The gray water had long warmed from the persistent summer air. It no longer kept Patience’s hands cool as she ground clothes against the washboard. Shafts of strong light easily penetrated the shade of the white pine and Patience found herself sweating shortly after she started. The pump tempted her to indulge in a few splashes of cold well water, but she would rather finish the job faster.

“We can go inside sooner if you spent more of your time helping me than playing with flowers, Anax,” Patience chided.

“I want to make a garland for the mantle,” said Anax. His tendrils snaked through the thin stems of a collection of garden flowers he had picked, weaving them one by one into a chain.

“You know how I feel about cut flowers,” teased Patience, rolling her eyes.

“But Schuler likes them,” he retorted.

“Oh!” Patience paused in thought. “I had no idea …” She was still learning about the men she loved and was grateful she did not have vapid partners. She continued to scrub at the clothes in the tub.

Only two more months remained until their wedding in the fall. Everything was in place and they only needed to wait for the dress to be completed. In the meantime, Patience and Schuler split their time between her cottage and his apartment in Keaton as he was still bound by the lease. Patience savored her dwindling weeks with indoor plumbing.

The town had sneered at the couple living together out of wedlock. While Patience and Schuler’s friends and acquaintances never spoke out against it from the start, it was a juicy bit of gossip between a number of townsfolk. Patience was used to it. Schuler let the stares and susurrations glance off his back. But as with many things over time, even those whispers died down as their presence as a couple solidified in the area.

“When will Schuler come home?” asked Anax.

“This new show ought to end well before supper time.”

The sound of hooves knocked on the road. Patience lifted her head to spy a large wagon stop at the front gate.

“Oh, wonderful! The new mattress is here!”

Patience sprang to her feet, abandoning the wash and forcing Anax to leave his flower chain. Two men jumped off the wagon. Patience met them by the road, unlatching the gate. She might have been intimidated by their looks and side-glances to each other, but Anax provided all the confidence she needed.

Once again Patience exchanged her signature for the delivery. The men rounded to the back of the wagon to heave the mattress out. Patience ran ahead to get the front door and clear their path to her parents’ bedroom.

The shade of the house provided some relief from the hot day. She scooted the stuffed badger away from the door. She pushed the mounted lynx further into the parlor. The sound of a rough canvas wrap shifting against the deliverymen’s shirts chased Patience to the bedroom.

One man nearly tripped over an otter on a log. Patience apologized profusely before taking it to her room. The men propped the new mattress against the wardrobe and lifted the old mattress from the bedframe. Exchanging places the delivery landed upon the wooden slats with a loud thump. They shifted it square to the bed. Patience had elected to donate her parents’ old mattress to an asylum. She watched the stained thing lean sadly, slumping into its own weight. Patience was glad to be rid of it.

One of the men removed the canvas wrap and folded it neatly. Patience offered to take it out to their wagon while they carried the donation. The men and the worst remnant of her parents’ passing were down the road and gone all within a quarter of an hour. She stared after them, even when they had long disappeared. A deep breath filtered in and out of her lungs. Patience turned back toward the house to finish the laundry.

Folds of cloth billowed in the gentle breeze. The wash now hung from lines strung up in the garden. Patience admired her work from the porch, sipping a cup of lukewarm tea. She had not noticed it at first, but Anax had been wicking away the sweat from her face with his vapor. Little droplets of water marked the dry porch wood. Patience blew a puff of air into his snout.

“That’s enough of the outside for today,” she said, stepping to the door. The metal basin held in her slack arm scraped along in her wake to rest in the mudroom.

Oppressed by the sun and persistent heat all day, the interior of the cottage was nearly as warm as outside. Patience leisurely returned the mounted specimens to their places around the house before entering her parents’ room to dress the bed. From the wardrobe, she took out a set of linens they had recently purchased from Wiggum’s. The strong smell of cedar wafted from the interior. A month before, Patience had transferred all her parents’ old clothes and belongings to her room, and her things here.

Patience paused at the foot of the bed. The bright mattress shone in the room, accentuating its newness. It was a fresh start.

“Well, here it goes,” breathed Patience.

Now came the time to fully take this house as hers. The sheet unfurled with a flourish over the pristine surface. Patience tucked the bottom into place. Anax reached his tendrils to finish the other end. From the top of the dresser, she pulled off the pillows that had been stacked there earlier. They were also recently bought from Wiggum’s. Patience slipped on new pillowcases, fluffed, and placed them. She straightened her stance, admiring the nearly completed bed.

Henceforth this would be her and Schuler’s room. This would be her, Anax’s, and Schuler’s home. Schuler had already begun transferring his possessions over gradually. Although he did not own much, it would not be long before clutter overtook them in this small cottage. Patience resolved to rotate out the taxidermy and skeletons, using the atelier as additional storage. She smiled thinking of Schuler’s things coming into the house. Slowly they were building up their home around them.

Patience moved toward the wardrobe for the summer quilt. Anax cinched her neck with a coil, ceasing her advance.

“Anax?”

“Why grab the quilt now? It’ll just get in the way of us christening the new bed,” he rumbled.

A tingle sparked down Patience’s spine, tendrils chasing it along her skin. The hold on her neck tightened as he ushered her to the mattress. She keeled over onto the fresh sheets, the smell of clean linen and the sunbaked mattress underneath filling her nose. Anax stripped her clothes away. His vapor felt quite nice against her back. Her eyes grew heavy with burgeoning sleep until Anax prodded her to lay supine on the bed. Naked, her skin melted into the soft sheet. It was even better than the hotel beds she had slept in during her escapades. Sleep played over her eyes again.

Smoky coils formed to gently brush along her sides.

“Shouldn’t we wait for Schuler?” asked Patience, folding her hands over her navel.

“You said he’ll come home soon. We can play until then.”

Her face heated.

Determined to hear no more, Anax swept his tendrils over her chest, instantly coalescing into arms. Clawed hands raked her torso. The rest of his body formed beneath her, pushing her away from the sheets to give her an even softer surface on which to lie. Thick tendrils slid over her inner thighs, barely glancing against her slit, teasing. A small gasp left Patience’s lips.

“We need to make the new bed taste like us!” he rasped.

“You’re incorrigible.”

Anax continued to run his tendrils around her body as his hands wrenched her breasts and hips. Patience rolled into his touch, yearning for more. His eye trained upon her mound. A coil slicked against the gap between her legs, drawing out a thin thread.

“Oho!” he chuffed. “Let’s see how much more you can make.”

At a loss for words, Patience concentrated on an attempt to suppress the heat rising within. She could not submit this soon. Anax moved them into a seated position so he could better see south of her torso. A tendril clasped around her throat, holding her neck steady as she leaned back against the pillows. He purred in contentment. He continued to tease, pushing coils along her folds, but never making the move to enter.

Patience twined her legs around Anax’s, his clawed heels digging into the sheet with care not to rip them. With her legs spread, his mist found a wider space to rub. Her wet heat prompted Anax’s tendrils to become slick and dense. Her arms reached backward to grasp Anax’s thick neck below the edge of the skull where the mist formed. She enjoyed straddling his ropes, but the sensation caused her loins to ache.

“Haa-Anax,” she wheezed, bucking into his thickness. He pulled his appendage back. It pulsed but restrained from forming a complete member for insertion. Patience could not tell if it was glazed with her fluids or if it was purely him. When he pressed it back against her flesh, she heard a soft smacking. She groaned, her loins desperately sore with need.

“Anax,” she repeated.

The hold around her neck tightened. “Oh, no. You can’t get off quite yet. Just think of Schuler,” he growled with a grin, if he could grin.

Patience whimpered, her fingers latching onto the base of the skull. She pulled up to leverage her lower body, but Anax kept his connection solid. Indulging in the slick contact over his length, she heaved her hips upward. This earned a whine from Anax that lowered into a rumble.

“Behave,” he ordered, ceasing all movement.

Patience breathed deeply, hoping the ache would fade away. She slackened on top of Anax’s soft, solid body. The heat rising from her skin assimilated into the warm air of the room. Her head would swim were it not for Anax’s cool vapor padding her scalp.

“That’s my pet.”

Anax resumed his wriggling. Patience stifled a cry. The soreness was almost agonizing at that point. She peered down to find multiple tendrils bound over her hips, preventing her from bucking. Anax’s length pressed harder against her slit. She was positive her fluids coated his shaft by now. Gritting her teeth, she fought his hold to rock into the motions.

Then came the distant sound of the front door opening followed by steps in the hallway. “I’m home!”

Patience sighed in relief. Anax darkly chuckled, grasping her breasts with his claws. He propped her upright, shifting his legs apart to spread Patience even more. She felt the wet slide from her.

“Ah, there you a—”

Schuler stopped in his tracks at the threshold. His eyes blew wide open. Before him was Patience, aroused, and on full display. His gaze fell from the claws squeezing her chest down to her glistening gap attended by various writhing, slimy coils. Patience held out a hand to the man.

“Help us christen the new bed,” she purred.

Schuler instantly began yanking off his tie and unbuttoning himself. His jacket and shirt flew across the room. In his haste, he fumbled with his pants, his erection pushing the fabric tightly. Once he was free of clothing, both Patience and Anax took hold of Schuler’s arm and pulled him atop the bed.

Schuler kneeled over them, passing a hand over his hair. He locked eyes with Patience and Anax, and smirked. Anax formed his cock, echoing the throbs of Schuler’s own.

“I got her ready for you.”

“Well, thank you,” Schuler drawled.

Patience smiled sweetly, cupping a hand to Schuler’s cheek. Her other hand clasped Anax’s claws over her chest.

“Enough talk, already,” said Patience.

They fell upon her. God, she loved them.