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Considering his high WIL and long experience in dealing with challenges, Rowan had thought his nerves held better. Yet, the fateful hour of his first night with Cora approached fast, and his angst increased exponentially.

And it wasn’t like he was carefree, no. There were tons of things to do around. Playing with Lizzie, of course, but also organizing the livelihood of his new Goblinoid citizens, all nine hundred and sixty of them. Being so small, the new town core had been adopted as a subunit of Randolph County. Yet, the much bigger College Town to the north insisted on joining the party. It was a hard decision.

“That’s my daddy!” Lizzie beamed, pointing at the TV screen.

They had a TV connection now, courtesy of the new suburb. With this occasion, Dmitri had made a new friend, the Shaman, and they were watching the news together. A short clip, representing Rowan’s beckoning moment, the one at the end of the battle with the Government and the Neeks, spread on the screen. It was now the top GIF in the world to convey the idea of a dangerous psychopath, way ahead of The Shining and the axe scene.

“So?” Someone shoved his shoulder, gently. It was Isla.

“Sorry, can you repeat?”

“What about Snemc doing our bonding ceremony? He’s a Shaman.”

“What a good idea!” Rowan’s eyes lightened. “This will raise the morale of his people, it shows we respect them. Done. Will your parents be OK with it?”

“As long it’s something flower power, they’re good. And what’s more flower power than a Shaman, right?”

“Yeah… well… they’re not exactly vegetarians, you know. They survived so long because of those stubborn students trying to claim the dungeon.”

“The cycle of life,” Isla shrugged. “What about Cora?”

“We signed a contract at the Town Hall, yesterday. She’s all functionality. It helped a lot that her… our parents are dead. No one to pester us.”

“Yeah…” Isla diverted her eyes, making his senses tingle, and then patted his thigh. “OK, have to go. I work the night shift today. Good luck. You’ll need it.”

“What do you know, that I don’t know?”

“I don’t want to spoil the surprise.” Pecking his lips in a short kiss, Isla went away, letting Rowan follow the wall clock with his eyes.

Almost nine o’clock… Fuuuck… I’m scared.

Across the room, sitting on another couch, Cora was sipping him from the eyes, like counting the seconds.

“Oh, it’s already so late,” Snemc said. “We better go, or my wife will kill me. Us. Everybody. She cooked a wild boar for tonight. You do eat boar, Dmitri?”

“Greeks are raised with boar soup in their baby bottle. I’m bringing the wine,” the Greek picked up a couple of bottles. “Bye all, cya tomorrow. I plan to party all night.”

The Shaman and the Greek shook hands, waved, and were gone in the night.

“Are you feeling well, Lizzie?” Grace asked, feeling the child’s forehead. “You look tired.”

“I’m fine… aaaahhhh…” Lizzie yawned.

“She’s exhausted, I’ll put her to bed.”

As soon they were alone, the grin on Cora’s face met her ears, on both sides. She waited a minute, to be sure no one was around anymore, and jumped in Rowan’s lap, kissing him. “We’re so lucky! Go prepare, and let’s meet in the master bedroom in fifteen minutes.”

“But—”

She kissed him again and rushed to the stairs, climbing them two by two and letting out cheerful iii! -s every other second.

C’mon, Rowan, be a man! He tried to encourage himself. But that was the point. Could he be a man? He did care about Cora… as a friend. Was the bridge to love passable? Shaking his head, he went up to the bedroom, took a shower, and dressed in his best pajamas.

“Yey!” Slamming the door behind her, Cora dashed into the room and jumped on the bed. “Perfect. Sturdy enough… Hm…” She stopped for a second, then jumped once more. “Yeah. Sturdy enough. Come,” she patted the bed, after kneeling on it.

Rowan sat on the edge, trying to think of a way forward.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“Now, where are we?” Cora extracted a small notebook and a tiny pen from the pocket of her pajama. “Kissing, checked. It’s lovely. I’ll give it a ten out of ten. What about… the erogenous zones? Let’s start with the ears. I’ll kiss yours, and you kiss mine.”

Throwing her arms around his neck, she proceeded to kiss his right ear with enthusiasm. Rowan felt akin to a little kitten washed by its mother. Cora’s tongue was thin and reached well inside. He felt relieved that he had taken the time to wash his ears carefully.

“Too much saliva?” she stopped and asked.

“A bit…”

“How much a bit, in milliliters?” she asked, her notebook at the ready.

“How should I know? It was just a bit too much.”

“OK, let’s say… twenty-five percent less… Now, nibbling.”

“Ouch!” he yelled, as she bit his earlobe so hard it bled. He stopped from pushing her away at the last moment.”

“Hmm… Let’s talk Newtons… no, forget it. On a scale of one to ten, how was it, and what’s your desired level of pressure?”

“That was a ten, and a three would be… Look, Cora, that’s not how we, humans, do this,” he grabbed the notebook, and put it on the nightstand. “We kiss, and cuddle, and touch each other, until we feel comfortable to get more… intimate. This Nekojin style is a little too Brainiac-like for me. You did all this quiz routine with every partner?”

Lowering her head, Cora looked away, blushing. “I n-never had another partner… b-before… Nekojin INT b-builds m-mate for life and n-never do… t-things b-before the m-marriage…”

“Oh my God!” Rowan blurted, slapping his mouth and jerking his body back. “Cora! This is wrong. What if I’m not the right person for you?” A terrible thought passed his brain with the fierceness of a bullet and he facepalmed again. “Fuck… How could I not think about it… Are you an adult?”

“Of course I’m an adult, you moron,” she sulked letting herself fall back on the bed, arms crossed. “We’re allowed to marry at sixteen, in our culture. But our years are longer. I’m twenty-one in your years.”

“Thank goodness… Let’s not rush it, OK? Baby steps… Baby steps.”

Stretching her arm toward the nightstand, Cora picked up the notebook and threw it at his head.

“That’s exactly what I was doing, genius. Make up your mind: am I going to slow, or too fast?”

“Oh… True, you were doing just that… But I meant baby steps, like romantically. Are you really sure you love me?”

“I…” Cora sighed and stopped for a second. “I don’t know, OK? Logic says we’re a perfect match. I do feel… excited near you,” she blushed. “But I always imagined love to be something… different. Like a hammer hitting your head, and you know instantly…”

“Hahaha… remember, in the ship, when we first met, and you hit my head on the door and I fainted?” Slowing his words, Rowan felt a claw grabbing his heart. What if that had been a sign?

“I have no idea what true love is, but know if there is such a thing,” she grabbed his neck, pulling him toward her, “I want it to be with you, and I’m willing to try to find out.”

They kissed, a long kiss, and he had to admit she was right. Their kisses were a ten out of ten. So sweet… “What about I show you how we do things, slowly, and you stop me at any moment you feel it’s too much? Is this OK?”

Cora nodded, covering her eyes with her hands. He took out the top of his pajama, and unbuttoned hers, one button at a time. Her skin was deliciously smooth. Kissing her neck, then the nipples, and taking his sweet time there, Rowan descended step by step toward the button belly. She had one, so that was a similitude. Stopping a little at her hips, and kissing those and her thighs, he waited for a second, to see if she was going to stop him or not.

There was no sign Cora disliked what he was doing. Her neck’s skin had flushed, a perfectly normal reaction, and her hands were in the same position, covering the eyes. The tail’s hair was now bristling, leaning over the bed’s edge, a fluffy snake. Having a high DEX meant he could put on protection with one hand while fondling her breasts with the other.

As soon as his right hand was free, he pulled her pajama pants down, slowly, while aiming his kisses lower and lower on her belly, toward the target. Suddenly, her claw-like nails grabbed his hair, and his scalp, pulling Rowan up.

“Hurry, hurry, yes, take me, now, now,” Cora screamed.

Her tail was whipping his face, and she was moving so fast and erratically that he had to apply a little weight to pin her down and match his thing with hers. Then she wrapped her legs around his hips and began meeting his movements with her. Faster and faster.

“Yes, yes, yes. You’re the one! You’re the one!” she yelled.

At that rhythm, Rowan expected everything to finish quickly, but to his surprise, it went on for half an hour, in which she changed positions many times, to experiment, he guessed. In the end, they both melted in a common pleasure, with Cora’s tiny fangs biting his shoulder.

“You’re wonderful,” he caressed Cora’s hair, fondling her ears.

“Snrrff…” Her body went limp in his arms, a total relaxation. The Nekojin was purring, sound asleep, the tip of her tongue out of her mouth. Rowan turned her face up, arranging a pillow under her head.

“Goodness, Cora… You’re something…” He went to the bathroom to take a short shower and noticed scratches on his cheeks and shoulders. His natural regeneration healed them all before he finished the shower. Returning to the room, he pulled the blanket over Cora and went to sleep himself.

At precisely six in the morning, she shook him, waking him up. “I want to test my idea of foreplay,” she whispered.

----------------------------------------

With Cora asleep again, so sound one could shoot a cannon near her ear, Rowan dressed and went for breakfast. It was early. Lizzie and Dmitri were still asleep. And so was Grace, only on the couch. She woke up, hearing his steps.

“Sooo,” she yawned. “How was it.”

Snorting, Rowan turned on the Espresso machine.

“C’mon! I’m curious,” Grace pushed on.

“You knew she was a virgin?” Rowan asked, breaking a few eggs. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Eh eh eh… why spoil the surprise?”

“You devil!” he waved the fork in the air, before lowering it in the bowl.

“So? What’s different?”

“Look, Grace, it’s not a nice thing to talk about—”

“She wants us to talk about it, for science’s sake,” Grace interjected. “First Earth-Nekojin relationship. To boldly go where no one has gone before. She gave me and Isla a file with questions, we’re supposed to ask you if you like her Newtons and Pascals.”

“Oh… True, she’s the type to do exactly that. What was different? Tail gets all over, in your face, around your neck, it’s like she has three hands. That was cute enough… The strangest thing was her idea of foreplay … she played with my… thing like with a wool clew… That hurt… claws and fangs are not ideal for that, as far as I’m concerned. She liked it a lot, though. Apart from that, we did it twice, and she’s as bit as normal as a girl her age. Sweet, inexperienced, but with a lot of energy and freshness. Here, satisfied?”

“Hm… strange,” Grace frowned. “You did it twice, you say… She told me she can’t do real sex out of her mating seasons, and that’s in a month or so. Her… thingie is supposed to be too tight. Like pencil wide.”

“Who knows, maybe she got her season early,” Rowan shrugged. “Coffee?”