Goldie and Her Bears

by Honor James

  “Top of the line,” he said with a chuckle. “And there are to be no attempts on our lives. Well, Ark you can try to take down. Only because it would be amusing,” he said, adding soap to the water before turning it off a couple moments later. “I know we’ve been teasing you, but your job isn’t all that bad. You’ll mainly be responsible for keeping us on schedule, ensuring we have the documents we need when we need them and as I mentioned earlier, running the occasional errand when we run out of time or aren’t available to do it ourselves. You are not our indentured slave, you will be treated with respect, and if you treat us likewise, we’ll all get along just fine.” Looking at her out of the corner of his eye. He hoped she liked working for them, he didn't really see them replacing her.

  “I think that’s something I can do. I will give you all the respect you deserve, always. If you give me a hard time, just don’t expect me not to give it right back. I mean it. I’m totally one who believes in respect given is respect earned.”

  “We can live with that,” he nodded. “We’ll all have days we fucking hate one another. Whether it’s the person’s name, the sound of their voice, or the mere sight, it’s bound to happen. We work long hours together but we also make up for that. You’ll see more when you make it through the first months and you get your contract.”

  “Sounds good to me. Well I’m sure whatever happens, happens, no matter what we will always be in this. If you guys give me a good enough job, I’m totally going to stick around as long as possible.”

  “We’ll see,” he said and handed her a towel, “You’re drying. Just stack everything to the side. You’ll learn where everything is eventually but for now, just stack it out of the way.” Dunking his hands into the water, he began to wash the plates.

  Doing as he asked her, she stacked the dishes off to the side. She began to sing one of the hot songs right now and bumped her hip to his. Smiling happily as she did so. “Come on, sing, and dance with me.”

  “I do not sing and I do not dance,” he said, passing her another glass. “You’re on your own with that in this house. Though if you get Mahon drunk enough he can sort of dance. It’s not pretty and usually ends up with him naked, but I figure it at least gives you something.”

  She snickered and shook her head, “Well it’s a good thing then that I won’t be living here, huh? Remember I have my own place?” she said with a smile.

  “And staff parties, get togethers, the quarterly barbecues we hold out here and any other numerous events,” Torben added. “We try to treat those that work with us as a family. Yes, it’s a workplace, yes, they are our employees, but we also believe in open door policies and events to nurture a stronger workplace relationship.”

  “That sounds great. Sounds as if you guys pretty much keep employee moral up and therefore are able to retain them for longer. Well…all except personal assistants that is,” she added with a snicker. “And I dance. Love to dance. Can I dance? Hell no, but damned if I don’t have a great time trying to do it anyway.”

  “Well as long as you are enjoying it that’s what really matters, right?” he said pulling the drain in the sink. They both turned as a door crashed open and then shut. Mahon came screeching through a moment later and grinned at them before racing off. “For the love of,” Torben muttered under his breath. “Not in the house, assholes!” he bellowed when Ark came running in looking ready to murder. “And people wonder why I haven’t settled down and had kids,” he looked at her.

  She couldn’t help but to snicker and shake her head, “Well it likely has to do with the fact you are already raising two children as it is.” She reached out and grabbed Ark’s arm. “Hey, let it go,” she said softly and linked her arm with his, pulling him close. “It’s all good. Just let him go and I will teach you how to get him when he’s not expecting it.”

  “Don’t you dare,” Torben said, shaking his head as he pointed a finger her way. “I absolutely refuse to clean blood out of one more thing around here.”

  “If he’d take it like a man instead of running and screaming like a little girl,” Ark muttered. “No offense to your gender, Goldie,” he said, hooking his arm around her neck. Pulling her in closer to him, he looked down at her, “You’re likely tougher than that pansy ass.”

  Wrapping her arm around his middle seemed the most natural thing of all as Ark pulled her in closer. “Oh you have no idea. I can give as good as I get. I refuse to go down without a fight, on anything,” she added with a shrug. “So yep, that’s me.”

  Grunting, he nodded and looked to Torben. “We need to go over the blueprints for the site. Morris left a message on the system about a potential issue on the south wall. He wants us to review the prints before we see him tomorrow. He thinks he has a fix, but wants our input without him biasing us in anyway.”

  Nodding, Torben finished putting the dishes away, “Alright. You’re welcome to come, Goldie, or if you want, you can watch a movie, TV, or whatever. We’re not putting you to work, but fresh eyes on this cursed job couldn’t hurt either.”

  “I am fine with that. As long as you guys don’t mind me wearing what I’m wearing that is,” she added. “Fresh eyes are always a plus. Also this way if you guys want to be rid of me, you can take me by my place and drop me off. Right?”

  “You are sticking around,” Torben told her with a grin. “Besides, we have plans laid out and you aren’t allowed to mess with them. You haven’t worked with us long enough for that yet.”

  “There is nothing wrong with how you’re dressed,” Arkadios said with a slow smile curling one side of his mouth. “Except it covers way too much of you.”

  Goldie laughed and shook her head. “Yeah, well it’s supposed to cover all of me. I don’t want to give a show to my new bosses you know,” she teased him and then gave him a side hug. “Now then, let’s go and get this done so I can get some sleep. I’m a bear if I don’t get enough sleep.”

  Ark and Torben both looked at her for long moments before they started to laugh hard. Tugging her along, Arkadios shook his head. “I will bet you have nothing on us,” he chuckled. Guiding her through the lower level, then letting her go into the office on Torben heels. “Over here,” he waved her to the table along one wall.

  Goldie had the oddest feeling they were keeping something from her. She would figure it out. She'd only been around not even a full day but since she would be working around them, it wouldn't take her long. She still couldn't place why everything happening to her had some familiarity.

  Moving to the table, she frowned and picked up the first set of plans, and then looked at another. “So what did he say the issue was?” she asked and put the plans back down so she could look at the men, and listen to them or wait for what they thought before she gave her two cents.

  “South wall,” Mohan said from a corner and grinned when she looked over. “Morris claims there’s an issue with the south wall. His words, not ours. We have to look and let him know our thoughts about the potential problem without him biasing us. I passed it off to Ark’s team since they do more of the construction than I do. A wall is a wall in my mind.”

  “Well not necessarily,” Goldie said and ran her fingers over the blueprints. “For example: this place is being built where there were swamplands previously. If the area wasn’t sealed, contained, and covered properly with equal distribution of the new soil and rocks, then the south wall might begin to sag. It will have nothing to do with your building or materials, but more with the land it’s being built on.”

  “That was all done,” Torben told her as he settled on a stool and watched her. “There are fourteen, one-hundred foot deep pilings with six feet of reinforced concrete as the base for the entire structure. Even if the land shifts or erodes, the house isn’t going anywhere without a nuclear device moving it.”

  “Then I would look at your materials provider. The only thing I can think of is perhaps the material used to build the wall isn’t up to par to what you typically would use. You guys don’t s
eem the type to cut corners though.”

  “We aren’t and Morris would have alerted us before now if there was an issue with materials,” Arkadios said, shaking his head. Pulling the plans over, he stared down at them before he walked to the middle of the room and closed his eyes.

  “He’s visualizing,” Torben, explained when she glanced his way. “Give him a moment. He’ll see it. He always does. And if he doesn’t we’ll figure it out on site.”

  She watched Arkadios as he ‘visualized’ and asked, “Is he the one who typically handles all of the building aspects or something? The one who finds all the issues in building and all that pertains to it?”

  “Not really,” Torben said. “Mahon is mainly the money, keeps us on budget and on time. Ark finds the spot, knows where to drive the pilings, and put the foundation by pure instinct. I’m design. I draw them up and then the crew builds them. But we all have instincts during the construction about changing something, moving a wall an inch, or two. The little things that when you start seeing the space forming, your, feel your, need to alter. He’s just visualizing the space and where the foundation was put. From there he’ll see the outer walls in relation to the area of land and the visual aspects in trying to find what’s wrong.”

  “Fucking window is in the wrong spot,” Arkadios turned. “We moved the wall for the living room so they could have a bigger window and space, but the window needs a lintel. Or with the bay in the den above, the damn thing is going to collapse.”

  “And the visualizing has worked yet again,” Mahon said with a chuckle.

  “Now that is freaking scary impressive,” Goldie said with wide eyes. “Color me super freaking impressed. That was amazing. How did you do that?” she asked as she moved closer to Ark, reaching out and slipping her hand into his without a conscious thought sliding through her brain.

  Shrugging, he spun her around in a circle before hauling her in close. “Don’t know, just do,” he said. “I see how it was planned and then what has been altered by keeping the original as an overlay. From there my brain works through it all until something clicks or doesn’t. It doesn’t always work but occasionally it does.”

  “Well it’s freaking impressive. Remind me to ask you to do that another time when I know what’s wrong before you do, so I can watch you work the problem out in your mind,” she said with a grin. It hit her then that she had her arms wrapped around his neck, holding him close like a lover. “Uhm…I’m sorry,” she had been the one to wrap around him. Shit, she needed to pull herself together, quickly.

  “For what?” Ark asked, looking genuinely puzzled as he stared down at her. Tipping his head, he moved his gaze over her face before returning to lock with hers eyes again. “What’s going on in that head of yours, Goldie? You seem to be thinking awfully hard and appear mighty nervous all of a sudden.”

  “I’m not so sure this is how you typically hold your employees, is it?” Not that she was moving. “And I can’t find it in myself to pull away. How strange is that?” she asked quietly and looked up into his eyes once more.

  Ark glanced over Goldie's head making contact with his friends. He knew then they too felt the pull to this small woman. No words were necessary as they all gave a quick nod. She was to their destiny—their mate. Fate had brought her to their doorstep, now it was up to them to keep her. Arkadios knew being the oldest of the three, if only by a few days, he would be the one to mark her first. Now, all they had to do was inform her they were bears. Yeah, like that was going to be as easy as finding a pot full of honey. He looked back down at Goldie as she spoke again.

  “Am I the only one who wants to hold on like this?” If so then she was seriously damned.

  “Are you hearing me protesting?” he asked, his voice an octave lower, more a rumble. “And no, I can honestly say I’ve never once held an employee like this. I doubt most of the construction guys would appreciate it.”

  Goldie chuckled nervously, “Yeah, I think they might be angry with it but one of the assistants might have actually stuck around if you held them like this.” Her hands moved over his shoulders and pulled him closer. “This is very, very nice. I think this is something I could become accustomed to,” she whispered softly. She really had lost her mind. She never was this bold around men. Goldie was beginning to believe it was only these men.

  “Not a one of them had your eyes, your lips, or your sense of humor. Deranged as it is,” Ark murmured low. “Nor did they have your body,” he smiled slowly at her. “But I should likely stop saying things like that since you’re... Oh wait,” he chuckled, “you haven’t signed anything yet, you’re not officially an employee.”

  Goldie laughed, “Huh…imagine that. You are right. I’m totally not an employee yet. Still have all kinds of paperwork to do and all that.” She felt her body begin to get wet in anticipation. “So I really think we should enjoy the moment of being adults and you should maybe kiss me?” Yeah, she was so going to hell but she couldn’t help herself. She wanted this man to kiss her, hell all three of them. So yes, she had officially turn into a slut and for some reason she could live with it. She was done trying to figure out why she was comfortably relaxed around this men, she was just going to go for it.

  Goldie continued to stare up at Ark, memorized by his eyes, his lips, and the way she felt in his arms. She watched, as he seemed to have a small battle raging within. It lasted all of two seconds when his eyes cleared and the only thing showing was desire.

  Growling low in his chest, he pulled her tighter to him and did as she’d asked. Kissing her hard, he thrust his tongue in deep when she allowed him access. His hands moved, one to her head to hold her and the other to her ass to lift and grind her against his erection.

  Goldie wrapped her legs around his hips, pulling him close and shifting against his rising cock as she kissed him. Arms wrapped tightly around his neck, she kissed him back with the same desperation and need that he filled her with.

  Squeezing her ass, Arkadios rubbed his cock into her as he tore his mouth from hers. Moving it down her throat, he nipped and nibbled a path. In his mind he knew he had to stop this before it got out of control but his bear was fighting him. It took everything in him to place Goldie's feet back on the floor and step back from her.

  Goldie was dazed, her eyes glazed over, Ark could see the want in her eyes. He felt the need in him to take and knew his friends had to feel the same. Everyone stood silently and watched as Goldie shook her head, looking up at Ark with the look of confusion on her as to why he would stop.

  "Sweetheart pulling away from you is last thing I wanted to do. However," he turned his to look at his friends then back at Goldie, "I think it's time for a little discussion. Let's all move to living room.

  Chapter Four

  Grabbing up beers, Torben passed them out as they all reclined in the living room. Settling across from Goldie, he scrubbed a hand through his hair before taking a long pull on the bottle. “I’m just going to say it outright, you may not want to be drinking when I do,” he warned her. “We shifters, Goldie." All three men's eyes focused on her as Torben continued, "We’re known as Weres. Bear shifters to be precise. All three of us are Grizzly bears. We’ve known one another since we were small; we’ve remained friends through everything. Including the loss of many from our community, where Grizzly shifters once lived, it was a nice, big area, spread out and yet we were there for one another if needed. They were our friends and neighbors, even some family.”

  “Hunters, damn hunters,” Arkadios muttered.

  Mahon nodded slowly; swallowing hard, enough she could see the bob of his Adam's apple. “We got lucky though, to a degree. We were at Torben's goofy off when mine and Ark's parents decided they wanted a night out. So all the kids were coming to Torben’s place for a sleepover. We hadn’t wanted our siblings there but Torben's mom told the other parents she would watch them, leaving her stuck with the lot of us. We didn’t even know what was happening until the first explosion, we think it was a pro
pane tank going up,” Mahon stopped to swallow and Torben picked up where he left off.

  “Hunters are humans who have knowledge of Weres,” Torben said. Obviously picking up on her confusion, likely it was written all over her face. “With us living as we were as a community so close knit, the hunters were able to find us easily. You have to understand, Goldie that Grizzles normally don't live close to one another after coming into adulthood. We were unique, but it cost us because we thought we held security in numbers. After they found us and it was all said and done, we never made that mistake again, we all separated afterwards and spread out, which makes it more difficult for them to track us and find us so easily now. My mom ran in and got us all on our feet and in our coats, so fast.”

  “She’s always been more drill sergeant than not,” Ark said, a small and affectionate smile on his lips.

  “We were rushed out to the vehicles,” Mahon picked up the story again. “Between hers and the truck belonging to Torben’s dad we were all crammed in. I don’t even recall where they took us but we got out of there fast, really fast.”

  “I don’t think they cared where we were going, as long as we were leaving. I remember we stopped at one of the other houses. Martina’s I think,” Torben said.

  Looking to her, he explained it was one of his mother's friends; a woman who did a lot of babysitting after her mate and husband had passed on. They went on to tell her about the other vehicles, filled with the living, all getting off the plot of land in the dead of night with whatever they wore or had managed to grab. All in all, too many had died but many were saved because of the distance between homes and the hunter’s error in blowing up a propane tank.

  She set the beer down and looked at the three men she had been so intimate with only bare minutes ago. She felt dizzy, she felt as if she was going to pass out. “I’m sorry, what?” She had to have heard him wrong. She knew she had to have heard him incorrectly because she didn’t understand what he was saying. “There is no such thing as shifters, Weres, or whatever. If you guys won't mind, could you show me what medication you are currently on? Did you take it today?" No fucking way, this guys have to be insane or on drugs because this couldn't be true. However, she knew though, somewhere deep in her soul, this was her favorite childhood fairy tale. Adult version that is.