by Leona Orsino
RIDING ME BEAR
Leona Orsino
Copyright 2015
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, dialogue, and everything else are products of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to people or events, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
NOTICE, WARNING, DISCLAIMER, AND ALL THAT:
All participants are 18+, 100% willing, not blood related, 100% human during sex, get good grades, wash their hands after using the bathroom, help old ladies cross the street, yada yada yada…
Brought to you by…
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I was half-blind in a quarter-moon night. Thick black coated wolves shimmered silvery as they stalked a circle around me. Their paws shuffled sand slowly through the desert, laughter as breath through flared nostrils. Dark lips curled a smile over razor canines, their all-too-human eyes flashing hunger.
Somewhere in the back of my mind, tucked behind the gut-punch dread, I thought how nice the cool air smelled—fresh and fragrant. Maybe that’s what they call a defense mechanism. Maybe my brain was giving up. Make the girl comfortable before she dies, my brain said. It’s the only defense I had.
Maybe I should have just stayed where I was. Maybe I should have just followed through with what I'd come all the way out to this godforsaken desert for in the first place. That was always a problem for me—follow through. Surely bears were better than wolves?
Then again, it wasn't really the bear thing that had thrown me, odd as that may seem, it was the means of... Well, I suppose I should explain what I mean by bears anyway. No need to be cryptic about it. Maybe I should start from the beginning. Maybe, maybe, maybe.
I'm from the big city. It's why even when my life is in danger the only thing I can think about is how wonderful the desert smells at night—where I'm from the only thing you smell at night is piss and gutter oil, if you're lucky. I grew up with a good friend, Fiona, but a few months ago she just up and disappeared. Then, about two weeks ago I get a call from her up and outta the blue.
"Jas, I have just the solution to your romance problems," she said, he voice more energetic and full of bubbles than I'd heard since college.
"You disappear, then don't call for months, and then you just decide to come and give me some relationship advice?" I was not pleased.
"Yup," she said. "That's how it works."
I sighed. It wasn't like this was entirely beyond Fiona. She was a wild one after all. "Alright, alright. Lay it on me. Lord knows I can use the advice."
"Forget the romance."
"I'm willing to forget just about anything. A guy who takes me out for some In N' Out and actually pays for once would do," I said, laughing. "Hell, I'll pay, if he'll grab the napkins."
"Chivalry really is dead, isn't it," she said. "Well, I say we stomp it right into the ground."
"Oh? Is that what happened? You married the first guy to slam the door in your face?"
"Nah, I could've stayed where I was if I wanted that," she said. "No, Marcus is a perfect gentleman. Just, the way we met was a bit unconventional."
"You really went through with that whole mail-order thing, didn't you?"
"And you should too."
"No way, Fi," I said. "Not gonna happen." Of course, I'm terrible at follow through. If I say I'm going to do something, I don't—and if I say I won't...well...
"At least come visit me," she said. "And let me introduce you to the guys."
"The guys?"
"I've got some good friends down here that're looking for a mate."
"A what??"
"Uh, a lady friend. A wife."
"You said mate."
"Just come," she said, cutting me off. "If nothing else, so I can see you."
"I've got some vacation days I can take," I said. "When's good for you?"
"There's a Greyhound at eight."
Impulsive as I am, I was on that bus that night, recording a voicemail for my boss to wake up to in the morning.
When I woke up in the morning, back aching and head foggy, I was at my stop in the middle of nowhere. I stepped off the bus in a cloud of raw, caramel dust.
"Jas! You made it!" Fiona came rushing through the dry mist, arms wide and pulled me in, squealing. "I'm so glad you came."
"What the hell is this place?" The dust cleared a bit more. "And what the heck are you driving?" There was no car in sight. Just a two-wheeled monstrosity, standing there in chrome.
"I learned how to ride," said Fiona. "I can teach you. If you stay."
"Yeah, maybe." She handed me a helmet and I snapped it on. "So, when do I get to meet the hubby?"
"You'll get to meet everyone," she said. "Hop on."
"One stop shopping?" I laughed.
"Yeah, they all live at a compound out in the desert."
I chuckled. “You’re kidding.” She stared at me blankly, like my joking was puzzlesome. "A what? Fiona, what the hell do you have me getting into," I asked, trepidation coloring my voice now.
"It's not what you think, don't worry," she said with a grin. "It's not a cult or anything. It'll make sense once you meet the guys."
"This doesn't sound right," I said. "Are you sure you're alright?"
“As rain,” she said, looking up at clear skies. “Now let’s go.”
I swung myself up onto the bike as she kicked it to life. The metal monster roared alive beneath me. Fiona eased on the throttle and we slid onto the blacktop.
With my arms holding onto Fiona for dear life, I could feel the difference this new life had made in her. The softness I’d known to rest beneath her ribs was gone, replaced with firm muscle and a confident, arresting posture.
I relaxed for the ride, trusting my friend and confident that if these wild desert men could be so good for her, then surely they couldn’t be so bad for me. Being a mail order bride had its perks.
It took us a good twenty minutes or more before we pulled off the highway down an unpaved road and up to a long, nondescript building. There were a half dozen bikes parked outside. As we rolled up and stopped beside the other rides a mountain of a man came lumbering out of the building.
“Holy shit, that guy’s huge,” I said without thinking.
Fiona laughed as she got off the bike and went over to him. “Yup! And he’s mine.” The giant man wrapped his enormous arm around her and pulled her in close. “Just wait until you meet the others!”
“I’m Marcus,” he said, extending a hand. I could barely shake his top two fingers. “You must be Jasmine.”
“Uh, yeah, that’s me.”
“Fiona’s told me a lot about you,” he said, his voice deep and strong, but friendly. “The boys are very excited to meet you.”
He put a hand on my shoulder and guided me inside. “Oh shit, wait,” shouted Fiona, but it was too late, I was already on my way through the door.
In the main room, lit brightly through the windows, I came face to face with a fear I didn’t know I had. Bears.
Five bears—giant, brown and snarling. They were wrestling
with each other in the center of a clearing in the floor. When I walked though they all turned to look at me and growled.
“Oh fuck! Oh fuck!” I went bolting back outside. You might think this is when I began to run for my life and ended up surrounded by wolves. But nope. I ran back over to the bike and shouted at Fiona. “What the fucking fuck!”
Marcus looked down at her with a suspicious brow cocked. “You didn’t tell her, did you?”
She gritted her teeth, sucking the air between them and shrugging innocently. “I….guess I forgot.”
He rubbed his temples. “That’s really not the sort of thing you should be forgetting about.”
“I’m just used to it I guess.”
My heart was pounding and I was soaking my shirt through with sweat even though it was still cool in the early morning. “I swear to fucking god, Fiona, if this is a cult and you’re going to feed me to a bunch of bears, I swear to fucking god, I will…”
“Relax!” Fiona threw up her hands and started laughing. “It’s nothing like that. You’re not going to be fed to the bears.” She paused. If I’d known what was in that pause, I would have started running right then. “Well, not the way you’re thinking anyway.”
“Fiona, I swear to fuck, stop being cryptic and tell me what’s going on.”
She sighed. “Come here. Go back inside. I promise you they won’t hurt you.”
What convinced me to go back inside? Was it my trust of Fiona? Or did I just not care? Was I so bored? Well, no matter. I went in. The bears stood in a semicircle, staring down at me with liquid-gold eyes.
“Boys,” said Fiona, stepping inside. “I’d like you all to meet my good friend, Jasmine. She’s a little nervous right now, so if you could please stop messing around…”
And that’s when I was just about convinced I was going nuts. The snouts on the bears flattened and shrunk. Their thick fur coats retracted into their bodies. Their arms and legs became slender and defined, their torsos corrugated with muscle. They were…men.
Naked men.
There I was, staring down five men who moments before had been bears, and were now some form of human, though with the cocks of horses. I couldn’t say anything for the shock.
The one in the middle stepped forward, smiling softly as a man of his size, demeanor, and preceding speciation possibly could. “Hi, I’m Zac. Lieutenant Zac. I’m aiming to make you mine before the day is done.” He meant it. That was clear.
I barely coughed out a, “Hi.”
“Not if I do,” said one of the other men, stepping forward. “Name’s Kell.”
Suddenly, they were all clamoring for my attention.
“Fiona, what is this? What going on?”
Fiona came up behind me and wrapped her around my shoulders. “Now, don’t get freaked out.”
“It’s a little late for that!”
“Dax, grab her a beer,” she snapped.
“And it’s a little early for that.”
“Ehhhh, let’s make an exception, just this once,” she said as she stepped away and grabbed me a chair.
I sat down and closed my hand around the icy bottle. I looked up at the man she called Dax. He grinned at me. “Thanks,” I said quietly. He winked and stepped back with the other men, dick swaying hypnotically.
Fiona sat across from me. “You know about, like, werewolves, right?”
I sighed. “I think I’ve got it figured out. ‘Cept I’ve never heard of werebears before. I guess the old stories got it wrong.”
She shook her head. “No, there’s werewolves too.”
“Oh.” I guess at that point I was ready to accept anything. Well, almost anything. “So your solution to my lacking love life is to spruce it up with some… bears?”
“Biker bears. These guys form a motorcycle organization, and I can tell you, I’ve had more fun in the last several months than I’ve had in most of my life. And they take great care of me.”
I looked around at the men. They were impressive specimens. Perhaps supernatural genes will do that for you. Ruggedly handsome with dark brown hair and strong jaw lines covered in short, manicured beards. They all had the same golden eyes set into their tanned faces.
They each stood at least six and a half feet tall—or more. Their bodies were cabled with natural, tight muscles, covered with detailed tattoos that seemed to breathe with life as they flexed and shifted in their place.
All in all, I could do a lot worse.
“So, what… do I just get to chose, like out of a line up? Or is there one particular…” My inclination was to hope I didn’t have to choose. I wasn’t sure I could.
Fiona chewed her lip nervously. “Not exactly…”
“That’s a relief,” I said.
“It is? Is it?” said Fiona.
“I mean, they get to choose. That’s sure takes the pressure off of me.” I laughed. It was a short burst of mirth, dying away quickly when I realized I was the only one amused. I snapped my head around and back, scanning the room. “Is there an ugly one I missed? Who picked me?”
Fiona sighed. “It’s just the guys here. And they haven’t picked you yet. It’s not quite that simple.”
“So what is it then?”
“There’s a…” She hummed nervously.
Marcus put his hand on her shoulder and took a commanding step forward. “Ritual. It’s like a ritual,” he said. “It allows us to determine which of us is most suited to be your mate.”
“Oh? And how does the ritual work?”
Fiona groaned. “They each have sex with you, Jas.”
“What??”
“Whichever one feels the greatest connection with you, and vice versa—that’s the one you are mated to.”
“Mated to? You mean married?”
“Yes,” she said. “More or less.”
“This is a joke, right?”
Fiona and Marcus looked nervously at each other and the rest of the men just sort of looked away.
I stared hard into Fiona’s eyes. “And you… you did this too?”
“No, actually,” she said. “I didn’t.”
I wasn’t sure if that made me feel better or worse in the moment. “How does that work?”
“I’m mated to the leader so it’s…different.”
“I’m not doing this.” I stood up and began walking to the door.
“Jasmine! Wait!”
“No, this is ridiculous.”
“At least think about it!”
I wasn’t thinking about anything in that moment except walking through that door and stretching out my thumb along the highway.
It turns out that hitchhiking isn’t much of a respected practice these days. And I didn’t have many opportunities to try—I don’t think a dozen cars passed by while I walked back to the bus station.
By the time I could see buildings on the horizon, the sky was purple and the first stars made their shy appearance, like long sleeping fluorescent lights waking up.
That’s when I heard the howls.
At first I didn’t think much of it—I may be a city girl, but I’m not easily startled, even by wildlife. But the howls came closer. They seemed to fill with hungry intensity as they converged on my position. At some point, the town still a mile or so away, I broke into a dead run.
I’d been teased—the moment I started to race off, the wolves appeared in front of me. There’d never been a chance. Heck, they could’ve been—may have been—watching since I left the bikers’ compound.
But I don’t give up easily. The wolves padded softly in front of me on the lonesome blacktop. Forging ahead was out of the question. So, I sprinted to my right, into the desert. I didn’t have a plan. I just knew I had to run.
Yet, even with my life on the line, I could only run so far, and when my steam gave out, the wolves were right there, beside me, ready to circle around, closing ranks, tightening, squeezing.
That maniacally pleased grin was plastered on each of their faces, sleek slender canines
stuck out, like melting pearls.
“We are so thirsty,” one of them hissed.
“So hungry.” Another one.
“You look as good as a Thanksgiving roast.”
“Slow or fast, gentlemen?”
My stomach dropped so hard and fast it was down with the anglerfish in the Marianas Trench. Still, I kept a stiff upper lip. Noses like theirs, they could probably smell my fear, but I refused to show it. Let ‘em do their worst.
Then the night was rent asunder by the a bellowing roar that shook me to my core. To my right, in the dark, I could only see the bulk of a body raised up against the cool blue landscape. It was…a bear! It rushed forward, slamming into the wolf nearest me, sending it tumbling through the sand.
The others snarled and spread their feet defiantly in the ground. They launched at my bear savior, their jaws snapping the air and clattering terribly. It was to no effect—their whimpers replaced their snarls as they rolled unconscious on the ground.
One, two, three, four, and five—all done, all collapsed in the sand. The bear has charged the rest, giant paws swiping at their delicate snouts, shattering their jaws, and leaving them to soak the sand crimson.
When it was all over, the bear stood up tall releasing his rage into a roar that shook the skies. It seemed to release the animal in him as well. I watched—with less surprise and more wonder—as the hair receded and the chest took on form and all left a man standing before me.
“Zac,” he said with a nod. “Remember me?”
The latent adrenaline left me quivering. “Yes! Oh god, thank you!” I stumbled over to him and threw my arms around his hard-muscled waist.
He put a hand on my head and held me close, his thumb stroking comfortingly through my hair. “Would you like me to take you to the bus station now? You might still be able to catch the last one out.”
Maybe it was just the jarring cataclysmic confluence of collocated chemicals, or maybe it was truth with a capital T, but his arms felt right. I felt safe there, and justified in that safety. And, stranger still—I felt loved.
“You’re the one,” I said.
