FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The Persistent Dragon, Chapter 19: The Persistent Dragon Lands a Job

Penelope gasped in a mixture of surprise and excitement. "Really?! You two mated with each other?!"

"Cripes, I … I don't believe it." Jacob sat there slack-jawed, eyes darting between Jenivive and Jasper. Jenivive merely giggled, while the marine-scaled drake held his chin high and proud.

A little over a month had passed from Jacob and Jenivive's first meeting at the Dark Horse Grille, and they had been getting together on the weekends ever since. By now, summer was in on its last legs, and in the heat of the day Jacob, Jenivive, and the dragons had retired to the shady central park of the city. The park was a quaint and pleasant affair, with bubbling marble fountains of prancing fauns, tidy brick paths flanked by neatly-trimmed hedgerows and the occasional tree. Loamy flower beds bloomed with delicate flowers in all the colors of the rainbow, perfumed with fragrant aromas that no dragon ever appreciated quite as much as humans did.

Jenivive donned a cheery yellow summer skirt, a worn black bodice, and a large wide-brimmed, ribbon-tied lace hat that was missing all the fancy (and expensive) trimmings, feathers, faux flowers worn by the likes of Jacob's mother and other well-off women. Surprising Jacob, she had even put on a bit of makeup: just enough to shadow her eyes and soften her cheeks. Jacob had dressed down as to not make Jenivive appear out-of-place, foregoing a formal summer suit jacket in favor of a satin poet shirt, a low-cut plaid vest, and gray slacks. He had even left his walking cane (a popular accessory for fashionable gentlemen nowadays) at home, and found that he did not miss it one bit.

Jacob glanced between the woman sitting next to him on the park bench, and the dragon that reclined on the soft grass next to Penelope, and could only gawk with disbelief. "Jenivive, you actually … went out and … and … laid with—?"

Jacob clamped his mouth shut as a noblewoman in full summer attire—petticoat, corset, bustle, and all—passed by with her leashed lapdog, who nearly choked himself in his desire to get close to the dragons and give them a good sniffing. He instead insinuated his last words by mere expression alone.

"We did it twice, to be exact!" Jasper corrected him. His teal tail swished in the grass. "The first time was largely an educational experience, mind you … Jenivive stayed true to her word of aiming to help me learn how to charm a mate. And then, the second time was when Jenivive had a fair bit of wine one evening, and was feeling particularly lonely, so she—"

"That's enough, Jasper." Jenivive shrewdly interjected. "It is sufficient to say that a woman has her needs, even when there's no men around."

Jacob stared wide-eyed in shock. Overcoming her brief moment of mild embarrassment, Jenivive glanced his way and laughed. "Oh, look at you, Jacob! You look like you've seen a ghost!"

"I … I just never heard a lady talk about … needs before," he admitted, hunching up his shoulders. "I didn't think they even had needs."

Jenivive laughed even more. "All ladies have needs, Jacob! We're just better at hiding them. And sometimes, when there's no men in our lives, we have to, mmm … improvise."

"Mhm! That's when I use my tongue or my tail!" Penelope chimed in. "But that's only if Jake is at University and I can't pester him for unfs."

Jacob jumped as if shocked by electricity. "Cripes, Nel! Not in public! We talked about this!"

Penelope wore an unmistakable look of mischeif on her face. "Don't talk about what, Jake? About you and me doing unfs in my sta—"

"Aaa-ah!" A panicked Jacob launched himself from the bench to clamp his dragon's snout shut. again. "Shut up, shut up, shut up!" His head whirled around to see if anyone in the park had heard.

Penelope hummed laughter. She managed to mumble from her tightly-closed jaw. "Unfs. Unfs unfs unfs. I like Jake unfs."

"Penelope!" Jacob hissed through clenched teeth. "Not another word or you're not getting dinner!"

Penelope's eyes opened wide. She shook her keeper's hands off. "Hey! That's not very nice!"

Jenivive was beside herself with laughter. Shooting her a look, Jacob sat back on the bench next to her, completely red in the face. He hunched his shoulders and let out a frustrated sigh.

"Oh, you two are just perfect for each other." Jenivive snickered. "I'm almost a little jealous."

Jacob hunched in his seat and said nothing, but a scowl graced his cheeks. "I don't get how you can still be so casual about ... me and Penelope."

"Because it's not a big deal!"

"Yes, it is," he insisted. "And furthermore, I'm shocked that you're not ashamed over you and Jasper.

Jenivive chose to play with a lock of her curly red hair. "Wellllll ... I'm not completely shameless, Jacob. Let's just say that the morning after me and Jasper experimented, I began to understand why you've been so embarrassed ..."

"Really? Did you regret it?" Jacob cautiously ventured.

Jenivive shrugged—one of her many unfamiliar, unlady-like mannerisms. "Oh, I wouldn't call it regret, it's just … okay, what we did was a bit strange, no matter how you look at it. But as the days passed, I got over it. So what if I've had a dragon between my legs? I've met scores of disgusting, despicable men in my time … and I'd rather have Jasper than any of them. In fact, my little drake's been the consummate gentleman throughout the whole ordeal. And it's hard to argue with a tongue that long …" Jenivive giggled.

Jasper bowed his head and fanned his cheek fins at the compliments. "Why, thank you, Jenivive. I put great pride in my manners … and, err, I suppose my tongue, too!"

"Hrmm, Jassy," Penelope cooed, letting a devious, rumbling hum well up in her throat. She gave the drake a nudge with her snout. "Maybe you should show me what you did to Jenny with your tongue …"

"Um, heh! Heh heh!" Jasper's voice grew high-pitched and strained, like he was being choked. "Perhaps sometime, my dear! Perhaps …" He ruffled his wings, ducked his head, and avoided eye contact.

"Ahem, Jasper …" Jenivive shot the dragon a look, and Jasper appeared to remember something important.

"Oh, yes!" The drake took a deep breath, puffed out his chest, and cleared his throat. "Err, what I mean is … most assuredly, my indigo dragoness. I'd love to."

Penelope squealed in delight. "Really? You mean it!?"

"Go for it, Jas! Remember, there's no pressure!" Jenivive encouraged. "Unless … Jacob's going to get jealous over another dragon having his way with—"

"I am NOT going to get jealous!" Jacob yelled so loudly that passersby stopped to stare. He crossed his arms over his chest as his cheeks turned beet-red a second time. "Besides, you and Japser are an … a 'thing', now." Jacob made quotation marks with his fingers. "It's a moot point."

"An 'item'?" Jenivive scoffed. "Hardly! It was just a casual fling, Jacob."

"Yes yes, we're nothing of the sort!" snorted Jasper. Jenivive again tossed Jasper a look, but this time, with a different expression. It appeared to Jacob that the two held a brief, silent conversation using facial expressions alone. The dragon then looked deliberately at Jacob, adding: "In fact, I know Jenivive would probably jump at the chance if the right man were to come her way. She's been single for quite some time now."

Jacob looked to Jenivive, who said nothing to refute those statements, nor did she appear offended that the drake would bring such a subject up: she merely nodded along—a fact that confused him. Any woman Jacob knew would have been grossly embarrassed at such a comment. Jacob cocked his head. "Really? Well …" Jacob paused, unsure of himself. But then he decided to take the plunge. "Normally, I don't think my parents would approve of a commoner, but with the tension between them and Penelope … Jenivive, would you care to go out to dinner some time? Just the two of us."

The pretty, firey-haired woman turned his way. Smiling broadly, she put a hand on his knee—an act that caused Jacob's chest to tighten. "You know what, Jacob? I would really like that."

Both dragons looked at each other. A glowing smile spread across Jacob's face. "Great! How about this coming Wednesday? I'll pick you up at five o' clock."

"That sounds perfect."

Penelope gasped in excitement. "Can I come, too?"

Jacob laughed. "Not this time. Just me and Jenivive."

Penelope's ears and fins drooped in dejection. "But whyyyyyy?"

"Ahem," Jasper began. "My dear Penelope, I do believe that it'd be best if we let the two humans get to know each other under more, err … personal circumstances."

"But they already know each other!" Penelope gawked.

"You know how particular humans are with their relationships … they think having multiple mates is a dreadful thing, for some reason, so they prefer to spend time in pairs."

Penelope gasped. "But wait, if you and Jenny becomes mates, then what will happen to us?"

Jacob's spine went rigid. He didn't realize what an awkward spot he had just put himself in until just now. "I, uh …"

Jenivive stepped in. "Penny, I'm not about to steal Jacob from you. We're just going out on a date, nothing more. And if things get serious … well …" she glanced Jacob's way. "I'm sure we'll find a way to keep everyone happy."

Jacob sucked in a quiet breath. "You mean … like a three—"

Jenivive flashed a glare. "That's not what I meant, Jacob."

"I, um … that's not what I meant either! I mean—"

Jenivive giggled. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, Jacob, do you have a restaurant in mind?"

Jacob flinched. "Well, uh … I was thinking about the Osteria Nueva."

Jenivive covered her gasp with her hands. "That fancy Berettian place? You're kidding! A single dinner there costs more than a month's-worth of groceries!"

Jacob smiled. "So? I can afford it."

"I don't have a dress formal enough to wear for something like that!"

"Then that will have to change," Jacob grinned. "How much do you need to buy a new dress?"

Jenivive was speechless for a full ten seconds. "I … I don't know! It's been ages since I shopped for clothing."

Jacob pulled out his pocketbook. "Then I'll write you a check. A blank check. Use it to pick out some dress shoes, perfume, makeup, and jewelry, too."

Jenivive caught her breath. She could do nothing but stare in shock as Jacob filled out a check for her. "Jacob! You can't be serious!"

Jacob looked her in the eye. "Jenivive, after my parents found out about me and Penelope, they've been desperate to find me a woman. When I tell them I've gone on a date, they'll be clamoring to meet you. And when that time comes, you won't be able to gain their approval without a good first impression. And that means wearing proper attire." Jacob leaned back on the wooden park bench and rested his hands behind his head. "I'm merely being careful, Jenivive. I have to be, when my family is as influential and well-known as they are."

Overcome with emotion, Jenivive's green eyes teared up. She turned away and fanned herself. "I'm … I'm sorry … it's just, all my life, I've only a single dress to my name … and it was my mother's. I've never worn a real dining gown before."

Jacob laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. "On the night of our date, you will."

Jenivive dove onto Jacob and kissed him on the cheek. "Oh, thank you so much, Jacob! I can't tell you how much this means to me! Wednesday it is! I'll be ready at five." She squeezed him tight.

Jacob heard Penelope hum in whimsy as he returned the hug. "Awww, look, Jassy, they're being cute!"

"And Jenivive ..." Jacob kicked back, grinning wide. "I'll also need to coach you on proper dining etiquette and polite manners, too. Err, no offense, of course."

Jenivive laughed. "Oh, you're cute, Jacob. Alright then!" She performed a sitting bow. "O Master, teach me the secrets of acting like a snooty, stuck-up socialite!"

Jacob joined her in laughter, and for just that one single moment, everything in the world seemed to be the way it should be.

After a short period of silence, Jasper cleared his throat. "So! I'd like to announce that I have good news … Jenivive has helped me pick up a new contract—the first one in nearly a month!"

"Oh?" asked Jacob.

Jenivive collected herself and sat up straight. "Mm, yes … a day or so, I had a trio of men who came to Tailwind Shelters looking for a dragon to rent. Poor Jas, here, hasn't been able to secure a source of income in a while, so I told them I had just the drake for the job!"

"Ooh, what is it, what is it?" Penelope asked with excitement.

"You know, I'm not entirely sure!" replied Jasper. "I only spoke with them briefly, and they merely said they needed a strong, trustworthy dragon who didn't mind getting his feet a little dirty. I suppose that means manual labor, like pulling a cart, or perhaps transporting cargo by air! Whatever it is, I'm prepared for it. I'm to report in this evening, and will likely be gone for the entirety of the night."

"That's great news, Jasper," Jacob said, smiling. "Congratulations!"

"Why thank you, Jacob," Jasper politely replied with a bow of his head. "I hope it will prove to be a stimulating and invigorating endeavor."

"So what about you, Jacob?" Jenivive asked. "How have you been lately? Given any more thought to escaping the oppression of your parents and moving out?"

"They're not oppressive!" Jacob insisted. "They just don't like what … has happened between me and Penelope, that's all. And you know what? I don't blame them." Jacob turned his nose high in the air. "I'd be shocked too, if I were in their shoes."

"Jacob …" Jenivive put on a concerned look. "Your father had Penelope locked up for nearly twenty four hours a day after he found out …"

Penelope sunk her head low at the memories of those dark days, but Jacob folded his arms across his chest and remained obstinate. "And besides, Father is starting to groom me for a place in the Beretti Mountains Trading Company. Moving out now would be making life more difficult for everyone involved."

Jenivive let out a sigh. "Okay, I'll drop it … so what's this about him grooming you? Aren't you still studying business at the University?"

"Yes, but I'm on break for the summer, and he wanted to give me something to do. It's nothing major so far … mostly, he's been letting me listen in on all the stuff involved in a shipping company: personnel management, accounting, finance, logistics … sometimes he asks for my opinion on little projects or problems, just to grade me on judgment and acumen."

"Oh? Like what?"

"Father wants to open up a new trade route with the city of Hanlow, exporting fine textiles. Problem is, the road east to Hanlow passes through the Keruvian Steppes, which is getting more dangerous nowadays. Bandits make their homes in those hills, along with wyverns, wendigos, and rockjaws. Father gave me a bunch of companies to compare and told me to find the most cost-effective way to organize, mobilize, and protect this new caravan, right down to the brand of wagons used, the type of containers to ship in, which mercenary companies to hire …"

"Why, Jacob, that all sounds quite exciting!" Jasper nodded vigorously. "Do you find this work enjoyable?"

Jacob nodded. "Sort of, yeah! Finding different ways to keep the cost down is like a big puzzle … of course, Father has professionals already doing this work for him, but he likes to judge how good of a job I do in comparison."

"You know," Jenivive smiled. "Aren't the Keruvian Steppes hard to navigate? Lots of winding paths, very convoluted trails … I bet a dragon could make the flight to Hanlow in half the time of a caravan ... what do you say, Jasper? Four days?"

Jasper fanned his frills. "I give it a solid five, accounting for rest and poor wind conditions. But yes: undoubtedly faster than a wagon."

Jacob grinned. "I know where you're going with this, Jenivive, and it won't work. Dragons can't fly while carrying a heavy load."

"But textiles are a light load for a dragon to bear, yes?" Jenivive leaned in close. "Plus, you wouldn't have to rent wagons, drivers, horses, or even guards! Look, all I'm saying is … why not crunch the numbers, just to see what comes out? I know a lot of dragons in desperate need of steady employment …"

Jacob smiled, deciding to humor her. "Alright, I'll look into it, but even if the budget came out favorably, that doesn't mean Father would do it. Dragons are notoriously untrustworthy when it comes to business affairs."

Jasper fanned his cheek fins wide. "Why, Jacob! I might almost find myself offended at that … it weren't true," he added, under his breath.

Jacob pulled out his pocket watch and checked the time. "Well, I think it's time I head back; dinner should be ready soon." He stood up. "Penelope? Let's get going. And Jenivive?" He took her by the hand and kissed her palm. "I'll see you Wednesday."

Jenivive jokingly imitated the rigid, demure wave of a noblelady. "Till then, my dashingly roughish gentleman! Tah-tah!"

"By-eeeee!" Penelope gushed.

As Jacob turned away, leading Penelope to his side, he heard Jasper mutter behind him. "Well, Jenivive … it seems you have a letter to write."

--=-=--

Jacob leaned over the dining room table with eager eyes. "So? What do you think?"

Desmond glared at Jacob as he chewed his roast beef. "I think it's absurd," he said, and wiped the juices from his lips with his napkin.

Jacob pressed his lips tight. "Consider the cost, though: you wouldn't have to pay for wagons, horses, caravan drivers, or security. Based on your projected budget, and assuming mean hourly wages, for the price of a six wagon caravan you could hire twenty dragons. Plus, they could fly right over the Steppes and make it to Hanlow in three less days. That's roughly a thirty eight percent increase in productivity, which equates to a net gain of 370 reales a day."

If Desmond was impressed by his son's calculations, he didn't show it. "You're assuming the bulk weight per trip remains the same. How much cargo can a dragon carry and still maintain flight, Jacob?"

Jacob frowned. "I haven't been able to figure that out yet. Depends on the dragon, I suppose."

Desmond took a deep sip from his wine glass. "I'll tell you: roughly one fifth of their body weight. And even without extra weight, most dragons can't stay aloft for more than a few hours at a time. There's only one species that can go days without touching down for rest, and that's the Akkadian Cloudwing—but they're also half the size of Penelope and Akkadia is all the way across the ocean!" Desmond leaned back in his chair as he gauged his son's look of surprise. "What, you expected your old man to be ignorant about dragons? Did you forget I used to own one when I was your age?"

Jacob's eyes sunk down to his half-eaten dinner. "No … I just figured you'd say something different … like, how you wouldn't be able to trust them."

Desmond scoffed. "I don't hate dragons, Jacob."

"Could have fooled me …" Jacob muttered.

Desmond's lips tightened into a frown. "And yes—you can't trust them with money, either. If you really think all twenty of those dragons are going to come back with every cent of my profit, you're more naïve than Penelope. Dragons are greedy, Jacob. It's in their blood."

"You can't generalize all dragons like that! Penelope isn't—"

"Penelope swipes our silverware when you take her your leftovers from dinner, Jacob! Do you think we haven't noticed?"

Jacob slapped his hands down on the table. "Penelope just likes collecting shiny things! That's not greed, it's a personality quirk!"

"Boys?" Lucille spoke up. She patted her lips with her napkin before continuing. "If you would please, act like men instead. The dinner table is no place for loud voices and unfettered anger."

Jacob relaxed in his chair and sat back. "Sorry, Mother …"

Desmond grumped out an apology to his wife. "As I was saying: numbers and profits aside, dragons are not suited for caravan work, Jacob. But that doesn't mean they don't have their uses …"

A bitter frown tightened on Jacob's lips. "Like those 'special jobs' you give Penelope?"

Desmond nodded. "Exactly. In fact, I'll be needing her tonight. Got a shipment of silver bullion in today. The freighter came in late, and the bank's already closed. She'll need to keep watch over the cargo for until sunrise."

"Is this really necessary to put her out there all night by herself?"

"Yes, it is." Desmond glanced away. "Martin Hutchinson, one of my dock supervisors, told me of the rumors going around lately. Rumors of a rogue dragon breaking into the warehouses at night, stealing things."

Jacob gasped. "You can't be serious!"

"I am serious. Last week, three hundred pounds of silver vanished from secure storage, and no one knows how it happened."

"But how do you know it's a dragon?"

Desmond stared right into Jacob's eyes. "Because the lock to secure storage had been melted off, Jacob."

Jacob gulped. Of course, dragonfire could burn hot enough to melt metal. Hopefully, the culprit wasn't one of Jenivie's dragons ...

"Penelope just needs to keep watch for a single night. She'll have no trouble scaring off any thieves—human or dragon."

Jacob scowled. "You know, one of these days, you should pay her for all the work you make her do."

"Pay?!" Desmond laughed. "Penelope's got a fine place to live, free meals every day … the dragon eats better than most common folk. That's payment enough."

"Sounds like slavery …"

"Penelope is a pet, Jacob," Desmond countered, his eyes narrowing. "Not a person. It's clear you've forgotten that when you started lying with her."

The words hit Jacob like a suckerpunch. He wanted to say that it was Penelope that pressured him into doing it, that he tried to avoid having sex, that she was so damn persistent … but he had said all of this to his father before. And it always fell on deaf ears. He looked to his mother, whose firm expression told him she'd offer no sympathy. But then, just as Jacob was about to look away, he watched a welling of motherly instinct break through the harsh gaze, softening her eyes.

"Dear," she began, turning to her husband. "It's been a few months since the … incident. Perhaps you should stop giving Jacob such a hard time."

Desmond jabbed his fork into his roast beef and shoved a slice into his mouth. He glared at her as he chewed and finally swallowed. "You're not seriously going to defend him, are you, Lucille?"

Lucille waved the notion away like a bothersome fly. "Of course not. I just think that shaming him helps no one."

Desmond took his last bite of his beef and threw the napkin on the fat-smeared plate. "I'll back off when he beds a real woman for once."

Jacob's eyes widened. It seemed he'd have to break the news sooner rather than later. "I … I asked someone out on a date, today."

Desmond nearly choked on his wine. "What?!"

Lucile gasped in shock. She leaned far over the table. "Really?! Who? Is it that lovely little blond-haired angel Harleen, from the wealthy Letoslki family? Or sweet Adda, daughter of Duke Arnez? Oh! Did you ask that pretty harp player from our good friends, the Belladonas? Or did you set your sights on—"

Jacob held a hand up. "Mother, calm down, please …" He tried not to smile. He had not seen her this excited in weeks. Jacob waited until she hid her emotions underneath the proper modesty of a noblelady before continuing. "I don't want to say who I chose. Not yet. If the first date goes well, I'll share the details."

Lucille began fanning herself with a hand. "My, my, such secrecy! How delightfully scintillating. At least give us a hint. What color is her hair? Her eyes? How well do I know her parents? How much noble blood runs in her veins?"

Desmond's sharp gaze narrowed in on Jacob. "You're hiding something. Something we won't like."

"I am not." Jacob shut his mouth tight.

Desmond's eyes narrowed. "Yes you are. I wouldn't have gotten far in my line of work without a knack for reading people … and you, boy, are like an open book."

Jacob swallowed down his anxiety. "I … I just don't want to get your hopes up. If the date is a bust, all the excitement will be for nothing."

"Oh, let him play his game, Desmond," Lucille gushed. "I do so love a good mystery. Just think what my ladyfriends will say! They'll all be running off to pester their daughters to find out if our eligible bachelor has chosen them. Why, in a few days I'll be the talk of town!" Lucille fidgeted in her seat, unable to contain her excitement.

"Yeah … well," Jacob winced. "At the very least, Mother, this means you can stop writing to all those nobles about their single daughters."

"Why, on the contrary, Jacob! I have about a half-dozen luncheons to cancel. I had you booked for the next few weeks!"

Jacob breathed a sigh of relief. Every luncheon his mother had arranged for him so far was a disaster. Those ladies frolicked about with their chins to the sky and a stick up their rear, with nothing to say but the most boorish gossip and stifling small talk. They were nothing like Jenivive, who was never afraid to speak her mind. She was so refreshingly genuine …

Jacob cleared his throat. "Well, with that being said, if you'll excuse me I'm going to feed Penelope."

He looked to his mother, who nodded. "You are excused."

"No need." Desmond threw his napkin on his plate and rose to his feet. "I'll feed her."

Jacob's breath caught in his throat. "What did you say?"

Desmond's eyes narrowed to slits. "I said ... I'll feed her."

Jacob could only watch as his father exited the dining room. When the door closed, he grimaced. "I hate him …" he muttered. "I hate him so much."

Lucile sighed. "Your father loves you, Jacob. He merely … has trouble expressing his love."

"I wouldn't know," he muttered. Jacob rose and walked to the window. Outside, the waning summer sun cast brazen rays across the perfectly-manicured backyard of the Broyal Family Estate. Jacob watched in silence as his father walked out to Penelope's stable, bowl in hand.

"If your father truly hated you, he would have thrown you out of the house for your … incident with Penelope. But instead, he's putting in extra time to teach you his trade. Actions speak louder than words, my son."

"Yet words can hurt as much as any action …"

In the translucent reflection of the window glass, Jacob saw his mother approach from behind. She rested her hands on his shoulders. "You know that everything he does, he does it for you."

Jacob's hands balled to fists. "Like the constant guilt and shame he heaps on my back? Is that for me?"

"He's only hard on you because he wants you to toughen up. Global trade is a cutthroat business, Jacob: full of greed, ruthlessness, and petty politics. Your father got where he is today because he knows how to stand up for himself, and he is worried you won't be able to do the same."

Jacob watched Desmond opened the door to Penelope's stable and stepped inside. "So he wants me to grow a spine? Fine ... I'm going out there." He pulled away from his mother's gentle embrace and went for his shoes.

By the time Jacob was halfway across the yard, he heard the sound of yelling. "Cripes …" he muttered, quickening to a jog. Just before he put his hand to the stable's latch, Desmond bellowed from inside.

"You don't talk back to me, dragon! Not now, not ever!"

Smack! Thud!

Jacob yanked open the door with trembling hands. "Father, stop!"

Inside, Penelope cowered on the floor, hiding her head underneath her wings. Her bowl of giblets and gravy lay overturned, its contents splattered on the dirty flagstone floor. Desmond stood over her, fists clenched. He gave Jacob a death stare when he entered.

"Did you hit her?!" Jacob demanded. Desmond said nothing as he walked by his son and exited the stable. "If you ever lay another hand on her, I swear I'll—"

"You'll do what, Jacob?" Desmond stopped in his tracks, but didn't turn around. Jacob's father was a mountain of a man: six foot four, with meaty forearms and a wide, muscular chest. Jacob knew he couldn't take him in a fight. So instead he said nothing. Desmond snorted. "That's what I thought ..." He continued walking and went back inside the estate as Jacob's fists trembled with unquenchable fury.

Penelope's whimper from within the stable reminded Jacob of his priorities. He took a knee aside her and touched her gently on the neck. She flinched as if shocked by electricity. "Penelope? Are you okay?"

Slowly, the dragon peeked out from under her leathery, bat-like wing. She was sniffling, and tears had collected in the corners of her eyes. "Jake …" she blubbered.

Jacob took the dragon in his arms and hugged her tight. "Whatever Father did to you, I'm sorry."

"I deserved it. I told him I didn't wanna do his special job and that he couldn't make me …"

Jacob squeezed her tighter. "No no no, you didn't deserve it at all … Father was just being mean." He pulled away and picked up her empty bowl. "Here … I'll get you a new dinner. And I'll add an extra helping, too."

Penelope hung her head low. "Okay …" she meeped.

Jacob returned and Penelope ate in silence. Jacob sat with the dragon and stroked her scales. When she had finished, Penelope let out a little burp.

"Feeling better?" He smiled.

Penelope looked up at her keeper, churring in adoration. "Yus." She leaned in to give him a lick on the nose.

Jacob gave her a hug. "That's my dragon. So Nel, I assume Father told you about your special job tonight?"

Penelope licked her bowl clean with meticulous detail. "Yep. I'm supposed to fly to the docks when the sun disappears and protect some stupid crates." She stood up, licking her chops. "Jake, I don't like these special jobs … I get scared and lonely being in a warehouse at night."

Jacob stroked his sparsely-stubbled chin and pondered his options. "Hm, well … what if I came and spent the night with you?"

The dragon's ears perked right up. "Really? Would Dessie let you do that?"

"Of course not. But now that University is out for the summer, I have no obligations. I'll sneak out of the house, bring a lantern, perhaps a book or two … we'll keep each other company."

"Ooh, that sounds fun!" Penelope patted her feet in excitement, as if she was tamping the ground flat. "Just you and me, alone … we can do whatever we want!" she let out a vibrant, throaty trill. "We can unf all night with no one to catch us!"

Jacob's eyes flashed wide open. He clamped her jaws shut. "Shh, shh! Don't yell that! Cripes!"

Penelope giggled and wormed out of his grasp. "You're funny, Jake," she cooed, affectionately rubbing her snout against his arm. "There's no one else here."

Jacob took her scaled cheeks in his hands and caressed them with his thumbs. "Regardless, it's a good habit to be discrete. And on that note, you mustn't tell Mother or Father about me sneaking out, understand? I mean it: they'd get very upset if they found out."

"Why?"

"Because the city can be dangerous at night, silly dragon. But you'll be there. And I'll bring my pocket knife, just in case. We'll be fine." He smiled. "So we'll meet at the docks, then? After sun down?"

Penelope nodded in excitement. "Yep yep!"

Jacob gave the dragon a loving rub on her snout, eliciting a warm churr from her throat. "Good. See you then."

--=-=--

Jacob hurried down the paved roads in the waning, overcast twilight, passing by black towering shadows of industrial buildings. He held up his gas lantern to the blustering wind and tucked his ulster coat tight against his chest. The air was damp and salty, and the soft murmur of waves could be heard from the east, accompanied by the lonely metallic clanging of buoy bells out in the churning sea. Jacob arrived at a large and ageing brick building that loomed three stories tall and boasted a pair of ten-feet-wide doors. His left foot accidently slipped into the grooves where rail tracks snaked under the doors. These were not for any train, but for rolling stocks loaded with cargo from the ships. They were often pulled by dragons—good and honest work for free dragons like Jenivive's—though teams of men could do in a pinch.

Jacob illuminated the bronze placard drilled into the brick wall and ran his fingers along the stamped, aged typeface.

WELLINGTON WARF, WAREHOUSE 4

EST. MAR 30 1867, IN HONOR OF

HARBORMASTER CLINT WELLINGTON, 1756-1842

MAY THE WIND ALWAYS BE AT YOUR BACK

"This must be the place …" Jacob muttered. The warehouse doors were locked and shackled, but a normal-sized door fifteen feet to the left looked accessible. One of those nifty electrical lamps had been newly-installed above the door, but it was not currently lit. The handle turned without protest and Jacob let himself in.

The inside of the warehouse was dark as pitch, and Jacob was forced to turn the wick up all the way on his lantern. Warehouse crates, barrels, and drums towered over his head. Some rested on shelves so high that Jacob couldn't imagine how they were put their in the first place. The boxes extended in densely-packed rows for what seemed like forever. The air inside felt chilly and uncomfortably still.

"Penelope?" Jacob called out in the darkness.

Silence. Jacob took a tentative step down the warehouse isles. "Nel, are you in here?"

Still nothing. Jacob's spine tingled and the hair on the back of his neck grew stiff. His mind reminded him that he had his pocket knife still in his satchel, underneath the books, snacks, and a tin of extra lamp oil. He hugged the left wall and found a wrought-iron stairwell leading to what must be executive offices. Underneath the stairwell lay a gargantuan metal door with a thick padlock that had to weigh at least five pounds.

"Secure storage …" Jacob muttered.

"Boo!"

"Aaah!" Jacob jumped and whirled around, finding a giggling Penelope revealing herself from a stack of crates. "Penelope! You … you scared me!"

"I know!" the grinning dragon stepped down from her hiding spot. "Now go and run … ill hide so I can scare you again!"

Jacob stamped his foot. "No. I don't like being scared. I nearly dropped the lantern, for cripes sake!"

The dragon pouted. "Aww … you're no fun."

… a few hours later, Jacob reclined against his dragon's scaly flank, engrossed in his novel—a thrilling tale of a ghost hunter braving a haunted monastery. Penelope lay in a half-moon position among a nook of wooden crates and curled up to Jacob tight, delighting in his body warmth. Jacob was appalled to find the dragon had been given only a cotton-stuffed mattress to protect against the cold concrete floor, but it was better than nothing. The mattress smelled like mildew and dragon musk, and was in dire need of a wash.

"Jaaaa-aaake!" the dragon whined. "I'm so bored …"

Jacob stroked her on the forehead. "Ssh, I'm almost done with this chapter … we can play a game after this."

Penelope let out a heavy sigh, and Jacob felt her scale-covered ribs rise and fall against his back. She watched Jacob—his eyes glued on the page—as he felt for his satchel with his hand, retrieved a handful of flat brown cookies, and shoved them in his mouth.

Penelope whined. "Rrr, that's not fair … you got something to eat and I don't …"

Jacob crunched on the dry cookies and waited to swallow before responding. "I brought food for you, too. And you ate it all in the first five minutes!"

"But I'm still hungry!"

"You're always hungry. And you don't need extra food, anyway: you're quite plump for a dragon … now shush."

"Hrrrrmmm …" Penelope groaned.

Jacob did his best to focus on his novel. He reached up to his dimming lantern and let out a little more wick. Behind him, he felt Penelope shuffle around. Moments later he heard the distinct sound of cookies being munched on.

"Hey!" Jacob looked up from his book in time to see Penelope's snout in his satchel. She reared her head back and spit out the dry food in disgust.

"Ew. What are those things?!" The dragon shook her head and sneezed.

"Penelope … those are my gingersnaps."

Penelope sneezed again. "It's so spicy … I can't get the taste off my tongue! Bleh!"

Sighing in whimsy, Jacob put the book down. "I love gingerbread. How could you not like gingerbread?"

"Its gross!" Penelope sneezed a third time. "Worse than cucumbers!"

Jacob snickered as he remembered the first time he had given Penelope fresh veggies. She was but a whelp at the time—only the size of a goat and still learning how to fly. Up till then she had accepted every food with voracious glee. But after she snatched the tumbling cucumber slice out of the air, and her face turned from excitement to disgust, a young Jacob couldn't help but laugh. Penelope was less amused … she would never let Jacob forget that moment of treachery.

"Nel, I don't understand how you like the taste of pork innards, cow brains, lamb livers …"

Penelope let out a hungry growl. "Rrf. So good."

Jacob smirked. "But you won't eat spinach."

Penelope shook her head. "Yuck!"

"Or celery."

"Ew!"

"Or even lettuce!"

"Bleh!" Penelope stuck her tongue out.

"Lettuce doesn't even have a taste, Nel!"

"Yes it does! And it tastes like ick!"

Jacob held his head in his hands. "Dragons are so weird."

Penelope's ears flared out as her head reared back. "Well at least dragons don't eat slimy gross snails!"

Jacob's jaw dropped in offense. "Hey! Butter-fried caragol is a Berretian cultural delicacy! For over six hundred years, it's been tradition to eat caragol in celebration of the king's coronation. And when they're properly prepared, they're not slimy."

Penelope raised a defiant snout in the air. "Don't care; still gross."

Jacob couldn't help but smile. He graced a hand across her scaled cheek. "Well then, I guess we'll just have to agree that humans and dragons taste things differently."

Penelope leaned into Jacob's hand and basked in her keeper's delicate tough. "Mmhmm … keep going."

Jacob cupped her snout in his hands, regarding her with an affectionate grin. "As you wish, my lavender dragon." Penelope was all smiles. Jacob passed his fingers over her purple snout scutes, stroking in all the pleasurable spots: along the sides above her lips, the chin, and the cheeks. He had read in a book that dragons rub each other's snouts for the same reasons humans hug: it's comforting and intimate. The soft, pleasurable churrs welling in Penelope's throat steadily grew louder. The dragon stared back at her keeper with half-open cerulean eyes, as if she had become hypnotized by the simple touch of his hands.

"Nel …" Jacob chuckled. "You're so cute when you stare at me like that."

The dragon stretched her neck out to lick at the bottom of Jacob's chin. "I do it 'cause you stroke me and pet me and feed me and make me feel all warm and fuzzy."

Jacob laughed. "You're as cute as a button, Nel."

Penelope crooned in delight. "I loooove you."

Jacob smiled. "I love you, too … even if you are a terrible influence on me."

"What do you mean?"

"Ah, nothing …" Jacob continued to pet his dragon in silence.

After a while, Penelope gasped. "Oh, you're talking about when we unf!" The dragon let out a devious, humming laugh. "You know, Jake … we're alone right now …"

Jacob's chest tightened. "Oh no you don't. Not this time."

Penelope pouted. "Why not?"

Jacob cupped the dragon's cheeks in his hands. "Because I don't want to. I just wanna lie here and act like a regular human and his dragon … for once."

"But that's no fun!"

Jacob's muscles stiffened. "Nel …" he said, his tone admonishing.

Penelope leaned in to lick at Jacob's neck and chin. "Come on, Jake …"

"Penelope, I—"

"Puh-leeeeease? Pretty pretty please?" Her tongue danced across his cheeks. "You know we haven't done it in a while …"

Jacob's mind jumped back to the last time they fooled around. It had been in her stable—and they nearly had been caught by the chambermaid, Millie. "It's only been five days, Nel."

"That's a lot of days!"

"But I'm trying to wean you off of me … you got Jasper now."

Penelope nibbled on his earlobe. Her hot breath billowed in his ear. "I like Jasper. But right now I want my Jake."

Jacob tried to brush off the temptation welling inside of him. "Cripes … can we please just have a normal night together?"

Penelope's tongue darted right back in for more sensual licks. "But this is normal, Jake. Normal for us …"

Jacob groaned: half in frustration, half in arousal. With great difficulty, he brought a hand to her snout and looked her in the eye. "Penelope …"

The dragon twisted her head and latched onto Jacob's thumb. Growling playfully, she went down to his knuckle and gave the finger a long, hard suck. Her her azure, slit-pupil eyes locked onto his own gray ones. Her thick tongue cradled his thumb, wiggling and tickling his fingerprints with her tastebuds, then wrapping around his digit and tugging softly.

Jacob blew out a soft whistle. "Damn, Nel …"

A devious laugh hummed from Penelope's sealed lips. "Mm hm hm hm …" She relinquished her keeper's thumb and leaned in for a lick and nibble under Jacob's chin. "I've got you now," she half-whispered as her left paw slid across Jacob's thigh. "You can't resist the wanton lust of a horny dragoness, Jake."

Jacob pursed his lips tight. "Mother's been letting you read her trashy romance novels again, hasn't she?"

Penelope latched on to the loose skin under Jacob's neck. "Naybe. Naybe noth," she murmured, nipping gently. A soft growl bubbled within her throat.

Jacob wrapped his arms around his dragon's neck. His fingers caressed her pebbly scales. "Do you even know what 'wanton' means?"

"Nope. But it sounds hot." The paw sliding up his thigh found his crotch and squeezed greedily.

Jacob grinned. He pulled Penelope away from his neck and kissed her on the nose. "Even when you're horny, you're still cute." Jacob leaned in to kiss her nose again, but Penelope raised her head and met his lips with her own. Though surprised, Jacob did not stop her. Penelope was unable to pucker up like a human, so the dragon improvised, nibbling on his lips with a throaty churr. Penelope's wingtips reached forward, their thumbclaws digging into Jacob's arms. The two shared breaths—Jacob took in the dragon's humid, acrid exhale with an odd exhilaration he couldn't explain. He felt his manhood press against his trousers, yearning to meet the scaled dragon toes so eagerly exploring.

The usual objections echoed in his mind. What are you doing?! She's a dragon! He would hear the same thoughts every time Penelope crossed the border between affection and lust. For months and months they would scream in the back of his psyche. But … the more times he and Penelope continued their scandalous acts, the quieter the voice got.

That means you're getting USED to having sex with a dragon. That's even worse! What are you turning in to? What would the world think if news spread?

Jacob frowned.

The paw at his crotch squeezed again. Penelope looked up at him, her head cocked slightly and ears drooped even more. "Jake, what's wrong? Your cock went soft real fast."

Jacob flinched. "Err, nothing. Guess I'm just not sure if we should really be doing this ..."

Penelope's eyes narrowed to slits. "Let's change that," she growled. "Blowie first. Then we can unf." Jacob felt his cheeks redden from Penelope's words. The dragon rose to her feet, and Jacob scooted back to rest against the wooden crates. Penelope stood between her keeper's outstretched legs, snout zeroing in on her prize, sniffing eagerly. The dragon snuck a claw under his belt and tugged down. "Come on …"

Jacob silently wondered this dragoness desired him so. It wasn't often you heard of dragons seeking out humans for mates—though it certainly did happen from time to time, if Jenivive was to be believed. It was even more curious now that Penelope had Jasper available to her … even after meeting the drake, it did not seem to abate her lust for him.

Jacob let out a sigh. "Alright, alright … we can unf—I mean, we can … well, you know …"

"Yessssss!" Penelope hissed. She licked down his neck and chest, worming her way further in between his outstretched legs. She followed Jacob's hands as he undid his belt, tongue wrapping around his articulating digits with glee. "Human hands are so hot," she murmured, taking his index finger inside her mouth and sucking hard.

Chuckling, Jacob had to pull his hand all the way above his head before the dragon reluctantly let go. "I will never understand your infatuation with them."

Penelope let out a playful churr. "You don't have to understand it. You just need to let me play with them whenever I want to … just like your cock." The dragon's head descended, and her tongue forced its way in between Jacob's pants and his stomach. Wriggling against his undergarments, it went lower, searching for its prize.

Jacob groaned when he felt the first hot lick on his shaft. He finished unzipping and raised his rear to shimmy out of his trousers just enough to be comfortable. Penelope watched his half-erect cock bounce free of its cotton prison with an excited gasp. She immediately buried her nose in his nethers, taking in a deep breath and letting it out with a lusty, rumbling growl. "Rrf, I love your scent so much …" the dragon looked up at him with star-struck eyes. Her voice, but a low and sultry hush. "Do you love mine, Jake?"

The dragon cocked her head as she awaited an answer. Jacob nibbled on his lip. The smell of an aroused dragoness wasn't something he'd initially describe as appealing. But a twinge of shame sank his heart when he realized that for better or for worse, his mind had associated that scent with impending sex, and his body often responded appropriately. Jacob cast his head down and averted his eyes, wearing a guilty smirk. "Yeah, I kinda do …" he admitted.

Penelope let out a precious little gasp of glee. "Yay!" The dragon laid down between her keeper's outstretched legs. Her mouth opened, her long tongue extended, and she rewarded Jacob with a wet, lingering lick. Jacob rested a hand on Penelope's head as she began bathing his cock with diligence, making sure she coated every inch with saliva. The taste of his skin excited her, the smell of his musk invigorated her, the tactile resistance of Jacob's swelling cock emboldened her, and within minutes what started as slow, sensual laps had turned into an almost feverish tongue session.

Cooing softly to herself, Penelope let the tip of Jacob's cock slip in between her lips. She used the tip of her tongue to trace the contours of his penis head, delighting in every curve and dip. Jacob breathed out a husky moan as her long pointed tongue—dripping with thick dragon saliva—caressed his most sensitive areas. Penelope's tongue snaked around his shaft in a spiral, constricted him tight, and finally her scaled snout descended, enveloping the entirety of Jacob's cock in one go.

Jacob threw his head back and swore as his member was engulfed in hot dragon maw. Penelope's soft tongue and sharp teeth slid passed his shaft. The heat was a welcome change to this chilly, clammy warehouse. Penelope quickly segued into a steady rhythmic suckle around the object of her affection. Her tongue stuck out the front of her mouth, curling upward to cup Jacob's balls and slather them in warm dragon saliva. She placed both of her clawed forepaws aside Jacob's manhood and used her jaws to work him, squeezing and massaging his heated girth in a practiced, eager rhythm. With every breath, the dragon blew loud puffs of hair through her nostrils, warming the skin of Jacob's groin.

"Cripes, Nel …" Jacob wheezed, leaning back into the crate and relaxing as his dragon eagerly pleasured him. "I've got friends at University who have to beg for treatment like this …"

Penelope rose her head slowly, using her tongue to keep a tight seal until she finally came off him with a loud pop. "Why? Is it because their dragons don't like to unf as much as me?"

Jacob laughed, causing his erect manhood to bob in the chilly air. Penelope watched his bouncing erection with great amusement. "They have human mates, you silly dragon!"

Penelope cocked her head. "Then what's wrong?"

Jacob smiled. "It's just, some people think it's gross to put their mouth down there …"

Penelope bathed Jacob's erect shaft in slow, lingering licks. "That's silly. One good sniff and it makes me want to … rrrf!" the dragon ruffled her leathery wings as chills ran down her spine. "Every time." Penelope looked up at him with adoring eyes. "But … even if I didn't like blowies, I'd do anything for my Jake if he wanted it."

Jacob's cheeks warmed at Penelope's response. He opened his mouth to say something sweet and intimate, something to make her feel special and loved …

… but she's not a human … she's a dragon …

Jacob flinched. He avoided her gaze. "If you'd really do anything for me, you would listen to me more when I don't want to fool around …"

Penelope grabbed Jacob by the base of his shaft, rested her snout against its manhood, and cocked her head as innocently as a dragon possibly could. "But where's the fun in that, Jake?"

Jacob's lips formed a tight frown. He opened his mouth to object, but Penelope opened hers also—and then she took him in her mouth again, causing Jacob to groan in pleasure as his shaft was enveloped in the dragon's steamy maw. He quickly decided it wasn't worth bringing up. Penelope tightened her tongue around Jacob's shaft as she worked him with her jaws, kneading and massaging with tongue and palate. Her efforts caused Jacob to gasp and throb in her mouth, and the dragon growled in delight. Jacob tensed up and moaned as he felt the reverberations on his manhood.

"Cripes, that vibration feels amazing ..." Jacob sighed. He unbuttoned his top two shirt buttons and tugged at his collar to let out hot air.

Churring in satisfaction, Penelope's eyelids drooped and closed as she twisted and tugged Jacob's cock with her tongue. She flopped the back half of her body on its side, with hind legs relaxed. Her long tail arced in a circle and wiggled in between her haunches. She pressed the flat of her tail against her needy slit and growled.

Jacob looked down at his dragon, watching her. Her eyes remain closed, her ears lay flat against her head, and her species' trademark blue-tipped jaw fins flared out—a cue that often denoted excitement or surprise. "Nel …" Jacob half-whispered. "Don't forget the … thing …" he made an up-and-down motion with his hand. "The head thing."

Penelope's eyes flashed open. Off in her own little world, she often forgot the less intuitive ways of oral pleasuring. The dragon hummed an enthusiastic "Mmm hmm!" and pulled back her head, letting Jacob's cock slide out from between her front teeth until only the tip still lay between her lips. She then dove her snout back down in Jacob's crotch and began a steady rhythm of head bobs. Jacob moaned. His nails dug into the harsh, unsanded wood of the shipping crates. He wasn't sure what it was: maybe her long and winding tongue, or the snout that could take his entire length all at once, or merely how eagerly she worked him … but something about this dragon's mouth seemed to never disappoint.

Penelope worked him steadily, pausing only to swallow the gathering saliva in her jaws. And all the while, Jacob encouraged her: affectionately stroking her fins and ears, rubbing the sensitive spots on her snout and chin, and whispering how good she was. The steady pumping of the dragon's warm muzzle was having its effect on him. His cock stiffened and a spurt of clear pre cum erupted from his tip. Tasting the savory fluid, Penelope growled in approval and swallowed it immediately, following with an extra-strong suck to bring out more. The tail between her hind legs continued to glide and press against her swelling slit. Jacob heard the sound of lubricated scales sliding against each other, adding to the symphony of churrs, groans, and wet smacks that filled the lamplit warehouse.

"Nel …" Jacob panted. He felt a pressure starting to build in his loins. "Slow down a bit. Don't wanna finish so soon." Penelope's eyes shot wide open. She looked up at Jacob, and the corners of her lips widened in a grin. The dragon instead sped up, creating loud sucking noises with every bob.

Jacob gasped. "Hey! Nel! What did I just say?!" Jacob grabbed hold of the dragon's scaly cheeks and tried to pull her off of him. The dragon reacted by ramming her nose deep in Jacob's crotch, tightening her jaws around him, and growling loud. Her claws greedily dug into his thighs.

"Penelope!" Jacob did something he shouldn't, and grabbed her by the horns. "Stop being difficult."

"Mmm-mmm!" Penelope defiantly hummed. She tightened her mouth around him again. Jacob tensed as sharp dragon teeth grazed his sensitive cock. Penelope looked up at her keeper, her playfully devious gaze unabashed in its display. Holding him down, she aggressively suckled, steadily swallowing and blowing hot breaths into his crotch with every exhale.

Jacob gave up pulling on her horns and threw his head back to moan in a mixture of frustration and pleasure. "Why, oh why do dragons always have to act contrary to everything they're told?"

Penelope hummed a conniving laugh. With only seconds away from climax, the dragon came off of him with another loud pop and planted a wet kiss on his cheek. "Because a dragon only does what a dragon wants to do."

Panting hard from his near-orgasm, Jacob stared at his dragon, looking so smug and sure. He smiled, expecting nothing less of her. "You've been hanging around Jasper too much …"

Penelope giggled, then lashed out her tongue and pulled his cock back into her mouth. She concentrated on the rhythmic back-and-forth motion of her head, the sensation of Jacob's swollen cock head gliding across her tongue and palate, and the exciting tastes and smells that titillated her senses. White froth accumulated at the corners of her mouth. Hot saliva drooled down Jacob's balls. The dragon worked him with the skill that only love and experience could provide. She had come to learn his most sensitive spots, what sensations he preferred. She craved his moans of pleasure, desired to feel his cock throb in her mouth. And as another splash of pre-cum spread across her awaiting tongue, Penelope growled in eager expectation of her prize.

Jacob began to pant. That pressure building up inside grew stronger. "Cripes, Nel … I'm getting close again."

Penelope growled, her body wiggling and tensing up in anticipation. The dragon sucked and smacked her lips on every bob of her head. She began to feel it: his cock stiffening against her tongue, his tip swelling ever so slightly more. Penelope opened her eyes, looked up at her keeper, and let out one last deliberate growl. Jacob felt the deep, throaty vibrations as they traveled through her jaws. And it was enough to reach his breaking point.

Jacob's body tensed. His head kicked back, hitting the supply crate with a heavy thump. His hips moved on their own accord, pressing against the scaled snout so deeply buried between his legs. Jacob's hands clenched around her horns so tight that his knuckles turned white.

"Nel … Penelope! God!"

The surging pressure in Jacob's tubes released like an exhale long over-due, and his cock erupted in his dragon's awaiting mouth. Penelope squealed in delight as the first spurt splashed across the back of her tongue. She savored his seed in ways only a dragon could: the cavalclade of testosterone, oxytocin, serotonin, and other hormones flooded her discerning nose and tongue, triggering the brain to release a bloom of lust-driven desire. Shivers traveled down her spine, her hind legs trembled, and her vent clenched around her tail. Jacob kicked his legs out as the dragon's tongue twisted around his girth and squeezed his throbbing length. Steadily Penelope milked him, using rhythmic, squeezing tugs to draw out more of his seed with every sloppy, squelchy smack and slurp. Her jaws tightened around him as his hot milk filled her mouth; her slit tingled and quivered as his moans reached her ears. A second shot, then a third, and a fourth. She continued to work him long after cock grew limp.

Penelope raised her head and let Jacob slip from her lips; her pointed, carnivorous teeth dripped with the fruits of her labor and onto Jacob's stomach. Jacob collapsed against the crates and gasped for breath. Closing her eyes and humming in delight, Penelope played with the gooey stuff with her tongue, letting the hormone-laden liquid titillate her senses. At last she lifted her head and swallowed it all. The dragon then licked her glossy wet lips and stared into Jacob's eyes with a rapturous, lust-drunk gaze.

"More …" Penelope growled. Her snout zeroed in on the droplets on his stomach and licked the area clean, then took his half-limp manhood back in her lips once more.

"We're, uh …" a panting Jacob swallowed, watching her for a moment. "I'm gonna need a bit of a break before that." The dragon snorted in disapproval and refused to let go. Jacob put a hand on her snout and gently pushed. "Come on, Nel … your turn."

Penelope's eyes opened wide. She opened her jaws and rose her head.

Jacob licked his lips. A smirk played off his face. "You heard what I said. Roll over."

Penelope did as asked, revealing an already-swollen slit of daffodil scutes nestled between her lavender-scaled legs. Her entrance shimmered with the thin veneer of feminine fluids, and some of it had leaked onto her lower thigh. Her cloven folds bulged around her tail—a good seven inches of it had wormed its way inside of her, exposing her pink inner flesh and a large clit waiting to be played with. Jacob chuckled. She had been doing this more and more often lately: touching herself while she suckled him. Sometimes Jacob would offer his hands or tongue while she worked, but the dragon often opted to wait until he finished, saying she preferred to take turns.

And now … it was definitely her turn.

Jacob threw his shirt off to liberate his heating skin and embrace the cold warehouse air. He bent forward with a grunt and leaned down next to her haunches. He took her tail in hand. "Someone's been a naughty dragon …" he playfully teased, pumping her tail in and out. Penelope grinned, her scaled lips pulling back so far that the tip of her tongue stuck out from the front.

"I love it when you talk sexy like that, Jake," the dragon cooed, fluttering her cheek fins.

Jacob puffed his cheeks. "I know. I've been trying to do it more often. But it's hard for me … saying these things to a dragon."

Penelope leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. "That's why I love it."

Jacob smiled. He pulled on her tail, sliding it out of her bulging vent until her slit lips relinquished it entirely and closed. He drew his fingers across the soft scales there, causing Penelope to shiver. Her vent radiated heat onto his hand, made all the more apparent in the cold air of the warehouse. Jacob slid a pair of fingers up her silky vent, wetting his fingertips with her fluids. He stopped short of entering her, content to softly stroke the scaled entrance and test the gentle give of her delicate femininity. Penelope kicked idly in the air and snorted. "Rrf, stick them in!" she pleaded. Jacob felt on his fingers the tensing of deep muscles as her inner vent clenched around nothing.

Jacob merely smiled. "Not yet, my little dragon."

Penelope growled. "No teasing!"

"Oh, come on! You tease me all the time yet you never let me tease you back!"

"But that's different!" Penelope leaned in for a lingering lick on Jacob's cheek. "I only tease you to get you all antsy-pantsy. But I don't need to be teased: I'm all wet and ready for you."

Smiling, Jacob took her by the snout and kissed her. "Alright, Penelope."

Penelope gasped in glee and rolled further onto her back, hind legs spread wide. Jacob laid down and rested his chest over her lower thigh. There was a time, once, when Penelope would resort to elaborate tricks and even desperate cohesion to get Jacob exploring down here, but that had passed many months ago. Jacob was glad he didn't have to deal with any more of the dragon's sexual skullduggery ... though, a tiny part of him missed it as well.

Penelope's aroma filled his nose: the earthy, zesty musk of an aroused dragoness was hard to mistake, once you knew the scent. Her yellow-scaled vent awaited his touch: engorged and swollen from arousal, like the cleft of a plump peach. And the dragon's clitoris—normally hidden inside—had grown large enough to peek out, as it usually did whenever she was particularly aroused.

Going down on a dragon … Jacob tried his hardest not to think about what he was doing and what others would think.

… It wouldn't be so bad, if Penelope wasn't a …

"Oh, enough, already!" Jacob muttered.

"What?"

Jacob looked up at his dragon, smiling. "Nothing." He extended his tongue and drew it across the opening of her slit, right where tough yellow scales stop and sensitive pink skin began. Penelope gasped and shivered with every lick. A savory, tangy fluid spread onto Jacob's tongue, as warm and slick as melted butter. Penelope growled in approval as she watched her keeper lick her most intimate of places. With every lick he'd press in deeper, parting her tender slit and spreading her open.

"Keep going," the dragon whispered. Jacob acquiesced, using his thumbs to spread her scaled entrance, revealing the sensitive pink skin inside. Her oval pink clitoris lay exposed from its nook, and her inner depths beckoned with a tempting warmth. Jacob dove in, tongue extended, mashing his cheeks tightly against the cloven halves of her soft and inviting vulva. Penelope squealed in delight as she felt her keeper's tongue wiggle inside. Her thighs and vent clenched as Jacob teased her depths, going as deep as his tongue could muster. Every time Jacob darted in to lap up her juices, there seemed to be just a little bit more waiting for him.

Penelope twisted her upper body to lean back on one elbow and better support her neck. Like a hypnotized serpent at the foot of a snake charmer, the dragon watched with lascivious glee, hissing "Yesssss …" over and over again at the sight of her keeper pleasuring her so. She snuck a forepaw down her legs and ran her toes through Jacob's thick brown hair. She loved playing with it, though Jacob never understood why.

As minutes passed, Penelope turned to putty from his touch. Laying back, she let out chirrs and hums of pleasure: a melodious, whimsical tune accompanied by the rhythmic scraping of her tail's scales as the tip switched back and forth along the floor. She gyrated her hips against his face, causing her erect clit to rub against his nose.

"Jaaake ..." Penelope yearned. "Lick my unf button."

Jacob broke out in laughter. "It's called a clitoris, Penelope."

Penelope snorted. "I don't like that word. It's not fun to say."

"You could call it a clit …"

"Rrf, I don't care what it's called: just lick it!" Her hind leg kicked impatiently in the air.

Jacob grinned. His tongue traveled up, coming to that oval nub near the top of her slit, and when he reached her clitoris the dragon tensed and growled in pleasure. He placed his index fingers aside the dragon's nub and slid her clitoral hood back, revealing the seat of feminine pleasure in its full form. The clitoris of a dragoness was the size of a cherry tomato, and was easily Penelope's favorite spot to be touched. Jacob stole a glance up his dragon's body, seeing her eyes fixated on him as she nibbled on her left wing's thumbclaw. He smiled endearingly at her ... then he wrapped his lips around her clit and sucked hard.

"Jake!" Penelope gasped. The dragon arched her spine, wings scraping along the concrete floor as they extended in reflex. Jacob grunted as her muscular tail curled in and smacked him in the shoulder. "Watch it," he said, laughing, and returned to her clit to bathe it in heavy licks. He explored the feel of her swollen nub on his tastebuds, running his tongue in circles. Penelope puffed out hot air through flared nostrils as she was pleasured, pausing only to let out the occasional draconic growl.

Jacob's right hand crept up, under his chin. He tilted his head forward, mashing his nose against the dragon's genital scutes as two fingers slipped inside of her warm and inviting vent. He thrust in to the knuckle, giving her clit a hard suck at the same time. Penelope squealed in delight as her vent was spread by those devilishly dexterous digits that no dragon could boast of. Jacob pumped his fingers in and out of the dragon's wet slit, stroking the insides of her warm vent with every pull.

"Ah … hah … Jaaaake!" Penelope threw back her head. "Mrrrf! Rmm!" She squeezed her vent around his fingers hard, savoring their firm resistance. Jacob found his fingers stuck. He wiggled them around her clenching muscles as his tongue continued to dote on her clitoris. Crooning in delight, Penelope's tail swished along the floor, curling in to smack Jacob again.

"Ow! Tell your tail to stay put," he said, grinning as he went back down. Penelope's eyes bugged out of her skull as her keeper sucked hard on her nub.

"I … I can't!" the dragon managed, still squirming.

"Alright then ..." Jacob rose to all fours and straddled her tail, locking it in between his knees. "That'll have to do." He laid down, wrapped his arms around her haunches, and dove back in.

Jacob had the dragon throwing fits of pleasure, unable to lay still so long as his lips were locked with her clit. Jacob played with the firm nub in his mouth, rubbing his tongue over it rapidly. His fingers pumped in and out of her depths, creating lewd squelches from her ample fluids. The muscles in Penelope's tail grew firm as the scaly appendage struggled against his chest and legs.

"Rrrf! Yes, yes!" Penelope crooned. Jacob felt claws on the back of his head. He let out a muffled grunt as Penelope's hind foot grasped his scalp and shoved his face down into her slit. She began grinding on his face with wild abandon. "Aaah!" Penelope's voice squeaked as her clitoris was assaulted. "Mmmrf! Almost ... there!"

Jacob knew Penelope to be a quick finish. She rarely could last for more than a few minutes, but made up for it by having plenty of steam for seconds, thirds, and fourths. Jacob often wondered if all dragonesses were this high-strung, or if it was only her.

Jacob sped up until his fingers trembled inside of her, rubbing hard against the upper wall of her vent. Penelope whimpered and groaned as her slit began to tingle with the rush of an impending orgasm. Her hips gyrated against Jacob's face, her forelegs drew tight against her yellow scaled chest. The rapid rubbing of tongue on her clitoris caused a buzz in her lower belly that grew stronger by the second. A low growl welled in her throat, and her vent slackened for but a moment.

Jacob knew that cue well and braced himself.

Penelope's vent slackened around his fingers, then clenched hard as climax overwhelmed her. Squealing in delight, Penelope bucked and thrashed as throes of pleasure surged through her body. Jacob held on for dear life, lips locked around her clit. The foot on his head held him down, and Jacob's eyes widened as his face was mashed against the dragon's quivering slit. Her tail squirmed against his chest like a freshly-plucked earthworm, while her wings clawed the ground. Penelope's slit clenched and quivered around his fingers, leaking her juices freely. The dragon bucked wantonly against that unceasing tongue until at last she had ridden out the entirety of her climax. When she calmed down and relaxed, Jacob sat back on his folded legs and wiped the messy juices off on the back of his arm.

"Well? How was that?"

"Rrrr ..." Penelope's lusty growl resonated like a rumbling thunderstorm.

Jacob cocked his head. "You like?"

The dragon licked her lips. "Fuck me."

Jacob laughed. "Language, dragon! Come on, we talked about this."

Penelope's eyes narrowed. "I don't care. Fuck me!"

"Nel, we say mate," he kissed her on the snout, "because that is the socially acceptable term for dragon sex."

Penelope's rumbling growl continued with every breath. "But we're not two dragons … we're a dragon and a human."

Jacob winced. "Penelope …"

"So fuck me already!"

"Nel, please …"

Penelope spread her hind legs wide, inviting her keeper in. Her yellow-scaled vent lay before him, already messy with her orgasm and glistening in the lamplight. "Come on and fuck me, you sexy human, you …"

Jacob stared at his dragon, paralyzed by shock. She knew he hated getting reminded that he laying with a dragon … she knew he felt uncomfortable for having sex outside his own kind. Yet … as the months passed, she'd seem to bring it up more often than before. And at first, Jacob assumed she would do it out of mischievous delight, but now … as he stared at Penelope's eager, waiting expression, he realized now just how much she had grown to delight in him. She was turned on by his hands, his hair, his human scent, his body warmth …

She loved him for the things that no dragon had.

Penelope's legs kicked the air. "Please, Jake! Mate me, unf me, fuck me … whatever, just do it!"

Jacob smiled. "As you wish, my dragon."

Jacob climbed over her, planting his hands aside her shoulders. Gasping in delight, Penelope drew her legs to her chest and watched his every move with wide and eager eyes. Her nostrils puffed hot air, her cheek fins fanned themselves. She pawed at his chest, exploring his pectorals and shoulders. His cock brushed up against her swollen, scaly mound. Jacob could feel her warm, already-messy fluids. He reached down and pressed his tip against her slit.

"Put it in!" Penelope pleaded.

The tip of his cock slipped inside of her, and Jacob felt her heavenly warmth begging him to go in deeper. He looked down his body, gazing upon the place where human and dragon joined as one. He felt something strange inside of him—a feeling he often ignored before.

"Cripes …" he muttered.

Penelope wrapped her hind legs around Jacob's hips and pulled him down. He sunk in until her supple mound pressed tight against the skin of his crotch. Jacob arched his back and gasped as the dragon clenched her vent, eager to feel his hard meat pushing back against her egg-laying muscles. Penelope growled low and long in sublime satisfaction, clutching her keeper with greedy claws.

Jacob's hips began moving before he knew what was happening. Amply lubricated from her arousal, Penelope's hot inner walls glided across his sensitive shaft. Penelope's slit-pupil eyes dilated in the low lamplight, taking in every detail of the human claiming her as a mate. Her jaws stayed locked in a silent moan. Her ears, folded aside her head. And her tail, swishing eagerly across the concrete ground.

"Ah … ah …" Penelope groaned. She watched Jacob with greedy, lust-fueled eyes.

Jacob flashed a smile as he slid his shaft deep in the dragon's slit. "Do you like that, Nel?"

"No … too slow!" Penelope's forepaws grabbed Jacob by the waist and all of a sudden he tumbled to the left. The dragon slammed him on his back hard enough knock the wind out of his lungs.

"Ow! Hey, watch it!"

Penelope placed her powerful hind legs over Jacob's hips and straddled him effortlessly. Her wings draped down her back, her forepaws dug into his shoulders. The dragon hunched over her human, bringing her snout within an inch of his face. She growled long and low, like a dragon possessed.

Jacob's eyes opened wide. He had underestimated just how high-strung the dragon could get from a thorough licking.

Penelope's tongue flicked out, dancing upon his nose. "Good human. Now sit and stay." The dragon then began to ride him hard.

"Gah! Cripes!" Jacob grunted as Penelope's scaly hips slammed against his own. "Control yourself, dragon!"

"Grrr … I don't want to!" Penelope bucked and bounced on her keeper with wanton abandon. Though dragons weighed little for their size, owing to their hollow bones, the force of Penelope's hips crashing against Jacob was strong enough to cause the mattress underneath to shuffle across the floor.

Penelope mated him with a feral, wild passion. Jacob held on for dear life as she bucked and bounced. Her claws gripping his shoulders were getting painful, and he had to manually remove them and place her paws on the floor. Penelope used her legs and tail in tandem to articulate her hips with practiced precision: she was able to get Jacob's shaft pressing against all her favorite spots. Every so often she would sink all the way down, twist her hips, squeeze him with her egg laying muscles, and growl in sublime satisfaction from the firm resistance of the turgid cock inside.

"Yes … yessssss …" Penelope hissed. The dragon reared her head back, chin held to the ceiling, looking regal and divine in the shadowy, warm light of the lantern. Her thick tail swayed between his legs, the tip thumping a rapid rhythm against a cargo box. There was not a place in the world the dragon would rather be.

As time passed, Penelope segued into a slower, smoother bouncing, giving Jacob an opportunity to collect his wits. He ran his hands along her scaled thighs and across her smoother belly scutes, feeling the ridges between her scales. For several minutes he was content to let the dragon ride him to her satisfaction, but their combined weight on the paltry mat provided poor cushioning, causing Jacob's rear to ache. And so the young man developed a plan to get her off …

Jacob's hands traced down the crease of her thighs, and he brought both hands to her exposed clitoris. The dragon had already made a mess down there: her warm fluids wet his groin and sac. He placed his thumbs at the apex of her spread-open slit and cradled her large clit.

"Alright, alright …" Jacob puffed. "You wanna play rough, dragon? Then let's play rough!"

Penelope gasped and her vent clenched hard as Jacob aggressively strummed the firm nub with both thumbs. "Jake … jake!" She grabbed his hands with a forepaw and squeezed, digging her claws into his skin, and let out an involuntary growl as her sensitive button was assaulted. Unable to concentrate, her practiced bouncing devolved into a primal, instinctual grinding against his hips. "You … you're gonna make me cum again! Jaaaaaake!"

Jacob grabbed onto her thigh as the squirming dragon threatened to slide right off of him. "That's the plan!" He took his remaining thumb and rubbed in rapid circles, creating a cadence of wet schlick-shlick-schlicks.

"Hah … Mrrf … Rrrr …" Penelope's head dipped down, half-illuminated in the dim light of the lantern. Her jaw hung lax, tongue flopping about as she grinded mindlessly on her human's cock. Jacob could feel the dragon growing weak in the legs. Her lax wings hung low to the sides. Her breath quickened, her tail stiffened …

Jacob did not let up on her clitoris, and after several moments, the dragon's loud growls and yelps escalated into shrieks as she came hard around him. Her entire body went rigid. Penelope's vent clenched and spasmed, her juices flowed freely. She placed both forepaws on Jacob's chest to steady herself, too overcome with ecstasy to balance on two legs. And still Jacob did not let up.

"Too much, too much!" Penelope reared up, causing Jacob to slip out. She promptly collapsed onto her flank. Her forepaws shot down to her still-clenching vent as the squealing dragon leaked juices from between her toes. Jacob raised himself onto one elbow, concerned as he watched his dragon quiver and shake from the intense orgasm. He opened his mouth to ask if she was okay, but waited until her climax worked its way out of the dragon's system

"Hah … ah … ahhhhh … my vent feels so gooooood …" the dragon finally relaxed her tense muscles and let out a sigh of satisfaction. Her thighs and tailbase gave one last twitch, then went still.

Penelope's moment of respite was short-lived: the dragon felt something latch onto her ankle. She raised her head with wide eyes of shock as her keeper spread her hind legs, erection in hand. "Jacob!" Her wings fluttered in surprise.

"I'm not done with you just yet, dragon," Jacob said, smirking.

Penelope gasped in glee. She immediately rolled onto her back and presented her dripping slit to him. "Rrrr … eager Jake is best Jake!"

Jacob laughed as he climbed on top of her. He hot-dogged his dragon's swollen slit before slipping back inside of her, eager to feel the warmth once more after being in the chilly outside air. Jacob wasted no time: he gave it to the dragon hard and aggressive from the first few thrusts. His balls slapped against her labial scales with wet pap-pap-paps.

"Ah! Ah!" Penelope trilled in delight. "Yes, Jake, yes!" Penelope drew her wings close against her body. Her wing thumbs latched onto his wrists and her forepaws wrapped around his waist. She held him securely—jealously, and encouraged her keeper with frantic licks to the chin and neck. Her tail swayed between Jacob's legs, its hard scales scraping against the floor in throes of pleasure.

"Gimmie a hard one!" Jacob slammed his hips against her scaly haunches, driving his cock in as deep into the dragon's slit as it could go. Squealing in delight, Penelope squeezed her vent as he pulled out, as if she didn't want him to leave. "Yes! Another!" Jacob did so, causing Penelope to squeal in delight.

The dragon buried her snout into his shoulder and bit down. "Rrf! I'm being fucked by a human and I love it!"

Jacob's eyes bugged out of his skull. "Penelope! Not so loud, for cripes' sake!"

Penelope trilled in delight. "Don't care; no one's here!" She let go and licked him on the cheek.

Jacob looked down at the dragon, both amused and intrigued by her reaction. Penelope stared back with adoring eyes. She panted hard, lips pulled back in a pleasured groan as her breath billowed against his face. Her yellow scaled chest rose and fell with rapid, shallow pants. She crooned and groaned with every breath at the steady pounding her slit was taking. The dragon seemed to be in her happy place—where not a thing in the world mattered except for the burning lust and desire she had for her keeper.

Jacob's cock throbbed, delivering a spurt of pre-cum in her hot folds, mixing with the dragon's natural lubricant. Penelope squealed in delight as she felt him throb inside of her. The sight of her keeper claiming her so eagerly sent shivers down her spine. Her vent could not possibly get any wetter. The dragon's mating instincts whispered unspoken urges to her. "Rrr … hold me down, Jake!"

"What?"

Letting out an impatient snort, Penelope latched the thumbclaws of her wings around Jacob's wrists and guided her hands onto her chest. "Like this!"

"Okay!" Jaocb put his weight on the dragon, pinning her to the floor.

Penelope let out a growl of approval. "Now cum in me … and when you do, let out a big growl and bite my neck!"

Jacob broke out in sniggers, half amused and half uncomfortable. "Penelope!" he griped. "You're breaking the mood!"

Penelope pawed at his chest. "Jaaaake, please!"

"Alright, alright!"

"Come on, Jake … finish in me. Claim me as your mate!" She licked at his neck and chest again. "I need to feel it."

"I'm … working on it … cripes!" Jacob shut his eyes tight as he mated his dragon roughly. Every thrust into her scaled vent felt like a slice of heaven: her textured walls and ample warmth seemed to hug his rigid cock, and every exotic squeeze of her internal muscles had him wishing to feel her climax once more. Penelope's forepaws slid down his sides, his waist, and curled around his ear. They dug into his soft skin and squeezed. She began to rock back into him, meeting his hips with a slight arch of her tail.

Jacob searched himself for that second wind—a growing orgasm—and he nurtured the feeling with every passing second. Like Penelope, he too began to succumb to the primal urges of sex: to drive his shaft deep inside and unleash his seed in her awaiting womb. Penelope's husky grunts filled his ears. Her claws gripped him hard enough to hurt. He didn't care. The dragon's soaking vent quivered at his every thrust, and as the seconds passed, it felt more and more like the perfect place to unload his building orgasm …

Jacob's cock stiffened, his body tingled with electricity. His thrusts slowed down, but grew in power, until he shook his dragon's haunches with every slam. He felt the thrum of a throaty growl rumbling in the dragon he laid against. A weird thought danced in the back of Jacob's mind: he bent down and latched his teeth onto his dragon's scaly neck. And with one last mattress-sliding thrust he bit down hard as his cock erupted with a spurt of virile cum.

And although a part of Jacob felt silly what he had done, he felt something trigger in Penelope: something primal and instinctual. He had claimed her as a dragon would, and the act induced a powerful orgasm in the dragoness. Penelope trembled and moaned as her vent involuntarily squeezed the human dick throbbing in her depths. She arched her back and neck, scraping her horns against the floor and thumping her tail on the mattress as pleasure flooded her draconic brain. Her claws grasped his butt and held him down, forcing him to finish entirely in her depths.

Penelope held on to Jacob long after his orgasm subsided and his cock drew limp. Only after he let go of the patch of scaly skin between his teeth did the dragon relax. Jacob pushed himself up to sitting position, noting the pain of claw scratches on his back and rear. Penelope fell back and panted, forepaws drawn tight to her rapidly-puffing chest.

Jacob rubbed the dragon's scaly belly. "Well, Penelope, how was that?" Penelope lay still, seemingly too exhausted to respond.

"Rrrf …" was all the dragon could muster. Her vent was a mess, her legs were too weak to stand, and her tail lay still for the first time in seemingly forever.

Jacob leaned over her. "Nel?" He took her head in his hand and beheld a dazed, grinning wreck of a dragon.

Jacob laughed. "What was with that biting and growling thing?"

"It's hot,' Penelope managed, still panting. "It's what a drake would do."

Jacob smirked. "So all this time you just wanted a horny drake to mate you, huh?"

Penelope shook her head. "No. I wanted my Jake to mate me like a horny drake. That's what I always want. Just my Jake … nothing more."

The dragon leaned forward with tongue extended, and Jacob grunted in surprise as she kissed him passionately on the lips. He felt her long tongue enter his mouth, and—caught up in the moment—he did not object or stop her. He explored the texture of her long tongue on his own, savored the taste of her ashy saliva, and felt the acrid puffs of hair on his cheek. Her vent clenched hard around his cock as she kissed him, and her wings wrapped around his shoulders in a tight, leathery embrace.

"I love you," Penelope whispered into his mouth. She pulled back and licked him on the tip of his chin, awaiting his response.

Jacob tensed up. Penelope had said those words earlier, but they carried an entirely different weight this time. Jacob felt it in the tone of her voice, the expression she wore. And …

And Jacob felt a weird feeling he had been getting more of recently. He wasn't sure what that feeling was, although it scared and worried him.

Careful … once you go this far, it might not be possible to come back.

Jacob felt the urge to give in to that feeling.

You shouldn't. She's a dragon, Jacob. A dragon!

He wanted to return her gesture of love.

You should be saving that moment for a human!

Jacob stared into his dragon's large, azure eyes that looked at him with so much adoration and joy. These were the eyes of his childhood friend, the dragon he had grown up with and for years had stayed by his side, always loyal and loving.

Jacob knew what he felt for her. Perhaps, he had always felt it for her … and had simply tried to ignore it before, because she was a dragon. But right now …

Jacob saw no dragon staring back at him. Penelope was just … Penelope. Nothing more.

"Jake?" The dragon cocked her head. She placed a paw on his chest.

Jacob smiled. "I love you too, Penelope … I love you, too."

Penelope gasped in delight. Jacob leaned in close.

They kissed again.

TO BE CONTINUED

Post-story notes (read after reading the story)

~Just for the record … I really didn't want to make Jacob and Penelope's relationship romantic. But I felt it's what my readers wanted. Parts of this story were incredibly difficult for me to write, but I hope that for the sake of my readers that it was worth it.

~Jacob and Jenivive aren't even fucking and already some of you are getting uppity from the past few chapters, so I'm saying this for FOR THE LAST TIME: Dragons DO NOT get jealous over sex and relationships! They are NOT naturally monogamous and don't understand why humans are! So STOP putting your personal feelings onto Penelope and assuming that Jenivie is going to ruin their relationship. That will NEVER happen. And for the record, I am NEVER going to write a Jacob/Jenivive sex scene: their relationship is PURELY for plot-related purposes.

~I rushed this out to get it published sooner than later, which means I didn't get anyone to proofread this chapter. I apologize for any mistakes you find .

~Expect a lot of things to happen in the next chapter. Some good, some bad. I'm moving the plot forward and gearing up for something big.