We land outside, on a green hill. The air smells vaguely like smoke, and I can see brief flashes of light in the distance. It’s nighttime, and the stars are bright above us. Trigger looks around with me.

“Bedtime?” Trigger asks us with a smile. I take a moment and look around, then shrug.

“I mean, I’m not tired, it still feels like lunchtime to me… But we could, I suppose, or we could go wander around and see if we can find out something about this world. I mean, there seems to be flashes of light or fire or something that way.” I say, motioning to where I briefly saw light. “So probably not everyone is asleep.”

“Fair.” Trigger smiles and hugs us both. “I’m just so happy to have you back… I missed you last night.” I can feel my cheeks get warm.

“I missed you too,” I whisper, my head buried against his shoulder. He is taller than I realized. It's the first time I thought about it. “The bed they gave me was heated but it wasn’t nearly as nice as having you to snuggle with… Thank you for finding me. How did you do it?”

“Well, the police weren’t much help, so I remotely viewed the planet, zooming in on the traces, and I found a complex I couldn’t get close to, so we checked there in person.” Trigger says.

I nod and after a moment of breathing in his scent, I pull away. “Wanna walk to the light I saw?” I ask. “Can you tell me more on the way?”

“Sure, let's go.“ Trigger takes our hands and walks in the direction of the lights. Twila and I trail along with him as he and Twila fill in the details of how they found me, and I share what happened while I was at the compound. Trigger’s face tightens as I talk about the first few hours, but he doesn’t say anything. I reach up and brush my hand against his cheek.

“It’s ok, really. I don’t think they’ll do it to anyone else anymore.” I say. He glances at me.

“But they did it to you. That’s what bothers me.” He says, and I shrug awkwardly. I’m ok now, but I also like that he cares… His face suggests that the next time we visit it might be as vengeful gods, so I change the subject.

“What type of life do you sense on this planet?” I ask him. He stops and closes his eyes.

“Magic is common, but low in power, and it seems jumping reset our conceals automatically. There’s a lot of sentient beings that I don’t have a name for yet, not completely human but partially.” He says, and I consider this. Trigger starts walking again, and I follow for a few steps before pulling him to a stop and kissing him firmly. His arms wrap around me, picking me up and returning the kiss.

“Did my love want something?” He asks, a sparkle in his eyes, his voice low and enthralling. I smile shyly.

“I just missed it, all of it, and I don’t know what we’re gonna find, so I wanted to kiss you now,” I say. I see Twila out of the corner of my eye, sitting down on the ground and watching us with a smile. I lean in and kiss Trigger again.

“If you want anything else, just ask, darling.” He kisses me, slipping his tongue between my open lips. I kiss him back passionately, wrapping my legs around his waist. It isn’t until I feel his hands against my back that I realize I’ve unmorphed my dress and am not wearing anything. I feel his clothes morph away as well, his bare skin against mine, and grass below us. He sits down with me still clinging to him, then lays back. We kiss for a while, I don’t know how long, until the sky seems a bit lighter. He pulls away gently, running his hand over my bare chest.

“We’ve been kissing for 20 minutes, do you want more, or should we keep walking?” He asks. I smile sheepishly, sitting up a bit. The sky is definitely lighter, I’m guessing it’s dawn now. I lean in and can’t resist kissing Trigger’s bare chest before reluctantly pulling myself away from him. I stand and he props himself on his elbows, his whole body spread out in the first light from the sun. It takes all my will to not fall to my knees and worship his body for the rest of the day and night and who knows how long after that. He smiles, and gets up, belt remorphing around himself. I walk the two steps back to him, and he picks me up, boosting me onto his back. I sigh in contentment and lay my head on his shoulder, wrapping my wings around myself and morphing my belt into a functional outfit until we know how to fit in here.

We reach town much too soon, I would have preferred to have clung to him for the rest of the day, then snuggled with him all night. I sigh when I see the buildings.

“Do I have to get down…?” I ask sheepishly.

“Yes darling, at least until we figure out standards here,” Trigger says gently.

I sigh again and slide off his back, my bare feet landing in the grass, and demorph my wings and halo. I look up at him remorsefully, and try to kiss him again… He smiles down at me and kisses me.

“I need you to act as an interpreter until I can get a grasp on the language.” Trigger reminds me. I nod and force myself to let go of him, though it goes against every instinct I have. Maybe it’s cuz I was just kidnapped, but hanging onto Trigger for the rest of my life seems more right than anything ever has. I follow a step behind Trigger as he walks the last bit into the town, Twila close behind us. The gate is open and the guards nod at us as we walk through, then return to their game of cards and tiles. I can hear them start making bets, seemingly starting a new round or something. I can understand them easily, but I set my AI to begin recording and translating for Trigger. I can hear a commotion ahead, a main thoroughfare is in front of us with shops and people calling. I know what to listen for, and can quickly send Trigger the data he needs to be able to hear and speak, along with an image of our lips locked. He glances sideways at me as the image comes through, and raises an eyebrow.

‘Are you that desperate?’ He teases into my head. I blush fiercely, but then nod. ‘Ok, I’ll try to fix that tonight.’ He says. I can’t decide if I’m excited for that promise or disappointed he’s planning on waiting until evening to do so.

‘Can you tell what the currency is?’ Trigger asks again, and I scan the market.

‘Umm, it seems to be lumps of gold, the shopkeepers appear to have an innate sense of its value to them. Also, jewels…’ I scan again, my ‘ghost’ keeping people from noticing my gaping. ‘It seems to be trading, bartering, valuables and such, no coins or anything.’ I tell Trigger after double-checking it.

‘So a value market, with some things being readily accepted by anyone, but have no worth guaranteed by a government, fascinating.’ Trigger seems lost in thought, and I continue sending him a few translations I can catch to help his AI with learning the language. He seems to be paying more attention to conversations now, I can assume the translator is helping. The language itself is very guttural, more so than any earth languages I can think of. ‘Grrr’ seems to be a valid word, and a curse if it’s being translated correctly. It’s just a growl though. I’m more than a little surprised when I see a dragon, half again as tall as any of the people, walk out from behind a large building. It morphs down to a humanoid form, fully clothed, and walks up to a shopkeeper to purchase some bread. I try not to stare, but after seeing that, I see scales everywhere. Almost all the people nearby have some traits, scales, I see a pair of wings ten people away from me, and there's a man nearby with smoke and sparks coming from his mouth.

‘DRAGONS!’ I send Trigger. ‘These people are shapeshifters!’

‘COOL!!’ This is the most excited I’ve heard him, and I look over at him, his keen eyes whipping around, catching every little detail, including me. I stare at him for a moment, just lost in his excitement. Honestly, my plain clothes blend in well enough, and so do his, so we could be just another pair of people walking the market, thankfully. I can’t help it, and try to kiss him again. He gives me a light kiss and then resumes looking around. I sigh and give up, trying to snuggle close to him anyways. He smiles down at me, and guides us over to a place marked with a sign shaped like a bed. It has their word for inn or hotel carved on it, and I send him the translation, though it seems he figured it out already, even without being able to read it. I send him all the other printed materials in my sight as well, mostly signs with one or two words on them advertising things. I pause for a moment, curious. As no one seems to be paying much attention to me, I remorph my wings to the scaled version I used in the water. It feels good to have wings again, like I can escape if I need to. Trigger smiles at me when he notices, and I blush.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

‘I figured I’d fit in like this, y’know…’ I say. I don’t want to admit that my experience back on the clockwork world terrified me, that I couldn’t escape when I needed to. He shrugs and nods. I glance back and see Twila, she’s still in the dress from the last world and I duck my head. ‘Sorry.’ I say. ‘I should have thought of that… Now that you’ve seen what people wear, do you want to find some clothes you want?’ She nods.

‘I think I already have some that will work, so just call me back whenever.’ She sends back and I smile. She walks around a corner and I assume she’s gone back to the pact dimension when I see a brief flare of light, faster than I can blink, and it’s gone again. We walk up the steps to the inn. The stairs are large; wide, flat, and high, but not overly uncomfortable for a human. I see Trigger put his hand in his bag, then pull it out empty. I tilt my head curiously his way.

‘Making sparkly things?’ I tease.

‘Needed currency,’ He winks at me, ‘But if you like, I'll make you a sparkly thing for that finger.’ My breath catches and I stare at him. I don’t know what to say… I love him, I do, I don’t know what to think though. Was he, did he just ask me to marry him? My wings flutter back and forth a few times. He notices my open-mouthed stare.

‘That settles it. I’ll work on it once we have a room.’ He sends, grinning widely. I blink a few times, then hurry to catch up to him. ‘So… Is that a proposal?’ I ask him in my head once I can form the thoughts. I try to make it sound teasing, but I think it comes out more shocked and longing.

‘That’ll come once it has been made, Dearest.’ Trigger says and I smile, trying to hide it, but no way is that happening. It’s rather soon, I’ve known him for only a week and a half, but with forever in front of us, I’m not worried anymore. Trigger is at the door and I realize he’s waiting for me, somehow my feet stopped moving as I processed. I step towards him and through the door he’s holding open for me. Inside is a large vaulted ceiling, with a desk next to the door. I suppose most hotels need someone there to greet people. Trigger leads the way to the desk, where a mid-sized dragon, at least, it’s smaller than the one I saw before, is curled up behind it. Trigger taps on a bell placed on the desk, and the dragon jolts awake, then morphs to a humanoid form.

“Sorry about that, what can I do you for?” The man asks us politely. His voice is kinda growly, but it could just be the language.

Trigger requests, “A room for three please, with standard amenities.” The man nods, but I’m less sure it’s a man, or male, or whatever. I suppose I’ll have to figure out how to tell dragon genders apart while I’m here. The dragon-turned-human walks over and flips through a book of white waxy something. It seems paperish, but not exactly. I suppose it could be a burn-proof substance they use. I study it, scanning it with my AI while Trigger and the dragon-human talk. After a moment, Trigger gently touches my elbow. I look at him, and he nods to the stairs at the other end of the room and we walk in that direction.

‘Got us a room with an oversized bed and bath, along with a kitchenette.’ Trigger says as we walk up the stairs, and I smile happily.

‘What did that translate to in chunks of gold?’ I question.

‘Couple of thumb-sized portions for three nights.’ Trigger says, and I nod. ‘He seemed thrilled with the purity of the gold I offered.’ Trigger comments after a moment. I glance up at him, and having passed out of sight of the dragon at the desk, I lean in to try to kiss him again. I just, seeing his lips… I can’t help it. He obliges willingly, then picks me up and carries me. I can see him counting doors until he stops next to one door and sets me down. I stand as he fits a key into the lock, then swings open the door. I stare, then turn to Trigger.

“You didn’t tell me there was a balcony too!” I exclaim. In fact, most of the wall is glass, and the door leading out to the balcony is a glass door as well. I can see rooftops and a green field, maybe the one we walked over to get here, stretched out in front of me. It seems the hotel is the tallest building in town, at three stories, although they are very tall stories, built for dragon-sized people. Trigger smirks at me.

“Anytime you want to call Twila back you can, there are multiple entrances and exits, no one’s going to wonder. Or,” He adds, “We can get some snuggle time alone. Up to you.”

I shyly walk past him to the glass wall, then turn back. He’s followed me, and I reach up to hug his neck. “Can we snuggle?” I ask.

“Certainly, would you like it in the tub or on the bed?” He asks gently

“Umm.. bed, unless you care,” I say after thinking for a moment.

“Bed it is, darling.” He scoops me up and plops me on the biggest bed I've seen so far, I would guess it could fit two full dragons on it. I nuzzle his neck, snuggling close to him as I demorph my belt. Trigger stands and pulls a cord on the wall, causing heavy curtains to fall over the glass wall, then he returns to the bed and demorphes his own belt. I stare, taken again with his body… He smiles at me and flexes for a moment, then crawls in next to me again, running his hand along my side. He lays next to me and softly kisses my neck, wrapping his arms around me.

“I’m so glad that you’re safe…’ He whispers into my ear. I twist to look at him better.

“I am too… It was really scary…” I whisper back.

“I’m here now, you are safe here.” He snuggles into me, holding me close. I cuddle as close as I can to him, touching my nose to his. He rubs our noses together, then kisses me firmly. I kiss him back and shyly whisper.

“I wuv you…”

“I wuv you too.” He states, gazing into my eyes and seemingly into my soul. I smile shyly. I really like his eyes… They are green, bright, sparkling green. My AI notes a file transfer from Trigger. I curiously ask for it to be opened, and KT responds. Inside are photos of gems of all colors, shapes, and sizes, as well as a massive assortment of ring bands with and without engravings. I blush and smile as I look at Trigger.

He shrugs, “Take your time, take your pick, I’m sure Twila will be happy to help, and I’m not pushing for a choice now. I’d like you to pick out what you like the best, I don’t care if it takes hours or years.” I nod slowly, then snuggle back into him, setting a reminder to ask Twila about it all when I call her back. I tuck the file away in my head and focus on Trigger. He nuzzles me gently, and I melt in his arms, happy to be safe again. I try to kiss him again, and he brushes his lips against mine tenderly. I smile as I pull away, running my hand down his bare side. He smiles back, and I blink slowly, so happy to be here with him, to be staring into his eyes, to be touching his skin.

“What do you want, Darling?” He asks me, his deep voice sending thrills through my body. I smile at him and shrug shyly, then gently tug our hips together, hoping he’ll understand.

“Ooh, you want much more contact…” He winks, then moves to straddle me gently, gazing down into my eyes. I feel safe, yet excited. A certain part of Trigger is very hard, and it's bumping against my tummy. He rubs it against me, then runs it down my stomach towards my very wet pussy. I can’t help the soft moan that escapes me, wanting more… He slips it into me, and I moan even louder as pleasure overwhelms me. He gazes into my eyes as he begins slowly thrusting into me. I smile, then my face dissolves into want, and he can see it. Trigger starts pounding me much more firmly, fulfilling my wants, my needs… I run my hands up to his shoulders, needing him more and more every moment… I can feel him orgasm in me, but he keeps going, my own building rapidly as he strokes my side with one hand, kissing me firmly on the mouth. I beg him breathlessly to continue, my fingers digging into his skin before I can stop myself. He obliges willingly, and as my orgasm comes to a head, I feel him explode in me again. I whimper in pleasure as he pulls out of me and snuggles in close to me, pulling me into his chest. I snuggle as close as I can. It just feels so right to be there… Sometime later, Trigger moves a bit, tucking my head to his shoulder and kissing my hair.

“Suppose we should get up any time soon?” He asks quietly, sounding peaceful, almost sleepy. I cuddle into him, and sigh.

“Twila probably wants to join us again,” I respond, curling one leg around Trigger, then reaching out to Twila in my head.

‘You can come back now, if you want.’ I tell her, staying snuggled with Trigger. With a flash of light, Twila pops into this plane, dressed in an item of decent tunic-type clothing with pants underneath. It’s far less gaudy than what she had on previously. She turns to look at us and smiles, then strips out of her clothes and crawls in behind me, curling her naked form against mine. I wiggle a bit, content and happy to be between my friends and warm. Twila leans over and pulls a blanket over all three of us, then cuddles back up to me. I soon drift off to sleep, with my head on Trigger’s chest, one leg draped over his.