I leaned back into the couch. Sydney sat next to me, her head resting on my shoulder. Two steaming mugs of hot chocolate sat on the coffee table before us. Akasha sat on the loveseat a couple of feet away. She watched us as she sipped from her steaming mug of coffee. She took another sip, set her mug on the coffee table, and leaned forward, her eyes boring into Sydney.  

“You said you would explain your actions this evening.”  

Sydney nodded. “Yes.”  

Sydney turned to look me in the eye. I tried not to squirm under the weight of that gaze. Her eyes held me. The back of my neck tingled, as did things lower in my body. I felt like she was trying to tell me something. Instead of understanding whatever it was, I was suddenly very aware of the swell of her breasts against my side—the feel of her warmth next to me. I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and drew her closer to me. She smiled, and I felt it right down to my toes.   

“Do you recall the last time we were together?” she asked. Her voice was soft, almost seductive. Her eyes twinkled as she watched me. I smiled and nodded back to her.  

“How could I forget?”  

“Tell me what you remember.”  

“I remember lying with you. Holding you. Loving every inch of your body. Reveling in the feel of your skin against mine.”  

I saw Akasha roll her eyes. Sydney smiled, her eyes twinkling with mischief and the knowledge of deeper things.  

“What else do you remember?”  

“I remember being inside you. The feel of it was intoxicating. I’d never felt anything like it.”  

“What do you remember next?”  

Akasha leaned forward, suddenly keenly interested in my response. I glanced at her, and there was an intensity to her gaze that made my skin crawl. Sydney smiled encouragingly at me. I frowned. What did I remember after that? It was a blur. Incredible pleasure, but something was off. I shrugged.  

“It felt amazing...”  

“What else?” Sydney prodded. I frowned, trying to remember beyond the sensations.  

“I... I remember my parents pulling me off you. You were crying. Trying to hold on to me.”  

Sydney smiled sadly and nodded. Akasha made a shark bark of noise that was a cross between a laugh and something else.  

“You were both virgins,” Akasha stated, sitting back in her chair. Sydney and I nodded. “That explains a lot.”  

“My mom dragged me out of the room. I remember you crying, trying to come after me, but my dad was holding you back. What happened? Why can’t I remember what happened?”  

Akasha laughed again. “The lust-frenzy.”  

I looked at her. “What?”  

Sydney turned to look at Akasha for the first time since we had sat down. “Is that what you call it?”  

“There is no term in your language that explains it. The best translation is virgin-frenzy-lust. It happens to young dragons when they have sex with a virgin. They go into a frenzy. Their minds blackout and their mating instincts take over.”  

Sydney nodded. Her eyes glazed over. "You were a fucking machine. Hammering into me. Your eyes had glazed over, not really seeing me anymore. Then you came, but you didn't stop. I felt your seed filling me up inside. It was amazing.”  

My eyes widened. I shook my head. Sydney placed a hand on my chest and smiled sadly.  

“You did. I loved it,” Sydney gulped. "Then your parents were there, pulling you off me. You came back to yourself, but you were confused. My insides were full of your seed. I could feel it swirling inside me, doing something to me. It did not hurt but I was scared."

Akasha nodded. “Normal reaction.”  

We both turned and looked at her again. Sydney nodded. Akasha met my eyes; her gaze was full of weight and knowledge.  

“Your parents never told you.”  

“No.”  

“Not a surprise.”  

“Can you explain it?”  

Akasha sighed. She reached down, picked up her coffee, and took a long, slow sip. She swirled the coffee around in her mouth, then swallowed. Akasha returned the mug to the coffee table, looked at us, and took a deep breath.  

“Dragon reproduction has been tied to humans for millennia. We cannot breed without a human host for our babies.”  

“Why?” Both Sydney and I asked at the same time. Sydney giggled and snuggled closer to me, resting her head on my shoulder again. The feel of her weight against me was comforting. I squeezed her shoulder gently. I leaned over and kissed her on the forehead.  

“I’m sorry I hurt you.”  

Sydney looked up at me, and tears were again in her eyes. She shook her head. “It’s okay. I know you didn’t mean to. I wouldn’t change anything.”  

Akasha waited patiently. “Are you two quite finished?”  

Sydney giggled and nodded. I met Akasha’s gaze and nodded.  

“Dragons have been around since before humanity. There was a time before Australopithecus took his first steps when mystical creatures walked the earth. Dragons roamed that world and many other things you have never heard of. We watched their evolution. We dragons realized early on how adaptable your ancestors were. Some of us theorized that your species would take over the planet. We never expected you to do what you did, but it was theorized.  

“Many mystical creatures started to die out as time progressed. The dragons of that age decided that if we were going to survive, we needed to be tied to another species that would adapt. Humans made the most logical choice.  

“Those dragons used their alchemical abilities, runic magic, and talents to alter our genetic code. To change the way we reproduce. Unfortunately, that knowledge is all but lost now.  

“Before those days, Dragons reproduced much like your larger lizards do now. Males and Females would have sex, a clutch of eggs were laid, and watched over. Hatching into little hatchlings that grew into Dragons.  

“Dragons evolved. We stopped laying clutches of eggs. Dragons would mate, and a baby would grow in the belly of the female, who eventually gave birth to an egg that was then watched over.”  

Akasha stopped to take a sip of coffee. Setting the mug back on the coffee table, she resumed.  

“Dragons in those days were massive monsters by your standards. Hundreds of feet long. Using magic and alchemy, those dragons found a way to merge the essence of ourselves with humans. They did not have the science you humans have now, but they knew things lost over the eons.  

“Using magic, a combination of runic spells and innate magic talents, they could shift their bodies into the much smaller shapes of humans. Certain things did not translate well, but they could pass among those early humans undetected.   

“Early co-mingling did not go well. Many dragons became enamored of the humans they live with. Mating happened. Many times, instigated by the humans, who are so biologically driven to have sex with each other.”  

Akasha peered hard at Sydney, “You just cannot help yourselves. You want to fuck and breed until you wipe out all life on this ball of mud.”  

Sydney blushed and turned away from Akasha’s intense stare.  

“I cannot blame you. I, too, enjoy a good romp with Dragons and humans alike.” Akasha smiled. There was an edge to it, though—a sadness and a hunger that was scary to witness. Akasha’s eyes met mine. She licked her lips. “It has been a long time since I've been with a dragon that could satisfy my needs properly.”  

Akasha sat back and took a deep breath. Then continued.  

“The long and short of it was that we could not breed together. So, the dragons devised a way to make it possible. They knew we needed humans to survive, so they started changing the fundamental nature of our reproduction. Please do not ask me how they accomplished this. I wish I knew. I would change it if I could. I can only tell you what the result was.   

“A mated pair of dragons cannot have a baby without a human to carry it. Our genetic material does not mesh. It combines and dies. We need the additional genetic material of a human to complete it. Something in that process creates a baby dragon that survives. Maybe it was the world's magic dying out as Humans invented technology. Perhaps it was a mistake the dragons made. We do not know. Magic has died out of the world. Only a few things can still do any magic.   

“Anyway, dragon babies only take root and grow in a human woman's womb. A normal human woman’s womb cannot house a hatchling, though. They have a hunger that human bodies cannot withstand.   

“Male dragon sperm was altered. Again, I do not understand the particulars, but I can tell you that it only works with a virgin’s body. A male dragon will go into a frenzy once he has inserted his dick into a virgin's vagina. He will thrust and drive until he cums over and over again. Filling the woman's womb with his seed. A male dragon's sperm contains special properties. These only work on the chemistry of a virgin human female. As the virgin vagina starts to absorb all this material, the womb changes. The cervix is altered. Thickened. An opening grows to allow the insertion of the egg.

“That causes changes in her body as well. Her womb is forever changed. It will not house a human baby any longer. It has been hardened and repurposed for a dragon child. This also causes changes in brain chemistry. Making humans desire it more than they desire self-preservation. Making them the perfect host.  

“Dragons are much stronger than humans. Our bones and muscle mass are denser. As a result, we are stronger, tougher, and faster. A frenzied mating dragon could easily crush his partner’s body. Many human mates were killed. Even to this date, this process is not perfect. You are lucky you were not injured.

“Even after all that, upon reaching maturity, a baby hatchling would eat its way out of its mother. Its need for additional genetic material and sustenance would drive it to eat its way out.”  

Sydney shuddered and turned to me, burying her face in my chest. I patted her back reassuringly.   

“There is an old saying among Dragons,” Akasha said, her voice a soft whisper in the room. “Virgins are only good for two things. Breeding and Eating.”  

Akasha looked me in the eye. “Your parents were trying to change that process. Create something new. Something that would have more predictable results. Where the host could survive.”  

Sydney turned and looked at Akasha, fresh tears in her eyes. Akasha looked at her. There was something different in her gaze. An appraising look.  

“I saw the runes carved onto your body. They carved those.”  

Sydney nodded.  

“They were trying to see if they could have a child that did not kill its host. They wanted you to be that test subject. What happened?”  

Sydney gulped and sat up a little straighter. She looked at me with an apologetic look on her face.  

“After Ed’s mom dragged him from the room. His father sat with me. He told me he was going to help me. After Ed was gone, he picked me up and carried me into his basement.” She winced, her eyes distant in the remembrance of the experience. “I felt the changes happening in my lower body. I felt the bones reshaping. That was when he started carving runes in my flesh. He shaved me. His fingers, his fingers became like talons that carved through my flesh like a knife through butter.  

“It didn’t hurt. I watched him do it, and I did not feel a thing. When he was done, he smiled, looked me in the eyes, and said, ‘No more breeding and eating for you.’ He laughed then, like he had just made a great joke. I did not understand at the time.  

“They kept me in their basement, strapped to the bed. I only wanted to see Ed, but they said I couldn’t, that I wasn’t ready. They kept scribing new runes on my body. Casting new spells. They undid the straps so I could eat. The door was locked from the outside; I could not get out. But all their books were left around the room. I read everything I could. Studied every book in that room.”  

Sydney took a sip of her hot chocolate. Her hands trembled when she put the mug back on the coffee table. She turned to me with tears in her eyes.  

“You have to understand. After everything they did, I still had that hunger for you. To feel you inside me again. To bear your children. I was desperate to find you. To touch you. They healed my body, carved these runes into my flesh, and made me something... else. Something more than I was. But that desire for you never went away.”  

Akasha laughed. “Any mate would have sated that need, girl.”  

Sydney turned back to Akasha; her jaw was set firm. There was a harshness to her expression that surprised me. “No. I wanted Ed. I had no desire for his father.”  

Akasha chuckled. “If he had taken you, you’d have let him.”  

Sydney shook her head. “No. I don’t think so. It doesn’t matter anyway. I started drawing runes on the floor. I studied those books and drew my own runes. I found a sharp object and bled my fingers to draw runes on the floor. When they returned, they walked right into the circles I had drawn. Trapping them.”  

Sydney turned to me, tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry, Ed. I just wanted out. But once they were in those circles, something happened. I must have drawn the wrong runes. I don’t know. There was an explosion. I was thrown through a window. When I came to, the house was gone. Everything was gone.  

“I found shelter and started writing down everything I could remember—all the runes. I was so angry and hurt. I realized that using the runes I had studied and the knowledge I had gained, I could drain your essence into myself. If I got the runes right, you would be human, and I would be something else. If I could get you to climax inside me again, it would complete the ritual.  

“But you flipped it on me. Your dad said my cervix would always have a hole in it. Even after all his healing.” Her face scrunched up, and her voice dropped an octave. “’The hole is necessary for proper insemination.’ That is what he said.”  

Akasha nodded. “Male dragons cannot climax if they cannot fully engulf their member inside the body of their partner.”  

Sydney blushed, “I was not prepared for how that would feel. I could not keep the rhythm of the chant.”  

Akasha stared at Sydney intently. “How did you know the ‘Song of Seduction’? No dragon has sung that song in a thousand years.”  

Sydney blushed. “I read about it. Then I just tried it. I wasn’t sure it would work. It just felt right.”  

Akasha laughed. Then, the smile and humor slipped from her face like it had never been there. She looked at Sydney as if she had just done something really interesting.   

“Maybe you have a little dragon blood in you. I’ve never met a human who could intone the runes like you. Where did you learn that?”  

Sydney squirmed and blushed under that intense stare. “I heard Ed’s parents speak some of them. Others, I just guessed. It felt right.”  

I held up a hand. “Whoa, wait a minute. Sydney might have dragon blood in her veins? How is that possible?”  

Akasha nodded. “Dragon reproduction is not a sure thing. There were cases I witnessed where the host mother gave birth to an ordinary human child. That child would carry some hint of dragon blood through its body and could pass that on to its children.”  

Akasha turned back to Sydney and smirked. “Whether you have dragon blood in you or not, you still meddled in things you had no business in. How did you remember all those things you read?”  

Sydney looked embarrassed. “I have a photographic memory. Anything I read, I can remember almost perfectly.”  

Akasha’s eyes widened. “Then you know all their research?”  

Sydney nodded. “Most of it doesn’t make sense to me, but yes.”  

Akasha leaned forward, staring intently at Sydney. “Then their knowledge is not lost. We still have a chance to change things. I lived with humans for a time. It broke my heart when their daughter died giving birth to my son.  

“Dragons are dying out because we have grown too attached to our human families. There are so few true-born dragons left. Dragons either do not mate or choose not to try because they do not wish to watch their human companions die. But you could change that!”  

Sydney’s mouth dropped open. Then she snapped it shut and blushed. She turned and looked up into my face. Fresh tears were in her eyes. “I’m so sorry for what I did. I’ll do anything you ask to make up for it.”  

Akasha glared at Sydney, who kept her gaze on my face. The intensity of Akasha’s gaze was so hot that I was sure she could feel it burning into her back, but she ignored it. Keeping her eyes on my face. I bent down and kissed her. A soft brush of lips. Sydney sighed against me, relaxing her body against mine. I had realized how tense she had become until that moment.   

I looked at Akasha. “What do we do?”  

“Make her our surrogate. Sydney, would you agree to carry Ed’s child to maturity? Even if there is a chance you won't survive?”  

Tears...