The air was thick.

Hot.

Sticky.

It smelled like sex and sounded even worse with every wet squelch echoing in the room.

But more importantly it smelled of the fervent desire and passionate desperation of two beings who needed each other more than they needed air.

Riley’s hand was still on Kael’s wrist, fingers trembling, knuckles pale from how tightly he was gripping. He was the one moving. He was the one making Kael’s fingers go in and out of him with desperate, clumsy thrusts.

And Kael matched him.

Matched him stroke for stroke as he stroked himself harder, his own length flushed and leaking from the sight in front of him.

They were watching each other.

With terrifying focus.

Like nothing else existed.

Kael saw everything. Every twitch. Every little flinch in Riley’s thighs. He could feel the frantic vibration of Riley’s walls around his fingers. His mate was close. Very close. So close that the golden dragon didn’t even need to ask.

Riley’s head dropped back.

His neck arched in a graceful, vulnerable line. He was so dazed, so thoroughly consumed by the friction and the sight of his husband’s pleasure, that he could only gasp out a single word.

"Kael... Kael, please."

He didn’t even finish his sentence. He didn’t have to.

The dragon lord knew exactly what that plea meant.

He took over the movement, gently but firmly dislodging Riley’s hand from his wrist so he could apply his own strength. He wanted to show his mate that he had learned everything from his twig’s frantic efforts.

And once he did, Riley had no escape.

Kael didn’t hesitate. His fingers moved with new force, curling just right, hitting that spot over and over like he had mapped it down to the millimeter.

The rhythm was both punishing and divine. He pushed in and pulled out, his thumb simultaneously grinding against Riley’s hip bone to keep him pinned as he finger fucked him earnestly.

It was brutal.

It was perfect.

It was terrifying how fast Kael learned.

But Riley didn’t have the time to think about that.

Because it hit him. The blessed golden husband hit that perfect, deep angle one last time and it sent Riley right over the edge.

Hard.

"Ah—!"

His body locked up. His back arched. He let out a sound so raw and loud that the walls likely heard it twice. His legs kicked—then wrapped around Kael’s waist—holding the dragon close as his insides clamped and pulsed in waves.

He was contracting.

Convulsing.

Cumming.

Yes. Riley was most definitely cumming.

And Kael?

Kael didn’t stop nor did he ever look away.

He drank in every second of his mate falling apart and followed him there.

With one more breath.

One more grunt.

One more desperate stroke—

Kael came with a shudder.

His seed spilled hot and thick across his stomach and Riley’s thighs, messy and real.

They stayed like that for a long time, tangled together in the quiet aftermath, breathing the same air until the world finally stopped spinning.

__

Not that the world ever stopped spinning for Riley.

Even now, while being gently cleaned and cuddled like someone who hadn’t just been wrecked twice in a row, he still felt like a live wire on the verge of frying his own circuits.

Honestly, he thought he’d be down for the count by now. As a human, he had limits. Kael knew that. He even respected them.

Which was why Riley, as a human, actually dared to tell Kael that he could continue even if he lost stamina somewhere in the middle.

It was probably an unconventional thing but the ex-mortal trusted Kael enough to know he likely cared more about his body’s welfare than he did himself. It was embarrassing, but true.

Back then it was something they had to talk about because even if he exercised like a star athlete, he would never be able to match the endurance and stamina of a dragon like Kael. It would always be Kael in the appetizer section while Riley was out there past the second dessert.

Unlike cases where a partner would only be doing something like that because of selfishness, Riley had opened the discussion because of sheer biology.

And later, when Riley got older? He’d probably be able to do even less. To him, it would feel gradual. But to immortal dragons, it would likely feel like they only had a short time together.

But surprisingly, or maybe unsurprisingly, Kael never pushed after Riley was exhausted.

Because in the eyes of the golden dragon, what was the point?

His pleasure was pleasuring his mate. So how could he find joy with Riley being unable to feel anything?

It was mutual or nothing. Which meant Kael got very good at recognizing Riley’s limits, especially in the early days of his transformation.

Yes, as a dragon, Riley was now an immortal. But he was rather flimsy at the moment. Like a newborn, he was tired with a capital T because his body was coping up with a kind of stress mortal shells normally never experienced.

So there had been a lot of cuddling instead. A lot of soft nights where nothing happened except whispering and falling asleep tangled together.

It was different when they were waking each other up. That was welcome. But Kael had learned from early on that he should watch out for signs of exhaustion.

So just as one would predict, he was extremely mindful of him today. Riley even learned that the golden dragon was even more mindful because of the pheromones.

It was apparently like caffeine.

He felt relatively energetic, extremely sensitive, and even ready to go which surprised even him, who really needed to improve his physical fitness. But apparently it was in part due to his growing mana reserves and the sudden presence of pheromones.

"If we continue, you’ll likely sleep the entire day tomorrow and maybe even the next."

"!!!"

"What?!"

The ex-mortal thought about the horror of not being able to explain to the children why he didn’t wake up to see them.

How could he ever say they had frisky business and he ended up so tired because he believed he could still go on?

Riley shook his head and actually said to his mate in a decisive tone that okay, they should rest for today.

They would clean up and cuddle for the rest of the night.

While it may be hard to believe, Riley actually wanted to abide by his own words. He meant it when he said they should go to bed and cuddle.

But just because he said he was going to behave didn’t really mean his body would behave. Like when Kael was cleaning him up.

In reality, he, as a person with capable hands and an unusually robust body for today, should have been soaping himself up like a decent person. But every time he scrubbed anything, it was as if he wanted to touch more of himself.

What kind of self-discipline was that?

They had just done things and he already went to heaven twice and back! Was that not enough for someone still as flimsy as him?

Apparently not.

Unsuccessful with being good, Riley thought it would be best to have his mate do it for him.

But thoughts of it being a good idea lasted a whole three seconds before his ass began rubbing against his mate’s thigh.

But who wouldn’t rub up and down unconsciously when Kael reached for his chest from behind him?

Under the guise of washing up, he caressed him. Riley had to swallow his moan. More importantly, he had to pretend he hadn’t gotten stiff when Kael whispered from behind him.

"Are you okay?"

Really. The audacity of a hot man.

__

Riley wanted to scream that no, he was absolutely not okay, but all that came out was a pathetic, airy wheeze.

The golden dragon was being entirely too thorough.

It was as if Kael was the embodiment of focus, and currently, his singular mission was ensuring his mate was pristine. He lathered a soft cloth with scented magical oils and began to work it over Riley’s skin with a steady, rhythmic pressure that felt less like cleaning and more like a slow-motion massage.

The problem was that Kael’s idea of being "serious with his job" involved a level of physical contact that Riley’s pheromone-soaked brain couldn’t handle.

As Kael reached around to scrub Riley’s chest, his large, warm palms grazed those already aching peaks. Riley’s back hit Kael’s solid chest, and before he could stop himself, his hips did a treacherous little shimmy, rubbing his backside firmly against Kael’s thick thigh.

"I am... just making sure you are comfortable," Kael murmured, his voice vibrating right against Riley’s damp spine.

He wasn’t teasing. That was the worst part.

Kael genuinely believed he was helping Riley relax. But as the dragon’s hand slid down to wash Riley’s stomach, his fingers brushed against the top of Riley’s length, and he prayed he wouldn’t think much of that traitor of a member.

Riley’s breath hitched. He tried to pull away, but the slickness of the water and the heat of the bath made him slide right back into Kael’s embrace. Kael’s hand didn’t stop; he moved to Riley’s thighs, his fingers kneading the tired muscles with a strength that made Riley’s toes curl into the bottom of the tub.

"Your muscles are very tense here," Kael noted, his thumb pressing into the sensitive junction of Riley’s hip. "I should work the stiffness out so you don’t ache tomorrow."

"Kael, wait—" Riley gasped, his head lolling back onto Kael’s shoulder.

He was supposed to be behaving.

He was supposed to be saving his energy for the kids tomorrow.

He really had a million things he ought to do and yet his first inclination was to ask the man behind him to move a bit lower.

Hello, Riley?