Cryptoherpetology

(SORRY FOR NOT BEING HERE THIS WEEK I WAS WRITING THIS AND ALSO I AM STILL TRYING TO GET A JOB BUT NEXT WEEK I SWEAR)

Kbnz, teratophilia, multiple genitalia (snussy: snake pussy), they/them Piers, but no real warnings yeehaw

——

The sun hung high and hot in the sky, cloudless but for a few white wheeling birds which seemed like passing wisps, liable to evaporate at any moment.

The jungle floor, however, was cast cool by the thick shade of the canopy, through which only golden spears of sunlight could penetrate, casting their dappled light here and there on the jade vegetation. Beneath the intertwined mass of branches and leaves, a steamy universe unfolded, a microcosm of life from the tiniest ants marching their way along, to the massive tree trunks, wide as two grown men stood shoulder-to-shoulder. Birds called and chirped, great predatory cats stalked on silent paws, monkeys chattered and swung their way from vine to vine.

And through it all, a man walked with the luxuriant stride of a hunter belying his excitement at the chase. His gait was steady, even, and his footfalls were quiet enough to not disturb most of the creatures in the brush, though occasionally a frog hopped away, or a centipede scuttled to a more appropriate hiding spot. For a man who stood head and shoulders above most of his peers, Raihan knew how to move with the lithe grace of a dancer, and the noise of his boots was as soft as any silken shoe.

Today, of all days, he did not wish to be heard.

His eyes were magnetised to the ground as he walked, though his ears and the sense of his skin kept him abreast of everything that happened around and behind him, for he was following a unique sign that he did not wish to lose.

Dragons in this area were rare, secretive creatures, and to even catch a glimpse of one required both patience and clever hunting. But Raihan was nothing if not meticulous in his planning; he’d spent the past several months charting this area, speaking to local farmers and woodsmen to gain the lay of the land and cross-referencing that information with everything he knew about the local species and their habits. Now, finally, all of that work was paying off as he set off into the field, to attempt to spot and document the creatures in real life.

At first, some of the local people had misunderstood him, thinking him a prize hunter after the deadliest game, and had warned him against seeking too deep into the jungle.

There are more things than jungle cats and dragons in there, young man. Even those of us who have spent our lives here, and learned from our parents and grandparents who did the same, do not know all of the secrets in those trees.

But Raihan had assured them he meant no harm; he would take only notes, and leave only footprints. (Perhaps a few small samples, if he came across some shed or the remains of a meal, to be pragmatic. He was a scientist, after all.) Most had been reassured, but repeated their warnings of mysterious creatures that even they had no explanations for.

Then again, if Raihan had learned anything in the garnering of his multiple degrees, it was that there was much in the world still undiscovered. That was what he was here for, in a sense—to discover, and to learn. For one, he intended to learn everything he could about these tracks, and what sort of dragon would make them.

Bending lower, he saw in a patch of mud a much clearer imprint of the scales, and rummaged in his bag for a stick of graphite and some paper. Laying it over the imprint, he took a quick rubbing, so that later he could study the shape and pattern of the overlay. It was odd that a dragon would create a track like this—most of the ones he’d heard of in this region were quadrupedal, but he saw little evidence of footprints or claws. Perhaps he was dealing with a wyvern of some kind, but even still, those tended to leave behind more distinctive footprints than these. It was as though the dragon in question were dragging its tail behind it, and he only had two theories as to why that could be.

Firstly, it could be that the dragon was ill or injured. While the thought saddened him, he’d taken an oath not to interfere with the natural life cycle, and unless another hunter or poacher was somehow involved, he would have to let it heal or pass on its own. At the very least, it would make for an interesting study…

The second option was far more unlikely, but also far more fascinating. If his hypothesis was correct, then this dragon was hiding its trail from him by dragging its thick tail along the ground to wipe away its footprints.

This also implied that the dragon in question was intelligent in a way he’d never seen before. Many dragons could be quite clever—he’d seen them solve basic logic puzzles, even lift latches and open gates or sort food items by colour, but he’d never seen one take problem solving so far as to avoid a possible threat by erasing its tracks. That would mean that it knew of his presence, and was seeking to avoid him.

Either way, continuing his search was a must. Covering the graphite rubbing in a thinner sheet of paper to preserve it, he rolled it up and stuck it back into his pack and brushed his hands clean before moving on.

As the afternoon wore on, he ascended steadily uphill, and a few checks of his maps and compass showed him that he was beginning to head up the side of one of the smaller mountains in the range that formed the crest of a river basin. Dragon territories could span dozens, sometimes even hundreds of kilometers, and many of them did enjoy mountainous areas for a variety of reasons. Some loved the heat of an active volcano, some sought the high landing places and nest-building convenience of eyries, others still preferred the protection of rocky crevasses and caves to hide them from potential predators—for even dragons could sometimes become prey—and the elements.

The region hadn’t had any active volcanoes in centuries, but there could still be hotspots here and there, and there were certainly plenty of caverns to make a home in, away from intruders. Yet all the mystery only added to Raihan’s excitement to see what he would be able to find, and perhaps he would even be able to witness a rare species for himself!

Higher and higher Raihan climbed, pausing to take a seat on a boulder and tilt his face towards the warming rays of the sun, and to sip at his canteen, relishing the cool water as it poured down his throat. As damp as the jungle air was, it seemed to leach moisture from the body as well, and dehydration was one of its many threats. He decided to snack on some nuts he’d packed for the journey as well, and crossed his long legs in front of him on the rock, taking the moment to survey his surroundings as he chewed.

Already, he had reached a patch of mountainside where the trees were somewhat sparser, and though he was many miles from the top, he could look down over the river basin as it unfurled itself before him like a great velvet blanket of emerald green, lightly veiled by the mists that rose from the trees like dustings of cobweb, or scraps of clean wool. It was a majestic sight, and as a group of jungle birds rose from the treetops and winged their way down into the valley, chattering like schoolchildren, Raihan could only appreciate the fortune that had brought him to this place. As much as he loved the hallowed halls of academia and the weighty silence of a library, filled with knowledge waiting to be shared, there was an undeniable allure to work in the field that had spurred him to practically plead for this trip. Certainly, the other professors and the university’s board of directors had hemmed and hawed, but he’d finally managed to bring them around by promising to fund half the trip himself. At least it was a good use of his parents’ immense fortune.

Casually scanning to the left and right, he paused when his gaze caught a shape in the stone. Was that…he shaded his eyes with one hand, and blinked when it came into focus again. Yes, that was the remains of a statue of some sort—and there, the foundations of a building! He’d not heard anything about a settlement out this far, but this one was little more than a ruin. Judging by the moss and the state of decay, this place was likely centuries old. Still, it would be well-worth documenting, even if he was not a student of architecture or anthropology himself; perhaps it would be of interest to some of his fellows at the university, and it would provide a handy landmark if his own search happened to turn up anything worthwhile.

After taking a last swig from his canteen to wash the nuts down, and stuffing the remains of his snack back into his pack, Raihan shouldered it and slid off the boulder, heading for a closer look.

Up close, he could see more clearly the foundations laid half into the mountainside, and half prodding upwards here and there at the edge of the jungle, the pillars like stone trees growing a different sort of forest. White stones lay here and there in the grass, worn smooth by time, and when he knelt down to examine them, he noticed that some were imbued with the symbol of an amaryllis blossom, carved elegantly into the surface. So masterfully carved were the blossoms that even after all this time, the petals were still distinctive, and Raihan reached for his drawing tools once again.

Then the forest went silent.

His fingers froze, and he raised his head one painstaking inch at a time. If it was a jungle cat, he would need to make himself look large and threatening in hopes of frightening it away—not an impossible feat for a man his size—but if it was the dragon he sought, it was better to appear passive in hopes of being spared brutal teeth or fiery breath. Either way, it was best not to make any sudden movements.

Yet even as his eyes came level with the ground, he couldn’t see what had startled the forest to silence. Was it behind him? He chanced a glance over his shoulder, but there was nothing there either. No predator waiting to pounce, though every hair on the back of his neck prickled at the unnatural, oppressive quiet. His eyes turned back, scanning, and then—there! Disappearing into the brush, he caught a glimpse of the shine of scale in the light, a quick flash before it faded into the trees.

For another moment he paused, debating. Should he chase it? If it thought him too much of a threat or a nuisance, it could turn and attack. Or fly away. Yet if he let it slip now, it might take him days, even weeks before he could learn more. He’d been hoping to see more, and now here was his chance. Would he be brave enough to seize it?

Cursing himself, he sprang forward and gave chase. The dragon was fast—it slipped through the trees so silently, he only ever saw bits of that tail, sliding about beneath the underbrush. The back of his mind wondered why it was still bothering to drag it, when surely lifting it to run would be much faster…perhaps it truly was injured. Raihan didn’t have time to think about it, though. He was too focused on dodging roots and stones, not wanting to trip or crash through the underbrush, trying to step as quickly and quietly as he knew how. Yet always, always the dragon was just out of sight, winding through the trees with a speed that belied its size, and only ever the tip of that tail to bait him forwards.

All at once, the trees gave way to another rocky face, and Raihan’s eyes were blinded by the sudden direct sunlight. His foot landed wrong, onto a loose piece of shale, and he slid forward, arms wheeling at either side of his body. Landing hard, he yelped as pain radiated up his tailbone and then he was still sliding, hands turning to scrabble futilely at the unforgiving ground. Yet all of the loose stones were still moving, slipping this way and that, and they dragged him inexorably to a large crevasse that opened in the middle of the earth, like a great waiting mouth.

Before he could even scream, it swallowed him.

When he landed at the bottom, his eyes were again blinded; this time by blackness, rather than bright light. Instinctively he waited for pain from broken bones or dislocated joints, but all that stung him was a scraped knee and a bruised bottom. He’d been lucky, even though he had no idea how far he’d fallen. Getting out would be a challenge enough without having to deal with an injury on top of it, and at least he had some food and water in his pack…

A breath later, his eyes adjusted enough to register movement, and he realised as his heart stopped that he was not alone.

All around him, circling the small cave, something moved in the dark. It writhed and twisted and as Raihan’s eyes became accustomed to the low light, he realised what he’d thought was the bottom wall of the cave was in fact the same tail he had just been chasing after.

Wrapped double around the room was the body of a massive serpent, with himself in the middle, and the only escape directly over his head.

This was it, then. He had wanted to be an adventurer, and now he was about to die like one. The townsfolk had warned him about this jungle and the secrets it kept, he’d just never expected titanoboas to be one of them. The cavern was filled with the whispering scratch of the scales against the stone, and the desperate pounding of his own heart. The creature writhed and twitched, preparing to rear its head and either swallow him whole or bite him in two, and he could do nothing but watch in cold, mute terror as it stretched.

But what appeared was not a pair of gargantuan fangs, or a hungry reptilian mouth. What appeared, hovering nearly in midair, was the head and torso of a man.

Raihan blinked, and looked down. Sure enough, the pale skin was connected seamlessly to the immense scaly body, but when he looked up again, there was a human face. Wide blue eyes blinked at him, demure and expressive, yet when the creature leaned from shadow to light the pupils shot thin as razor slits. Pale skin and fragile features made it seem almost delicate as it slowly moved towards him, an expression of curiosity on that gorgeous face. It was gorgeous, too; Raihan would have bought a face like that a ready drink if he’d come across it in a pub back home, and not attached to the body of a serpent longer than a coach and four. Silken hair spilled over its shoulder, black as ink and white as bone, the two colours mimicking the dark tone and pale sheen of the scales. Even the belly just above the join was smooth and flawless, and some insane instinct in the back of his head yearned to reach out and stroke the transition from soft skin to hard scale.

“Why have you come here?”

The serpent’s voice was so lilting, so musical, that it paralysed Raihan all over again. He hadn’t thought it would be able to speak human languages, and he was so stunned to hear his own that he almost didn’t process the words themselves.

“I—you—you can talk?” he muttered witlessly, and held his breath as the creature turned and shot past him like an arrow fired from a bow, circling around the room once more.

“Did you think me incapable of speech? A dumb animal t’ be hunted?”

It had a faint accent, though not one Raihan could place. Then he realised where this was leading, and quickly shook his head.

“No! No, I’m not a hunter. I’m an a—academic,” he saved at the last second, somehow not wanting to confess his foolhardy aspirations of ‘adventurer’, even if he was about to die. There was still no guarantee this thing didn’t want to eat him, after all…

“I thought academics would prefer a classroom t’ the jungle. Not the place for you, oh learned one.” And it was being sarcastic with him. Grand.

“I came here to observe dragons in their natural habitat—to learn about their eating habits, their nesting, anything I could. Little is known about them, and I want to change that…I didn’t mean to intrude on your, er, home.”

A hissing chuckle graced his ears, but the creature came to a stop before him once more, this time draping its lovely torso across the stack of its tail.

“You sought a dragon and found a naga instead. Some would call that a fair trade, y’know. We are as rare as they are, or perhaps even rarer—judging by yer shocked face, I’d say you’ve never even heard of my kind before.”

A naga? It was true that he’d not heard much about the species before, but in his line of work, it was often difficult to delineate between myth and reality, fact and fiction. He’d had to chase after tales considered as reliable as urban legends before, and many things were lost or twisted by the passage of time. Then an idea came to him, a reason for the naga’s behaviour. Was that what had happened to the ruin up above? The passage of time?

Raihan’s mouth moved faster than his good sense, and he sat upright when the question sparked. “Wait, that was your home up there? The ruin? Was that why you were there in the first place?”

Those lovely eyes blinked, lashes fanning down against pale cheeks, and then his question was answered with a question.

“What’s your name, scholar?”

“I’m Raihan. Was that a temple up there? Or a market? Or—“

“It was a grand house, long, long ago. Before I was born, and well before you were born. These used to be the ancestral grounds of my kind, but we moved deeper into the mountains when the humans began to settle in the valley. We could tell that such creatures would be trouble, and preferred to keep to ourselves.”

The naga slid close once more, and Raihan couldn’t help but admire the ease with which it—he? It was hard to tell…one wouldn’t expect a reptile to have the same secondary sexual characteristics as a human, but then again, was this a reptile? Were they cold blooded, or warm? How did the two halves fit together? The questions formed themselves one after another, each pressing against the back of his lips and demanding to be spoken. The ruins had been a grand house, and he already wanted to know more about that, and about the way the naga had moved into the mountains.

He was trying to figure out which one to voice first when the naga looped around him, the thick weight of their body pressing against his, though they stretched back far enough as though standing before him. He could feel the pressure of their tail wrapped around his legs, firm but not crushing, and swallowed.

Right. They hadn’t promised not to kill him yet, either.

“So, erm—I didn’t quite catch your name, and I wouldn’t want to be rude…in fact, I should probably apologise for having startled you, or intruded on your, er, cavern here…”

The naga surprised him once more by giggling, a merry sound that it concealed behind the back of one slender hand.

“Relax, Raihan. I won’t eat ya, I promise. My name’s Piers, and it’s been a long time since I’ve even seen a human, much less talked t’ one. Let’s say this is as interesting for me as it is for you.”

Well, that was a relief. Raihan felt his shoulders drop, and a little sigh left his lips. Perhaps the circling wasn’t a gesture of threat at all, but rather, the best organisation Piers could come up with for their frankly massive body. He didn’t have a good sense of the size of the cavern, but that tail must be at least three or four meters in length. Really, it was quite impressive.

“I haven’t had much chance to talk to a snake-person before either, especially not one with such lovely scales. I really did think you were a dragon, before.” The compliment slipped out without him really having intended it, but it was an honest remark so he let it stand.

Another laugh, though this one was lower, and sounded more akin to a hissing chuckle. “You think my scales are lovely, do ya? There’s no need t’ flatter, I’ve already promised I won’t eat you. I’ll even help you get out of here…if you do me the honour of sharing a bit of company with me for a little while. As I’ve said, it’s been a long time since I’ve spoken with a human.”

Well…surely, there was much that they could learn from one another. Raihan looked the naga directly in the eyes, and raised his chin an inch.

“I had no intention to flatter you; there’s no need when I’m telling the truth. I’ve spent a lot of my life looking at scale patterns, and yours are…” He was finally unable to resist the urge, and reached down to draw his fingertips over the patterned surface which glittered like an oil spill in the shifting light. “Incredible. That iridescence is a thing of beauty, and the symmetry is mesmerising. Would it be rude if I asked you if you’re a constrictor?”

Piers slid back a little, their hands coming to rest on their own tail, as though they were lounging on a sofa. It was so casual as to be utterly arresting, especially when their hair slid against the pale skin of their bare chest, and Raihan caught a faint glimpse of pink through the dark tendrils. “Most naga are constrictors, yes, but I have some venom to my name as well.”

Then they grinned, wide and ghoulish, and two slender fangs flicked down from the roof of their mouth like the unfurling of a rattlesnake’s. Raihan, to his credit, didn’t flinch nor bat an eyelash. Instead, he leaned in closer, raising his hand without thinking to cup the underside of Piers’ delicate chin as he checked the length of one fang in the light. Either point was needle sharp, and in the stab of sunlight from the roof of the cave, he could see a spiderweb of veins and the thicker passage for the venom itself through the side of the fang. Most dragons were not naturally venomous in the classical sense, preferring to ignite rather than poison, but the methods for delivery were often shockingly similar. And what sort of herpetologist would he be if he couldn’t appreciate the slender line of beauty that shaped a curving, delicate fang like this one?

“Incredible,” he breathed again, eyes darting up as he realised his position. Embarrassment flooded him and he yanked his hand back, but Piers only flicked their fangs back up into their mouth, and then licked their teeth while regarding him with…curiosity? He hoped it was curiosity.

That tongue flicked out again, dragging more slowly across a plump lower lip, and he hoped in a flash that look was something different altogether.

“You’ve asked several questions of me, human, so now I’d like to ask some of you. ‘S only fair, isn’t it?” Was he only imagining the husky timbre that voice had just now taken on? Or had it always been that rough and inviting, a voice that sounded like woodsmoke and wine, beckoning the ear to listen?

He licked his own lips, and didn’t miss the way Piers’ icy eyes tracked it as though it were a little prey creature. “Certainly, ask away.”

Piers slid around him again, voice circling and echoing off the cave walls as he moved. “Was it a great strain to run after me all that way? You were much faster than I expected a human t’ be. I’ve always wondered how well you can move on those two…what d’you call them?”

Raihan blinked, and looked down instinctively at his boots. “Oh—you mean my legs and feet? I guess I’m pretty fast, yeah. Longer legs help you run faster, though some short people can go fast too. I actually would run as a hobby back at home; it’s good for human health to get exercise, and it would clear my mind when I’d been in the library for too long—oi!”

He yelped when strong fingers grabbed at the back of one of his trouser legs, twisting around to look at Piers, who gazed back like a kicked puppy.

“Sorry, I only wanted to know what this fabric was. Humans have many different kinds of this, don’t they? But what’s it like underneath? Will ya take ‘em off and show me?”

Raihan restrained the urge to sputter at that. Piers was interested in his legs, because they didn’t have a pair of their own, and didn’t see many humans. It would make sense that they might have the same sort of reverence for them that Raihan did for their tail, and the same desire to learn more.This was practically scientific curiosity! He was more than used to that.

And Piers had been answering his questions in a surprisingly sporting way, after he chased them out of their ancestral grounds and crashed into what might be adjacent to their home. No point in being shy now.

With a quick breath to shake himself from the strangeness, Raihan reached down and unlaced his boots, then toed them off and pulled his socks down. Stuffing one in either boot, he then moved to unbuckle his belt and steeled himself before dropping his trousers and casting them aside. Yes, this was his life now. Getting naked in a cavern with a giant snake creature, and actually…actually being more discomforted with the fact that he was getting nude in front of someone he just met rather than the fact of that someone being large enough to circle the room they were in. He hoped, with his famous old pride, that Piers could at least respect what they were seeing.

Almost without hesitation, a cool fingertip brushed up the side of one of his legs and sent a shiver up his spine. Oh, but that touch was oddly electrifying; Piers’ skin wasn’t as cold as he’d been expecting, but not as warm as a human’s either. His mind struggled to form a question about it, but the thought escaped when a palm cupped the back of his calf.

“Humans have such interesting muscles…and your skin is so warm, too. Like a sunning stone.” Raihan’s heart was hammering in his chest, even as Piers inspected him like a specimen for study. “I think these are rather beautiful too, even without any scales.”

If Raihan hadn’t been blushing before through sheer willpower, there was nothing that could hold it back now. Something different and silken brushed against the back of his thigh, and he swallowed hard when he realised it was Piers’ hair. Risking the glance back, he found that Piers was staring at his legs with entranced eyes, and every time his muscles tensed, they grew a little wider.

“You’re very strong, to have come this far through the jungle. Most humans wouldn’t risk such a thing. I have t’ say, it’s mighty impressive, especially for a scholar. When someone says that, I’d picture pasty skin and a hunched back.” Their tone was playful, but those eyes were still utterly magnetised to his body. Raihan couldn’t remember the last time he’d been looked at with such hunger, and it gave his ego a very sweet stroke indeed.

He decided to answer the teasing in kind. “You think so little of the academically inclined?”

“Perhaps I think so much of you. You’re a fine male, Raihan.” Something about the way Piers said his name just then, lilting it off that pretty tongue, lit a fire in him that wouldn’t quit. A fine male? He was the finest. Back at home, he’d had plenty of admirers willing to throw themselves at his feet, but he’d been too lost in his work to pursue any of them long term. That, and…well, they’d always lacked a certain something. Intrigue. Passion.

They had lacked the icy burn that glowed in Piers’ eyes when they looked up at him, inquisitive and knowing all at once. Then Piers leaned in, making a show of inhaling near his skin, as though drawing in his heat and scent. Raihan found he had no actual complaints, and to the contrary, his body was starting to take an interest in the proceedings.

Then smooth hands ran up the side of his thighs as Piers rose, massaging the divot of his hips and pulling him in towards a slender body with entreating tugs. “I’m starting to feel like you’re coming on to me,” he remarked, and felt clawed fingertips stroke lightly against his lower belly in response.

“What gave ya the hint—when I got you t’ take your clothes off?”

Clever fucking snake. Maybe this was a little insane, but it had been over a year since his last sexual encounter. And as satisfying as work could be, it certainly wasn’t a substitute for the touch of another, especially not a tempting serpent. He’d chased the damn creature all the way through the jungle, all day long, and now those beckoning lips were ghosting up his arm, inches from the skin.

His gaze flickered down over a luscious body and that gorgeous face, and his control broke down. Damnit, if he was in for a penny, he was in for a pound. One hand shot down and he caught the little waist with ease, dragging Piers up into a demanding kiss.

Obviously shocked, they stilled for a moment, and then that lush mouth came to life under his. Shell-pink lips parted and he dove his tongue between greedily, tasting as he pleased. Piers gave a soft cry against him, fingers skating up his chest to cup the sides of his face, their fingers keeping him close. When Raihan bit at his lower lip Piers gasped, and when he slid his tongue into their mouth once more, it was met with slow, wicked laps that had him groaning in the back of his throat.

“It’s mating season,” Piers murmured against his lips, having drawn back just far enough for the two of them to gasp for air. “That’s why I came back here…a much more comfortable breeding ground. I was expecting to find another of my kind, but somehow I’m thinkin’ you’ll be just as good.”

A hand gripped his still-clothed cock, and Raihan growled into the naga’s lips.

“Or maybe better.”

Their mouths crashed together in another bruising kiss, but this time Raihan moved slowly, savouring. Mating season, huh? He could keep that well to hand. Especially for such a lusty creature, whose hips were undulating so hypnotically against his own, twisting with a fluidity that only a serpent could muster. This was what he had been missing in all of his past encounters. Intensity. A passion that could erase sense and thought itself, make him lose all the inhibitions that kept him bound from day to day. And Piers could give that to him, here and now.

The hand over his erection palmed at it, testing the shape, and he felt Piers inhale a quick gasp before fumbling for the edge of his underwear, then they yanked it aside. Their kiss grew more desperate still, and Raihan pulled Piers closer, aching to touch their body. Anywhere, everywhere. When those cool fingers brushed against the broad, slick head, Raihan couldn’t stop the needful jerks of his hips.

“Definitely better,” they purred into his ear, before peppering his neck with more wet kisses. Down and down they trailed, tail rippling as they lowered to eye level with his freed cock. Huffing breaths rushed across the head; Raihan held his own, feeling his dick strain for the waiting mouth in front of him.

“Oh! Your thing is so…big. It’s different from mine,” Piers said, their words making their lips catch faintly on the tip. From any other mouth they’d seem saccharine and false, trying too hard for the pretense of innocence, but he realised that Piers had probably never seen a human cock before in their life. A rosy flush stained their cheeks, and thick lashes fluttered when Raihan’s cock twitched under the attention. Then they looked up, eyes wide and questioning, wordlessly asking for his approval. “Will you…show me how to touch it?”

He would love nothing more. There was nothing in the world quite as sweet as introducing a virgin to his cock; Raihan was aware he was well-endowed, but Piers didn’t seem intimidated in the slightest. On the contrary, their eyes were dark with lust as they stared up, and when he placed his hand on top of their head to guide them close, they came willingly. Pressing that silky cheek against his hip, he shoved their nose in against the base and grinned.

“Here, start by saying hello. Scent’s important to you, right? So take a good lungful of this, baby. Keep this cock happy, and it’ll make you real happy too.”

A musical whimper floated up to his ears, and he felt the slickness of Piers’ tongue grace the side of his shaft. Little flutters of pleasure raced up from his core, and before he could even give more instruction, that tongue slid the length of the underside and flickered across the tip. A helpless groan wrung itself from Raihan’s lips, and his hips rocked forward, seeking more.

“That’s it…just like that. Then open up your mouth and suck on it, like you want to swallow it all down,” he moaned out, and watched in mild awe as that ripe mouth parted to take him in. Transfixed, he stared at the wet little tongue that lovingly licked the swollen head of his cock and circled the crown. One hand slid into that two-toned hair, and he found it silken and brushed clean, a perfect fistful to guide Piers’ head with. His fingers almost shook as Piers swallowed him deeper as though starving for his taste. Even though their mouth wasn’t warm, it still gripped and sucked with a hungry fervour, and he felt his thighs begin to tremble as pressure built in his balls.

Piers made it halfway down and looked up beseechingly, and Raihan had to use the grip in their hair to draw them back and off. “Fuck—that’s enough, or this’ll be over before it’s begun. I want to have you, all of you…”

Raihan never wanted it to end, but the sight of Piers’ tongue flicking out to catch a last bead of precum as it dripped from the tip almost made it worth it. Their body shuddered, then, and he regained enough awareness to realise that huge tail was writhing in what might be delight at his taste. Perhaps he should be afraid, but he couldn’t find the feeling within himself. There was only marvel at Piers, every last inch of them.

Speaking of which…Piers had said they were different, and Raihan was hoping that didn’t mean physically incompatible in some fundamental way. As a herpetologist and cryptozoologist he had a few guesses as to how this sort of thing worked, but he would be the first to admit he didn’t know much about naga and their reproductive capabilities. Still, Piers seemed so aroused by his body, which meant it couldn’t be that different.

“Let’s go somewhere more comfortable. I know I’m a snake n’ all, but even I don’t want to do it on a dirty cave floor,” Piers teased. Sliding back, their tail pooled up underneath them and drew away from the wall, until Raihan realised that there was a passageway at the back he hadn’t even noticed before.

Stone curled away into darkness, but somehow Raihan didn’t feel any fear as his hand was held by a soft palm, and he was led forward into the rough doorway. If Piers had wanted to kill him, they’d had a thousand opportunities by now. What would even be the point of drawing it out?

Yet just as he was worried about the darkness perhaps being a hindrance to their activities, a cool wind blew on his face and they stepped out into an airy, lit space. Craning his head up, he saw filtered sunlight pouring down through a sinkhole in the ground that comprised the roof of this place, diving into a gorgeously clear reflecting pool. A few legends of the area had spoken about places like these, which were widely considered as sacred. It was breathtaking, and large enough to be a comfortable home for a creature of Piers’ immense size.

A little ways away from the pool was a clear encampment of sorts. Piers had crafted themself a bed from fragrant sweetgrass, wrapped in a linen sheet, and cooking utensils were arranged next to a neat fire pit. Candles lit the space here and there, and the pillows on the bed were patterned in swirling colours. It was…comfortable, albeit temporary. This was a place to live for the season, and a place to mate. Certainly not a bad choice, all things told.

They guided him over to the bed, stretching up to pull him in for a kiss. This one was gentler, but no less heady, and Raihan followed when Piers guided him down onto the soft bedding.

“So, now that I’ve shown you my reproductive capabilities,” he began when they broke apart, although he ducked to press a kiss to a prominent collarbone that curved enticingly upwards as though begging for a mouth. “I’m curious to know about yours. You said that we’re different, but I doubt we’re wholly incompatible.”

“I doubt it too,” Piers purred, and reached for one of his hands. Seizing it, they slid it down along the front of their body with intent, and Raihan drank in the sensation of their skin, even stretching his fingertips to toy with the edge where skin met scale. “Yours looks like it was meant to fit inside…I have a place where it could go.”

Oh? That was good to hear. Though Raihan hadn’t precisely seen anything externally that gave him a hint, he was more than aware that there were options.

Piers’ hand held his in place, and for a moment, all he felt were smooth scales. Then something moved, shifted, and there was warmth and wetness under his fingertips. Raihan broke their kiss to move down, wanting a better look both for the sake of lust and curiosity alike.

“Naga don’t have divided bodies, like humans. We can both carry and sire our children, so we have…well, if you only have one part, I have both.” Raihan blinked as he thought about that, and then realised what Piers meant. Lowering to his elbows, he watched in mild awe as the scales moved aside to reveal a perfect, peachy pussy already starting to glisten with wetness.

“If you’re willing to tell me what feels good, I’m willing to work with whatever you’ve got,” he responded, and looked up to see Piers’ expression turn to something akin to shyness at that. Had they truly been nervous Raihan wouldn’t like what they have? At least such fears were easily assuaged.

Piers’ fingers caressed their own sex, teasing it and playing with it as Raihan watched, utterly rapt. Then, with an accompanying moan, what he had been thinking of as a clit unfurled itself, rolling and twisting outward in a small, sleek tendril. Raihan sucked in a breath, but not in distaste; he was already imagining all the wonderful things that could be done with such an organ as it wrapped around Piers’ fingers, and they worked it slowly up and down. Their eyes met again.

“May I?” Piers nodded eagerly, and Raihan reached for their wrist to draw their hand back.

Then he stroked a fingertip along the slick folds of Piers’ glistening cunt, and their head fell back with a whine. Raihan bit his lower lip as he felt it clench and begin to draw him in, his dick already swelling with the need to be buried deep. The tendril of their clit flicked, then slid out to curl around his thumb as though begging him to push deeper with his hand. What man could resist such a sweet request? “You’re so tight…it really is sucking me in, can’t imagine how good that’s going to feel on my cock.”

Their brows drew together as they sat up on their forearms, gazing down their body to where two fingers now plunged into their cunt over and over. “Oh gods…Raihan…please, don’t tease me, I need—“

“I know what you need, and I’ll give it to you when you’re good and ready.” Wetness was coating his knuckles already, but he was a man on a mission, and wouldn’t rush a second of this. The tendril wrapped around his thumb throbbed, and he smirked as an idea lit into his mind. Bending close, he pressed his lips to the side of it, tongue coaxing the tip until it unwound from his finger and greedily sought a warmer place to lodge. It moved like a tongue, plunging into his mouth, but he sucked and swallowed around it in a filthy kiss.

Above him, Piers went wild. Bucking and moaning, they gripped at Raihan’s ponytail with frantic fingers, babbling nonsense as their cunt milked his finger for what it couldn’t give. So close already, it was going to be easy to bring them off at least once before even mounting this tight pussy. Raihan growled his approval around the tendril, the sound reverberating up through Piers’ body and wrenching a keen past their lips. Claws raked his back, but he hardly cared. His mouth was ravenous against Piers’ bared sex, and he licked and sucked with gusto until all at once he heard a shout, and felt Piers cum around his fingers in a wet rush.

He pumped them through it, watching their hips tremble with need before finally collapsing down. The tendril in his mouth slowed its frantic kiss, though it still attempted to wrap around his tongue as he pulled back, trailing thick saliva behind.

Piers’ slack, pleasure-drunk face made him smirk, and he leaned over them on all fours, his cock skating across that soft stomach. For a perfect moment, it grazed the folds and the tip nudged at Piers’ tight entrance, making both of them groan aloud.

“Did you like your first taste of mating with a human? And I have so much more to give,” he murmured, before he bent down to lick and bite at Piers’ neck.

All Raihan wanted was to get lost in this moment. His head spun in the best of ways, and he inhaled more of the intoxicating scent of Piers’ skin with deep gulps. Humming, he dropped his head lower, finding one of those pink nipples that had so enchanted him earlier and swirling his tongue around the bud. He couldn’t even stop himself from rocking his hips again, searching through that wetness for the moment of connection between them and moaning with delighted frustration when he slid free and Piers’ cunt kissed the underside of his cock.

Piers was looking for it too, serpent tail twisting to lift their hips for more. “Yes…yes, I’m ready, please,” they whined, unable to formulate the words they needed.

Hearing them beg like that tickled the sadistic streak in Raihan, and he arched his hips high out of the way, looking between them to watch with amusement as Piers followed after, desperate to impale themselves. As he stared between their bodies, their clit unfurled once more, reaching up and wrapping around his cock to grab and pull it back towards their slit. Greedy little thing!

Raihan looked down, and their eyes met. What was he waiting for?

The tentacle gave a needy tug, sliding along his shaft, and that was it. “I’m gonna breed you so good your pussy remembers what it’s like to get fucked by a human for the rest of your life,” he murmured, and lined himself up.

One solid thrust had Piers keening in his ear, and a second took his cock all the way to the base. Fuck, but it was a tightness even his fingers hadn’t prepared him for. All around him, Piers’ cunt clamped down like a warm, slick fist, and every time he tried to draw out, it clung to him so much it was like it came most of the way with him. That’s right, Piers had said it was rather elastic…

This was on another level, though. Even as he felt Piers grow wetter beneath him, and that tentacle squeezed beseechingly at his cock, he found he couldn’t draw out more than halfway before being pulled into that impossible heat again. The intensity of the pleasure bordered on pain, and yet Raihan wanted to laugh with the giddy ecstasy of it, slamming inside over and over. The entire world was stripped down to just this, pleasure so intense it bordered on pain. One hand tangled in Piers’ hair, cradling the back of their head and lifting it so they could look down to the joining of their bodies, and the other arm looped down and around that sinful waist, lifting them up higher, holding them close for Raihan to rut into.

A symphony of moans sang themselves in his ear, and he answered with a snarl of his own. This was heaven, all perfect pressure and sucking heat. On a hard downward thrust, Raihan hit the softened back of Piers’ cunt, and felt the sting of claws in his back once more. Shit, did he hurt them? Yet when he looked down again, Piers’ eyes were huge and dark, stunned with the sensation.

“More—fuck, Raihan, do that more! I’ve never had anything that deep before, screw th’ back of my pussy harder!”

Their wish was his command. Raihan was utterly lost on this snake, just as gone as he’d promised Piers would be. Drawing back as far as he could manage, he lifted them to just the right position and started a new, punishing pace. Every thrust slammed into that silky end, and it clutched at him even as the fat head of his cock bullied the slick walls. This was what sex was always meant to be like, and now that he’d had it once, Raihan wasn’t entirely sure how he’d ever go without it again.

All around them, Piers’ tail writhed and twitched with pleasure, but he ignored it to stare deep into their eyes. Already, the pressure of cum building in his cock was almost too much to bear, but he knew what he had to do. Slipping one hand between them, Raihan found Piers’ clit and wrapped it around his fingers, stroking the tendril until it began to pulse for him.

“Cum for me,” he commanded, in a rasping voice that he barely understood as his own. “Take all my cum and get good and bred.”

There was nothing in his mind but raw, animal satisfaction as he watched their body obey, seeing the orgasm spark in their eyes until pale lids squeezed shut, and a glistening tear tracked down the side of their cheek from the force. Mindless, Raihan gave into the ache in his gut, and drove in hard for the last time. Piers’ sex milked him for it, and he gave a moan that bordered on a victorious shout as he began to spill. Wave after wave of it, shooting into Piers’ body until his back arched from it. Between them, Piers’ clit spilled its own load, soaking their belly and dripping off the side of their hip.

When that bruising ecstasy released him, Raihan couldn’t stop himself from collapsing, trying his best to catch his weight to the side even though he knew he wouldn’t crush Piers. His ears rang, and for long moments, his head was as blank as a cleaned slate.

Even when his coherent thoughts returned to him, there was no ensuing awkwardness or questioning of his sanity. Instead, he looked up and found Piers wearing a hungry expression, ruby lips twisting into a grin that matched his own from earlier.

“You know…naga often mate for several days at a time…if that’s not all ya’ve got, human,” they challenged.

Raihan snorted, and propped himself up on his elbows. “Hardly. This wouldn’t qualify as much of a sample study with just one test, now would it?”

Piers chuckled in response, and Raihan felt cool hands skate down his back and grip his ass firmly, claws digging in like little spurs. Yeah, he could definitely draw this trip out for a few more days…

After all, he wouldn’t be lying if he said he fell down a hole.