Page 17 of Caveman Alien’s Terror (Caveman Aliens #25)

17

- Praxigor -

Astrid’s fast heartbeat is like thunder in my ear. I run one finger along her leg, marveling at the smooth warmth. I’m relaxed and almost mellow. The intimacy with her made the pain go away, but I know it will be a brief respite.

Astrid’s hand is in my hair, slowly caressing my head and making it feel good.

I look up at her. “I told you there are other dragons on Xren. What I didn’t tell you was that they are married to Earth girls.”

Her eyes widen. “What?”

I reach one hand down to rest on her ankle. “They all live far away. But they are in their dragon form, not this cursed shape. Nearly every dragon came to Xren years ago. We were made to believe that a certain enemy of ours was here, and that all their riches had been hidden on this remote planet. It was true, except there were no riches. And the last of the enemy was dead. There was no gold anywhere, as far as we could tell. It had been a trap. This whole planet is a trap for dragons.”

Astrid stares at me. “How?”

“We couldn’t leave,” I go on. “We were in our weakest form, exhausted and gold-less, unable to fly back through the Void. The woods are full of dragon slayers. That’s what the tribes really are, if you didn’t know. Their real purpose is killing dragons, the way our old enemy wanted.”

“I suspected,” Astrid says quietly. “But that was before I knew dragons actually exist, so I couldn’t be sure.”

“But the enemy’s plan didn’t work,” I go on, “because our servants, the Plood, put Earth girls here. The Earth girls were meant to distract the slayers and keep them from focusing on their real task. It must have worked. Some dragons also met those girls and married them. Not many. Just a handful.”

I hear myself telling Astrid the whole thing, not sure why except that I want her to know. She’s made me downright talkative, lying here with my head in her lap.

“One dragon, a prince, had the foresight to bring part of his hoard to Xren. He offered small parts of it to the other dragons so they could Change to their dragon form and leave this planet. They all did. Except those who were married to Earth girls. And a couple of others.” I look away. Those days… I wish I could forget them. Nearly everyone left, and those who didn’t could leave any time they wanted. Only I was still in this form. This disgraceful form.

“They left me,” I seethe.

Astrid strokes my hair. “Can you please go on, my love?”

“Nobody told me about it!” I fret. “I was busy searching for gold of my own. When I finally found out, it was too late. The prince wouldn’t give me any gold. I tried to steal some from him, but it was hopeless. Those other dragons mocked me and said I’d be stuck on Xren forever. To complete the mockery they even gave me a… well, never mind. I will just say that they taunted me in the worst possible way, the most dreadful humiliation. And there wasn’t much I could do, because they were in their full dragon forms and I was like this. They would have killed me without a second thought if I’d owned any semblance of valuables. But as it was, I didn’t even have that. Not even a speck of silver, not even the shard of a semi-precious stone. I was more valuable to them as a laughing stock.”

Astrid gently caresses my head. She doesn’t say anything, but her eyes are like mirrors of my pain. And to my surprise I find that I don’t resent her sympathy because there’s something behind it that’s deep and genuine.

“Sometimes those dragons will fly,” I tell her. “They will fly intricate patterns in the sky, backlit by the moon. I couldn’t bear watching it. So I left the continent. I couldn’t fly, so I simply found a beach and walked straight into the water and along the bottom. I walked there for years, I think. Under the ocean, resenting its resistance to every step I took, its darkness and its goldlessness.”

“That must have been terrible,” Astrid coos.

“Finally it rose and became new land. It was this land.” I slap my hand on the grass. “But as it turns out, there is even less gold on this continent.”

“I’m sorry,” Astrid says quietly. “We will do what we can to find gold, Praxigor. I promise.”

All by itself, my hand goes to the pitiful hoard pouch in my pocket. It’s just as powerless as ever. Astrid’s touch is warmer than the hoard. Much warmer. “Anyway, you’re interested in the Earth women. There’s a whole village of them on that other continent. They’ve conquered a large part of the jungle. Helped by the slayers and the dragons, of course.”

“And they’re married to the dragons?” Astrid marvels. “I didn’t know dragons have marriages.”

I raise my head and stiffen. There’s a whiff of something new in the air, distant and all male. Stale sweat, iron, smoke, leather, rancid grease. Slayers are approaching, still far away. I can’t hear them yet, but from the faint smells I know there are many of them.

“We know what marriages are,” I tell Astrid as I lie back down. “But to a dragon, the hoard is always more important than some other living being. Getting married seems… insincere.”

“Those girls. What do they look like? Where are they from?” Astrid asks.

I shrug. “I don’t know more than that. I had other things on my mind back then.”

She moves her hand in my hair and finds a new spot to caress. “All right. Thank you for telling me.”

“I just thought you might want to know.” I’m astonished about what I just did. I’ve admitted great weaknesses and humiliations to this lesser creature, this alien woman.

Willingly! Good gold, what’s happening?

“Praxigor.”

“What?” I growl, annoyed by my own feebleness that has me needing to confide in someone. It’s completely unheard of.

Astrid pulls gently at my hair, making me look down up her clear, big eyes. “You must be the strongest dragon that has ever lived. You don’t fear anything, not even someone else knowing about your life.”

I raise an eyebrow, finding that her words please me greatly. “Oh?”

Her nostrils widen. “What could be more dangerous than a dragon who’s not even afraid of his own weakness? Who would dive into battle even if his scales were cracked? How could you ever lose?! You’re the strongest, most magnificent dragon that ever lived! Look, Praxigor. I’m so awestruck my skin looks like this.”

Indeed the skin on her arms has once more taken on a bumpy texture, confirming her words.

I listen for a moment, pretending I’m in my lair and listening for thieves so that my hearing will be at its most sensitive. The slayers are still coming, and now I can hear them as well as smell them. They’re making noise on purpose, yelling, beating on drums, and knocking pieces of wood together with sharp bangs.

I grin at their ineptitude. It was bound to happen at some point. At least two tribes of slayers are hunting something in a way they never do otherwise, driving their quarry ahead of them.

It’s me, of course. They’re hunting me. But I’m not going to let the activities of slayers decide my own actions.

I sit up, take Astrid’s small, delicate face between my hands, angle her head, and kiss her with all the passion a dragon can muster. That affection is usually reserved for my hoard, but right now she brings it out in me.

Astrid goes limp in my hands and I have to catch her when her balance gives in.

“Sorry,” she rasps. “All the blood went to my… You know. My lower body.”

“I know what a woman’s lower body is,” I tell her, as my cock goes hard. “Sometimes we use other words for it.”

“Lie down,” she says. “I want to do something for you.”

“Nothing of value was done by a dragon who was lying down,” I counter.

“Then you’ll be the first,” she goes on, voice hoarse. “You may like it.”

And in this state, weak and injured, I think I might. So I lie back down on the grass, reflecting that dragons never lie down unless it’s on their hoards. What here reminds me of a hoard?

Astrid unsnaps my pants, surprising me. “Let’s get you out.”

My cock escapes from its confines and stands up along my stomach, hard and eager.

Without hesitation, Astrid kneels on the ground beside me and takes it into her mouth.

“Oh…” I exclaim as my whole pelvis tenses up and goes hot. It’s a new experience, and I never thought I could be surprised by anything anymore. At least not pleasantly surprised.

Her pink little tongue slides along the head of my rod, circling and searching, as if she’s getting acquainted with it. The warmth, the movement and the wet softness creates a sensation that starts gently, but then becomes stronger as I focus on it and it spreads.

I watch in wonder as a good portion of my length goes in between her full lips, into her warmth. “That’s… remarkable,” I groan. “Where did you… how…”

She gives me a mischievous look and the corner of her mouth twitches in a little smirk, but she doesn’t stop. She takes more and more into her mouth, deeper and deeper, so that I start to wonder if she’s going to have room for it all. Then she chokes and glances up at me with watery eyes while she wipes her lips. “That was too deep.”

She attacks my cock again, not as deep but with confidence and more force.

I put my hand on her back and slide it down to her behind, squeezing the softness there.

It’s all too much for me. Small lightning bolts of pleasure start to build. And I don’t want to finish like this.

“Come here,” I order, voice hoarse as I grab Astrid’s arm to pull her up.

She gets it right away and doesn’t let go of my rod as she straddles me and impales herself on my hardness without hesitation. Laying her head back, she moans deeply as she slides down on me, eyes narrow and shiny like crystals.

I straighten and pull her closer, one hand on her back and one under her hips to help the movement. Astrid groans and makes the thin, sweet noises that I’ve come to crave.

I could come at any time, but I want her to be first. For a change I let her decide, only helping the moves she starts so that she won’t get tired.

Her breasts bounce, and I reach a hand out to squeeze them both.

“Oh yeahhh…” Astrid groans moving faster. “Just like that…”

My need grows fast and I’m not sure I can stop it. Just as I thought I’m going to lose control, Astrids eyes fly fully open, she stares into my eyes and gives off a throaty scream as we both plunge into the climax.

“I love you!” she wails, fucking herself on my cock.

I come at the same time, spraying hard inside her, almost regretting it because it makes her insides so slippery that some sensation is lost.

I hold her close while she rides out her orgasm, almost making me jealous with how long and deep it must be for her.

When it’s over, she lies limply against my chest, panting and breathing. “Ohhh… you’re so incredible.”

“As are you,” I tell her, almost reluctantly. “In more ways than you know.”

The sounds of the slayers is closer now, but they’re not moving fast.

Getting up, I grab her dress from the bush where it’s hanging. Its front is still ripped, and I don’t want her to walk around like that, where other males might see parts of her chest. “Can you fix this?”

“I could if I had a thread and needle,” Astrid says, slowly getting up.

I hold up one of my claws, pointy and sharp. “Is this needle good enough?”

She takes the dress and tightens a part of it. “Try to make two holes. One here and one here.”

Without much effort I pierce two holes in the smelly leather. “And now?”

“Now I just need a thread. Wait.” She saunters over to a bush, and I greatly enjoy watching the fluid movement of her rear. She returns with a thin, green twig. “This will work for a while.”

She puts the still moist dress on and arranges the twig with the two holes so it keeps the loose flap from moving too much. “There.” She stiffens and stares into the jungle. “What’s that?”

The sounds from the hunt come steadily closer — the clacking of wood on wood, booming of drums, the voices, the faint hum of hundreds of feet.

“The tribes are hunting,” I tell her. “All their warriors working together against their common enemy: a single dragon.”

She frowns. “They’ve moved fast, then. Nobody was talking about hunting dragons before you gave me that salen fruit.”

“No good deed goes unpunished,” I mutter as I take Astrid’s hand and lead her along, away from those who are trying to flush me out of the jungle. “Or so they say. I wouldn’t know. Good deeds aren’t really my thing.” I let go of her and take out the stone I’m carving, feeling a strong urge to finish it. I feel weaker and weaker. I need something to make me strong.

We walk on at a slow pace. Astrid easily keeps up. I’m not worried about myself — I can always trick my way out of the slayer’s traps. It’s barely a nuisance. But I suspect Astrid’s tribe is among those driving us through the woods. And I don’t want her to leave me.

“ I’m the one who leaves,” I tell myself. “I’m not the one who’s left. Not again.”

“Where are we going?” Astrid asks after a while.

“We’re going to let them catch up with us,” I invent on the spot. “I’ll attack them and teach them that hunting for Praxigor is a hopeless task that can only bring them death. I have seen them try to fight, Astrid. They have all kinds of silly rules that hamper them.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to just get away from them?”

I don’t like that question. “Afraid I’ll hurt your friends?”

“I’m just thinking that they don’t know where you are. They’re just trying to flush you out. If they simply never see any trace of you, they’ll give up.”

I smile tightly. “I will do something more devious. I will make them attack each other. That will stop this silly hunt faster than anything else, and it might provide us with some entertainment.”

Astrid keeps her head down as we walk. “Praxigor, what’s your dragon form like?”

“It’s glorious,” I tell her truthfully. “I’m the very highest being in that form. It’s as different from this pitiful form as the real, golden Chalice of the Sun is from the crude stone replica I made.”

“Are you deadly and mean in your dragon form?”

It almost makes me laugh. “The words ‘deadly’ and ‘mean’ are too weak to describe my dragon form, Astrid. Your heart will freeze when you see me.”

We walk in silence for a while. I sense that Astrid is thinking deeply about something.

“If you suddenly found gold,” she finally asks, “would you hurt me? Kill me?”