Stone Cold Fox Read online

  Jo didn’t have an answer—she only knew that the feeling of Reese spurting inside her, of his thick shaft pumping her full of his seed—was the most intense pleasure she had ever felt. She gripped the thick, slippery grass and tried to hold on, tried to be open enough to take all of it. She could feel her pussy drinking his cream greedily, soaking it up like sponge.

  What if I get pregnant? The thought drifted into her mind and drifted out again. She was too immersed in her orgasm and the feeling of Reese coming inside her naked, unprotected pussy to worry about it now.

  At last, with a groaning sigh, Reese pulled out of her.

  Jo felt him go and then collapsed slowly onto her side. She felt spent—completely exhausted as though she’d just run a marathon. For a moment the only thing she wanted was to catch her breath.

  She closed her eyes and just concentrated on breathing but inside, the voice of her guilt was back and louder than ever.

  Chapter Twenty

  “Jo?” Reese sounded worried. “You okay, darlin’? You’re awful quiet.”

  “I . . . I don’t know.” Jo shivered in the cool grass. Now that the breeding heat was gone, she felt cold in the autumn air. The full moon shone down on her, reminding her of the shameful act she had just committed, right here in the Sacred Glade. Why had she done it? Why hadn’t she been able to control herself?

  At the very least she could have asked if they could leave the glade before they jumped all over each other—with Bianca gone it shouldn’t have been a problem. But no—Jo had been so hot she couldn’t wait, even to avoid committing blasphemy. Some distance away, she heard the long, lonely howl of a wolf. A hot tear slipped down her cheek.

  “Jo?” She was lying on her side but Reese rolled her over gently, trying to get a look at her. He must have seen her tears because a look of regret came over his face.

  “What’s wrong, honey?” he asked gently. “Was I too rough? Did it bring up . . . bad memories?”

  “Not . . . not exactly.” More tears slipped down her cheeks, she couldn’t help it. She still couldn’t believe what she had done. What would Miranda think of her if she could see her now? The thought made her cry even harder.

  Reese’s face twisted.

  “Damn it,” he growled. “I’m so fucking sorry, darlin’. I shouldn’t have taken you so hard.”

  “I . . . I don’t . . .” Jo began but just then she began to feel strange—to feel wrong. Everywhere the moonlight touched her bare body she felt a strong tingling. “Reese,” she gasped. “I feel like something’s wrong with me—like something’s wrong inside me.”

  “What? How? Describe it,” he said urgently.

  “The moonlight,” Jo whispered, having to fight to get the words out now. “Everywhere it touches me I tingle. And I feel so . . . so . . .” She shook her head. “I can’t explain it.”

  “The moonlight?” His frown suddenly cleared. “Hell, darlin’, that’s just your Fox trying to get out—your Vixen. You’re about to have your first Shift.”

  “My first Shift?” Jo looked at him, wide-eyed. “You mean . . . I’ll really turn into an animal?”

  She had known cognitively that Reese Shifted into an animal form—she had seen him do it multiple times now. And she’d known that female Shifters could do the same thing. But somehow the idea of having an animal inside that she herself could change into at will still seemed like a dream—an impossibility.

  But Reese was nodding his head eagerly.

  “Sure you will,” he told her. “Just close your eyes and let Lady Moon have her way with you.” he frowned. “Honestly, I don’t know how you didn’t Shift the minute we were finished and the moonlight hit you—your magic must give you incredible control. But now you need to let it go and just Shift.”

  “I don’t know about that,” Jo said nervously. “Before when the moonlight touched me it felt like it was trying to tear me apart.”

  “Because you were outside Lady Moon’s will. Now that you’ve answered her call and gotten . . .” He cleared his throat. “Gotten bred, you should be okay.”

  I’m still outside the Goddess’s will, Jo thought grimly. But since the strange feeling inside her was growing, she didn’t see what else she could do but go with it.

  Closing her eyes, she tried to reach out to the deity she’d worshipped since she had first found her way to Avalon.

  “Please Goddess,” she prayed. “I’m sorry for breaking my vows and defiling your Sacred Glade. Please be merciful to me . . .”

  As she prayed, she tried to surrender herself to the will of the Goddess, to give in to the tingling moonlight and let it do what it wanted with her.

  And then she began to change.

  First she felt her arms and legs shorten and then her knees bent the opposite direction they normally did. This seemed like it ought to be painful but somehow it wasn’t. Her nose and mouth elongated into a pointed muzzle and her ears moved from the sides of her head up to the top. Her hair vanished and instead, she felt a coat of soft, luxuriant fur flowing all over her body.

  Last and perhaps strangest of all, a long, puffy tail with a white tip popped out of her backside. Jo twitched it experimentally from side to side, trying to get a good look at it. It was hard to see the color, other than the white tip, but she thought it might be the same shade of orangish-red as her hair when she was human.

  When I’m human—what a strange thought! Now that she was a Fox, it felt like she’d always been one. She scampered in a circle, chasing her tail, then held still to listen to the rustling in the undergrowth. There was mouse out there, digging in its burrow. Jo had the sudden urge to hunt it and pounce on the tiny creature—some fresh meat would taste good right about now.

  “God, darlin’—you’re beautiful. Knew you would be.”

  The deep rumbling human voice made Jo jump, her entire, lithe body leaving the ground as all four dainty black paws came up at once. When she came down, she saw Reese, still sitting beside her in human form, and looking down at her with a smile playing around his lips.

  “C’mere,” he murmured and patted his thigh.

  Cautiously, Jo approached him. He was so big when she was in this form—even bigger than when they were both human. But his voice was familiar.

  “Here, Jo—here my little vixen-witch,” he said and rumbled laughter as he held out his hand.

  Jo came closer and sniffed at his offered fingers. Immediately, his scent told her all she needed to know. Even in her new Fox form, she had no trouble recognizing her mate.

  With a happy yip, she jumped into his lap the way he had jumped into hers so many times in his own Fox form.

  With a soft exclamation Reese held her close and cuddled her to his broad chest. His hold on her was gentle and light—she could have gotten away at any time. But Jo didn’t want to get away—she only wanted to be close to the big man who was somehow also her mate.

  Making a soft sound in the back of her throat, she pressed herself against him and nuzzled her head under his chin. Gently, very gently, Reese scratched her behind her ears.

  “That’s right, little girl, little vixen,” she heard him murmur. “You can have all the hugs and cuddles you want.”

  “Well, well—isn’t this a touching scene.”

  Jo looked up with a shock—even in her Fox form she knew that voice. Knew it and distrusted it.

  Bianca was back, standing at the edge of the Sacred Glade with a cruel smile on her lips.

  “Well,” she said, looking at Jo as Reese held her protectively close to his bare chest. “I guess there’s no question if you’ve been bred now. There’s no way you could have Shifted otherwise.”

  “You leave her alone.” There was a low, warning growl in Reese’s voice that seemed to vibrate Jo’s entire body. “Jo wants nothing else to do with you and neither do I. We’re done with you.”

  “Isn’t it a pity, then, that I’m not done with you?” Bianca remarked. “Or more specifically, with Jo. Now that she’s Shifted and