Ch.22 [Unfiltered] Thea’s Swimsuit (Open for All Patrons) (Patreon)

[Warning: This chapter has mild sexual themes and insight into Thea's hormonal, yandere-like mind. It has great character development and a good way to gauge whether you'll like unfiltered. Thea's 19 and loves Ryker. I don't think that's very controversial, but some people do. If you're amongst them, just enjoy the regular story. Reader Discretion is advised.]

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"As expected of a gangster," I sighed, watching them file in. "At least he prioritizes money over racial supremacy."

There were seven women, only two of whom were dwarves. The rest comprised two humans—one blonde, one redhead—a squirrel beastkin, a feline beastkin, and an elf.

Naturally, they were all completely naked, with steam dripping down their clean-shaven bodies, moving between their thighs.

“Greetings, King Everwood,” a blonde Dwarf, wearing Zenith cosmetics and rocking a remarkably proportionate body, relatively speaking, said, emphasizing her superficial attributes to capture my attention. "My name is Sally Krone. Which women would you like to assist you in trying on swimsuits?"

I looked at each of them up and down, appraising the situation in full, and—as if I wasn’t rock hard—I spoke the following words: “If the beastkin with me is getting this treatment, only with men, I’ll murder all of you and your children.”

The dwarf’s smile cracked in a moment, and then she glanced at my erection—valiantly pitching a tent in my pants—to ensure she wasn't hallucinating.

"These are called hormones and admiration," I clarified, examining my lower half. "My words serve as a reminder of what I mentioned before you came to seduce the king of a foreign nation."

“I-I see. Well, rest assured, females are assisting your women,” she gulped. “If there’s one thing that men universally disdain, it’s picturing other men with the women near them.”

“I’m relieved it’s not just a me thing, then,” I replied. “But please send the beastkins to double-check. If Lady Lockheart sees beautiful beastkin women come out of this room, she might murder them. She’s a bit sensitive about these things.”

Sally donned a horrified smile, beads of sweat forming on her brow. "Rita, Filo, please go check on Lady Lockheart."

They gulped and gratefully headed toward the door.

“Please get dressed first.” I gave them a chilling smile. They gulped and quickly retrieved slip-on dresses for themselves. "Thank you," I announced as they left.

---

Thea gave the two Dwarven women offering her swimsuits a gaze that sent shivers crawling down their spines. "If you think I'll expose my body to anyone other than Ryker Everwood, you're sorely mistaken. Back off, you salaried nightwalkers."

They gulped and nodded, weighing the threat of death for failing to perform their duties against the guarantee of death for doing them.

Thea stared into a mirror and gradually removed her maid's dress and corset, which the Dwarves had unlaced for her. She examined her body in the chemise and tights she wore underneath, the former resembling a modern nightgown. "I wonder if he likes my body...."

After she pulled off her tights and stripped off her chemise, doing both slowly, imitating sexy postures while picturing Ryker watching her, she stared at her objectively perfect body with suspicion. "Even if he's a reincarnation... doesn't he find me somewhat attractive? I get he’s uncomfortable with younger women, but I'm of age by his standards now!"

Thea pouted, frustrated with Ryker's fixation on the number eighteen. As someone who knew him better than anyone else in Solstice, she understood he wasn't a sixteen-year-old. He was someone from a past life, someone older, and she was well aware of that. She had spent 6-10 hours a day with him for over a decade, and she knew there was a code to Ryker Everwood, a fixation on the number eighteen as if his world would end if he so much as glanced at her body before that age.

She hated it.

His fixation on the number eighteen didn't come from Valerian culture, where fifteen was the ideal age for courting. Eighteen was when women were often deemed "leftovers" or "unworthy of courting," as if they had been categorically rejected.

That was pretty universal. It proved that Ryker wasn’t the demon lord in many people’s minds.

However, now that she had reached eighteen, he was fixated on him also being eighteen, which was starting to feel like an excuse.

It was so frustrating!

"I wish he would just tell me if he's interested or not," Thea pouted, looking at her breasts before slipping her feet into a "scandalous" bathing suit that made her feel... dirty. "I hope he doesn't think I'm an unfaithful rake for wearing this, but..."

Thea examined herself in the ultra-revealing boy shorts. "I guess I'll find out how he feels about my body." The thought alone made her blush and feel uncomfortable. Her hormones drove her towards mating, and her cheeks turned rosy just thinking about it. She slapped her cheeks lightly and quickly slipped on the crop top, leaving her midriff and navel painfully exposed.

As she cringed at her attire, a squirrel and a feline beastkin entered the dressing room and sighed in relief that Thea was decent and no men were present.

"Why are you here?" Thea asked, suspicion boiling within her.

The squirrel beastkin woman gulped and offered a wry smile, half-expecting to be sacrificed that night. When no one else spoke up, she hesitantly volunteered, "King Everwood cares about you deeply. He sent us away to ensure that you know you're the only beastkin in his life."

The poor woman felt like every word she spoke could be a death sentence. She had no clue what his cryptic words implied and feared that even a single word might insult a princess, and tonight would be her last. However, she was taken aback when Thea's eyes widened to impossible levels, and she clasped her hands with unreal enthusiasm.

"Are you saying that he sent you floozies away because he was thinking about me?!"

Their open mouths remained frozen for a solid 20 seconds before the feline beastkin woman finally spoke. "Yes...?"

The manic feline beastkin woman dumped an entire year's worth of salary in gold coins onto the ground. "Tell me everything you heard, and I'll pay you an unruly sum of money."

Cling! Cling, cling-cling-cling! Clang!

The manic cat woman dropped more coins on the ground. “Tell me everything you heard, and I’ll pay you a truly absurd amount of money.”

Both beastkin women twitched like malfunctioning robot dolls as they weighed the pros and cons of giving potentially unsavory information to someone clearly unhinged for more money than they were offered to sell their bodies to the man in question.

It was a dilemma.

And, as expected: the allure of money prevailed.

"He told us that if there were a man in this room, he'd murders us and our families," the squirrel woman revealed.

Clang! Cling, cling, clang! Cling-clang-cling!

More gold coins hit the ground.

"And if we, the beastkin, didn't leave, he'd kill us. There's only one beastkin in King Everwood's life. That's legitimately what he said," the feline beastkin clarified.

Thea squealed in delight and poured out more money. She had an excessive amount of gold and nothing to spend it on. Everything was on the house! No one in Elderwood, Silverthorn, or Sundell dared to charge her for anything, so she was excited to have found a wonderful outlet for the shiny coins.

"Tell me about his expressions!" Thea squealed, clenching her fists in excitement.

***

Thea's heart raced as Ryker emerged from the dressing room, showcasing his chiseled abs, which made her salivate and blush at first glance. However, when she noticed two scantily clad women walking out, their nipples exposed, adrenaline surged through her veins, her pupils constricted, and her perception of time slowed down.

The Dwarven women—forewarned of Thea's disposition—trembled in fear, horrified by the intense look in her eyes that conveyed her ability and willingness to skillfully orchestrate their deaths before the night was over—and she was skilled enough to carry it out.

"They're doing their jobs," Ryker stated with a serious expression, looking at Thea. "You look..."

His usual approach of complimenting her to appease her, which was effortless because he genuinely cared about her, seemed different this time.

Thea glanced down and noticed a new development that made her blush, turn away, and squeal with delight simultaneously.

"You look fantastic," Ryker said, triggering a supernova of happiness.

Thea playfully shimmied her shoulders and blushed. "Are you sure? I wasn't sure if—"

“You look dashing,” he forcefully reiterated, nearly stopping her heart. “Let’s not get carried away by King Thrain’s obvious attempts to throw us off our game.”

Thea's eyes narrowed, and she glared at Sally with a menacing intensity before nodding with a determined expression. It became clear to her that the only reason her beloved entertained these women was that King Thrain had paid them to seduce him and gain leverage. Her desire to exact revenge on King Thrain for attempting to harm her man soared as she walked up to Ryker, grabbed his hand, and led him through the hall.

The passage they walked through was clearly not for normal people. There were ugly people with #naked# women from various races mounting them, hugging them, playfully pushing their shoulders, giggling at their terrible jokes, and the like.

However, Ryker remained unaffected, not even glancing at their stunning bodies. The team King Thrain had assembled to seduce, sway, or distract him began to wonder if they had made a mistake about his preferences. He even ignored Zenith, who embodied beauty!

Thea was confused about why he was ignoring her and wanted to know. Since Ryker Everwood appreciated direct questions that could be answered straightforwardly, Thea gathered her courage and posed a direct question. "Do you like my swimsuit?"

Ryker swallowed, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. "Thea, you know that I find you attractive in general. So seeing you in less clothing naturally amplifies that attraction. Can you please refrain from asking such questions to avoid playing into King Thrain's hands?"

Thea's eyes widened, and she quickly apologized. However, deep inside, she was burning with excitement, thrill, and ecstasy, knowing he was genuinely thrilled by her body. She was over the moon, satisfied that she was, in fact, a suiter for Ryker Everwood, and she wasn’t just someone that he really, really-really-really cared about.

After all, this was her beloved. While she was happy that he cared about her, she wanted to marry him and have a litter….

Thea blushed intensely and lightly slapped her cheeks.

"Are you alright?" Ryker asked, observing her flushed and flustered demeanor.

"Y-Yes," Thea replied, her voice slightly trembling under the pressure. “I’m just kinda embarrassed about the swimsuit.

“I love it,” Ryker said. “I’m not sure if that makes things better, but it’s perfect. Now keep focused.”

Thea’s heart melted, and she almost squirmed, deciding that the swimsuit was her favorite piece of clothing and she would keep it until the day she died.

—

[A/N: I hope you enjoyed this fun side story! You'd think this type of thing would be kosher with the masses but trust me—it's not. If you weren’t a big fan, remember that I intentionally cut this scene out. Thanks for reading!]