The Pregnancy Only Roen Doesn't Know
For now, she hurriedly changed the menu. Since the tomatoes seemed to have gone bad, she quickly grabbed some cream and began whipping up a carbonara sauce. Though it differed from the store-bought sauces in her memory, she successfully recreated its core characteristics. Once Echidna woke up in a little bit, all she had to do was boil the fresh pasta she had prepared, plate it, and ladle the sauce over it to complete her makeshift carbonara.
"What on earth was that, seriously..."
Anyway... Now that the cooking was done, her mind drifted back to the tomato sauce from earlier. Just how rotten were those tomatoes to produce such a hellish sauce, emitting a stench so foul that merely catching a whiff of it made her gag? No matter how much she thought about it, it was utterly bizarre.
"*Sniff, sniff...*" Still, thinking she might have just misjudged the smell, she lifted the lid of the pot containing the half-melted tomatoes. Instantly, a wave of nausea washed over her, and she slapped a hand over her mouth. It was driving her crazy. What kind of tomatoes were these? It felt like the disgusting stench of rotting food waste was rising directly into her nostrils.
But still. Just in case, one in a thousand... "Maybe there's something wrong with my nose." She didn't rule out the possibility of her own senses playing tricks on her. Carbonara had a much milder aroma compared to tomato sauce. Perhaps she had been fine while making the carbonara, but her nose was reacting strangely to the pungent scent of the tomato sauce.
"*Inhale...*" Determined to find out exactly what the issue was, she dipped her finger into the warm, thick tomato sauce and brought it to her lips. But then...
"Ugh..." She couldn't take it. The sheer revulsion was maddening. This was out. Definitely out. There was no question about it—the tomatoes were absolutely rotten.
"Blegh..." She rushed to the sink and dry-heaved. Since she hadn't eaten anything yet because it was morning, only a small amount of watery gastric juice surged up and spilled into the sink. Even that was barely anything.
"They're spoiled. They're definitely spoiled..." Only then did she feel entirely certain the tomatoes had gone bad, slamming the lid back onto the pot. She would complain to Echidna later and throw them away. She planned to ask Echidna to incinerate them to ashes as a sacrifice so she would never have to lay eyes on such tomatoes again.
"Ah, damn it... That is so fucking disgusting." Muttering curses under her breath, she rinsed her mouth and poured herself a glass of clean water. *Sigh*, she felt like she was going to die. Why on earth did she think tasting rotten tomatoes was a good idea? She should have just sniffed them, realized they were spoiled, and thrown them out. Even she had to admit she was being foolish. She drank some water, rinsed her mouth again, and drank more water, repeating the process. Finally, the lingering, nauseating taste in her mouth began to fade. She could finally breathe.
"Phew..." Letting out a sigh of relief, she composed herself. Sitting quietly like this definitely helped calm her chaotic thoughts. She still didn't understand why she had felt so possessed to taste the tomato sauce, or why it had triggered such violent dry-heaving...
"I feel human again." Whatever the reason, she was just glad the misery had passed. But then...
"Roeeen."
A familiar voice echoed from behind. It was Echidna. And Echidna...
"Did you make breakfast for me again today? Hehehe, thank youuu." Slithering up with her usual soft rustle, she took her place right behind Roen. And then...
"Ah, n-nh... Echidnaaa...♡"
"You looked so lovely from behind today, I just couldn't help myself. Hmm? Roen. Why are you so hot? Huh? Why do you have to look so incredibly edible?"
As if she had been waiting for this, Echidna began to gently roll Roen's clit and nipples through her clothes. Because Roen was wearing thin desert attire, her nipples were easily stimulated, and her clit—which had grown quite sensitive and plump—was not difficult to fondle even through the fabric. As a result...
"Ah, seriously...♡" Just like a week ago, she was forced to climax helplessly in Echidna's embrace. It felt like relapsing on alcohol or cigarettes after quitting. She had never actually drank or smoked, so she didn't know for sure, but she instinctively knew it must feel exactly like this.
"N-nh, stop, please stop..." Covering her mouth with both hands, her body slowly melted under the pleasure Echidna was administering. It wasn't just a figure of speech; as Echidna caressed her, she could feel the muscles throughout her entire body rapidly losing all strength. Surely, the issue stemmed from their last session, where they had had sex for nearly three days and nights straight. Half the time she had been coiled tightly in Echidna's tail, and the other half her limbs had been bound by telekinesis. Since she had almost no experience receiving pleasure while actually using her own muscles... she felt like Pavlov's dog, conditioned to believe that her body was supposed to go completely limp whenever they had sex.
"Roen, for someone telling me to stop, aren't you clinging to me a bit too much?"
"Y-yes...?"
"I mean, look at you. You're leaning right back into me."
"Ah..."
Look at this. Her body had already been completely tamed by Echidna. The moment Echidna embraced her from behind and fondled her clit and nipples, her body instinctively leaned back to rest against her as if it had been waiting for this exact touch. The strength in her legs was already half gone. Now, whenever they had sex like this, she truly possessed a body that couldn't even stand on its own.
"This is just... just..."
"Just what? Did my touch feel so good that it put your mind at ease?"
"It's similar to that, but a little different..."
"If it's similar, then it's basically the same thing. You like it too, don't you?"
"Ahhn...♡"
Shivering under Echidna's delicate touch, she ended up squirting. It was a magnificent climax, so intense that her ae-aek overflowed right through her panties.
"See? I know you love it, so why lie?"
"I'm not... l-lying, ahhh...♡"
"Mm, Roen is a liar. A little dummy who only tells obvious lies."
"Mmph, chuu...♡"
Echidna naturally spun her body around and began to kiss her. Like a singer-songwriter dancing with a microphone gripped in its stand, Echidna lifted her up, moving gracefully as she claimed her lips.
"N-nh..." Once she grew tired of her lips, Echidna moved to her collarbone, leaving a hickey so deep it felt as though it were being engraved into the bone itself.
"That's going to last... at least ten days... Echidna-nim... What if it leaves a scar and never goes away...?"
"Why? Do you want to get rid of it?"
"No, that's not what I meant..."
"Then it doesn't matter."
When Roen protested weakly, Echidna replied with her distinct snake eyes flashing. At times like this, Roen found Echidna quite terrifying. It felt like being a prey animal cornered by a predator. Just having Echidna in front of her made her hairs stand on end. She was utterly at a loss for what to do.
"See? You do love it."
"No, I d-don't..."
Roen wrapped her arms around Echidna's head, pulling her tight against her chest. This was the only rebellion she could muster. She used a tactic that avoided Echidna's gaze while ensuring Echidna wouldn't actually dislike it.
"*Mnh, hng...*" With her face buried in Roen's breasts, Echidna began carving more hickeys there. Although the tingling sensation sent strange shivers through her chest, it was far better than meeting those terrifying eyes.
"D-do you... like my breasts... that much?" she managed to ask clearly, trying to keep her composure amidst the rough, intense sex on an empty stomach.
"Yeah, I love them. I'm never letting you go anywhere."
Echidna looked up at her with those gleaming snake eyes and spoke. She was fully revved up now. They would likely be at this for at least three hours.
Thank goodness I didn't boil the pasta beforehand... Relieved that the noodles wouldn't get soggy, she slowly closed her eyes. Having sex certainly relieved her desires. It kept her from overthinking and falling into a post-coital depression; just mindlessly having sex was much easier on her peace of mind.
Around the time Roen had half-resigned herself and focused on the sex—actually, "around the time" was a bit of a misnomer. It took a solid two hours of single-minded, intense lovemaking before Echidna finally averted her gaze from Roen. And the place where Echidna's eyes landed was the counter, where two separate pots of pasta sauce were sitting out.
Why are there two kinds of sauce? Usually, Roen only made one sauce at a time. Echidna was always too busy devouring whatever Roen made anyway, and since she had no real culinary sophistication, Roen had no reason to prepare multiple options for her to choose from. Normally, the chef, Roen, simply made whatever was easiest, and Echidna happily ate it. But...
Has this ever happened before? The thought lingered in Echidna's mind. Indeed, she was the very model of an alpha. She immediately noticed the subtle change in her mate and began to deduce what shift in her state of mind had caused it. Under normal circumstances, it would have ended there, but...
"Roen, why are there two kinds of sauce?"
Deep within Echidna's subconscious, her primal instincts instantly recognized this as a symptom of pregnancy. With just a little more conversation, it wouldn't be difficult at all for Echidna to realize that Roen had begun experiencing morning sickness.