Cassius already thought this night had been the strangest of his entire life. He had met a lamia girl who cried over him, insulted him, praised her own beauty endlessly, declared him her husband while he was pretending to be dead, and even lamented not bearing his children.
At that point, he was sure nothing, absolutely nothing, could top it. Surely there was no new height of shameless absurdity left to climb.
He was wrong.
Because Nala suddenly froze, a peculiar gleam dawning in her eyes, as though struck by divine revelation.
"W-Wait a minute." She whispered. "Just...wait a minute!"
Cassiusās stomach dropped. "Oh no." He thought, dreading what nonsense was about to come out of her mouth.
Nala bit her lip, her face caught between innocence and evil curiosity.
"I once read this medical book..." She began carefully. "...and it said that after a person dies, their body gets stiff. Their fingers, their arms, their legs...everything becomes rigid."
Cassiusās heart skipped a beat. He already didnāt like where this was going.
Her eyes then slid downward.
Slowly. From his face...down his chest...down his stomach...until they landed squarely on his crotch.
Cassius shivered violently, every nerve on edge.
"And if everything gets stiff..." She said in a voice trembling with fluster. "that means...his penis gets stiff too, right?"
Cassius nearly jolted upright right then and there. His mind screamed, āNo no no no no, donāt you dareā!ā
But Nala was too lost in thought, staring at the bulge in his pants with unabashed curiosity.
"So technically...if thatās true...then right now...his penis should be hard." She gulped. "And if I just...slid his pants down...and slid myself over you...rocked a little..." Her voice dwindled into a mortified whisper. "Maybe...just maybe...I could get pregnant."
Cassius swore his soul tried to abandon ship. He had faced a whole lot of threats before, but this?
This was how he would actually die: molested as a fake corpse by a shameless lamia wife who thought necrophilia was a family plan.
But just as his panic peaked, Nala shook her head furiously, her cheeks blazing red.
"N-No! What am I thinking?! Thatās too dark! Thatās...thatās evil! Doing that to a dead man, thatās hell-worthy stuff!"
Cassius silently exhaled in relief, until she tilted her head again with a faraway, wistful look.
"...But then again." She murmured. "living alone forever would be its own kind of hell, wouldnāt it?"
Cassiusās blood froze.
She went on, her tail curling around herself like she was rationalizing aloud.
"I have Grandma now, sure. But when she passes, Iāll be alone again. Alone for the rest of my life. Wouldnāt it be better if I had a child? Someone to spend my life with? Someone whoās mine?"
Her hand trailed over her belly again, soft and longing.
"I could pay someone to do it, I guess. But I donāt want that. I donāt want some stranger who doesnāt love me. If it has to be anyone...Iād rather it be you."
She whispered, voice full of conviction.
"It hasnāt even been long, but somehow...I feel more comfortable with you than with any other man Iāve met. If itās going to be anyone, it should be you."
Cassiusās eyes widened. āNo no no, please gods no.ā
Nala looked at him with startling earnestness now, her voice trembling but firm.
"Not to mention...youāre already my husband. That means your body is mine. I can do whatever I want with it. No one else has any right to interfere." She touched his cheek tenderly, her thumb brushing against his skin. "And youāre still warm. You havenāt gone cold yet. So...it wouldnāt really be taboo. If Iām quick...no one will ever know."
Cassius, the master of shamelessness himself, actually wanted to scream.
"Yes. Thatās it." A new glint of determination entered her eyes. She lowered her voice to a whisper. "Iām sorry, husband. I mean, darling. I know I shouldnāt be doing this, but...this is for both of us."
"...Iāll carry your child. Iāll spread your legacy. All you have to do is take care of us from heaven."
And with that chilling vow, she slithered downward.
Cassius wanted to leap up and run. He wanted to grab her shoulders and yell that he was alive, that this was insane, that she was crossing a line no sane mind would even approach.
But his shock held him paralyzed as her hands reached his waist.
She tugged. The fabric slid down. The bulge in his undergarments strained forward, and the moment it came into view, her eyes went wide. Her lips parted, and she gasped audibly.
"Oh my..." She whispered, her face flaring crimson. "Oh my. He really is hard. Those books werenāt lying after all..."
Cassius clenched his teeth, his whole body trembling as he struggled not to sit up.
Nala leaned closer, staring unabashedly at the shape beneath his undergarments.
"And so...so big...gods above, darling, youāre really well-packed, arenāt you?" Her voice wobbled between awe and shameless delight. "You might as well be part snake yourself...hiding a monster like that. I havenāt even taken it out yet, but I can see it. Itās huge."
"...Oh, if Iād known my husband was this blessed, I wouldāve been the happiest wife alive."
Cassiusās soul nearly abandoned ship. Sweat beaded his brow as he struggled to keep his face slack like a corpse.
Meanwhile, Nalaās hands crept lower, trembling with both hesitation and determination.
"Itās decided, then." She whispered, staring at him with flustered resolve. "You may have passed on, but...let us still enjoy our first night as a married couple."
"...You also donāt have to do anything, let your wife do all the work"
Her fingers then slipped under the band of his undergarments, tugging.
And that was it.
Cassius couldnāt take it anymore.
The moment the fabric peeled down and her eyes widened at the first glimpse of his cock, Cassius bolted upright like a corpse rising from the grave.
His torso shot forward with all the force of a zombie horror flick, his face pale with sheer panic.
"STOP! STOP RIGHT THERE!" He bellowed, his voice cracking. His hands flew down to yank his underwear back up. "Please, for the love of every god in existenceāSTOP RIGHT THERE!"
Cassius clutched his waistband desperately, his face burning.
"I-I really canāt do this! I canāt lie still while you defile me like some corpse! Anything but this! If you want a baby, fine! Iāll give you babies! Weāll go to a room, weāll do it properly, Iāll fuck you so much youāll forget your own nameābut NOT LIKE THIS!"
"...Not while Iām pretending to be dead! This is too freaky even for me!"
Cassius sat there in frantic disarray, both hands clutching at his underwear like a knight defending sacred treasure. His chest heaved, his voice still ragged from the panic that had just spilled out of him.
But then he noticed, Nala wasnāt moving.
Her golden eyes were stretched wide, pupils shrunk to pinpricks. Her mouth hung slightly open, her whole body stiff like a statue.
She just...stared at him, as though trying to process what she was seeing: a corpse, the husband she had mourned, suddenly sitting bolt upright and screaming at her not to touch his crotch.
Then, right before his eyes, her body seemed to simply...shut down.
Her lids fluttered closed, her arms drooped, her shoulders sagged and in one fluid motion, she collapsed backward, her long tail flopping limply against the earth with a dull thump.
Thud!
Cassius blinked once. Twice. Then he shot forward, his hand reaching instinctively.
"Nala!" He shouted, his voice cracking in shock.
But she didnāt answer. She was out cold, sprawled on the dirt, her chest rising and falling shallowly with faint breaths, shocked so hard to see her husband, who was supposed to be dead rising from the grave that she passed out on the spot...