Witch's Cat Page 5

  That got Lith's attention. Her head shot up and she thrust the magazine away behind her as a nervous titter ran around the group. Even Athelstan appeared to blush under his beard. “That's not the way we work around here,” he said, coming to Lith's defense.

  “As far as I can tell not much work gets done at all,” Georgia replied smoothly. “Now let's close our eyes and hush for the guided meditation.”

  Everyone hushed, clearly undesirous of being threatened with corporal punishment and Georgia began to lead the meditation, speaking in a calming, mystical tone that wrapped around the listening witches and transported their minds to the other realms. Anita kept one eye open during the meditation and saw that she was not the only one doing so. Lith was sneaking peeks at Georgia over and over again. Wonderful. A crush had been born out in the forest.

  Fortunately, or rather, unfortunately, there was more to worry about that evening than the possibility of flirtation between Georgia and the younger witch. Throughout the course of the meditation, which struck her as inordinately long, Anita became aware of a presence. It was dim at first, a long way outside the circle, but it was drawing steadily closer. She glanced over at Georgia, whose voice gave no sign that she felt the entity, but the answering look told Anita that she was aware of it. Was this the power that Georgia had been warning her about? Was all hell about to break loose amidst a bunch of common people?

  A warmth began to spread around the circle and Anita realized Georgia charging it, using what little power could be scraped together by the many novice witches and channeling it into a version of the psychic shield Anita used.

  Still the thing came towards them. Anita reached out toward it with her mind and touched it. It was old. Old and powerful. What had they summoned? A trickle of fear dripped through her chest. Nothing like this had ever happened before with the coven. If anybody got hurt as a result of Georgia's magic, she'd never forgive herself.

  Georgia took her hand and squeezed it reassuringly. Did she know what it was? Had she done this on purpose? There were so many questions and not a single one of them could be asked because it was imperative that the meditation continued, that the shield of power grew stronger. It was almost useless though. Whatever was approaching was far more powerful than their little circle of witches, Anita could sense that much even at a distance.

  Finally, when Anita thought she could bear it no more, when she thought she might scream from the fear of the unknown, a figure emerged from the trees. Anita breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that it was just a woman in a skin tight white dress, not a fire breathing hell daemon or other dark creature. It was a woman, a woman of power to be sure, but a woman none the less. Her skin was pale in the moonlight and as she drew closer, Anita realized that it wasn't a white dress the woman was wearing. She was skyclad, entirely naked. At her appearance, the coven fell into stunned silence. Anita looked around at them, willing them to continue, but they no longer seemed aware of their surroundings. They were all staring off into the distance with expressions of ecstasy on their faces. Only she and Georgia seemed to be conscious.

  As silence fell, the power of the circle dropped, leaving them unprotected as the woman drew closer. She had dark eyes and sensual features. Long, dark curling hair cascaded down her chest and Anita felt very strongly that the woman was of Greek descent. She also felt very strongly that this was the 'she' Georgia had warned her about.

  The woman opened her mouth and it was not words that came out, but the low rumble of a beast. “Georgia,” the thing said, for Anita was no longer certain that it really was a woman she was looking at.

  “Thera,” Georgia replied quite calmly, as if creatures commonly appeared out of thin air and addressed her by name.

  Moonlight glistened off the creature. “I have come for you,” it said with dire authority.

  Anita was horrified. It sounded as if the woman was there to take Georgia away. Anita wouldn't let that happen. “What's going on?” She hissed the question, grasping at Georgia's sleeve like a frightened child.

  “She is the Potnia Theron, the Mistress of Beasts,” Georgia said, as if that explained anything at all. “She can call the beasts.”

  “You are not a beast. You're a lady.”

  “You noted yourself I am part beast,” Georgia said, smiling sadly.

  “What does she want?”

  “Come and speak with me Georgia,” Thera commanded. “Bring your consort.”

  “Come,” Georgia bade Anita.

  Anita was on her feet in an instant. She did not like this development. Indeed, she could barely believe that it was really happening, but she would not allow Georgia to go alone.

  “I am afraid we will have to bid you all good eve,” Georgia apologized to the assembled Wiccans. The coven nodded almost as one. They had a glazed, spell bound look in their eyes. “You will awake in a few minutes having experienced the deepest meditation possible for you. You will feel energized and refreshed. You will see our disappearance as something to marvel at, something to aspire to,” Georgia droned the commands.

  If it weren't for the otherworldly creature waiting for them, Anita would have laughed with glee. That had not been a meditation, that had been a long hypnotism. The coven really were under Georgia's spell, just not in the way they thought they were.

  “They will not remember this, will they? The part with the naked lady?” Anita said, quite amazed at what was happening. Georgia had lead the coven into a trance that would probably not break until they were gone. When they snapped out of it it would look as if Anita and Georgia had blinked out of existence before their very eyes.

  “Hopefully not, that would be rather awkward, wouldn't it?” Georgia took Anita by the hand. Together they walked through the woods towards Thera. With every step the Potnia Theron seemed to draw further away from them. The forest became denser, thicker, stranger. Anita had the idea that they were no longer walking in the woods beside the village. Where they were now was a completely different place outside of space and time.

  They seemed to walk for a very long time indeed. Finally the forest thinned and they stood in a clearing. The moon was bright overhead, very full and ponderous and low in the sky. The Potnia Theron was waiting for them on a bench carved from marble. She sat with natural grace and perfect posture that made Anita quite jealous.

  “I thought I had lost you, Georgia,” the creature spoke.

  “I was not lost,” Georgia replied.

  “You were hiding.” There was a hint of spite to the words, a spitting, biting note.

  “I was not hiding. You found me. If I decided to hide, you would not find me.”

  Anita looked from Georgia's face to Thera's. Georgia had an expression that Anita didn't often see – defiance. It was written in every line of her face, from the slight sneer under her nose to the glower in her eyes.

  “You owe me service,” Thera spoke chidingly, as if reminding Georgia of something she should have known.

  Anita turned to Georgia. It wasn't really the place or time, but she was tired of surprises. “What on earth is going on? What haven't you told me now?”

  Thera's black eyes filled with cold interest. “Your consort is insolent.”

  “She is,” Georgia agreed, her voice tight with anger. “Go sit down, Anita.”

  “Yes. Go sit down, before you get hurt,” Thera agreed.

  Reluctantly, Anita did as she was told. She moved away a few feet and sat down on a tree stump, which she was certain was not there a moment ago. It was not a fine a seat as the one provided to the Potnia Theron, but it would do in a pinch.

  Thera laughed. It was a sound like broken glass being scraped over a city street. “You have been keeping secrets frpm everybody, Georgia. Your consort does not know that you are my servant. I did not know that you had a consort, much less a talented one. Did you hope to use her against me?”

  Georgia's lips drew into a thin line. She did not reply. “You did,” Thera purred.

  Anita stare
d at the naked woman. Long dark hair waved all the way to her waist, but her body was bare for observation. It was not as perfect as Anita had imagined a psychic creature's body would be. The breasts were quite wonderful, high and firm with perky nipples that would have made a plastic surgeon proud but the thighs were perhaps a little too full. The gentle outline of the muscle was too pronounced, Anita decided. The stomach was not perfectly flat, but there was a small pouch of fat underneath the defined abdominal plane. They were small imperfections, but they were imperfections none the less and they made Anita curious. It was curiosity, she told herself, not lust. No, it could not be lust. It would be mad to be sitting in a mystical glade out of space and time and be consumed with desire for a beautiful naked woman who was giving Georgia a hard time.

  “My lioness has sorely betrayed me.” Thera made the accusation bluntly.

  “I did not betray you. I sought my freedom.”

  “Your freedom is not yours.” Thera's dark eyes slid across to Anita, who was leaning forward with her elbows on her knees, her fists bunched under her chin. “You have slighted me Georgia. You will have to atone for that.”

  Georgia's voice was stone hard. However much the Mistress of Beasts thought she had the right to command her, Georgia wasn't showing any deference in her manner. “What do you wish?”

  Anita glanced over at Georgia, surprise clearly written on her face. Georgia wasn't even arguing. She must be afraid of Thera after all. Or maybe Thera really did have the right to control her. It was difficult to believe that Georgia answered to anyone, yet at that very moment Anita was looking at the woman who commanded Georgia and wondering if her knees weren't perhaps a little too sharp.

  “Your consort interests me,” Thera said, regarding Anita with the sort of mild curiosity a shopper might reserve for a can of beans. “Perhaps I will feed from her.”

  Anita was on her feet in an instant. “You are not eating me!”

  The Potnia Theron laughed that grating laugh whilst Anita looked over at Georgia. “What is she laughing about?”

  “Feeding does not mean eating you,” Georgia explained with a hint of a wry smile. “The Potnia Theron does not feed on human flesh.”

  “My lucky day,” Anita said dryly. “What does she feed on?”

  “Pain.”

  “Oh.” Anita found herself recoiling again. She could not begin to imagine the pain Thera could unleash with the power at her disposal.

  “I will not let you feed from Anita,” Georgia said, finding some of her native backbone. “Not directly.”

  “Not directly, what does that mean?” Anita interrupted their discussion again to be met with harsh looks from both women.

  “I have a few scores to settle with my consort,” Georgia continued when Anita had fallen silent. “More than enough for you to feed from.”

  “That does not surprise me,” Thera remarked. “She is almost as disobedient as you are.”

  “I served you long and well,” Georgia said, her voice rising with a rumble of anger. “I have my own life to attend to.”

  Thera's dark eyes became darker still as her power rose, whipping the wind around them up in fury. Leaves and bits of twigs swirled this way and that, lodging themselves in Anita's hair. “You are my beast, do not forget that.”

  Anita was glad that they had both forgotten her in that moment. They were both very powerful, very dominant. Georgia was almost glowing with a golden sheen, and if Anita had not thought it impossible, she would have said that the canines were growing longer, more beast like. A bit of reading she'd done in the past came floating back to her. She'd read that people had two bodies, a physical one, and a psychic one. The psychic body didn't always match the physical. Looking at Georgia more closely now, Anita wondered if she might be seeing her psychic form. She was taller, and even under the loose clothing she seemed to have a more defined musculature. Not a masculine one, an animalistic one that allowed her to move with a grace the human form did not. Anita almost let out a cry of surprise when a long tail unwrapped itself from around Georgia's legs and swished with agitation. Was that always there? Was Georgia a cat underneath it all?

  A snort of amusement from Thera distracted Anita. “Your consort looks at you as if she has not seen you before. You have not been very forthcoming with her, have you Georgia? Always secretive, always hiding.”

  Anita frowned. “That's not it,” she said in Georgia's defense. “I just haven't looked this way before. With these eyes, I mean.” It was a clumsy way to explain it, but Thera seemed to understand what she meant.

  “She is too powerful to be such a novice.” Thera was addressing Georgia again. Anita felt a surge of pride. Finally someone was acknowledging that she had power. Finally. She'd take the compliment even if it was coming from a psychic creature that wanted to feed on her pain.

  “That is something I had planned to address,” Georgia replied.

  “So my cat, we have a stand off, but perhaps we have a solution too. You wish for freedom and for time to train your consort. I wish for the service of my cat.”

  Georgia nodded cautiously. “What do you suggest?”

  “I could press you into servitude once more, but that would not benefit either one of us,” Thera mused, showing remarkable intellect and restraint. “But if I leave you to train your consort, I believe there will be plenty of opportunities for correction?” Thera's gaze ran over Anita, chilling her.

  “No doubt about that,” Georgia agreed.

  “So I will be a party to her punishments. In punishing her, you serve her best interests and you serve me.”

  “Very well,” Georgia agreed immediately.

  “What the hell! You can't agree to something like that without consulting me!” Anita was on her feet again. This time Thera and Georgia ignored her completely.

  “The first feeding must take place tonight.”

  “Hey! Listen to me!” Anita shrieked.

  Georgia glanced over at her briefly before returning her attention to Thera. “That shouldn't be a problem.”

  Anita was drawn to Georgia. Not taken by the hand, but literally pulled by an unseen force. They were in the realm of the spirit and the mind, she should have expected such things, but she did not. She squirmed and fought against the impulse, but it was to no avail. She was taken to Georgia's side and stripped bare. Or rather she felt the sensation of her clothing being peeled away. There wasn't any clothing to actually take off in the psychic realm, there was only the thought of clothing to remove. In spite of the clothing being a matter of pure thought, Anita still felt dreadfully exposed as Thera made a noise of approval at her naked thought form.

  “Don't even think about trying to shield against this,” Georgia warned as she took Anita over her lap. “It will hurt much, much more if you do.”

  Held over her lioness girlfriend's lap, Anita wriggled resentfully. “This isn't fair.”

  “Hush,” Georgia slapped her bottom. The single slap was enough to make Anita yowl. It shouldn't have hurt to get spanked in psychic form, but it did.

  “What a pretty bottom,” Thera noted. “Is it as pretty as this in the physical world?”

  “It's prettier,” Anita said arrogantly. She didn't care for what was happening at all. If it weren't for the fact that Georgia was in trouble, she'd have told the beast lady to go sod herself. But Georgia was in trouble so she settled down over Georgia's warm thighs and prepared for a long overdue spanking.

  “I am going to enjoy this immensely,” Thera said, her voice infused with glee.

  The spanking began. Georgia's palm fell with the first of many sound swats as she peppered Anita's rear end. There was no opportunity to cry out or complain, the burning sting in Anita's bottom was powerful enough to make her forget about everything apart from it. Somewhere in the back of her mind she was aware of Thera nearby, but Georgia forced her to focus on what was happening to her, what was happening to her bottom.