Volume 11 - Building Up, Chapter 83 - What Is It That You Want?

On the Monday after Christmas, the construction crew returned to work on the inn. They had broken ground on the third building just before the holiday break, and as soon as the site was free of snow, the crew could resume construction. Yuki and Phoebe came back for that purpose, and spent their first day clearing snow alongside the human, minotaur, and ogre work crew.

At first, Yuki and Phoebe both enjoyed returning to work after a nice lazy break. It helped that the work kept them too busy to argue: Yuki focused on diverting any new snow with her magic while Phoebe melted some of the lighter snow and kept the workers warm as they shoveled and transported any heavy accumulation.

That peace didn't last long, however. When there was a lull in the weather, Yuki took a break. She sat down on a snowdrift, pulled out the romance novel she kept in her kimono, and started reading. She'd barely gotten to a steamy part before someone noticed that she'd stopped working.

"Hey! No reading smut on the clock!" Phoebe called up from inside the shell of a building. It had a foundation and the start of an outer wall, but there was still snow covering the area where the next set of beams would be placed.

"It stopped snowing. There's nothing for me to do," Yuki called back, then buried her face in the book. She raised one hand, waved it dismissively, and added, "I'll help out when it starts up again, so don't get your panties in a bunch."

Phoebe was not amused. She stomped up the slope to where Yuki was lounging and said, "Korbin's paying us more the faster we get this job done, you know. You've got hands. Grab a shovel or broom and help us."

Yuki waved her dainty hand again, shooing the meddlesome phoenix away. "That isn't in my job description. I'm being paid to divert falling snow with my magic, so that's what I'll do."

Phoebe planted her wings on her hips and looked down at Yuki with disgust. "Doing the bare minimum, huh? You've got your 'useless noblewoman' role down perfectly."

Yuki closed her book with a quick snap and stood up suddenly. She glared at Phoebe and said, "You know what else isn't in my job description? Dealing with an obnoxious brat of a bird!" Before Phoebe could respond, Yuki turned and called back toward the jobsite, loud enough for the workers to hear, "Oh my! All of a sudden, I feel quite unwell! Sorry everyone, but I need to rest!"

Then Yuki turned and set off at a deliberate pace down the path toward the main house.

Seething with rage, Phoebe watched the blue and white figure until it was gone behind a tree. She wanted to give chase, but she had a job to do. She pivoted, launched herself into the air, and flew back down the hill. She rejoined the other workers, who were happy to have her constant warmth fighting off the chilly wind.

It didn't take long for the snow to pick up again, and without Yuki around, it flew right into the work area. Phoebe had to really crank up her heat to melt the incoming snow, but her anger at Yuki actually helped in that regard.

After the shift ended, the construction crew covered the jobsite in tarps, said goodbye to Phoebe, and left for the night. Instead of returning to her room in the cabin, Phoebe headed for the main house.

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For over a minute, Phoebe stood outside Yuki's room, thinking of how best to tell off that snooty girl for abandoning her work. I can't wait to let loose on her, but what should I say first?

Just then, the door opened and the target of Phoebe's frustrations was there, staring right at her. Once Phoebe's surprise passed, her eyes drifted down and she saw that Yuki wasn't wearing her normal kimono. Instead, she was wearing tiny dark blue shorts, a white t-shirt, and… no bra. Her sizable, shapely breasts were plainly visible beneath the thin form-fitting shirt.

Under one arm, Yuki had a bag of bathroom supplies, and she seemed to be on her way to take a bath. After recovering from her own shock at seeing an unexpected guest in the hallway, Yuki sneered at Phoebe and asked, "What do you want?"

Phoebe had been bottling her anger since earlier, and Yuki's snarky attitude set it loose. "I want to know what your problem is!" she nearly shouted. "You left in the middle of your shift, and I had to bust my ass to make up for it!"

At the mention of Phoebe's ass, Yuki's thoughts started wandering on their own. And such a nice ass it is. So perky and cute, such a great contrast from the tight muscled butts that the crewmen have. It's too bad about the attitude attached to it.

Phoebe kept ranting for a while, letting off steam, and Yuki finally pulled herself back to reality just in time to hear, "Melting all that snow was a bitch. I never realized before how much your magic actually helps." Phoebe's voice carried an unmistakable hint of begrudging respect.

Yuki smiled smugly at that, like a haughty princess receiving tribute from a peasant. Of course, doing that only set the phoenix off again, angrier than ever.

Phoebe scrunched up her button nose in disgust and said, "Ugh, I'm sure you just loved that compliment. It went straight to your head, unlike your food, which goes straight to those jugs." As she said that, Phoebe's eyes lingered over the taller girl's chest for a second, and she happened to notice the way those big, round mounds swayed with each of Yuki's elevated breaths. She even caught a glimpse of a darker blue hue where Yuki's nipples peaked through the thin cloth of her weathered shirt.

With a chuckle, Yuki retorted, "Well, I still don't know where the monstrous amount of food that you eat goes. Not to your tiny tits, that's for sure! You're a twig, and I don't know how anyone could find you sexy!"

Phoebe opened her mouth to respond, but then she raised an eyebrow in confusion instead. She thought, Huh? What a half-assed insult. She's admitting people find me sexy?

Yuki seemed to realize her mistake and tried change the subject. As her face flushed a purple hue, she snapped, "Now get out of my way. I'm going to take a bath."

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The change of topic worked and Phoebe forgot about the odd comment. "As you command, Your Royal Hick-ness," she joked as she stepped back from the doorway. Ever since she discovered that Yuki was from a rural village, Phoebe had enjoyed taking pot-shots at it. It really seemed to piss off the yuki-onna, which made it even more fun.

Then Phoebe made a show of an exaggerated curtsy, bowing and waving Yuki through the door with a flourish of colorful wings. At the end of the movement, with her head still bowed, Phoebe added, "I'm sure your kingdom of cow-shit awaits you."

But Yuki didn't respond to the verbal jab. After several awkward seconds of looking down at Yuki's unmoving sandals, Phoebe straightened up and asked, "Got no response, Ice Qu—"

Phoebe was cut off mid-word as a chilly hand flew out and slapped her right across the face. She hadn't expected it in the least, and she spun 90 degrees from the force.

"Lay off my hometown, you bitch! You don't know anything about it!" Yuki shouted. She wore a cold glare, but a hint of a smile crept onto her lips. Finally slapping that smack-talking bird just felt so good!

Phoebe slowly turned to face forward again. On her face was the reddening shape of a handprint, as well as a determined grin. "Oh, that's how you want to do this, huh?" she growled. Then Phoebe crouched down, coiling her powerful legs, and sprang forward and tackled Yuki square in the chest.

The two girls fell backwards into Yuki's room and crashed to the carpeted floor, tangled in a ball of flailing limbs. Hissing steam rose from the temperature difference wherever their polar-opposite skin met. Phoebe started on top, pinning Yuki down at the shoulders, but that didn't last long. The larger girl just grabbed Phoebe's wings at the elbows and tossed the lightweight phoenix aside.

Then Yuki pounced at Phoebe, intending to pin her wings flat, but Phoebe kicked off from the edge of the open door and scooted out from under the ice-maiden. The kick sent the bedroom door swinging shut, but the fighting girls didn't even notice.

As Phoebe scrambled away on her back, Yuki reached out and grabbed her bird-like legs. Yuki wanted them to stop moving, so her magic took over instinctually and froze them solid. Then she crawled forward and straddled her prey, finally pinning the phoenix's fluffy wings down with her hands.

With both of Phoebe's legs frozen in a block of ice that was also fused into the carpet, she couldn't escape. She was exhausted after running hot for so long at work, so she couldn't muster enough heat to melt her way out. Her face whipped forward and she glared up at her captor. With her piercing blue eyes meeting Yuki's violet ones, Phoebe spat, "So, you finally got the upper hand. What is it that you want?"

Yuki was silent for a moment, other than her panting breaths. That short tussle was more exercise than she was used to. While she caught her breath, her gaze swept over the phoenix below, drinking in her bright and messy strawberry-blonde hair, her frilly yellow tube-top that suggested just a hint of breasts beneath, and her beautiful, youthful face that wore a potent, fiery expression. Phoebe was 'feisty' personified, and Yuki found it sexy as hell.

Impatient as always, Phoebe shrugged her shoulders as best she could with her limited mobility and said, "Well?"

Yuki took a deep breath and let it out as a cloud of cold fog that dissipated quickly in Phoebe's aura of heat. Then she lowered her face, until it was less than an inch away from Phoebe's, and firmly said, "I want this."

Then she kissed Phoebe full on the lips, cold against hot, wet against wet. She pressed her body down against Phoebe's and her soft, cool breasts squeezed against the warm, petite chest of the phoenix.

What the hell?! Phoebe went stiff. All she felt was blind rage. How dare she! But as the kiss continued, as the pleasurably contrasting sensations of it reached her mind, her anger was washed away by the tidal wave of repressed feelings breaking free. This feels so wrong… but so good! she thought, then she returned the kiss with a passion of her own.

As she pressed her lips against Yuki's, Phoebe told herself again and again that she still hated Yuki. This changes nothing. She's still a frigid bitch, and I hate working with her. But her actions told another story entirely.

The kiss lasted until they both needed air, then resumed with twice the ferocity. The instant Phoebe's legs had melted through the ice enough to move, they wrapped around Yuki's back and locked at the ankles.

"Who's pinned now?" Phoebe managed between heavy breaths and deep, sloppy kisses.

Yuki's response was to let go of Phoebe's wings, and instead place her hands against the lithe phoenix's sides. The icy touch against the sensitive skin of her belly and ribs sent a shiver up and down Phoebe's spine. Before she could recover, Yuki hooked her thumbs under Phoebe's tube-top and suddenly pulled it straight up along her body.

Phoebe was too surprised to resist and her arms were pushed upward as the tube-top slid over her head. Soon, Phoebe was pinned in a new way, with her wings over her head and trapped in her shirt, and with her bare breasts on display. They were small, barely A-cups, but they were wonderfully smooth and perky. Tanned nipples and a lack of tan-lines suggested a topless sunbathing habit, which Yuki found uncontainably arousing. Being supernaturally pale herself, Yuki found tan skin to be quite exotic and alluring.

Yuki smiled a wild, lustful smile, far from her normal reserved appearance, and said, "You're still pinned. But we're not stopping there." She lowered her face again, this time toward Phoebe's right breast.

A puff of cold breath hit Phoebe's nipple and she shivered for reasons beyond count. As the cool mist settled like spring rain on her hot skin, Phoebe thought, Oh, damn. That's a new one. And I think I like it.

It seemed that Yuki planned to draw things out at a torturous pace, but Phoebe was never one for taking things slow. Still wondering how she'd got herself into this wild situation, Phoebe said, "Bring it on," then arched her back and pressed her breast up into Yuki's lips.

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After a time that felt like an eternity, during which the other residents of the house pretended not to hear the sounds coming from Yuki's room, the door opened. It let out a wave of humidity like a steam-room and Phoebe stepped out into the hallway. Her tiny jean shorts and tube-top were in place, but her long strawberry-blonde ponytails were a frizzy, damp mess.

She mumbled, "I'm starving," and made her way to the kitchen, which was thankfully empty of people. She had absolutely no desire to explain what just happened to anyone. Frankly, she didn't want to think too much about it herself. Except about how good it had felt. That part she wanted to remember forever.

Back in the bedroom, Yuki opened the windows wider to let the heat and humidity out into the night. Then she picked up her forgotten bathroom supplies from the floor and shuffled into the hallway in a stupor. She had her shorts on backwards, her t-shirt was wrinkled and soaked with sweat, and her long white hair hung limp around her shoulders, pulled from its clips.

She was exhausted, sticky, and way overheated, so she went straight for the bathing room. She stripped ungracefully, sat down on a stool by a faucet, and turned it all the way to the coldest setting. An unsteady hand grabbed the handset and she blasted herself with refreshingly cold water.

Not as cold as I'd like, she thought, but I can go lay in the snow once I'm not so gross and sweaty. Despite being dead-tired and sexually satisfied, Yuki found the thought of laying naked in the snow outside quite arousing. She quickly washed her body and tended to her hair, then beelined for the backdoor, fully naked.

Thanks to the wonderful release of tension with Phoebe, Yuki's normally prim attitude was forgotten, at least for now. The busty, sleek, pale form of the snow-maiden slipped right through the laundry room and the short bit of hallway and out onto the deck. Then the nude beauty disappeared into the falling snow like an impossible vision from a fever dream, leaving nothing but bare footprints on the flawless white mountainside.