Bear Flesh Delights

“What did you do to her?” Judy wanted to know.

“Bested her in a contest, I guess you’d say,” Skylar shrugged. Amelia could tell by the look on his face that the answer was intentionally vague, but it was obvious the man didn’t want to say much more about it, so they didn’t pry.

“Oh great,” said Joe as he looked across the room. “The Harper brothers are here.”

“Yes, they are,” Skylar agreed, his deep brown eyes alight with caution. “I doubt they’ll cause any trouble right now, though. They wouldn’t want to get their sister fired from this job, too. They need the income too much after their father had to pay that huge fine last year.”

“I take it you and the Harpers don’t get along?” asked Amelia.

“Not in particular,” Joe said with a nod. “It’s mostly them causing the trouble and us stopping it, truth be told. We’ve sort of made it our mission in life to keep them from harming folks around these parts, if you take my meaning. They seem to think they’ve got a right to boss everyone around, and we disagree.”

Judy rolled her eyes. “Are they really all that bad? I mean, sure Deke and Zach are a couple of jerks, but not Seth. He doesn’t seem nearly as bad as the others. Besides, causing a bit of trouble for folks here and there is just boys being boys.”

“Somebody’s crushing on a certain Harper boy pretty hard, aren’t they?” Joe chuckled. “Well, he’s right over there, Miss Bench. Why don’t you go ask him to dance? At least if his attention is fixed on you he’s less likely to impose it someplace else.”

“Funny,” Judy grumbled. “But you know what, I think I just might do that.”

“Careful of the other two if you do,” Joe warned her as she stepped away. “Folks in these parts really like to share.”

“Share?” Amelia mouthed, her eyebrows shooting up at the thought.

“Yeah, you know, as in more than one partner?” Joe teased her, his eyes sparkling with interest at the concept in a way that shot heat straight down to her loins. Her mind immediately got the mental image of sharing with these two, and her cheeks suffused with red-hot heat as her pulse went wild. She was able to visualize that way too easily for her own good.

“I see,” she said with a nod. The television suddenly became very interesting as she glued her eyes to it. It was a fishing show, and the guy had just caught one.

“Maybe you’d like to dance, too?” Joe asked her then.

Amelia looked at him again, smiling. “I think I’d like to,” she agreed, and Joe stepped around to her side of the table to take her hand and lead her onto the floor. Right that moment, a slow song started to play, and they smirked at each other as they moved into each other’s arms and began to sway.

“Good ol’ Dale,” Joe said. “He really knows how to look after his friends.”

“You think he did it on purpose?” Amelia asked with a chuckle.

“Of course he did,” he told her. “I’d do the same for him.”

They returned to their seats at the table. Joe gave her hand a little squeeze before he returned to his chair, and Amelia cast him a little grin. She had liked being in his arms very much.

Ashley watched this entire exchange with a little frown, then she stood up and stalked away, headed for the bathroom. By the way she did it, Amelia suspected she was jealous and was headed off to seethe. However, since she was still reeling on a level that seemed almost invigorating, Amelia couldn’t find it within herself to particularly care.

Skylar, who was still seated in the chair by her side, leaned forward and said into her ear, “So, you like dancing. Do you like fishing too?”

“I don’t know, actually,” she admitted. “I’ve never been.”

“Would you like to try it?” he wanted to know. “We’re going to need a few fish for the beach party tomorrow, but they are easier to catch in the early morning at the smaller lake. If you want to go with me, we’d have to leave around three.”

“Sure, why not?” she answered, smiling back at him.

“Don’t oversleep then,” he smirked as he leaned closer still. His lips brushed her ear as he added, “You wouldn’t want me to have to come into your bedroom to wake you up, would you?”

Amelia’s libido kicked into overdrive. The trouble was, she couldn’t make up her mind which of the two men had done the kicking. Joe, with his threesome talk and conveniently timed slow dancing, or Skylar when he had leaned in, his hot breath and suggestive words flaying her neck and ear with searing heat. She was suddenly so wet between her thighs she needed to go to the restroom just to dry herself off. Which was a completely new experience for her, to say the least. She hadn’t ever found one man who could do that to her, and now all of a sudden she had suddenly found two. Interesting.

“Excuse me, you two, won’t you?” she said as she got to her feet. “I need to find the little girl’s room myself now. And check on Ashley, since Judy is clearly too busy dancing with Seth Harper to do it herself.”

“Judy has always been a bit foolish,” Skylar conceded.

“I’m sure that Ashley will be just fine,” Joe added.

“Yeah, no doubt,” Amelia agreed, and she felt an unaccountable pang of jealousy course through her when she heard him speaking another woman’s name. She shrugged off the sensation and went into the bathroom. Ashley was sitting in one of the stalls with the door hanging wide open. She’d gotten a bottle of scotch from somewhere which she was currently drinking with unreserved abandon.

“What are you doing?” Amelia asked, shaking her head at her foolishness.

“Getting totally hammered, of course. Joe really seems to like you, huh?” she asked, her words slurred as she sat forward on the toilet and set the bottle on the floor. “I finally get him to pay attention to me, but it isn’t me he’s paying attention to at all. I guess those are the breaks, right?”

“I–um, don’t you think you’re overreacting, Ashley?” Amelia wanted to know. “We were only dancing.”

“Of course I’m overreacting,” she said. “With him, everything I have ever felt is an over-reaction, yeah? And I’ve finally realized he’ll just never feel that way too. And there’s nothing I can do to change that. I’ve been an idiot all this time thinking maybe we would have a someday, but it’s never gonna happen.”

“And you’re getting all this just from the fact he and I had a slightly flirty conversation?” Amelia asked curiously. “Well, I have to admit to you, I liked it. Very much. I’m not going to lie about that. I enjoyed dancing with him, too.”

“I think I’m going to just go home,” she sighed. “Coming here was a really bad idea. And besides, Judy doesn’t look like she’s going to come home until much later—if at all.”

“You can’t do that in your condition,” Amelia pointed out. “We should ask Joe or Skylar to bring you back. Maybe it might be better if you asked Skylar considering your current state of emotions.”