirely from the previous exertions. I wasn't sure what I felt, or what I would feel once the pleasant afterglow faded and we had to face each other in the light. Part of me hoped everything would be alright, that we could stay carefree enough to chalk it up to stress and keep going with our routines and our friendship. It had all happened so fast, after all. One moment we were sharing stories, then the next... well, these things happened, right? And we'd laugh and forget and fly off to our next adventure.

I knew we would not be that lucky. We would have to face what we did and come to terms with it, and even then everything we'd built together could fall apart.

It was going to be a long three weeks.

---

END PART ONE

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Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed, please leave a fave and vote, and perhaps a comment, before heading over to part two. Stay tuned!

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