I'll Always Be There For You
"So, allow me to get this straight; since I have no interest in being with a woman, you are going to leave me tied up into this tree, ask forgiveness to our God, and then proceed to burn me?" a young one, about the age of seventeen, asks from where he was tied to a large and thick tree.
A man before him smiles, the grin unpleasant, "Yes Richie."
"I prefer if you call me Richard." The boy replies icily.
"Yes Richard."
Richie raises an eyebrow, "And all because I refuse to bed a woman?"
"That sounds about right."
A beat, "Yes, that's makes absolute sense and it's completely justified." Richie says drily as he eyes the man in front of him with unimpressed eyes. He ignores the jeers or the pointing from the audience that stands in front of him as he shifts from one foot to another as the dry grass before him crinkles. He subtly pulls on the rope but he was dismayed with how tight they were. He licks his lips, grimacing when he caught the taste of iron in his tongue. At least his nose has stopped bleeding.
"Now that you have acknowledged your sins, is there anything else you would like to say or ask?"
"I do have one; why was it so bad to say no to the village whore?" Richie inquires bluntly, getting a hint of satisfaction at the startled gasps and the look of enrage in the say "village whore".
The man's face, with the torch in his hand, reddens with anger, "Don't you dare disrespect Miss Keene!"
Richie rolls his eyes, "Oh for fuck's sake Thomas, everyone in this backwater, ignorant village know that Greta darling here has slept with almost every man in this village."
"She hasn't slept with you," Thomas hissed, "Does it hurt that she does not consider you worthy?"
"I don't know honey, the fact that she had corner me in my farm and tried to undo my trousers says otherwise." Richie says in a falsetto, sugary sweet tone.
"That is a lie; why would I want to bed such a scrawny, buck toothed peasant like you?!" Greta screeched in outrage as she walks closer to him, glaring straight into his eyes.
While the comment hurt, it's been years since anybody made fun of his teeth, especially since he actually grown into them and they look relatively normal, he decides to look back at her with a chilling stare.
"Did my rejection sting you that badly? Did it bother you that you found someone to say no to your feminine wiles?"
"Of course not; there's something simply wrong with you. What man can resist a woman's touch? No one! Unless it's a demented, poor fool who has strayed away from the path of God!"
"Have you ever thought you are just losing your touch?" Richie drawls with a smirk.
Greta growls, "Of course not, besides it's not only me. You have refused to wed to any of the girls in this village."
"And what business does it matter to you whether I wed or not?" Richie huffs as he rolled his eyes skyward, letting his head fall back against the tree. "Just admit that you're upset because I refused to penetrate you with my dick."
"You disgusting, insolent little—" the woman hisses as she raises a hand to slap him only to be pulled away from Richie.
"Don't worry Miss Keene, Richard here will pay for his wrong doings and hopefully be forgiven by our noble God."
Richie snorts as he looks around. From far away, away from the commotion, he can barely see the figures of his parents. While he couldn't look that closely, he already knew that his mother was weeping, probably leaning against his dad. He closes his eyes, not wanting to look at them, wishing that they were spared from watching their only son perish in the middle of the village, to be made an entertainment for these wretched idiots that only wanted to see spilt blood to relieve themselves from their boredom.
Sighing, he stares at them blandly, "Look, if you must know why I didn't jump for joy at… Miss Keene's offer, my reasons were that I refused to partake in adultery."
There was a hushed and disbelieved silence.
And then Thomas, following Greta, started laughing, "You? Married? You must be joking. Who would marry you?"
"If you don't believe me, you can check my left hand." Richie waves—or tries to—his hand, wiggling his ring finger.
Shaking his head, Thomas walks closer to the other boy as he bends down a bit to look at Richie's captured hand with uninterested eyes only to straighten up in shock. There, sitting innocently on Richie's ring finger was an actual gold ring; a thick, gold band with rubies and emeralds encrusted in the ring.
Thomas backs off, eyes wide, "How is that possible? That ring must cost a fortune! There's no way you could have bought that ring; this must be a scam, a fake!"
"No you ignorant prick; this is an actual ring that my lover, who is now my wife, has bestowed upon me."
Someone in the background barks, "And what actual woman would waste such money on you?"
Richie couldn't help but smile as he thought about his lover, his mate, his everything. He thinks about their silky, auburn locks. On those soft lips that were usually pulled back in a shy smile. At those blue eyes that no sapphire jewel could compare to, at the wiry strength in those arms that could have break him in two but held him so tenderly and carefully. And the way the moonlit, pale skin blushed red as he look down upon them, their nails digging into the flesh of his back as brought pleasure to the beautiful creature below him.
Yes, he was blessed. Blessed and unfortunate since that might have been the last time he would get to see his partner, in his memories.
Blinking away the tears that started to fill in his eyes, Richie glares defiantly at the two people in front of him that seem intent to doom him into a painful death.
"Any other last request or any last begging you would like to say?"
"How about you both go and fuck the nearest horse?" Richie snips at them.
Scowling, Thomas comes forward and with sadistic glee, lets the dry grass around Richie's feet get engulf in the flames of the torch.
In the background, Richie could hear his mother scream.
Unwilling to show fear, Richie composes his feature into a carefully blank expression. As the fire begins to spread all over the grass around him and smoke started to make his eyes water and his chest hurt, he presses his lips together, refusing to cough, refusing to show weakness.
Well, this is going to hurt. He thinks drily as he presses the back of his head to the tree trunk behind him.
Just as he was thinking of just closing his eyes, not willing to see when the fire would reach to his feet, an unholy and horrifying roar made his eyes snap open. Straightening up, Richie wondered if it was just smoke inhalation that was playing tricks on him until he could see, through the thick, gray smoke that people were looking around, nervously.
Hearing it again, only more loudly, closer, and angrier made him smile serenely.
"What the devil is that?!" Greta shrieks.
"A demon?!" someone cried out.
"No," Richie interrupts with a fond shake of his head, "That's my wife."
"Say what!?" Thomas demanded in a high pitched tone.
A large shadow appears before them, blocking the sun and causing the villagers to scream. Richie could hear the strong flap of leathery appendages before a strong gust of wind came from behind him, causing his curls to fly forward and the growing flames to become extinguished.
"You married a dragon!" Thomas cries out in disgust and disbelief.
Richie smiles, his already messy curls becoming more of a mess, as he looks at the dragon flying around in circles above him. "I know. Isn't he gorgeous?"
"He?!" Greta squawks in surprise and anger.
The dragon, a beauty with scales of different shades of blue and a silver underbelly stops above him, glaring at the two people in front of his mate before roaring at them, bearing his serrated teeth at them.
Frightened, Thomas and Greta stood in place, their muscles unwilling to move. Growling, the large beast opens his maw and at that action, they both moved, just right as the dragon breathed out fire.
Richie snickers; even though his love was breathing out fire, he was meticulous and made sure no one got licked by the blazing flames. And he also avoided destroying the houses with his flames. Yes, his beauty was something.
Then the dragon was in front of him, his heavy body making an audible and ground shaking 'thud'. Lowering his long neck, the large beast sniffed at his human, growling when he caught the scent of blood on him.
"Hey there Bill, fancy meeting you here," Richie says cheekily, "Sorry for the inconvenience but do you mind untying me?"
Bill snorts as he straightens himself before Richie sees a wisp of dark blue, like the color of the night sky, smoke surround the dragon and in a blink of an eye, it was gone. Now what stood before him was a tall, a very tall youth—he was no slouch either in the height department with his 6'2" height but he was dealing with a dragon—with medium length, twisting black horns protruding from his auburn hair.
He had blue scales on his neck and his shoulder, disappearing as they went down the length of his arms while his fingers were tapered with sharp claws. Blue, leather wings were spread open behind him, either as a way to hide him from the crowd or in position to be ready to use. A long tail lay limply on the ground but Richie wasn't fooled; in a quick of an eye, that heavy tail would swipe at anyone that got too close to them and if they weren't careful, easily enough to break bones. And lastly, the side of feet and his toes had dark blue scales, in which the scales continue to his ankles and upward, in which were hidden by his black trousers.
No matter how many times he sees his partner, he still takes his breath away… And make his dick jump too. Is impossible not to be turned on when Bill was wearing nothing but a pair of trouser that hang low beneath his waist, exposing his eye-catching hipbones and a hint of his pelvic bone.
"Oh Richie," Bill starts, eyes full with worry as he extend his hand, "Wuh-what have you guh-gotten y-yourself into?"
Richie leans his cheek against Bill's palm, "Not that I'm not happy to see you Big Bill but do you really think it's wise to leave your back unattended? Especially in the form you're in now?"
"I buh-brought re-reinforcement." Bill says in an unconcerned manner as he steps back a bit and gently cut through the thick rope with his claws.
When that statement left his lips, darkness was brought along the village before leaving quickly only for the sun to be hidden again. Curious, Richie looks up and grins when he sees who it was.
A scarlet red dragon, which Richie recognizes as Beverly, flew down towards the villagers, scaring them half to death as she started to destroy the farms with her fire. The other beast, who was Mike, was a bronze dragon that was quickly destroying the catapults that the villagers tried to use with his powerful wings and tail. Mike and Beverly were a formidable duo and were the strongest besides Bill.
He turns his attention back to Bill when the dragon pulls him away from the stake and into his arms. Richie returns the hug tenfold, a few minutes ago afraid that he would never get to have this again.
"How did you know I was in trouble Bill?"
"I fuh-felt your fear Richie; when I s-s-said that you and I are cuh-connected, I muh-meant that you and I cuh-could fuh-feel each other i-intimately. I c-can feel your e-emotions and if w-we're close enough d-distance, I can e-even ruh-read your t-thoughts."
Richie blinks in surprise, "If we're connected and we could do that, then why can't I hear your thoughts or feel your emotions."
"If you h-had accepted in luh-letting me tuh-turn you into a d-dragon, then we cuh-could have."
"Oh. But you have to understand Bill; I wanted to say goodbye to my parents. I couldn't say that to them if I came to them looking like a half man and half lizard."
"Dragon Richie, dragon," Bill says as he rolls his eyes, "D-did they tuh-take the n-news bad?"
"No," Richie smiles sadly, "They gave me their blessings when I told them that I was in love and that I had to be far away from them due to who I was married to; that I didn't want to endanger either you or them. They accepted me Bill, they love me."
Bill smiles at him, his eyes alight with his mate happiness but, "If t-that's true, t-then why w-was you tied up and a-almost killed?" he growls the last word.
"Before I got to talk to my parents, I was pretty fucking nervous about what exactly I should say to my parents, so I went inside my parents' farm and think how I should break the news because I don't think telling them I that I stick my dick inside a dragon's ass wasn't going to work."
"Richie~" Bill whines in embarrassment as his face reddens. Richie smiles saucily, staring at his mate with interest before continuing.
"In there I was cornered by the village harlot and she tried to persuade me to fuck her. I rejected her and continue on to my house. I guess due to my rejection, she decided to paint me in a bad light and told one of the important villagers. And after that, well, I was attacked in my own home, pretty roughen up since I wasn't about to go down so damn easily, and then here I was; tied up to a fucking tree."
When he was done with his tale, he sees the way Bill stood rigidly; his jaw clenched tightly and his eyes darken with unhinged rage.
Richie squirms as he shuffles from one foot to another. Now was not the time to be turned on by his partner's rage. Nor the time to be thinking in just grabbing his mate by his ever present and distracting hipbones; have him forget about his anger and have focus on reminding him who he belonged to as he rode him, his wings spread out to hide them from the world…
Richie straightens up when Bill turns to him sharply, eyes wide and dilated before grinning at him, his teeth looking absurdly sharp in the light of the sun.
"While nuh-not the cuh-correct place or ruh-right time to be t-thinking about that, I cuh-can't s-say that I d-don't love the idea." Bill purrs as he grabs him by the collar of his shirt and pulls him close, eyes half-lidded and peering at him, challenging him.
Richie smirks at the challenge before grabbing Bill's hips, standing on his tippy toes and kissing his mate, not letting his height bother him as he took control of the kiss, teasingly licking at the auburn male's bottom lip. Bill was more than happy to grant him access as he grabs the other boy by his waist and pulls him close, almost raising him from the ground.
A roar above them made them break their kiss and look up.
Beverly huffs at them while Mike stays afloat above them, flapping his wings leisurely as he eyes the village for any unexpected attack that the humans could have under their sleeves.
Annoyed at the interruption, Richie gives Beverly the finger, not even battling an eye when the female dragon blew a strong gust of wind with her wings. He already knows that when they go back to the cave, the redhead would flick him over his nose and then hug him tight, probably out of mixture of fear and relief. And the others would follow.
Bill laughs, "Cuh-come on Richie, let's go home."
Smiling, he nods, "Yeah, let's get out of here and away from these dickwads."
Laughing again, Bill presses a quick kiss on his lips before stepping back as the familiar smoke surrounds Bill. Then the smoke was gone and now in front of him stood the huge and beautiful dragon form of his mate. Richie couldn't help but stretch his hand out and stroke the powerful muzzle of his dragon.
"You never ceased to amaze me, do you know that Bill?"
Before, he never thought that a dragon could blush but meeting Bill, well he was proven how wrong he was. Bill made a soft, cooing sound, sounding bashful but pleased as he licks his hand. Grinning, he gives the muzzle in front of him a kiss before walking to the side, climbing on the beast's back when Bill lowers himself down.
Sitting down on Bill's back and holding on to Bill's neck; he patted the side of the dragon's neck, signaling that he was ready. His stomach clench in excitement and slight fear as he feels the wings behind him begin to flap and in no less than five seconds, they were elevating from the ground.
Richie looks around him as the villagers slowly started to pop their heads from behind their houses, starting look small as they got higher and higher from the ground. Looking forward, he smiles at Mike as Bill flew pass him, the dragon crooning in greeting before following after them. He could hear Beverly following behind them, roaring. Probably to scare the villagers and not letting them feel safe until they were truly far away from the area.
Feeling wind rushing through his curls, Richie closes his eyes in contentment, his grip a bit relaxed before opening his eyes again as he enjoys the view. From the way Bill flapped his wings, calmly and measured, that meant that either the anger from before was gone or he wanted to fly carefully due to him being on his back.
"Hey Big Bill," Richie calls out as he pats the dragon's neck. Bill makes a questioning chirp, ears perked. "If I get turned into a dragon, do you think it's possible to get a flashy color? Like maybe orange or pink; because honestly, a bright and unexpected color definitely goes with my winning personality."
He didn't need to look at his mate's face to know that Bill was rolling his eyes at him. Laughing, Richie kisses the slender neck before him, chuckling when Bill coos happily.
He might not be able to return home and he might not be able to see his parents again but he got a new family now. He got Beverly, Mike, Stan, Eddie, Ben, and the little rascal Georgie. And importantly, he got his mate with him…