Bear's Gold (Erotic Shifter Fairy Tales) (13 page)

“I went looking for a tree ornament
apparently.” Riley moved to the back seat and opened the door. Wiggling out the
top box that was wedged in with other boxes and bags, she set it on the ground
by her feet. Squatting down, she pulled the flaps back and peered inside.

Fred shuffled his feet beside her.
“Is it in there?”

Turning her head to the side, she
stared up at him. “Give me a second.” Looking back to the box, she moved some
things around. “No, this is books. It must be in the other one.”

“You want me to get it out?” Fred
stepped forward.

She noted Theo moving toward the
back of her trunk and leaning on it, Jack beside him.

“I want you to calm down.” She took
a deep breath and slid the other box out and set it on top of the first one. Inside
was a mixture of items, old cds, photos, hats, and the figurine. Riley lifted
the paper wrapped bundle out, the size of her hand, and peeled away the
covering. Seeing the colorful ceramic made her think fondly of the little hands
that had painted it. At the bottom of the miniature, she noticed a screw sized
hole in the bottom that she had missed while hurriedly packing to leave her ex.
Inside the hole, she could barely make out the edges of paper. “How did you fit
it into such a sma—”

Fred reached in and snatched the
item out of the wrapping and her hands before she could finish speaking.

She thought he would shake out what
was inside or ask Jack for something to get it, but to her horror Fred raised
and threw the object on the ground, smashing it into pieces—a broken ceramic rainbow
littered the cement floor of the garage.

“No! You ass!” Riley picked up a
piece that landed by her knee. Fred had destroyed so much for her in the one
thoughtless act.

Scooping the tightly rolled paper up
from the ground with a triumphant smile, Fred looked at her. “It was just a
stupid, cheap dust collector.”

Hearing the lack of sympathy in his
voice enraged her. Riley launched up from the floor and smacked him, forgetting
she still held a piece of the statue in her hand until she saw the blood
streaming out of a cut.

Placing his hand on his cheek and
removing it to see the crimson fluid on his fingers, Fred’s face pinched into
anger. Moving toward her, he ranted, “You bitch! I should—”

“If you touch her I will break your
hands off and beat the shit out of you with them.” Theo hadn’t moved. He was
still leaning casually against the trunk of her car by Jack. However, those
dark intense eyes appeared hard and black as coal as they locked onto Fred
waiting for him to move.  

A foot away from her, Fred shifted
his gaze to the domineering man. She noted Fred’s blue eyes brightening with
apprehension and a single shiver shake his tall thin frame. Hiding it quickly,
he glanced back at her, his gaze rolling from her face to her feet and he
sneered; curling the corner of his lips down.

“I got what I came for. You enjoy
your life in this nothing little town.”He took two steps back and squeezed his
fist around the paper. He headed past Theo. “If you want her, you can have her.
She was a terrible lay anyway.”

“Kiss my ass, Fred, and stay the
hell out of my life.” She followed Fred out of the wide garage doors. It was on
the tip of her tongue to tell him how unbridled her passion was in the arms of
a real man—Theo. However, she didn’t want to share something so intimate with
her ex. Sharing would mean she cared about Fred’s opinion and she didn’t.

Thankfully, Theo, who came to stand
beside her and rested a warm, strong hand on her shoulder, remained silent as
well. They both just watched Fred give them a sloppy salute as his quick
strides moved in the direction away from town and back toward the main road.
The place she hoped a tree had fallen on his car. Immediately she took the
thought back, because that would mean he would be trapped in this town for days
with her and she just wanted rid of him for good.

“You okay?” He tightened his fingers
around the curve of her shoulder.

Taking a moment to lean against him,
absorb his strength, she inhaled; claiming his woodsy, musk as her balm. Theo
steadied her senses. She didn’t want to analyze why that was. She just accepted
it for the moment. “I’m fine. Just fine.”

“That man was a real piece of work.
Not sure how someone as sweet as you got mixed up with that insulting ass.” Jack
scratched his head as Fred disappeared around the last corner.

“Neither am I. But now it’s over.”
She released a heavy sigh and step out from under Theo’s arm. Her body ached
with the loss, but she took another step away to firm up her resolve.

“For you, but I doubt the same is
true for him… With those codes, he’s playing with the wrong people’s money. I
don’t see it ending well.”  Theo was no longer touching her, but his dark gaze
still held her as he glanced along her body as if ensure himself she was
unharmed. “If the bastard ever contacts you again, while you’re here, or after…
You let me know.”

The deep timber of his voice assured
her he was serious. Heat infused her body and made her fingers and toes tingle.
This strong man protected what was his, and somehow he’d included her under
that umbrella and she was awed. No one but her family had ever done that.

Unable to speak because of the
emotion welling up in her throat, she just nodded and turned to Jack.
Swallowing hard, she took a fortifying breath and said, “Jack, sorry I brought
all this commotion to your shop.”

“Think nothing of it.” He waved it
away. “Give me until sometime tomorrow and we’ll see where things sit with your
car.”

“Thanks.” She gave him a quick hug
and then turned to head back to the fairgrounds.

Behind her, she could hear Theo and
Jack talking, but within minutes, she found her walk accompanied by Theo’s long
strides. The imposing man beside her remained silent and she was glad. There
were too many thoughts running in her head, things she needed to think about
and things she should be thinking about tumbled in her mind. When she got to
her parents house, she would be switching her cell service immediately. It
sickened her to know all this time she had thought she had the upper hand and
was running away from Fred, he’d known her whereabouts at all times. Fred was
now out of her life for good.

She let out a long slow steady
breath. It was time for her to get focused on what she wanted for her life. Tomorrow
she would be leaving this town, back onto the pathway of her future, which just
left her tonight.

Chapter
Nine

“I love you, little bears.” Theo kissed
both his boys on the crown as they headed up the stairs one by one in front of
Riley.

“Night, Papa-Bear,” they chorused
together as they stifled yawns with their small hands.

He glanced at Riley. “Thanks for
reading to them again. I know you’ve had a rough day as well.”

This was his only reference to the
asshole, Fred, all day. Riley hadn’t seemed to want to discuss it, so he left
it alone.

“Being with them makes it all go
away.” She gave him a smile, the corners of it still faltered a little, he
assumed from the stress of the day she was trying to deny.

“I’ll be back shortly.” He backed up
toward the kitchen, unsure why he’d told her that he’d be returning soon. Over
the past four days, she was always asleep and locked tight inside the guestroom
when he returned—for both of their good.

“Okay.” She gave him a dainty finger
wave as she followed the boys up to their room.

There was nothing more needed to be
said, or that he could come up with to stall the moment, so he turned and went
into the kitchen to the back door.

Outside he stood in the shadows of
his back porch like he did since Riley came to stay with them, and removed his
clothing. He needed this run tonight more than any other. This afternoon he’d
been so pissed at the audacity of Riley’s ex touching her for any reason,
especially in anger, that he wanted to kill the man. To shift and tear his
teeth into the bastard and not stop until he had drug the man through the woods
and off a cliff that led into a deep ravine. Even now, rage still laced his
veins.

He needed this run. Needed to put
some space between him and Riley, because his desire for her was at an almost
unbearable level. The drive to protect her against another man ignited his
desire to claim and mark her as his. However she wasn’t his. Would never be
his. Most likely, she would be leaving tomorrow and never returning. He
couldn’t risk giving her the second bite; it would bind her to him. He’d made
an error in letting his bear take over the last time and sinking his teeth into
her, now that one bite had caused them to mind-link during sex—normally not
happening until after the second. He could only imagine what would happen if he
marked her again.

One more night. All he needed to do
was to make it through this night and his life would go back to normal and he
could forget her.

Liar
.

Exhaling loud, he shifted. Feeling
the sting and pull in his bones and muscles was a welcomed sensation. He loved
being in bear form, at times more than he liked being in human form. He took a
moment to drag in the cool night air into his lungs; smelling the rich earth,
the animals, and insects that moved in the night.

Immediately, he lumbered to his
favorite redwood and pressed his back against it, moving up and down, giving
himself a good scratch. The rough bark digging deep into his back was
enjoyable, but not satisfying. The itch that he most wanted scratched, the one
place that disturbed him more than any other, was in another area of his body.
He knew only one person could satisfy it.

His mind taunted him, showing him
images of he and Riley having sex. His mind recalled how it felt to take her,
deep and hard. Feeling her tight wetness submit and coat his dick. His groan
shook his body.

Riley was not for him. He needed to
leave her alone.

Dropping back on all fours, his mood
lower than it had been moments before, he raced off into the woods. Determined
not only to check the security of his property but to stay away until he knew
he had himself under control.

It will be a long run.

~YH~

“Good night, little ones.” Riley
rose from the chair that sat against the wall in between the twins’ beds. They
were fast asleep and had been before she’d gotten more than two pages into the
book. With all the games, activities, and excitement of the festival in town
they were wiped out like every night this week.

Tomorrow would be more of the same
for the townspeople. Most likely her last day in Den. After today’s events with
Fred, she just wanted to give Theo and his boys back the serenity of their life
before she’d encroached upon it.

Leaving the room, she closed the
door firmly behind her. Going downstairs, she straightened up the kitchen. Normally
she would rush to her room and to bed before Theo returned from his security
walk around the property—keeping away from the windows.

However, tonight was different. She
took her time washing, drying, and putting away the ice cream bowls and drink
glasses they’d used while watching another kid’s movie—a classic about a boy reared
in the jungle by animals. She didn’t fool herself about the reason she was loitering
around in the kitchen; she was waiting for Theo.

An hour later, sooner than most
nights, he returned. She heard the back door open on the other side of the
laundry room, and moments later Theo was in the kitchen.

With her back to him, she stood at
the counter wiping it down, but she knew he was there. She could feel his
presence even though he didn’t say anything.

Her body responded without seeing
him; increased heart rate, throbbing nipples, sex and oddly enough her wrist
and shoulder were both aching. The last two boggled her mind, but she didn’t
want to decipher those tonight. She had one goal and the six foot beast of a
man was it.

“You’re still up.”

Was that disappointment or curiosity
about her actions in his voice?

“I thought I’d wait for you.” Tossing
the sponge to the back of the sink, she pasted a benevolent smile on her face
and turned to face him. When she saw him standing there in his old jeans and
t-shirt looking sexy and dangerous, her smile faltered. She couldn’t play coy
with this man.

His gaze caressed her face. “Why?”

Nervous, she brushed her fingers
over the dangling curls of her ponytails and pulled them over one shoulder.
“Talk about today.”

“What about it?” His face set in a
stone mask made it hard for her to get a read on what he was thinking.

Dropping her hands, she rubbed her
palms across her thighs. Under her right palm, she could feel the tear in her
jeans from her kickball accident. For a brief second she wondered why there was
no soreness there as well. She pushed those thoughts aside. “I want to
apologize again for the crazy day. Uh…Fred coming and—”

He swiped his hand through the air.
“You don’t need to apologize for a man being an ass.”