Page 90 of A Soul to Touch

Mayumi guessed this conversation was eye-opening for them both in different ways. It was nice to learn he’d always been by her side, hiding in the shadows, and it also felt... relieving to vent and share her frustrations.

“Humankindisdying,” she sighed. “The world is broken, Faunus. We are the last choking embers waiting to die out, desperately burning the last of the light before we’re gone. Time is eating us alive, just waiting to cradle us into the grave.”

Then she gestured to their surroundings like he had. She stood on top of where she’d been sitting, bringing more of her body out of the water and into the cold air so she could wash the bottom half of her – the place that had truly been dirty.

“Sure, the trees will still be here, but you haven’t seen the inside of our villages. It’s not just the Demons we need to worry about, but the famine and sicknesses there. Every year, more and more people are suffering. And every year, I wait to see if Colt’s Outpost or Reddington town is destroyed either from within or by a group of Demons. It’s worse here in the north than anywhere else because of the large number of mountains we have. There are more Demons, and that makes it harder to trade between villages and towns. Despite what’s happening outside the walls, greed is still pulling humankind apart because everything is scarce.”

Slipping back into the water to rinse, Mayumi held his gaze as she said, “We are now just generations born to witness the end of the world. The idea of bringing a child into this life, knowingit could end not long after it’s born because it grew sick or was eaten, is not something I’m sure I want to witness. Nor do I want to die knowing that it could be one of the last humans born.”

He was quiet as he thought on her words.

Then his tone was hesitant as he asked, “What... if it weren’t human?”

Her brows drew together sharply, not expecting such a ridiculous question. “What do you mean?”

He opened his jaws only to clip his fangs together. “Nothing. It doesn’t matter.”

She chose to disregard it since he’d evaded the question. Mayumi wasn’t one to pry, especially since she often hated it when others did it to her.

Holding the vial again, she poured a few generous drops into her other hand and lifted them both in his direction.

“Okay, MrForest God.It’s your turn to get clean.” Hoping to pull away from the conversation, she wiggled her eyebrows at him as she stepped closer. “I’ll make that fur of yours even softer than before.”

He didn’t move, both his arms spread wide to grip the edge easily with his hands. People could sit on the rim there, but it fit in his large palms.

His head followed her approaching movements, dipping when she was closer. She placed the vial next to his right hand, which gave her freedom to cup some water and pour it down his furry chest.

His firm pectoral muscles clenched when she started smearing the liquid soap against him. Then they softened, only to dance with twitches under both her hands as they went up and down. She made sure to get to the root of his fur, going over and between the rib bones that sat outside his body.

Her hands tingled with pleasure at being able to touch and explore him so openly like this.

Faunus gave a grunting, lowing snort as she rubbed the sides of his neck. His head dipped back, allowing her more room before she started going over his arms. They weren’t wet, so she had to cup water and moisten them, but he let her do whatever she wanted.

When she started cleaning his chest again just so she could selfishly touch it, something in her peripheral caught her attention.

His cock has come out.At least partially.

She slyly examined it. She’d never seen his tentacles swirl around his cock to shield it. They were a dark purple and smooth on the outside, but she knew they had that spikey texture and were a lighter purple on the inside.

The only reason she knew she’d stopped cleaning him to stare was that he lowered his head and nudged the end of his short snout against her. Since he was sitting on a recess, he was lower. It brought them almost to the same head height.

He may not like the bath, but he was still enjoying her touch. His orbs were purple, giving him away even if his cock hadn’t.

“There has been something I’ve been meaning to ask you,” he said, his voice a little huskier than it had been before. “You say ‘these lands’. What do you mean by that?”

Mayumi pointed to his groin. “Are you going to want me to do something about that?”

“Not in the water,” he bit. Then he placed his hand against the swirling, tentacle covered tip andshovedit back inside. “Because of the heat, I didn’t notice it had extruded.”

Damn. She’d been hoping to have a little fun.

“Fine. But I’ll need you to stand so I can wash the rest of you.”

He was standing within a heartbeat, snatching the opportunity to no longer be submerged. His daunting height and the pool’s differences made it so she was facing the bottom halfof his rib cage, bringing his body all the way to his upper thighs out of the water.

Then he held his hand out, his claws upwards, sharp, and caging. “I can do it.”

With her lips pressed together and curling upwards, she poured more soap into her own hand and lathered his abdomen. He gave a huff, but she had a funny feeling his irritation was only for show.

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