Chapter 261 – Change of pace

Chloe had accompanied the couple to the capital, and while things had gotten a little suggestive and weird for a bit, everyone was having a lot of fun while relaxing in the mansion’s living room. They weren’t the only ones having a good time, though. A certain duo had at least as much, if not more going on at the same time.

“Hah~, what a nice bath~.” While patting down her hair with a towel, Anna sat down on the bed in Ari’s room while letting out a relieved sigh.

“Yeah~.” While doing the same with her hair, Ari sat down next to her.

“Also, I love my new pajama! It’s so comfy!” The tiger was wearing a dark-blue pajama with pink accents and short sleeves combined with some short shorts. “Turning down the heated floors from Sophia is not an option, so going for something lighter to wear really was the best decision!”

“Yes, you are right!” The jaguar nodded a couple of times. She was wearing basically the same design as Anna, only that the colors were reversed. The base color of her pajama was pink, combined with some dark blue accents.

“The best thing is that they are matching, though!” With a big smile, the tall girl threw away her towel and clung to Ari’s side while rubbing her head against the other’s shoulder.

“S-Stop that!” Her cheeks immediately turned red while she tried to push the tiger away from her. “How often did I tell you that I’m ticklish!”

“Ehehe~.” Anna’s mood seemed to improve even more. “I know!”

“Hey!” The jaguar didn’t like her reply.

“Fine, I’ll stop.” While saying so, the tiger let go of her and let herself fall backward on the bed. “For now.”

“Thanks… Someone’s being playful today, huh?”

“Of course!” Anna smiled at her. “I’m together with you! I’m obviously playful then!”

“W-Wow…” Hearing that, Ari’s blush got a little deeper before she also laid down right next to her. “You’re always playful, though.”

“Because I’m always with you!” She was on a roll today.

“I-I see…” Getting even more embarrassed, the jaguar had to turn her head away. “Stupid Sophia… I’m way too aware of everything now…”

“What did Sophia do?” She had only heard the blonde’s name.

“A-Ah… No, it’s nothing. I just know too many playful tigers. Though, she more likes to mess with people while you like to get touchy-feely.”

“What kind of playful do you prefer?” Anna stared right at her.

“Well, I do like messing with people, but if I’m on the receiving end, touchy-feely might be the winner…”

“Yay!” Hearing that, Anna immediately started clinging to Ari’s side again while the two were lying on the bed together.

“…” Ari’s first instinct was to complain again. Still, as she actually was enjoying the cuddles and wanted to continue like this, she managed to ignore the urge. “I wonder if they’re really visiting an elven village right now…” She still tried to distract herself, though.

“It’s not the most surprising thing we’ve heard from them, so it's not that hard to believe it."

“That is very true!”

“I really want to see that place, too!” Anna suddenly raised her voice. “No, I want to travel with them! I bet we would see many interesting places all over the world with them! The capital is getting boring!”

“Well, it seems like Sophia wanted to take us with them, too. She mentioned that more than once already, after all. It seems like we are too slow, though… All of them are so stupidly overpowered, so even their running speed is unmatched.”

“Unfair!” The tiger started pouting. “Isn’t there any other way?! They should just slow down!”

“Is it really alright to make them match us so that we can selfishly travel with them, though…?”

“Urgh…” She paused for a moment. “That is true… There has to be a solution, though!”

“Hmm…” Ari gave it some thought. “Maybe Sophia’s portals could help? Traveling with them would still be hard, but maybe we could see the places they visit?”

“That sounds like a great idea! Let’s ask them about that the next time!”

“Yeah, let’s ask them.”

“And if that doesn’t work out, the two of us will go travel alone once we’re done with the academy!” Anna got even more excited.

“Eh?!”

“Sounds fun, doesn’t it?” The tiger smiled at her. “I think traveling with a group would be more fun, but just the two of us would be really exciting, as well!”

“R-Really…?”

“Absolutely! Don’t you think so, too?”

“No, I’d definitely like to do that if we can’t join Sophia and the others!” Ari gave her a big nod in return. “I’d love that, in fact!”

“Ehehe~.” Anna let out another happy giggle before cuddling closer to the jaguar’s side again.

“…” She needed a moment. This situation was almost too nice for her.

“And I could do that all day when we’re on our own!” While saying so, the tiger playfully poked the side of Ari’s stomach while she continued to cling to her.

“S-Stop that already!” She raised her voice in protest again. “I don’t like being tickled!”

“All the more reason to continue~.” The princess really was feeling extra playful, so she showed no sign of stopping this time. “Ehehe~.” Instead, she simply kept poking Ari’s side with a happy smile on her lips.

“S-Stop it…” The jaguar didn’t exactly look angry about it, but the tickling seemed to have quite an effect on her as her face had turned completely red.

“No!” Anna only increased it instead.

“…” Doing nothing for a while and letting the tiger have her fun as she was enjoying it to some degree, as well, Ari still eventually had enough, though. “E-Enough…” With her face even redder, together with a slight pout, the jaguar then freed herself from Anna’s hug. Afterward, she immediately rolled over on top of the princess while pinning her down by grabbing the tiger’s hands below her. “E-Enough!”

“A-Ah!” Anna hadn’t expected this move and looked petrified for a moment. A few moments later, her entire face turned crimson before she turned her head to the side as she was unable to face Ari anymore. She looked highly embarrassed while being pinned down by the jaguar on the bed.

“…” Ari wasn’t looking any better and taking a good glance at the princess only made it worse. When she had freed herself from Anna’s hug and rolled on top of her, it seemed like the tiger’s pajamas had partly become undone. Thanks to that, the tiger was showing quite a bit of cleavage, and one of her shoulders was entirely bare as the top had slid down her arm.

Concentrating on the uncovered area for a moment, she then quickly noticed that the princess had decided not to wear a bra after having gotten out of the bath for some reason. It’s not like she hadn’t had this suspicion during the hug before already, but the jaguar now had even more proof. Visual proof. “Anna.” Saying her name once, she then let go of the tiger’s hands and grabbed her chin with her thumb and index finger. Then, she gently turned Anna’s head to face the jaguar because she was still looking away with a deep blush.

(Click here for the uncropped version of the illustration.)

“Y-Yes…?” The princess got even more embarrassed while she tried to look Ari in the eyes, but the whole situation had turned her into a blushy mess in an instant, and she was barely able to do so. “…” She could not say anything else while only stealing glances at her.

“…” Ari stared right back at her, but while she seemed embarrassed to no end, as well, something in her expression eventually changed. Inching closer to Anna’s face, she then closed her eyes for the last few centimeters before her lips came in contact with those of the princess. It started with just a light brush against them, but the jaguar gradually used a little more force to give Anna a gentle yet good taste of her lips while making sure to savor hers, as well. The kiss lasted only a few moments, but it seemed like time had frozen in the room for a while. Eventually though, Ari’s lips parted from Anna’s again, and the jaguar lifted her head to look at the tiger below her. “I love you, Anna.” With a wholly flushed face that seemed to light on fire at any moment, she finally got the words out she had been hiding for so long.

“…” Anna, with her face being in the same state and seemingly in a trance after what happened, needed a moment to react. “A-Again.” It took her a while, and it was more of a whisper, but she eventually got a word out that Ari liked a lot.

“G-Gladly.” This time, the jaguar wrapped her arms around the neck of the princess below her before she brought her face closer again. Closing her eyes once more, Ari then gave her another kiss on the lips. This time, it lasted for a little longer, as well. Once their lips parted this time, the black-haired girl showed no sign of stopping, though, and quickly followed up with two more small pecks after she got some fresh air to work with.

Even after that, Ari still refused to part from the tiger. Instead, once she took a deep breath, she waited for Anna to do the same before using the chance of the tiger’s mouth being slightly open. Sticking out her tongue a little, the jaguar first gently licked the lips of the tiger before slowly sliding her tongue into Anna’s mouth. It was more than apparent by her clumsy movements that Ari had no idea what she was doing, but she looked determined to get some experience on the topic. With her tongue inside the tiger’s mouth, Ari brought her face as close as possible again to lock her lips with the other girl below her. While she was using her tongue to explore the insides of the princess' mouth, she also started playing with Anna's at the same time.

Anna's eyes had shot open when she felt Ari's tongue on her lips because it was a shock to her, but it didn’t take her too long before she started to enjoy the feeling. By the time she felt the jaguar’s tongue entering her own mouth, the princess had her arms fully wrapped around the black-haired girl’s waist above her. At the same time, she also closed her eyes once more to better concentrate on what was going on. After all, she didn’t want to miss anything of it.

She did try to return the kiss a little as well, by pushing her lips more against those of the jaguar, but she quickly decided to let Ari take the lead. Not only was she entirely overwhelmed by everything right now, but she also wanted to enjoy the jaguar being on the attack as much as possible.

Ari kept going like that for a good while longer after she noticed that Anna tried to return the kiss and was also hugging her waist. Still, she eventually ran out of steam because she was lacking in training. Reluctantly parting from her after a couple of minutes, she still refused to climb down from the princess, though. Once she was breathing normally again, she locked eyes with the tiger below her again while expectantly staring at her.

“…” Anna needed a bit longer to calm down. Heavily breathing to the point where her chest was visible going up and down, it took her quite a while before she stopped being dazed and could focus again. W-Wow…” The tiger needed even longer to recover. “T-That’s… haa… that’s not… that’s not what I meant… when I said again…” She was still far from normal. “S-Say what you said again…” She paused for another moment. “S-Say that you l-love me again!” As her face had reached maximum levels of embarrassment a long time already, the level of crimson on her cheeks had barely changed while she said those words.

“I love you. I love you! I soo love you!” Ari didn’t waste a second and gave her a strong reply while her voice was filled with excitement.

“Ehehe~.” Hearing that, Anna let out a bashful giggle before eventually locking her eyes with the jaguar above her. “I-I love you, too.”

“R-Really?” The realization was finally hitting her.

“Yes.”

“Really?!” She needed to ask a second time.

“Yes!” Anna happily repeated herself. “Now, d-do it again…”

“I love you!” Ari, too, repeated herself once more.

“N-No, not that…” The princess then mustered up all of her courage and gave the jaguar above her a quick peck on her lips before looking at her with upturned eyes and a yearning expression.

“Oh.” After that, something seemed to have fully snapped inside of Ari. She immediately wrapped her arms around Anna’s neck again before she kissed her a couple of times again. Using the little experience she had gained from before, she quickly slid her tongue into Anna’s mouth once more to continue the exploration of the inside. This time, Anna also tried her best to return the favor by playing with the jaguar’s tongue by using her own. It was a clumsy attempt, and it felt just as, if not even more awkward, as Ari’s first attempt earlier, but her eagerness more than made up for her lack of experience.

Seeing how the princess was doing her best to be an active part of the exchange, Ari’s motivation soared once more. Any signs of restraint had left her conscience. While she continued to kiss her, the jaguar eventually stopped hugging Anna’s neck. Afterward, much to the visible displeasure of Anna, she stopped kissing her, though. Then, the jaguar used her now free arms to help her sit down upright on the princess’ lap.

Noticing that, Anna immediately started pouting and looked at the black-haired girl on her lap with a displeased expression. She obviously wanted more. Luckily, Ari had no intention to stop, though. The jaguar moved her hands toward the tiger’s chest and started unbuttoning the rest of her pajama top to reveal all of her breasts.

After that, there was no stopping from either anymore, and things kept escalating more and more during the evening and their first night together.

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A couple of hours later, once the two had calmed down again, there was still some catching up to do because they had gotten slightly sidetracked in the middle.

“Uuh… H-How did that even happen…?”

“Err…” Ari wasn't sure what to say while looking at herself and the princess. Both were completely naked, and even after having cleaned up, themselves and the bed, it was still more than clear what had happened.. “I’m sorry…”

“Don’t apologize!” Anna immediately raised her voice. “I didn’t hate it! Not even a bit!”

“G-Good…” The jaguar was becoming a little embarrassed again, as well. "I saw you lying b-below me earlier, and I just had to k-kiss you. I couldn't bear it any longer… Once I c-confessed, and you took it so well, all those years where I had to hold back made me snap and lose my reasoning. That you didn’t stop me gave me the final push…”

“I see… I didn’t plan for any of that, either… Okay, I wanted to k-kiss you… and maybe confess, but… after I saw you and your expression, I wanted more.”

“I-I see…” After everything that happened, together with their brains turning back to normal, things were quickly becoming awkward.

“Wait!” Anna suddenly raised her voice once more. Luckily, tigers are unable to keep the mood serious for more than 30 seconds. "D-Did you say all those years just now?”

“I-I did…” Ari paused for a moment. “I, uhh… I fell in love with you when we were 12.”

“WHAT?!” She managed to get even louder. “S-Seriously?!”

"Yes…" She only reacted with a weak nod. “I decided to keep it to myself because you never seemed to have any interest in romance, and I didn’t want to ruin our friendship…”

“Urgh…” The tiger took a lot of damage.

“I accidentally spilled the beans about my feelings to Sophia one day, and she's been pushing me to get you ever since…”

“You’re the best, Sophia!”

“She absolutely is.”

“I’m sorry that I’m so dense…” Anna hung her head in response.

“I do want to be angry at you for that… but Sophia made it more than clear that I’m a dense idiot myself, so… let’s be idiots together?”

“Gladly!” The princess liked that a lot. “D-Does that mean that we’re a couple now…?”

“I-If you’ll have me…”

“Absolutely!” With the biggest smile she ever had, Anna then jumped at the jaguar and gave her the biggest hug she had ever given someone. “I love you!”

“I love you, too!” Returning the confession and the hug, the two then lay down on the bed again. As any kind of tension had entirely left their bodies, even though they were still a mess and naked, and a shower would do them well, together with the bedsheets maybe needing a wash, nothing besides them mattered right now, the couple fell asleep in an instant afterward while never having let go of each other.

Teanam

A MASSIVE thank you to everyone supporting the story on Patreon! Without you, this chapter would've been a lot less colorful!

As thanks for that, I hope everyone there enjoyed the extended version of this very chapter on Patreon.

It came with 2 extra illustrations and more than twice the length with around 6300 words. Writing out that NSFW scene sure added a lot of words.

Again, thank you all!