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The Gamer Chapter 1525 – Old and New Streets [Nathalia POV]
🕑 Added 2023-09-23 15:06:12 +0000 UTCNathalia had not wandered the streets of Rome in a long, long time.
Last time she had been in the Eternal City, her stay had been largely limited to that mansion her then-boytoy had stayed in, together with that then-princess and the rest of his harem. Things had shifted dramatically over the course of that stay, emotions she had not truly felt for anyone before blossoming in her chest for a man that proved himself through fire and war.
Much had changed since those days, all of it for the better. She wasn’t chasing the next acceptable partner anymore, nor was she doing this for lust alone anymore. With the presence of her mate came a profound sense of purity to the previously debauched engagements she had enjoyed. It was like everything had slotted into place, properly and permanently.
Following the surge of love, she grabbed John’s arm. He still expressed surprise at the gesture whenever she honoured him with her affections. Not the huge surprise of the early days, as if he could not believe what was happening, but the pleasant surprise of finding fresh game right in front of one’s dwelling or other such little blessings.
‘As he should,’ Nathalia thought, holding onto his arm with delight. Still, she was taller than him and would likely stay that way. She did not mind in the slightest. It was nice to see him make the little effort to get on his toes to kiss her.
On the other side of her mate, Hailey similarly snuggled her supple body against him. A truly fine piece to their hoard, that one, of great skill, intellect, character, and form. A quick wit, firm and soft in all the right places, and likely quite breedable. The spawns would need siblings, and why wait until her own womb was vacated to deliver them?
“Nathy, you’re lookin’ at me like you’re about to pin me down and have hon’ mount me,” Hailey spoke her mind.
“That is the consideration,” Nathalia responded without a single care. Even now she could feel what of his seed the human woman’s tongue could not scrape out remained inside her, making her ready essence pulse with desire and dissatisfaction. “After Eliana and I, of course.”
“Did not even imply getting impregnated that time,” the enigma engineer pointed out.
Nathalia mockingly blew air out of her nose. As if breeding needed to be implied. “It only needs to be delivered, at a speedy date.”
“Look, it’s not going to come any sooner if you keep teasing me about it,” John groaned.
What a transparent lie. Nathalia could smell his need to procreate, quite literally. There was a particular scent men gave off when they were desperate to put a baby in a belly. Nathalia had smelled it many times before, being the target of such attention by many males entirely unworthy of doing more than entertaining her.
Nathalia scratched him under the chin and whispered, “You will breed me, my mate. Sooner, rather than later.” Oh, how delightfully his skin rose in goosebumps at her words. Such a powerful being, yet so easy to play with, despite having long since graduated from the skinny entertainment he had been in… ‘Huh, I suppose it was only two years ago.’ “Your birthday is next week,” she said out loud, when the realization hit her all over again.
Of course, there were plans in motion, but it still slipped her mind on occasion. Time flowed confusingly at times for her. A consequence of falling asleep for anything between hours and centuries at a time, as she fancied. Recent months had been so packed with events, she forgot how short a time had truly elapsed.
“Yeah, feels weird.” John rolled his neck. “Although I will finally enter my twenties officially, so that will make all of this,” he gestured at the three of them, “feel a little more… proper?”
“Don’t think a year changes much, hon’,” Hailey suggested.
“It does to me,” her mate pushed back, then turned to Nathalia with appreciative eyes. He always looked at her with a sense of that, even if other emotions mixed in. “Tell me about this city,” he urged her.
Nathalia turned her eyes ahead of them. They were in the outermost ring of Rome, where the houses were smallest and most densely packed, forming narrow corridors between them. Each block was its own little ecosystem, with shops and unique landmarks that had been etched into the available spaces by the locals.
It was at times like this that Nathalia found herself in the rare position of being annoyed with herself. The dragon goddess rarely cared about the emotions of regret or self-criticism. Both of them were below her station. She was a divine creature, far above mortal standards. If they disliked something about her, they would have had to be corrected, not the other way around.
This was one of the rare moments her past self disappointed her current self. Looking down the narrow passage they travelled and out into the broad street that wound between the various blocks of the Eternal City’s outermost ring, she realized that she had little to tell. She had never paid too much attention to anything around her when she wandered these parts, instead taking her interest in whoever she was with at the time or whatever luxuries were presented to her by the adoring populus.
Nathalia did not wish to tell tales of lesser lovers to her man. She understood that human males were protective and did not much enjoy being reminded of previous histories. Nathalia did not enjoy remembering either. It was like recalling the taste of an experimental meal when its creation had since been perfected.
“I believe I had grapes around here,” she instead led with the food story. Hailey snorted, in the sort of surprised, almost mocking way that made Nathalia glare at her immediately.
“Sorry,” the human woman had the presence of mind to apologize, “came outta nowhere, is all.”
“Hmph.” Nathalia averted her sharp gaze and directed the steps of their tight-knit trio out of the block and into the main road.
Traffic was busy. The influx of several thousand people from all over the world had the expected effects on the local infrastructure. Compared to the cramping movement of sweaty masses, the streets of the Eternal City were practically vacant. Much lower population density crossed with the absence of the reeking metal boxes mortals used for speedy movement meant that there was enough room to walk even while nestled against her mate.
If Nathalia needed any reason to keep the divide between the mundane and the Abyss up, it was certainly so she did not have to contend with the sheer amount of people.
“When I… used to frequent this city, it all looked much different,” the dragoness attempted to conjure what of her experiences were worthy of retelling. “Protected Spaces had not yet been invented and so the city around Romulus’ old palace was much smaller. At most in those days, it resembled a massive bazaar more than a true city. The Abyssals dwelled instead on the other side, in the early settlement that would become the mundane city of Rome. I believe they used the presence of the mundane around them to assure that magical exploits were kept to a minimum… I vaguely recall hearing something about such concerns.”
“Interesting,” John hummed after he had intently listened to all of that. Those knowledge-seeking, dark eyes of his were every reason why Nathalia loathed she had not paid more attention to her surroundings at the time. She had led such a long life, yet had so little to tell from it aside from the frivolities that she, now, preferred to keep in the past.
Nathalia was still herself, but she was also his now, and that made quite the difference.
Although, it had to be said, that none of her past frivolities quite measured up to the way he unashamedly grabbed her ass. There were constant eyes on them, trailing their every move with desire and curiosity, and he just kept squeezing their squishy bottoms without a care in the world. This kind of daring was but one reason to fall for her mate.
There had been public sex, in the old days. No one had even cared, it was just a regular occurrence. Yet, still, the way his fingers dug into her bottom was more erotic than any of that. He kissed her neck and she shivered.
“This place is enchanted all ov’r,” Hailey remarked, as they stepped onto one of the sky paths. The mana under Nathalia’s feet tingled, the thin layer of barely magical footwear doing little to perturb her divine senses.
John touched the Romuglehn railing with one hand, letting some of his mana seep into it. The flow of blue underneath them visibly strengthened. The speed, however, remained the same. “Romulus is not a man of artifice, I think.” The Gamer looked to Nathalia, who just nodded. “Artifice is a relatively new science and Rome is old.”
“I guess,” Hailey hummed.
They arrived soon on a sky island situated between the first and second ring. It fulfilled the purpose of something like a transitional area, filled with shops that were for the wealthy of one ring and the poor of another. It was pleasantly clear of burdensome activity. Like all parts of the Eternal City, there was some of the additional activity.
John spotted a nearby café and decided he wanted to head inside for a bit, to escape the sun. Nathalia herself did not mind, but Hailey agreed. While their man went inside to check for any open tables, they waited in the shade of a parasol.
“Speakin’ of the angry ball in the sky,” Hailey raised her voice. “How come you and Sol do not get along?”
Nathalia blew air out her nose mockingly. “The very concept of getting along with that woman is absurd,” she responded instantly. “If you expect any grand explanation of how she slighted me, I must disappoint you. The simple truth of the matter is that she is a cunt.”
“To be quite frank with you, Nathy, ain’t like you’re the most agreeable person eith’r,” the blonde returned.
Turning to face the country gal with her entire body, the dragoness first grabbed the notably shorter woman by the chin, then pushed her against the cool stone wall behind her. “I would have killed lesser people for such an insult,” she hummed, her tone entirely non-threatening. Hailey stared back with a smirk on her brownish pink lips.
All of that rage inside her, all of the pride that she had needed to protect, Nathalia felt all of it far away. It was all filtered through her near omnipresent good mood these days and the fluffy clouds of love that steadily hung around inside her consciousness. From John, it had spread to the rest of these wonderful women.
Hailey wrapped her arms around Nathalia’s neck. “Ya ain’t killin’ me,” she whispered.
“No, that would be a waste of something precious,” Nathalia agreed.
Their wanton gazing only ended because their lips found one another. A deep kiss, more wholesome than anything she could have imagined two years ago. How delightful it was, to find love and to find out that such an emotion, unlike raw lust, did not just ebb and flow but multiplied as it was expanded to all those deserving of it.
“I love your hair,” Hailey purred between kisses.
“You should grow yours out more,” Nathalia responded. She enjoyed the way the layers of blonde changed colours, depending on how much the sun had bleached it. The wild strands parted around her fingers with a little bit of resistance.
“I’ll think about it,” Hailey promised.
“Having fun without me?” In unison, their kiss and gaze broke, to be directed to the Gamer that had stepped up next to them. The expression of his handsomely plain face was that of approval. Nathalia could smell his growing arousal.
It was inevitable, really, that they retreated to a rentable room nearby, shortly after they had finished the coffee break.
Such was the path their dates took.
