Despite my best efforts to stay awake, I was just too comfortable spooning Ves, and drifted off within minutes. It felt like no time passed at all - I blinked, and then the house was completely dark. So much for keeping a decent sleep schedule. Apart from Ves’s gentle breathing, all I could hear was the sound of crickets. It was so different from being back home, and hearing the sounds of the nearby freeway at all hours.


    I instinctively reached for a blanket before remembering that there was none. My movement made Ves stir, although I didn’t know if I had woken her up, or if she had already been awake.


    “Jeremy? Why are you…”


    “Returning the favor. I didn’t know where you kept your quilt, and, well, I probably wouldn’t have used it anyway. I like this better.”


    “Mm,” Ves acknowledged. “Me too.”


    A shiver ran down my back, making me realize that I should probably have her pull out the quilt later, if only for my sake. Too bad she can’t be the big spoon and the little spoon at the same time.


    My overactive imagination kicked in, as a vision of Thia climbing into bed and wrapping an arm and a leg around me played in my head. The fantasy of such a thing, coupled with what Thia had said during our lunch date, was ridiculously exciting… and my body reacted in an unsurprising manner.


    “Ah-ha, I guess you really do like this.” Ves shifted her hips against me lightly, bringing me from half mast to full hardness in record time.


    “That obvious, huh?” I held Ves tighter, and she giggled - something I hadn’t heard her do before, and it was cute as hell. Well, downright sexy, given the circumstances. She continued wiggling her hips gently against my crotch, eliciting a light moan from me.


    The gorgeous catgirl rolled around to face me, and put her arms around me. I couldn’t see her, but I could just barely feel her breath on my lips. I’m sure I’ve missed more than my fair share of signals from women, some more obvious than others. At that moment, however, I knew that Ves wanted me to kiss her. God, I wanted to kiss her, too… but I had just enough wisdom to know that it would be a bad idea if I wasn’t honest with her.


    “Can I tell you something?”


    “Yes,” she breathed, and it nearly gave me chills. I hope she takes this well.


    “It’s about Thia.” I swallowed, unsure if she would respond to that. “She and I… we’ve kissed. And we also - I mean, she–”


    “Gave you a blowjob?”


    “Uh, yeah. How–?”


    Ves squirmed, which felt wonderful. “I could smell it. It was really obvious that you’d cum recently.”


    “It was?!”


    “Okay, it was obvious to me! I’ve got a better sense of smell than most people.”


    So this is what Thia meant. “Oh, got it.”


    “Anyway, at first it didn’t really bother me. I kinda assumed that Kael or that elf had done it, you know, to try and get you to join their guild.”


    “And then I mentioned Thia.”


    “That’s when I knew. It made more sense,” she muttered, lowering her head.


    So she knew… and yet, here we are. “Are you jealous, Ves?”


    “No. Kinda. Didn’t think she’d be the first.” Me neither. “Sorry, this is stupid.”


    I held her tighter. “Why’s that?”


    “I haven’t had any luck with men, and even when a handsome guy appears from another world, something happens before I can make the first move.”


    “Seriously? No luck with men?”


    “Have you seen this village? There’s barely anyone at all, much less anyone around my age. When I was a kid, there was a guy who was maybe ten years older than me. I had - this is so embarrassing - I had such a big crush on him.”


    “What happened? I’m guessing he got married or something before you were old enough?”


    “‘Or something,’ yeah. When he was in his early 20s, he was granted a class. Before long, he left Perrenbrook, and I never saw him again.”


    “I guess that means he was either very successful, or very unsuccessful.”


    “Either way, it just made me want to leave the village myself, class or not. Just to get outta here. But my… uh, one thing led to another, and I ended up staying here for longer than I expected. Eventually I thought that maybe I should settle down. That was around the time Tabur moved into town, along with his son, who was a few years younger than me.”


    “Oh yeah? Did you have a thing for Tabur?”


    “Honestly? Something about that guy does kinda work for me. Probably a good thing that he and Brinn got together so quickly. But his son wasn’t too bad, even if I prefer guys who are at least a little older than me.”


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    “And what happened with him?”


    “We chatted a bit, here and there, but he’s… well, he was a lot like his dad. Seemed more interested in work than anything else.”


    “Maybe he just wasn’t interested in women, or romance of any kind?”


    “That’s what I thought… until a yrrven came traipsing out of the woods one day. The two of them were gone by sunset.”


    “Yrrven? What’s that?”


    “Oh… the short explanation is that they are to rabbits what netharri are to cats. They’re all female… I think? Either way, they rarely ever leave the wilderness, and usually only to find a partner.”


    “And this one took the only eligible bachelor in town.”


    Ves sighed. “Yup.”


    Neither of us spoke for a short while, leaving me time to think about what Ves had just said, and especially what Thia had told me. It felt like the right time to pet Ves’s back, knowing that she enjoyed that. I knew that this situation would be easy to mess up, so I wanted to lean into the “I’m a confused guy from another world” angle as much as needed.


    I lowered my voice even further, adding a hint of playfulness. “Thia was under the impression that you might be interested in me…”


    Boom - the purring started. Not sure if it was my words, my hand, or both, but there it was. Her voice was soft, almost a whimper. “...Yeah?”


    My forehead touched hers. “She wasn’t bothered by it at all. Hell, she seemed to like the idea.”


    The purring intensified and Ves lightly moaned.


    “I want to know how you feel. If you’re hesitant about Thia joining the party because you think she got a ‘head start’ with me… uh, no pun intended… there’s nothing to worry about. I’d still like to find out how compatible you and I are. It’s not like anyone is getting married anytime soon.”


    Ves was breathing heavier and raised her head. I took the cue and closed the tiny distance between us. Our lips met and our grip on each other tightened. The hand that I had petting her back moved down, eager to caress and especially squeeze the pert ass that had been calling to me ever since she put on her new outfit.


    My hand reached her tail first, which I had almost forgotten about with everything else going on in her bed. As soon as I touched the base of her tail, her hips jerked, thrusting back to push against my hand before slowly moving back towards my own hips. I lifted my hand, then stroked the bottom of her tail again. Her physical reaction was smaller, but Ves moaned louder as we kissed.


    “I’ve never… done anything like this…” She seemed embarrassed at her lack of experience, but in the heat of the moment, it was one of the sexiest things she could have said to me.


    “You’ve been doing nothing but helping me,” I whispered between kisses. “Let me help you, now.”


    Another moan escaped her lips. I released her from my embrace and brought my hands to her full breasts. Starting off slowly and gently, I cupped them to feel their size through her nightgown. My hands greedily touched every inch, soon arriving at her erect nipples, which I lightly teased. A series of faint gasps came from the beautiful netharri.


    While my hands were occupied with her breasts, I kissed her neck. From the way her body tensed and her breathing quickened, I could tell that her neck was absolutely a major erogenous zone. I gave it a gentle bite.


    Ves gasped, pulling back suddenly. I was about to ask if I had done something wrong, or gone too far or too fast, but she practically tore off her nightgown. After internally cursing the darkness, I wrapped my arms around her again, bringing her bosom to my face. The smell of her bare skin was intoxicating, and I could have stayed pressed into her soft mounds forever.


    I kissed her chest, moving my lips all around her wonderful breasts. My tongue only gave her nipples the briefest lick in-between kisses, eliciting lustful moans from Ves. Having had enough teasing, she pulled my head firmly onto a nipple, which I hungrily took into my mouth. Her sounds of pleasure drove me crazy with desire as I licked and occasionally nibbled on first one nipple, then the other.


    I made sure to give her tail plenty of attention during all this, as well.


    My other hand moved down, between her legs. Her thighs clenched. “J-just touching for now, okay?”


    “Yeah, of course.” I kissed her again, and her tongue slid between my lips.


    “I’d like to do more, but it’s just…”


    “It’s a lot, all at once, right? I get it.”


    Ves embraced me tightly. “Yeah… sorry.”


    “There’s no rush. Want me to continue what I was doing?” In response, she moved my willing hand back down to her damp folds, and I chuckled. “All right. By the way, I’m having a great time.”


    She laughed, and then her lips were on mine again and our tongues were exploring each other’s mouths. I could feel her fingers pressing into my back and was thankful that she didn’t seem to have retractable claws… but her nails were likely to leave a mark if she kept this up. I guided one of her hands down to my groin, and Ves cooed upon touching my rigid cock through my shorts.


    My finger slid easily into her damp entrance, and Ves’s breath hitched. After a moment, she eagerly moved her hand into my shorts so she could wrap her fingers around it. I helped her by pulling the clothes off entirely.


    Ves began delicately stroking my shaft, as though she were worried about breaking it. Placing my free hand over hers, I demonstrated the best way to handle my cock, and she excitedly followed my lead. Ves’s enthusiasm was exhilarating, feeling almost as good as her hand itself.


    As if rewarding her, I slipped in a second finger. We moaned together, and then I returned to kissing and nibbling her smooth neck. If it hadn’t already been obvious that Ves was enjoying herself, she began purring again - feeling especially interesting to my probing fingers. They soon found what they were seeking, as proven by an especially loud cry of pleasure from Ves.


    Caught up in the sensations, Ves had stopped moving her hand, but soon regained her bearings and resumed. As wonderful as her soft hand felt on my member, it felt even better making her feel so good, especially knowing that she had never experienced anything like this before. Her thighs squirmed and squeezed my hand as her breaths became faster and shorter.


    I felt Ves’s body tense up, and I knew she was close. “Yes, yes, just like that,” she whimpered. Her grip tightened as my fingers did exactly as she wished. I kissed her face and neck as she was brought closer and closer to orgasm. She stroked my cock faster and faster, so I wasn’t far behind her. “Jeremy, Jeremy…” The only thing missing for me was being able to see her face, thanks to the darkness. There’ll be other times.


    Ves cried out in ecstasy as the orgasm hit her, and was soon panting. That had me right at the edge. “I’m ready - where should I…?”


    “Anywhere; just cum for me.” She smooched my cheek and her hand sped up. The combination of that and her words did the trick, and I moaned and came onto her thighs and the mattress.


    I breathlessly thanked Ves, and she giggled. “Thank you. That was amazing!” We wrapped our arms around each other and kissed deeply, and I felt a pleasant, warm feeling by my legs. I looked down and saw a faint glow - Ves was magically cleaning up the mess. As interesting as that was, it paled in comparison to everything else that had just happened, and it took a few seconds for a thought to register.


    “Hey, the spell - it’s not hurting.”


    Ves grinned. “I wasn’t even really trying to cast it, but I was thinking about whether we should clean up normally or just deal with the discomfort of the spell.”


    “Huh. I feel like your magic works better when you don’t focus on it too hard.” My thoughts went back to when she had quickly healed me after a cave rat chewed off my nose.


    “Maybe. Let’s not focus on it at all for now, though.” Her lips softly pressed against mine, and we held each other until the sun started rising.