Benny's Dragon
Benny's Dragon
Originally written: May, 1998
Revised version: October, 2003 by original author
Benny stood in the middle of a long-abandoned and overgrown pasture. He listened to the trilling, soothing chirps of the crickets and breathed the fragrant scent of honeysuckle and wildflowers. He watched the orange-amber orb of the setting sun as it ignited the undersides of passing high clouds with a fiery brilliance reminiscent of some artist's greatest landscape portrait. It was a perfect late-spring evening. Benny thought it would have been perfect if Michelle was by his side. Yes, it would have been heaven-on-earth.
Michelle was taken from Benny a year earlier in a fatal horseback-riding accident. Her normally-surefooted Arabian stallion tripped over a stone hidden in the tall grass and threw her off his bare back in mid-gallop. Michelle broke her neck on impact with the ground. The coroner said she lived at least an hour before she died and might have even survived if help had reached her in time. But she was riding alone that morning. Benny was riding his Harley Davidson motorcycle down a nearby country road, angry and frustrated at an earlier argument they had over a trivial matter.
A trivial matter! Even now Benny could not recall what it was about, but it cost him his Michelle, his love, his joy. Of That he was sure. After the funeral he sat alone in his house in the deep-cushioned chair where he had cuddled Michelle in his arms, and gave her the foot massages she enjoyed so much that so often lead to passionate lovemaking. He sat there for days with a .45-caliber revolver in his hand, contemplating whether or not to use it on himself. Eventually Benny realized there were no amount of tears, no amount of Jack Daniel's, and no amount of calling out her name in the darkness that would bring her back. His heart had died but somehow, some way, he managed to put the gun away and tried to live life one day at a time, even if those days would forever be filled with the profound sense of loss--over a trivial matter.
He sold his motorcycle, a birthday present from his deceased father, and Michelle's horse (not because he blamed him, but he wanted to give him a happier life somewhere else) and bought a flatbed truck. He spent his days hauling supplies for his neighbors, often for free, while living off his late love's life insurance. He wasn't lazy, he had just lost his ambition and love of life. He felt like a hypocrite living off the benefit, but since his life came to a grinding halt on that fateful day, it was all he had with which to remember her by. He lived frugally, only using what he needed to pay the bills and keep himself fed. Maybe someday in the future he felt he could serve a purpose again, and he would remember Michelle and thank her for the strength she gave him, even in her death.
Spending the winter shut in his home Benny waited-out the snows re-lived his times with Michelle: stroking her long, sweet-scented auburn hair, touching her smooth skin, caressing her in the most intimate places and feeling like the luckiest man in the world to be granted such privileges. Then as spring warmed the world around thim and caused life to blossom forth again, nearly every day he came to this place, the place where it happened, and stared at the thick grass and widlflower-strewned ground. The stark black-and-white images of Michelle's lifeless body from the coroner's report were burned into his mind as if with a firebrand. What argument was worth a life, he thought, over a trivial matter?
The distant drone of a small plane's engine drew Benny from his somber contemplations. He looked up and watched passively as the plane approached, the undersides of its wings lit brilliantly by the setting sun, making the plane far more conspicuous in the fiery-orange sky. For a moment he thought he saw something else up there, a strange, shadowy, fluttering figure that skimmed through the underbelly of the clouds. Benny disgarded it as a mote in his eye. He started to walk walked back to the house, and noticed the pitch of the plane's engine had changed suddenly. Benny looked up, but whatever happened was westard and the setting sun's final glories obscured his vision just then. Benny's failing curiosity assuaged, he continued back to the house.
Benny ate a microwaved dinner, fell into his chair, watched some television, then fell asleep. He dreamed of Michelle, as if she was there once again, stroking his cheek, looking into his eyes to comfort his pain. When he awoke, there were tears in his eyes again, for some reason the dream was more real and intense than usual. The evening news was winding-up the five-day weather forecast. He was about to click-off the set with the remote when an anchorwoman appeared on the screen:
"Finally, this just in:" she began, "a bizarre report of a mid-air collision between a private aircraft and what has been described as an 'enormous birdlike reptie'. The incident occurred at about seven-thirty this evening. The pilot, Norman Sooner was flying small private plane the over Placerfield area near Warmington Air Force Base when he claimed he was 'sideswiped by a large winged creature without feathers with a long neck and tail'. Sooner went on to state that the creature was nearly man-sized, and lizardlike in appearance. A local FAA official was quoted as commenting that the plane more likely may have encountered either a large kite or an ultralight aircraft. Sooner landed his damaged plane safely at the Placerville airport. Meanwhile, although no missing aircraft have been reported in the area, the Placerfield Sheriff's Department says it will conduct a search of the area at first light tomorrow. A spokesman for the Warmington Air Force Base had no comment on the incident, but stated that at no time were any military aircraft outside of its airspace in the past twenty-four hours. Damage to the aircraft is estimated at five thousand dollars."
Benny tuned the set off. He thought about the plane he saw over his pasture, the strange "something" he saw out of the corner of his eye, and the sudden change in the plane engine's pitch. The newscaster said the incident occurred "over the Placerfield area near Warmingon Air Force Base". That was where lived. The timing was right, too. Benny lived in a secluded area, despite his proximity to the base. If that plane had hit an ultralight, there may be a pilot nearby: injured, alone, and in need of help. Just like Michelle! He considered calling emergency services to report what he saw, somewhat amazed that there were no immediate efforts to locate a possibly downed pilot of another aircraft.
Benny couldn't sleep that night until he knew for sure. He thought of how Michelle had laid in that field alone and helpless, her final minutes of life spent in pain and suffering. There could be no redemption for her loss, but maybe he could help someone in need. How could they not conduct a search? Benny went to the garage and gathered-up his flashlight, first-aid kit, and an assortment of ropes and blankets. He threw the whole kit onto his flatbed and drove into the night, the lights from the halogen light-bar across the cab roof of his truck blazed a trail into the pasture.
Benny decided the logical place to start searching was where he heard and saw the plane. He used the compass mounted on his dashboard to drive westward into the dark night. Neglected and overgrown, the rutted and stone-strewn field bit at the undercarriage of his truck dispite its high ground clearance. He drove with the windows down, the thick, damp smell of verdant vegitation hung thickly in the cool, humid air. He could almost taste the sweet waftings of fresh hay and alfalfa from nearby tended fields. It was a slow, tedious search, fearing he would run-over anybody out here before he saw them. Eventually, he decided it would be safer to stop the truck and search on foot, carrying a powerful flashlight. He had not walked a hundred feet when he stumbled over a limp form on the ground. He shone his flashlight on the form and what he saw took his breath away.
The pilot's description was incredibly accurate. What Benny saw lying before him was indeed a man-sized lizard-like creature. It had long, spindly arms and legs with long, webbed-and-clawed fingers and toes. Also it did indeed have a long, slender tail and a long neck. The head was a bulbous shape, with a long, tapered, snoutish muzzle. The creature's eyes were closed. The most incredible parts of the creature had to be the two large wings laying crumpled behind its back, joined to the lean body behind its shoulders.
Benny stepped back and looked over the creature from head-to-tail and one word popped into his mind. He mumbled the word softly...
"Dragon."
He recalled Michelle had a fascination for the mythical beasts. Her collection of artwork and sculptures of dragons was quite impressive. Often when they lay together in bed she spoke of the dreams she had of gliding though the skies on her own dragon's wings. Though Benny himself showed only a passive interest in the creatues--mostly for Michelle's sake--he had to likewise admit their legend quite compelling. Venerated and dispised by cultures worldwide, the creatures seemed more to be an extension of man's own imaginive rationalizations of his own behavior than a belief in some actualy beast; something like the "alien scares" of the mid-20th centruy were mostly a result of people's insecurity in the face of encroaching totalitarianism. Dragons served their purpose in giving someone a focus for their anxieties, Benny though, but nothing more.
However this creature was no figment of his imagination, no hallucination brought-about by too many shots of whiskey. Benny's mind raced. What should I do, he thought, call 911? The Sheriff? A vet? CNN? Perhaps the nearby air force base. Benny shook his head to get focused. He decided the first thing to do is to get this creature out of the pasture. There were coyotes, stray dogs, and other creatures on the loose here and he didn't want his "find" to be chewed and mangled of existence. Along that line of thought, he stepped closer to the dragon to examine it more thoroughly. Its skin, a reddish brown in the pale halogen beam of his flashlight, didn't appear to be broken. He shone the light around where the creature lie. No sign of blood, but he noticed a trail of flattened grass leading off out of sight, suggesting the creature had actually landed deeper in the pasture and had crawled to this spot.
Benny knelt by the creature's head, the foggy beams from the lightbar on his truck some 20 yards back added a dreamlike ambiance to the scene. It was perfectly still. Nervously, Benny reached out and placed his open palm next to the dragon's snout. For a moment there was nothing. Then he felt it, moist and warm: breath. The dragon was still alive! "Holy shit!" Benny said under his breath.
Benny ran half-stumbling back to his flatbed truck. Quickly he pulled down the plywood ramp and cursed as the equipment he brought with him tumbled down into the wet grass. He didn't want to take the chance to drive closer and risk injuring or startling the beast. He frantically recalled his training from a failed six-month course at a vet school years before when he was still trying to impress Michelle. Carefully, he checked the dragon's body as best he could for broken bones. Benny didn't have the slightest idea what kind of anatomy the creature had, but he felt the dragon's arms and legs, almost relieved that they were similar to other mammal or reptile limbs, the bones all seemed to be in the right places and thankfully unbroken. He noticed how warm and smooth its skin was, not the rough scales he expected. Gently Benny ran his hands over its chest, feeling for broken ribs and felt the rise and fall of the dragon's chest as it breathed. He felt its heartbeat too--very strong and steady. In the course of his exam, he blushed when he discovered what could only be female genitalia. "So, you're a lady dragon," he whispered.
The last part of his field examination was of the dragon's wings. It didn't appear that anything was broken, but there was some swelling along the forward portions of the right wing. Benny felt frustrated, wondering if that was normal or not. After all, it was his first dragon examination. Throughout the ordeal the creature remained unconscious. Benny stood up and crossed his arms, looking down at the dragon, who slept with an almost-serene look on her face, "Now what do I do with you?"
Benny decided to try to lift the dragon himself. He knelt beside her and gently slipped his arms under her torso. He test-lifted and found that the dragon was much lighter than he expected for a creature her size. Perhaps her bones were honeycombed like a bird's to keep her weight down so she could fly, Benny though. Slowly, steadily, he cradled the dragon's limp body against his, letting her limbs fall as naturally as possible on either side, and rose to his feet. Benny cursed when he realized dragon's wings were dragging on the ground. There was nothing he could do about it but walk backward to the truck and let the wings drag without folding over themselves and causing further damage. Eventually, he got the creature to the truck and laid her on the plywood ramp, covered her with the blankets, and drove home as fast as he dared, snarling at every rut and dip in the pasture his tires were bound to hit.
Back home, Benny prepared a place for the dragon in the garage. He placed two old mattresses next to each other and covered them as best he could with all the clean sheets in the house. He found an electric space heater and plugged it in. He backed his truck up as close as he could and lifted the dragon from the flatbed and laid her down on the bedding on her side and arranged her limbs and wings in as natural a state as he could imagine. The bare hundred-watt bulb in the rafters now gave Benny a better look at the creature. She was more red than brown, and her skin had markings on it similar to camouflage. Benny felt a slight tingle down his spine as he looked at the resting creature; she was a beautiful creature, Benny thought, like one of Michelle's favorite dragon sculptures.
Benny found he was staring at the dragon for a very long time. He shook his head to clear it and a thought came to him. He had no idea of what kind of attitude this creature may have towards him when and if she awoke. He pulled the truck clear of the garage opening and left the garage door open in case she panicked and wanted to leave. Also, he found a large steel mixing bowl in the kitchen, filled it with water, and left it by the dragon's head. Benny backed away slowly, he watched as the creature's arms and legs twitched slightly as if it were a dreaming dog. "Oh Ben, what have you gotten yourself into?" He asked himself, wiping his brow, feeling suddenly quite exhausted.
Shuffling through his empty house, he found himself in the room Michelle used. He turned on the pale-blue bulb that gave the room a mystical illumination. She liked that effect, he thought, and it only served to endear her to him all-the-more. Benny looked about at the neatly-made bed, untouched since the day of that horrible accident that took her from him. He looked at her bureau, the cosmetics and trinkets that make her feel comfortable still in place. It seemed overly-sentimental to Benny, who fancied himself a practical man, to leave this room in a shrine-like state. But it was Michelle's room--and all he had by which to remember her.
Now he found himself staring at the myriad figurines of dragons and other mythical creatures on her shelves and atop her dresser. "Oh Michelle," he whispered softly, "you would have loved what I have in the garage, wouldn't you? I just wish you were here--" He felt the catch in his throat and the tears welled-up in his eyes again. Benny glared at the wall in the general direction of the garage, "why? Why do you have to bring all of it back to me? You damned thing? Why are you here?" He slammed the wall, cracking the plaster. Frustrated, confused, and simply overwhelmed by what happened that night, Benny collapsed on Michelle's bed and hugged a pillow tight against his body. He wept himself to sleep.
The sound of distant helicopters whallopping the air over the air base woke Benny the next morning. He crawled out of Michelle's bed and immediately cursed the stiffness in his lower back. He must've hurt his back carrying the dragon, he thought. She didn't seem that heavy, but perhaps the adrenaline rush at such an incredible discovery may have masked his condition. Despite the pain, he went through the kitchen to the garage door and paused. "Well, here we go, Ben, let's see if last night was a dream after all."
Benny opened the door.
The water bowl was empty. The dragon was gone.
"Aw, shit!" Benny said in frustration, "I should have taken a picture." However, he knew inside that he had thought last night more about the well-being of the dragon than of his potential fame for finding her. Still, there was an unexpectedly profound sense of loss. The strange and beautiful creature had for a moment revived him, made him feel something again. She could never replace Michelle in his heart, of course, but it did make him feel something. He hated the creature for that at first. But with the morning sunlight filling the garage and shining upon the empty mattresses where the dragon laid, he only felt a profound sense of loss. The creature would not even know who was her benefactor.
His back spasmed again and he shook his head to put it out of his mind. Benny limped out into the morning sunlight. It was a bright morning, fragrant with the smell of wildflowers, the plaintive-shrill calls of peacocks in the distance assailed his ears. There was a warm, moist feel to the air, like it was trying to embrace him and bring him back to life, almost a tingling sensation as if there was some kind of energy in the air. There was another sound, a kind of chirping/purring sound that came from behind and above him. Benny turned around and looked up.
There, perched on the roof of the garage, was the dragon.
"Oh, boy!" Benny exclaimed, "You stayed!" The dragon responded by cocking her head. "You don't understand a word I'm saying, do you?" As if in response to his voice, the dragon stood and suddenly leaped off the roof. She extended her wings. Benny watched in gaped-mouth awe as the creature took flight, he shivered at the magnificent sight of the dragon's fully-extended wings. Then he noticed her right wing did not flap properly, causing the dragon to circle left as it glided to earth. It landed roughly but upright, standing as tall as he on her long, slender legs. The dragon folded her wings behind her back. They towered two feet over her head like two draped tentpoles. She curled her tail around her left leg and to Benny's surprise, approached him with a nonchalant reptilian grace. Benny, overcome by the moment, simply stood there, the pain in his back nearly forgotten.
"You're--not afraid of me are you?" Benny said softly as the dragon approached. Thoughts rushed through his head. Perhaps there were men where she came from. Perhaps she was even someone's...pet? Perhaps she had some innate ability to discern friend-from-foe. Regardless of the rationale, it was obvious the dragon somehow knew who he was. She stopped a few feet from Benny. Stretching her long, graceful neck, she moved her head forward until the tip of her snout was almost touching Benny's lips. The dragon's tongue flicked out and swiped Benny's mouth and nose. The dragon drew back, snapping her jaws and breathing heavily, then leaned her head forward again and licked the side of Benny's face.
A feeling of excitement flushed through Benny, as if the dragon had communicated to him through this simple contact that she know who he was and what he did for her. Perhaps touch is how these creatures communicated, he thought. The feel of the dragon's warm, smooth tongue upon his skin sent another odd shiver down his spine. Dispite this incredibly unusual situation for the both of them, the creature seemed perfectly at-ease.
Still, being human, he responded with his voice. "My name is Benny," he said, patting his chest, "Ben-ny. Benny." The dragon purred and patted her chest. She then began to make intricate gestures with her hands.
"Sign language!" Benny exclaimed, that made sense; obviously the dragon's snout wasn't designed for the complex vocalizations of human speech, but this was also apparently a very intelligent creature. It was the logical alternative, yet Benny hardly knew American Sign Language, let alone a dragon's. Still he held his hand out to her, palm-up, and hoped some signs were universal.
She reached out slowly with her hand as if as worried about startling Benny as he was concerned likewise and gently grasped his hand in her slender claws. She turned it over and caressed his fingers, her dark, shimmering eyes wide with obvious curiosity. Benny was pleasantly surprised at how quickly and without fear the dragoness was responding to him. He also noticed how soft her palm was; and the claws, though ominous-looking, were not sharp. After the inspection she released him and signed again, drawing a circle around her chest, pointing at the sky, the pasture, and then pointing at Benny.
"Yes, I brought you here," Benny replied, guessing blindly at the dragon's signing, "I found you in the pasture and brought you here." He pointed at the pasture, the truck, and himself. The dragon nodded as if she understood.
The dragon next walked around Benny as if to inspect his body. Benny turned his head and followed her gaze at him. Her snout was parted slightly, revealing rows of gleaming teeth and a flicking tongue that tasted the air in a snakelike fashion. He felt the tingle in the air again and knew it was coming from her, like a sixth sense that penetrated his body. Benny felt the dragon could actually see inside of him, the tingle was an exhillerating sensation. It reminded Benny of a dolphin's ability to use sound to navigate and "see" inside other creatures with their penetrating unltrasonics. Benny smiled, "you're really something, aren't you?"
As Benny turned his upper torso to follow the dragon's circle, he suddenly felt as if he had been stabbed in the back with a hot knife. For a moment, he thought the dragon had attacked him somehow, but then he realized it was his back injury that finally gave way. He doubled over in pain and fell to his knees, winding-up wincing in a fetal position on the ground. "This sucks!" Benny spat out, "Here I am, making first contact with an unknown creature, and I have to foul-up my back!" Benny pounded the ground in frustration, eyes shut tight in his private battle with the lumbar agony he felt.
He felt something touching him. He looked up and saw the dragon kneeling over him. She was running her hands over his torso. Eventually, her hands found the small of his back where his muscles were in spasm. The dragon nuzzled gently against his cheek, purring forth with a soothing timbre. Benny looked up at her and saw her eyes fixed on his, "what are you doing?" He moaned as she leaned over him and brought her snout close to his back. Benny could feel her soft snout probing over his shirt. On impulse, Benny lifted up his shirt and exposed his lower back to her. He felt her snout on his bare skin, hot and tender from the pain within. He felt her tongue lick right over the aching vertibrae.
Within moments, the pain was gone!
Benny was stunned! It appeared the dragon had some kind of healing power within her tongue. Also, the thought that this strange creature felt such empathy for him made Benny feel oddly warm inside. He looked up into her shimmering dark eyes and could only whisper, "Thank you".
The dragon then helped Benny to his feet. He found he couldn't resist this amazing creature's assistance. He was still rather stiff, but at least he could walk. "I--I have to go inside and lie down," he said, then gestured to the house. The dragon seemed to understand and let Benny lean against her as they walked back into the garage. He realized he couldn't make it to his bed without her help and so he allowed the dragon help him down onto the mattresses he had set up for her the night before. Benny felt strange. There was little pain but he felt a bit dizzy, like the effect of heavy pain killers. He didn't resist as the dragon gently laid him on his side and arranged his arms and legs to be comfortable. She seized the empty bowl he had filled with water for her and sprinted out of the garage, taking flight--out of sight.
Still in a bit of a daze, Benny lost track of how long she was gone. Perhaps she felt she had returned the favor for helping her out last night and was on her way back to--wherever she lived, he thought. Once more his mind was filled with an unexpectedly profound sense of loss. How could such a strange and alien creature make him feel like this? So kind and gentle she was, moreso than most humans he had met, except for his Michelle--his Michelle. His sense of loss only doubled when he thought of her. Now this strange animal falls into his life out of the sky and teases his heart in ways that could only be considered unnatural?
And now she was gone as well.
Gripped by feelings of anger, frustration, and sadness, he trembled on the mattresses, the scent from the honeysuckle where the dragon lay before he found her was still on the sheets. Now he had even more memories to haunt his dreams.
Benny heard the soft flapping sounds over the garage and through closed eyelids the sunlight bocked by a shadow. He dared to open his eyes and he couldn't help but smile broadly at the sight of the she-dragon standing just outside, carefully folding her wings behind her, the right one still stiff and slow to respond. She was carefully carrying the bowl, now full of water, in her hands. "You--came back!" Benny said in a trembling voice.
The dragon walked to the mattresses in her graceful stride. She knelt very close beside Benny, he could smell her unique sweet scent now. Her skin was moist and free of the muddy mottling of her rough landing the night before. She held the bowl in one hand and cupped her other hand behind Benny's head. She made some rather obvious slurping sounds with her snout and tongue and offered him the water. "For me?" Benny asked. The dragon nodded and urged his head closer to the bowl. Benny was simply amazed at how gentle and caring this creature was for someone not of her own kind--or world.
Benny took a sip. It tasted like sweet mineral water, a bit salty, but still pleasant. He didn't feel like he was in any shape to question from where she got it. He suddenly felt quite thirsty and emptied the bowl. He suddenly felt much better. He sat up slowly his back felt stiff, but serviceable. Benny also found himself nose-to-snout with the dragon, who promptly licked his nose and inhaled as he exhaled. She blew a steady stream of moist air in his face. Benny realized what she was doing: breath-sharing, not unlike what horses do. Sometimes Michelle's horse would nuzzle her and him in a similar fashion. Obligingly, he inhaled her sweet breath. Benny then laid down again. The dragon laid next to him, stretching herself out beside him and looking at him with enormous dark eyes that now seemed to sparkle with tiny, swirling pinpoints of light. Very beautiful eyes, Benny thought. Again, an impulse he could not deny caused him to slip his arms slowly around the dragon's lean body. She did not resist his embrace.
"Thank you," he said with a profound sense of fulfillment.
After awhile Benny felt well enough to get up and go inside. Slowly he got up, the dragon watched him closely, not interfering, but seemingly ready to help if needed. He stood up and faced the dragon, who was now also standing. He reached out and took her hand. She didn't resist. "Look," Benny said, "I helped you, you helped me. I guess we're even. I'm not gonna say anything to anybody about you. I hope you find your way home--wherever that is." Benny knew in his heart that it was the most insincere thing he had ever said. He couldn't deny he wanted her to stay. What he wanted to deny where the feelings he found blossoming in his heart for this exotic creature, feelings that could only be considered unnatural and even perverted.
Benny raised her delicately-webbed hand to his lips and kissed it. Her skin was much warmer than his, and smelled slightly spicy. He held her had for a few more precious seconds then released it and turned to enter the house. He felt strange, as if he tried to pull away from some magnetic force that was tugging at his gut, making it more aand more a struggle to leave her than he expected.
As he passed through the doorframe to the kitchen, he paused and turned and saw the dragon standing there, looking at him, her head cocked, her jaws parted slightly. Dragon or human, it was an unmistakable questioning expression. "What do you want?" Benny asked in softly, his voice trembling dispite his best effort to remain calm. He held his hands palms-up at his sides.
The dragon didn't hesitate, walked up to Benny and held out her hand--the one he kissed. Benny took it and she stepped toward him. Benny's heart skipped a beat as she pressed the tip of her snout to his lips. This was no nuzzle. He drew a quick breath, laden with her scent and pressed back into the kiss with her. It felt as though it were the most natural thing he could do. He felt something warm and wet pressing against his mouth. Pushing down his denial and every moral taboo that flared in his mind, he parted his lips and the dragon's warm tongue slithered easily into his mouth, drawing itself over his own tongue and the roof of his mouth.
The sensation was exquisite. Not since Michelle had he allowed another human, let alone nonhuman, to kiss him in this fashion, yet he didn't resist this fantastic creature's probings. At first it felt unnatural, yes, but also incredibly pleasurable. Benny and the dragon kissed deeply for what seemed to be a very long time. Incredibly, Benny thought, he was losing an inner-battle in his heart, the hard shell that formed about it with the loss of Michelle was being torn away by the kiss of this creature.
The dragon pulled her tongue out of Benny's mouth and gazed into his eyes. Benny's mouth was coated on the inside with the dragon's saliva, and he had no choice but to swallow it. It tasted like raw meat and molasses and he could feel it as it flowed down his throat and into his stomach. It had the effect of a shot of brandy. Benny's eyes widened, "you put that in my water too, didn't you?" The dragon bowed her head. "Well, I guess you thought you were just helping me the only way you knew how. Your saliva is like a painkiller or tranquilizer, isn't it?" The dragon cocked her head as she appeared to be trying to assimilate his words and just kept her gaze upon him. Benny looked back and thought for a moment her gaze was almost leering.
Benny stepped back into the kitchen. The dragon tried to follow, but couldn't negotiate the doorway; her wings were too high. Benny Realized this, walked back to her, and gently placed a hand on her chest. He could feel the fierce racing of her heart. For a long moment, the two exchanged looks, each seemingly trying to assertain from the other what was to happen next--or what each other's intentsions were.
The dragon suddenly vocalized a soft, melodic moan that caused Benny to tremble. It was a mournful, beckoning call that touched his heart deeply. He made a decision at that moment, a decition to abandon conventional wisdom and rationality and simply embrace the moment, wherever it would lead. He reached out to her and rested a hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry. I won't leave you alone." He nodded his head and stepped forward back into the garage as she stepped back.
Benny hit the "close" button on the garage door switch panel next to the kitchen entrance. The dragon watched silently as the big door closed and gave them privacy. Benny then stood before the dragon and smiled at her, almost giddy, "Okay, I'm all yours."
The dragon cocked her head and purred deep within her throat. She stepped toward him and once again pressed her snout to his lips. This time he opened his mouth willingly and greeted her tongue with his. The dragon then moved close enough to embrace Benny, her flexible neck curved to allow her to both kiss Benny and hold him against her body. Benny could hardly believe this was happening! It was as if he lived some incredible fantasy dream, yet he felt more and more compelled to it, determined not to run or pull away, but to let his instincts and her needs--and his needs--command the moment.
After they had kissed for awhile, Benny had swallowed enough of the dragon's narcotic saliva that he felt almost intoxicated, but not to the point of being physically impaired. He felt he could stop this at any time, but he didn't want to. He really thought the dragon was a beautiful, gentle, and now even a passionate creature. No longer did he feel the inhibitions that were the barriers between man and beast. For once, he would surrendered to his heart and felt they both needed this, and he would not resist.
The dragon padded over to the mattresses and knelt in the middle of them She looked up at Benny with wide, entreating eyes. Benny just knew what to do. He began to undress. The dragon watched intensely as Benny removed his shirt, pants, shoes, socks, and finally, his underwear. He stood naked before the dragon and turned about slowly. "Well, here I am. This is what a human looks like. What do you think?"
The garage floor was cold beneath his bare feet, so he walked over to the mattresses and stepped up on the sheet. Slowly, shaking slightly from the effects of the dragon's oral fluids and also out of anticipation, he knelt facing the dragon, suddenly aware of those claws and what they could do to his fragile human flesh. "I--I hope I have an idea what you want to do here," Benny said. He laughed nervously. The dragon crawled over to him on her paws and knees. Her wings extended over his shoulders. She straightened up and reached out with both hands, resting them gently on Benny's bare shoulders, carefully not to let her claws come in contact with his skin. Her hands were much warmer than his skin--almost hot--but not uncomfortably so. She ran her hands down his arms and grasped his hands. She raised them each in turn to her snout and pressed her mouth against them, making a sucking sound like an exaggerated human kiss. She then offered Benny her hands, and he kissed them tenderly.
Benny and the dragon exchanged more kisses and caresses, exploring one-another's bodies with their fingers and lips. Benny found his attraction to the extraordinary creature grew moment by moment. He worked his caresses down the dragon's sides, her legs, even to her feet. Benny smiled, recalling how much Michelle enjoyed foot massages and on impulse took one of the dragon's three-toed feet in his hands and began to rub, his fingers stroking the webbings and the elongated toes, rubbing the soft-padded soles that felt remarkably like human skin. The dragon purred extravagantly in response, obviously enjoying this attention to her feet.
The dragon scooted closer to Benny until their torsos teased one-other's with their proximity. The dragon placed her hands on his sides and drew his body against hers. Skin against scales, Benny felt the raw heat of her body seep into his own and he started to perspire. The dragon responded by licking the beads of sweat from his forehead between the deep kisses she engaged with him.
Benny and the dragon laid together on the mattresses facing each other. The dragon caressed Benny's leg with the sole of her webbed foot, then grasped his foot with her own, interlocking her toes with his, the feeling was quite sensual. Both of them caressed and explored each other, the dragon reached behind herself and draped her tail over their legs. They kissed and pressed their bodies as tightly together as they could.
Benny could feel his arousal and wondered what the she-dragon would think of this, but he could no longer restrain his feelings for her and let his erection rub against her smooth belly scales. The dragon turned her attention to his engorged male organ. Benny rolled and laid on his back to allowed his shaft to rise up unencumbered. The dragon stared at Benny's maleness then brought her snout close to it. For a moment, Benny was apprehensive about all those wicked-looking teeth so close to such a vital portion of his anatomy, but his worries were quickly relieved when the dragon's tongue slithered forth and wrapped around his shaft, coating it and nearly coaxing him to climax right then and there. She sensed this and the dragon abruptly ceased her oral pleasure.
Without hesitation, the dragon climbed over Benny's body, her backside hovering over his head, her tail stretched out behind her. Benny looked up and saw the dragon's slowly swishing tail. Beneath where it joined her body there was the bright-pink slit that so-resembled a human female's anatomy that it caused Benny to think at least they were similar in at least one way. He reached up and placed his hands on her hips and coaxed her down. The she-dragon's wings slumped in blissfull surrender at either side of her body and she squatted down on him. Benny's lips met her draconian femininity and he kissed and probed her vestibule.
He sensed, then felt the reaction in her. She tensed-up, her tail swished faster and he could hear her purring louder and deeper than before. Suddenly, she arched her back, her wings lifted and fluttered, the wingtips actually brushed the unfininished plywood walls and wallstuds of the garage. Benny's face was doused with slippery, spicy-smelling fluid. "I think you liked that!" Benny declared as he lapped at her sweet nectar and caressed her body as lovingly as he would any human lover--even Michelle.
The dragon then turned herself around over him and knelt over his stomach, her hindlegs spread to either side of his body. She leaned forward and used her flexible tongue to clean Benny's face of her own jisms. She pressed her snout against his mouth and pressed her tongue deeply inside. Beneath her, Benny's erection became extremely hard and throbbing. Further, his mind had but one thing on it now. "I want you!" Benny said in a deep, shuddering voice.
The dragon fluttered her wings and warbled like some impossibly large songbird, her obvious excitemed response to his words as if it was exactly what she herself had hoped for. She lifted her backside up and positioned it over Benny's upthrust shaft and in one smooth motion she lowered herself onto him. Benny moaned with delight as he felt his human shaft enter her warm dragon body, his flesh trembling as it sank deeper into her, her body absorbing all he had. She leaned forward and licked his chest desperately, the tip of her tail brushed back-and-forth over his toes. She was breathing as heavily as he was now. Like him, she was yielding to her desires.
The dragon unfurled her wings and began to flap them, each wingbeat lifted her slightly off him then set her back down. She did this repeatedly while grasping Benny's legs with her toes. Now not as careful, her claws raked along Benny's sides but he felt no pain, thoroughly under the influence of the dragon's oral serum. What he did feel was intense pleasure from his penis with every beat of the dragon's wings. Soon his hips began to buck upwards as his body joined the dragon's in lovemaking rhythms. Warm, slick fluid squirted out around his shaft from her, the sensation was indescribable. He had not made love since Michelle, and the long, lonely months of repressed passions were being milked by the sexual prowess of this incredible creature determined to bring Benny to peak of pleasure.
Suddenly, the dragon's internal passage clenched tightly on him. She raised her head and let loose a sound like a trumpet blast. Benny's eyes widened at he realized the beautiful creature joined with him had just orgasmed. Over come by this thought and the feelings she was giving her, he arched his back and felt his own climax drawing close, still amazed that he could feel so intensely for another creature. He grasped her sides and caught his breath, his heart raced and his mind roared with the building tension. A few more upward thrusts--
--and Benny's semen surge up his throbbing shaft and spurted hard and fast into the dragon's passage, pulsing shot-after-shot of his most intimate fluid deep into the creature with a force that astounded him. The she-dragon moaned softly and appeared to experience another orgasm. She clung tightly to her human lover, her body hot and trembling as he continued to spill his seed into her. Human and dragon exchanging glances and deep emotions flowed between them.
The dragon slowly slid herself off of Benny and tucked-in her wings. She rolled herself over onto her back beside where Benny lay spent. She looked over at Benny, panting, what appeared to be a smile on her snout. The she-dragon squirmed a bit beside him, rubbing her hot and tense body beside his--and waited.
Benny looked over at her and giggled nervously, "Um, I don't think I can--" but Benny felt another tingle rising within his loins. He sensed that somehow the dragon had given him a special gift for this moment and wanted him to use it. Half-belieiving he could, he rolled over her and knelt over her body. He stroked the dragon's chest and ran his hands slowly along her outstretched wings, so enthralled with the creature's exotic beauty. Benny slid his legs back alongside hers and rested his belly over hers. He entered her again. Benny moaned in pleasure as he felt her warm, trembling passage take in his slick, hot shaft once more and he began to thrust into her desperately, his hips pumped with an almost frantic need. The dragon gazed up at her human lover with a blithe and fond expression, letting him take her as he wanted to.
Benny clung to the creature as he stroked himself inside of her with a strenght and perfervidity that seemed superhuman. Once again, the dragon moaned and she responded to him with another wave of powerful orgasms racking through her body as he also clentched his teeth as he felt a second climax build. "Forgive me... Michelle," Benny whispered as the hold her ghost had on his heart was finally and irrevokably broken in the second climax and gush of semen that spilled forth from his body into hers, filling her with more of his warm, thick, expression. The intense feelings that washed over him in powerful waves was most intense pleasure he had ever felt!
When it was over, Benny and the dragon then lay side-by side, exhausted but happy. They held each other tight on the mattresses, now damp with sweat, saliva, and other fluids from both their bodies Both basked in their afterglows and she stayed with him, cuddled with him, caressed his body. The pain in Benny's back was only a memory now. Slowly she kissed him, savoring every moment together as both recovered from their lovemaking.
She then got up and stood by the closed garage door.
Benny didn't want her to go now, but knew he couldn't stop her even if he wanted to. Benny surmized she knew as well as he that this was a special moment in time and space, a gift one shared with the other--and that was it. They both gave and took from each other, and both were satisfied. Rising slowly, Benny opened the garage door and she stepped out into the afternoon sun. Still naked, he walked after her and threw his arms around her. She embraced him, but not tightly and desperately like before. He kissed her snout but she gently pushed him away, shaking her head sadly.
The dragon then reached into her mouth and grasped one of her large teeth. With a quick twist-and-jerk, she pulled the tooth out of her mouth, leaving an empty socket that pooled with greenish-red fluid. Benny noticed that there was another empty socket on the other side of her jaw that had long-since healed. She offered the tooth to Benny. Reverently, Benny took the dragon's tooth from her hand. Benny wondered if this mean he was only the dragon's second lover or perhaps the second meaningful lover. It was beginning to come together in Benny's mind what that meant.
Benny didn't know how he could reciprocate. The dragon looked at it and winced with an expression that could only be sorrow. Still, she took Benny's hand in hers once more and held it tightly. After exchanging one last long look, she unfurled her wngs and thrust herself skyward like a missile, her wing wound appearantly completely healed--or not as injured as he originally thought. Benny was left with a dragon's tooth. He glanced down at it quickly, then back up to his quickly-ascending dragon lover.
"Umm--watch out for planes!" Benny called after her, then felt silly saying that. "Goodbye, dear friend," he added, then softly, "farewell, Michelle." The true import of the encounter had dawned upon him. Indeed, the other empty socket in the she-dragon's snout jaw in the same place where Michelle had lost a tooth to an abscess. Benny nodded slowly. Yes, his lover's spirit had finally found its proper place in the universe and she just wanted him to know she was happy. He smiled for her, and the tears he felt streaming down his cheeks were tears of joy.
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A Story by Byzantyn