A Cat's Tale

by Melissa Snark

  After Evangeline departed, Josephine remained crouched on the cold cement floor, too sick with guilt to move. Jared lurched to his feet, ignoring the blood flowing from the bite wound on his thigh. He staggered into the bathroom and retched in the toilet.

  How many times had she reacted in a similar way to such a vicious violation?

  Crawling, Josephine followed him and shoved the bathroom door shut behind her. She found him beside the toilet, kneeling with his forehead against his knee. Hand shaking, Josie reached out to touch him and stopped, unable to complete the act.

  “Just worshipping the porcelain goddess,” Jared said. He looked up and his misery made her weep. “Don’t cry, pussycat,” he said. “Not worth it.”

  “Submissive behavior hurts you.”

  “Not exactly.” He shook his head. “I’ve observed it enough, though usually from the top-down perspective. I understand it well enough to fake it.”

  “You’re an amazing actor.” Josie sighed in despair. Her hands touched his arm, withdrawing twice before settling against his clammy skin.

  Jared forced an ironic smile. “I was a theater major in college. I love Shakespeare.”

  “I hate seeing you like this,” Josie whispered, fighting a new wave of tears.

  His face turned toward the outer cell. “Being close to that walking corpse—” He shuddered and his entire body convulsed. “Letting her touch me like that…I’d rather die than be violated like that again.”

  “Raped,” Josie supplied. She knew the right word; she understood the feeling well. Evangeline had fed on her for years. Daily. She knew what it meant to be raped of her blood.

  The wolf’s expression turned murderous. “Is this how you feel about me?” Jared demanded.

  The question came from so far out in left field Josephine could only gape at him. “I—what?”

  “Yesterday, you came onto me to ingratiate yourself,” Jared ground out. “To make sure I won’t leave you behind. I knew it and had sex with you anyway. Hell, I took advantage of you, as if you haven’t lost enough to this hellhole already. You must hate me, Josie.”

  “Jared, I—” She balled her fists. “Why did you submit to her? You could have torn her limb from limb. The shotguns aren’t loaded with silver bullets. They’d hurt but they wouldn’t kill you.”

  “You might have been killed in the crossfire,” Jared said. “I couldn’t take the chance.”

  “Whenever Evangeline bites you, you look at me,” Josephine continued to speak with an excess of nervous energy. “With so much hatred and—No, please don’t interrupt. Let me finish. Every single time, you’ve stared at me as if you wanted nothing more than to kill me…”

  Her voice broke and tears flowed. She hiccupped. “I just don’t understand you, Jared. I know you blame me for getting you captured. How can you hate me one second and protect me the next? It doesn’t make any sense!”

  “I don’t hate you, Josie Cat. Hell, I don’t really blame you for getting me into this. Much. Though, an apology at some point would be nice,” Jared said with smirk. In the face of Josie’s pain and confusion, his misery was forgotten. His gaze was calm, cool, and confident. “I hate her. I only stare at you to remind myself why I’m not ripping out her heart.”

  A hand crushed the already broken heart that life had shattered years before. Josephine tilted forward and pushed her face into Jared’s throat. His hands rose in surprise but he opened his arms to take her in.

  “If I could do it over, I’d have asked for your help in that bar. At the time, it wouldn’t have occurred to me that such a thing was possible,” she said. “I’m so sorry I got you into this mess, Jared.”

  His grip on her tightened. “It’s okay,” Jared said and, for the first time, Josephine believed him. He eased away enough so she could see his face. His smile was crooked. “Meeting you has been worth it.”

  His sincerity left her speechless. Tears filled her great blue eyes and a lump filled her throat. No one had ever valued her above their own welfare. No one.

  “Jared, how I feel about you,” Josephine began and Jared stiffened. She tightened her grip on him, clinging with small strong hands. “I think you’re giving me too much credit. I wasn’t thinking about anything but teasing you and when it happened it was like—” The best damn thing in her miserable life. “I’m not sorry, Jared.”

  Smiling, he gathered her into his arms and rose from the dirty floor. “Then I’m not sorry either,” he said, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

  It was too much honesty—this overload of intimacy—and way more than any cat could handle all at once. But she might never have another chance. “Jared, if I had a hero you’d fill out his blue jeans just fine,” she said.

  He laughed. “Thanks, I think. Speaking of blue jeans, I want to put my pants on.” She slid down his body to stand and he peered at her. Those unblinking topaz eyes looked straight into her soul. “Are you done being scared that I’ll leave you?”

  “You won’t leave me,” Josephine said. “I trust you, which scares me way more than dying.”

  Day 7

  “What time is it?” Josie asked, taking a nice long stretch on the cot. The werecat lifted her head; her blue eyes were hooded.

  “Ten minutes after the last time you asked,” Jared said with a glare. Waiting, waiting, waiting…It was driving them both insane. “Since there’s no clock, I have no means of knowing the exact time any better than you.”

  “Mrrow,” Josie growled. “Someone has his boxers in a twist.” She turned over and then turned her head in the direction of the stairs. The werecat’s big ears made her hearing better than his.

  “Don’t wear any,” Jared informed her even though it wasn’t necessary. She knew the state of his underwear—or lack thereof.

  Jared stopped his restless pacing to listen. The werewolf had stalked the length of his cell for hours through the late afternoon. The footfalls overhead were heavy and human, preceding Carl into the room.

  The human servant carried a folded stack of clothing and a small brown paper bag sat perched atop the pile. “That cat still alive?” he said in what had become his customary greeting.

  “For now,” Jared replied. “I’ll eat her before the party, so don’t worry about bringing dinner.”

  Carl chuckled. On the bed, Josie hissed and puffed up, ears flat and tail lashing. Jared did not smell fear; it was just for show. They were a team instead of rivals.

  “Here,” Carl said, offering the stack of clothing through the bars. Jared shifted, uneasy because it was a casual gesture, very unlike the man’s usual caution. After a slight hesitation, Jared accepted the clothing, quelling the desire to reach out and snap the other man’s neck.

  “I’m supposed to dress up?” Jared surmised, inspecting what he had been given. It wasn’t much: black leather pants, black boots, and a studded black collar. The paper bag contained personal grooming supplies, including a bottle of body oil.

  “Evangeline wants you to oil up nice ‘n shiny for her guests,” Carl said. Then he stopped, about to say more, but hesitating.

  “Yeah?” Jared said.

  Carl glanced over his shoulder. “Look, I have a pretty good idea what’s gonna happen tonight. I’ve served her for years but my situation isn’t much different from yours. We’re just on opposite sides of the bars.”

  Jared stared at the man, keeping his expression flat. “What are you saying?”

  “Nothing,” Carl said, “except, please don’t kill me tonight when you take Evangeline down. I have a daughter in Nogales. I’d like to go stay with her and her family. Start over doing something decent. Maybe be a janitor or a mechanic. Please, let me live. I’m keeping my mouth shut.”

  “As soon as I’m upstairs tonight, clear out. Leave the party, get out of town, and don’t look back. I won’t follow you,” Jared said. He allowed his wolf to rise, displaying the natural cockiness he’d been hiding for the last week. The human’s face drained of blood and he cowed in instinct
ive response.

  Carl nodded, backing away. “You won’t ever see me again.”

  “After tonight, you’d better hope so,” Jared said.

  “Tonight, there will be two vampires with me when I come to escort you upstairs. They’re supposed to help keep you under control.”

  “Okay, thanks,” Jared said, filing the information away. He watched the other man leave and then turned to Josie. The werecat sprang off the cot.

  “Was that smart?” Josephine demanded, rushing at Jared with concern. Her hands grabbed for his chest. “What if he changes his mind? He could betray us!”

  “He won’t,” Jared said.

  “How can you be sure?” she asked. The cat was close to hysterics.

  Jared sighed and set the clothes and bag aside. He placed a hand on either side of Josie’s face and gazed into her eyes. “Trust me,” he said. “Trust my instincts. Can you do that?”

  Her breathing grew steady and even as she calmed. Her lips twitched and her tail followed suit. She wanted to argue with him but nodded and resisted the impulse.

  “Good girl,” he said, and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Come into the bathroom with me?”

  “What happens next?” Josephine asked. She reached up to grasp his arms, settling her fingertips against the inside of his wrists. She hadn’t consented to accompany him and he didn’t want go through their usual production. Not tonight.

  “Josie, please.” He kissed her neck below the ear and then her throat above the jugular. Her fur felt velvet soft beneath his lips. “I need you to trust me.”

  Her eyes narrowed with suspicion. “See? Talk like that makes me trust you less.”

  He sighed. “Do you always have to be so contrary?”

  “I’m a cat,” she said. “It’s expected.”

  “Right.” His mouth twisted in a grimace. Out of patience, Jared picked Josie up and tossed her over his shoulder.

  “Hey,” she hissed, writhing so the muscles of her backside bunched and her tail flexed. He got hard just watching her squirm. “This wasn’t part of the plan!”

  “Plans change,” Jared said. He swatted her rump once hard for the simple pleasure of watching her jump. Then he carried her into the bathroom and shoved the door closed for the little privacy it afforded.

  “Put me down, you Cromag wolfman.” She threatened him with the glide of claws across his bare back. Jared didn’t flinch. He trusted her—more than she did him. It wasn’t a wise choice, but he obeyed his instincts.

  Hefting her off his shoulder, he set her down, placing her feet firm on the tile floor. He exhaled hard so his nostrils flared. He looked down at her and remained silent, thinking hard. She claimed to trust him. How much? Fuck, he loathed having to destroy any of her hard-earned trust.

  Josie’s eyes grew round and she backed away from him, staring with a fearful expression. “Jared? Okay, now you’re scaring me for real…”

  He held up his hands in a staying gesture. “Josie, would you do something for me? Please? Just once do as I ask without a thousand questions and arguments.” Out of desperation, he attempted to use his wolf to soothe her, allowing his power to flow across her tense frame. It was risky. His attempts to treat her as a submissive wolf tended to provoke a negative reaction from her.

  She stopped retreating just before she ran out of bathroom. “What?” she asked. Her mysterious cat mind was philosophical. To trust? Not to trust? That was the question.

  “Shift fully to human,” Jared said. He waited. Time passed and he realized she wouldn’t do it for him. Her half-cat, half-human form was her armor. Trust had been a mirage in their personal desert.

  Frustrated, he closed his eyes, sorting possibilities and attempting to revise his escape plans into some kind of workable strategy. The odds of getting out and keeping Josie alive in the process seemed insurmountable without her cooperation.

  “Jared?”

  He opened his eyes and found her in human form. She held her head high and stood with her back straight, enduring his inspection. She was petite and whip-thin with high pretty breasts and a tiny waist. Her skin was a dusky mocha and her short black hair sleek and shiny. The clunky gold collar around her neck contrasted with her refined beauty.

  “Josie, you’re gorgeous,” Jared said. He beckoned her to him, not bothering to conceal his arousal. “Why don’t you want me seeing you like this?” As a rule, shapechangers had no taboos about nudity and little personal modesty.

  His cat took three nervous steps forward, entering the circle of his arms of her own free will. “I feel…exposed.”

  “You’re gonna need to stay like this for my plan to work. Just remember, stay human no matter what. They’ll know you’re not dead if you shift,” Jared said, reaching for her throat with his hands.

  “Plan? What plan?” she asked. Her pulse accelerated but then settled as he fumbled with the collar, working the combination lock so that it snapped open. Jared pulled the hated thing from her neck and then tossed it into the trash.

  Josie blinked, her breath hitched and her blue eyes glimmered with unshed tears. Jared ran his fingers over the red indention the tight collar had left on her delicate flesh.

  “Never again, Josie Cat,” he promised. “No one will ever put a collar on you again.”

  Josie reacted with something between a meow and a growl. Then her small hands were between them—insistent and urgent—tugging at the fastening of his pants. She ripped open the button fly, freeing his cock, which sprang into her open palm. Her fingers wrapped around his pulsing rod and she squeezed hard enough to make him gasp.

  “Fuck, Josie,” he snarled. His eyes flashed with pent up aggression. “I don’t want gratitude sex.”

  “Jared.” She flashed small, sharp teeth and her hand imprisoned his cock. Her other slipped between his legs to cup his balls. She had him; oh, she had him good. “Don’t be an ass. Shut up and enjoy the fucking blow job.”

  She bent her head and he ground his teeth, expecting the punishing nip of her feline teeth, and yet he made no move to shove her away. He definitely trusted her more than she did him.

  Her silken tongue passed over the head of his cock, tasting the pre-cum beading there, as the tip delved into his slit. She worked him with her hands, fisting his shaft and massaging his balls.

  Josie’s mouth closed on the head of his cock and Jared’s last coherent thought went south. He moaned and rocked his hips in rhythm with her hands and mouth. His wolf longed to bypass the light stuff and plunge his entire shaft down her throat until his scrotum seized.

  The violence of his urges scared him. Bending, Jared pried Josie from his cock, freeing first her mouth then her hands.

  “Jared, what’s wrong?” She sounded confused and maybe hurt.

  “Nothing’s wrong. I’m just too close. I want to be inside you when I come,” he assured her, hauling her up his body. His hands gripped her buttocks and, she wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. It was strange to feel her smooth skin against his. No fur; no tail.

  Damn, he missed her tail.

  Being careful with her required a great deal of effort and caused his hands to sweat. With all of the strength and precision he could muster, Jared guided the head of his cock to the entrance of her tender pussy; he must not be rough. He fumbled a bit, negotiating angles of entry and depth. Got in an inch, then two, then withdrew.

  “Stupid wolf,” Josie hissed. With a sinuous twist of her hips, she rose and sank down on his shaft. Half in, she wailed. Jared felt his eyes cross and his heart tried to leave his chest.

  “Tight, so fucking tight,” he managed, and it was all he could do to hold on and remain still while Josie negotiated his cock. The werecat was so tiny he feared splitting her in two. The urge to fuck her as hard as he could—to see if he could—terrified him.

  Josie dug into his shoulders with her fingernails, drawing blood, and she came down on him again with a look of fierce determination. She rocked her hips and sank
until fully impaled, mewling in mixed pleasure and pain.

  She did not give herself time to adjust. She rode him, rising and falling with tiny thrusts. Her taut pussy tugged his cock, causing Jared more torment than satisfaction. Somehow she pushed him right to the edge of darkness and then over.

  His control slipped and he started to change, transforming into a wolf. His teeth lengthened and sharpened into incisors and his fingers grew about two inches, most of it claw. His eyes turned gold and his muscles rippled and bones threatened to crack. Every part of him lengthened and thickened with the change. The silver bracelets cut into his flesh causing his wrists to bleed. A howl rose from his throat: the proud, confident song of a dominant wolf.

  In his arms, Josie froze and watched wide-eyed as he struggled to regain control. He slipped far enough to be more animal than man, and then managed to halt the transformation. His cock no longer fit inside her sweet pussy, even though the head was against her cervix. He had inches left and nowhere to go unless he rammed into her womb, and the temptation was unbearable. It was all he could do to hold onto his humanity.

  Josie panted and sweated, shaking with reaction to the strain. Every inch of her pussy was stretched around him. Her small human hands clung to him but it was his strength alone controlling the depth of his penetration. Jared expected Josie to react with disgust or fear and to flip out on him at any second. Instead, she gazed up at him with awe. A smile lit her face.

  Jared shifted his hold on her ass, being ever so careful not to nick her soft skin with his claws. He lowered his head, inhaling the scent of her skin and her sex. Cat. Companion. Friend. Lover. Mate. How the hell would he ever explain her to his parents?

  “Fuck me, Wolfy. Fuck me hard,” Josie teased, pressing a kiss to the underside of his throat. For a wolf, it was a sign of submission.

  Howling loud enough to raise the roof, Jared surged against Josie’s core, eliciting a scream from the werecat as his cock slammed her pussy. He took her with powerful thrusts, claiming her in the most primal way possible. He stood with his head thrown back and his hands supporting her buttocks, maintaining a precarious balance. His hips undulated, driving the rhythm and the pleasure that defied reason.