Licorice lay on her back, legs apart, eyes closed. She was still drooling, and a warm purr filled the room. There's nothing like a Neko's purr. It makes my heart glow.
I shot a smile in her direction, then turned back to Shadowpaw. She was sprawled in a small couch in the corner of the room, her feet up on the desk beside her.
She wore only a bra and panties. Both red. They weren't silky or exotic. They were just normal cotton underwear. They suited her, and excited me.
She tossed her phone to me. "This is her."
I scrolled through the account she'd given me.
A young woman, attractive and with a cute smile, had posted over a hundred videos of herself trying on different outfits. Her mannerisms and choice of outfits were sexy, I thought, but not slutty.
I nodded, raising an eyebrow at one particularly pleasant video of her posing in a swimsuit. "Nice."
"She's a shut-in," Shadowpaw said.
"Huh?"
"Introvert. She doesn't like people very much, so she rarely leaves her apartment."
"I don't blame her," I said automatically. A quick image of myself standing behind a counter with someone shouting at me went through my head but before I could think about it some more, Shadowpaw slid off the couch and crawled over to my knee.
"Look at this one," she said, reaching out and sliding down the feed. "Here."
The girl was posing in some lingerie. There was a hint of pink to her cheeks. She clearly wasn't too comfortable wearing it but needed the views.
And, judging by the comments, she got a lot of new followers out of it.
"Cute," I said. And I meant it. Despite not being a Neko, the girl was fairly cute in a coltish way.
"Her family is in some binky town in Texas. She moved to LA a few years ago." Shadowpaw scrolled down further. "I like this one, too."
"You like her?"
"I followed her account before…" She frowned as though trying to remember something. "Before… Well. A long time ago. I liked her outfit choices."
"Like the lingerie?"
"No," she smirked. "That's just one I knew you'd like."
"I did like."
"And this one?"
The girl was wearing a pair of tight little yoga shorts that were almost short enough to call underwear. A baggy tshirt barely went down to her navel.
"It could also be one of my favourites," I admitted.
"I have shorts like that."
"Really? You should wear them."
"I can't. They're…" She opened her mouth. Closed it. Shook her head. "I think I need to get a new pair. I can't remember what I did with the old ones."
I patted her head. "You'd look real good in them."
"I know." She rubbed her temple and looked up at me. "What do you think?"
"About the shorts?"
"About the girl."
"She seems to have enough followers."
"They're growing. And, if we do it right, they'd explode."
I nodded. She was right. I wasn't an expert on internet trends, but I had a feeling the System was going to get involved. And this world wasn't ready for that.
My gut said it was going to be like feeding crack to an addict.
"What about the others?"
"Well, I found a site…" She took the phone and opened a browser. Punching in a link, she let it load before handing it to me.
It didn't look incredibly exciting.
Dina Grey Fashion.
Most of the clothes were aimed at a youth market, but they were clearly cheaply made.
"Really?"
"I know," she said. "It's trash. But it's trash for a reason. She's a pretty good designer who's clearly stretched herself thin. She does the designs. China makes her stock. Her garage is also her warehouse. And she hired her neighbour to come in and help pack orders in the afternoon. No other real workers. Just herself and a few friends. She's started using AI to help with her descriptions and marketing. But she's not good at that sort of thing."
"It shows."
"It's what you wanted, though. And it's a base to build on?"
"True." None of the clothes really grabbed me. In fact, they seemed a bit bland.
"I hope you weren't ordering clothes from here. You know. Before."
"No," she gave me a hard look. "I have taste."
"I like your taste so far."
"I should tell you, though. She's a bit older than I think you were looking for."
"It doesn't matter."
"It doesn't?"
"No." I gave her back the phone. "The Neko Customization Workshop is amazing."
That made her smile. "Yes, it is. My skin is so smooth now." She plucked at her bare belly. "Wanna touch it?"
I patted her head. "You know I do. But let's get the boring stuff out of the way, first."
She glanced at Licorice. "And you need a few minutes to recover?"
"I really don't," I chuckled, still patting her head with one hand while tapping my nose with the other. "Stamina stats for the win."
"When everyone finds out about this System of yours, they're going to go crazy. It seems like it's better than viagra."
"It's better than everything."
"This is the other one. A cosplayer."
"Cosplayer?" That wasn't what I'd asked for.
"She's also an engineer. Look at this."
I started a video which showed her making a costume with inbuild LEDs and wings which could be folded into her back. She ended up looking like a cybernetic angel.
"It's from an anime," Shadowpaw offered, seeing me looking a little confused.
"Ah. Makes sense." I looked at a few others and most of her costumes were equally, if not more, complex. "These actually look good."
"She's trying to get into Hollywood as a costume designer." Shadowpaw took the phone off me and showed me an article on her. "Here. It says she considers herself to be a nerd. She moved here from Russia a few years ago."
"Russian?" I suddenly remembered the Russian Blue option in my Neko Customization Workshop. "That's… neat."
"She had a boyfriend. They broke up a few months ago. She's not seeing anyone at the moment as far as I could see." Her tail curled around my ankle while she talked. "She had a friend she talked to sometimes, but it looks like they only know each other because they go to the same gym. She works in a Call Centre."
"Jesus." I shuddered. "I have to rescue her."
Shadowpaw smiled. "So generous of you, Bexley. I'm sure it has nothing to do with her being so pretty."
"Pretty helps," I said. "But, at the end of the day, Nekos are all gorgeous."
Purring, she pressed her head against my knee. "Are you proud of me? It took days to follow these people and find out what they're like. Days I didn't get to see you."
I gently stroked her hair, making sure to scritch her ears. My eyes roved over the torti fur of her ears and pale pink flesh within. Her hair, mottled in the same way, looked smooth and shiny. "I'm so proud of you, Shadowpaw Finch."
She shivered at the name.
"Say it again."
"Shadowpaw Finch," I said, lifting her head and leaning down to kiss her. "I'm so proud of you."
"Show me. Show me how proud you are."
I showed her.
I showed her on the bed beside Licorice, who hadn't moved. We needed a bigger bed, I thought, as I spread Shadowpaw's legs apart.
I kissed her deeply and moved down to taste every part of her body. I did it because I wanted to. I wanted to fill myself with the taste of her. Vanilla and sugar.
Scent of soap, Neko, and sex.
As my tongue explored her slit, she writhed in my hands. "Don't… Don't tease…"
Shadowpaw wasn't one for too much foreplay, I'd discovered. She wanted only one thing. To be filled.
I kissed her navel as I moved up her body like a snake.
Pressing my mouth to her nipple, I smiled up at her. "What do you want?"
"In," she growled, grabbing my shoulders and pulling me up. "In!"
"Don't be rude," I scolded, licking her other nipple.
"Please," she moaned. "Bexley! Stop it. In! In!"
Feeling a rush of desire, I fell on her, ravishing her like a vampire thirsting for blood.
I'd never refused a Neko her needs and I wasn't about to start now. Beside us, Licorice made tired little mewing sounds.
It only made me thrust into Shadowpaw harder.
Faster.
Just how she liked it.