Chapter 27: In which one touch leads to another

Notes:

This chapter is definitely NSFW! These two young lovebirds still have a long way to go, but they're figuring it out ;) This chapter flowed so easily. Wish all chapters were this easy! Hope everyone enjoys :)

"How long do you think we can keep this up?"

The question had danced around in her mind like a partner that kept stomping on her toes. The fact that they couldn't hide their affiliation with dragons forever was inevitable. As much as Astrid didn't want to face that uncertain event, in a way, she couldn't wait for the secret to be out. She wanted the arena dragons to be free. To be able to spread their wings and soar through the clouds as they did before their captivity.

Astrid daydreamed of flying with Stormfly. She loved riding on the back of Toothless, but Toothless was Hiccup's dragon and she wished for that same exhilaration on the dragon she'd bonded with so quickly.

Looking up from lovingly stroking Stormfly's horn, she found Hiccup paused in mid-scratch on the Gronckle's chin. He looked just as lost for the answer as she felt.

"I don't know," he finally admitted.

"What? No ingenious plan cooked up in that head of yours?" Astrid teased. Hiccup's gears were turning on a constant rotation she'd come to realize not long after they really started to know each other. She wondered how he even got sleep with his brain churning all the time.

"There's a few flickers of ideas," Hiccup replied, seeming slightly embarrassed by the way she'd worded her question. He shook his head, his lips set in a thin line. "But none that are guaranteed to work." He met her gaze, and in that second, Astrid saw the depths of his concern. "I'm worried, Astrid. About the dragons, about Toothless, about us. What Berk will do to all of us if the plan doesn't work."

His words held the weight that she could see on his shoulders. This was an earth-shattering decision for them. To show Berk that dragons were kind, gentle creatures seemed impossible and it was all pressing on this 15-year old boy.

Astrid stepped up to Hiccup, lifting his chin with the tips of her fingers. "No matter what idea, what decision is made. We're in this together."

A tiny flicker of a smile graced Hiccup's face. She cupped his cheeks, leading him to her lips in a tender kiss. She hugged him close. "Thanks, Astrid. I couldn't do any of this without you." She could sense his soft smile widen as they held each other.

Astrid pulled away after she felt her embrace had reassured him enough. "It's time for morning duties," she pointed out with a slight frown. Stormfly squawked behind her, picking at her braid. Astrid laughed, grasping the Nadder's horn and hugging her. "I know, girl. I don't want to leave you either. One day, you'll be free. I promise."

She'd keep that promise, no matter what.

The Zippleback wasn't cooperating. Or well, maybe it was cooperating too well. The arena dragons had become the stars in their own series of acting roles. As good as Hiccup and Astrid had trained them to act vicious and wild during training sessions, the Zippleback was hamming it up a little much today.

The two-headed dragon was sparring with the twins – it'd seemed to have taken an interest in the Thorstons and always gravitated to "fighting" them. The two heads playfully dodged the swinging weapons, occasionally firing off a small blast for theatrics. The left head didn't dodge fast enough, or maybe it'd let itself be smacked on purpose. As Tuffnut's mace smashed into it, the head flopped to the ground, its tongue sticking out as if it had croaked over dead from that one blow. The right head looked down at its twin then without hesitation flopped onto the floor without so much as a threat, its forked tongue dangling out of its gassy mouth.

Hiccup and Astrid had frozen at the sight, along with all the other training participants. Out of all the training dragons, the Zippleback had the least amounts of smarts and its tendency for the dramatics concerned its human trainers. This was one of those moments they were afraid would happen.

Barely a thought ran through Astrid's head as she charged towards the Zippleback. She had to fix this before it got the two dingalings injured or killed. The two heads could be a pain in the butt sometimes, but they didn't deserve to die. A battle cry rang out through the arena as she jumped on its back, spurring the dragon to life again. It bucked and reared, but she managed to stay on. She secured her footing and leapt onto one of the necks, holding its horns. She maneuvered the dragon into its cage and quickly jumped off and slammed the cage shut, grumbling to herself about the two idiots.

"That was insane, Astrid!" Tuffnut exploded nearly in her face as the rest of the teens rushed her at the cage door.

"Can you teach us how to ride one of those things?" Ruffnut asked, a wild glimmer in her eyes.

"We could have like a contest to see who stays on the longest!"

"Yeah!" The twins high-fived each other over the sheer genius of their idea.

"They'll be none-a that!" Gobber interceded, shooing the other teens away as he approached Astrid. He gestured for Hiccup to join them. Oh no. Whatever Gobber had to talk to them about could be good, or incredibly bad. He glanced around to make sure his other trainees had dispersed. "Have you two noticed anything particular about the training dragons lately when you feed them?"

Astrid and Hiccup glanced at each other, feigning nonchalant. "No," they answered in unison. Astrid hoped they didn't sound suspicious.

Gobber shook his head. "It's strange. They're acting wild, but then there's these moments where they're almost tame. I wonder if they're getting too conditioned to us." He hmphed audibly, clearly lost in thought. "We may have to dispose of these and start fresh soon."

"No!" If their first 'no' hadn't brought suspicion, Astrid was sure this one did. Gobber gawked at their sudden outburst.

"Maybe we're overfeeding them," Hiccup explained, spreading both hands out in front of him. "We'll have to cut back on the leftovers," he suggested, sounding as convincing as he could.

Gobber eyed the both of them. Astrid feared he'd still go along with his conclusions of the dragon being too conditioned, but Gobber just waved off the subject. "That's probably all it is. Less feeding equals more fury." He pointed a finger at them. "Remember that, you two."

"Got it!" they both answers in unison for the third time.

Gobber flicked his gaze from one to the other before turning and shaking his head. "Spending a little too much time together, it seems," he muttered as he lumbered away.

Astrid hadn't noticed her heart had significantly sped up, and it wasn't from the exertion of caging the Zippleback. She exhaled a heavy breath. "That was close," she whispered.

Hiccup nodded, agreeing. Their fears were slowly slipping into the light. They needed to decide on a plan. Soon.

Astrid squirmed as consciousness encouraged her awake. A hot coal burned in her belly, igniting a wildfire in one small but significant place on her body. She'd awoken to this sensation before. Three times, to be exact. Every time had felt like a glorious wave crashing on her shore, only to be pulled back into ocean – fleeting, lost. It made her heart pound and her spine tingle.

Those times before, she hadn't known what the sensation meant. All she knew was that it ended too quickly and tortuously. But now, with the new emotions and awareness of how her body reacted to her husband, she knew exactly what the sensation meant.

Astrid rolled over in bed, met by a sleeping Hiccup turned her way. In the moonlight that beamed in through their window, she could see the outline of his face. Sure, he wasn't much to look at physique-wise being only long limbs attached to a sapling body. He did have one thing going for him though – his face was cute as all get out. The freckles smattered across his cheeks and neck. The gaped-toothed smile that was quite enduring. Those big, green eyes that could outshine the sun. His hands were nice too. Long fingers that melded perfectly to her waist. Astrid couldn't deny it, she was without a doubt attracted to her husband.

Astrid's thoughts lingered on his fingers. If intercourse happened down there where the sensation was then the feeling had to do something with it, right? It'd never crossed her mind to touch down there, but now she was curious. That curiosity had her fingers crawling underneath her nightgown.

She found her most private place, rubbing two fingers across it through her underthings. A tremble coursed through her. Oh gods! That felt incredible. She had to have more; had to get closer. Slipping off her underthings, her fingers got to work.

It was odd and a bit awkward touching herself. The only time she ventured down below was to clean herself, especially thoroughly during her flows. She never imagined it could feel this good. After a minute of exploring and holding back a few gasps by biting her lower lip, she was yearning for more.

Hiccup was sound to sleep, unaware of the blatant activity happening right beside him. One finger slid inside her, the wetness inside more exciting than gross. She explored the folds, taking in the many different areas that could be found. Her finger curled up against the point of her clit, and Astrid gasped at the tremor that rang through her body. That was the spot where the sensation stemmed from!

She rubbed her fingertip over it again, the coal in her belly seeming to melt into a puddle of molten lava. She moaned far too loudly, and realized her misstep at a certain voice, "Astrid? Are you okay?"

Astrid licked her lips, frozen in her spot with her finger still pressed into her. "Hiccup?" she drew a ragged breath over her lips and her voice trembling, "will you do something for me?"

"Of course," he answered bewildered but without hesitation.

She couldn't explain to him exactly what she wanted him to do. The topic made her mouth inaudible and her heart slam against her ribcage. Instead, she pulled him closer, guiding his hand to her most secret place.

"Astrid, what are you—"

Astrid closed the space between them, locking her lips to his in a heated kiss that matched the fire spreading over her body. The kiss gave her courage. "Touch me," she spoke across his lips in barely a coherent whisper.

She pressed his fingers to her exposed curls, her nightgown hiked up around her torso. Hiccup's nervous swallow seemed to echo through the bedroom. "Are you sure?" his whisper nearly a pant.

She caressed his hand covering her curls. "I'm sure."

His long fingers timidly moved over her curls and found the opening of her folds. His index finger carefully stroked the sensitive bud that made her moan and squirm. His feather light touch was extremely teasing.

Astrid bumped her forehead against his crown, his hair tickling her face. "You can wiggle your finger," she suggested and managed to encourage, "it feels good." Good was an understatement.

Hiccup wiggled his finger over the bud as she instructed. The fire that was quickly consuming her leaped up into her chest. She arched her back. How could such a tiny spot feel amazing when touched? Never in her dreams did she think this was something she'd ever yearn for.

Hiccup kept a steady pace, only occasionally getting thrown off rhythm. Before Astrid knew it, she seized up, grabbing Hiccup's shoulder to steady herself as she panted for breath. She froze there, holding his shoulder and resting her forehead against his.

"Are you—are you okay?" Hiccup's voice was uncertain but filled without something else. Something deep.

Astrid grasped one finally long breath before collapsing against her husband. His hand moved to bare waist, his thumb absently stroking there as it did when he rested it there. "I'm okay," she murmured.

"What just happened?"

"I think—that's how lovemaking is supposed to feel," she tried explaining, even though she wasn't completely sure about that herself. Whatever had just happened, Astrid knew she wanted more. She shifted, bumping into something pointy and hard. She ran her palm up the heated length, receiving a hiss of pleasure against her forehead. She recalled a week ago when she'd confronted Hiccup to basically seduce him, and how he'd been stimulated by her touch there. Now it made sense.

Astrid ran a palm up his length through his pants. "Let me make you feel good too."

Hiccup's swallow was audible again, but he nodded with great eagerness. This time she knew he wouldn't run away.