Bear's Gold (Erotic Shifter Fairy Tales) (6 page)

Ever since his wife had died three
years ago during an attack by a Were-wolf pack that had attempted to move into
Den County, he had only one focus—take care of his sons. Injured, Cindy had
gotten their boys, two-years-old at the time, to the house where he had just
arrived from work. She hadn’t made it through the night and by the time he’d
rounded up a large group of Bear-males from the county the wolves hadn’t made
it through to the next week. Those that didn’t die were severely injured and ran
away with their tails tucked between their legs.

Two years ago, he hadn’t
participated in the winter festival to find a mate, because it was customary
after the loss of a spouse to wait a year. He had waited an additional year. Were-bears
mated for life, death was the only thing that separated them.

Tomorrow, Riley would be gone and
Friday he’d find a new mate. Someone he could depend on to protect and help
raise his cubs.

Back on all fours, he lumbered back
to his house. Only a couple hours remained before sunrise and he needed to
shower and get to bed. Bernie and Aubrey may sleep deep, but were up with the
sun like most young Were-bears.

Chapter
Four

Riley stretched her limbs as the
morning sun beamed into her face;
too bright.
After sleep filled with
dreams of a black bear and golden-brown bear and a sexy as hell man, she wanted
more shut eye. She pulled the blanket over her head.
What time was it?
Blindly, she stretched her right arm out to collect her cell phone from her
nightstand. Her arm waved around in open space. Frowning, she shoved the covers
off her face and looked toward her stand. However, it wasn’t there.

What the hell? Not only was her
nightstand not where it normally was, she wasn’t in her friend’s apartment at
all. Rolling onto her back, she stared at the room around her. Wood slats were
everywhere: bed, ceiling, floor, and walls.

“A cabin.” As the words left her
mouth, everything came flooding into her mind like a tsunami. Escape. Accident.
Light. Forest. Chase. House. Theo.
Theo!

His name echoed inside her head,
causing her body to shudder in memory. She had believed the pictures moving
through her mind as she slept had been an erotic dream brought on by
exhaustion. She’d been so tired and stressed in dealing with her ex. But that
had not been the case. The throbbing soreness of her body and especially her
sex assured her it had all been real. Fierce and wonderfully real, her body
taunted.

Dropping back onto the mattress into
sheets that smelled of her and Theo, unrestrained passion, she groaned.

“This can’t be happening.” She just
got out of a relationship months ago, and the last thing she needed was to find
herself falling into another one with a man she didn’t know. Why?

She questioned herself. Not, why not
date. That was clear to her. But, why did she even allow things to go as far as
they did. In her life, she’d never had a one night stand. Never slept with a
guy before three months. They were hard rules she lived by. Those self
boundaries had driven her ex crazy in the first few months of their
relationship, but he’d dated her and tricked her into believing he was the real
deal. It hadn’t been until they moved in together that she’d seen the true
Fred. In a rude and blatant fashion. That had been eight months ago and she’d
been attempting to get him out of her life ever since.

Now she had this problem on hand.
Theo Kodiak was a forest man who lived in a county in the middle of nowhere. He
had probably been lonely and happy to get some. Shaking her head, she wondered
how she’d let him know she had to leave.

“It’s been fun, but I’m a city
girl.” Or maybe, “Hey, stud, if you’re ever in my hometown, look me up.”

Shoving upright, she wasn’t looking
forward to any conversation. If she didn’t need him to take her into town, she
would sneak out and avoid the discussion all together.

She saw her clothes neatly folded at
the foot of the bed. It warmed her heart to see that he’d taken the time to
finish her clothes and bring them to her. Trying to stay away from him and
being exhausted from her ordeal, she’d completely forgotten that she was
supposed to move her clothes into the dryer, let alone get them out.

She got up. Looking down at her
naked form, she was surprised there weren’t bruises on her body as hard as Theo
had held her and as rough as he’d taken her.

You loved every minute of it.
Her body taunted.

She did. However, she’d have to be
satisfied with memories because there wouldn’t be any repeat performances.

Finding the discarded t-shirt, torn
down the front, on the floor across the room beside a rocking chair that sat
next to the window, she went and scooped it up. Pulling it on like a robe, she
crossed the edges over in the front as she took a moment to stare out the
window. Bright and sunny outside, the forest around the house looked appealing,
in a way that made her want to go for a hike if she had time and wasn’t trapped
in the county by happenstance with a sexy, virile male. She hadn’t hiked since
she was younger. Outside the window, she also noticed a navy blue pick-up on
the side of the house.

My ride to town and away from this
cabin.

Moving back to the bed, she picked
up the clean clothes and went to the door. Pulling it open a crack, she
listened. She could hear people talking, but they didn’t sound close. Opening the
door wider, she looked into the living room, it was empty. The voices she could
hear coming from the direction of the kitchen. With quiet steps, she moved to
the stairs and prayed she wouldn’t encounter anyone. She wasn’t even sure who
all lived in the house with Theo. The last thing she wanted to have to do is
explain her unkempt, sex dipped look.

Making it to the bathroom, she
sighed with relief as she closed the door behind her. She caught her first
glimpse of herself and she almost screamed. A mess.

She looked as if she’d been fucked
hard all night. Her hair was in full dry disarray, especially since she didn’t
have any way of wrapping it up and moisturizing it overnight, but her mouth
really told the story. Her lips were swollen and red, and there were whisker
burners around it that matched the ones along her neck.

Unable to stop the memory of how it
felt to be kissed with such abandoned and compelling passion, she moaned. This
forest man was too good.

Shaking away the thoughts, she made
haste in showering and making herself presentable.

~YH~

“Good morning!”

Theo felt Riley’s presence before
one of his son’s had called out to her. He could also smell her fragrance, but
he tried not to let it bother him that it was now the generic soap they used
instead of his scent. She’d washed it off. Another thing that declared she was
not Were and she wasn’t a good candidate for a taker. She would have reveled in
his scent instead of scrubbing her body until there was nothing of him left on
her. There was a way of cleansing that didn’t remove his scent. If she were his
mate, he would have dragged her into the nearest room and replaced it. But she
wasn’t.

Exhaling, he turned around from the
counter with his prepared coffee in hand.

“Hi,” came her hesitant greeting to
his two boys who were sitting at the table eating.

“My two sons, Auberon and Bernard.”
He lifted his coffee and sipped as he took in her fresh face. Her hair appeared
damp. She had pulled it back into a thick braid down her back. He preferred to
see it how it was when he’d gone into the guest room and set her clothes down,
wild and flared out over rumpled sheets.

“Everyone calls me Aubrey.” The
oldest twin gave the newcomer a toothless grin and shoved a biscuit into his
mouth.

“I’m Bernie.” His brother added.
“You want some of my porridge?” He held out a spoon with an oats and semolina
combination, raisins, honey and milk as it dripped from the utensil to the
floor.

“I can’t remember the last time I
ate…” Riley frowned at the food. “Hot cereal for breakfast.” She then winked at
both the boys. “I may have been…five?”

“Four.” Aubrey called out laughing, somehow
realizing she was jesting with them.

“Yes, four.” She smiled.

Theo swallowed down a gulp of hot
beverage. He hadn’t seen a smile on her face last night, and he was thankful
because the impact of it, even though it was not directed at him, was powerful thing
making him want to pull her into his arms and kiss her. Those lips that were
still just a little swollen from his kisses.

She finally shifted her gaze to him.
“Good morning.” She was rubbing her hands along her pants. Nervous.

He allowed his gaze to roam her
features, looking for signs of illness, nausea. Expected from his bite. Strange,
he didn’t pick up on any signs. “How did you sleep?”

She licked her lips.

He stifled a groan.

“Okay. Umm…pretty good.” Her eyes
flitted back to his boys, who were staring at her still then she glanced back
to Theo.

Theo could practically read her
thoughts. Last night they hadn’t held back. Riley had screamed multiple times
in climax as well as making continual pleasurable noises. His chest swelled at
recalling those sounds. “They slept fine. They’re both like logs once they’re
out.”

“My nieces and nephew are the same.
They might as well be hibernating.”

“They’re bears, too?” Bernie asked
with excitement.

“Why do they hibernate so early?”
Aubrey added.

“Umm.” Riley stared at his twins
perplexed. “No. It was a figure of spee—”

“How about a little breakfast?” Theo
called out, wanting to pull her attention away from his sons’ questions. They
didn’t really discuss their species with outsiders. Those that weren’t shifters
never understood and traditionally reacted with hysterical fear instead of
trying to understand their difference.

“I should probably check on my car.”

“I’ve already had it towed to Ruxpin’s.
He should know something by the time we get into town.”

“Thanks. I appreciate it.” A strange
look crossed her features.

Shock? Theo wondered. Wasn’t she
used to being cared for by the men in her life? Granted she wasn’t his, but
there was no way he would allow anyone under his roof to have a need he didn’t
fill; protection, safety, sex if she were his mate…anything. “It wasn’t a
problem. It’s how we work in Den County. So, what will you have?”

She glanced at the food on the
table.

“There’s more porridge or I can make
you smoked salmon frittata, one of my favorites.”

“I can just grab some toast and
coffee.” She moved away from the dining table and deeper into the kitchen.

“I’ll take care of it. You’re our
guest.” He pointed back to the table. It wasn’t that he was a kitchen hog. He
just didn’t want her any closer. In his personal space and making him desire
her more than he already did. He thought that last night had just been a
passing thing, built up on unexpended hormones from the last three years.
However, seeing her this morning was driving his blood into high gear.

When she found her way to a seat
beside Aubrey and across from Bernie, he sighed with relief. “Now, you can’t
only eat toast. It won’t hold you after…” He glanced at his sons to ensure she
got his message. “Your experience last night.”

Her face darkened some and she
rolled her bottom lip between her teeth. Message received.

“Then I don’t want to put you through
any trouble for me, porridge please.”

“You sure?” She hadn’t seemed that
fond of the common bear-style breakfast.

When she saw the wide grins on the
twins’ faces, she gave a little laugh. “Absolutely.”

He served her up a bowl of it, as he
brought her a cup of coffee, too. He claimed the seat at the other end of the
six person table, a seat separating them.

When she took her first bite of the
warm cereal, he watched the grimace on her face.

“You have to put honey in it,”
Aubrey instructed.

“Lots of honey,” Bernie chimed in
eagerly.

“Okay.” Reaching out to the small
honey pot in the center of the table, Riley scooped out the golden sweetener
and carefully added it to her bowl without dripping it onto the table. Stirring,
she tried it again and smiled.

“What do you think?” Aubrey asked,
eager to hear her approval of his suggestion.

“Hmm, now it’s just right.”

The moaning sound of her voice made
him recall the last thing that had felt ‘just right’ to him; being inside her.

The boys laughed.

“So is it just you three boys here?”
Riley was staring deeply into her breakfast as she stirred it idly.

“Yup.” Aubrey answered first.

“Just us men.” Bernie beat on his
small chest.

“Good,” was her only response.

Theo felt a little pissed at her
question. Did she really think that he was some kind of horny bear that would
have had sex with her if he had a woman?