Beauties and Beasts Pt 2

Chapter 161

This will probably be the closest to kinky we get on this not-rated-R story, but the saga continues with Curtis sweeping Shay off her feet with soft things, food, and ... honorable unmentionables ^_~

"Oh Curtis..."

She'd never seen anything more beautiful in her entire life. After explaining the concept of dates, and courtship and wooing and everything that entailed, Curtis demanded the first try and blew all expectations out of the water.

"Does the sight please you?"

Candles scented with that lavender plant floated on a pool so still, they looked like stars. A roaring fire burned happily inside a roughly constructed furnace, in front of which were piled so many cushions and furs she couldn't see the ground. A stone bowl over the fireplace held what smelled like soup, along with thick slices of Neara's bread covered in smashed berries and honey. She thought she smelled something egg-like in the background, but that was probably Curtis's portion of the meal.

"Shay, I give you a date."

"No, remember, you take me on a date."

His cold hand pressed her chin upwards to look at him. "I took you once, but now it is you who has taken me." His rosemary-scented lips pulled hers into a soft kiss, though she could sense the passion he was holding back in the tension of his fingers on her neck.

"It's all so beautiful, I don't know what to say." And really, she didn't. When was the last time a guy in real life put this much thought into impressing her?

"I found a cave nearby, and that is where I would like our first stop to be." Scooping her into his arms, he slithered towards the fireplace.

"But why would you show me this if we're going to leave it so soon? You should've waited until after wherever the first location was. Now it's not going to be a surprise." She folded her arms across her chest, though she knew he didn't take her seriously.

"Because you're going to enjoy this from a different angle." He pulled aside what she'd thought was solid vines over a cliff wall to reveal a bubbling hot spring. Bouquets of flowers and herbs floated in the clear water, giving the spring a relaxing odor that melted her muscles. Her jaw dropped and she wished she'd kept it closed so she could drop it again when she saw an arrangement of fruits and nuts arranged near the edge of the water, along with several jars of what she guessed were dips.

He guided her to the water and kept his fingertips on her hipbones as she slowly stepped in. With what seemed like a slight twitch, her skirt and underwear were off. She jerked slightly, fighting an urge to cover herself up. She still wasn't totally comfortable showing off her body, even though she knew his high attraction. The emerald worked wonders to bring back her pre-pregnancy figure but... she wished it had done more.

"Curtis, I could wear at least my underwear..."

"You didn't bring any spare clothes." He morphed into his half snake form, slowly dragging her into the water while his tongue fluttered. "I made sure of it."

She allowed him to pull her in and only let out a small gasp when her top joined the pile of clothes at the edge of the springs. The water tingled pleasantly against her skin and she couldn't repress a moan when he began massaging something into her scalp. "Oh, wow, Curtis, what is that?"

"A special oil to soften your hair. I paid Ryan for it."

Which probably meant he threw prey at him until he accepted. The concept of money was one she didn't particularly want to introduce into this world. Yes, it made things convenient, but she'd always liked the barter system where people could decide the value of things for themselves and haggle if they needed, rather than having someone tell them what something was worth. As she mused over the idea of what beastman money would look like, Curtis's tail gently formed a chair and tilted her body, allowing her to float on her back while his perpetually cold hands stroked and massaged her scalp. You'd think in the water...

Curtis smirked as he saw her face totally relaxed with pleasure. It was worth it, the finding of those damn birds so Ryan could make that ridiculous token for her. Shay wasn't impressed with anything but service, he was sure, and the rarest of artifacts. Not that she cared particularly for them, but she appreciated the effort he went to for her. For some reason, she still didn't think she was worthy of the sun and moon and every star in the sky. If he could fly, he'd pluck those crystals from the black stone of the night sky and present them to her sewn into a glittering dress. His eyes misted slightly as he pictured her wearing the night sky. Nothing, however, could look better than what she wasn't wearing now.

After an hour or three days or whatever, time didn't matter anymore, Curtis drew her from the water and dried her off using a fluffy fur and a handful of fragrant grasses. She reached for her clothes but his tail wrapped around her and brought her to the fireplace where he fed her a spoonful of soup at a time, occasionally adding in a bite of bread.

"I can feed myself, you know."

"My Shay, this is more for my pleasure than yours. After all, you had your fun in the springs."

She blushed, remembering exactly what his tail had been up to and shifted uncomfortably in his grasp. "The soup is delicious."

His eyes focused on her face and he drew closer, allowing his thin tongue to taste a drop of the soup that trembled on her lower lip. "Yes, my Shay."

Her breath caught in her throat and she felt the familiar electricity burning through her body again. Again? So soon after... after that? Good gods, she was turning into a rabbit. No, not a rabbit, a lemming or... something else that reproduced quickly.

His eyes darkened slightly and he drew back, looking for more food. "You will not think of him, or your time there. It brings you too much sadness."

"I'm sorry, Curtis, I didn't mean it, I was just thinking about how quickly you wanted to get started again and it just kind of slipped into my mind."

"Then perhaps I will place other thoughts there." He let his fingers drift down to her hand and he opened the palm with his thumbs, splaying her fingers out as far as they could comfortably go. His head bent towards them and he placed a delicate kiss on each of her fingertips before moving down, his nose brushing her palm as he lingered on her wrist, the air chilling the flesh where his saliva remained.

She froze in place, desire pounding in her throat. "Cur...Curtis."

"The only name I want on your lips."