Bear Flesh Delights

“Wow, you really outdid yourself with this basket,” Amelia chuckled when she saw what was inside. Roasted chicken, potato salad, corn on the cob, apple pie, and of course a bottle of white wine.

“Well, I figured you might need the energy by the time I was through with you,” Skylar teased her.

“Really?” she chuckled.

“You’re dreaming if you think I’m through with you, Miss Friar,” he said with a wicked grin. “As soon as we’re finished here, I’ll be up for round two.”

It took them a while to finish eating, and then they packed everything back to a little cabin just up the hill.

Skylar set down the table and Amelia set down the basket, and then she found herself in his arms again. “I don’t have to be to work for another three hours, you know,” he said with a grin.

“Yeah?” Amelia smirked.

“It doesn’t even take an hour to get back to your place.”

“That’s true, too,” she agreed.

“What do you say we try out this cabin first, and then we can try out your bed as well?” he teased.

“I say, what are we waiting for?” she replied with a smile.

Skylar ended up being late for work.

*****

It was early evening, and Amelia was back home again, working on her book. Despite everything going on, she had still managed to crank out a good thirty thousand words, and she felt really good about it. However, the story had gone from the sweet romance she had intended to a much spicier one. She wore a satisfied smirk as she finished up one hell of a hot love scene.

“I can certainly tell what you’ve been up to over the last twenty-four hours,” said an unwelcome voice from behind her. “You smell like those bears from a mile away.”

Amelia turned her head to glare at him. Deke Harper wore a disgusted frown as he stepped up behind her, his hot breath streaming down her neck. “I read that rubbish you’ve been churning out while you were gone yesterday, too. You’ll be lucky if you sell that book at all. It’s trite, overworked, and the plot is so contrived even a lovesick cow wouldn’t believe it.”

“I locked my door,” she said irritably. “That should have been enough of a hint that I didn’t want any company, don’t you think? What are you doing in here?”

“Perhaps they are giving out teaching diplomas to idiots these day, Miss Friar? Are you aware that it doesn’t do much good to lock a door if you just leave the key underneath the flower pot next to it?” he scoffed as he suddenly wrapped a hunk of her long, blond hair around his wrist and yanked her head backwards. “Why would you give yourself to both of them? One of them, I might have guessed at, but never both. You look like such a good girl.”

“It’s none of your business what I do,” Amelia hissed. “Now let go of me and get out of my house before I call the cops.”

“Oh, you want to call the cops?” he sneered. “Not thinking straight again, are you? I’m standing here, and the phone is way over there. How were you planning to reach it?”

“I told you to let go,” Amelia snapped, and panic began to work its way into her system.

“Didn’t I tell you to stay away from my woman?” Joe demanded hotly as he stepped into the cabin. His fist landed right on Deke’s jaw, knocking him to the floor. He pulled hard on Amelia’s hair as he went, and she shrieked with pain. The evil Harper boy yelped like a dog and ran out on all fours, but Amelia was too distracted by her pain to pay much attention to the strange action right that minute.

“What the heck is wrong with that guy anyway?” she demanded indignantly.

“It’s not you, sweetheart, they’re just mad at Skylar,” he explained.

“What for?”

“He’s been spearheading the campaign to keep Moosehead Lake from being incorporated and developed, among other things,” Joe explained. “He’s part of a team that reports on the environmental impact if certain proposed building sites are approved, and one of those proposals involved the sale of Harper’s land. He hoped for a big enough profit to buy a better place for himself and his clan.”

“Clan?” she repeated. “There’s that word again.”

“Well, yeah,” Joe said uncomfortably. “You know, like how he calls me and Skylar bears? It’s because we’re part of the Bear Clan. Theirs is called the Coyote Clan. It’s kind of complicated. Suffice it to say, bears and coyotes don’t particularly get along.”

“So, Skylar prevented Harper from selling out, and that’s why Harper is mad?”

“Pretty much,” Joe shrugged as he moved to embrace her from behind. “In any case, I’ve been telling you this place isn’t safe. I wonder if you’re beginning to believe me now.”

“I believed you before,” she told him irritably. “But still, my book isn’t quite finished, and I wanted to write it here.”

“Get your laptop,” he said decisively. “I’m taking you to my house. Don’t worry, though, I’ll put you in the spare bedroom. You can work in there.”

“Don’t I have a say in it?” Amelia complained as she crossed her arms over her chest.

“I’m not letting them harm you,” Joe insisted. “Do you really believe you can continue as you have been here? Look at me, Amelia. They have hurt other people, and they will hurt you too. Maybe even make you disappear just to get to Skylar. It isn’t safe to leave you here.”

“I could always return to the city,” she said, though the very idea cut deeply into her gut. The last thing she wanted now that she felt so alive thanks to Joe and Skylar, was to return to a place that had never really felt like home. She didn’t know yet if this place did feel like it, but so far she liked it a whole lot better. If it wasn’t for the Harpers, could she stay in Greenville indefinitely? Not in this cabin, that was certain.

But what if these two asked her to stay with them? Joe hadn’t asked her in so many words, but he’d certainly hinted at it with a hopeful grin in the midst of his teasing more than once. Her heart pounded harder at the thought of it–her living in the mountains with two hot men. Think what her mother would say about that!

Sighing as she went to grab her laptop, she tried to hide the confusion she knew must be evident on her face. This whole situation was just so alien to her. She had no idea just how far she should take things, and she sure as hell didn’t think she’d be able to find a job as a private school teacher out here.