Chiaki sank down into the hot bath water, in the square wooden tub identical to the one she'd seen in Parker's home. She sighed contentedly. Her first hot bath in this world! It had been months! "Feels so good." Curtis twitched from the other side of the room. His eyes had roamed over every inch of her as she'd gotten into the bath, she knew. It was actually a bit of teasing she would admit.
Qianhuang had been gone of a couple of day now along with about half the village males. The winter would be setting in shortly after they returned and everyone seemed on edge. Curtis had became lethargic and admitted that he would end up hibernating soon, so Chiaki had made her decision. Not that she'd let him know, not just yet. She still wanted to enjoy the hot bath for what it was and telling her soon to be second mate that tonight would be his lucky night... well, she didn't want to be dropped soaking wet out of the bath onto a pile of furs!
He'd do it too, Curtis still didn't have a full understanding of her being left naked and wet all night would likely end up with her catching a cold. Plus as a snake beast he had a lower body temperature and she wanted to warm up first before spending the night with him.
Once she had spent as much time as she could enjoying the bath she pulled herself up onto the edge of the tub. The water was still warm, but no where near the hot steaming bath it had been. She dried off with the most absorbent animal skin they had and rung her hair out the best she could.
Curtis had watched her until he'd felt he would be unable to control himself. Turning his back to her he faced the wall of the room. He felt his back heat up suddenly as the female pressed her naked body against him. "I'm ready." He heard her say.
o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o
So yeah two penises wasn't actually that scary now that the dead had been done. Curtis didn't actually use them both at the same time. He'd actually laughed when she'd asked when he would. How was she suppose to know?! Chiaki shook her head, she guessed that really should have been something she'd talked with her new mate about beforehand. Still, with the knowledge that she wasn't about to be double penetrated every time they had sex she would admit she was less nervous.
Chiaki studied the new mating mark that had appeared during the night. It was a red snake looped around her upper thigh. Just a single ring all the way around her thigh, the head of the snake resting lazily on the end of it's own tail. She'd first though it was biting onto it's tail like a symbol she'd seen back on Earth, but it wasn't. It was more like the snake was trying to give her thigh a hug.
She laughed. Well it wasn't the only snake hugging her! Curtis was coiled up in the furs with her, his arms around her waist and his chest pressed against her back. She snuggled back against him tighter.
This was odd, having taken a second mate. Back on Earth if she and Qianhuang were in a relationship that equated to marriage and she slept with Curtis, then it would be considered cheating. She knew there were a lot of terms for different types of relationships. They were just words to her though, things she'd been taught and mostly forgotten about because they hadn't applied to her life. Did this world have a word for taking multiple mates? If multiple mates was the dominate family unit, did it need a name? Chiaki realized she was making her head hurt.
It was time to get up.
Chiaki wiggled out of Curtis' hold, surprisingly not waking the male. Instead his snored softly and curled tighter into a ball on the pile of sleeping furs. She stretched her arms out over her head and headed towards the sand pit outside the house. She didn't think the village would have any reason to distrust the snake beast now that he was mated to her. He shouldn't be considered a threat now.
She waved to a female and her mate as they passed her on her way, probably returning from the sand pit. It was morning after all and nature called.
With an empty bladder Chiaki returned to the house and put a clay pot of water over the fire, building up the fire into a happily crackling one. She dropped in a bit of the long-lasting rations and some fresh potatoes and carrots. The rations were stored in a water resistant hide bag, and were made by combining dry ground up animal meat with rendered animal fat. In the past month it had already been proven to be the best keeping food, even better than the simply dried and smoked meats.
Curtis hadn't roused from sleep yet. She paused to look through the doorway at him. The morning was cold... could it be? She stood and walked over to her second mate. "Kurt, you awake?" Chiaki asked as she shook his shoulder gently. He mumbled at her, but didn't open her eyes. A lopsided grin appeared on her face. He'd fallen into hibernation. He'd stayed awake long enough to become her mate. She covered him with a fur, placing it over his human half. Then tended to the fire and her morning meal.
