by Irons, Rose
“That was when the old woman came.
“I didn't know it then, but she wasn't what she seemed. She asked for food, and shelter.” He closed his eyes in pain. “I thought of my father, and I told her no. I closed the door in her face.
“That was when I heard it.
“A great voice rang out. Even though she was behind the front doors, I could still hear her as though she were before me and shouting. She said that I was selfish and unworthy of what good life had brought me, and until I could learn to love I was no better than the bear for which my family was named.”
His voice grew taut and harsh. “And I began to change.”
He was quiet for so long Bella wasn't sure he would continue at all. She reached out for him and gently took him into her hand. His cock leaped at her touch, and she worked him gently.
After a moment, he continued to speak, his voice now rough for other reasons. “It was hard. I didn't know what was happening to me. I thought I was dying.
“I missed my father more than anything.”
“And then- ” his voice caught.
Bella smiled to herself.
“It's hard to think when you do that.” The Baron didn't seem to be complaining.
“Hmm.” Bella smiled. “What if I do this instead?”
She leaned forward and took him in her mouth. Bella could taste the salt of him mixed with her own juices. He sprang to life against her lips and moaned as she took him as far into her as she could, and then even farther. She gagged against him, wanting all of him inside her.
“Bella, Bella,” he gasped, his breathing ragged.
She sucked him harder, working him with her hand. He quivered under her, tight as a harp string.
“You were saying?” she murmured as she came up for air.
The Baron groaned as she drew him back inside her.
“And then... I was changed. When my father returned I tried to hide it, but...”
His breath caught as Bella cupped his balls, working him with both hands as she swallowed against him.
“But... he knew. He found out, like you did, or guessed, I'm not sure. He told me he still loved me. He kept me safe.
“When he died, I was all alone.”
For a moment he was still, and then Bella drew him deep into her throat, choking on him, wanting to feel his seed once more, wanting to prove to him, both animal and man, that he would never be alone again.
His cock pulsed in her mouth, and then he cried out. She could taste the thick salty fluid of him and drank him down like water. He was hers now. They belonged together.
After, when his breathing had slowed once more, the Baron looked down at her. “I have one more question for you, Bella.”
“Mm?” She smiled against the languor in her bones.
“I want you to stay here.”
She laughed. “Of course I will. As long as you rehire me.”
“No.” His gaze turned hard and demanding and made her knees weak once more. “No, Bella. I want you to stay as my wife.”
~
The wedding was to be a grand affair, more spectacular than the sleepy town had seen for years. Bella’s father would be giving her away, of course, and many of the Baron’s kin from neighboring countryside would be in attendance, but what surprised Bella was that it was the Baron himself who invited the entire town, and at no urging from her.
When she asked why, the Baron had turned serious.
“I have spent too long locked away from the world in this tower. I want them to see how much you've changed me for the better. And I want them all to meet you, too.” Arthur gave the crooked, self-deprecating smile she had grown to love. “They will adore you as I do.”
Bella blushed at the simple sincerity in his eyes. Arthur always told her she was the first who could see past the beast to love the man, but for her, it was much the same. Always her beauty had been first in people's thoughts when they looked at her. Only for Arthur was it most important what she held in her heart.
The grounds were covered in lilies and hyacinths, a beautiful riot of color against the green simplicity of the castle’s yard. Bella gloried in it, seeing it even from the window as she prepared herself for the wedding. Today would be perfect. She was marrying the man she loved, and together they would break the curse. She believed that their love would do it. And then, finally, she could feel his body pressed against hers and no longer need fear spending the night with him.
They were ready.
Bella walked down the aisle at her father’s side, dreamily listening to the chords of Pachelbel in D floating over the hushed assembly. It was such a beautiful day - one she knew she would remember forever.
But as she approached the altar, her joy turned to horror. She had only the briefest of moments to register the look of horror on Arthur's face as he began to change.
No! Bella stared wildly at Arthur's twisted form as he struggled against the curse. Not here, not now. It was day; how could this be happening? They thought they had unlocked the key to breaking it.
Would Arthur never be free? She bit back a sob.
With a roar of pain, Arthur's body shifted and twisted, sinews lengthening and fur growing as he burst from his Italian suit.
With a cry of her own, Bella yanked her arm free from her father’s grasp and ran through the panicked throng to her beloved. She had to get to him before he hurt someone. She had to get to him before someone hurt him.
The transformation completed, the great bear towered over the priest and the assembled. His teeth glistened in the sun, beautiful even as they were deadly. Bella thought she saw someone faint out of the corner of his eyes. He was a massive bear and terrible, but she knew it was up to her to keep him safe. He could kill her with a careless paw, and she should have been terrified. But strangely, she wasn’t. This was her Arthur. He wouldn't harm her. They could handle anything.
She slowed to a walk as she approached, not wanting to frighten the bear that her fiancé had become. “Arthur,” she called softly. “It’s me.”
The bear roared again in response, a noise so great it nearly deafened her. Ignoring her shaking knees, Bella took another step forward, keeping her eyes on Arthur’s. “Hush, love. It’s me, you're safe.”
She reached out a hand to him. It held steady. She wasn’t afraid.
Slowly, so slowly, in a moment that felt like years, the bear dropped to all fours below her. He leaned his head forward to rest it against her outstretched hand as the crowd dissolved into murmurs of incredulity.
“I love you,” Bella whispered.
The bear sighed softly, leaning into her caress.
She turned to face the crowd, some of whom had begun to draw weapons. “No one will harm this bear. He is your lord, the baron of this town.
“Many of you have heard stories of a great tallest roaming these hills. Now you know why. But even though Arthur is not fully in control of his actions as a bear, he has never harmed anyone, only scared some unwary travelers. That is why he has kept himself locked away for so long. To keep you safe.”
Bella took a deep breath, feeling her throat clench with sorrow and worry. “We had hoped this wedding would bring an end to the curse that has haunted not only the baron but also our whole town.
“But what we did, we did not only do to break the curse. We wished to wed for love. You can see the truth of it here. Even as a savage beast, Arthur wishes only love from me.”
And then the most surprising thing of all happened.
“Well done,” came a strange voice, melodious and carrying over the hubbub of the crowd.
Bella turned to see the oldest woman she had ever seen. Leaning on a cane. But her voice was the strong and true, the voice of an actress or singer, and it captivated the crowd as Bella had captivated the bear. With a thrill of foreboding, Bella thought she might know who this woman was.
“You have taught this selfish beast the true lesson the curse was designed to impart.” The woman smiled, a smile both
beautiful and cruel. “By sacrificing yourself for him, you have taught him the true meaning of sacrifice, and thus of love.
“The two of you were correct when you surmised that what would break this curse was a wedding, but what you did not expect was that love, true love, had to be at the heart of what bound you.”
The crone lifted her arms, and Bella shivered, instinctively leaning back to the safety of her werebear fiancé’s embrace.
“Behold! From this day forth, Arthur von Ursus shall live as a man. He shall retake his place among those who can walk in both night and day. He has learned love, and thus he has learned compassion.”
As though by magic, a deep tolling rang out, a sound so low Bella almost felt more than heard it. It shivered through her bones, releasing the stress and fear she had carried. Suddenly, she felt as though she truly knew all would be well. She and Arthur would be together. Forever.
“Thank you,” she whispered. And then, as though the crone had told her, she turned to Arthur, already knowing what she would see.
He was changing once more. This time, he stood on his hind legs, rearing his full beastly form towering high above her. She gazed up at him with only love, no fear, and watched as he became a man in full. His bones shortened and shifted, his fur fell away, and once more, the man she loved more than life itself was standing before her.
And, miracle of miracles, still devilishly handsome in his custom-tailored Italian suit.
“Thank you,” she said again to the crone, meaning it with all her heart.
The crone winked at her.
And then, suddenly as she had arrived, the strange woman was gone from the day. And, Bella hoped, from their lives forever.
She faced her fiancé and held his hands before her. “My lord,” she murmured, her breath coming quick at how handsome he looked, “shall we proceed?”
For a moment, Arthur had a dumbfounded look on his face, as though not knowing quite how to process his sudden transformation and then release from the curse that had haunted him for so long. Then he laughed, his joy loud and unfettered for the first time since Bella had known him. “Let’s! My lord priest, I have a passionate desire to marry this woman immediately.”
Bella took his hands, and stood before the priest. Finally, everything would be perfect.
~
Much, much later that night, they came up for air.
“Darling?”
“Mm.”
“What will you do, now that you can be a man always?”
Arthur propped himself up on one arm. She couldn’t help but eye his muscular chest as the sheet fell away from it. Married, true, and they had already consummated that marriage twice tonight, but she couldn’t help but be aroused by the firm lines of him. He was a god among men, as he once had been a beast.
“Truly? I want to be a good husband to you, Bella. And a good Baron to this town. I have sadly neglected them recently.”
She kissed him, marveling as always how well their mouths fit together. “How good of a husband?”
“Mm.” Arthur kissed her back with ardor. “Does that mean you’re ready for me again, Baroness?”
She drew him down. “Always.”
As she said the word, a shudder came over him, tensing his whole muscular body. His dark eyes flashed even in the dim light. "Are you sure?"
"Sure?" Bella laughed, a strangled sound. "Arthur, if you don't take me now, I think I might die."
Their eyes locked, held, for a long, charged moment. The electricity of his gaze made Bella tremble and ache all the more. She could almost feel his hands on her. She craved his touch.
He put a hand between her breasts and gently pushed her down. She let him, closing her eyes and waiting for everything he was going to give her.
Then she felt his mouth on her. His lips were smooth and sweet, sending the nerves running down the core of her, excited and eager. She felt her pussy quiver and drip, reaching desperately for him. And then he opened his mouth, his tongue finding her swollen nipple, and she gasped in relief at the feel his mouth.
His lips were so sweet and demanding. She moaned desperately, and it was all she could do to keep from grabbing his head and forcing him down, forcing him to suckle her and send waves of pleasure coursing through her pussy until the pleasure overwhelmed them both. He had been beast and man both to her, and loved her with an animal ferocity as both. She ached for everything they did to each other.
“I love you, my beast,” she whispered.
She felt his lips curve into a smile against her skin. “You're perfect.”
And then his mouth found hers, and she opened to him, gasping in his breaths and shuddering as his tongue brushed hers, the spice of him filling her nose and throat. She was caught, lifted, rising on a crescendo of need that started and ended with his lips on hers and reached to the very core of her, piercing all that she was and making her whole.
She felt more than saw his big hands fall on either side of her. Arthur lifted himself over her, never releasing her mouth. She moaned as he lay himself over her. She felt flesh on hers and her cunt clenched in desire.
The Baron's fingers slipped lower then and found her slick lips, sliding between them with an ease that had Bella panting. Gently, he moved first one finger, then two, between her folds and stroked her lightly, as he might a bird. Her whole body quivered, taut, ready to explode but fearing the explosion. The sensation he drew out of her radiated to her ears, her fingertips. She could feel them in the back of her throat as she kissed him and longed for release.
But he teased her still, working her with a skill that coaxed wave after wave of pleasure from her shaking form, but brought her no closer to climax. Her need was a tangible force now, a ball of desire that clenched within her and demanded all of her attention, all of her. His eyes held her firmly, and she knew, in that moment, what it was to be truly loved.
"Arthur," she whispered.
"I'm here."
It was enough.
With movements achingly slow, he penetrated her with a finger, exploring her pussy. She shuddered as he felt within her, stroking her walls and teasing her in all her desperate need. His finger - first one, then two - slid into her with ease, and out, slowly pressing the desire within her to painful heights.
"Please,” Bella whimpered, “more.”
And then her Baron rammed his fingers into her, his knuckles bruising her clitoris and making her scream with desire as he fucked her with his hand.
"Oh, oh, oh," she whimpered again, her cries punctuated by the wet sounds of his hand against her cunt. He was working her fully now, forcing his way into her, curling his fingers insistently along her G spot with every other thrust.
As suddenly as he had started, his hand pulled free of her folds, and Bella felt herself gaping, crying in frustration. "Please," she wailed.
When she felt the tip of Arthur's cock against her swollen and bruised lips, it was all she could do to lift her hips, an offering from the purest temple of need within her. Her passion was at terrible heights, and she could not think, could barely even breathe. She ached, lost in the crashing pleasures within her.
He stroked her lips softly, pressing his cock just between them. It shuddered and bucked at her touch, but there was still beast in her man, and he was strong, and only placed the barest hint of himself at her threshold.
"Please," she begged.
And then, he finally slid himself inside her.
It was as though she had come home. Her pussy accepted him eagerly, lovingly, the space within her filled truly and completely as though it had been made only for him. They cried out as one and he held, quivering, buried to the hilt within her, his cock nudging at her womb, and they were still for long enough for Bella to feel her heartbeat slow and match his.
Then Arthur thrust slowly and surely into her, letting them both luxuriate in the feeling of his cock pressing against her satiny depths.
Inexorably, his thrusts lengthened, became rougher. A harsher,
more animalistic rhythm sped their pulses and began to drive him. He gathered himself over her and thrust again, again, and with each movement the ball of desire deep within Bella grew, hot and terrible, the apex of need.
They crescendoed together, their shared orgasm radiating through Bella as she arched her back, her whole body suffused with the heat of their love.
Her limbs tingled with the sensations he woke in her, and when his cock discharged and she felt him fill her womb, she came again, the sweet pulse of his need filling her bringing her to a second, calmer pinnacle until they sighed together, spent, and he lay on top of her. His heart slowed once more, and she could feel his breath on her neck.