Of Trails and Snails | Ch. 17: Hot Springs Day, But Sexier (NSFW) (Patreon)

Once Skye was undressed, she lifted Jack’s wrist and slapped the strings of her corset into his hand. “I think you’re gonna need these.”

Right now? Jack furrowed his brow. Well, Mia did ask for two hours… “You shouldn’t take your packs in the water though, right?” Using the same trick on Mia wasn’t going to work without her pack. There was the option of binding her hands behind her back, but he imagined it would be pretty uncomfortable to have them pinned against her shell.

Skye smirked. “If only you had another pair of hands to help you out.” She shrugged. “Too bad.”

Oh. There was only one other problem. The night before had taken a lot out of him, stamina-wise. “Mia?”

“Mhm?” Mia was behind him, her dress on the floor, her thumbs toying with the waistband of Jack’s pants. The heat from her skin radiated on his back.

Even after a year, it felt weird to ask. Usually, the girls asked if it was alright or if he was ready, but he was still getting used to the other side of things. “Can you dart me?”

Mia giggled. “We should get in the water first.” She kissed the inside curve of his shoulder. “I think it’ll be more fun that way.”

Jack nodded and unbuckled his pants, stripping them off and tossing them aside to join Mia’s dress. He was happy to have a private room with both of them, though the thought of when the others would return was a little unnerving.

“Hang on, Skye… I thought you didn’t want anyone to spy on us.”

“Me? No.” She gestured to Mia. “Mia’s into that.”

Scarlet flared into Mia’s face and neck. “Skye!”

“I learn something new about you two every day.” Jack laughed. He turned to the ramp and skipped down into the water. However, he hopped backward when it hit his shins. “Damn! It’s really hot.” He’d expected a warm bath, or a kind of heated pool. Instead, it was akin to those hotel hot tubs that staff kept on the highest temperature setting at all times.

“Maybe you missed the part about it being a hot spring?” Skye quipped. “Again, rushing into everything so fast. Learn to take your time, two-legs.”

Jack hissed a breath through his teeth and inched deeper into the water. Skye and Mia both followed behind, able to fit on the ramp if they stayed shoulder to shoulder. There was plenty of room to move outward once they reached the bottom, though Jack wasn’t sure just how far apart they’d remain.

Wading into his hips seemed to take ages, emphasized by Sofia returning with their bottle of dew and three glasses. By the time she filled all three and placed them and the bottle at the edge of the pool, Jack made it to his waist.

“Gosh, it feels so nice,” Mia murmured, a little farther in than Jack had made it.

“Yeah. Like all of my limbs are melting,” Skye sighed.

Jack chuckled. “And that’s a good thing?”

“It’s the best thing.” Skye moved in until her foot moved along the bottom, and the water covered her chest. “Made better with dew.” She was the first to their glasses—no real surprise there—and took a sip. Her eyes widened, and she looked at Jack.

“What?”

“Heh. This shit’s expensive.” Skye stole another sip.

“I said I’ll pay for it!” Mia said, joining her and taking the second glass. After one drink, she wore a similar expression. “Oh. Goodness.”

“Mia, I can take care of it. You worked hard last night, keep your Shells.” Jack made it to them at last, moving to stand in between them and swiping the remaining glass and taking a drink. “I, uh, don’t taste any difference.”

Skye gaped. “You’re as uncultured as Slinky.”

“I don’t have as much dew to compare it to.” He set Skye’s corset strings beside the bottle and tried another sip. “I mean, I guess it’s a little, er, smoother? Than what we had last night?”

Skye rolled her eyes.

Mia was still on a path of her own. “Jack, you gave me some money for dinner. I can at least give that back to put it towards this.”

Jack shook his head. “Whatever you want to do, Mia. I’m not expecting a single Shell. Today’s just for fun.” Just so long as the dew doesn’t bankrupt us. He glanced at Mia, carefully weighed his next words, then said them anyway. “Order whatever you want, Mia.”

Mia smiled. “Okay.”

Skye topped off their glasses and leaned her head against one of the rocks that made up the pool’s frame. “Sweet Nerita, this feels so nice.” She lifted one scarred arm from the water and grinned. “Is it just me, or does it make my skin look nicer?”

“Oh! The hot spring waters are great for our skin!” Mia said, “They’re filled with natural nutrients and help get rid of all the icky stuff.” She poured another glass for herself—they were going to need a second bottle already—and continued, “I heard bathing in this hot spring once a month actually prevents you from aging.”

I wonder who spread that little rumor, Sofia? “In this particular hot spring?” Jack asked.

“They did mention Pomacea specifically, but maybe it’s any of them? Also, Jack, do you think it’s weird that I like the thought of other snailgirls watching us?”

Woah. That was one hell of a hairpin turn. Jack turned to face Mia and shook his head. “What? No. You like what you like.”

Skye leaned forward to see around Jack’s back. “Mia?”

Mia downed her glass and licked her lips. “You’re just really sweet and kind and handsome, and you chose me and Skye.” Her words tumbled out in a blur, though she was far from drunk. “A tiny part of me wants others to see how you touch me and kiss me and… And maybe they get a little jealous, and maybe that part of me makes me despicable and ugly—”

Jack cupped Mia’s face in his hands and kissed her. How? How in the world could anyone look at Mia and think she was a bad person? He tipped his forehead to hers and brushed his thumb across her cheek. “Mia, you’re on vacation, and the first thing you did was help people. I don’t think you have a despicable or ugly bone in your body.”

“Yeah! Those are mine!” Skye snapped and raised her glass.

Mia giggled softly and touched Jack’s hand. “Really?”

“Really.”

“Hey. I’m sorry I told him, Mia. That was your secret to tell,” Skye said.

Mia leaned her cheek into Jack’s touch. “Maybe it’s a good thing. I want Jack to know all about me.”

“I want to know, too.” Jack tipped his head in Skye’s direction. “Skye puppeted one of the fish we ate last night and made it sing a song.”

Mia brightened. “She did?”

“Oh, fuck you.” Skye snarled and rolled her head back in exasperation. “Uuugh. Fine. I deserved that.”

“Maybe we can get her to sing it again tonight.” Jack laughed, pushed Mia’s hair behind her ear, leaned in, and lowered his voice to a whisper. “Now, do you want me to have Sofia bring the whole staff to watch me fuck you?” God knows he was paying them enough.

A tiny gasp escaped Mia’s lips. “I-I don’t want them to be uncomfortable.”

“I’m sure they know what we’re doing anyway.” Skye shook the empty bottle and frowned. “Why don’t we see how Sofia feels about it?”

“How’s that?” Skye's plans were often nefarious, but this one struck Jack’s curiosity.

“Hm.” Skye looked around, then pointed to a second golden rope on their side of the pool. “Here we go.” She slid to the rope and pulled on the tassel. “Dart him and wrap him, Mia.”

Mia’s mouth opened and closed a few times, not unlike Skye’s fish puppet. “Right now?”

Jack caught on to Skye’s line of thought. He took Mia by the waist and maneuvered her body so that her shell was against the hot spring’s wall. He positioned himself in front of her, and the clear waters would offer a perfect side view of what was happening beneath the surface.

“Right now, Mia,” he said, tracing the line of her throat with his tongue.

Mia reached behind her ear and tugged one of the needle-like love darts free. Her trembling hand brushed Jack’s hair away from his shoulder before sliding the dart into the curve of his neck. The familiar heat rushed through his veins, spreading down his back and legs, and suddenly the water felt more like the warm bath he’d expected.

Jack sank his teeth into Mia’s shoulder, tangled one hand in her hair, and lowered the other hand into the water, kneading her breast against his palm. Her chest rose and fell with her speeding breaths, and the folds of her body wrapped around his lower half. Her “Good for the skin” talk was suddenly not so far-fetched—somehow, she felt softer, slicker, and more pliable than she ever had before.

The velvet curtain drew back, and Sofia appeared in the entryway. “What can I fetch for our honored guests?”

Jack’s fingers tightened in Mia’s hair, and he moved his lips to her ear. “Don’t stop,” he whispered. “She’s watching us.”

Mia’s soft whimper in reply was electrifying.

“Two more bottles of this!” Skye called, lifting the empty bottle above her head.

A low hum sounded from Sofia’s direction before she said, “Yes. Very good. Right away.” She hesitated for a few more seconds before pulling the curtain and disappearing.

Skye snorted. “You’re not making anyone uncomfortable.”

“A-are you sure?” Mia breathed.

“I’m sure.”

Jack was lost in Mia’s scent, fighting for air through the cloying steam and the taste of her skin. The slick, viscous fluid of her wrap still clung to his body despite the water, and the heat of the pool made his erection throb.

“Skye,” Jack growled.

“What?”

He raised Mia’s arms out of the water and pinned her wrists to her shell beneath one hand. “Give me the cord.” Her delicate skin was flush with the heat, and red circles bloomed on her cheeks and the tops of her breasts.

Tying a decent knot around Mia’s wrists while under the influence of dew, a love dart, and her wrap was a feat, but Jack managed.

Skye took the leftover “leash,” pulled it over Mia’s shell, and piled a handful of the rocks on top as an anchor. She balanced the empty bottle on top of her structure and murmured to Mia, “Don’t fight too hard, now. You’ll get glass in the pool.”

Clever girl.

Mia hissed in a breath, and her hands writhed against the binds. Jack claimed her mouth with his, burying his tongue between her lips, then let his hands wander from her throat to her breasts, down her stomach to her hips. She shuddered and arched her back, gasped inside his mouth, and loosened her wrap.

Jack held on to her hips and slowly inched his cock inside of her. Her head lolled back against her shell, and her breathy moans reverberated off the quartz walls.

The curtain opened again. “Here we are.”

While Sofia made her way to the side of the pool where their glasses waited, Mia stared at Jack through tiny slits in her eyes. She chewed her lower lip and masked the desperate whimpers in her throat. He thrust forward until his hips met hers and watched Mia’s eyes roll back. Sofia refilled their glasses and set the two bottles down before reaching for the empty one.

“No. Leave that one,” Skye said, lounging beside them as if nothing special were happening.

“A-ah. As you wish.”

Jack withdrew and thrust inside of Mia again, rewarded with a cry that broke the barrier of her lips. She whimpered and squirmed against her binds and beneath his hands, her expression warring between embarrassment and satisfaction. She licked her lips and gently bucked her hips against his. She wanted him to keep going. So he did.

Mia loved this. It made Jack’s heart race.

“Pardon my asking,” Sofia’s voice quivered, and her eyes darted between Jack and Mia. “Would you be interested in a, hm, similar experience with myself or my sisters?”

“No.” Jack kissed Mia’s cheek, grinned, and ground his hips against hers. “I only want my girls.”

“J-Jack!” Mia cried out, and her body tensed. Fuck!

“That’ll be all,” Skye said, waving Sofia away with a few flicks of her wrist.

“Of course. Call again if you should require it.”

Jack wrapped an arm around Mia’s waist and kept the other on her hip, then thrust into her as fast and hard as the water allowed. It didn’t matter that Sofia hadn’t closed the curtain yet, or that she could hear both of them fighting for air. Mia had reached her peak and was tumbling over it, and he wasn’t about to let her tip over the edge alone.

Mia’s fingers balled into fists, and she clenched down around him just as the velvet curtain covered their door. But there was no way the fabric would prevent Sofia from hearing their shared cries, or Jack’s name on Mia’s lips again, or…

“Tell me, Mia,” Jack said between breaths. He knew Sofia could hear him. The reverb in the room was too intense. “How else can I reward you?”

Sweat trickled down Mia’s face as her hands and body relaxed. She closed her eyes and broke into quiet giggles. Skye chuckled and loosened the leash from the rocks before grabbing her refreshed glass of dew.

“What?” A half-smile tugged at Jack’s mouth, but he didn’t feel in on the joke.

Mia looked up at Jack and beamed. She wrapped her bound wrists over his head and pulled him into a tight embrace.

“You’re perfect,” Mia murmured into his hair.