Caught by the Belly Trap Read online

  K.A. Belle

  Copyright © 2019

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  Caught by the Belly Trap

  Text Copyright © 2019 K.A. Belle (Kasey Belle)

  First E-book Publication: October 2019

  Cover and art copyright © 2019 Anna Josey/Sin City Book Art

  Digital Formatting by K.A. Belle (Kasey Belle)

  ALL RIGHT RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, incidents are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales, or organizations is entirely coincidental.

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  Kasey’s Court

  When Former Army Pilot Beau Madigan witnesses a cat being attacked, all his protective instincts kick in and he has to intervene. For years, Beau has been a recluse. Left with a traumatic brain injury and blind in one eye after a training accident, he hid away to escape the pity, stares, and stupid questions. But that was before Colby.

  Graphic Novelist Colby Dyer has been on his own since his first shift. Believing he was cursed, his family cast him out once they discovered Colby’s alter-ego had black fur. Colby never imagined finding a mate, especially while cowering in cat form. To make matters worse, his cat accidentally claims their gorgeous rescuer. In Cat’s defense, it was Beau’s fault.

  Will Beau accept his fate once he learns what Colby is or will he abandon Colby like everyone else?

  Caught By The Belly Trap is a short steamy standalone MM shifter romance with a guaranteed HEA and absolutely no cliffhanger. Approx. 11K words.

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Epilogue

  Other Works

  Please Stalk Me

  About The Author

  Acknowledgement

  Chapter 1

  colby

  We made ourselves comfortable in a tall oak tree and watched the trick-or-treaters move from house to house. Cat and I loved hearing the children’s laughter and seeing the smiles on their faces. I never trick-or-treated as a child. Halloween wasn’t celebrated in my family. My parents were the crazy religious type. They wanted to protect us from Satan. Of course, none of their protection applied to me after my first shift and they found out I was a black cat with unusual blue eyes. Obviously, I was cursed and needed to be driven from my home at the age of thirteen to save the others. Oddly, coming out to them at ten-years-old wasn’t an issue. Gay? No problem. Black fur and blue eyes? Big, fucking problem. When in doubt make the narrative work for your agenda, right?

  I shook my head. Whatever. I’d been on my own for ten years. I survived. Hell, I more than survived. I thrived. I had four bestselling graphic novels under my belt before I turned twenty-one. Three more followed after that. My agent called me last week about an offer from a network to buy the rights to my cat shifter series. Seeing my characters come to life in an actual television series would be fucking awesome. However, I wasn’t sure if I’d accept their proposal. There was a lot to consider.

  The world would freak the fuck out if they discovered Claws was nonfiction. I would be in a lot of trouble with my fellow shifters if the humans learned our secret. Then again, what had my fellow shifters ever done for me? Nothing. That’s what. The humans helped me more than my own kind ever had. Loneliness was the only thing I hadn’t been able to overcome. It was hard to find a mate when you were shunned. If only I could write my own happy ending, my life would be perfect.

  Even though, I was beginning to think I would never find my perfect other half, I still held out hope. There was time. It wasn’t like I was an old man. I was only twenty-three, eight months, and four days, for fuck’s sake. Not that I was counting or anything.

  The golden leaves surrounding us fluttered in the breeze. Cat and I loved the feel of the cool wind in our fur. Autumn was definitely in the air.

  An adorable little girl of about three years old dressed as a black cat walked by with two adults, I assumed were her parents. Cat chuffed when he saw the bright pink bow decorating the end of her fake black tail. I thought it was cute as hell. Cat not so much. He tended to be a little bitchy.

  “Hey!”

  “Don’t deny it.”

  “I wasn’t. But, you don’t have to think it out loud.”

  The sidewalk emptied. Cat jumped from the branch we’d perched on and landed silently on the concrete sidewalk. The moon was full and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. It was a beautiful night to explore the small town and enjoy the excitement and colorful costumes. The neighborhoods were bustling with parents and children. I’d heard most of the local businesses were keeping their doors open until ten p.m. to hand out candy. Cat and I decided to make our way there and check out the action.

  It didn’t take long to reach our destination. Maysville wasn’t very big. In fact, it was the perfect depiction of Small Town, USA. I got the sense everyone looked out for each other. But, then again, I’d only been in town a day. I could be wrong.

  Halfway up Main Street, Cat ducked into an alley to find a way to climb to a higher vantage point. Roof access was usually easiest to acquire in the back of the buildings near the dumpsters and fences. High ground was the best place to people watch. Plus, humans couldn’t try and pet you and call you Sweetie or Baby if they couldn’t see you. It was demeaning to be seen as nothing but an everyday house cat.

  Something hard hit our back followed immediately by laughter. Pain shot through our shoulder. Fuck, that hurt. We turned and came face to face with three teenaged boys. Cat hissed, and we stood our ground. One of them threw something else at us. I realized it was a rock when it landed a few inches in front of our paws. Little fucker. Unfortunately, one of his friends had better aim. Shit. Our only option was to retreat. Cat let out an angry yowl and hissed agai
n. Not very effective, but what else was there to do? It wasn’t like I could shift and defend myself. Doing so would cause bigger issues for Cat and me than a few bullies.

  “Oh, shit, Finn. I think he just cursed you with some black cat evil,” the blond one taunted.

  Finn jerked his head around and stared at his friend. “Are you serious, Marshall?”

  “Obviously, Finn is the rocket scientist of the group.” Cat rolled his eyes.

  I snickered. “Clearly.”

  “Why do you think black cats and Halloween go hand in hand?” The last boy asked. “They are the Cujo of the feline world.”

  “Colby. We need to leave while they’re distracted.” Cat took over and attempted to scramble up the wall, but a rock hit our paw. We dropped to the ground. Fuck, that hurt. Another rock hit the wall to our left. We ducked behind the dumpster. The metal structure was pelted with rocks. The pings and bongs made our ears ring. Cat sneaked a quick look and almost got hit in the face with a piece of broken brick. We took refuge underneath the dumpster.

  “What the h-h-hell is going on here?” A deep voice roared.

  Cat inched forward to get a look. A large angry man had swooped in like an avenging angel, looking as if he were about to throttle three teenage boys.

  Chapter 2

  beau

  “D-d-damnit.” I slammed the cupboard door. I forgot to buy buns and chips. The streets would still be busy because it was Halloween. Many of the stores downtown were staying open late and handing out candy. Of all the nights to need to go to the store. Realizing I had no choice, I placed the rotisserie chicken back in the container and shoved it in the fridge. I growled and stomped to my bedroom to grab my wallet and keys. Thank fuck the sun hadn’t set yet so I could wear dark glasses over my eyes. I hated when people stared.

  I locked up my front door. The house had belonged to my parents. I’d bought it from them while I was still in the service when they announced they were moving to Florida. I hated seeing the home I grew up in going to strangers. I associated some of my best memories with it. Some days, especially those after I left the hospital, I was comforted by the familiarity. Other days, like when I had to go into town and face people I’d known all my life, I wished I lived in a remote area of Alaska. Their pity was the worst. I wanted to scream, “I get it. I’m fucking scarred and blind. I own a goddamn mirror.”

  I took a calming breath and centered myself before stepping through the gate on the little picket fence surrounding my yard. I made sure the latch was properly secured before reluctantly making my way down the sidewalk toward the center of town.

  I groaned when I walked into the grocery store and saw who manned the open registers. Two open registers out of six. Fuck my life. Couldn’t management find other employees to cover shifts besides Slow Sue and Nosey Norman?

  I quickly grabbed what I needed from the snack and bread aisles. I spotted a candy display near the registers and decided to splurge on a bag of candy corn. I’d loved the stuff since I was a kid. I grinned to myself as I thought back to how I would stick the candy to my incisors and pretend I had fangs.

  Too impatient to deal with Slow Sue, I chose the other register. I nodded at Nosy Norman and placed my items on the conveyor belt. He grabbed the chips and scanned them. “This is a surprise. Twice in one day. Must be a record.”

  “Uh-huh.” I nodded. If Norman, and yes that was his actual name, thought I was in the mood for a conversation he was sadly mistaken.

  My motto was: Get in. Get out. Get home.

  Norman frowned. “Will that be all for you, Beau?”

  “Yep.” I swiped my card as Norman bagged my groceries.

  I felt a little tap on my thigh, and I looked down. A cute little dark-headed boy grinned up at me. He couldn’t have been older than five. “I like your make-up. Who are you supposed to be? Nick Fury? Thor? Cyclops?”

  I frowned at the innocent and unexpected question. I was a lot of things but mean to small children wasn’t one of them. “Um. Th-th-thor?” The kid didn’t even blink at my stutter. Which, thank fuck, was not nearly as bad as it was right after the accident.

  “Cool! I like the Avengers. I’m gonna be Hawkeye tonight when we go trick or treating. He’s my favorite. We had to come get groceries first though. Mommy said.” He pointed to his mother. I recognized her although I couldn’t remember her name.

  “Beau,” she nodded at me.

  I returned the gesture. “Hi.”

  “Betty,” she supplied. My memory issues were known far and wide. Got to love a small town. “You went to school with my oldest brother Steve.”

  Steve. I remembered him. I wondered if he was still an arrogant asshole. “Right. Betty H-h-hoffer.”

  “Jameson now. Thanks for not…” She waved a hand at her own eye. “You know?”

  “Yeah, I do.” She flushed at my less than friendly tone. I grabbed my bags and left.

  The little boy called out to me just before I stepped through the automatic doors. “Bye, mister.”

  “See ya, kid.”

  I’d just passed the alley that ran between the thrift store and the ice cream shop when I heard a noise. I stopped, backed up a step, and listened. It happened again, only the bong was accompanied by a yowl followed by adolescent laughter. I should continue on my merry way. Ignore whatever the fuck was going on. I berated myself the entire way down the alley. I should mind my own fucking business. I wanted people to leave me alone. I should do the same. However, the gnawing feeling in my gut wouldn’t let go. I never ignored my gut. The alleyway opened to the employee parking area for the thrift store and surrounding shops. In the middle of the lot stood three teenage boys. I recognized them. I also knew they were up to no good.

  Fury licked at my veins when one of the three boys threw a rock at the little fury face peeking out around the blue dumpster in the corner. The cat let out another yowl and hiss.

  Motherfuckers.

  “What the h-h-hell is going on here?” I bellowed.

  The boys jumped and jerked around, terrified. Good.

  “W-w-why were you throwing rocks?”

  The boys stared at me. I wasn’t ashamed to say I used my size to intimidate them. Instilling a bit of fear in them would be a good thing for everyone.

  “N-n-no reason. Stutter much?” The Sumner kid snickered. The punk was sadly mistaken if he thought he could bait me with feigned bravado.

  I took a moment to control my emotions. My stutter was always more pronounced when I was angry or frustrated. “No reason? Really?”

  “We’re just having fun,” the Cullen boy muttered.

  “I could have sworn I heard a y-y-yowling terrified cat. I don’t th-think it was having fun.”

  The second the words left my mouth, the cat meowed as if say, “Deny it, assholes.”

  “W-want to try again?” I snarled at the boys. Two of the boys shook their heads while the other dropped a rock and kicked it away. “Is torturing hel-helpless animals the how kids in Maysville pass the time n-n-now?”

  I drew myself up to my full height. They took a hasty step backward.

  “Go home. I know who your pa-parents are and where you live, you little shits. If I ca-catch you bullying or attacking another l-living creature, animal or human, you won’t like how-how it ends.”

  I bit back a chuckle as the boys fell over each other trying to get away as fast as they could. I hoped they didn’t forget our encounter. Cruelty was a learned behavior. You had to nip those actions in the bud before they escalated. I wasn’t lying when I told them I knew their parents. Trust me. The apples didn’t fall far from the trees.

  I walked to the dumpster and peered into the shadows. I didn’t see anything. I used the flashlight app on my phone and checked again. Nothing. I got down on my hands and knees and looked under the metal bin and was met by a pair of glowing eyes.

  Chapter 3

  colby

  When, the man got down on his
hands and knees, Cat backed up further. Our butt hit something. We heard it wobble before it shattered. Shit. His eyes met ours. One hazel. The other milky white. A scar ran from above his right temple to his cheek bone then under his eye stopping just short of his nose. He was perfectly imperfect. He was beautiful.

  “Hey there little fella or girl. C-c-come on out. I won’t hurt you.”

  Cat edged forward and sniffed. We couldn’t scent the man over the odor coming from the dumpster. Our instincts and the fact that the man saved our furry ass from those rock throwing punks told us he was being truthful.

  We carefully climbed from under the blue metal structure and edged closer to the man, sniffing the hand he held out. Oh, he smelled good. Minty with a hint of citrus. Cat ran his nose along the man’s fingers then licked his thumb.

  The man chuckled. “You’re a big one, aren’t you?”

  “We are Maine Coon. Of course, we’re big. Humans.” Cat sniffed and stuck his nose in the air.

  The man ran his hand from the top of our head to the tip of our tail. We couldn’t get enough of his smell. The need to draw it in and roll around in it was almost obsessive. That’s when it hit us. Mate!

  Cat pushed between the man’s knees and shoved his nose in the man’s crotch where his scent was strongest.

  “He’s divine, Colby.” Cat rubbed his cheek against the man’s inner thigh, marking him as ours.

  “Wow. Frisky kitty.” The man chuckled. He picked us up and looked at our belly. “Correction, frisky boy.” He set us back on our feet and stood. “Well, you don’t look any worse for wear. Be good, little fella.”

  He picked up a grocery bag and walked away.

  “We aren’t letting him leave us behind, are we?”

  “Nope.” We followed the man. He paused when he realized we trotted along beside him.

  “What are you doing? G-go home.”

  We cocked our head and waited. The man huffed. “Whatever.”