Δράκος: Νερό Pt. 02

The high-pitched squeal of death, which was emitted by the hare, filled her ears right before she chomped down, severing its life-cord. Like a cat that kills for a game, the slender golden dragon tossed the prey away, bored and uninterested. Layra was seething on the inside, her discontent growing steadily, and she couldn't help but feel like it was entirely the black dragon's fault.

His fault that she was in this cave, his fault she was even alive, his fault that they were mates. Or at least, he claimed that they were, because of her change. She wasn't so convinced, though.

Layra's nostrils flared reflexively, glaring at Jareth from beneath scaly eyelids, irritated at the lesson he was trying to teach her. She longed to take to the skies, hunt freely, but he kept her here in his cave, trying to educate her constantly. She'd become so submissive to him before the change, but now all she felt was contempt, and anger.

He turned around and realized she'd killed the rabbit, and picked it up in his mighty jaws, tossing it back over to her.

"Eat it." His voice, as always, commanded no disobedience.

Layra lifted her head haughtily, lying down cat-like, but with her nose stuck in the air.

"No." She glared at him, almost begging for him to whip her for such insolence.

He sighed and looked at her hard, until she was squirming uncomfortably under his gaze.

"We eat everything we kill, Layra. That is the way nature intended it, and that it the way it must be. Whether you like that rabbit or not, you must eat it."

When she refused further, he gathered himself to his full size and she saw those golden eyes swirl some as he spoke the words that would transform her back to a human. She roared in defiance at his control over her body, but her roars turned to a scream. She immediately willed herself to change back, but found she was unable to.

He walked over to her, pinning her form to the ground, and took the rabbit up in his talons.

"You WILL eat this Layra, even as a human, and let it be a lesson to you. She cried out in anger and he sighed, walking away from her. She was surprised to watch his retreat; he usually forced her if she refused to do his bidding.

"Do you think I enjoy this, Layra? Do you think I delight in punishing you?"

At this he whirled around, and uttering a few words, changed to his human form, so tall, and so striking.

"Who are you, Layra? What discontent is building on the inside? Do you not think I would help you if you would let me?"

He sighed, sinking into a squat by the pool, and Layra felt smug in her power over him. He whispered his next words.

"What's happened to you? What's happened to my little darling?"

Layra tried to ignore his words, to ignore how her heart instinctively reached out to him when he uttered them, but her pride held her fast. Without a backward glance at her, he dipped into the pool, and disappeared from the cave. She could see his dragon form flying off in the distance, and she felt a twinge of sorrow, but it passed quickly.

~~~**~**~~~

Jareth flew in and out of the cloud cover, banking left and right at ease, not overly concerned with where he was going. His thoughts were instead occupied with his mate. Layra had become distant the last few weeks, and even resentful. She refused to sleep in his bed, instead lying on the floor, and would not spend any time with him except when forced. She constantly tried to stay in her dragon form, and he could tell she was straining to find a way out of the cave, and away from him. He just couldn't figure out why. He knew the transition was frightening, but she had freely given herself to him, and then suddenly tried to retract it. It didn't make any sense.

Jareth landed on a precipice, watching the mountain goats below. Normally he would have loved to take Layra to see these things, to let her take part in the thrill of the hunt, but she had no respect for the value of life. She was becoming once again the spoiled princess she had been before he took her to his cave. Back then though, she had been so grateful to him, and in so much awe of his dragon form, she had looked at him with a kind of reverence.

Naturally, he had taken to spoiling her, letting her get her way more than he should, but he had only used a firm hand at first because of her defiance. He had never intended to use one her whole life. Dragons, once mated, mated for life, and Jareth had always thought he would spoil his life-mate beyond her comprehension, letting her live a life in pleasure and joy, and expected to receive the same treatment.

Layra, with her new form, was spoiled and rotten, and just plain mean. She nipped at him when she thought she could get away with it, she purposely bullied him and spoke to him disdainfully, and she was practically asking to be put in her place. Jareth toyed with the idea, it was enticing. She needed it-that was for sure. But though he had been hard on her at the beginning, forcing her was never his intention. He had asked for her complete submission, but he had still taken care of her along the way. Some may have said he'd made her into a slave, but any observer would state that he was as much a slave to her.

He sighed softly, picking out the weakest goat, and swiftly dove down for the kill. The ram bleated in protest, but the dragon's swiftness and jaws made quick work of the kill, and in seconds, the fight was over. Jareth mercifully snapped its jugular, letting the animal die quickly and instantly, and then picked up the kill, taking it back to Layra. In her giant form, it seemed there was never enough food to satisfy her.

~~~**~**~~~

Layra stretched out by the pool, her golden scales glittering with the jewels' reflection. She idly drew a talon across the water, loving the ripples it made. Though Jareth was a fire dragon, she was naturally a water one, and her transformation was through a wave of liquid. Instead of breathing fire, she could control water bodies and even emit them from her own being. Jareth had remarked on how incredible it was.

She didn't know it yet, but soon she would be able to go under water for extended periods of time, and eventually could even dwell down there, only coming up if she wanted to change.

She saw Jareth surfacing in the pool and looked at the ram in his great jaws. He swam over to the bank and dropped the kill on the ground before climbing out himself.

Even though she tormented him and hated him, in spite of herself, she was still amazed by his form. He was huge, the largest dragon she had ever seen, and blacker than the darkest night or the deepest abyss. His gold eyes were as pure as the color of her scales, and though he was so large, he was incredibly lithe too, moving with grace that she did not possess, and would perhaps never attain. Although she was dragon herself, she would never have all the skills that natural dragons possess, though she may have some that humans-turned-dragons did.

Jareth hadn't shared with her yet what those skills were, though she had tried to bully him into telling her.

He dropped the ram before her, and without a second glance, moved over to the rock he often preened on and settled, watching her.

Layra quickly devoured the ram, bones and all, crunching away. She cast a glance at him and her clear blue eyes narrowed. She got up, leaving the meal half-eaten, and waltzed away, back up the tunnel.

"The meat's tough. Perhaps you can do better next time."

She didn't cast a backward glance, and never even noticed that Jareth, as usual, didn't eat a bite of the catch.

~~~**~**~~~

Layra slept, as was her habit nowadays, on the floor outside Jareth's door. She was so uncomfortable, and hardly slept a wink, but denying Jareth her warm presence gave her some bit of comfort. She didn't know why she was torturing him so, or why she held such animosity. In truth, all he had ever done was save her. But Layra longed for more, a life outside of this place, and with her dragon form, she didn't need Jareth. She thought back over his words. What had changed? Why was she so defiant now?

She couldn't answer these questions. Layra had never had anyone and she certainly didn't them now.No, she thought to herself,Jareth was a means to an end, and I don't need him now that I'm a dragon.

For some reason, in the pit of her heart, the thought, and her denial of her love for him, saddened her. She cried herself to sleep without realizing it.

~~~**~**~~~

Jareth watched her, as he did every night, as sobs racked her body. He longed to comfort her, but when he had tried, she hadn't let him near. He could see so clearly that she was keeping herself from him, but why, he couldn't be sure. He stretched easily in the shadows, admiring the way she slept. Pure dragons had no need for sleep, and so never did, though he could be caught curled up in a rest-like fashion of a cat nap. Layra didn't realize this, and he felt no need to tell her, if she had realized he didn't need sleep, she'd probably try it too. Why was she so damn defiant?

Jareth thought back to that first week after the change, when she'd curl up against him as they read in the library. Layra was so affectionate during those days, preparing all their meals, waiting for him at the pool when he'd returned from a hunt, insisting on sharing what he'd killed for her. They'd spent nights making love to each other until she was so exhausted she couldn't move, and he'd reveled in her ferocity in their bed as her dragon-self forced her passions to grow hotter and wilder.

He was shaken out of his reverie by a hot, warm sensation gripping him, and when he looked down, he had to blink to make sure he was seeing right. Layra was between his legs, his member in her mouth, and looking up at him with the most doe-looking eyes he could remember her showing. He smiled at her, and she smiled back, and continued to suck him deeper and deeper, as his erection eagerly grew in her mouth. She must have forgotten how large he was, because she soon started to gag and had to take shallower strokes, but she continued none the less, working at him with her mouth in the exact movements that he had once told her he loved.

He was too caught in abandon to wonder why she was being this way. When he felt the familiar tightening and he began to grow even larger in her mouth, she sucked him in hard, and he couldn't hold back the explosion as he gripped her hair tightly, his hands forcing her mouth to take him in all his length, and the wonderful feeling of her swallowing every inch of him. When he began to soften, he reached down and scooped her up into his arms, taking her into the room and laying her down on the bed.

He made quick work of her robe, removing in a single swoop, and lowered himself down upon her, his forked tongue searching for the cavity between her neck and shoulder, sending delicious sensations through her body. Layra wiggled and writhed underneath him, seeming to beg for more of his ministrations, and he worked his way down her body to one puckered nipple, taking it into his mouth and suckling hard, drawing a delightful mewling sound from her. He moved to the other one, working his way slowly with nips and kisses, and took it into his mouth, licking in circles and then flicking it with his tongue, while his other hand pinched and pulled at the abandoned peak.

Layra arched against him, the feeling coming back to her so readily, her need growing stronger and stronger as Jareth played her body like a fine-tuned violin, knowing just where she wanted him to go, and just where to touch to give her that release. She had to admit, he was never selfish in bed. He moved down on her, kissing her navel and all the way to between her thighs, her musk so strong to his dragon senses. His tongue snaked out and took a lick that had her writhing, crying out for more. He continued to lick her, gently, teasingly, and she realized he was toying with her. She grew angry and tried to force him, but she realized quickly that though Jareth was a patient teacher, when his passion and arousal was in full swing, he was every bit the dragon who had torn those men apart in the glade so many weeks ago.

He snarled at her ferally and rose up over her, pinning her wrists down to the bed, and in her anger, she kicked right for his growing groin, missing him by a centimeter. A second later, she was cowering down as red hot flames licked over her head, and she looked up in the red eyes of a very large, very enraged black dragon. She instantly remembered, from all her reading, that dragons only shifted forms involuntarily when they lost control of their passions, be it grief, joy, or in this case, anger. This caused her to cower even further into the sheets.

"ENOUGH!" His voice boomed, reverberating the room and causing pictures to fall to the floor, shattering. She had never seen him angry in his dragon state, or at least, not directed at her.

"I will have no more of this." His voice wasn't as loud, but it wasn't gentle, either. She could see that although in dragon form, he still had the erection, although due to his large size, it was much, much more formidable. She realized he might pummel it into her, as angry as he was. She tried to hold as still as possible, more afraid than she had ever been, even before her change. She had forgotten that Jareth, though she pushed him around and bullied him, was a dragon, and still had dragon limits. She didn't even try to will herself to change; she knew it wouldn't be possible.

She was shocked to feel a talon gently graze across her labia, and involuntarily lifted her hips. She felt something white hot, like fire, for a fraction of a second, but then a softer touch. She looked up to see the face of Jareth, in human form, but still with red eyes. She realized he had changed himself back, gathering control of himself once more.

Though she was afraid, she involuntarily arched her body with need; she was so close to orgasm. He toyed with her, keeping her on the brink, and when she began to beg and plead with him to take her, he removed his hand and looked at her.

"Who do you belong to, Layra?" He asked in soft tones.

She looked at him and growled. "I belong to no one!"

She continued to wriggle on the sheets, glaring at him. He toyed with her more, bringing her so close again.

"Who do you belong to, Layra?" He asked again, no change in his voice.

"NO ONE!" She roared back, and lunged for him, trying to force him to satisfy her. He easily pinned her to the ground and shoved deep inside of her, burying himself to the hilt and moving in and out in an animalistic rage.

She cried out at the sudden pain of being taken so forcefully, and tried to get away, but he held her still as he slammed into her, demanding her to look at him.

"Who do you belong to??" He said it again, maddening her.

"No one, Jareth! No one and especially never you!" She yelled at him, furious. She was so close to orgasm, she could feel it clenching around her, but she knew he wouldn't drive her over the edge. She knew what she wanted; she just hated to give it.

"You, Jareth! I belong to you!" She snarled, even though she knew she didn't mean it, but she got what she wanted. At her words, Jareth dipped into her hard, rubbing her nub with his body, and she crashed into ecstasy, floating away in pleasure. She didn't open her eyes when Jareth pulled out of her, nor when he set her on their bed, or when he wiped her clean. She didn't realize it when he didn't crawl into bed beside her, and she didn't know that he left the cave, their home, and took off into the dark night on beating wings, large dragon tears glistening in his eyes.

~~~**~**~~~

Layra woke up alone. She was ecstatic her plan had worked; she knew that if she had given Jareth pleasure, he would be off to hunt in the morning, giving her time to execute her plan. She didn't want to admit to herself she had enjoyed it, too. No, she had simply done what was necessary to get what she wanted. Right?

Shaking these thoughts from her head, Layra moved in the direction of the tunnel, skirting down it to the pool, where she morphed herself. Though the pool was at the bottom of the cave, it was the only way out of the place. Of course, it was so deep that humans couldn't swim that far to get into it, but luckily, as a dragon, and a water one at that, she was confident she could do so. She stretched out her wings, the golden membranes stretching long, and dove down into the water. At the sight of the jewels, she took a few choice goods; those would help her to get started in a new place. She beat her wings and swam for what seemed minutes until she neared the surface, and came up, looking around. She couldn't believe it - it was the spring she had swam in all those times before she'd met Jareth for the first time. That must've been how he had found her so quickly. She pulled herself out onto the bank and willed herself to change back to a human, but quickly realized she had been rash in her plan, for she had no clothes and hadn't thought to bring any. She looked around and saw she was alone, so for now, she'd simply have to find a village and steal clothes off a line.

Layra looked around at this place she hadn't seen in so many weeks. Why had he kept her underground anyway? She thought briefly of going back to the kingdom, but remembered the brutes that had tried to rape her. Instead, she headed in the direction of a village she knew would be to the West, not in too much of a hurry, but not wanting to get caught in the nude, either.

~~~**~**~~~

Layra finally saw the village in the distance, much, much later in the day, and felt relieved. She was dirty and tired, and starving, and she was sure she'd feel better after a food, a bath, and some clean clothes. Though she should have felt bad for thieving, she was still in the frame of mind that everything in the kingdom belonged to her. She laid down under a tree to sleep, exhausted by her walk. Layra knew she could've gotten there in two strokes of her great wings if she had changed, she also knew that she would've drawn so much attention to herself, and would've been struck down dead. She sighed as she drifted off into a dreamless sleep, feeling very safe and, though she didn't yet realize it, very alone.

Layra awoke, suddenly, to the rough feeling of someone yanking her out of her sleep. She growled and went to snap at the hand that did so, figuring it was Jareth waking her in the morning, but then the realization that she was far from home dawned, and she opened her eyes blearily as a hand roughly pulled a hood over her head and bound her hands. She tried to cry out, but a gag was put around the hood, and she found herself at the mercy of whoever her captor was, bound and already naked for him. She shuddered at the thought, but didn't have much time to do so before she was shoved roughly to what her feet told her was a kind of path, and led towards who knows where.

~~~**~**~~~

Layra blinked and opened her eyes as the hood was roughly torn away from her face. She blinked once, twice, to try to acclimate to the light that her eyes were not used to. She was still bound at her hands, and now that she could see, she realized at her feet as well, though she should've felt that without seeing it. She decided she was just disoriented.

She looked around to try to find her captor, but there was no one in sight. Finally, a man came into view, and she looked at him, trying to size up how hard it would be to morph and devour him. She waited though, she was curious to see what would happen next. Curious and defiant to the last.

The man approached her, and she saw he was a large, burly type of brute, but he didn't look particularly cruel either. He sat down at the chair opposite of where she lay strewn on the floor, drinking a glass of water. When she looked at him searchingly, he lowered the glass to her lips to let her drink, and then murmured something to a woman who had suddenly appeared beside him.