Bear's Gold (Erotic Shifter Fairy Tales) (11 page)

 That image sharing wasn’t new to
him. Just like with all Were-couples. He and his deceased wife had the mental
link as well. He expected to have it again when he took another mate.

But it should not be happening with
Riley. More importantly, he shouldn’t have bitten her. Strangely enough, she
hadn’t caught Were-fever. Maybe enough of his essence hadn’t entered her
system. Whatever the reason he needed to restrain himself around her and keep
his distance, just in case, because a second bite regardless would cause her to
begin to take on Were traits. The third and final bite, his saliva entering her
blood stream, would complete it. Riley’s presence was temporary.

Putting on his pants and shirt he
hid in the shadow of the back porch then went inside. Quickly moving past the
guest room door, ignoring the tug of his bear, he went up the stairs and to the
shower. He didn’t stop moving until icy cold water ran down his body.

Calm and under control. That was
what he reminded himself. He just had to make it until she left. Then Friday
night he would participate in the hunt like every other available bear male,
seeking a Were-female to celebrate in the First Frost Moon with him. They would
exert themselves sexually and physically, possibly have a mate connection and
then he’d take another wife.

And Riley would be long gone, away
from his body and out of his mind.

Exiting the bathroom, he was struck
by her heady, spicy scent. He could almost feel his eyes shifting to gold as
his vision began to narrow. Before he lost his mind completely to his bear’s
lust, he went back into the bathroom to the icy water.

Three showers later and four
releases, he was finally able to go to bed and allow sleep to claim him.

~YH~

“Nineteen to eighteen. Come on,
Bernie, you can do it!” Riley chanted, two days later, with the other members
of the kickball team playing on Theo’s side.  The other team, also filled with
men, women and children, was led by a man name Gordon. A guy Riley had learned
was just as competitive as Theo. At one point in the game the man and Theo had
been toe to toe over a call by the referee. The tensions were high in the
community kickball game.

Now the bases were loaded and Riley
was on third base hoping to make it home for the winning point. The rest of
their basemen would just be icing if they made it in. Keeping the toe of one shoe
on the base, she eyed Bernie at home plate ready to kick the ball. Being just a
tiny guy, she knew his kick would not go far, so it would take all of her
running skills to make it in.

The pitch went out, slowly. It
seemed as if Riley and everyone else watched the ball roll an inch at a time.
Finally, it arrived and Bernie’s small foot came out, connecting with the ball.
He expertly sent a grounder spinning between the pitcher, Shayna Grizwald, and
first base. Mostly likely, the little guy wouldn’t make it to first base
without getting out, but Riley on the other hand had a chance to get to home
plate if they went after Bernie first. Riley took off.

The cheers began from Theo’s team,
her team, first for Bernie to run. Then it shifted with roars of excitement and
encouragement with her name. Home plate was getting closer, and she could feel her
own thrill knowing she would soon cross it, giving their team the winning
point.

Halfway to home plate, she suddenly
began to hear pounding feet among the chants and a movement at the corner of
her eye caught her attention. Turning her head, she saw the youngest Grizwald
daughter barreling toward her. Her heart, which was already pumping hard, gave
a jolt and she almost paused at the determined look on the other woman’s face.
Somehow, Shayna, who must have scooped up the grounder, had opted not to go
after four-year-old Bernie. Instead, the pitcher had decided she wanted to stop
the last point for Theo’s team—Riley.

Just as resolute to get to home
plate as the other woman was in getting her, Riley pressed hard against the
dirt ground of the cleared field and pumped her legs and arms with all her
might. Theo was standing behind the referee waving his arms fiercely toward the
base, as if he could help pull her along. Riley felt the adrenaline surging
through her veins. 

Shayna had the red ball stretched
out aimed at her. Riley was sure that at the speed both of them were running, Shayna
would tag her at the same time she touched the plate making the referee have to
make the call.

Three steps from the plate, Riley
made a split decision. Something she hadn’t done since her years of softball in
high school. Something she possibly should have reconsidered, but it was too
late. Seeing Shayna was aiming high, Riley dropped her body low and kicked her
feet out, using her forward momentum to propel her sliding body to home.

Shocked, the pitcher tumbled over
Riley, missing her as Riley skidded into home plate.

Three things happened; her team
began cheering ‘we won’, Gordon’s team kicked up dust in disappointment and
Riley’s thigh started burning.

Before she could investigate, Theo
scooped her up off the ground.

“Riley, you did it! That was
beautiful.”

Being in his embrace felt wonderful.
The feel of his strong arms and the smell of his woodsy musk were almost enough
to stop her mind from thinking about the stinging in her leg.

Unable to hold back her wince of
pain as everyone on her team crashed her against Theo in an exuberant hug. 

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Theo pushed her
away and looked into her face.

“Nothing serious. I think I’ve given
myself a nice case of road rash.” Glancing down, she saw her jeans had a small
tear in them and a whole lot of dirt.

“Are you alright?” Concern marred
his features, making his eyes seem more dark and intense.

The look was causing her heart rate
to pick up again. This time from the thrill of having that heated gaze on her
more than the excitement of the game.

Stepping back, she took a deep
breath. “I’m fine. It’s not my first home plate badge. I just need to rinse it
out.”

“Let me take you to the first aid
tent.” Theo reached out to take hold of her arm.

She moved away from the jubilant
circle and out of his reach.

His scowl deepened when he saw how
she avoided his touch.

She didn’t care. She needed to keep
her distance from him. Theo was a handsome and captivating man. Just being
close to him was causing lustful things to happen to her body, having him touch
her was driving her nuts. No matter that they were in the midst of so many
other townspeople, players and observers.

“Just point me in the direction. You
stay and celebrate.” Riley waited.

Theo’s face showed his indecision,
his eyebrows pulled to the center and he stared at her.

She wasn’t going to think that he
was feeling the same pull and attraction toward her that she was experiencing.
Not wanting to be away from him, but she had to maintain their distance. Hopefully
in a day or two she would be gone. No need to encourage what couldn’t be. 

Finally, he said, “Head back around
the bleachers toward town. You will see a white tent. That’s it.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

He started to say something else,
but Riley wasted no time in turning in the direction he had indicated. Moving
quickly around the metal bleachers and weaving her way past townsfolk starting
up the next events—bobbing for apples, cake walk, trampoline jump for kids, and
other small town activities—Riley kept to herself.

Soon she found the white tent in a
line with other tents she recalled passing on their way to the field. People
were selling various craft items from knitted afghans to canned preserves. One
lady was selling honey spiced peach pie that practically halted Riley in her
tracks.

“You want to try some?” The older
black lady smiled at Riley, holding up a taster plate.

The smell of honey was so strong
Riley could swear the air around her became sticky. Her mouth began to salivate
and her stomach started to ache, taking over the throbbing of her thigh. It
took all of her strength to shake her head. “If I start eating some, I don’t
think I’d be able to stop. But, I will come back by, I promise.”

“No worries, dear, all of us have
the same problem. We just can’t resist the honey.”

What was it with honey and this
town?

Nodding, Riley stepped toward the
white tent quickly. A woman was sitting inside reading a book; she looked up
when Riley entered.

“Yes, my first patient.” The woman
with pale skin and short black hair smiled as she stood. “Probably my only.”

Returning the woman’s smile, Riley
moved closer. “I hope that is because no one else is as crazy as I am to go
sliding around the ground.”

“Take a seat on the table and let me
have a look.” The woman patted the pop-up padded table.

Getting up, Riley was not looking
forward to all of the bruising that came after a slide. She could already feel
the blood that had oozed out was drying and sticking to her pants. The cut
wasn’t going to be pretty. But she could not push aside the pride of scoring
the winning point for Theo’s team. It didn’t take a genius to realize there was
no love lost between Theo and Gordon. They were rivals.

Leaning over her leg, the woman
stared down at the rip in the jeans. “Let me clean it up…it doesn’t look so
bad.”

Not look so bad? Riley wondered at
the woman’s expertise. True the injury wasn’t throbbing as bad as it had been a
few moments ago on the field. But, the rocks and gravel had torn through her
jeans, so it had to be a pretty severe cut. Hell, the thigh of her jean had a
large amount of red that stained it.

“You a doctor or a nurse?” Riley
wanted to verify the woman’s credentials. After three seasons of softball in
high school, Riley knew what injuries felt like; from small sprains to deep
cuts. This one was deep.

The woman dug inside of a case that
didn’t look to Riley as if it held more than different size band-aids, swabs of
cotton and a large bottle of antiseptic.

“I’m not in the medical field at
all.” The woman turned back to her holding peroxide and a square cotton pad.

“Not medical?” Riley held up her
hand. “Did I come to the wrong tent?”

Laughing, the woman said, “No. You
are in the right place. We do have a doctor in town, but Doc Paddington sticks
to birth and other serious emergencies. I’m Kaley Yogi one of three teachers in
Den County.”

“A teacher?” Riley fell silent. What
kind of pop-up clinic was this?

“Yep. Since I handle the elementary
age kids, I come in contact with a lot of minor bruises and scrapes, so I usually
get designated to handle the first aid tent for the festival in the fall and
the birthing celebration mid-Spring. Not a lot of people stay wounded long.”

That was a strange way to put it.

“This may sting a second.” Kaley
came to Riley and poured the antiseptic on and around the injury site then used
the pad to dab it and added cream from a tube. “It will not only clean your
scratch but keep the blood from staining your jeans too.”

“Scratch?” Riley glanced at the
tear, ready to contradict the woman again when she noticed that there was a
cut, but just like the woman said it was just a superficial scratch. Perplexed,
Riley tried to figure out how such a small wound could have bled so much. “I
don’t understand.”

“Everyone around here heals fast,”
Kaley said returning to her case. “You want a Band-Aid?”

Shaking her head, Riley couldn’t
take her eyes off of the cut.

“You must be new to town?”

“Not new. Just passing through.”

Now Kaley was frowning. “Passing
through. Hm. Didn’t scent that.”

Scent
? “You mean through the rumor mill.
I’m sure in a small town like Den everyone is talking about the visitor.”
Hopping down, Riley held out her hand. In the last twenty-four hours, she’d
learned quickly not to extend her hand to the men in town, they had a sniffing
problem. “I’m Riley Gold.”

“Nice to meet you.” Kaley shook her
hand.

“I understand what you mean by you
handle a lot of scrapes.”

“You teach?” Kaley’s eyes became
bright with excitement.

“Pre-K. Mostly in daycares have been
my experience.”

“Excellent. We don’t have many in
Den, but then we don’t have a large flood of kids either. Pre-K. Too bad you’re
just visiting.”

“Yeah,” Riley agreed. For the first
time since wrecking her car and being stuck in the county, she didn’t feel like
a fish out of water. Talking about school and kids was her passion.

“Riley!”

She and Kaley were standing outside
of the tent still talking when Riley heard someone call her name. Turning
toward the street that lead back to town, Riley’s heart leaped into her throat.
Fred, her ex, was barreling down the lane toward her.

Shit, how did he find me?

“Riley…I need to talk to you.”