Bed with Beryl

A/N: Part 4 of the Ammie and Beryl stories. I'm posting them all at once so you can find the others here now. This might be my favorite of the set, personally. I tried to make up for the real swing and miss of the previous part by showing Beryl as both annoyed at the actions, and also real and vulnerable. I tried to make it cute and sweet, and a couple people who read it said it is. I wasn't sure how sexual to make it without losing the theme but I think it worked out all right. This is a better and more nuanced exploration of what part 3 attempted, and I'm pleased with how it turned out.

Note: Beryl is 19 and the narrator is 20.

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Beryl lay on her stomach on my bed once more, paging through yet another book. I wasn't sure which one this time. It was much smaller than the chemistry textbook of a few weeks ago, but at the same time far from small. Once more she wore the overlong shirt that exposed her legs as a nightdress. Her wings flapped slowly and her tail lay beside her lazily.

At some other times I might have been inclined to stare a bit longer, but not today.

"Hello, Beryl. How are things?"

Beryl looked up from her book. "They're all right." She patted the space beside her on the bed. "Care to sit with me?"

She sat up as I walked toward the bed. I sat next to her and wrapped my arms around her.

Beryl gasped a little in surprise before returning the embrace. "I thought you didn't like hugs?" she asked.

"Not usually, but sometimes I am in the mood for one, like now."

Beryl hummed to herself for a moment, thinking. "My sister put you up to this, didn't she?"

I blinked. I could tell she would see through any lie I told, so I simply nodded. "Yeah, she did," I said after a moment. "She said you would probably enjoy it."

Beryl groaned, loosening her grip. "Of course she did. Why?"

I sighed a little. How was I supposed to explain this? "After...After that time a month or so ago, she asked me to check up on you."

"She asked you two weeks ago, didn't she?" Beryl smirked. "Took you long enough."

Leaning back a little, I muttered, "You know, I'm starting to regret giving you and Amaranthe meta knowledge for the purposes of this dumb story. It makes it a lot harder to tell a coherent narrative when things can't happen in a reasonable timeframe."

Beryl shrugged. "It is a little gimmicky. It also leads to some weird inconsistencies because you hide information from us we should know. Like I asked you about Ammie just now but in theory because you know what happened, I should too, but because that would ruin the story you're just bluntly preventing me from being aware of it despite that being a violation of your previously established rules."

I sat in silence for a moment. Ammie'd never pointed out anything like that, but now that Beryl mentioned it...Of course I thought of it before she did, having planned the scene days in advance, but —

"I guess this story is really just nonsense, huh?" I asked after a moment. "Do you agree that for the sake of this making any sort of sense we should just ignore whatever philisophical ramifications this has and proceed forward?"

Thankfully, Beryl nodded. "Let's. So, why did Ammie tell you to check up on me?"

I sighed, heavier this time. "Damn it, I should have kept talking about the nature of time and free will. She's worried about you and wanted me to cheer you up."

Beryl frowned, tail slapping the bed in annoyance. "Is she, now? She always worries about me too much. I've tried to tell her I'm fine, but she just won't listen!" She turned to me. "Sorry, I shouldn't be getting angry at you. She was the one who sent you here."

I wrapped my arms around Beryl again. "I just want to make certain. Are you all right?"

Beryl returned my hug with her wings. "More or less. It really was unlike me, wasn't it? I'm not usually that...fervent, about wanting that kind of physical attention. Not like that perv Ammie!" She laughed, though it sounded just a bit forced.

"Are you embarrassed by it?" I asked. "I'm sorry I forced you into that situation."

Beryl wrapped her tail around me as well, bringing me in even closer. "In retrospect, yeah, it's humiliating. Not that I was naked in front of you, that I don't mind. Not even that I pressed myself against you. It was just the way I acted, was so immature. Disrespectful, kind of slutty even. I forced you to look at me and pay me attention." She pressed her head into my shoulder. "And so I have been acting a little funny since because I'm a bit ashamed that I acted that way."

I simply held Beryl for a moment, allowing her the emotional release she needed. "You're okay, right? Not planning anything rash?" I said after a few minutes had passed.

I could feel more than see Beryl grimace, with her head against my shoulder. "Did Amaranthe really think I was going to kill myself? I thought about it one time, that's all, and it was years ago! She just never seems to have let it go." I heard her intake breath. "Well, one time she knows about, anyway. But not for a long time, now. I just wish she'd quit worrying about me." Beryl flopped over onto her side, her winggrip tight enough that I fell with her to contiue the embrace on our sides.

A few minutes passed in silence. I couldn't tell just how many.

"Maybe I'm not quite so fine, after all," Beryl mumbled. "I just needed to let out some emotions I guess." She looked at my face. "Can you do me a favor?" she asked.

I nodded. "Certainly."

"Can you please tell me I'm pretty?"

I blinked, then took in a deep breath. "You're more than pretty, Beryl. You're gorgeous. Your wing membranes are so fine and soft, your tail sleek. Your legs are beautiful too. You're lovely." I tightened my grip around her. "You don't need me to tell you that."

She snuggled up against me. "It just sounds so nice to hear it, is all." Her tail twitched happily. "Do you want me to take the nightdress off?"

I jerked back a little in surprise. "You're really sure? Are you not wearing anything under it again?"

Beryl laughed a little. "Well, I am wearing some panties this time, at least. But I told you, I don't mind if you see me. I just want to be more relaxed this time, you know?"

A few seconds passed. Her reasoning was clear, just as Ammie had said before. Beryl wanted approval. She wanted to be held and appreciated. And she wanted it on her own terms.

She wanted intimacy.

I nodded and released my grip. "All right. You can go ahead."

Beryl sat up and began to pull her shirt off. Unlike before, where she practically tore it off, this time she went slowly and sensually. As she lifted it she revealed the tops of her thighs, the white panties she wore, the dotted gems below her navel, her gorgeous curves by her hips...With every inch of gorgeous off-alabaster skin she revealed her grin widened a little, until she finally exposed her lovely breasts to me. She finished pulling the shirt over her head and held it in her left hand. "So, how do I look?"

I couldn't quite bring myself to respond at first. "Beautiful," I said at last. My gaze was occupied by her breasts - each a reasonable handful, with small dark gray nipples contrasting against her lighter cream skin.

Beryl began to slip her panties down her legs. My eyes shifted from her chest to the wavy black hair between her thighs. "Can you touch me? Just a little? Just rub my tail, I think. That would be nice."

I nodded, and Beryl set her tail on my lap. I began to rub it in the direction of the scales, slowly moving the starting point closer to the tail's base with each rub, unable to take my eyes off her.

Beryl moaned softly and lay back, giving me an even better view of her body. "Thank you," she whispered. "That feels so nice."

"I'm glad you're honest about it," I said. "Ammie tried to trick me into thinking she was sore so I'd rub cream on her."

Beryl burst out laughing. "Wow, she tried that on you, too? She really is a pervert!"

"She tried to get you to rub cream on her too?"

Beryl nodded. "It was a couple months ago. I saw right through it, said maybe another time. Did you do it?"

I shook my head. "We came close but in the end the mood was lost before anything happened."

She grinned, pushing herself a bit closer to me. "Maybe one day we can both help her soreness at once!"

"Maybe."

After a moment, Beryl sat up and pressed herself against me. It was like the time some weeks ago, but it felt different, somehow. More sensual. She did this not for pressure, not because anyone was watching. She pressed herself against me for one reason only -- because she wanted to. "I hope you don't mind if we cuddle while I'm undressed?" she asked.

I smiled, running a hand down her back. "Of course not."

We continued for a time. It was good to see Beryl a bit happier after her frustration of earlier in the day.

There was carnality here, of course there was. A naked dragon woman pressing herself against me could be nothing else. But it was also enjoyable to simply spend time with her in this situation. Pretend time or otherwise, it still felt nice.

It was curious to see that Beryl didn't seem to want sex, or even much leading up to it. She just enjoyed my gaze and my light touch. The intimacy was far more to her than the crude nature of she and Amaranthe fooling around before.

What could I conclude from this? That sometimes craving for sex is really just craving for passion, I suppose. And that on its own can be reward enough.