Beasts in Winter

by Heather Rainier

  The rattling and snorting occurred again, and Charmeur spotted Fleur beneath one of the bushes that made up the hedge maze. She was snorting and laughing at them, and then she said, Bestiale, brother mine, you’d better use the telepathic link to talk to us so she doesn’t think you’re having a conversation with yourself. That’s not going to help our cause. Oooh! Did that one hurt? She cackled again and rolled onto her back, kicking her legs up in the air. This is so much fun!

  Charmeur pelted a snowball back at Angel, which she easily dodged, and Bestiale lobbed one at Fleur but missed by a long shot, probably on purpose, but watching her dart away was funny.

  You can’t get me! Fleur shouted in their heads in a singsong voice. Na-na-na-na-na-na! That’s right, Angel! Throw one at Charmeur’s big head! Good shot! Oooh! I bet that stung, huh, Bête?

  The noise was raucous in Charmeur’s telepathic hearing as Bestiale roared with laughter, a sound neither of them had ever heard, and Charmeur paused to stare at Bestiale, his head back and his mouth wide open. He’d never seen his brother express unadulterated emotion like that. He glanced at Angel and saw that she’d frozen, about ready to throw another snowball, and was staring at Bestiale.

  Brother, out loud, so she knows you’re laughing. Your fangs are on full display, and she may think you’re about to roar.

  Or that you’re having a conniption, brother, Fleur added. I love your laughter, but we hear you, and she can’t.

  Angel wound up her arm and threw a snowball that sailed right into Charmeur’s coat collar, and he yelped and did a jerky dance as the snow crystals trickled down into his shirt. Fuck, that’s cold! Flapping his coat only made the snow travel farther downward past his sensitive nipples, and he popped his butt backward in an unsuccessful effort to keep the cold, wet blob from reaching his testicles as it sank into his breeches—where it finally stopped.

  Cursing loudly in the mental link, he turned his back on them, squatted a little, and swished his tail back and forth, trying to dislodge the icy missile. And he made fun of Bestiale’s antics? He thought he heard the enchantress’s laughter, but it must’ve been the wind. He looked up to find them all staring wide-eyed at him, and he gave them a toothy grin.

  Bestiale threw his head back and laughed again, this time out loud—a sound that boomed and echoed over the snowy landscape.

  Angel crouched down and then stood and threw two more snowballs. When they realized she was out of chilly ammunition, they advanced from behind the tree.

  “Oh, crap,” she said, backing away through the path leading into the hip-high maze. “I’m in trouble now, aren’t I?” She didn’t speak as if she was afraid. His cock sprang to life at the way her voice trembled with excitement.

  “Think so, petite diable?” Bestiale replied, his voice vibrating with a rumbly purring sound, like that which Charmeur had heard the night they’d stargazed. “I think you’ve earned a punishment…or we’ve earned a reward, for being such good sports.”

  “You mean such good targets?” she emphasized with a giggle as she continued backing away. She bit her lower lip, and Charmeur breathed in her aroused scent, which now perfumed the air. His rumbling purr vibrated silently within his chest.

  This certainly wasn’t what Charmeur had in mind when he’d organized their diversion, but as diversions went, it was a good one. Bestiale had a sparkle of mischief in his eyes that Charmeur had never seen, and beneath his thick facial hair, his skin had a ruddy cast of exhilaration to it.

  “You can’t hide in there, ma petite ange. We’ll find you easily,” Bestiale said as they advanced. Her eyes widened but not with fear as she glanced between them. Charmeur focused solely on her and the faint sound of her heart beating a rapid tattoo.

  Her smile curled up on one side, and his heart thrilled at the sight of her enjoying herself, even if it was at their expense, and he fell a little deeper for her.

  She looked around her and said, “Maybe so…maybe no…” She put out her hands at her sides, palm down, and then turned them in a scooping motion and lifted them over her head. The hedge, leafless and brown in its dormancy, suddenly shot up another six feet in the air, completely shielding her.

  Mon Dieu! Charmeur whispered into their link. The enchantress must be laughing at us!

  “Later, suckers!” she called, laughter in her voice as she ran into the maze, her red fur-lined cloak receding through the thicket of branches. His cock ached at the thought of giving chase while fully aroused, but he didn’t care.

  In the telepathic link, even as her cat voice yowled, Fleur cried out, Angel, don’t run!

  The energy of physical activity combined with unstoppable sexual attraction—despite his unattractive form—and Charmeur succumbed to the beastlike nature that accompanied his curse. He kept pace with Bestial as they chased her into the maze. His heart pounded as his humanity receded, the urge to chase and to catch the red cape waving as he closed the distance between him and what he wanted. Not to kill or to eat. This desire was to fuck, to claim, all naysayers be damned. He’d been patient long enough.

  She was within a few yards, her red locks streaming down from her pins, beckoning him. Her panting, her arousal perfuming the air, served only to increase his lust.

  My beauté, you want me, too, he growled to himself, and he snarled back when Bestiale growled as he kept pace with him.

  Bestiale! Charmeur! You stop this instant! Fleur screamed at both of them in the mental channel, her shrill tone cringe-worthy, but he ignored her. She couldn’t understand what it was like to want a someone this much, to throw caution aside.

  No. And I never will if you don’t stop! she cried out as she struggled to keep up with them.

  Angel looked behind her and gasped, her eyes going wide as she realized they were gaining on her. She swept a hand to one side and instantaneously a branch leaped out in his path and tripped him, sending him crashing to the ground, where his fallen body tripped Bestiale. Fleur leaped over them in a furry white flash and went on, turning her head for a split second to send them both a warning look.

  They chased on.

  Each time they came nearly within reach, another branch reached out and either tripped them or snagged hold of them. Finally, in the avenue of statues, with nothing else to impede them, they began to gain ground. Angel was still giggling as she ran up the long stretch, not taking the chase as seriously as she should because he knew once they caught her they would have her. Her red cloak swirled around her, and he reached out for her as he gained ground on the open stretch.

  Fleur sat nearby, grumbling and growling to herself as she stared at them. Fine, but at least do this on her terms. And then her gaze shifted to Angel. She was running full tilt through the path of rose petals they’d created, and then she tripped. The snow was soft, but the path had been worn by their earlier treads, and he couldn’t be certain it would protect her from the hard pavers below.

  No! Snow! Fur! Protect! he shouted within the telepathic connection, expressing his immediate need to whoever would listen.

  Bestiale bellowed, and as one, they leaped into the air to catch her so she didn’t land on the ground.

  He took in each detail of those tiny seconds, and as she was simultaneously wrapped in furs, they caught her between them and fell into a billowing snowdrift.

  Panting from exertion after they’d landed safely, he pulled back the furs from her face.

  She is uninjured, Fleur said. I put her to sleep. You may be beasts, but you wouldn’t ravish an unconscious woman, would you? Pigs. Donkey brains. She’s safe for the moment wrapped in the furs, and you two need to cool off. Get some rest yourselves, she muttered in parting as she scampered away.

  Swishing her tail before whipping it at them, she sent the two of them into the dreamscape.

  Damn it! he shouted soundlessly as his face fell to the snow beside Angel’s.

  * * * *

  Bestiale cradled Angel and tugged the thick furs loose from their protective embrace, careful t
o not scratch her with his claws, and checked her limbs to make sure she was truly uninjured.

  Her eyes flashed open, and she smiled up at him. Lifting her knee, she wrapped her calf around his while reaching behind her for his brother. “I guess I tripped. Thanks for catching me.” She caressed his brow and then lifted her lips to his and kissed him until he was breathless once more. Then she tilted her head to Charmeur and gave him a lingering kiss, as well.

  She sat up and then stood, and all of her clothing fell away from her, leaving her nude and voluptuous in the afternoon sunlight.

  The rosy tips of her generous round breasts were gathered taut, and he wanted nothing more than to lick and suck on them before making his way down her body, licking every gorgeous inch of her flesh. His hands ached to grasp her full hips while he lapped at her pussy. His cock surged with the lust to be inside her.

  Even though she knew he could control his beast only so long as she stood still, she smiled in invitation and ran down the avenue, her laughter rippling through the air as her red hair came loose from the last of its pins and sailed around her. “My dream. My way!”

  The dreamscape.

  She didn’t get very far in the billowy snow before they took her to the ground, shielding her from the impact with their own bodies.

  Bestiale growled and held her down as she tried to leap up again. “Don’t run, Angel. It compels the beast in us to chase you. We would never harm you, but you have us in a state.”

  She reached out to draw them both closer. “Perhaps that’s exactly what I want. To be ravished in full view of the castle. To be taken. To be fucked…and claimed.”

  “But not in truth, mon ange?” Bestiale murmured, suddenly sitting back on his heels in the snow. Her brow furrowed, and some of the sparkle left her eyes.

  Sanity returned as Bestiale took several breaths through his mouth. He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles and then laid his furry cheek against it.

  Charmeur nudged him and then held his hand out, placing it between hers and showing her his claws, how they extended and retracted as he flexed his fingers.

  Bestiale nodded. “It’s not just that our claws are sharp. They extend and retract. In a moment of passion, we could harm you, perhaps even kill you. That would break our hearts.”

  Charmeur leaned down so she could touch his face, gazing at her with beseeching eyes. She cupped his furred cheeks, and he slowly, almost reluctantly revealed his fangs to her. Tell her how I worried the other night.

  “When Charmeur—for by now you know it was Charmeur—bit you in our shared dream while making love to you, he was afraid he’d done you physical harm. He couldn’t help himself in the heat of passion—in that human form. If you were to make love with us as we are, you would be between two monsters with claws and fangs. I won’t do that, not with a woman I care about.”

  Charmeur whispered through their link. All the lovemaking in this dream world won’t work. That’s why I wanted to be with her during the day. I didn’t intend for it to get so out of hand.

  “You care about me?” she asked, looking stunned as her gaze swept back and forth between them.

  “Of course, mon ange. If Charmeur could speak, he would tell you that his heart is complimented that you would want us as we are. Ange doux, I am complimented, as well, and I don’t want you to view our refusal as a rejection. Although we are compelled to propose each night, it is not a chore. We have come to care a great deal for you. To make love to you would be the greatest pleasure of our lives, but in our…current states, we are too dangerous. And there are other attributes which would make it…uncomfortable for you.”

  “But you both wanted me. I know you did.”

  “Always, mon ange, but in this dreamscape, and the heat of the chase, it was magnified because we were in beast form.”

  “What attributes?”

  Bestiale glanced at Charmeur, and his brother gave that nonchalant shrug, and he knew he needed to speak frankly with her. “We tower over you in our current forms.”

  “You’re big all over is what you mean?”

  He nodded. In his human form he was still tall, but not as tall, nor his cock quite so huge. He never would’ve dreamed it would be such an inconvenient thing as it was in that moment. He put his fingers to his temples, wishing he could say more—though not so much about the cock difficulties. That was embarrassing. He was much more worried about the thin ice he was likely on with the enchantress and worried he’d say too much.

  “Would you choose to be with us? Always?” Bestiale whispered, not daring to hope.

  Her arms dropped to her sides, and she looked around her as if just realizing she was fully naked and out in the open. She lifted the furs to shield her beautiful form, and the vulnerability in her gaze vanquished the last of the lust coursing in his veins. “That choice isn’t really mine to make, is it? As long as I am held against my will, I can never say yes.”

  He lifted her and carried her to the terrace outside the large arched back entry. “We will take you to your room. You need your rest.”

  A long sigh escaped her as she nestled in his arms. Even though it was a bittersweet moment, he smiled when he saw her reach out for Charmeur’s hand, which he gladly gave.

  In the corridor, they passed a mirror, and he backed up and stood before the mirror. “What do you see, mon ange?”

  “I see me, with Bestiale and Charmeur.” She pronounced their names perfectly.

  He veered into the library and stalked to the stained glass window, with her still in his arms and his brother at his side. “Who do you see when you look in this window and when you are dreaming at night?”

  “The flirtatious prince, his sister and family, the court…and the lonely gardener and his sweet mother.”

  “You are dreaming now.”

  “Yes. I am.” She gazed up at him, tenderness showing in her shiny eyes. “Because this is my dream, and that’s what I wanted.”

  Charmeur touched his arm, and through the telepathic link he said, Perhaps this is a good sign. She wants us, as we are. Yes, she has her reservations, but this…this we can abide with for a time.

  Bestiale nodded, grateful for his brother’s voice in his head.

  Appearing dazed, she yawned, blinked at the fire, and then down at her body as another transparent shift materialized over her skin. Her smile was a little forlorn and wobbly. “Am I still asleep outside on the avenue of statues or am I really in here? I’m so sleepy I can’t think straight. Right now I could sleep on my feet. I don’t know why I feel so drowsy sometimes.”

  Bestiale smiled and gave a small shrug, knowing that it was Fleur’s “touch” or perhaps the enchantress interceding. He pulled back the covers on the freshly made bed. “You are still dreaming, remember? We entered the dreamscape outside, on the avenue of statues. But we will take care of you and make sure you get tucked into bed. Now get into bed, ange doux.” He smiled at her confused expression.

  “Huh? That makes no sense whatso…ever.”

  Bestiale chuckled and kissed her forehead. “Sleep. We will take care of everything.”

  He held the blankets back, and she climbed into the bed. He watched her as she stared into the fireplace, her eyes gradually losing focus until her eyelids drifted shut.

  She was their only hope. The chance they’d been given, but if she couldn’t say yes, and they couldn’t have her as they were, maybe it was time to set her free.

  Chapter Nine

  At a noise on the landing, Charmeur looked up from the fire he’d built in the master suite located in the west tower. The room was especially cold that day, and he found it depressing that it might never know the warmth of human occupation and the touches only a woman could give to it.

  Fleur flitted in through the door, and her ears tilted slightly as she looked behind her. She’s coming, she whispered into the telepathic link. Fleur had been subdued since the events of the night before, seeming to sense Bestiale’s morose mood and his ow
n quietude after they’d left Angel’s room.

  Bestiale wanted to release Angel and then allow her to make the choice to stay or go, freed from the spell that kept them trapped in perpetual winter—provided the enchantress would even allow it.

  Charmeur had a slightly different mindset. He wanted to wait a bit longer, after her revelation that it was them that she wanted, even in their bestial state. He knew that sex in their present forms could never happen but viewed this change as progress. If her physical attraction to them was such, perhaps she could grow to love them and trust in the destiny that had brought her to them.

  The soles of her shoes made a slight scuffing sound as she crossed the room. He poked at the fire, gazing into the flames, until the hem of her emerald green velvet skirt entered his field of vision. She held out her hand and opened it palm up, revealing red rose petals, now dried to a dark burgundy color. “Where did you and Bestiale get all those petals in the dead of winter? That part wasn’t a dream.”

  Bestiale’s sweet, caring mother, helping in the only way she could. Charmeur, of course, couldn’t speak a word, but she already knew the answer to the first question, and the second one he couldn’t answer even if he had a voice.

  With slow steps, she wandered around the room, first to the window that looked out over the front courtyard and then to the fireplace, her gaze resting for a long time on the large bed that was draped with plush velvet spread, fine fur throw rugs, and soft plump pillows. “I followed Fleur in here without thinking. Am I invading your private space? Is this your bedroom?”

  Gazing into the fire, he rested his chin in his hand and took his time in turning to reply to her. He shook his head negatively and then looked down at his hand and held up three fingers.

  Over the crackle of the fire, he barely heard her soft exhalation as realization dawned in her eyes. “This room is meant for three people?”

  Daunted by how she might react, he turned his attention back to the fire and nodded, but curiosity made him look up when he sensed she’d drawn closer. Her skirts fluffed around her as she squatted next to him, also looking into the fire. “I wish you could talk to me.”