KISS in Paradise
Part 17A (by Demoness) 


She landed on one of the islands that had the newcomers. She had been  
watching them from a distance since they first arrived. When the rain had  
subsided, she unfurled her wings and took flight to the sky again, randomly  
picking an island to further investigate the new creatures. It started to rain  
before she had a chance to get closer to them. She cursed having been bound to  
the island she was on when the rains came. 

She had grown tired of watching Darkraven with that creature. A sinister  
smile creased her lips as she surveyed her surroundings. Her thoughts went back  
to Darkraven and the strange one she kept with her. Knowing Darkraven, it would  
not be long until the creature would be one of them, and not so strange  
anymore. 

Quietly, she stalked through the woods, going uphill. From not far ahead, she  
heard voices coming in her direction. She moved further into the brush, careful  
that her tail was wrapped around her and not giving away her position. She  
watched as one of the strange females walked angrily down the trail of the hill.  
For a while, still staying hidden, she followed the stranger down to the bottom  
of the hill until she grew bored. Losing her concentrate on being discreet, she  
kicked a rock, sending it flying and landing in some bushes, making a noise  
heard by the strange creature. 

The stranger stopped, glancing around. "Anyone there," Ana called out. She  
noticed movement in the overgrown bushes and took a step in the direction,  
looking around to pick up a rock or something to use as a weapon. When she saw  
the large, scaly tail slither and disappear into the bushes, Ana took a step  
back. "Great. Giant lizards now," she muttered to herself. Shaking her head, she  
continued on her way. 

Samantha waited a while, not moving until she was sure the other was gone.  
Shaking her head, she warned herself to proceed with more caution. Still an evil  
smile spread across her face, wondering what the strange female must have  
thought seeing her tail. She looked up, her gaze going back up the hill. More of  
those strangers were on the peak. Stepping into a clearing, she unfurled her  
wings again and took flight to the top of the hill. 

She landed a distance from the group. Carefully observing them, she noted  
with amusement that they had eaten the mushrooms. Licking her lips, she watched  
them, singling out one of the males, who was walking away from the group alone.  
The one that one of the females called Ace. She moved further from the group and  
made a wide circle around where the group was. The one called Ace was now quite  
far from the group. 

With a sardonic smile, she positioned herself so his path would cross hers.  
She prowled through the high shrubs, making noise. With satisfaction, she  
watched from her vantage point as Ace stopped and looked around. Quietly she  
moved to another place and made noise again. 

Ace slowly turned in a circle, looking confused. "Ana?" he asked. "This isn't  
funny, babe. It's all good. Why do you have to go and freak me out like  
this?" 

Samantha smirked and proceeded to her next spot, which was behind the  
confused man. Finding the perfect setup, she sat on the rock which was  
surrounded by weeds and green plants growing. They covered her from waist down.  
She wisked her tail through the plants to make another noise. 

Ace slowly turned to the sound of the noise, almost losing his balance in the  
process. Somehow he kept himself from falling. He looked up and noticed a woman  
he had never noticed before sitting, only half of her visible through the  
foliage. She had her head down, and her face was hidden behind long black curly  
hair that went halfway down her back. She wore a skimpy little top made of  
strips of animal hides. 

"Hey sweets," he called to her, coming closer. "How's it I never seen you  
before?" 

When he was a couple of feet from her, she lifted her head. Ace's eyes opened  
wide, and he stumbled back a foot. He had never seen such a look of pure evil.  
She stood, her hair falling away from her front. 

"Oh, lady," Ace stammered. "You have a problem with dry skin?" He swore her  
skin was scaly. He shuddered and shut his eyes. This can't be happening, he  
thought. He opened his eyes again, hoping she would be gone, but she still stood  
before him. 

Her red eyes glimmered, as she watched him, licking her lips. She stood up  
and Ace saw the rest of her. She took a step forward, he stumbled two steps  
back. "Whoa, pretty dragon lady," Ace said, starting to sweat. 

She snorted at his comment, and Ace swore smoke came from her nostrils. "Neat  
trick, but I don't think I want to hang around and see more." 

"Why?" she finally spoke. "It could be so hot between us," she stated,  
licking her lips again. 

Ace put his hands out in front of him. "I'm more of a cold type of guy  
myself." 

She stepped completely out of the shrubs and stood before Ace. "You do not  
like what you see?" she asked. 

"Uh, you're different," came his reply. 

"So you did not mean it when you said pretty?" 

"No. I mean, yes. I did. I...I...just never saw someone like you before." 

Samantha turned her head in the general direction of the others still on the  
top of the hills. "Yet you do not find it odd that monkey girl turns into a  
cat." Her head turned back to Ace, pinning him with a heavy stare. 

Ace was sure he was going to be barbecued at any second. "She scared me at  
first too." 

"But she is, what you say, cute when she is not a big cat. And even as a cat,  
you think her beautiful." She raised her chin, eyes meeting Ace's. "I too can be  
beautiful." 

"I'm sure you can. I mean, yes, of course you can, dragon lady." 

"I am Samantha." 

"Samantha," Ace corrected. "That's a beautiful name." 

"For a hideous creature as myself?" 

"No." He glanced in the same direction she had moments before. "Uh, look. The  
others, someone will be looking for me and I should be where she expects." 

"Then you should not have walked away," she replied. 

"Nice meeting you, Samantha," Ace said, as he quickly turned away. 

She lunged and caught him. He found himself pressed against her. At first he  
cringed. She opened her mouth and showed sharp teeth. Then to his surprise, he  
realized that her scales felt remarkably smooth. Almost smooth as human skin,  
and yet like silk. He went to glance up to her face again, only to notice huge  
wings unfurl from behind her. If that was not enough, the wings were made of  
flames. 

He passed out. She tightened her hold on him and took flight. 

************************************************************** 

When Ace came to, he found himself in a cave. Glancing around from his  
vantage point, all he could make out was nothing but stone. Carefully, he sat  
up, and noticed an opening, and a fire near it. Further surveying his  
surroundings, he could not see much else. He made out some strange drawings and  
symbols etched into the walls, and piles of scattered animal skins about the  
cave. He realized he was on another pile of skins. 

His head was throbbing, and his right arm felt sticky. He glanced down at the  
arm, and noticed the long gash. It had stopped bleeding, but it still looked  
nasty and throbbed slightly. Muttering curses, he stood up. He was tired of  
spilling his blood on this 'great adventure'. 

He walked to a section of the cave to look at the etchings better. Suddenly  
he stood up straight. 'Wait a minute,' he thought, once again looking around,  
listening for sounds to give away the presence of anyone else. 'How did I end up  
here? And just where was here?' 

Thinking back, the last clear memory he had was of finding the mushrooms and  
eating them. Then things started to get hazy after that. Ana was mad at him, he  
remembered. She acted as if he intentionally ate the mushrooms to get stoned. He  
was hungry, they were there. How was he to know? He wasn't a mushroom farmer.  
Ana was bad enough, but thank goodness it had not been Gene or Paul who found  
him. 

Then what? He tried to remember, still carefully walking the perimeter of the  
cave, looking at the etchings as if he was able to read them, knowing he could  
make no sense of them. They still interested him. It also gave him a reason not  
to go near the entrance to the cave. He did not understand why, but his  
instincts were telling him to stay away from there, rather than making a run for  
it and continue running until he found someone he knew. He should warn the  
others. 

Warn the others? About what? 'The dragon-lady', he found himself thinking,  
suddenly remembering Samantha. He shook his head, laughing at his own stupidity.  
There was no such thing as half-dragon/half-females in this world. Most  
certainly not any that had wings made of flames. It was the mushrooms. It had to  
be the mushrooms. 

Bolstered with new courage upon reasoning things out, he told his instincts  
to be quiet and he headed toward the opening. He could see it was still a clear,  
sunny day. He had plenty of time to find the others. 

He stepped out of the cave, squinting at the change from dark to light,  
lifting his left hand to shade his eyes. Out of the corner of his eyes, he  
noticed someone was standing to the side. His internal alarms went off again.  
Slowly he turned to face whoever stood to his left a little way from the cave  
entrance, watching him. 

He still had to be hallucinating, he thought. He would eventually wake up and  
find himself back on the peak of the hill with the others from his island and  
this was all some mushroom-induced hallucination. At that moment, he swore off  
mushrooms for the rest of his life, including the type that came in a can in the  
supermarket. This was too much for him to handle. 'Ride it out,' he told  
himself. 'It will be easier that way.' 

He approached the creature who stood still, red eyes watching his every step.  
His eyes took in what watched him. From waist down, she was a dragon. Not as  
bulky and wide as dragons are depicted, but enough to know what she was. From  
waist up, she looked female, except for scales instead of skin. She still wore  
the top fashioned from animal skins covering her abundant bosom. That was the  
only item of clothing she wore. Her face was interesting, Ace had to admit. Her  
head slightly misshapen for a human head, and her features were an odd  
combination that said both female and dragon. Long black hair curly hair was  
tied back with a strip of animal skin. Last time he saw her, her hair hung  
loose. She seemed to be as tall as him, maybe an inch shorter. 

Her lower lip jutted out as she watched him approach. Her stance projected  
power, but she appeared to remain still for fear of him running away. She was  
allowing him to approach on his own will. 

He stopped a couple of feet from her, realizing at the moment she was unlike  
anything he had ever seen, but she was not as scary as he first thought. If she  
wanted to hurt him or worse, she had ample opportunity to do it by then. 

He found a smile, and for lack of anything better to say, he simply said,  
"Hi." 

Eyes on his face, only one corner of her mouth lifted into a half-smile. Her  
eyes dropped to his arm. "Does that hurt?" she asked. 

Ace shrugged. "Not really." 

"We need to take care of it. I meant you no harm," she said, and Ace figured  
in her own way she was apologizing. She reached out slowly and held his arm,  
checking it. "I can heal the surface wound, but if there is infection, there is  
not much I can do for that." 

"I don't think it is infected," he told her. 

"I should heal this and take you back. I should not have taken you," she  
stated, guiding Ace to sit on a rock. 

She knelt next to him, gently cradling his arm. She glanced up at him, and he  
felt a moment of tenderness. She could most likely break his body in two, and  
yet, her touch was so light and gentle. 

"We all make mistakes," Ace assured her, daring to reach out and run a hand  
through her hair. Her eyes glimmered in a way which told Ace she found his touch  
pleasing. 

"I have not healed anyone other than myself for so long," she told him. "I  
can't say this will not hurt." 

Ace nodded his head, stroking her hair once more. "I understand." 

Her eyes glimmered again, and she bent her head down. "Hey," Ace laughed,  
jerking a little as she started to lick his arm, "that tickles." He laughed  
again. "Do I dare ask how this happened?" 

She paused from his ministrations, looking up at him, their eyes meeting. "My  
hair," she said. "You must have been dreaming while you were out. We were over  
the water coming here, and you lashed out, grabbing my hair and pulling it. I  
almost lost you. I did what I had to so you would not fall into the water." 

"Those nails of yours can get in the way at times," Ace stated, realizing she  
lightly ran one of her nails along his arm. Not enough to break skin. He  
shivered from the touch, smiling at her. "That felt nice," he said with a  
nervous chuckle. 

As she continued to lick his wound, at first he started to laugh again at the  
tickling sensation. Then his laughter slowly stopped. His eyes were slits, and  
he let out a low moan. She lifted her head to look up at him. "That felt so  
good," he sighed, licking his lips. "I wish I had cuts all over my body." His  
eyes met hers. 

"You would allow me to if you had?" she asked him, gazing in wonder at  
him. 

He nodded. "Yesss...." he sighed. He reached out to cup her face and bend  
down so his lips would meet hers. "Do I have to be cut up for some more of that  
treatment?" he asked. 

It was her turn to not know what to say. Here was one of those repulsive  
strange creatures. Only she did not find Ace so repulsive. She found attractive,  
and she could not believe that he appeared to be attracted to her. 

He slipped off the rock to kneel next to her, his hands touching her scales,  
once again marveling at how soft they felt to his touch. His hands worked the  
lacing of her top and watched in satisfaction as it fell to the ground. 

"Ace," she sighed as he touched her. "Are you sure you want to do this?" 

"Yes. My first impression was in fear. You are beautiful. Strangely unique,  
but that is part of your beauty." He stopped any further questions from her by  
covering her mouth with hers. 

********************************************************************** 

Ace lay on the ground on a pile of leaves. He had never done anything as wild  
as he had with Samantha. He was exhausted, yet he hungered for more. She sat  
next to him, looking down, her face softer, eyes shining. She was gently stoking  
his body. He lifted his arm to touch her hair when he noticed the scratch on his  
arm. "Oops, missed one," he told her with a smile, sitting up and holding his  
arm up to her mouth. He let out a sigh. Such an exquisite feeling of so much  
pain as her nails tore his flesh and so much pleasure from her method of  
healing. And except for the one cut she was licking, there were no evidence of  
any of the other cuts. 

She did not gouge him deep, just enough to break skin and let some blood  
flow. He found himself growing daring. The sensations he felt were like nothing  
any drug could ever match. But like a drug, he craved more. He found himself  
daring for her to dig deeper and deeper. When he kissed her, he could taste his  
blood on her tongue, notice the coppery taste in her mouth. 

Samantha released his arm, licking her lips. Ace reached forward, pulling  
himself closer to her, cupping her breasts in his hands. He started to fondle  
and kiss her breasts. 

"Ace," she sighed. "I should be taking you back now." 

"Not yet. I want more. Just one more time," he cajoled her, alternating  
between his hands and his mouth. His mouth found her neck. He could feel her  
lose the fight to take him back. A long sharp nailed appendage ran down Ace's  
chest. He grabbed the wrist of that arm, looking deep into her eyes, forcing her  
to hold his gaze. 

She suddenly let out a sharp cry of pain. Reflexes kicked in and she dug her  
nails deep into his chest. His hand pulled hers downward creating deep gorges  
across his chest. Her eyes opened wide as she realized what he had just done.  
"ACE!!!" she roared, pulling her arm away from him. "Do you know what you just  
did?" 

He ran a lazy finger through the blood running down his chest. He put the  
finger to his mouth, sucking it clean, and then ran his finger through the blood  
again and held it to her mouth. "Are you going to let me bleed to death?" he  
asked innocently, as she instinctively licked at his finger. 

"You know I can't allow that," she replied, as his hand cradled the back of  
her head, pulling it to his chest. 

********************************************************************** 

Ace lay still and limp in her arms when she landed back on his island. After  
the last time they made love, he collapsed in a pile out cold, a stupid grin on  
his face. She almost did not want to let him go. She knew if she asked, he would  
stay. As much fun as she had with Ace, she just knew deep down inside of her  
that it was wrong for them to continue any relationship. She felt something that  
she once remembered from a long time ago, that was called love, for him. But it  
was not the type of love to bind them together. That was good, she thought. It  
was impossible for her to expect any of these creatures to be a mate to her.  
Even Ace, who showed so much potential as a companion for her. 

She gently placed him on the ground not far from where the others from his  
island were. Someone had noticed him missing for the last few hours. They were  
searching for him. She would have to make this quick. 

Samantha knelt beside him, checking him over one more time to make sure he  
was okay. His breathing was even and strong. She gently caressed his face.  
"Goodbye, Ace." Her hand covered his face. "May the magic of dragon's blood  
protect you always, dear one," she whispered. She stood up, taking one last look  
at the face she found so endearing, the body she could love over and over again.  
As she started to turn away from him, a tear fell from her eye, landing on his  
face. "Remember me, my dear Ace," she whispered, then took off, making sure she  
made some noise that would be heard by someone and lead them to the sleeping  
Ace. 
************************************************************** 
  
To be continued in part B