Narcisse closed her eyes again and concentrated on a vision of herself. She saw her body shrink. She saw her teeth elongate, and claws form where her fingernails began. A few seconds later, she felt the change.
“Don’t fight it,” Serafine cautioned. “Just let it take you.”
Narcisse was surprised to discover that a sense of peace settled over her as the transformation was complete. When she opened her eyes, she found herself crouched on the floor, looking up at Serafine. Her clothes were piled around her, and she crawled out to free herself from the jumble of fabric.
“Very good. I’m impressed. You’re gonna do just fine. Now, as you’ve probably figured out, you can’t talk in this form, but you can communicate with others in gator form through ESP. Once you have the shifting itself worked out, I’ll teach you how the ESP works. For now, let’s just get you back to your human form. Do exactly like you did before, except this time, picture yourself as a gator and envision yourself growing back into your human form.”
Narcisse found that it felt slightly difficult to breathe in her new form, but she brushed it off, sure it would get easier as she adapted to an alligator body. She inhaled as best she could, shut her eyes, and pictured her skin becoming soft and tan, her legs growing long again, and her hair appearing long and dark down her back. But again, nothing happened. This time, she couldn’t even ask Serafine what was wrong.
Finally, though, Serafine spoke. “Looks like you’re havin’ some trouble there. Open your eyes.”
Narcisse obeyed, and Serafine dropped to her eye level, holding a small mirror. “You might be havin’ trouble with the visualization because you don’t know what you look like. Here, study yourself a bit.”
Narcisse focused on the mirror, and couldn’t help but feel shocked. The gator she was looking at was actually her. Even though she felt different and saw the room from a different perspective, it was surprising to see her elongated snout, dagger-like teeth, and leathery skin. But what shocked her most were her eyes.
She’d known her eyes had changed color the first day she met Nelson and Armand, when they mentioned the change after mating. Narcisse had also seen that everyone in the congregation had gold eyes. It was the defining trait of their group, and the only characteristic that remained constant whether they were in alligator or human form. But despite seeing it around, despite knowing it had happened to her, this was the first moment where she had really allowed herself to stop and pay attention to the difference. She couldn’t help but stare at the green-and-gold irises, proof that her life was probably never going to be the same again.
Staring at her new eyes, Narcisse struggled at the task at hand. Instead, her mind was focused on why her eyes were different. She went to work trying to solve the problem, rather than making sense.
“You okay?” Serafine asked.
Narcisse stilled, trying to calm herself.
“Try the shift again.”
Narcisse closed her eyes, but her mind immediately turned to the question at hand. She needed to ask about it, wouldn’t be able to focus on anything else until she had answers, but there was no way to ask when she was in her gator form.
Suddenly, Narcisse felt herself start to panic. I’m going to be trapped in this body forever. Breathing felt even more difficult as she struggled to keep her cool.
Above her, Serafine began to chant. After a few rounds of incantation, Narcisse felt herself begin to calm down. Breathing began to feel easy again. Without even doing any visualization, she felt her limbs start to lengthen and her skin become smooth. Before she knew it, she was standing up, covering her breasts with one hand and grabbing for her clothes with the other.
“You okay?” Serafine asked. “You seemed mighty scared for a minute there.”
“My eyes,” Narcisse blurted out. “They’re—they’re wrong!” She picked up the mirror and looked again. She still couldn’t stop fixating on them. “I mean—I know this is all part of the change, but…” She trailed off, too distressed to finish a thought.
“Calm down now,” Serafine said, placing a soothing hand on Narcisse’s shoulder. “What, you haven’t seen the eyes of everyone else in this congregation? You haven’t looked in a mirror before this afternoon?”
“Armand doesn’t have one in his room, and I’ve been keeping pretty busy. I saw that, freaked out, and couldn’t concentrate on the change. Thank you for pulling me back into my regular form.”
Serafine nodded. “It wasn’t any trouble. Just know that I am the only one in this congregation with the power to do that, and I can’t always be around to change you if you get stuck.”
“It won’t happen again.”
“Don’t make promises your body hasn’t been trained to keep yet.”
“Let’s practice again. I’m ready.”
Serafine shook her head. “I don’t wanna stress your body out too much. It can be a lot to deal with first. That’s all for today. But I want you to practice meditatin’, okay? Don’t visualize the change. I don’t want you to try that when I’m not around. But just work on focusin’, okay? That’ll make this whole thing easier.”
Narcisse sighed and nodded. She hated that she’d failed. “We’ll try again tomorrow.”
“Meet me here after lunch. And don’t look so forlorn. You’ll figure it out soon, I promise. Nobody has never figured it out sooner or later.”
Narcisse tried not to look dejected as she made her way back to Armand’s quarters. She opened the door to find them both already there.
“Well, look who it is,” Nelson said with a smile.
Armand gave a small frown. “You don’t look happy.”
“My lesson didn’t go so well. I figured out how to become a gator, but I got stuck trying to turn back. I needed Serafine to work her magic and get me out.”
Nelson crossed the room and scooped her up into a hug. “It’s okay, baby. Everyone struggles with it at first. It’s happened to all of us at least once. You’ll figure it out.”
“Serafine said I should try meditating. You know, concentrating on things. But right now, I just want to sleep for a week. I can’t believe I’m so exhausted.”
“How about a nice massage?” Armand asked.
Narcisse grinned, pulled off her shirt, unhooked her bra, and flopped facedown on the bed. Each man sat on either side of her, starting with her fingertips, then working her palms before traveling up her arms, paying special attention to her tight shoulders. Then, they adjusted positions. Nelson took her back, while Armand focused on her neck and head. Narcisse finally relaxed, enjoying the warmth and strength of their hands. As the bliss of the massage washed over her, Narcisse found that her pussy was beginning to awaken and get wet as their fingers caressed and kneaded her.
When Nelson reached the waistband of her skirt, he paused.
“May I?” he asked.
“Yes,” Narcisse said, relieved that he was having similar thoughts.
Nelson slid down her skirt and panties, and then began working his fingers into the firm mounds of her ass. One fingertip slid between the globes and began playing with her tight hole. Narcisse caught her breath as the jolt of pleasure shot through her system.
Armand continued to massage her, working his way down. As he neared her breasts, Narcisse flipped over so he’d have better access to them. As Armand kneaded the soft flesh, Nelson stood up and carefully stripped off his clothes. Narcisse was still overwhelmed by the sight of his ripped, naked body, with rigid muscles sculpted across every plane of his body.
Armand reached into a drawer and tossed Nelson a bottle of lube, and then he began stripping off his clothes as well. Narcisse lifted her hips so Nelson could slide a slick finger into her tight hole, and as her tight ring of muscles clenched, she reached out to stroke Armand’s chiseled abs. He bent down to kiss her, one hand tweaking a nipple as Nelson eased a second finger into her ass.
“Do you want us?” Armand asked, breaking the kiss.
“I’ve been wanting you all
day.”
Armand sat on the edge of the bed, and Nelson carefully pulled his fingers out of her tight hole so she could get up and straddle him. As much as she’d loved the fingers playing in her ass, her cunt was crying out for attention. As soon as she was steady, she slid all the way down on Armand’s cock. She gasped as her cunt muscles locked up around him, and he threw his head back and moaned. Armand was the perfect length to hit her G-spot, and Narcisse shivered, imagining the powerful orgasm she was going to have.
“You ready for me?” Nelson asked, positioning his lubed cock against her tight hole.
“I’ve been ready.”
Gripping her hips for stability, Armand eased his cock all the way into her ass. Narcisse’s entire body trembled, enjoying the feeling of fullness. Once Nelson was secure inside of her, she began moving. She went slow at first, even though she was desperate to speed up. Her body demanded release, but she wanted to savor her men, enjoy the still-new sensation of having two cocks at once. But eventually, her body’s demands were too much to resist, and she began to speed up.
“Bite me again,” she whispered. Her skin yearned for the sensation that bordered on both pleasure and pain. She eased her head back slowly, giving Armand the room to sink his teeth into her neck, with Nelson biting her shoulder. Suddenly, her cunt exploded with release, and her screams filled the room.
Her men weren’t done yet, and neither was she. Narcisse kept riding and bucking, moving faster than she ever imagined she could have gone. Suddenly, Nelson gripped her hips and froze. She felt his cock surge. Armand wasn’t far behind. Just as Nelson began to call out her name, Armand threw his head back and cried out with release. The sensation of two men coming inside her at once sent Narcisse’s cunt into fresh spasms of ecstasy, pleasure shooting out through every nerve ending.
The three of them fell into a heap, panting. Eventually, Nelson eased himself away, and then Narcisse rolled off Armand.
“Maybe this will work out after all,” she said with a giggle. “I could get used to this sort of treatment.”
“If that’s all it takes to keep you happy, I think we can handle that,” Nelson said.
“I feel like this whole situation would be easier if I could figure out how to use my shift, of course.”
“Hey, don’t worry about that now,” Armand said. “Ain’t like you’re gonna need to use it anytime soon, anyway. You just take your time. This’ll all work out just fine.”
“Are you sure?” Narcisse asked.
“I ain’t never felt so sure about anything in my life.”
Chapter Five
One week later
Narcisse was bored out of her skull. Each morning, Nelson and Armand were up with the sun, typically out fishing, but sometimes taking care of other necessary duties. They were typically busy all day long, only coming back to the main boat for lunch, and then staying out on the water until the sun went down.
When she first ran into Adele, she’d hoped there would be a way to help with her former professor’s research. But Adele was currently adjusting to life with three new hatchlings, and she’d taken a hiatus from her research until she started teaching again in the fall. Nor did Narcisse have many other options. She didn’t know the first thing about fishing or boat repair, and those were the primary things that kept people occupied.
On an average day, those in charge of fishing went out early in the morning, when the catches were likely to have the highest yield, though the fishers could easily be out all day during the peak season. The shifters in charge of mechanical work typically woke up slightly later, and spent their days vacillating between general maintenance and major repair work on the boats used for fishing and travel. They also worked on the houseboats, doing whatever was necessary to keep them safe and comfortable.
Those who didn’t fish and who didn’t have mechanical training did a variety of jobs. Help in the kitchen was always appreciated, as feeding the entire congregation was a full-time job. And the fishing business always needed assistance, even when times were tough. Even the meager catch needed to be prepared for sale and distribution, and there was always bookkeeping work to be done, as well as reports about the fishing yields.
Although there was always something for Narcisse to do to help the congregation out, she wasn’t particularly satisfied with the work that she’d been doing. When she’d anticipated an adventure that would get her out of the rut of her office job in Houston, she hadn’t anticipated her duties would involve peeling shrimp, shucking oysters, and then cleaning up the mess. The congregation always needed extra help with data entry, but Narcisse found that completely monotonous. More often than not, there wasn’t even that to do. There was so little fish coming in that most of the business-related chores were finished early in the day. The entire congregation seemed restless, but Narcisse felt completely trapped. At least everyone there was family. Narcisse supposed she was family as well, by virtue of the fact that she’d mated Nelson and Armand, but she still didn’t feel connected to anyone yet.
It wasn’t long before Narcisse realized that she was starting to miss her old life, even the friends she’d fought with in New Orleans. She wondered if they’d given her a second thought, or if she’d been entirely forgotten. She wondered what her boss had done when she hadn’t returned to work. She wondered what she was missing.
Deciding that a night in the city would help, Narcisse decided to bring that up to Armand and Nelson when they arrived for lunch. Everyone had been stressed out about the ongoing fish shortage, and the fact that the problem still hadn’t been resolved. Adele had filed her report, but official action, either at the state or local level, had yet to be taken. Pomet was still operating in full-force, and the fish population was growing weaker by the day. Manuel and Andre were getting impatient, so much so that Manuel had been talking about trying to expose the operation to the local news media, even though he generally insisted that the congregation avoid contact with humans as much as possible. With all the stress they still had to deal with, she figured a night in the city would be good for the men, too.
The second Nelson and Armand walked in for lunch, Narcisse could tell that something was wrong.
“Bad day out on the water?” she asked as soon as they sat down to eat.
“We haven’t caught a single fish all week,” Nelson said.
“I’m sure everything will be worked out soon.”
“I ain’t,” Armand said. “This is bad. Real bad.” Narcisse could hear the pessimism straining his voice.
“Even if we manage to get Pomet’s boats to stop overfishin’, it’s gonna be a while before the population replenishes,” Nelson explained. “This could ruin our haul for the entire season.”
“I guess there’s nothing to do but wait.”
“This be our livelihood and our home.” Armand’s face went stony with frustration. “Sorry, I just can’t wait and see what happens.”
“Well, maybe we could do something special to take our minds off of things. Could we have a night in the city this weekend?”
Armand sighed. “I don’t know, baby. It would be fun, but I hate leavin’ with this big problem hangin’ over our heads.”
Nelson nodded. “Maybe we can hold off until after this all gets taken care of.”
“Oh, okay.” Narcisse turned toward the stove to get some more soup, trying not to let them hear the tears in her voice.
Nelson immediately stood up and rushed over to her.
“What’s wrong, baby?”
“Nothing,” she said, trying to ignore the tear rolling down her cheek.
“Come on, baby. You don’t need to keep things from us.”
“I was—I was just really hoping for a night out. I’m a city girl, remember? This—this hasn’t been easy for me. Sorry. I don’t—I don’t want the two of you to think I’m miserable or anything, it’s just that I miss city life, and shucking oysters wasn’t exactly what I had in mind. Especially because there isn’t much to shuck.”
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“You don’t like it here?” Armand asked.
“It’s not that. But I did sort of make a hasty decision, and now I’m having some trouble adjusting. I think a night back in familiar territory would do me some good. Plus, I think it would be nice for the three of us to have more alone time together. You two are gone before the sun comes up and don’t come back until it goes down. I miss you while you’re gone.”
“We miss you, too, baby,” Nelson said, giving her a kiss on the forehead. “But Armand is right. Now ain’t a good time to leave the congregation, especially overnight.”
“What could possibly happen if we leave for a night?” Narcisse tried to keep her tone calm, but couldn’t help feeling frustrated by their resistance. “It’s not like you go fishing late at night. And even if you did, it’s not like there are any fish to catch.”
“But what if somethin’ happens with Pomet?” Armand asked.
“What could happen at night?”
“Baby, we hear what you’re sayin’,” Nelson said, taking her hand. “We just really need to be here for the congregation right now. I promise, soon as this all gets worked out, we’ll take out for a night you’ll never forget. Okay?”
“I know it’s tough,” Armand said, walking up to embrace her. “But just be patient a while longer. It’ll all get figured out.”
“Okay,” Narcisse said, forcing herself to steady her voice.
Armand smiled and gave her a kiss. “We gotta get out and help Gabriel with some mechanical work, since it don’t look like we’re gonna get any more fish today.”
“We’ll probably work until supper,” Nelson said, rubbing on her shoulders. “We’ll see you then.”
“Yeah, see you then. Have fun and be careful.”
As soon as they had gone back out, Narcisse hurried back to Armand’s room so she could cry and let out her frustration in peace.
It’s not even my own damn room. I don’t have my own space anywhere. I don’t have any true privacy.
Narcisse tried to shake the thoughts from her mind. She knew she needed to find a way to distract herself through the long afternoon. Although she easily thought of three books she wanted to read, she realized that, of course, none of them were on the boat with her. Instead, they were all back at her Texas apartment. She leaned against the wall, trying to contain her frustration.
Rose, Charlotte - Bayou Famine [Shifters of Alligator Bend 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 6