by Sable Sylvan
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Epilogue
Panda Bear Buns
The Twelve Dancing Bears Book 5
Sable Sylvan
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Epilogue
Sneak Peek: “Koala Bear Buns” and “The Cinderella Cook-Off”
Sneak Peek: “The Cinderella Cook-Off”
About the Author
Copyright © 2017 by Sable Sylvan
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
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Chapter One
As Ashley Ortiz got out of the car with Miranda and Linda Nelson, the sisters who worked with her at the Asher-Dixon Lumber Company, she had to admit to herself that she was surprised. When she heard the words ‘all-male strip club’, she thought ‘seedy bar with retired pool-boys hopped up on steroids.’ She didn’t think classy theater that looked like it belonged in either 1920s Chicago or modern day Denver’s mansion district. The sign reading ‘Bear Buns’ was brightly lit in a honey gold brush script. On the marquee was a sign reading, ‘The Twelve Dancing Bears Ft. Onyx + Jet’, and along the sides leading up to the venue were six posters.
“Come on, we can check the posters out later,” said Miranda, taking Ashley by the arm.
“Yeah, there’s an awesome merch shop inside,” said Linda.
Miranda and Linda led Ashley into the brightly lit world of Bear Buns, not going to the performance hall or the strip club area, but to the Bear Buns gift shop. This gift shop had everything. There were shirts, tote bags, even Bear Buns branded blends of tea! While Miranda and Linda looked over the goods, Ashley made her way to the back to check out the posters. After all, her room could use some new art.
There were a variety of types of posters available. Some featured ‘tasteful’ nude portraits of the people that Ashley assumed must be the dancers. There was one large group shot, all the men naked, but positioned so that they weren’t showing their rods and tackles, with a large glowing sign reading ‘Bear Buns’ positioned between them, a sign that looked just like the one on the club’s marquee.
Two of the men caught Ashley’s eye. They were men with dark black hair and dark slightly hooded almond shaped eyes. She flipped through the rest of the posters, which featured pictures of the bears with their shifts in tow. Finally, she found a poster that she was sure must feature her two crushes.
The sign was bright red, with gold text, reading ‘Panda Bear Buns.’ On top of the words were two buff men, one dancing on a pole, the other posing for the camera, both wearing bright red glittery hot pants. The men had a slightly golden tan complexion, which just made their firm muscles stand out even more. They had rippling abs, firm biceps, and of course, prominent packages that Ashley was sure would look even better unwrapped. Below the text, there were two panda bears. One had the standard black and white fur, but the other? It had warm chocolate brown spots instead of dark black spots, and it had light brown fur rather than white fur.
“Panda Bear Buns,” said Linda, who had come up to Ashley. “I didn’t have you pegged as the type.”
“What type?” asked Ashley.
“The type to like the more exotic shifter species,” said Linda. “After all, while Seattle area is known for its bear shifters, it’s known for its grizzly and black bear shifters, not its panda shifters.”
“Well, while at Bear Buns, right?” asked Ashley. “You have to admit; they’re very handsome.”
“Oh, they’re hotties alright,” said Linda. “But you know, they’re more than just hotties. After all, they are in ‘The Twelve Dancing Bears.’“
“I thought that was just a gimmick,” said Ashley.
“Definitely not,” said Linda. “It’s serious business. All the shifters that are in ‘The Twelve Dancing Bears’? They’re all bear shifters looking for their fated mates.”
“So these two pandas are looking for their fated mates?” asked Ashley.
“Try fated mate,” said Linda. “They’re looking to share one special lady. It’s like something out of a fairytale, isn’t it?”
“Wait, two guys? One girl?” asked Ashley. “That is like something out of a fantasy.”
“Notice anything missing on that poster?” asked Miranda, who came up on Ashley’s other side.
“No…should I?” asked Ashley.
“Abso-frikkin-lutely!” said Miranda. “There’s no mate marks on any of the merch.”
“Really?” asked Ashley. She flipped through the poster display. “Huh. You’re right. There aren’t. Why?”
“Because they don’t wanna spoil the surprise before the show,” said Linda. “You’ve got a lot to learn about shifters, don’t you?”
“I do,” said Ashley. “I transferred here from the Missouri branch, you know, and we don’t have many shifters where I’m from.”
“Trust me…you can’t live in Seattle and work for the Ashers and Dixons without having at least one fling with a pair of bear shifters,” said Linda. “You gonna get anything?”
“I don’t want the poster to get ruined at the show,” said Ashley. “I’ll buy one online. What are you gonna get?”
“We already got our stuff, but you’re gonna have to wait until the show to see what’s in this bag,” said Linda, holding up her black and hold Bear Buns complimentary canvas tote bag. “Come on. We’ve got to get our seats and drinks!”
The three curvy gals walked through the gift shop to the performance hall and turned more than a few heads. While ‘The Twelve Dancing Bears’ revue was composed of six pairs of bears, other species of shifters were working at Bear Buns. Bear Buns had lions, tigers, and even some pumas, panthers, and other beasties. As everyone knows, shifters have a thing for girls with a little something extra in the curves department, and Ashley, Linda, and Miranda had curves that went on for days, from their thick thighs to their buxom chests.
Ashley, Linda, and Miranda looked around for seats. It looked like there weren’t any tables open that could fit all three of them. Linda stopped a lion shifter with an empty drink tray and asked if they would be bringing out any more tables.
“Did we overbook again?” asked the lion shifter. “Give me a second. I’ll talk to management.”
The lion shifter put his tray down and headed backstage. In a few minutes, two tall shifters with dark black hair came out. They were wearing button up shirts and dark jeans, with wedding bands on their fingers.
“Excuse me, are you three ladies the ones who were unable to find a table?” asked one shifter. His name tag read ‘Liam.’
“Yes, it looks like they’re all filled up,” said Linda.
“And there aren’t any left in the VIP area either, or we’d give you a free upgrade for your troubles,” said the other shifter. His name ta
g read ‘Nick.’ “So…are you three game for something else?”
“You mean like a raincheck?” asked Miranda.
“No…I mean like backstage passes,” said Liam. He pulled a set of three lanyards with backstage passes reading ‘BSP’ on the front in holographic letters that shone at a certain angle against the matte black badge background. “We don’t give these out often. They’re usually for wives and girlfriends of club members. If you want to come backstage tonight, you can, or we can give you a set of three VIP tickets for our next show.”
“Uh, we’ll take the backstage passes, duh,” said Linda. “Right?
“Definitely,” said Miranda.
“I’m game,” said Ashley.
“Perfect,” said Nick. “Follow us.”
The girls walked through the crowd and walked backstage with the two handsome shifters.
The backstage of Bear Buns is so exclusive that one can’t buy backstage passes. Backstage passes are, as Nick and Liam explained, were only given to friends of the club, mostly wives and girlfriends of the club’s dancers and Ashley, Linda, and Miranda saw why the moment they reached the backstage area.
The backstage of Bear Buns connected the main performance area with the stripping area, as there were two performance areas at Bear Buns. The first was the dance hall where large scale shows like ‘The Twelve Dancing Bears’ revue were featured, the second, the area where strippers went to dance on their own time, riding poles on and off the stage, entertaining guests for singles, with a lot of one-on-one dance time. While only a selection of lucky ladies received that treatment in the dance hall, most ladies got that in the stripping area, however, ladies got more buns for their buck by going to the dance hall to see the scripted shows.
The backstage area had dark wood flooring, the same as the flooring on the main stage, and served as a combination storage, rehearsal, dressing, resting, and recreational area. Lighting used on the stages was kept backstage, and there were various people (men and women, as women did a lot of the backstage work at Bear Buns) tinkering with the expensive lighting rigs, making sure that the audience would literally get to see stars that night. There were people repairing and cleaning up props, all kinds of props that made Ashley wonder just how the heck they were going to be used for the Bear Buns routines. There were science fiction themed props, with glowing blue and green lines standing out against black and silver bases. There were fantasy items, like suits of armor. One shifter, wearing only hot pink hot pants was rehearsing a move on a giant upside-down ice cream cone. There was even a couch in the shape of a pretzel, on caster wheels that were locked in place.
The pretzel couch was next to a large brown leather couch that looked worn, in a section that was definitely for R+R. There was an eclair shaped couch across from the pretzel couch, a worn brown rug underneath the couches. It was topped by a large travel trunk that was a faded shade of black, covered with stickers from all over the world. Sitting on the couch were a few curvy ladies that had bodies just like Ashley’s, and with them, shifters who were wearing hot pants, suits, and casual wear.
The two suited shifters lead the ladies to the couch area, and Linda sat with Miranda on the pretzel couch, while Ashley sat on the eclair couch, which was made of stuffed vinyl, soft as custard.
“Now, you ladies have a great time,” said Nick. “We have to get back to work, but, please, help yourself to anything over in the craft service section.”
“We will, thank you so much,” said Miranda. “Come on, gals, I know I’m hungry.”
Miranda and Linda left their purses on the pretzel couch, but Ashley took hers with her. She followed Miranda and Linda to the craft service area. She hadn’t seen it because she’d been distracted by the props and the hustling and bustling of people in the backstage area, which was even bigger than the dance hall itself. The craft service tables were on the other side of the room.
Of course, Bear Buns was renowned for its cocktails, and there were two bars manned by handsome lion shifters. Ashley could tell that the bartenders were lion shifters because they had downright sexy hair, but pretty hair wasn’t enough to win her heart. There was a table covered in to-go snacks for staff on the go, but the best food was in trays on another table. Ashley didn’t need to be told twice to help herself, and she loaded up her plate with some warm macaroni and cheese with potato chip crumble topping, French fries, and chili.
“OMG, Ashley, there’s a barista station?” asked Linda.
Ashley turned to see what Linda was talking about and as she turned, she watched as her plate suddenly curled inwards, spreading her food not just against her shirt, but the shirt of the person in front of her. It was like she was watching the disaster happen in slow motion and there was abso-frikkin’-lutely nothing she could do about it.
“Oh my gosh,” said Ashley, putting her plate down and grabbing some napkins to mop up the large yellow and brown stain on the man’s shirt. “I’m so sorry, I…” When Ashley looked up, she lost her words.
There, in front of her, was the most handsome man she’d ever seen in the flesh. It was a man who she’d seen just a few minutes earlier on a poster, a man with jet black hair that the poster hadn’t done justice, with rock hard abs that she could feel underneath the napkins. His skin was a golden tan, his eyes shaped like almonds, piercing even though they were a dark shade of gray that was almost black. He had a five-o-clock shadow she could imagine rubbing against her thighs and mauve lips she wanted pressing against her lower lips. His muscles were firm, bulging, and one hundred percent natural, but he moved with a dancer’s grace.
And in his mouth? A piece of bamboo. Long, green, with yellow rings, and spring green leaves, he was chewing it like it was a candy bar. That meant one thing and one thing only. He had to be a frikkin’ panda shifter. Just as grizzlies and polars had a thing for salmon, berries, and honey, panda bear shifters went nuts for bamboo. Sure, they could eat regular human food too, but sometimes, their shifts desired bamboo, just as a koala bear shifter’s inner shift might make the human side seek out eucalyptus, and not just in cough drops, but bark, leaves, you name it.
“You what?” asked the man, a man who was so much more than a man, a man who was…a shifter. He started eating the bamboo again.
The man looked at her while munching on the wood and Ashley felt herself feeling very, very small in front of the man who not only towered over her but who was broader than her, his muscles making his naturally large form even larger.
“I didn’t see,” said Ashley. “I’m so sorry.”
The shifter ate up the curvy woman with his eyes. He could tell that she was misunderstanding him giving her the once over as judgment and although his shift was known to be practically vegetarian, it didn’t mean he couldn’t have some fun playing cat and mouse. After all, he did love to play with his food, and he was sure he was going to get to eat her up.
“Sorry for what, ruining my shirt?” asked the shifter, crossing his arms. “Don’t keep mopping at it. You’re just going to make it worse.”
Ashley put the dirty napkins down and put her hands on her hips.
“Sorry for trying to help,” said Ashley sarcastically.
A woman as sassy as she was curvy? The shifter knew that this was about to be a great night, especially if he managed to get her back into his cocktail room.
“Jet, are you terrorizing a fan again?” said a voice that was deep, chocolatey, and downright sweet.
Ashley turned. Next to the black haired man was a man with almond eyes and deep chocolate brown hair that the poster had made look pitch black and really had not done justice. His skin was a paler shade than Jet’s, but it still had golden undertones, and his eyes were a rich chocolate brown rather than a deep gray. It was a distinction that would be easy to miss, but Ashley wasn’t missing anything. The one trait the two men had in common? The deep black pads on their hands. The pads were one of the many marks of a shifter, and only shifters had rough spots on their hands that resembled the
paws of their shift. While most bear shifters had hand pads like the paw of a dog, with a large central pad surrounded by smaller toe or finger pads, these panda bears had the small finger and toe pads, but the pad on the palm of their hand had three raised spots, just like a panda’s unique paw.
“Onyx,” said the man, holding out his hand and flashing Ashley a smile that made her want to do whatever he told her to do.
“Ashley, Ashley Ortiz,” said Ashley. “I’m sorry, I got some food on your friend here.”
“Oh, is that all?” asked Onyx. “Trust me. I’ll get him cleaned up.”
Onyx did something that shocked Ashley. He lifted up Jet’s shirt to the top of his abs, revealing golden glistening abs, abs that, to be fair, were glistening with macaroni and chili grease. Then, Onyx got down on his knees and licked, starting at the waistband of Jet’s dark gray jeans and making his way to the top of Jet’s abs, all the meanwhile pulling himself up, so he was standing.
Onyx turned and saw that Ashley’s jaw had practically hit the floor. He put a finger under her chin and lifted it up before leaning in to whisper, “You seem to have dropped this.”
Ashley felt her cheeks burning bright pink. While Jet might’ve been intimidating because of his cold demeanor, Onyx made her uncomfortably hot, to the point that part of her was starting to melt.
“Well, I’m sorry for getting your shirt messy,” said Ashley. “You two…you’re the panda bear shifters, aren’t you?”
“Recognize us from the poster?” asked Onyx.
“Yeah,” said Ashley. “Plus, you two are the frikkin’ headliners of the show.”
“You’re not one of the wives or girlfriends…and you don’t work here,” said Jet. “What are you doing backstage?”
“Some dudes named Nick and Liam invited my friends and me backstage because they ran out of chairs out in the front,” said Ashley. “Why?”
“Well, I was going to Shanghai you into helping us with our show in exchange for us not calling security,” said Jet. “But…”
