(First part found here - https://pastebin.com/w18DwaBd )

Chapter 16

The last time you had passed through these intricately carved streets it had been a mad dash while carrying a wounded Opal, trying your best to stay ahead of the mob while attempting to reach the exit.
This time there was no mob behind you, the bulk of the Enclave's lizard population being busy voicing their discontent back at the arena.
You still found yourself supporting a wounded scaly lady however, still moving through the streets with purpose.
This time however it was to try and reach your destination before your charge woke up and murdered you rather than a mob.
Opal had led you from one street to the next, ducking through alleyways and dodging any signs of life as if infiltrating an enemy stronghold rather than heading home.
She had also refused to fill you in on the plan.
Your every attempt to pry an answer from her shushed and even ignored as you continued your journey.
It did little for your nerves.
In time however, you eventually reached your goal.
She had taken you to what looked like an artificially flattened rockface, hewn into the wall of the cavern on the edge of the Enclave propper.
You had thought that the lizards had all lived in those stone houses that seemed to rise from the ground and twist amongst each other, but it didn't take you long to realise this wasn't the case.
The wall was set by a number of circular doors, barely indistinguishable from the hard rockface at first glance but each with a unique design once studied closely.
It was to the leftmost of these doors that Opal brought you.
She dropped Velvet's weight on you entirely before placing her long fingers into a small alcove and fiddling for a second or so.
Her efforts were rewarded with a set of clicks and thunks from the door before she pushed it open and guided you inside.
At first it was as you expected, at least for a hole in the wall anyway.
Pitch black.
It didn't take long for her to light a small stone lantern in the corner however and bathe your surroundings in softly flickering light.
Her home was... modest, to say the least.
A small space cut into the rock with only one other opening besides the way you had come through, a couple of short benches surrounded a compact fire pit while a small purple piece of woven cloth hung from the wall decorated with a swirling golden pattern served to try and brighten up the place.
A few small shelves held some carvings and trinkets but otherwise there was little else.
It occurred to you then that if the other stone doors outside led to similar dwellings to this, then Opal essentially lived in a very close approximation to your own home.
A cheap and out of the way block of apartments with just enough room for one.
Your musings came to an end however as Opal shut the heavy door behind you with a bang and Velvet stirred slightly in your arms.
She seemed to mutter and hiss something in a language you didn't understand before flexing slightly and going limp once more.
Opal noticed too.
Instead of rushing to your aid however, she ran through the other opening at the end of the room and called back over her shoulder.
"Just need to get something ready Anon!"
You could but sputter slightly with a mix of panic and indignation, wanting to shout for her to come back but also weary of waking Velvet...
To her credit, Opal didn't keep you waiting long.
She returned panting slightly, as if having hastily rushed something, and waved you through to follow her.
So it was, that you dragged the just about unconscious Velvet, into what you discovered to be Opal's bedroom...

Much like the first room, Opal's sleeping quarters was a modestly sized space with just enough decoration to be able to tell someone lived there.
The walls were spartan save for another hanging tapestry, more of a lilac this time and decorated with swirls of light blue.
A few small holes cut into the walls provided space for more trinkets and personal items while a line of what looked like twisted leather hung from the ceiling towards the edge, with small hooks bound tightly at various intervals.
Her clothes hung from here it seemed rather than a closet.
All of these details were ultimately lost on you though, the centrepiece that was Opal's bed grabbing your attention by the balls and squeezing mercilessly.
Instead of the typical elongated mattress that you were used to, Opal had a large circular depression set into the centre of the floor.
It was filled with what looked to be a mix of large cushions, sections of both thick and thin blankets, and a series of what seemed to be some sort of scented balls of woolly something or other.
How could you tell they were scented?
You could smell them from the doorway, a mix of a floral softness that tickled the nose and a strange spice that sent a small thrill through you.
It wasn't the scent or the shape of the bed, or nest if you had to describe the soft looking arrangement, that had you stupified however...
It was the rope, leather and cloth bindings that hung from the ceiling above it and fixed to the walls around it.
Even the distant mutterings of Velvet, still slumped loosely at your side, couldn't pull your attention away.
It wasn't until Opal poked you painfully in the ribs did you snap back out of it.
"I said we don't have much time Anon!" she hissed.
You look at her, much of what was now happening no longer computing.
"Huh?"
She poked you again, harder.
"She looks like she's going to wake up any minute!  We have to get her strapped in!"
Nope, still not computing.
Critical error, please call the administrator...
"What?  Strap her in?"
She sighed wearily and pointed back at the bindings.
"Yes, in there, now!"
Slowly, the picture she was desperately trying to paint started to materialise.
"Tie her up in that?  In your bed?"
She was losing patience now.
"If she wakes up here, in this little room, all rampant and crazy, then she's going to kill up both in seconds."
"Oh..."
You couldn't manage more than that just yet.
"We need to get her tied down before that happens, then we can work on trying to fix this mess."
She was at last making sense, or enough at least for you to work with.
Together you drag the now restless Velvet over to the bed and start strapping her in.
Unlike the tight bonds of the guards that held her before, these seemed to be quite comfortable looking...
They were strong, but almost silky soft in places, but fit in a way that focused more on holding their subject in a way that they couldn't really position themselves to move properly rather than binding them to a static spot.
Following Opal's instruction you managed to help her secure the last of the bindings before Velvet started stirring into wakefulness properly.
She started to hiss and groan slightly as she tried to turn and roll over the soft cushions below, only to be fall back into her starting position almost immediately as the ropes pulled taut.
She was still not fully awake so she still didn't seem to realise what was going on, if she even could anyway considering her condition...
It was when Opal applied the finishing touch that finally the picture became more clear.
It was as she strapped the caged muzzle over Velvet's maw that you realised that the image was very much for mature audiences only...
Velvet was secured on her back upon the sunken bed, arms held outstretched in opposite directions, and her legs splayed wide.
The caged muzzle wouldn't stop her speaking, or shouting at you, but it would certainly stop her from biting anything.
These weren't restraints.
It was some freaky lizard bondage set-up.
It had to be.
With a little sigh of relief, Opal turned to you and smiled.
"There, just in time!"
After a few seconds of your mouth working wordlessly, you find your voice.
"The hell is this!" you nearly shout.
"What... why... how..."
She cocked her head and gave you a confused look.
"I thought you said that you had thought of a way to help her not get put to death, not tie her up in some weird rope shit!?!"
She blinked but otherwise didn't respond, just continuing to watch as you seethe.
"How is this helping anyone?  Tell me!"
Your gradually rising voice had the effect of rousing Velvet that much faster, causing her to twist in her bonds and snap her teeth in agitation.
So Opal waved you back out to the living area, leaving the other lizard to wake up violently in peace.
You had questions, lots of questions, but she apparently had answers ready for you.
Holding her hand up sternly, she stopped you before you could start.
"Before you say anything, hear me out ok?"
You take a deep breath, and wait.
"So..." she begins.
"Sort of a crazy idea here but one I think might just fix things for us, with the Enclave and hopefully your people too."
"I'm listening..." you respond slowly.
Despite what you know is in the other room, you trust this girl, hell you love her, so the least you can do is see what she has planned.
The Opal you fell for is pretty much the sweetest girl you have ever met, despite the razor teeth and claws...
You trust that the whole tied up thing next door has some reasonable explanation.
"Basically... I want you to go in there and fuck some sense back into her."
Your jaw drops.
"You want me to..."
"Yes, I do."
A sound causes you to poke your now spinning head back through the doorway.
Velvet seems to be trying to chew through the binding around her wrist, quite unsuccessfully with the muzzle in the way.
Looking back at Opal, you can't seem to find the right string of words to throw at her.
So you settle for one.
"Why!?!"
With a sad little smile, she takes your hand and holds it tight between her own two before answering.
"Because I love you, and I think this might be the only way to try and make things... right."
Finally the shock catches up with you.
Your knees buckle and you drop down onto one of the little benches.
"I love you too Opal but... I don't know how you can ask me to do this..."
With another little sigh she joins you on the bench, keeping hold of your hand and resting her head on your shoulder.
"I don't see another way out Anon, I know what is going to happen next if we don't do this and it's killing me."
You spend a moment in relative silence, pondering her words as she rested against you, as Velvet snarled and hissed from the other room.
"I will tell you everything, about my real life here and what I had planned before this happened." she whispered sadly.
"Then you can decide what you want to do, and how you want to do it."
You wonder at her words, about this 'real life' she mentioned.
There really isn't anything she can say that can convince you to go have your way with the now both helpless and senseless Velvet next door, in the woman you love's bed no less, but the least you can do is listen.
Unsurprisingly, she had much to tell you.
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"I've told you much, about my people, about the things we like, the things we don't, and how we live..."
Her voice had taken a melancholy tone as she spoke, seeming to flit between sadness and joyless mirth as her story unfolded.
"I kept my own feelings hidden though, my own experiences locked away so you couldn't see."
"I hate it here, living amongst my own people, wishing to be somewhere, anywhere else."
You wait for her to continue, squeezing her hand gently and trying to ignore the sound of Velvet seemingly speaking in tongues over in the other room...
"You don't know what it's like, being seen as... unworthy, as just a waste of space to be ignored or forgotten about... as nothing."
"What do you mean?" you ask incredulously.
"Down here I am nothing, my people assign status according to size and breeding, I have neither."
She wasn't as large as Velvet or (shudder) her monster sized mother Rouge, but she was still level with you and by no means tiny.
"Down here, a male either chooses his mate from a negotiated number of socially connected females if he is important, or chooses to let himself be wooed in private by any females that want him."
"The important ones stay away from the lower castes to avoid challenges and then separate when the eggs come, but the others are open to challenge in the pits and the males enjoy being fought over."
"I... I could never attract anyone down here, my markings are not bright or colourful enough to be seen and I am considered too small compared to others..."
"Wait, your markings?" you interject suddenly.
"You have beautiful silver markings...  I don't understand..."
"Thank you Anon..." she sniffed.
"My people's eyesight is second to none, particularly in the dark, but silver on white isn't something that we can see all that easily."
"Oh, I see." you respond, not quite getting it.
"The other females can show off their looks by just walking out the door, but I would have to use paints or decorations and... it just made me look... cheap compared to the others."
Now you got it.
"Its one of the reasons I liked wearing this wig so much, up on the surface your human women all dress up every day, do their hair in all kinds of different ways... and the makeup?"
She smiled distantly for a moment before continuing.
"The other thing, my size...  You saw what happened when I first fought Velvet for you."
You look away for a second, trying not to relive the memory of seeing her all battered and bloody on the floor...
"Even if I could attract a mate I would have no way of keeping him when the bigger females challenged me, and I wouldn't stand a chance trying to claim one from someone else either."
"In a place like this, where value is put on who can breed and who can't?  I was nothing."
You pull her in closer, trying to offer comfort with your embrace.
She sat still against you for a moment, enjoying the closeness, before continuing.
"When they wanted people to send up to the surface for the work programme, it was going to be a draft of sorts at first."
You pull back a bit, somewhat surprised.
"A draft?  As in they were sending up people against their will?"
She nodded.
"Nobody wanted to go up there, the caverns deep below were all that we knew and the stories we heard of your people were just weird."
You weren't sure how to take that...
"But I volunteered, and they accepted me."
You nod, waiting for her to continue.
"I wasn't sent up here because I was the best woman for the job, or a superior candidate, it was because I didn't have to be dragged by the tail."
"I'm glad you decided to go up there when you did, otherwise I would never have met you."
Your words caused her to sit apart from you a bit, sadness becoming more prevalent once more.
"I went up because I didn't want to live here anymore, to dwell on how lonely and unworthy I was...  I thought that up there I would lose myself in a whole new world with new people, experiences and sensations..."
"I wouldn't have time to think about wanting mates or how I wasn't good enough for one..."
When she didn't continue, you decided to give her a prompt.
"So did you?  Find what you were looking for?"
You were pretty sure you knew the answer, that she had then met you and it was all uphill from there..."
Her response though was a little... different.
"No, I didn't."
Once more your jaw found itself hanging down loosely.
"I didn't find what I was looking for, things got worse, so much more worse..."
She turned her golden eyes to look at you again, visibly welling up with tears.
"Things got so bad that... I just wanted to give up and die."
She stopped and began sobbing, leaving you wondering just how much of her feelings she had been hiding from you all this time, and if perhaps, you had made them somehow worse...

It took a few minutes but eventually you calmed her back down, enough at least for her to speak again.
Despite your insistence she stop however, the floodgates were now open and her tale was coming out regardless.
So after a bit of reassurance she continued.
"The surface was... horrible." she began flatly.
"The sun hurt my eyes and burnt my scales, the the ceiling was missing and the sky went on forever... not to mention the cold water it spits at you occasionally."
She really had never got used to the rain...
"The humans up there avoided me at first or run off in fear when I spoke, until they realised I wasn't going to hurt them at least... then they just ignored me or called me names when they thought I couldn't hear them."
You wanted to say that she must have just met a bad bunch, but your own knowledge of how most of humanity treats those different to themselves stopped you coming up with anything more than a hollow platitude.
So you kept silent and listened.
"Things got so bad, I kept getting lost in the city and nobody would help, my own people shunned me even more because I volunteered to go up willingly..."
Those that sent me up in the first place didn't care if I was happy or not, they just gave me a strict set of rules on how to behave and the promise of what would happen if I broke any or caused any trouble..."
"I just felt so alone...  I had nothing and no one..."
"Until I met you."
You pulled her back in close and held her, doing your best to comfort her as she sobbed.
"You were the first human to help me that night, when I was lost and cold..."
You took me to your home and made sure I was ok, and before I knew it I had a friend."
"You helped me find my way through the city, showing me the sights and landmarks to use."
"You showed me that there was so much strange and wonderful things up there that I had missed while just keeping my head down."
"Even when there were others who scorned you for being with me, not once did you back down or try and pretend that I didn't matter..."
"It was then that I started to fall for you, and the 'need' started to come upon me."
"I tried everything to stop it, visited every healer in the Enclave, tried every tincture from every street peddler..."
She sighed sadly again.
"Nothing worked, the more I saw you the more I needed you."
"But I thought that if we...  If I...  If you became my mate it would be like how it was with my people, that once I had sated my need you would leave..."
"I didn't want you to leave though!  I didn't want to be alone again!"
Her cries incited a few grumbling shrieks from next door but you ignored them for now.
"Opal, I wasn't going to leave though, I mean last night we... you know... and I'm still here,"
She nodded again sadly.
"I know that now, but at the time I was a mess, not thinking straight."
"When I did realise that humans did things differently I thought it was too late...  I had gone too far and I was worried that if I tried spending time alone with you I would... hurt you."
She patted your soiled bandages for effect.
"So I made a plan, one that involved lying to you, my people... and ropes."
Now she was getting to it...
"I figured that if I tried... mating, it would be too much and I would lose it, so I decided to have it happen down here."
That way I wouldn't damage your place and I could control how it happened.
You sat in silence, listening with a mix of disbelief and morbid curiosity... and lamenting just how much damage she had actually caused in your apartment after all...
"I planned to lure you to my place, have you restrain me in those ropes, then... do what you wanted with me... and I wouldn't be able go flip out or hurt you."
You sit back a bit.
"So that pass you got me, the story about just wanting to show me your home... all of it was to get me down here and sleep with you?"
"She nodded."
"Why didn't you just say anything or talk to me?!?"
She avoided your gaze.
"Why go through all these lies and stuff just to get me to do something I would have happily helped you with myself?"
She started sobbing again.
"I wasn't thinking straight, there was a part of me that thought you didn't really want me in that way, that unless I cornered you like that then you would just leave and I'd have nothing again!"
As you sat mulling over her revelations in your head, she continued.
"I didn't know that Velvet would try take you for herself, that what happened next would happen, or any of this..."
A question came to mind.
"What was the point of that lotion stuff anyway?  The so called 'sunblock'?"
She gave you a cute little sheepish look that was totally not going to melt through how angry you were right now...
"Its more of an... intimacy thing really, time ago it was supposed to be something used by a mating pair to signify a lasting bond."
"Before there was such an imbalance in our numbers it would be a sign to others that the bond was... permanent, I guess?"
She had not seriously just stealth married you or something... had she?
Reacting to your look, she hurriedly continued.
"These days it's not really used for things like that, its used for... kinky stuff..."
Say what now?
"I just remembered hearing the old stories and it just felt right to use it with you, it doesn't mean anything... except to me really."
With a sigh of your own, you rub the back of your neck and then try stretch out some of the tension in your shoulders.
You had listened to her words with patience and as much understanding as you could muster.
She had told you much about her work at City Hall and the general traditions of her people, but she had never mentioned being that miserable or of it being her reason for coming into your life as she did.
None of it quite explained the ropes next door however.
"Thank you for telling me all that Opal, really, but what does it have to do with what you want me to do to Velvet?"
She closed her eyes but didn't immediately answer.
"I mean, the last few days went to hell because she wanted to try take me from you, you fought her and nearly died in the pit..."
No response.
"If I had just gone along with it at the time then none of this would have happened!  I didn't because I wanted to be with you so what's changed?"
She opened her eyes and looked at you once more, a bit of steel in them now that hadn't been there before.
"What has changed is that the Enclave now wants you dead, my people are fighting each other over what trouble I caused and everything is going wrong."
You couldn't argue with that, but still...
"My plan is for you to do for her what you did for me, give her what she wants and bring her mind back."
You were all set to protest again when she cut you off.
"If you can bring her back to her senses then Elder Rouge won't be able to rally the people against you, particularly if Velvet takes our side."
You were still not liking this...
"That and there's another thing..."
You give her a questioning look, not yet understanding.
"My people have been killing each other for generations because there aren't enough mates to go around, but what if they can be shown that humans are more than just strangers from the surface?"
You narrow your eyes as you see where she's going with this.
"What if my people see that there's more on the surface than just more space?  What if those females down here who can't find a mate go be with a human instead like I did?  How many wouldn't have to die in the pits or exile anymore?"
"Are you really suggesting I sleep with Velvet as an advertisement for substitute human boyfriends or something?"
This was going from surreal to just plain old padded cell nuts now.
"Opal... seriously!?!"
She maintained her serious expression, unflinching.
"I love you but this is insane!"
She smiled sadly, but didn't relent.
"I don't want to share you Anon, not with anyone, but I can't lose you either."
"After what we've been through, I want you in my life forever, but if we don't do something then everything's going to fall apart."
"I can't go back to how my life was before, I won't, so if that means lending you to another, just for a little while, then it is a price I will gladly pay."
You didn't like this talk of her 'lending' you, like a hairdryer to a friend, but...
In the cold light of day, you couldn't bare the thought of losing her either.
The time spent wandering the city together, those little moments of stolen intimacy when nobody was looking, the feel of her smooth scaly body next to yours under the covers on a cold winter's night...
The prospect of going back to your old monotonous life seemed so... daunting, that you might as well be considering amputating a healthy limb.
She saw in on your face, the indecision and the signs that you only needed one more push...
Wordlessly, she rose from your shared stone bench and strode out into the bedroom, leaving you alone and confused.
"Opal?" you called, getting really quite worried now.
Eventually she responded.
"Come here a minute Anon..."
Slowly, you rise and follow her voice.
When you enter the room you see her sitting on the bed with Velvet, sans wig and with her blouse undone.
Her hand is resting on the twisting Velvet's bare stomach.
"I'm not asking you to betray me Anon, I'll be here... and I'll help you too."
As you stood there watching, stunned to silence, Velvet noticed you were there.
She raised her head to look at you, madness in those slitted eyes... but need too.
Terrible, terrible need.
As Opal stroked her hand across Velvet's midsection, a small bead of wetness dripped down from her exposed nethers and onto the cushions below.
The first stirrings of what you realised was the point of no return began in your boxers, and you finally understood the weight of those eternal words spoken long long ago...
'Sometimes, a man's just got to do what a man has got to do'.
The last of your doubt either faded away or went into hibernation, for now you had a job to do.
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Chapter 17

You just stood there, staring at the downright naughty grin on Opal's lips while she invited you to partake of Velvet's...
How had you even got here?
How was this even happening!?!
This was... insane.
But it was happening.
Velvet for her part was twisting against her bonds and hissing from behind her muzzle, but it wasn't in an attempt to get away from what you had planned...
If anything, she was doing her best to try and push herself closer to you, shuffling on her rump across the bed but immediately getting pulled back into position by the cleverly tied ropes and bonds, her long tail whipping back and forth in frustration.
The result however, was that she ended up shaking her exposed slit at you with each attempt.
With the almost crazed mindset that she was trapped in it must have been unintentional, her struggles just happening to make you hot under the collar...
Her eyes were locked with yours all the while however...
Despite her growing impatience though, you couldn't commit to this, at least not yet.
You were painfully aware of two things.
The first being that Velvet was still injured.
The bonds on her wrists were far less severe than that of the guards but it didn't change the fact that the scales there had already been damaged, or the other self inflicted wounds from her crazed captivity.
The second was your own condition.
You still felt like hell from the time you spent seeing to Opal's rampant desires, plus you hadn't managed to change the bandages on your arms either.
Despite the growing bulge down below you didn't feel up for another round of 'bang the crazy lizard sane'...
Thankfully, Opal seemed to have tuned into your wavelength already and had started moving to remedy the situation.
"I've got some salve here for Velvet's wounds, there's also a little first aid kit just outside the door there if you want to fix your arms up too."
After a bit of poking around you found the kit, and quickly set about changing your bandages.
Opal meanwhile tended to Velvet, carefully covering the restrained lizard's wounds with a thick salve.
It wasn't like the sensual moment you had shared between you back in your apartment, partly because the two lizards lacked the same bond, but mostly due to the fact that Velvet was snarling and hissing angrily all the while.
"How do you even have human medical supplies here anyway?" you ask, suddenly realizing that it has little business being here.
"I tried to plan for everything." she explained.
"Even the possibility that I might somehow have broken free and hurt you..."
Not a bad plan, considering that was just what had happened back at your place.
In record time you were both done, with Velvet tended to and some new bandages over your own wounds.
It wasn't going to be used as an example in any medical texts anytime soon but it would do.
Returning your attention to the bed you see Opal had finished first, and had removed the rest of her clothes.
Having already ditched your tattered robe, there was nothing now between you and the two lusfully waiting lizards but your now very tight feeling boxers.
With a wiggling of her finger, Opal beckoned you closer...
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With all other avenues explored, possibilities pondered, and mysteries solved, there was but one thing left to do.
Lose the boxers and plough this lizard silly, or sane... or something.
Things were getting a bit crazy now...
With the boxers gone however it was time.
It seemed Opal had positioned Velvet to allow you just enough room to climb down into the bottom of the bed, enough space to access her waiting nethers and do what must be done.
Exhaling, you slowly climb down into the cushioned nest of a bed and approach the restrained lizard cautiously, she was tied up but you didn't want to take any chances with this girl.
Not with those claws.
Velvet watched you approach the best she could, mad eyes tracking your movement and nostrils flaring as she took in your scent.
She had started drooling and trying to shuffle down to meet you again like before, but Opal held her back, much to her very vocal displeasure.
With a bit of effort, the smaller lizard piled some additional cushions underneath Velvet's rear and propped her up slightly, giving you better access.
Velvet's dark scaled slit was oozing now as she impatiently awaited you, her breathing was heavy and she strained even now to try and get at you.
As you move in and line yourself up though, Opal stops you.
"Wait... just one thing first..."
For a moment you think she's had second thoughts, until you see what she does next.
With a tug she pulls Velvet out of position and around, so that she once more has a clear view of you.
As she starts to hiss in frustration however, Opal suddenly thwacks her loudly across the caged muzzle, causing her to stop and blink in shock.
Leaning down closer to your exposed and erect member, she speaks.
"Mine."
Slowly, she pokes out her long tongue and runs it along the length of your shaft, working it from side to side as she went in order to coat it both above and below.
When finally she reached the head, she wrapped it up completely before releasing, leaving your now pulsing member covered in her saliva and you that much harder than before.
She then looked Velvet right in the eye and spoke again.
"Mine, and don't you forget it."
Despite having lost her mind, there was an almost primal look of understanding in the larger lizard's eyes before she went back to hissing and growling again, much more worked up than before.
After pushing the struggling Velvet back into place, Opal gave you a wink and smiled.
"Ok, you ready?"

With a smile of your own, you boop the cheeky lizard on the nose and get back into position.
You are on your knees on the cushions, Velvet's tail down between your legs and lined up once more with Velvet's waiting slit.
Carefully, you take hold of her hips with your hands and pull her closer.
Fully aware that it is still coated with Opal's spit, you push your throbbing dick as gently as you can against her waiting scaly lips and slide inside.
Velvet reacts instantly, every muscle in her body freezing in place as she processed your intrusion.
You wait, only the head inside of her accommodating but almost unbearably hot snatch.
Slowly she craned her neck forwards, curling herself into a crazy angle to be able to look at you over her raised pelvis, and gave you a predatory smile through the bars of her muzzle, the kind of smile that damn near froze your blood and killed your boner...
A touch on your arm from Opal snaps you out of it though, and you resumed storming her halls.
Inch by inch you slowly push inside, aware that she was watching you the entire time with that smile but not moving a muscle.
Were you hurting her?
Was there something wrong?
You stopped short of hilting her, the ample lubrication provided by her arousal and Opal's 'demonstration' allowing for a smooth entry despite the tightness.
As you stopped however, panting slightly, she reacted once more.
With a thundering howl and a sudden buck of her hips, she forced the rest of you inside of her, dragging a wheezing groan from your throat in the process.
She continued to buck and howl as she strained against the bonds, pushing and pulling herself upon you even as her inner walls gripped at your member like a possessed vice.
It of course, was too much.
Her unrestrained tail, while mistakenly thought to be contained down by your knees, flicked forcibly to the side and hit against your inner thigh.
At the same time she pulled herself against you with such force that you rocked backwards.
Opal saw what was happening and tried to grab you, but it was too late.
You fell backwards and away from the crazed lizard, your dick leaving her possessivley gripping snatch with a wet 'pop'.
With a grunt you land against the stone bordering the sunken bed, causing a fresh wave of pain through the areas that Opal had ravaged previously and bending your legs in ways that nearly broke them.
As you shook your head, Velvet erupted.
Realizing that there was now a void where your ample manhood had just been, she started thrashing about and snarling, wordlessly demanding that the world return your sword to her sheath.
It was a terrifying sight, but one that didn't faze Opal.
Grabbing a large section of odd blanket from the pile she threw it over Velvet, covering her head and chest completely and muffling her rage.
"Anon!  Are you alright?  Are you hurt!?!"
She pulled you from the bedding and started fawning over you, checking your bandaged arms and patting at your face.
"I'm fine Opal, really!" you laugh, finding her adorable concern overpowering any discomfort on your end.
She wasn't convinced though.
"That was too close!  What if she'd caught you with her claws or you'd hit your head!?!"
You pull yourself up to your feet and stretch and show you're ok, hoping that the various snaps and pops are normal and not something breaking loose.
She wasn't convinced though.
"This was a bad idea... we should just make a break for the tunnels and hope there's a way up to the surface or something..."
It was too late for that though, you both knew it.
So you decide that enough is enough.
No more laying back and just letting shit happen.
"No, you were right, this is the best way to set things straight."
She blinked in surprise, a confused look spreading across her features.
"But she almost hurt you, we should-"
"No."
The abruptness of your interruption stopped her short.
"When you fought in the pit, I did nothing until it was almost too late."
"When you jumped me back at the apartment, I let you take the lead because I love you and it was what you needed."
"When they tried to have me killed, I stood back and watched you fight, again."
"And now that we've come up with this plan I'm even letting Velvet set the pace..."
You rested your hands on her shoulders and gave her a peck on the cheek.
"We are going to finish this, but we do it my way."
She stared at you, a twinkling of what looked like longing in her eyes.
"Now, these ropes... can they be adjusted or altered?  How do they work?"
As Velvet reclined under her blanket, making a series of sad and frustrated noises, Opal explained just how she had set up the harness in preparation your arrival.
She told you about about the intricate set of ropes and pulleys that could both give a little slack like they did now, or carry quite a hefty weight if needed.
She told you all you wanted to hear, and then helped you shift the freshly hissing Velvet into a new position.
One of your choosing, for what should be a far more successful round two.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

It was ready.
She was ready.
More importantly, you were ready.
Velvet now hung just above the bed.
Opal had added to the harness that bound her, so that more rope and bindings crossed her chest, abdomen and hips.
More bindings had been fixed so that not too much weight was put on any one part of her body, and her tail had now been pulled up behind her.
Her ash grey scales, speckled with red, but now also crisscrossed with rope and leather...
Her legs were still splayed open but her arms were now tied behind her back, not so much because it was more secure but it limited the chance of her swiping you, deliberately or otherwise...
You had to give it to Opal, for an amateur who was also slightly mad when designing and building this rig... she had done a pretty thorough job.
It had been surprisingly easy to reposition Velvet this way, but only due to a stroke of inspiration from you.
Even with her head covered she had struggled as you moved her, kicking and hissing as you loosened one bond or tried to tighten another.
So you had decided to loop your several day old (and surely potent smelling) boxers through the bars of her muzzle, allowing her to breathe in your scent.
After covering up her head again, she hadn't made any more noises and she had struggled less.
With it all finally ready though, it was showtime.

Opal removed the blanket and your boxers, causing Velvet to start fidgeting once more.
Taking your position sitting on the side of the sunken bed, your feet in the covers, you signal Opal to lower her down.
Soon she is resting in your lap, much of her weight still held by the ropes but enough for her to be not completely suspended anymore.
She continued to hiss a wriggle, but she could no longer thrash.
Holding the helpless lizard, you feel the blood once more rush to your manhood, the feeling of her smooth scaly form held close bringing you back up to speed.
As you reach critical mass however, Opal stops you once more, sitting herself down in front of you upon the cushions and face height with your lap.
"First things first, remember?"
Once more she set about slathering your dick with her tongue, pausing slightly this time however, perhaps noticing it tasted different to last time...
Perhaps because it still had Velvet's dried juices on it...
Once she was done though, you were sure you saw the tip of her tongue flick against Velvet's exposed slit as she withdrew.
The sudden twitch and hiss from the confined lizard told you that it wasn't your imagination.
Saying nothing, you instead pull Velvet closer, lining her up with your waiting manhood.
This time you are less hesitant, and slide your lubricated meat inside her waiting snatch with ease.
The suspended lizard shuddered as you slid home, her walls once more closing upon the intruding manflesh greedily as she hissed with pleasure now instead of anger or frustration.
Once, twice, thrice... and you had worked your way into her completely, burying yourself up as deeply as you could among her wet folds as she squirmed and moaned.
Pleased that you weren't getting knocked on your ass this time, you up the pace, pushing harder and faster as you tried to build momentum.
Velvet could but moan and gurglge from within her muzzle, eyes rolled back and her instincts taking over.
Your plan was to keep going until you reached your limit and came, filling the dangling lizard with your seed as she needed and then retiring to see if her senses came back.
Opal however, seemed to want to join in...
Her hand reached up and groped at your knee, causing you to jump and lose your rhythm.
"Wait a second Anon..." she cood huskily, a strange light in her eyes.
Slowly she stood up, her hands now drifting up along Velvet's stomach and chest, before stopping at her neck.
She looked the larger lizard in the eyes, unfocused as they were, and tapped the muzzle.
"You don't mind if I help him out do you?  Hmm?"
Then, retrieving your discarded boxers, she shocked you by rubbing them down between her own legs.
They came away soaked.
"Opal?  What are you doing?"
She didn't answer, but gave you a naughty wink.
She then proceeded to loop the boxers, now sodden with her arousal, back through the bars of the muzzle.
It only took Velvet a second to react, smelling the mix of your musk with Opal's perfumed scent, and going nuts.
She snorted and shook her head, but they wouldn't shift as Opal had tied them firmly in place.
Despite her apparent displeasure, you couldn't help but notice Velvet's breaths getting deeper, and the wetness dribbling down your still implanted cock increase significantly.
With Opal looking quite pleased with herself, you continue pumping into Velvet.
Her hisses and grunts becoming throaty moans and growls as she took every thrust eagerly.
Opal sat back down on the cushions, but was still not satisfied with just watching.
She leaned forward and started sniffing at your sodden crotch, even as Velvet bounced on it.
Once more you jump with surprise as you feel her hot tongue start lapping at your balls, apparently having decided to clean Velvet's now freely running stickiness from them.
You couldn't help it, the added sensation made you thrust harder, pounding up into the helpless lizard like a jackhammer as your own arousal grew to breaking point.
She screeched and moaned, twisted and writhed, unable to do anything but enjoy the ride of her life.
Until finally you felt her give, with a muffled scream the final floodgates opened.
You felt her already needy folds clamp down on you in earnest as she shook and quivered, splashing Opal's nose with a fresh gushing of juices.
Between the desperate milking of your cock by one lizard and the slurping ministrations of the other, you finally released.
With a shuddering moan of your own you sent your load up into the eagerly awaiting lizard, each rope eliciting a fresh moan and shiver as you coated her already overstimulated insides.
Opal had felt you go, lapping softly at your sack even as they pumped their contents elsewhere.
Yet she remained in place, licking at the dribbles of cum as it dripped from the filled lizard above and down your shaft.
Only when you pulled out and sat back did she move, leaving Velvet to stay in position, a mix of both your fluids dripping onto the cushions below.
Panting, you look at Opal, lost in glow but wondering at the smile on her face.
Looking up, you were surprised to see that Velvet had seemingly passed out.
Her eyes were closed and her head hung loosely to the side.
Where the smaller Opal had come back for seconds, thirds and beyond during her rampant night of passion with you, the larger Velvet had been entirely spent after only a single full round.
Considering she had probably been going nuts in a cage the last couple of days while Opal had maintained control, perhaps it wasn't so surprising after all...
Slinking away from Velvet, you manoeuvre yourself down onto the bed with Opal and sigh.
"Well, I think she got what she wanted."
Opal grinned, her nose still wet.
"I think so too, we just have to wait until she wakes up now to see if it worked."
"You think it might be too late?" you ask, wondering if this might all have been for nothing.
"Its not that..." she grinned mischieviously.
"It took quite a few rounds before I started thinking straight again remember, your job might not be over yet..."
With an exaggerated look of exasperation, you collapse down into the deepest part of the bed.
"The things I do for love..." you mutter.
She snickered, before collapsing down with you.
"You know... she might be all nicely filled up and happy up there, but I'm left feeling kind of antsy down here..."
You look over, and see a very toothy grin.
"What, now?  What if she wakes up?"
She waved a clawed hand and giggled. 
"So?  What if she does?  Just means she'll have to watch and wait for her turn..."
You return her wicked smile and laugh.
It would take a bit of time for you to recover after giving Velvet such a thorough seeing to, but there was more than one way to pleasure a lady while you passed the time.
Opal gasped and giggled as you started planting kisses along her scaly chest, and steadily worked your way downwards...
They say that there's no rest for the wicked, so considering how little you were getting right now, you must have been an exceptionally naughty boy indeed...
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 18

It was some time before you had finally tired, having somehow found your second wind while Opal seemed determined to make sure there was no doubt as to which lizard would occupy your dreams long after the scars had healed.
Where she had been a wanton beast while rampant, she was far more... deliberate, now that she had control over her senses.
The things she had done for you, the way she moved and flexed that smooth scaly body of hers...
If these last few hours on this earth had been your last, then you would have left it without regret.
Opal it seemed, agreed.
She was nestled in to the cushions by your side, snoring softly with a contented smile on her face.
In the last hour of your lovemaking she had screamed herself raw, her voice reduced to a croak by the end.
Velvet however, still hung from her bonds above the bed.
She still hadn't come around from her one and only turn with you.
At first you had worried about waking her, but after Opal had started to get... vocal, it had become more of a game to see just how much noise you could make before she realised what you were up to.
Much to Opal's disappointment however, she had continued to hang limply in silence.
Despite your near crippling exhaustion, you had been unable to drift off to sleep as your love had.
You kept worrying that Velvet might suddenly awaken and break free, or that a team of scaly guards might finally work out that you were all hiding in the main fugitive's bed and kick the door down...
It wasn't until you had finally convinced yourself that all was well and allowed sleep to venture closer however, did the first part of your fears actually come true...

As your eyes start to flutter closed, you heard a voice.
"Where am I?"
You go completely rigid, and your eyes spring open.
The voice had come from above.
From her harness, Velvet is looking down at you.
Her legs are still splayed open and your boxers are still tied unceremoniously through the muzzle, but her scarlet eyes are alert and focused.
Gone is the look of a wild beast, and in its place is a slightly fearful lizard who is starting to wonder just what the hell is happening.
"Why can't I...  What's happening here!?!"
She started to struggle as her voice raised an octave from worried to freaking out.
You rise up from Opal's grasp, noting her reluctance to release you, and try ccalming the panicking lizard down.
"Its ok, you're ok!  You're safe I promise!"
She stopped her struggling as she heard you speak, simply swinging slightly in place as she panted.
"W-why am I tied up like this?"
You sigh.
This wasn't how you had intended for her to wake up.
You hold up your hands and try speaking in as calm a manner as possible.
"Its ok, we had to tie you up to stop you hurting yourself... and us, but just give me a minute and I'll get that muzz- I mean mask off, ok?"
She blinked, still having trouble grasping the situation it seemed, but then nodded.
At least she seemed to understand you and was speaking English, which showed she was a far cry from the crazed woman she was before.
Carefully you walk around behind her and undo the straps to the mask, and the ones holding up her tail too while you were at it.
You leave the rest for now, just in case.
Pulling off the muzzle you quickly toss it aside, hoping she wouldn't get a good look at it, or what hung from the front...
"There, is that better?"
She shook her head and flexed her tail, trying to remove the stiffness that inevitably comes with being held immobile for so long.
"Yes, thank you... but why am I tied up like this and where am I?"
While she asked you nudged Opal with your foot, desperately trying to wake her even though she had somehow slept through Velvet's noisy awakening.
She was pretty much dead to the world however, and your nudging only encouraged her sleeping self to grab your foot and start hugging it like some sort of teddy bear.
Looks like you were on your own for now...
"I know you have questions but it might be easier for me to explain if you could just tell me something first?"
She nodded.
"Ok, do you recognise me?"
Your question causes her brow to crease slightly as she thought, until her eyes light up with recognition.
"Wait... you're that human... Anon!"
She actually looks pleased to see you for a second before more memories come rushing back, causing her to scowl.
"You ran away from me... with that little one that I beat fair and square!"
It looked like she was trying to pull an arm free to grab at you, but succeeded in only swishing her tail about impotently.
After a moment she gave up, settling for huffing angrily at you instead.
"Ok... at least you remember that much..." you mutter.
"Do you know what happened next?"
She narrowed her eyes, her expression not softening.
"I remember... waiting, they said they would bring you back to do what was expected of you."
She paused, a touch of unease now entering the mix.
"I remember just being so angry... and then it's just a blur."
She shook her head, seemingly trying to lift the fog obscuring the last few days from her.
Well, now it was up to you to try and break this gently.
How exactly do you go about telling someone that they went nuts so you and your girlfriend tied them up and fucked some sense back into them?
"Listen, Velvet..."
You take a deep breath and continue.
"A lot of things have happened over the last few days that led up to here but I'm going to do my best to try and explain it ok?"
She still looked peeved, but nodded.
"So..." was about as far as you got, before a familiar voice from down by your feet interrupted.
"I leant you his dick so you would stop being crazy.  Now you owe us."
God damn it Opal...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

The next few minutes were spent in awkward silence.
Opal unwound herself from your legs and stood beside you, still wearing nothing but a smug look on her face as she pressed against your skin.
Velvet had not quite fully appreciated her situation until now, accepting that she had been tied up but only just realising in what position.
Her eyes darted this way and that as she started putting two and two together, and you started to worry that perhaps she might react very differently than intended.
Eventually, she spoke.
"So... you mated... with me?"
You nod.
"But, you left after the fight... and turned me down, so why did you come back?"
Again, Opal stepped in with a far less gentle answer than you had planned.
"Your mother brought him here by force and tried to have you kill him in the arena, most the Enclave was there to watch."
"Mother did what?"
Velvet looked appalled, probably at the spectacle her mother had made of her though rather than the kill you part.
"Things went wrong though and everyone started arguing so we bust out and left them to it."
Opal seemed to be skimming on some of the details here but you could guess why.
"Then how did I end up here?"
The smile on Opal's face grew a touch at Velvet's question.
"Lucky for you, Anon thought it was wrong to just leave you there, all crazy and rampant, so we brought you here."
Velvet's look of confusion didn't last long before Opal wiped it off.
"I had been nearly rampant too after our fight before, but Anon still took me as his mate and well... cured me."
She started nuzzling against your shoulder.
"Turns out, human men have the endurance to mate for quite some time, long enough to work out the crazy from a girl gone rampant... and more."
"So... he did that for me too?"
Velvet was looking at you with much less hostility now.
Opal nodded.
"Don't get the wrong idea though, he's mine, and I am his, but I let you borrow him long enough to get your mind back."
Velvet's face seemed to droop slightly at this.
"Oh, so he's not..."
Opal shook her head.
"Nope.  Mine."
You couldn't help but feel a twinge of pity for the other lizard.
You loved Opal as she loved you, but hanging there as she was, Velvet had nothing, not even her dignity.
"How about we get you out of those bonds before anything else hmm?"
The two lizards stare at you.
"I'd say you're not looking crazy anymore so there's no point keeping you tied up any longer."
The look on Opal's face was somewhat begrudging, but she agreed.
The two of you untied the larger lizard carefully, making sure as to not worry her still healing wounds or let her drop.
Eventually she was free, and stood shakily by the side of the bed.
"Thank you." she croaked, her voice cracking.
"When was the last time you had anything to eat or drink?" you ask, wondering if any of the guards had dared making the attempt to feed and water her while she had been crazy.
She shrugged, wrapping her arms around herself and shivering slightly.
With a sigh, Opal started moving towards the doorway.
"Come on then, follow me.  There's some food and water in here."
The two lizards left, while you dropped back down to the bed.
Velvet's ordeal had left her a very different lizard to the confident, bullying creature you had met before.
Hopefully she would be up for what you needed her to do next, Rouge wouldn't in all likelihood let you leave this place alive if her daughter couldn't show that she was herself again.
After some knocks and clatters next door, Opal returned.
She had left Velvet in the other room to eat and drink as she came back to talk with you.
Dropping down next go you on the cushions, she began speaking in a low voice.
"So far so good...  We might just get out of this after all."
You sigh and pull her in closer.
"Fingers crossed, but we're not out of the woods yet.  We still have to actually find where Rouge is because I doubt she's still waiting at the arena for us..."
You smile.
"Plus I'm butt naked right now...  I can't exactly go wandering around out there like this."
You sit there together for a moment, content to just be with one another, before you try, and fail, to stifle a yawn.
"Sorry..." you mutter.
"Didn't get much sleep after our little... marathon, earlier."
It was Opal's turn to smile.
"Did I wear you out Anon?  Don't worry, just sleep here for a while... we can come up with a plan later."
Planting a kiss gently on the end of her snout, you drop down and almost immediately fall into a deep sleep.

Opal sat and watched for a moment, stroking her human's hair as he slept, before laying herself down next to him.
She was all set to try and get some sleep too when she realised Velvet was looking in from the other room.
She had apparently finished the food laid out for her and was now standing there, arms once more wrapped around herself and shivering again, as she watched the occupants of the bed sadly.
She was tempted to just throw her a cushion and a blanket, so that she could go sleep on the floor out there.
It was because of Velvet that all of this had happened!
If she had just left her Anon alone then it would have all gone to plan.
It would have been her tied up all snugly in those ropes, getting pounded on Anon's lap like that, and she could have had him all to herself...
Yet...
Anon had helped her realize some things.
If he hadn't have helped her that night in the rain then she would still be lost and alone.
He had helped her see a way in which her people wouldn't have to keep fighting and killing each other over mates like animals anymore...
He had also been right in a way about Velvet.
She had tried to steal him away, but the larger lizard wouldn't have had the chance if she herself hadn't lured him down here under false pretences in the first place...
Scowling slightly, Opal sat up and waved Velvet over.
"Fine, you can sleep here until he wakes up but then we're going out to find him some clothes, work out a plan and sort out this mess."
With a look of pleasant surprise, Velvet scampered over and laid herself down on the sleeping human's other side.
The two then dropped off to sleep too, with only a single grumbling growl of warning from Opal as Velvet tried to sneakily pull the slumbering Anon closer to herself and stopping when caught.
Tomorrow would be a busy day, but for now at least, they slept in peace.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Enclave had stopped.
After the ruckus at the arena the guards had ushered everyone back to their homes and declared a curfew.
The worst of the troublemakers had been dragged to the holding pits and the Elders escorted to their chambers, leaving the streets silent and empty.
There was an air of watchfulness though, a palpable feeling of unease as the lizards waited for something to happen.
Either there would be a riot, or someone was getting lynched.
So it was almost immediately that they reacted to the sound of the gong.
In the main arena there was placed a huge ceremonial gong, fashioned from metals found deep underground and used to call the Enclave to important gatherings.
It had been used once within the last twenty four hours to announce the punishment of the human.
It was now being used to draw them back for a very different type of show.
As each mighty crash of the gong reverberated through the streets, the lizards rushed to find out why.
Was it that the guards had captured the human again?
Was it someone calling everyone together to try and start more trouble?
They wouldn't need to wait long for an answer.
As the crowds gathered, they saw three figures standing upon the platform housing the gong.
The escaped human from yesterday dressed in a lizard robe, the smaller white lizard that had rescued him... and Velvet, the crazed daughter of the Elder Rouge.
Except she didn't look crazy anymore, she was dressed in traditional garb, standing tall, and the one bashing the gong.
It wasn't until the crowd had assembled, complete with the heavily guarded retinue of Elders, did the gong fall silent, and the fugitives spoke.

It had been difficult sneaking through the streets back to the arena, with guards patrolling the main roads and countless eyes watching from the shadows.
Yet somehow you had made it, the three of you together.
So with the gong sounded and the lizards assembled, it was time for stage two.
Velvet had stepped forward to address the crowd, hissing and barking loudly as she spoke to them in their own language.
Luckily you had Opal to translate.
"People!  Do you recognise me?  Do you know my face?"
The crowd muttered for a moment before someone answered.
"You are the daughter of the Elder Rouge!  The one lost to the madness!"
She glowered at them before responding.
"Yes it is I!  Yet do I look mad?"
The crowd immediately hushed, wondering at the sight of her.
"I am restored!  Thanks to this human!"
As she pointed to you, the crowd started to chatter and hiss amongst themselves once more.
After a few minutes a shout went up that spread from one end slowly to the other before disappearing.
Opal helpfully translated it for you.
"They are calling for the guards to go fetch Rouge, apparently she's under house arrest or something." she whispered.
It didn't take long for another group of guards to arrive, escorting a frantic looking Rouge.
She immediately broke out in a run as she spotted Velvet, ignoring the crowd and barging her way through.
"Daughter!  Is it true?  Is it you!?!"
Velvet turned to face her, but she didn't jump down from the platform to meet her.
"Yes Mother, it is me.  I am once more well and whole."
Rouge stopped before the platform, hands clasped together and almost bouncing on the spot.
"Daughter!  You have returned to me!  Somehow you have thrown off the madness the human cast over you and come back!  It is a miracle!"
It was then that she saw you and Opal, standing to the side.
"What are they doing there with you?" she cried.
"We have searched high and low since they snatched you away!  Where have you been?"
You have to wonder how 'high and low' hadn't included Opal's home...
Velvet spat, causing the crowd to gasp in shock and Rouge to step back.
"Daughter?"
Velvet didn't look pleased.
"I am back Mother but no thanks to you!"
The crowd fell silent.
"I know how you brought me here only yesterday and had me set upon the human, like some beast!  For everyone to see!"
Rouge's jaw dropped and she stammered for a response.
"Daughter... I... you were lost, I thought if you could get the one that had..."
Velvet silenced her with a snort.
"You wanted me to kill the human to give a message to everyone else!  To stay away from the humans!"
Silence.
"Yet the human took me as you bickered with others... and then took me as his mate!"
"Borrowed him..." Opal muttered.
The crowd erupted.
Yelling and chattering to one another as her words sank in.
"Do you see?"  Velvet continued.
"My mind was lost, but he helped restore it!  Do you know what this means?"
The crowd fell silent once more.
"My coupling with him is over, and I am free to do as I will."
"Yet this other one, Opal, behind me."
She turned and pointed at her.
"She too was lost to madness, but was also cured by the human!"
The crowd went nuts again.
You turned to Opal.
"I'm starting to feel like she's trying to auction me off or something..."
You had noticed some large lizards in the crowd who were not shouting, females by their shape and markings if you had to guess, eying you appraisingly...
"He has chosen her as his mate, and she gas chosen him!"
Velvet's words once more silenced the crowd.
You couldn't help but notice her voice hitch as she shouted out the last part though, even though she wasn't speaking a language you understood.
"Do you see?  The humans are more than what we think, and I call on the Elders to release these two now, and open further talks with the surface!"
Rouge had been struck dumb, standing in silence as her daughter spoke.
The crowd was shouting and hissing around her.
You could see though that she was torn, happy her daughter was back but crushed by your involvement in it.
But she wasn't going to dispute releasing you now, she couldn't.
So as the other Elders called for calm, you took Opal's hand and left them all to it.
With a final nod to Velvet, you left.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Epilogue

For the first time since you could remember, life was good.
After making a little detour back to Opal's home, you had left the Enclave and never returned.
You had gone home to your apartment, gathered the sack of gems, and set about getting as much money as you could for them.
They had raised a considerable amount, enough to allow the two of you to set up somewhere far more comfortable than you were used to.
Adding to that though, Opal had snagged another couple of sacks from her place before leaving and created a very healthy nest egg that would see you through for a long time to come.

You had bought a new apartment on the upper floors of a nice building, with a superb view of the city... and a hot tub.
Opal really liked the hot tub
Despite her desire to simply lock the door and hoard both you and the tub away from the world however like a dragon wannabe, she had found herself a new job.
After the shenanigans down in the arena, things had changed for the Enclave.
The story of how the human and his magic monkey dick had cured not one but two females of their rampant needs spread like wildfire.
As Opal had thought, the women of the Enclave began to wonder if maybe it might be better to go see if they could find a human to sate their needs when feeling lonely rather than imprinting on the few available lizard men and fighting to the death over them.
This had led to a surge in lizards volunteering to go top side... and also in incidents where horny lizards were jumping unsuspecting men in the street and trying to make off with them.
A whole extra section had to be set up at the Enclave checkpoint just to check bags carried by returning lizards for tied up humans...
So Opal had been offered the job of helping aclimatise the new arrivals to life on the surface, using her own experiences with you to help them navigate the streets and approach humans properly without 'accidentally' raping anyone.
She was one part teacher and one part social worker, going out to visit new arrivals and helping them with surface housing and employment.
She enjoyed it but it kept her busy.
You on the other hand were left at a loose end.
Your old boss had got in touch to offer you your old job back, at reduced pay...
So you had told him to go stick his offer up a horse's ass.
You didn't really need the extra income, but you weren't going to just sit around all day while Opal worked so you bought a small workshop a couple of blocks away and took up something you hadn't done for years.
You started making stuff out of wood and selling them.
Pieces of furniture, small lizard carvings and sculptures...
It wasnt something that would make you rich, but because you were pretty much set up for life anyway with the right investments, it made a perfectly fulfilling hobby.
You kept busy in other ways too.
You reported that git Pickler to his superiors and the authorities for having you kidnapped for one thing, cctv of the lizards bundling you into the back of a van he had rather stupidly rented using public money left him nowhere to hide.
You also let slip in the televised news interview you had to do afterwards that several pairs of your underwear were missing from your laundry after he had been seen fiddling with it.
Just for good measure.
All in all, life was good...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was a Friday night, Opal had finished work for the weekend and you had both made plans to stay in and spend the evening together.
Everything was perfect.
The takeout had just arrived, a movie was all set up to go on the widescreen and the hot tub was bubbling and ready.
You also had an extra stash of bandages delivered, just in case...
So when there was a knock on the door, you were sorely tempted to leave it.
Yet the caller wasn't going away.
After a few minutes you answered, all ready to send whichever nosey neighbour it was away with extreme prejudice.
When you opened the door however, you were met by a large figure wearing a red dress and a blond wig.
"Velvet?"
There's no mistaking it, even without the wig you would recognise those ashen scales anywhere now.
"Hi Anon!" she chirped, smiling.
You just stand there for a moment, not sure what to say, before Opal came over.
"Who is it Anon?"
She stopped at the sight of her one time rival, and bristled.
"Oh, it's you.  What do you want?"
Opal didn't look too happy.
"Well, I was in the area and thought it might be nice to look you both up and say hi is all..."
The three of you just stood there in silence for a minute, awkwardly waiting for someone to speak.
"So... hi then, I guess..."
Your attempt to move the conversation along fell a bit flat...
Eventually though, Velvet tried again.
"Well, I was also wondering if you were maybe interested in going out tonight?  Just for a meal or something?  To catch up maybe?"
Opal answered first.
"We've got plans actually."
Velvet seemed to visibly deflate.
"Oh, I see..."
"We're having a night in, it's been a busy week and we just wanted to spend some time together."
Your attempt to explain causes her to look suddenly hopeful again.
"Really?  Well I don't suppose I might be able to join in maybe?  Since I'm already here?"
You notice she's got a bag with her, held tightly in her hand.
"Why are you here Velvet?" huffed Opal, looking suspiciously at the bag now too.
Slowly, Velvet raised up the bag and showed you the contents.
"Well... you left this behind when you went to the surface and I was wondering if maybe..."
The bag contained a familiar set of ropes, and a large muzzle.
Your jaw drops and you look to Opal, expecting her to be scowling again.
Instead however, she seemed to be eying the items with a worrying intensity.
She eventually looked up at you, a wicked grin on her face.
"Opal?" you ask carefully.
She looks back at Velvet and waves her in.
"How can we say no to a guest who brings their own entertainment with them?"
As she leads Velvet inside you sigh heavily.
"I think I really should have ordered more bandages after all.  I don't think one box is going to cut it tonight..."

Fin