Warmth

The explorer was colder than she could ever remember. The ends of her dark hair had frozen hours before, and her fingers and toes felt pieces of ice. As her breath vanished in tiny clouds around her, the voyager knew she wouldn't see the dawn if she couldn't find shelter. The route up this vast mountain had been much longer than it appeared on her map.

Snow blew into the explorer's eyes as she raised her head, and she trudged ahead, lifting her feet as if they were made of stone. Her efforts were rewarded from some high benevolence- there was a crevice nearby in the bluish ice. Strangely, faint light was coming from it, barely brighter than the half-moon hidden in patchy grey clouds.

The explorer rubbed her eyes, but the crack remained. A smile lit her face and with a loud grunt of effort, she pushed and stumbled through the windblown, ankle-deep snow. The radiance was light yellow and seemed to pulse faintly, lighting what it held as the explorer peered inside.

It was the mouth of a long tunnel, stretching into the heart of the mountain. The path sloped gently downwards in an invitation to crawl, although the explorer's numb body protested. It was already much warmer inside, with a curious lack of ice on the walls. And that seductive warmth was emanating from within...

After many minutes of slow descent, the tunnel gave way to a cavern, enough for the explorer to squeeze through. She could stand now, top of her head barely touching the roof. The otherworldly glow was bright enough for a shadow to flicker on the rough wall. Compared to the shrieking winds and blowing snow, this place was cozy enough to sleep in- but where was the heat coming from?

Too tired to question further, the explorer sunk to the floor, rubbing feeling back into her hands and feet. The winter couldn't reach her here. She would investigate this place later. With her rolled-up overcoat as a pillow, the explorer barely had time to stretch out before she was asleep.

But she was not alone. At the apex of the tunnel, another creature was rousing. A massive head, covered in pale blue frills, lifted with a yawn that exposed many long teeth. The snake-like body was embossed in iridescent scales and a mane of transparent fur shone on its chest. Great, clawed fists clenched and relaxed as the creature pulled itself to its feet, a massive tail swinging out behind it. Golden eyes as large as a human face opened, and the creature's nostrils dilated as it inhaled a new scent.

Curling its thin lips, the ice dragon turned itself towards the mouth of the cavern, sniffing loudly. The scent told it that this human was a woman, fairly young, and exhausted, and needful in other ways. Its eyes narrowed to glowing slits as it rounded the corner of its rocky bedroom and saw the sleeping shape.

"Bold of her to enter this place," the dragon murmured to itself, its voice a deep rumble, "or foolish. Or simply desperate. Perhaps all at once... no matter. I shall help her."

The dragon approached in a few careful steps, then gently curled its long body around the woman. It touched a cool nose to her face, sniffing noises ruffling her hair, then strong arms pulled the woman onto its furred chest. Heat pulsed from the fur and skin. The dragon waited, its own eyes closing after some time.

In a few hours, the woman stretched out her arms and lifted her head a fraction of an inch. She was lying against something a lot softer than her coat, and there was a regular sound nearby, like breathing. It was only when she turned her head and opened her eyes did she see the dragon's face.

In immediate panic, the woman jerked her head up and tried to squirm away. But when the eyelids lifted, revealing gold and black slit pupils, something silenced the scream rising in the woman's throat.

"Please, be calm," the dragon said in a soothing murmur, "I have no wish to harm you. I do not harm humans. Even ones who bravely enter my den as if it were their own home."

"I... didn't know this was where... where any dragon lived," the woman stammered after an uneasy pause, her eyes unblinking. She was as much in wonder at the dragon as she was afraid of it. This was a magnificent creature! The glitter of its smooth scales, the shining mane on its chest, the kindness in its eyes, it was just as beautiful as the legends and paintings had depicted.

"Oh, indeed, my kind prefer solitude," the dragon answered, its nostrils expanding slightly. "Yet would most of my brothers or sisters have found you, they would not have allowed you to rest alongside them."

"I'm no threat to any of you," the woman interrupted, some of her fear coming back. But the dragon's thick tail coiled lightly around her legs and she could only relax at the warmth.

"Of course not, not as only yourself. Any dragon with wisdom knows he has nothing to fear from someone in great need."

The woman nodded, and the question had left her mouth before she'd thought of it. "Do you need... well, is there anything I have to do, to come in here and sleep in your home like this? Humans don't usually do that without giving something back."

The woman could see several emotions flicker in those great eyes. The dragon seemed to be contemplating as it sniffed the air deeply, its head lifted high and pointed upwards.

"I suppose... there is a way you could serve me, human. But it does not require any great effort on your part. Only a willingness..."

"Willing to what?" the woman asked, cocking her head, and the tail around her legs seemed to be coiling a little tighter, tenseness making the giant creature hesitate. It brought its face an inch to the woman's before its voice made a quiet request.

"What I ask of you... is if you are willing to lie with me, human. If you are willing to, for this night... act as my mate."

Immediately all of the blood left the woman's face. Her mouth opened, but no words emerged, and the dragon brought her closer to its chest in response.

"You will not be harmed in any way, as I have said," the creature clarified, and once more it began to intently sniff the woman, as it had during its first examination, "I will be gentle. My kind have mated with humans before... I assure you..." a claw lifted the woman's chin as the blunt side of another stroked her throat, "you will carry nothing from this night but a wonderful memory."

The woman closed her eyes, sighing deeply, and before she opened them again, her pants had been folded into a pile on the floor. Next to join them was her shirt and underclothes. The dragon's lips curled in a fanged smile, and a long tongue slid from them and touched the woman's cheek for an instant. It was hot and slimy, but not in an unpleasant way. It was sensual and gentle and only interested in satisfying the deepest, most primal needs of the dragon's fortunate guest.

"Wonderful," the dragon purred as the woman smiled nervously, and again the tongue swept over her cheek, this time for a longer moment. "It has been a long time since I've been so fortunate as to have a human woman share my bed... and such a lovely one, too!"

"Thank you," the explorer said with a modest blush, covering her bare breasts with her arms for a moment. The dragon's nose and mouth were now all over her, exploring the smooth skin, snuffing and licking and nipping in a few places. The woman, already titillated by these loving gestures, felt her arousal spike as the dragon rose to all fours and she could see something stout poking from behind its muscular back legs. A few drops of fluid dripped from it as it came closer, the dragon now standing over its claim, tongue hanging from its half-open mouth, golden eyes narrowing.

"Ah, what a torment it is that I cannot have this privilege every night," the creature growled as the woman's hand curiously touched its shaft. It was nearly the length of her elbow and twice as thick, visibly pulsating with sensual energy in the dim, flickering light. She could feel her core tightening and becoming wet at the thought of it inside of her open thighs...

Dropping to all fours like the beast above her, the woman inhaled a steadying breathing and closed her eyes, sweat from her forehead hitting the floor in drops. The vast creature was rubbing its still-stiffening shaft against and inside of her thighs, which she closed playfully at one point, then her laugh turned into a moan as the jaws closed in admonishment on her shoulder, though the teeth left no mark. The dragon was whispering in a long hiss, "How shall I claim you, my jewel... softly and slowly, or with all the force I'm capable of? However you wish it, it will be..."

"I made it halfway up this mountain, I can take whatever you offer," the woman answered, looking boldly over her shoulder at the throbbing organ. Its tip was now positively slippery with thick fluid and the woman shuddered all over as she felt it rub between her thighs, giving her a prelude of what was to come. Another few heavy, loud breaths, a loud grunt, and the dragon's shaft slid halfway into the woman's waiting slit.

Her eyes squeezed shut and she cried out in shock- not in pain, but at the startle of how hot the flesh within her was. It was as if all the warmth in the dragon's powerful body was centered here! Loud, wet noises accompanied every tiny movement as the dragon shifted, its nose low to the ground, focusing its strength in its back legs to deliver a powerful thrust that left the woman shrieking for more.

And there was more, each one stronger than the last, each thrust pushing more of the dark, hard flesh into the woman's core. The sticky fluid was abundant and trickled down her legs as the shaft pulsed continually, harder each time, like a great heartbeat. It was such a powerful sensation that the woman had to drop to her knees almost at once to save herself crashing to the floor.

The dragon's tail lifted and its head was held straight out as it growled, then roared, feeling heat well up from within its body as its shaft pulsed and pushed almost hard enough to break the small human body between its legs. The woman could barely breathe, had already felt a shattering orgasm and was near a second, her whole body soaked in sweat and drool hanging from her open mouth. She never would have imagined that such a beast was capable of making her feel pleasure this far beyond her imagination.

One final push, the dragon pinning the woman to the floor on her stomach as she lost her grip, a roar that shook the mountain bellowing from its throat. A gush of steaming spend issued from its twitching phallus, then a second, then finally a weaker third as the great beast collapsed as well, its breaths faint and frantic.

Underneath it, the woman was limp with pleasure, her whole body tingling and vibrating, her inner core warm from the inside out. She could never remember in her whole life feeling such embracing warmth, such powerful twinges and aftershocks of an already incredible double orgasm.

As the dragon slowly recovered, the woman clambered once more into its furred chest and pressed her exhausted face into the transparent fur. She felt the warm breath on her cheek as the dragon licked her once more, its eyes half-closed in grateful bliss at its human partner.

"Thank you, dear woman," the dragon murmured, and the explorer nodded in reply, then with a rush of playful spontaneity, kissed the turquoise nose.

"I may be..." she paused to get back her breath, smiling from ear to ear at the gentle creature on whom she was resting, "I may be the first to be willing to share more than one night with you."