Chapter 337: A Penalty for Perverts*
Ren stood frozen in the flickering firelight, gripping the bone in her sweaty palm. It was just her and Uriel left in the sudden-death match.
Her mind raced. If she lost the game, she would be forced to wash him. But washing him meant she could simply scrub his arm for thirty seconds. Winning, however, meant he had to wash her. And allowing a hostile, gorgeous fish beastman who belonged to a hundred-husband-hoarding pink fox to bathe her sounded like a recipe for disaster.
She had to lose. It was the only logical, self-preserving strategy.
Ren wound her arm back, deliberately aiming for a large, empty patch of cobblestone roughly four feet away from the target. She released the bone with a spectacularly awful, uncoordinated flick of her wrist.
But the bone sailed through the air, clipped the edge of a wooden platter, bounced off a stone pillar, and dropped flawlessly into the dead center of the turtle shell with a mocking clack.
Ren covered her face with both hands, groaning in pure agony.
Uriel stepped forward. The tall, blue-haired fish beastman picked up his own bone. He didn’t even look at the turtle shell. His piercing, cold blue eyes locked onto Ren. He held her gaze and casually tossed the bone into the dirt at his own feet.
He didn’t even try.
"Oh, come on!" Ren shouted, pointing an accusing finger at him. "That was a deliberate foul! He lost on purpose!"
But the drunken courtyard of beastmen didn’t care. The crowd erupted into deafening, uproarious cheers, clapping their hands and howling at the moon, thrilled to applaud the Snake King’s mate.
"The winner must be washed by the loser!" the drunken badger beastman slurred loudly, pumping his fist in the air.
Ren scrambled backward, waving her hands frantically at Uriel. "Listen, you really don’t have to wash me. Seriously. It’s just a stupid party game! Let’s just shake hands and call it a draw!"
"The rules of the bone-toss are sacred!" a nearby panther roared, slamming his cup on the table. "The penalty must be paid!"
Before Ren could protest any further, the crowd of boisterous, drunk carnivores herded the two of them away from the bonfires and down the dark corridors, cheering and pushing until they were both standing at the entrance of Syris’s garden.
Then they were left alone.
Ren stood near the edge of the damp, mossy bank of the crystal-clear pond, surrounded by the glowing blue bioluminescent ferns. She crossed her arms defensively over her chest, refusing to look at the towering fish beastman.
"Okay, look," Ren whispered, her voice echoing softly off the glass-like water. "You can just pretend that you did the penalty. I won’t talk. I won’t tell anyone you didn’t wash me. You can just sit on that rock for ten minutes, and then we can both leave."
A soft rustle of fabric was her only answer.
Ren glanced over her shoulder. Uriel had already effortlessly shed his shimmering, pearl-like garments, letting them drop into a puddle on the stone floor, and was calmly wading into the freezing pond.
"Hey!" Ren gasped, her face instantly burning a brilliant red. She quickly spun around, staring at a patch of glowing moss on the wall. "A little warning would be nice! What is wrong with you?"
"Stop complaining and get in quickly," Uriel commanded. His voice was smooth and chillingly detached, like the crushing depths of a lightless ocean. "Let us get this over with."
"Fine but I am not getting in there while you’re staring at me!" Ren shot back, clutching her dress. "Turn around!"
Surprisingly, Uriel didn’t argue. She heard the soft splash of water as he pivoted his body away from the bank.
Taking a deep, shaky breath, Ren quickly untied the knot at her hip. She slipped the dress over her head and hurriedly dove into the freezing water before her courage could evaporate.
The temperature shock made her gasp, but she waded forward. The pond wasn’t very deep, but Ren was embarrassingly short. By the time she stood near the center, the crystal-clear water reached all the way up to the swell of her breasts, keeping her somewhat decently covered. For Uriel, however, the water barely grazed his lower abdomen.
"Okay," Ren muttered, crossing her arms tightly over her chest to preserve her modesty. "I’m in."
Uriel suddenly turned around to face her.
Ren froze, her breath catching in her throat. She had expected that once a fish beastman submerged himself in a body of water, his lower half would magically sprout a shimmering, majestic mermaid tail.
But Uriel did not have a fish tail. He had muscular thighs, and suspended between them was his...
Ren’s face flushed so profusely she felt like she had a sunburn. She instantly spun around, presenting her back to him as her heart raced a frantic, terrified rhythm against her ribs.
"Please, just do it quickly," Ren pleaded, squeezing her eyes shut.
She heard the water ripple. A second later, she felt the imposing heat of Uriel’s frame moving in close behind her.
His large hands gently descended, resting firmly on her bare shoulders. A shiver ran straight up Ren’s spine.
"Relax," Uriel murmured, his breath brushing the wet curls at the nape of her neck.
He began to wash her. It started innocent enough. His large hands slid slowly, methodically down her arms, using the soft water to rub away the lingering soot and grease from her frantic hours in the scullery. He traced the curve of her spine, his fingertips pressing into the tense muscles of her back with a slow, sensual rhythm that immediately made her knees feel weak.
Ren bit her lower lip, trying to ignore the sudden, traitorous spike in her pulse. It’s just a bath, she told herself desperately.
But then, Uriel’s hands slid around to her front. He grabbed her wrists, effortlessly pulling her crossed arms away from her chest. Before Ren could squeak a protest, his large palms enveloped her bare breasts beneath the water.
"Hey!" Ren gasped, her eyes flying open.
He didn’t stop. He began slowly, deliberately massaging her soft flesh. His long fingers squeezed and kneaded her breasts, his thumbs finding her sensitive, hardened nipples and rolling them back and forth. He was taking his time, touching her however he pleased, using the guise of the penalty to thoroughly explore her upper body.
A soft, humiliating moan escaped Ren’s lips. She felt a rush of liquid heat pooling between her thighs, mixing shamelessly with the freezing pond water. She couldn’t help but think that this entire game had been specifically invented by perverted beastmen just for excuses like this.
His hands didn’t linger on her chest forever. They slipped smoothly down her flat stomach, tracing the curve of her hips before diving under the water to grip her bare thighs. He pulled her flush against his solid body. She could feel the searing, rigid heat of his erection pressing against her backside.
His long fingers slipped seamlessly between her parted legs.
"Wait," Ren panted, her voice trembling as she reached down under the water, grabbing his wrist to stop his hand from climbing any higher. "You have done enough. Isn’t the washing over?"
Uriel hummed against her shoulder blades. "How can the washing be over when here isn’t washed?"
With ease, he pried her hand away from his wrist. His long fingers bypassed her weak defenses, sliding up into her slick, soaked cleft.
Ren threw her head back, a breathless gasp tearing from her throat.
Uriel began rubbing her swollen clit, finding the perfect rhythm. His thumb circled the sensitive pearl while two of his long fingers slid shallowly inside her dripping entrance every now and then, "bathing" her from the inside out. The slow, deliberate friction sent waves of pleasure crashing through her nervous system.
"We—ah! We can’t do this!" Ren whimpered, struggling to hold back her moans as she writhed against his hand. "We both have mates!"
"I am only washing you as the game demands," Uriel responded. His voice remained chillingly cold, detached from the things his hands were currently doing to her body. "I am not interested in you."
To prove his point, he rubbed her clit faster, relentlessly driving her toward the edge.
Ren couldn’t hold on. The sheer, overwhelming pleasure shattered her control. She cried out, her inner walls clenching as a full-body orgasm ripped through her, leaving her trembling helplessly in the freezing water.
She slumped back against his muscular chest, gasping for air, her mind a blank, blissful canvas.
Before her heartbeat could even begin to slow down, the mood in the dark garden shifted.
Uriel suddenly grabbed her by the shoulders and spun her around in the water. His hand shot up, roughly gripping her chin and forcing her to look directly into his piercing blue eyes. The detached calmness was gone, replaced by a dark intensity that made her blood run cold.
"Show Selene to me."