Miss Muffet’s Bears: Freshly Baked Furry Tails, Book 2 Page 11

  Katrina looked between Quentin and Alex. They weren’t just men — they were bears. They weren’t just men who could destroy — they were men that could create. They had fought and broken things before, but they’d also built beautiful things, wonderful things, things she couldn’t even imagine…once they’d put their differences aside and focused on what was important. They would always be two different shifters, but as long as they could work together, well…things were going to be alright.

  * * *

  After working the register for hours, non-stop, Katrina’s dogs were barking, and her heart was roaring for her bears. Katrina took a quick break to grab a soda, but somebody stopped her — Quentin.

  “You haven’t had dinner yet, have you?” asked Quentin.

  “No — no time, what with sales,” said Katrina. “We’re getting a lot more business than we expected!”

  “So are the crews — but that’s not our problem,” said Alex, who approached with three stacked plates of burgers. “Now, let’s grab a table back here and eat — even if we only get a few minutes together.”

  “You two arranged this?” asked Katrina.

  “Honey, figuring out when the three of us could all get dinner at the same time…that was easier than wrangling our crews and getting them to work together,” said Alex.

  “You know, Marvin got fired over that,” said Quentin.

  “No shizz! Why?” asked Alex.

  “Something about how he signed up to work at Hemlock, instead of with Grizzlyfir,” said Quentin with a shrug. “Terrence sent him packing. Wouldn’t be surprised if he was gone by the time I got back.”

  “Wow — he’s really just leaving without a fight?” asked Katrina.

  “Fighting’s what got him into this mess,” said Quentin. “He didn’t come to Hemlock just to work at Hemlock. He was sent there to follow in his father’s footsteps — and the footsteps of his father’s father.”

  “I don’t follow,” said Katrina.

  “Hemlock Crew…it’s easy to think of it as this place full of rich jerks that don’t come into town, and that’s because most of the guys there are rich jerks,” admitted Quentin. “But…there’s more to being a lumberjack than chopping wood, and more to being a crew than just staying in the same lodge.”

  “If I may?” asked Alex.

  “Please,” said Quentin, gesturing. “I’d love to hear an outside perspective.”

  “Hemlock Crew…well, a lot of them don’t come into town, and that means that people don’t get to know them…but it also means the crew doesn’t get to know the folk,” explained Alex. “That means that they don’t learn what it’s like to live in a town like this. A lot of them are from, well, pretty well-to-do families.”

  “Filthy rich,” agreed Quentin.

  “If my son was part of a crew, and he didn’t find joy in the tiny things, like going into town to enjoy some delicious freshly-baked muffins with a cute gal, well…I’d be disappointed,” said Alex.

  “That’s exactly it,” said Quentin. “The guys that send their sons here…they’re sending them here because they want them to learn what it’s like in a town like Port Jameson. Many of the guys…they’ll be going off and working as hedge fund managers or something. This is their one chance to see how things were, for their forefathers, and a lot of them blow it.”

  “And Marvin blew it?” asked Katrina.

  “Yeah — and like me, he’s not from a rich family, so I don’t know what he’s going to do after this,” said Quentin.

  “He’s a good carpenter — even if he can’t work well with others,” admitted Alex, patting Quentin on the back. “A bear always lands on his paws.”

  “Thanks, dude,’ said Quentin, giving Alex a fist bump.

  “Hey — you’re going to miss it,” said Alex, pointing.

  “Miss what?” asked Katrina, standing and peering.

  Alex turned Katrina by the waist. Patricia was playing with Terrence’s knob — a knob on a control panel held by Terrence. There was a flicker, and then, string lights came to life. They were hung over the seating area and glowed firefly green and white and yellow, and some twinkled pale blue.

  “It’s beautiful,” said Quentin.

  “Well, when we all work together, we can make some really beautiful things happen,” said Katrina, squeezing Quentin’s arm.

  * * *

  “Can you take this burger over to the main table?” asked Alex. “My hands are full.”

  “Sure,” said Katrina. “Just watch the register. Jennifer just took her break with her boys, to check out the festival before closing time, so we’re a little short-handed.”

  Alex nodded. Katrina took the dressed burger, and Alex grabbed his grill tools to flip over a burger. Katrina carried the burger over to the main table, where Patricia was sitting, wearing a sparkly purple sundress, a lightweight dress with shiny beads around the neckline, like a necklace. She had on gold bangles and was seated between two men, both wearing their nicest flannel shirts, with sportscoats. For the first time in an hour, the three of them were sitting there, alone, and not entertaining other business owners who were asking after their construction and catering services.

  “One burger,” said Katrina, winking, passing it to Darius. Quentin came in from the side with a plate of salmon sushi and gave it to Terrence.

  “Actually, that’s for me,” said Darius, reaching over to grab the sushi.

  “Really?” asked Katrina. “I thought you didn’t do canapes.”

  “Sushi isn’t a canape,” said Darius. “I’m a bear. I frikkin’ love salmon — especially raw. Sushi’s all the raw fish, with none of the hunting.”

  “The burger’s for me,” said Patricia, taking the burger plate.

  “Of course it is,” said Darius with a chuckle. “Not like Terrence would ever deign to eat peasant food like burgers.”

  “I’ll eat it,” said Terrence, taking the burger plate. “If I eat this, will you shut up about these burgers?”

  “I will — but I don’t think you’ll be able to,” said Quentin.

  “Aren’t you supposed to be on my side?” asked Terrence.

  “I’m on the side of good taste, as are you, Katrina,” said Quentin pointedly. “I think we ought to be getting back to work.” Quentin winked and walked back to his sushi station. Katrina walked over to the bakery counter, where Alex was busy working the registers while one of the Grizzlyfir boys ran his grill.

  “Where were you?” asked Alex.

  “Got caught up, sorry,” said Katrina, going back to working her register. In due time, Jennifer and her bears came back to help work the registers. Jennifer, like Katrina, was a baker from Bear Claw Bakery who had found love with both a Grizzlyfir bear and a Hemlock bear. Katrina went out to the main table, to see if the bosses needed anything.

  Patricia was laughing and holding onto both Darius and Terrence to stop herself from falling out of her chair. Katrina smiled to herself. She could see that those three obviously belonged together — but they’d have to come to that conclusion on their own. She walked over and asked, “Can I get you anything?”

  “Quentin’s got more sushi coming our way,” said Darius.

  “Well…I could use another burger,” said Terrence.

  “Oh? You sure you didn’t hate it?” asked Patricia sarcastically, motioning to Terrence’s empty plate.

  “It was…pretty good,” said Terrence.

  Patricia elbowed him. “You stole my dang burger! It better have been better than ‘pretty good!’”

  “It was…great,” admitted Terrence. “Simple ingredients prepared right, and I can see why Grizzlyfir has a guy like Alex running their kitchen. Please send my compliments to the chef.”

  “Well, if you ever want to trade Alex and Quentin sometime, let me know — because I would kill to have this sushi once a week,” said Darius.

  “Oh, stop,” said Patricia. “You two can’t just play fantasy football with your lumberjacks.”

>   “I mean — you could,” said Katrina.

  “We were just kidding,” said Darius.

  “You could do it,” said Katrina. “You could trade chefs once a week and have the best of both worlds. I’m sure your guys would enjoy the change in cuisine. One cannot survive on burgers or sushi alone — and try to get some veggies on those plates too.”

  “You know…she might have a point,” said Terrence. “I wasn’t joking before.”

  “You totally were!” said Patricia.

  “He was,” agreed Darius.

  Katrina shook her head and smiled, letting the trio argue — the same way she’d argued with Alex and Quentin, and would probably still argue with them in the future. Even though things weren’t perfect, things were better than she’d ever expected them to be.

  “One more burger,” said Katrina, passing by Alex. “Somebody sends their compliments to the chef!”

  “You know what? I’ll take it,” said Alex, pulling Katrina back to kiss her on the cheek. “Can you send my compliments to the cute baker?”

  “Yes — and she sends her compliments to the grill master,” said Katrina.

  “And what about the sushi chef, who would like to send his compliments to the baker?” asked Quentin, coming up to Alex and Katrina. “Does he get any love?”

  “Yes — compliments to the sushi chef,” said Katrina. “Compliments to both my bears.”

  “And compliments to our fated mate,” started Alex.

  “And compliments to Fate,” finished Quentin. “We’re the perfect three-course meal.”

  “Sushi, burgers, and muffins?” asked Katrina. “That’s…an interesting meal.”

  “Well, we’re an interesting ménage,” said Alex. “We’re one heck of a meal.”

  “Speaking of meals…once this winds down, are we having dessert?” asked Katrina, raising a brow.

  “If you’re asking if we’ll cover you with whipped cream, I think the answer to that is obvious,” said Alex.

  “I was thinking chocolate syrup myself,” said Quentin. “It’d be the perfect end to this crazy day.”

  Their night was winding down, but, this wasn’t the ending of their story. Miss Muffet certainly hadn’t just sat on her tuffet, and at first, these bears had gotten curds in her way. Nothing had scared her away from her bears — not even spiders. They would continue to have arguments — but they’d also share laughs. They’d have sad times and happy times and all times in between, but their stories would always have a happy ending.

  Epilogue

  “I don’t wanna get up,” moaned Katrina.

  “What if I told you that there were pancakes?” asked Alex.

  “I don’t wanna get up,” said Katrina, rolling over, onto her stomach, taking one of the other pillows and smushing it over her head.

  “What if you didn’t have to get up?” asked Quentin, but the sound was muffled by the pillows. “Come on, Katrina. “You’re going to want a taste of these.”

  The pillow fort around Katrina’s head was both soundproof and smell-proof. Alex gently peeled the top pillow off Katrina’s head.

  “I guess if you don’t want breakfast in bed…” started Quentin.

  Katrina turned and looked at Quentin. He was holding a tray of breakfast, complete with pancakes and orange juice.

  “Breakfast in bed? Why didn’t you just say so?” asked Katrina, sitting up. “I don’t remember you having this food tray before.”

  “Made it in the workshop,” said Alex. “Quentin and I came up with a design for Hemlock to start selling to some local bed and breakfasts and hotels.”

  “You made this?” asked Katrina, running her hands over the smooth wood as the tray, which had sets of legs on either side, was placed over her lap. “Wow…it’s pretty.” She fingered the grooves of the emerald stained wood. The wood was nearly as green as the hills of Port Jameson.

  “Eat up,” said Alex.

  “What about you two?” asked Katrina. “Aren’t you two hungry?”

  “We ate when we were cooking,” said Quentin. “You’re the last one up, sleepyhead. We let you get your beauty sleep. Now, it’s time to eat. Come on. Open wide.” Quentin dipped a fork into the marionberry pancake and pushed it toward Katrina’s mouth.

  Katrina blushed and took the fork from Quentin. “I’m not a baby frikkin’ bird! I can feed myself!” Katrina ate the pancake. There was a marionberry turnover on a saucer. She smiled to herself.

  “Alex…did you make the turnover?” asked Katrina.

  “Of course,” said Alex.

  “So, you baked up a batch of turnovers over here, away from Grizzlyfir, for a bunch of Hemlock Crew guys?” asked Katrina, raising a brow.

  “Well, you had that idea about the crews swapping chefs once a week,” said Quentin. “You thought that Terrence wouldn’t put Alex to work once he knew that Alex was staying the night?”

  Katrina scarfed down her breakfast, and Alex took the tray back downstairs. Quentin lay down beside Katrina. Katrina nuzzled Quentin’s chest.

  “You smell good,” murmured Katrina, inhaling the scent of Quentin’s natural musk.

  “Really?” asked Quentin. “I was cooking. I thought that made me stink.”

  “Maybe if you’re filleting salmon, but making pancakes…that just makes you smell tasty,” said Katrina, rubbing her face on Quentin’s chest, right over his mate mark, the mark that had changed during their special night.

  “Then I’ll have to make pancakes more often,” said Quentin, brushing Katrina’s hair aside. “What were you cooking this morning?”

  “Nothing,” said Katrina, confused. “Why?”

  “Because you smell downright delicious,” said Quentin, the words rolling off his tongue like melted butter off pancakes. Quentin pulled Katrina close and put his mouth on her neck, savoring the taste of her flesh in his mouth.

  “Oh, Quentin,” moaned Katrina. “Aren’t you worried we’re going to be too loud?”

  “Nobody’s here to hear us — but even if they were, I wouldn’t care,” said Quentin. “Let them listen.”

  “I wouldn’t exactly say that nobody’s here,” said a voice. Katrina looked up. Alex was in the doorway, and he was already peeling off his flannel shirt.

  A flick of Quentin’s fingers against her slit drew Katrina’s attention back to the dark and stormier of the lumberjacks.

  “Wet,” said Quentin, licking his fingers. “Ripe.”

  “Guess that means I had some good dreams,” said Katrina, raising a brow.

  “That would explain the moaning,” said Quentin. “Damn near kept me up all night.”

  “Does that mean you’re too tired to fuck me?” asked Katrina.

  “No — but I want you on top,” said Quentin.

  “What if I want someone on top of me?” asked Katrina with a pout.

  “I think I can help with that,” said Alex, getting in bed behind Katrina and rubbing his hands on her thick waist.

  Katrina rocked back against Alex’s body, feeling his hard cock prodding her through his pants. Quentin quickly got naked, got back in bed, and then, pulled Katrina back toward him. Alex shimmied Katrina’s panties down while Katrina pressed her lips to Quentin’s cheeks and tasted every part of his face. Alex helped Katrina straddle Quentin and Quentin held his shaft so Katrina could slide down onto it.

  Katrina let out a hiss as she felt Quentin’s length fill her. She took it in too quickly. That was always the hardest part about being on top — figuring out how fast to go, what pace to set, how hard to bounce up and down and how quickly to roll her hips in circles. Katrina took less of Quentin’s length but took the rest of it in more slowly.

  Alex unbuttoned his jeans and lowered them. He gripped Katrina’s hips, and his bear roared. Alex was lucky to have a mate with such wide hips, perfect for childbearing, just as her ample bosom was made for nursing.

  Alex’s meaty hot dog rolled into Katrina’s soft, supple buns. Katrina let out a gasp as Alex slipped into h
er pussy, joining Quentin, inch by inch. Her body adapted and the two cocks did squish together. They were hard and soft at the same time.

  Quentin started pushing and pulling Katrina’s hips in circular motions while her ample breast nearly suffocated him. His bear roared, and Quentin agreed — if he were going to die on that mountain, it would’ve been best to die from being smothered by his fated mate’s breasts. He took in a deep breath and could practically taste the softness of her curves on his mouth. He slid one hand up to her chest and took some of the flesh on the bottom of her bosom into his mouth. He tasted her natural musk on his mouth, in that softest of secret areas, and as Katrina moaned above him, he thrust into her from below, cock twitching with every sound that came out of Katrina’s pretty little mouth.

  Katrina felt the fullness in her canal and shuddered. She couldn’t believe her body could take two thick cocks at the same time. In the few months she’d been dating Alex and Quentin, she’d been amazed by what her body could do. Quentin reached down and ran his fingertips along Katrina’s clit. His touch felt like a cherry touching the whipped cream on an ice cream sundae. It was the finishing touch — literally and figuratively.

  It didn’t take long for Katrina to come. After all, she’d gone to Hemlock Lodge wet, she’d gone to sleep moist, and she’d woken up horny as Hell. Even though she’d had fun times with Alex and Quentin the night before, including during their late-night shower in one of the large private bathrooms at the lodge, she wanted more, more, more.

  Katrina gripped the sheets and felt the pleasure pulse through her body. She’d thought she’d been relaxed before. What could be more relaxing than breakfast in bed on a warm summer morning?

  A marionberry turnover for ‘dessert’ — followed by an orgasm that seemed to unknot every tangle left in her muscles, in a body that already felt as loose and supple as her thick curves.