NOVEL NEXT Vol 3, Ch 12. Swimwear
Afterwards, there was cleanup and cuddling, praise and punishment, then hugs and dinner with friends. Freshly made ice cream was included, of course.
Bonny let Freja out of her corner, but tightened the straps around her wrists and upper arms, which pulled her shoulders back and pushed her chest out, then fed her personally. She licked up the drips and drops as needed.
When Freja's muscle cramps got too painful for her to continue eating, Bonny finally released her with a kiss and [Mending!].
The next morning, Bonny woke up in Eloisss’ coils. Miu was pressed into her side with a head on her shoulder. Eloisss was lying against her other shoulder, with the lamia’s coils wrapping around all three of them.
Bonny sighed contentedly and rubbed their backs lightly with her fingers as she recalled the night prior. She didn't have a lot of range of motion, but it was enough.
Due to the restart in their romantic schedule, it had been the lamia’s turn again. The previous night with Eloisss had involved biting and Bonny and had been bitten quite a lot. Last night, in return, Bonny bitten Eloisss back, but in a much more pleasant manner, though it still had Eloisss writhing, coiling, and constricting around Bonny.
Miu had been allowed to join again, her third fuck of the day, but it was a special day for her, and she was the one companion Eloisss had no jealousy toward. All three of them had ended the night covered in love bites, but Bonny’s healing aura had erased them overnight.
There was a knock at the door, then it was flung open without waiting for an answer. Tamanna scurried in and seemed disappointed by the lack of activity.
“Kama wants to see you.”
Bonny sighed and jiggled Eloisss to wake her. Once up, they ate a quick breakfast, then Bonny watered Willowbelle and the sapling. She stepped away to activate her cleansing aura for everyone other than the sapling, then they dressed and headed down.
Freja headed to the temples then the north gate with the rest of the companions, though Bonny had to convince Zeal to go with them. Freja intended to get word out about training and have the companions available in case there was another attack against the city. Bonny gave each of them a kiss before splitting the party.
Bonny, Eloisss, and Kanae followed Tamanna to Kama’s office, intending to meet Brooke, the mermaid, afterward. The plan was for Kanae to shift into a mermaid form to help Bonny breath underwater. Eloisss refused to go with the rest of the group because of Brooke's presence.
When they reached Kama’s door Tamanna knocked on it. It opened a moment later.
A voice from inside said, “Just Bonny, please.”
Bonny entered alone and noticed some runes around the door light up when it closed. “Is everything okay? Sorry for not getting to the play, things keep interrupting.”
Kama was an older beaver kin and the owner of the Busty Beaver, the brothel that they were currently staying in. She didn’t charge them for the room or require them to take clients. She just seemed happy just to have Bonny nearby. She was also an accomplished mage who specialized in enchantments, but didn’t offer that as a service to the city or public.
“Everything is fine, Bonny. I have an offer for you.”
“An offer?”
“A client has asked about your services. What would you charge to spend an hour or two with them?”
Bonny frowned and shook her head. “No. I don’t … I’m not, uh …” She didn’t want to insult Kama or her girls, so paused, letting the sentence hang.
Kama laughed. “You’re not a courtesan. I understand. This is a special request. A favor from someone who specifically asked for you.”
“Who is it? Someone I know? You know I’m not interested in men, right?” She wasn’t interested, but her curiosity was piqued.
Kama hesitated before answering. “It’s someone you’ve met. A woman. She doesn’t want this to be public though. I would setup a separate room for you to meet her in. Your friends wouldn’t be allowed to participate or enter the room. You can’t talk about it afterward.”
“That’s, uhm, different.” Bonny shook her head again after a moment of thought. “I don’t want money or to be thought of as … you know. I would need to know who it is before I consider anything.”
Kama smiled. “Of course. If you promise not to reveal her identity, I can give you her name."
Bonny frowned back. "Why is she so secretive? Can I think about it first?"
"Of course. There's no rush. Good luck this morning.”
“Thanks. I'll give you an answer this evening.” Bonny flashed a smile as she left the room.
“What wass that about?” Eloisss asked as soon as they left the door.
“Some woman wants to buy me. I told Kama that I’m not a prostitute.” She glanced at Tamanna. “Sorry.”
The ferret and former courtesan laughed. “I don’t mind. It’s fun, but I like spending time with you more.”
“Do you know who it is? Kama wouldn’t give me a name unless I promised not to tell anyone.”
Tamanna shook her head as they descended to the lower level. “No, sorry. I could ask around, but if Kama didn’t tell you who it is, it’s probably someone important.”
Brooke was waiting for them in the pool of water that made up around two thirds of the room. They had seen her in various states of dress, but this morning she wore a pearl necklace and something that looked similar a bikini top. She waved when they entered.
The large room was grotto themed with a path leading to a bed and table on the left side. Bonny had healed the mermaid on the bed twice, once for an aggressive sexually transmitted disease and once for a type of cervical cancer.
Bonny waved back as she activated her skills and crouched by the water. "[Analysis!] [Spirit Analysis!]".
The mermaid came back clean - no further infections, no injuries, and most importantly, no cancer.
Bonny smiled. "You're looking healthy, Brooke. I know you've been ignoring my advice, but you should be able to go back to your normal activities now."
She laughed. “Thank you. There are some swim clothes on the bed. It’s best to cover up to avoid complaints from fishermen and merchants out on the lake.”
Several wide strips of silk in various colors were laid out on the bed. Brooke had twisted hers in the middle to display her cleavage.
“Why do they care?”
“I don’t know, but Kama gets mad if there are too many complaints about me.”
Bonny sighed. “Okay. I suppose I shouldn’t cause her more grief. Eloisss, will you help?” She turned to face the lamia, putting her back to Brooke.
Eloisss smiled and kissed Bonny, then helped remove the robe. It wasn’t complicated, but she knew Bonny did it to reassure her, to let both her and Brooke know who Bonny favored.
Kanae jumped into the water. She fox paddled over the the mermaid, then spit out a leaf and ducked under it, shifting into a copy of Brooke. The ring of mist turned into a curtain of bubbles under the water. Once shifted, she swam back to the edge of the pool.
“Bonny! I need a top too.”
Bonny turned to see the fox tailed clone of Brooke jiggling her large breasts. She giggled and covered Eloisss’ mouth before the lamia could protest.
Eloisss selected a green top for herself and a brown one for Bonny, both matching their natural coloring. The lamia could swim and hold her breath for a long time, so was going to accompany them as far as possible. They left their normal clothing on the bed.
Bonny chose a black top for Kanae and tossed it to her.
“Are bikinis popular here? Do I need bottoms?” The strip covered Bonny’s breasts, but there was nothing else to wear. The two mermaids and lamia had scales covering that area.
Tamanna grabbed a couple of the silken strips and motioned for Bonny to spread her legs. She paired the two strips and tied them together with two knots, neatly dividing them into thirds. The center of the paired strips went between Bonny’s legs and the ends separated to tie around her hips.
“That should do.” The ferret still knelt in front of Bonny and grinned up at her. The makeshift bikini bottoms were half bright orange and half blue.
“Thank you.” The colors weren’t Bonny’s first choice, but they were already on.
Tamanna leaned forward and kissed Bonny on her lower abdomen, just above the silken knot. “Be careful out there.”
“I will.” Bonny kissed her on the lips and turned to tug Eloisss to the water.
They slipped in together. The water was cool, not freezing, but still cold enough for her nipples to harden under the silk.
The cloth clung to her, to all of them. It wasn’t transparent, but also wasn’t padded, so it clearly outlined their erect nipples without actually showing anything. There was something about being covered, but still so revealing.
Bonny eyed Eloisss and Kanae openly, but struggled to avoid ogling Brooke.
The mermaid took one of Bonny’s arms and Eloisss grabbed the other. They swam with her, pulling her to the water door, both swimming faster than she could by herself. Kanae dove down, breathing through her new gills, trying to acclimatize before they got to their destination.
The water door let out of Brooke’s room and into a large open space. A small floating platform lay on the water to one side, with stairs leading up behind it, and a large double door on the other. The first time Bonny had come down, they had stopped on the small dock to look over the water filled area. Brooke led them toward the large door.
“Deep breath.” Brooke warned, then pulled Bonny under the water and under the door.
There was a gap under the door for aquatic people to swim through. Bonny assumed the door would allow boats to enter the brothel for anyone approaching from the water.
They surfaced on the other side, giving Bonny a water level view of Beaver Bayou.
Most of the lake was pretty shallow, artificially created by a clan of beavers at a confluence of rivers. They had followed one of the rivers from the forest to the north, but two others joined on the east side of the lake. The water felt warmer than expected due to the hot sun and shallow depth.
Long piers extended out from the shore, elevated above the surface. Fishermen stood along the docks with lines out, but none were close enough to be a danger. The Busty Beaver was built along the pier next to them, with two stories extending above the dock and one below.
They swam out into the open water now, passing more fishermen at the end of the pier. The men waved as the trio passed them. Bonny would have waved back, but Eloisss and Brooke both held tightly to her arms.
There were obvious beaver dams built around the lake and lining the eastern bank. A few seemed to be free floating, with beaver kin sitting on top of them. A few of them waved as well.
Bonny occasionally ducked her head underwater to see the brightly colored fish swimming in the long grasses that covered the bottom, around them, and under the piers. The bottom of the lake was around five foot below her, just deep enough that she couldn't stand.
Kanae stayed submerged and chased the fish, but they easily eluded her, more agile than the newly minted mermaid.
Eloisss continued to hold tight to Bonny’s arm, not so much afraid of her being unable to swim as unwilling to let her be closer to the mermaid than her. Brooke held Bonny’s wrist loosely, not pressing the issue.
They swam south, heading toward the dam, the water slowly growing colder and deeper.
The lake narrowed as they approached the south end, and Bonny could see the dam extending across the water in more detail. It was at least a hundred foot long and looked nothing like a rough pile of logs, like Bonny had imagined. It was an engineering marvel for this world, curved back against the lake and made of some sort of concrete. She couldn’t see over or beyond it, but it had two openings, one on each side. The two openings looked like locks, and a boat that had entered one as they approached was now dropping below the horizon of water.
They stopped several hundred feet away from the dam, centered between the narrowing sides of the lake. They were south of the city at this points and could see several buildings outside the wall, like the north side, with farmland beyond them.
“We’re here.” Brooke let go of Bonny.
The water had gotten very cold and Bonny was glad of her fur coat. The transition from the warm shallows had been gradual, but constant. There was an odd circular ripple on the surface of the water. When Bonny tried to swim toward it, it pushed against her, repelled her.
She ducked her head back underwater. The water here was a crystal clear light blue and her stomach lurched as she saw the bottom far below. They had swum over a deep crevice and the ground under them dropped away in a steep underwater cliff. The water was so pure that she felt like she was flying, or falling, and a sense of vertigo swept over her.
The grasses had given way to sand and rock, though the colorful fish still flitted over and around the the cliff, occasionally digging into the sand with their fins.
She pulled her head back up above water and tightened her grip on Eloisss as she gulped in air.
“We have to go down there?”
