Beauty and the Beasts

Nudging Parker with her elbow, with food in her mouth, Bai Qingqing said in a muffled tone, “Help me peel an orange.”

Only then did Parker snap out of his trance. He quickly picked up the orange on the table, and only thought to ask after he finished peeling it. “Did Winston find you this?”

“Mm.” Bai Qingqing nodded. “Although it tastes awful, my appetite improves after eating it. I must eat more for An’an’s sake.”

There was a hint of bitterness in Bai Qingqing’s smile. Her chopstick-wielding hand halted, and she said with a sigh, “Help me squeeze it into orange juice.”

Standing behind her, Parker hugged her with one arm and patted her reassuringly. “Okay.”

The atmosphere suddenly turned a little gloomy. Parker quietly held Bai Qingqing in his arms while she ate in silence.

Howl~

The leopard cubs, hungry for more, pestered their mommy for more food. This act easily eased the oppressive atmosphere among them.

Bai Qingqing’s mood greatly improved due to their actions.

“You want to eat some more?” Bai Qingqing smiled. “Come, I’ll feed you with noodles.”

Howl~

The leopard cubs ate whatever they were given, and even though it was vegetarian food, they ate it with gusto.

After lunch, Bai Qingqing allowed the food to digest for a short while before climbing onto the bed with Parker.

Curtis, who had been sleeping all this while, shifted his body and revealed his head.

Ssss~

There was clarity in his blood-red eyes. No idea how long he had been awake for. However, he merely stared at the nest and didn’t move.

After an extremely gentle session of lovemaking, Bai Qingqing fell asleep. Consider that a nap.

Parker squeezed out of the blanket in his beast form. What greeted him was a pair of icy snake eyes filled with murderous intent.

Gulp~ Parker swallowed his saliva. He had no idea if Curtis was mad at him for mating with Qingqing or for telling her about the little snake, or… maybe both.

He retreated backward on his claws to the entrance, then fled as swift as a sudden clap of thunder.

Roar~ Though the leopard was gone, his roars reverberated throughout the tree hole.

Curtis transformed into a human and walked to Bai Qingqing’s side. As Parker had left in a hurry, he didn’t have the time to pull up the blankets properly. As a result, her snow-white shoulder was left exposed on the outside. She seemed a little cold, for she shrunk in her neck and creased her brows slightly.

Curtis smiled faintly and laid the blanket over her properly, following which, Bai Qingqing’s brows unfurrowed, and she let out a comfortable moan.

“I’ll just give in to them once.”

Curtis caressed Bai Qingqing’s face and said this out of the blue.

The little snakes were only two years old and didn’t have memories of procreation yet. There shouldn’t be a major problem for them to meet once.

Pretending not to know was Curtis’s bottom line. It was impossible for him to agree to it personally.

As he gently combed Bai Qingqing’s messy and wavy hair, Curtis said slowly, “The better you treat them, the more they can’t bear to part with you… Don’t force me to kill them.”

Though his tone was bland as though he was merely describing the weather, for some reason it gave others the shivers.

The asleep Bai Qingqing seemed to have heard his voice, for her breathing suddenly became urgent, and her brows gradually furrowed again.

Curtis soothed her brows and combed her hair meticulously.

After some time, Parker came up again, this time with a basin of hot water.

He didn’t come up immediately. After staring warily at Curtis for a moment, he said, “I’m going to help Qingqing wipe her body.”

Curtis continued combing Bai Qingqing’s long hair and paid no heed to him.

Only then did Parker cautiously climb up and bring the water to the side of the bed.

In order to prevent Bai Qingqing from catching a cold, Parker washed the towel before squirming into the blanket to wipe her. It took him quite a while before he was done cleansing her.