Bear's Gold (Erotic Shifter Fairy Tales) (7 page)

When she shyly glanced over at him,
he had to remind himself that she didn’t know him at all. She didn’t know Were-bears
and how territorial they were, even the females. He pushed his annoyance aside.

“Papa said you were our guest for
today so we couldn’t make a lot of noise when we came down for breakfast.” Bernie
picked up his biscuit, shiny and sticky with a honey butter glaze and took a
large bite to finish it off.

“Thank you. I didn’t hear a thing.
Otherwise I would not have slept so late.”

“It’s only nine thirty.”

“Oh.” She ate another bite. “I’m an
up with the sun kind of person. That reminds me. Have you seen my cell phone?”

“It was in the bathroom on the
counter. I put it into your jacket pocket.” Theo continued to sip his coffee
and observe her. He knew he should be trying to find other things to occupy his
time until she was ready, but he couldn’t think of one.

She sipped her coffee that he’d
already sweetened. Riley didn’t appear to be a black coffee type of drinker.

“Good. A slightly different taste
but mild and a very nice blend. Better than the chain store I get mine from in
the morning.”

“It’s the honey.”

Setting her mug down, she said, “You
guys seem to use honey a lot.”

He shrugged. “It’s healthier and
strengthens the immune system.”

“Never thought about that. Sugar is
more convenient in most restaurants.” She took another drink.

“How did you get here?” Aubrey
finished off his last bit of biscuit.

He noticed Riley stayed away from
the biscuit pan on the table. So many human women counted their calories. Riley
was thick around the thighs and ass departments, but he hope she wasn’t one to
try and lose weight. He liked her just the way she was built.

Shaking himself mentally, Theo had
to remind himself she wasn’t his to like. After today, she was gone.

“I drove, but my car had an accident
and your father was good enough to let me stay the night.”

“Are you here for the
festival?”Bernie asked.

“No. I didn’t know anything about
it.” Riley took her last bit of cereal and raised her mug.

“She was just passing through,
boys.” Theo rose from the table and started collecting the dishes and carting
them to the sink.

“It’s the First Frost Moon festival!”

Theo listened to Aubrey babble on
about the food, games, and prizes as Theo cleared the counters and quickly
washed the dishes.

“Papa-Bear, Bernie is dipping in the
honey.”

Sure enough, when Theo turned around
to glance at his youngest twin, he saw that Bernie was wrist deep in the bowl
of honey and by the thick sap dripping from his chin it wasn’t his first dive.
“Son, get your hand out of the pot and when you finish licking it off, go wash
your hands.”

“You want me to get a napkin and
help him wipe it off?” Riley started to rise from her seat.

His twins whipped their heads in
Riley’s direction and stared at her as if she’d grown four heads and a tail.
Every bear cub was raised to respect and appreciate honey. It was never to be
wasted. The idea of washing any of it down the sink was practically sacrilege.

“Thanks, Riley. That’s not
necessary.” Theo gave her a small smile. “He can take care of it.”

And take care of it was what Bernie
did; in record time he had his hand licked clean and waved the spotless digits
at Riley before he jumped down from his chair and raced to the sink to cleanse
them.

Riley was still eyeing his son in
fascination.

“You ready to head out?” Theo waved
Aubrey over so he could wash off his face and hands.

“Um, yes. Thanks for breakfast.” She
stood and carried her mug to the counter beside the sink. “You guys really have
a
thing
for honey.”

“Of course we do. Everybody in Den
County loves honey.” Bernie was doing more playing in the water with his
brother.

Riley leaned over the boy’s heads
and set her cup in the empty side of the sink.

She was close to him now, and even
though the sink area was crowded for a moment, it didn’t stop his nose from
picking out Riley’s scent. His heart began to beat faster and he could feel his
blood begin to race through his veins heating his core. All he wanted was
another taste of her, to lick her body until he discovered the source of her
sweet and spicy scent once again.

He hadn’t realized that he’d leaned
toward her until Bernie patted his hip, saying, “Papa-Bear, you going to kiss
Ms. Riley?”

“Ewwww.” Aubrey scrunched up his
little nose.

Theo jerked back, breaking the
spell. However, he noticed that Riley was squirming a little and rubbing the
curve of her neck. He couldn’t really see the area because of the collar of her
shirt. But the urge to pull the material away and see how his mark looked on
her assailed him. Instead, he turned. “Time to go. Get your sweat shirts on,
boys.”

It was pure chaos for a moment in
the laundry room by the back door as the twins donned their matching green
pullovers and hustled out the door to greet the chilly day as they raced toward
the truck.

“Your jacket.” He took the small
coat from the hook and handed it to her.

“Thanks. I appreciate all your
help.” She dug inside one pocket and pulled out something small, round, and
wood, no bigger than a quarter. Taking a moment, she rubbed it with her thumb
then put it back then checked her other pocket for her cell phone. He watched
her check it to see if it had reception.

The disappointed look on her face
told him everything.

“You’re welcome. How are you feeling
this morning?” He didn’t want pleasantries with her, he wanted to pull her into
his arms and hold her warm supple body against him.

“I’m fine.” Her eyes traced the
features of his face then she looked away and sighed. “Last night…I don’t know
what came over me. I’m never like that.”

“Like what?” His hands clenched into
fists. He was doing his best to restrain himself from reaching out to her.

Her soft hazel eyes glanced at him
again, this time appearing just a little darker. “So, so…” She floundered as if
looking for the right word or was too afraid of voicing it.

“Hungry?”

She swallowed and closed her eyes
for a moment. “Yes.”

One simple word that in a strange
way told the story of the fierce need that had consumed them both and took them
past their comfort zone and into a moment of pure hunger, unadulterated bliss.

Inhaling deeply, Theo allowed
himself to take in her scent and feel her essence soak him internally like an
elixir. His bear scratched at his core, telling him to touch her, taste her.

Opening her eyes, she stared at him,
her breathing increased.

He gestured toward her neck. “About
the bite—”

“
It’s
fine.” She stepped back
from him, bumping into the door before she fumbled with the handle and freeing
herself from the small room and dashing into the sun.

“Fuck.”He shoved the door closed for
a moment and allowed himself a full growl. It wasn’t one of pain or anger, but
pent up pleasure.

Through the window, he saw her move
closer to his boys who were clamoring into the extended cab, excited and
unfazed, as Riley glanced in the direction of the forest. Protective.

That thought made his heart pound
behind his chest. Riley had a natural maternal instinct even for a set of twins
that weren't hers. She’d make a good mother.

Yup, it was time for him to get her
into town pronto.

Chapter
Five

“Hey, Theo!” A big man with broad
shoulders and hair that looked like a blend of cinnamon and sugar, came out of
the mechanic shop with a shingle hanging between two vehicle bays that read ‘Ruxpin
Fill and Fix Shop’ as they pulled up.

Theo got out first, Riley followed
with the boys filing out next.

She hadn’t seen much of anything but
trees as they made the thirty minute drive into town, the boys singing to
various songs on the radio. But now she could see a long street with several store
fronts and people milling around down the lane.

“Hi, Mr. Jack!” The twin’s chorus
rang out.

“Ruxpin.” Theo crossed the area to
the man and shook hands. “This is Riley. The owner of the car you grabbed for
me this morning.”

“Well, you are a pretty one.” He pulled
a rag out of his back pocket and wiped his hand before taking her offered one, then
smiled. Instead of shaking it like he did Theo’s, the mechanic bent slightly
forward, brought it to his nose and sniffed.

Arching an eyebrow, she stared from
the top of the older man’s head to Theo.

Theo kept his face a stoic mask.
“Come on now, Ruxpin, show some manners to an outsider. What would Leona say if
she knew you were sniffing around another woman?”

“A younger one at that.” The older
man chuckled and let her hand go.

That wasn’t what she thought Theo
would have said, but she pushed the awkward moment aside.

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Ruxpin.”

“Nope, call me Jack.” He gave her a
big friendly grin.

Riley couldn’t help but return it.

“How’s the car looking?” Theo gestured
toward the trunk of the silver sedan sticking out of the bay.

“Ah, there’s a few things wrong with
it from kissing that tree last night.” Jack led the way into the bay.

Riley stared at her precious car
with the front lifted two feet from the ground. The first car she’d bought on
her own and paid for in full. Three years since she owned it out right, now it
had seen better days. “Can you fix it?”

Jack gave her a smile and a wink.
“There hasn’t been a car made I can’t fix.”

“When do you foresee it being done?”
Theo asked.

“See, in that lies the problem.
We’re not just talking about it needing four new tires, not just the one that
blew out. A new rim, too, mind you. But, a front end, lights and her radiator
was cracked real good when it met with that tree.”

“A few hours…” Riley wasn’t trying
to rush the guy, but she really needed to get back on the road and soon. Thank
Theo and his sons for their hospitality and gain her sanity back through every
mile she was away from the big, intense, and mysterious man.

“More like days.” Jack frowned,
giving her an odd look as if her head wasn’t screwed on tight.

“Days!” Riley knew her voice was
elevated, but she was too shocked to do anything about it at the moment. “Why?
I thought you could fix anything. Do you need a hand…I can pitch in. Just tell
me what to—”

Theo reached over and placed his
hand on her shoulder. His touch was calming to her and that was something else
that was making her feel anxious.

“What’s the problem, Jack?” He
removed his hand.

Folding his arms over his chest,
Jack gave Riley an apologetic look then focused his gaze back to Theo. “The
festival. Plain and simple. I can head to the city and pick up most of the
things needed. The radiator I’ll have to order. I doubt it can get in overnight
and you know what happens to town during this time.”

Watching, Riley noticed some kind of
look being exchanged between Theo and Jack, something she couldn’t put her
finger on. “What happens?”

Theo’s dark eyes captured hers. “The
roads leading to town are closed off. No visitors.”

Running her hands over her head,
Riley felt exasperated. Damn small town. This could not be happening. She
recalled the boys talking about some event earlier. “Okay, so there’s a First
Frost Ball Fes—”

“First Frost Moon,” Theo corrected.

“Ball. Moon. I don’t care. I just
want my car fixed so I can go.” Riley scrubbed her hands over her face in
frustration.

“Why do you want to leave, Ms.
Riley? Don’t you like us?” Aubrey asked.

“We'll give you more honey.” Bernie
chimed in.

She looked at the two little faces
as they stood on the other side of the open hood. Just moments ago, the twins
had been staring inside as if they could determine what was wrong with it. “I like
you two a lot. It’s just that I was headed to see my family.”

“Guess they're missing you?” Theo’s
husky voice was low, barely audible.

Glancing at him, she confessed,
“Actually, only my brother. I told him I’d be headed to his house. My parents
and older sister don’t know I’m coming in.”

That was the truth. She hadn’t
wanted to discuss with her parents about the failings of her relationship with
Fred.

Theo gave one brisk nod.

“Isn’t there anything you can do?”
Riley didn’t attempt to control the pleading in her voice.

Jack eyed her for a moment then
looked at Theo again; finally the older man let out a heavy sigh. “I’ll see
what I can do. I’ll put out some feelers through my connections and see what I
can come up with.”