by Luna Noir
They stood for long moments, looking at each other. Bella thought the Baron looked as though he'd had a rough night. There were dark circles under his eyes, and his normally immaculate suit was wrinkled and looked as though it might still be the one he wore yesterday.
“Ms. Peters.”
Her heart pounding wildly, Bella held her ground against the coolness in his voice. “We need to talk.”
The Baron looked away. “I don't think that's wise.”
“Please.”
Slowly, the Baron opened the door further. Still refusing to meet her eyes, he sighed. “Just a few minutes.”
That's all I need, Bella thought. Allowing herself to feel hope, she stepped inside.
To her surprise, returning to the castle felt like coming home. The great tapestries, the wooden banisters, the silver candlesticks she had cleaned... everything felt familiar to her as the back of her hand.
Taking charge, she led him back to his study. Her eyes flicked at first to the bear rug before the first, and she hoped his did too.
The Baron hovered by the door, but Bella sat expectantly in one of the great wing-back chairs.
“I know I shouldn't be here saying this.” She hesitated, not sure how to continue. There were so many things she wanted to say, and so many questions, she wanted to ask. Finally, she chose the most important one.
“Are you the beast that haunts this castle?”
The Baron's eyes widened, their dark depths frightened and vulnerable for the briefest of seconds. “How did you know that?”
Taking a deep breath, Bella answered the question with another question. “Do you love me?”
“God!” The Baron turned away. “How can you ask me that?”
Bella held her ground. “I have to know.”
“I'm a monster, Bella.” His voice was harsh. “You can't ask me that.”
“Do you love me?”
He scowled. “It doesn't matter what I feel.”
Bella felt as though her heart was breaking. “Of course it does.” She took a step closer to him. “Don't say that.”
“LOOK AT ME!”
With a roar, the Baron lunged towards her – and began to change.
As Bella watched in horror, the man before her shifted, his form lengthening and thickening, his shoulders growing even more broad. His hair shagged out and became fur, his suit ripping as he exploded from himself.
And then before her stood a bear, snarling lightly.
Bella could see each of his great white teeth, could smell his musk. Her heart pounded wildly, but she stood her ground. This was the Baron. Arthur. With a kiss, he had touched her very soul. He would never hurt her.
“I love you,” she whispered.
Trusting with all her soul, she looked into the bear's eyes. What she saw there reflected back at her was both beast, and man.
She loved both.
Bella leaned forward and gently kissed his nose. She could feel the bear's breath on her neck. She had no fear.
And then it was a man before her once more, naked. The Baron drew her close to him and he was kissing her, holding her so tightly.
“I love you, too,” he whispered.
“I know,” she gasped, and then he caught up her mouth in his once more, and she was lost.
With a groan, he crushed her to him. His hands were everywhere, undressing her, and she pressed herself against his bare form, needing to feel all of him at once. He was at once hard and soft under her hands, and she could feel his muscles rippling as he grabbed her and lowered her to the rug where they had been what seemed like a lifetime ago.
The Baron ripped her skirt then, and Bella found herself helping him. Her clothes were nearly torn to pieces with the urgency of their desire, Bella feeling almost like an animal herself with how badly she needed to fuck him. She had been waiting a lifetime, it seemed.
And then they were naked together, their legs intertwined, and the Baron lowered himself onto her, his cock finding her swollen lips and piercing them, driving deep into the core of her.
She cried out as he buried himself to the hilt, pressing deeper into her than any man ever had before, bruising her cervix with his need.
It was perfect. In that moment, the world stopped around them. She and her man, beast though he was, together they were whole.
And then he started to move within in her, so achingly sweet that Bella cried out. She had thought he would take her with all of his rough animal need, and she needed him to – but this, in this moment, was perfect. She luxuriated in the feel of each thrust, the way his cock curved against the walls of her and making her wetter than she could ever remember being before.
“Please,” she panted, “take me.”
With a groan, the Baron forced himself deep inside her once more, and they began to rock together. He fucked her with a savagery Bella had never known he contained, taking the depths of her with every inch of him until she screamed.
The Baron cried out with her, their voices echoing through the empty castle as they took their pleasure. Bella could feel all he was doing in every part of her, pleasure cresting through her, breaking and then rising once more.
“More,” she gasped, “more!”
Savagely, his teeth locked on her throat, and she gasped at the pain, brilliant and white. It blossomed within her, matching the pleasure and crescendoing to an agonizing high that left her reeling. Another wave of pleasure grasped her as he thrust again, plumbing her depths with all of his animal need.
“Mine,” he growled.
“Yes!” Bella screamed. She drowned in him as he took her then, fucking her until she wept for release. Again and again she came as he took her, his cock pressing into her in ways she had never imagined.
The Baron groaned above her, freezing. His cock nudged against her cervix, and he held there for a moment, quivering, and she could feel his heart beat against her lips.
She saw the wonderment and love in his eyes, and smiled. He was perfect.
“I want to feel you cum inside me,” Bella whispered.
With a sound like a roar, the Baron released his seed inside her, his cock pulsing as he came. The feel of him filling her brought tears to Bella’s eyes, and her pussy quivered in response.
The Baron leaned down and kissed her deeply, and she felt her body shudder as she came yet again.
“I'm yours,” she whispered. “For this moment and for always.”
~
“Why did you come back?”
The Baron was trailing his fingers along her arm, still seeming to marvel at her naked body next to his. Bella smiled at his incredulity.
“You really didn't know I loved you?”
He sighed and rested his hand on her hip. “You don't understand, Bella. I've lived with this... curse... for so long. I didn't see how anyone could love me. Much less thought anyone ever would.”
“Can you tell me?” She propped herself up and looked at him.
The Baron looked away. “It's not a pretty story.”
She kissed him. “I'll survive.”
He sat up, careless of his beauty. Bella couldn't help but drink in the sight of him, the fire flickering across his naked form. His abs were still slick with sweat from their lovemaking, and his cock was already stirring once more.
“When I was young, my father was always taking care of others. It was admirable, and I know he was well loved for it, but he neglected me and my mother. It hurt her how he would stay away for so long, and how he seemed to care more about his causes than her. I was... bitter.”
The Baron's eyes focused on something far away. “Then one night my father was out, helping in a nearby town. It was just after my mother died, and I was angry that he couldn't even stay with me when I needed him.
“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 i
n 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.