Cats And Dogs: A Shifter Novella (6 page)

“Why would you let him have it?” Belle
was astonished.

“Because it will be his undoing. You
know the story of King Midas? Greed is the ruin of many a
man.”

“What is this Stone of Truth?” Axel
asked.

“Just as it sounds. Anyone who touches
the stone finds themselves compelled to speak the
truth.”

She looked at the two of them
speculatively. “I know what I want from you. Wait here.” And she
turned and strode away, to a solid wall that suddenly gaped open to
let her through, and closed again behind her.

She returned minutes later, bearing
two crystal amulets which dangled on leather necklaces.

“You will wear these,” she said,
handing them to Belle and Axel.

They glanced at each other nervously,
and put them on. There was no point in arguing; they were
completely at her mercy.

“Now follow me,” she said, leading
them down a hallway.

Belle clenched Axel’s hand fearfully
as she led them through a doorway and into a large room. The air in
the room was mysteriously cool. A fireplace burned in the room, and
before the fireplace was a tiger skin rug, with the tiger’s face
frozen in a snarl.

“That shifter tried to double-cross
me,” Griselle said coldly. “He won’t do it again.”

Belle shuddered involuntarily, her
hand tightening on Axel’s.

In the center of the room was a round
raised bed, piled high with silken pillows. Next to the bed was a
night table with numerous implements of pleasure on top; dildos, a
wicker basket filled with condoms, bottles of oils and lubricants,
handcuffs, feathers…

“The two of you will complete what you
started in the forest,” Griselle informed them. “The pairing of two
shifters who are fated mates will imbue the charm with powerful
aphrodisiac properties. And the taking of her virginity? It will be
one of my most powerful spells ever.”

“You mean…” Belle gaped at Griselle,
then looked up at Axel, who looked equally astonished.

“Those charms will be worth a
fortune,” Griselle purred. “They will deliver ecstatic pleasure to
the wearer for many years to come.”

“If you sell your charms…why didn’t
you just sell the Stone of Truth to Raymond? You could name your
own price for a charm like that.”

Griselle’s brow wrinkled and her lip
curled. “I sell to a very few, trusted dealers. I choose to whom I
sell, and I know they will only sell to the appropriate buyers. If
they sell to the wrong buyers, it hurts me as well.”

At Belle’s confused look, Griselle
explained “There are prices to be paid for using magic to deceive,
to destroy…and anyone who knowingly sells or trades an object for
such a purpose will be affected as well.”

“But when Raymond gets the
stone…”

“Patience. You’ll see.”

She turned to walk out of the room.
“My servants will deliver dinner in a few hours. I imagine you’ll
work up quite an appetite.”

As she walked away, with the bear
shifters on either side of her, one of the bear’s hands drifted
down her back and caressed her buttock cheek, and Griselle made a
purring noise of pleasure.

Belle stared after them, then turned
to Axel.

“Did we…did we just agree to her
terms?”

“I don’t think that we have much of a
choice. What are our options?”

Belle thought hard. “Well, we’re being
held in the lair of one of the most powerful witches in the
country, and if we don’t get the stone of truth we’ll be the
enemies of one of the most powerful and corrupt shifters in the
state…”

Axel moved closer to her, placing his
hands on her shoulders. “And the price that she demands isn’t
exactly an onerous one.”

The stone on Axel’s necklace began to
glow, and as his hands moved down Belle’s arms, her stone glowed as
well.

“Do you believe her that we’re fated
to be mates?” she asked.

“You know I do. You will be my mate.
You will live with me, and we will marry, and we’ll spend many,
many happy years together.” He flashed a grin. “Checking out each
other’s magnificent asses.”

Belle hit his arm, giggling and
blushing red. “Shut UP! That was one of my most embarrassing
moments ever.”

“Why? It’s true. We both are blessed
with excellent rear ends. Why not admire the view?”

He reached up and untied the straps of
her dress, and yanked it down, revealing her small, round breasts.
Then he pulled it down further, and the dress fell to the floor,
puddling around her feet.

He pulled her to him, and then fell
over backwards onto the bed, dragging her with him. She was on top
of him, and his thick erection bulged through his
loincloth.

Quickly he fumbled with the loin cloth
and then it fell away, freeing his rigid cock. She lay on top of
him, reveling in the feeling of his hard muscles against her soft
body, the flesh of her stomach molding around his rock-hard
cock.

He reached up and cradled her face in
his hands as she brushed her lips over his, teasing him with a kiss
and then moving away when his lips parted.

She felt his shaft jerk with arousal,
and slid her body against it, reveling in his groan of
pleasure.

Then she moved up higher and brushed
her lips over his again. This time when she tried to pull away, he
grabbed her head and held it in place.

“Oh no you don’t,” he murmured against
her lips.

And he kissed her hard, tongue
thrusting into her mouth, claiming her in no uncertain terms. His
tongue slowly swirled around hers and probed deep, and she moaned
into his mouth as he moved ever so slightly underneath her, just
enough to rub his cock against her heated flesh.

Then before she knew it he’d rolled
over, pinning her beneath him and staring down into her eyes. His
silky hair cascaded over his broad shoulders, locks of it sweeping
against her skin, and she caressed it, running her fingers through
its softness.

He smiled, and glanced over at the
nightstand. “What have we here?” he said, grabbing a pair of
handcuffs off the nightstand.

Before she could protest, he’d cuffed
her hands to the headboard.

“You are going to lie there and let me
please you,” he informed her. His tone was stern but his eyes
twinkled warmly.

“I…I am?”

“Yes, you are. As your mate,
it’s my duty and my pleasure to bring
you
pleasure.” Then he reached over
to the nightstand again and grabbed a bottle of oil. “Honey
flavored lubricant. Mmm. Tasty.” He dribbled a line of it down her
flat stomach, in circles over her nipples, and then between her
legs.

She moaned as he began licking it off,
his tongue moving in circles around her nipples, sucking hard on
each one, then scraping them with his teeth.

“Oh,” she whimpered. “Yes.”

He nipped at her left nipple gently,
and she cried out.

“Say you’re mine,” he
commanded.

“I’m yours,” she moaned.

“Forever.”

“Forever,” she agreed in a hiss of
pleasure as he began kissing and licking his way down her stomach.
When he reached her navel, he kissed it and dipped his tongue into
the tiny well, and she gasped, her breathing growing faster and
faster. Then he was between her legs, his tongue running along the
seam of her lips before he spread them open with his fingers and
probed, exploring the folds and breathing in her scent.

Heat crackled through her and she
whimpered, legs parting, desperate for sweet release.

“Not yet,” he murmured, as if reading
her mind. “We come together.” And then he dribbled a generous
portion of the lubricant on her pussy and began massaging it into
her sensitive skin. He slid his fingers inside her slick, wet
tunnel, and she whimpered, feeling herself tighten eagerly around
them.

“Please,” she begged. “Please make me
come…”

He reached over to the nightstand,
grabbed a condom packed, ripped it open, and slid it onto the
length of his shaft as she watched impatiently.

Then he moved up to lie between her
legs, and the head of his cock nudged between her wet folds and
pressed against the tiny entrance.

“Yes,” she moaned, and with a thrust
of his hips he slid several inches inside her.

“Tell me if I’m hurting you,” he
breathed into her ear.

“I love it. I want more. I want you,”
she begged, and he thrust again, and there was a sharp lancing of
pain and then a delicious sense of rightness, of fullness. He began
moving rhythmically, hips pistoning as he slid in deeper and
deeper, pumping in to her.

She could feel the heat building
inside her, a hot ball of pleasure collecting in her groin, below
her navel, and as his breath grew faster and harsher, she wrapped
her legs around his back and arched her back, moving in rhythm with
him.

Then the heat exploded like a
supernova, and liquid fire rushed through her veins. Her muscles
contracted convulsively around his cock, squeezing it hard, and he
cried out, a guttural cry in her ear as he joined her in
ecstasy.

After his body finished shuddering, he
grabbed the key to the handcuffs from the bedside and quickly
unlocked them, then gathered her into his arms.

Belle nestled up against him, a low
purring rumbling in the back of her throat.

“Mine,” he murmured contendedly into
her hair.

“
So you think she’ll give us
the stone of truth?” Axel asked around a mouthful of
sausage.

They’d spent the night together in
Griselle’s den of iniquity, and Belle had lost count of how many
times Axel had brought her to ecstasy. Her whole body ached and
throbbed, but in a delicious, satiated way.

She could still feel the soreness
inside her where Axel had penetrated her, but it was starting to
fade.

The bear shifters, still in human
form, had come to fetch them in the morning, leading them out to a
room where a dining room table was laden with plates of
food.

“Of course she will,” Belle said,
shoving half a pancake dripping with syrup into her mouth. She was
ravenously hungry.

“You are questioning my word?”
Griselle’s voice rang out behind them.

They both turned in their seats,
startled.

“How does she do that?” Axel whispered
to Belle.

“I’m a witch, remember?” Griselle
smirked. She strode over to them, and held out her hand.
“Necklaces, now.”

Belle and Axel both took off their
necklaces and dropped them into her outstretched hand.

She held out a leather pouch, which
she handed to Belle. Then she bent down and whispered in Belle’s
ear. And a smile bloomed across Belle’s face, a smile of relief and
understanding.

* * *

Raymond Charucki’s limousine pulled up
in front of the home of Axel’s grandparents right on time…followed
by a dozen other vehicles.

Men begin pouring out of the vehicles,
until there were easily fifty of them standing on the property of
Axel’s family.

They were met by as many werewolves;
packs from all around Montana knew about the situation and had
gathered on the farm of Axel’s grandparents.

Belle stood on the front steps of the
farmhouse, clutching the small leather bag in her hand, stomach
quailing with unease. She hated that all this hostility and tension
was because of her, she hated that Axel’s family was threatened
because of her…but she had to see this through. And today was part
one of the game plan.

After all of his bodyguards had
climbed out, and stood glaring and bristling at the werewolves,
Raymond climbed out of his limousine and walked up the steps. Axel
stood next to Belle, his hand resting protectively on Belle’s
shoulder.

His father Troy, and half a dozen
uncles, stood lined up next to him, glowering.

Nobody carried guns. Shifters scorned
them, and considered relying on them a weakness.

“I see you bought reinforcements,”
Axel sneered.

“After I was illegally ambushed and
brutally assaulted by you and your gang, I felt I had little
choice,” Raymond snarled, baring his fangs.

“Assaulted, you liar? I’ll show you
assault…” Axel’s voice rolled out in a growl, and he stepped
forward, shoulders rolling up and ears quickly sharpening to a
point. Raymond quickly followed suit, hissing like a
cat.

“Enough!” Axel’s father bellowed as he
stepped in, his face dark with anger.

Panthers and wolves were glaring at
each other, fists clenched, growling, rumbling with
rage.

“Hey!” Belle yelled at the top of her
lungs. Everyone turned to stare at her.

Belle climbed down the steps and stood
in front of Raymond, stifling a shudder as his greedy eyes roamed
her body. She held up the leather bag; when he held out his hand,
she quickly upended the bag and dumped the stone into his
hand.