Thaw 1

Note: Both of the characters depicted in this story are consenting adults. Selene is 24 and Belva is 26.

Note 2: Selene is explicitly a plus-sized character. This is meant to be inclusive of larger body types and is not intended as a fetish, so it's not to be interpreted as one. Any comments found using fetishistic (or mean-spirited) language will be removed.

Thaw

Selene pulled her cloak tighter around her body to try and abate the cold as she walked the trail. It was late autumn, the crisper days on the cusp of winter which heralded the coming snow. The wind picked up the dry, crackling leaves and skittered them almost playfully around her ankles. But it also found its way through every weaker spot in her cloth barrier against it and began to set a chill over her dark brown skin.

The setting sun cast her shadow far before her. She looked ahead and wilted slightly at being unable to see her cottage from where she was. It was still quite far, usually not so unreasonable of a distance for someone as young and healthy as her. Unpleasant weather would dampen anyone's spirits though.

Selene worked in town as an apprentice to the local cobbler but lived in the wooded outskirts. She had been offered housing closer to her job and she declined each time, but it wasn't as though she didn't have her reasons. The first of which was enough to sway people to stop their prying; she had a fondness for her home that once belonged to her dearly departed aunt who had raised her. The second, she feared, would not be as easily accepted and she was glad to keep it secret.

A smaller shadow passed overhead and Selene smiled as she turned her eyes skyward. An abnormally large raven circled above her with slow, ethereal grace. It flew low, so she could see a purple light glint briefly in its eyes. The town was far enough that no one would see; it was safe.

"I don't think anyone else is out here in this cold," Selene said.

In the next instant, the raven dipped back out of sight. There was a great sound like a flurry of a dozen birds taking flight. A tall presence moved in at Selene's right and a massive black wing blocked the wind on her left.

"Indeed. Dreadful weather for the featherless," Belva said. Her voice was unearthly but calming. Two feminine voices spoke as one at different registers, both with an echoing quality as if she were perpetually traversing a cave.

Selene looked up at the creature, her gaze traveling up the long, feathered neck to her head; a collection of several, overlapping raven's wings obscuring the top half of a ghostly pale-skinned woman's face. Belva was haloed by the orange glow of the retreating sun shining brightly behind them. Her facial wings shifted as a poised smile upturned her lips.

"It's why I keep you around," Selene teased. She stepped closer to Belva, receiving a dark grey, talon-like arm and hand around her shoulders. Deep contentment washed over her as she was tucked against the soft fabric of black and gold robes.

"I should hope that's not the case," Belva said fondly. "Or else I've plainly misinterpreted quite a lot."

'Quite a lot' indeed; nearly a lifetime in fact. Selene recalled seeing Belva on occasion in her childhood. A similarly young forest spirit keeping her distance and peeking out curiously from bushes to observe the human playing in the garden. Selene never feared her but refrained from calling to her and possibly scaring her off for good. It made Selene feel at ease in a way, to have a spirit of sorts watching over her.

When she reached her teens, she started to find gifts that she rightfully assumed to be from her guardian. Small, shiny trinkets and crowns woven from flowers Selene had never seen before would appear on the doorstep overnight. It took some time, but with Aunt Ismena's help, she learned how to make sweet rolls and other treats to leave for the spirit. The basket she left them out in the first time disappeared and returned a few mornings later along with Belva's usual presents.

This simple, shy, wordless exchange went on for months until Belva finally found the courage to step out of the shadows and formally meet Selene. The two girls were fast to become close, wiling away many days together. They would picnic outside the home, venture for hours into the woods, and stay out to watch each star come twinkling into existence in the darkening sky. Selene came to know happiness like no other, finding Belva filling an empty space in her life she hadn't previously noticed the existence of.

The spirit's friendship got her through much, especially when the desolating day arrived that Ismena passed after growing suddenly ill during an arduous winter. The darling woman was all the family that she had left, and the loss sat heavily with her for a long while. Belva left her home in the vast, enchanted wild to take up a permanent residence with the grieving human.

As snow flew and blistering winds howled, Selene's broken heart was tended by warm, all-encompassing wings and a loving voice. It slowly came back together, whole but still aching. Not with sorrow; with a yearning that reached out for Belva. She and the spirit embraced it. Now as lovers, they enjoyed their woodland solitude away from prying eyes that may look darkly upon a union between human and creature.

Selene was taken from her reverie by the sound of Belva idly humming to herself.

"Did anything interesting happen today?" she asked, and the soft melody ceased.

"Nothing earth-shattering," Belva said. "Though that stray dog tried to dig up your bulbs again. I persuaded him away with my beak."

Selene laughed. "Well, that shouldn't be a problem for long. The ground will be frozen soon."

"As will you in a few moments. Let's hurry along; I've got a fire going back at home."

Belva ushered Selene the rest of the way up the trail and to their sequestered cottage. It was a modest, but cozy dwelling; pale brick with a dusty green door. Wisteria vines grew across the home's facade, bare due to the season and elegantly reaching their twisting, tendril fingers over the masonry. Belva opened the door, allowing Selene to enter first before ducking her head through the entryway.

Warmth enveloped Selene and she sighed in relief. She removed her cloak, placing it on a hook by the door. But as she moved to take off her boots, Belva's hand stopped her.

"Allow me; go and sit," the spirit said, gesturing to the armchair situated close to the fireplace.

Happy to be off her feet, Selene obliged. The flickering, golden light from the fire was inviting. One of the logs cracked and sent glowing embers floating up the chimney as she crossed the living room floor, the old boards creaking slightly under her. She sunk into the soft cushions of the chair and Belva wasn't too far behind her.

The spirit knelt before her, holding out a clawed hand. Selene lifted her right leg and placed the heel of her foot in Belva's palm. Each boot was gingerly removed, sliding down off her calf. Her socks were next, tossed to the side on top of her discarded footwear. Belva took a moment to rub a few tender circles with her thumb over Selene's ankle.

The human's leg twitched involuntarily and she made a half-heartedly annoyed whine—though the smile never left her face.

"Stop," she drawled. "That tickles."

Belva chuckled lowly, guiding Selene's foot onto the floor. She shuffled forward between legs that spread to accommodate her. Kneeling hardly detracted her height; even from the floor, the top of her winged head cleared Selene's. Her neck dipped down, her face inching closer as she leaned in.

"Apologies," she whispered, her breath ghosting over Selene's lips seconds before she met them with her own. The kiss started chastely, but they were drawn deeper into each other before long.

Selene's hands went to the back of Belva's neck, her fingers lightly digging into the thick feathers. Within moments, she felt hands moving under her shirt and working at her breast band. The long fabric wrap came loose and was stripped from her. Belva then moved to the button on her pants, an eagerness beginning to betray her slow approach. Selene smiled against her before pulling away.

"Taking off my clothes? A bit counterproductive to getting me warm," she said.

"Are you that averse to alternative methods?" Belva asked.

"No."

Selene assisted Belva in taking off her pants, lifting her hips off of the chair. Her undergarments were soon to follow and she was left reclining in just her loose-fitting white shirt. Clawed hands gently hooked behind her knees, spreading and raising her legs.

Belva's head descended lower and she brought her lips to the soft, rounded flesh of her lover's stomach. She traveled with her kisses over pale stretch marks and other blemishes that she would never allow Selene to even think of calling imperfections. Because there wasn't a single part of her that Belva didn't adore.

Her affections moved inward from where they had strayed to her lover's thighs. Selene's breathing picked up as the spirit's mouth slowly drew closer to where she needed it. By then the anticipation of what was to come had stoked a spark of her desire into a flame. A whimper escaped her at the first touch of Belva's tongue against her pussy.

The spirit broke away only for a second to smile and say, "Adorable."

She delved back in, licking a steady stripe up over wet folds before circling Selene's clit. The slick muscle worked the swelling, sensitive bud. Her motions stayed languid and meticulous, but it wasn't long until she had Selene gasping and mewling. She dug in with her lips and tongue, practically burying her face into yielding flesh.

Heat rose over Selene's body, sweat glistening in the light of the fire. Her legs trembled in Belva's hold as pleasure seemed to pulse out from between them to all of her extremities. She tightly gripped the armrests, moaning and praising her lover.

It should have been embarrassing how easily and quickly the spirit could reduce Selene to such a state, but there was no helping it. Not when that clever tongue was lapping against her and Belva kept making those satisfied noises like a starving woman unabashedly enjoying a delicious meal. The vibrations of such low, near-groans sent shivers up her arching spine.

Selene cried out, feeling herself suddenly hanging by a quivering thread over the edge.

"B-Bel, I'm about to—ah—I'm—!"

Belva stopped. She retracted her tongue, dragging it over the bottom lip of her cheeky grin before letting it disappear into her mouth. "Not yet...not like that anyway."

Selene's pussy had been left throbbing, wet with more than Belva's saliva. Her head dropped to the side as her chest heaved and her fingers uncurled from the upholstery. If she had not known what the spirit meant, she would have gotten quite snappish. But even with that, she couldn't help but whine as the tight coil of her impending orgasm loosened itself instead of springing free.

She felt Belva's hands smoothing down her legs. A padded thumb found its way to her clit, brushing over it and making her yelp with the shock of pleasure it sent through her. It happened again, over and over until she was moaning and shaking under the simple, repetitive touch. She was nearly cumming again when Belva moved on, massaging her way up her dear human's sides.

"My, how you still tremble, love," the spirit said in a slow, sweet yet still impish tone. "The cold must run deep."

Selene caught her breath, biting her lip and smiling in excitement. "Maybe you need to go after it, then."

"Perhaps I shall."

Belva raised her head. A purple glow moved in a sort of slitting motion from left to right across the center of her neck. The black feathers there parted, opening into a fang-filled second mouth. A great maw housing countless, long tentacles that immediately slipped out over the deadly-looking teeth and reached for Selene.

Four of the appendages wrapped around her spread thighs. The rest moved forward, filling her entire lap with a hot, writhing mass. A more timid human might be awash with horror at the sight, but Selene found deep arousal in this eldritch side of her love. A sign of the dark, primal magic swirling beneath Belva's elegant beauty. Limbs and teeth made to devour lesser creatures bringing themselves to her flesh but instead searching to satiate carnal desire. Always gentle; never a chance of bringing her harm when they very clearly could.

Selene groaned as she felt two of the tentacles, fully out of sight among the others, begin to tease her. One dug into her folds, stroking in alternating stripes and circles while the other rubbed at her clit. Another three snaked upwards, cresting the curve of her stomach and traveling under her shirt. They caressed her breasts and nipples before one continued further and popped out of her collar.

It ran gently up the side of Selene's neck, making her shiver as it traced the shell of her ear and moved along her jaw. The tip graced her bottom lip, requesting entrance. She opened her mouth to it and lolled her tongue around it with a gratified moan. It probed shallowly, twisting and lightly thrusting as she licked and sucked at it.

While continuing to stroke her clit, Belva's tentacles made to move deeper. At least four of them twisted around one another. The thickened, slippery limb pressed against Selene's twitching hole, making her gasp as it teased around the rim. Seconds before she could beg for it, the tentacles pushed inside of her. They slowly claimed her passage, writhing its way through her walls.

Belva knew well how far she could go and paused there. She gave a contented sigh as her tentacles sat still inside her lover.

"Hmm, I believe you've tricked me," she said in false musing. "I can't seem to find where the cold is plaguing you at all." Her voice dropped to a low, aroused register. "You're warm inside...pulsing around my little friends."

Selene was unable to give any sort of playful response, weak to Belva describing her body's reactions back to her.

"Mmm...it's hot," she said, dazed and wanton. "I'm melting."

"Then we've done what we set out to do...not that I would dare to stop now."

The tentacles inside Selene slid back through her, pulling breathy moans from her lips. They plunged back in and began their rhythmic thrusting. It wasn't a quick or violent motion, but the passes went intimately deep. The feeling of being so completely filled coupled with the relentless stroking against her throbbing clit was dizzying.

Her hips canted and shifted as much as her position would allow, shaking along with the rest of her body. "Belva...oh, Bel!"

The spirit took both of Selene's hands in hers, lacing their fingers together. Selene welcomed that warm, tender tether as her mind threatened to float away. She held on, present for every thrust and brush of a tentacle within or against her. Her vision was a swirl of black, gold-lighted feathers surrounding a pale yet kindly face. Belva's voice found her through the headiness of it all, telling her with a single word to find her release.

With her heart pounding in her ears, Selene obeyed and let go. She trembled wildly, moaning until she was breathless. Belva's hands and tentacles paused and simply held her through it. She slumped bonelessly into the chair, her panting turning to light laughter as euphoria rushed to her head.

Belva exited her, slowly retracting all of her tentacles back into her second mouth and banishing it in another flash of purple light. She stayed on the floor, shifting so that she could lay her long neck and head over Selene's torso. Saying nothing, she waited with endless patience for her lover to catch her breath.

Selene's fingers went into Belva's feathers, slowly petting through them. Though tired, she said, "I...should take care...of you now."

Belva chuckled. "Later, love. I'm quite content here, I assure you."

Deep relaxation visibly settled into her body. She started to hum, quiet and melodious. Selene's calming heart warmed, thankful for such companionship in a home that would otherwise feel cold, sad, and empty. She stared into the fire and held her lifeblood close.