45. Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Five
Cody
Once they were back inside the cottage, Nyrah excused herself to shower, which seemed like a good idea after spending the afternoon in the lake.
Cody walked into the living room with Morgan and Yana and assessed the damage.
Books were scattered everywhere and a lamp had been knocked off an end table, but surprisingly hadn’t broken.
Yana’s eyes drifted to one of the scorch marks on the living room wall. “I’m sorry about that. I can help clean it? Perhaps we can paint over it?”
“It’s fine. It’s not your fault that bitch and her bird started a fight in here. But books? Really, Morgan?” Cody picked up one of Grandpa Sam’s haremlit paperbacks and looked it over, assessing the damage. “You had to use books as a weapon?”
“We were right next to the shelf,” Morgan said. “I’m sorry if I damaged them. I know these belonged to Grandpa Sam.”
“It’s fine. I blame Temica, not you.”
The three of them started picking up books, but Morgan paused. Cody noticed she was holding a paperback with an otterkin girl on the cover.
“Yeah, something tells me ottergirls were not the new meta that Sebastian Hartwell was hoping they’d be,” Cody said with a laugh. “There’s only a Book One for that series. I even looked it up online, and there wasn’t anything else available.”
Morgan held the book up to fully show him the cover, which had two ottergirls in blue bikinis, splashing in water at the beach. “You wanted to read Book Two of Otterly Outnumbered?”
Cody shrugged, instantly feeling defensive of his reading material. Maybe it was less weird to him because he’d spent a decade in Velasarin and even met a few ottergirls in his time there. They were pretty cute. And they liked holding hands.
“Hey, you read kinky stuff like Wonderfully Mr. Wrong. Let me have my beastkin harem books.”
Morgan assessed the cover again. “But why otters? And they just have, like, ears and tails and everything else is human?”
“Why would they have any other animal parts?” Yana asked. “That’d be weird.”
Morgan raised one eyebrow at Yana but said nothing.
“Well, clearly Mr. Hartwell was trying something new with the ottergirls,” Cody said. “Leave the guy alone. He writes really good smut.”
“Okay, the otter thing isn’t actually why I paused,” Morgan said. “I paused because I just noticed nearly every single one of these books is by the same author—this Sebastian Hartwell person.”
“Yes, and?” Cody picked up another book. It had a busty, rainbow-haired unicorn woman on the cover: Trailer Park Unicorn Coven Academy. “Grandpa Sam clearly had a favorite author. And there are a few other dude-romance books not by Sebastian Hartwell.”
Morgan flipped to the end of the ottergirl book and started reading out loud: “Sebastian Hartwell worked in an auto factory before retiring to cottage country, where he spends his days fishing, canoeing, and socializing with the wonderful residents of the small Ontario community he now calls home. He has a love for writing romantic stories with a variety of feisty heroines, and many of his stories are based on some of the amazing women he has met, and loved, during this adventure we call life.” Morgan finished reading, snapped the book shut, and looked up at Cody expectantly.
“Yeah, kind of cheesy, I guess.”
Morgan looked at Cody expectantly. “C’mon. Stop being so dense.”
“I’m not following…” Yana said. “Should I go make dinner and let the two of you talk?”
“Sure, Yana. But I’m not following either.”
“Sebastian Hartwell.” Morgan shook the ottergirl book at Cody. “His initials are S.H. And Grandpa Sam is Samuel Hampshire. A guy who worked in an auto factory before retiring to cottage country in Ontario!”
“Holy fuck…” It finally clicked for Cody: “You think Grandpa Sam is Sebastian Hartwell?”
“Yes, I would be willing to bet good money that Sebastian Hartwell is your Grandpa Sam’s extra smutty beastkin harem pen name!”
Cody grimaced. “Now I feel weird about reading all those sex scenes.”
Morgan regarded the book she held. “Yeah, I’ve read some of these. I feel weird about it now, too. Grandpa Sam went hard. The man had a gift for the spice that most women’s romance writers would be envious of.”
“Yeah, and if Sebastian and Sam are the same person, then it also makes sense why there haven’t been any new books for over a year,” Cody said.
“Do you think this also means…?”
“What?”
“Gracie. The game system. Insisting Grandpa Sam is not dead, just gone,” Morgan said.
“You said Velasarin had all sorts of these beastkin girls, like Nyrah. Maybe Grandpa Sam has been somewhere like Velasarin, and maybe he has returned there, and he really is writing about the ‘women he has met, and loved, during this adventure we call life’. You know, his About the Author.”
Cody slumped onto the couch and Morgan sat next to him, folding her legs underneath herself.
“I’m trying not to get my hopes up about that,” Cody said. “I know Gracie thinks Grandpa Sam is not dead, but I don’t think I can believe that until I see some real proof. Until I see him. But yeah, these books, his About the Author...it all kind of adds up, doesn’t it?”
“Dinner’s ready!” Yana called. “I made something called meatloaf with roast potatoes and stuffing. It all smells very good.”
Morgan inhaled deeply. “That does smell really good. We’ll keep this Grandpa Sam stuff on the backburner for now?”
“For sure,” Cody said.
As Cody and Morgan made their way to the kitchen, Nyrah returned looking fresh and clean. She was in her natural nekofae form and wearing a pink cotton sundress, her brown hair still damp from the shower. She smiled shyly at Cody before taking her seat.
That was new, he thought to himself. Maybe the closer she got to getting the one thing she’d been hoping for, him, the more nervous she was getting.
He had to admit there was a small part of him that was nervous, too.
He knew Morgan was okay with this, but he’d never slept with another woman while already in a relationship with someone else.
And he was in a very committed relationship with Morgan.
She was his fiancée now, and he really liked the sound of that.
Morgan looked across the table at him and gave him a knowing smile, and a nod of approval, as if she knew exactly what he was thinking and exactly what he was worried about. He smiled back and felt like the luckiest man in the world.
Cody turned his attention back to the dinner Yana had prepared. “This looks and smells amazing. Thanks, Yana.”
She shrugged. “It was a recipe I found in my Menu, and we had all the ingredients.”
“But good choice, all the same.” Morgan scooped some stuffing onto her plate before passing the dish to Nyrah. Nyrah scooped her customary small bite of food onto her plate and then passed the stuffing to Cody.
Everyone was being way too polite. And quiet, again.
Cody felt a weird mix of excitement and impending doom.
Nearly one whole day had passed, and they had completed one Friendship Quest, but he still had four more to go, plus two full Romances with ten levels each.
He should have been able to look forward to the Romance level ups, but instead he had that little clock ticking down, right next to his Stamina Bar.
On top of everything else, he was starting a new job tomorrow morning at Food Mart.
He really wanted to call in and cancel the whole thing so he could focus on finishing the game and saving everyone connected to it, but he also needed those two more level ups with Doug.
Not following through on the job thing would not help him in that regard.
Cody was hoping showing up bright and early for his first shift would earn him at least one level up with Doug.
They finished their meal and Morgan was on her feet, sweeping away the dishes.
“Yana,” Morgan said. “Would you like to go for a walk?”
Yana looked momentarily confused, but Morgan tilted her head towards Cody and Nyrah. Morgan had teased fitting in a quickie before he spent the night with Nyrah, but she seemed to have changed her mind.
“Oh, yes. Okay,” Yana said. “I would love to go for a walk.”
As soon as they were gone, the cottage felt awkwardly silent. Cody smiled at Nyrah. “You know, we don’t have to—”
Nyrah’s red eyes went wide. “What? Yes, we do! We absolutely have to! The fate of you and everyone you love rests in your ability to give me multiple orgasms!”
He nodded slowly, taking that in. With a sudden burst of wing-power she flew at him. He had just enough time to brace himself and hug her to his body as she flung her arms and legs around him and started peppering his face with kisses.
Cody started stumbling down the hall with Nyrah firmly attached. “Let’s…uh...bedroom…”
Once in the room, he kicked the door shut behind them and sat her down on the bed.
Luckily, she let go. She looked up at him through thick, dark lashes, with a hungry anticipation in her eyes.
Her iridescent wings were gently flapping with every heavy breath that was making her chest rise and fall, her large breasts stretching the fabric of her dress with every inhale.
He sat on the edge of the bed next to her, and she moved her body to face his. He took his time drinking her in, getting more and more comfortable with what was about to happen.
“Can we kiss?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper.
“Are you blocking Knife? Because this is just for you and me.”
She squeezed her eyes shut, looking like she was focusing extra hard, before opening them again. “He says he’ll leave us alone.”
“Okay then, yes, we can kiss.” Cody cupped her face, fingers threading into her still-damp hair, and guided her lips to his.
He had to coax her lips open, but she caught on quickly, surrendering to him and letting him guide the kiss.
A quiet, surprised-sounding noise escaped her as his tongue slid against hers, and he pulled back, giving her some space.
“M-more please?” she asked, her cheeks blooming pink.