Claiming Goldilocks: Tales From the Three Bears (Dark Fairy Tales Series Book 5) Read online

  Claiming Goldilocks: Tales From the Three Bears

  Dark Fairy Tales

  S. Cinders

  Published by S. Cinders, 2018.

  This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

  CLAIMING GOLDILOCKS: TALES FROM THE THREE BEARS

  First edition. May 23, 2018.

  Copyright © 2018 S. Cinders.

  Written by S. Cinders.

  Also by S. Cinders

  Dark Fairy Tales

  Claiming Goldilocks: Tales From the Three Bears

  Standalone

  Arrogant son of a Bridget

  Watch for more at S. Cinders’s site.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Also By S. Cinders

  Dedication

  CHAPTER 1 - Goldilocks

  CHAPTER 2 – Bryson (Bear #1)

  CHAPTER 3 – Goldilocks

  CHAPTER 4 – Bryson

  CHAPTER 5 – Goldilocks

  CHAPTER 6 – Braxton (Bear #2)

  CHAPTER 7 – Goldilocks

  CHAPTER 8 – Goldilocks

  CHAPTER 9 – Braxton

  CHAPTER 10 – Goldilocks

  CHAPTER 11 – Benton

  CHAPTER 12 – Goldilocks

  CHAPTER 13 – Goldilocks

  CHAPTER 14 – Bryson

  CHAPTER 15 – Goldilocks

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  EPILOGUE

  Also By S. Cinders

  About the Author

  A very special thanks to Helgaleena. Your gift with the written word is astounding. Thank you for sharing your talents with me. Best to you always!

  xxCinders

  CHAPTER 1 - Goldilocks

  “Goldilocks!”

  I whipped my head around to see my grandmother shaking her head and pointing a rather bent finger in my direction. Rolling my eyes, I switched off the table saw that I had been working on.

  “What’s up, Gran?” I asked as I wiped the sweat from my forehead. “I have to get these chairs finished for the Johnson order.”

  “Goldie, I have been telling you that you need to take a break from all of this. Child, you are working your fingers nearly to the bone. Don’t think that I can’t see how thin you are getting underneath those overalls. Child, you are starting to really scare me.”

  Gran had been after me to stop working so hard ever since I broke up with Stuart three months ago. It’s funny in a bitter sort of way that Gran would be mentioning my overalls because that had been one of Stuart’s biggest complaints. He said I never acted or dressed like a lady.

  “Gran, I’m fine.” I felt like a broken record, knowing that I had said the same thing nearly ten times by now. “I am not too thin, and we need the money. So, I’m going to keep on working to get the furniture orders filled and everything is going to work itself on out just as it should.”

  Gran’s lips pinched together. “I know you think I am being an old worry wart.”

  I stifled a smile. “I would never call you old, Gran.”

  She raised a brow. “But worrywart is okay?”

  “If the shoe fits...” I let the rest of the statement trail off. Because we both knew that she worried more than the widow who had all of those kids over on Shoe Ave.

  She huffed, “And I suppose that I just have to watch you work yourself into an early grave?”

  I noticed the pinched lines around her mouth and suddenly felt a little guilty. Maybe I had been working a little too hard. The last thing that I wanted to do was upset Gran. It was one thing to tease, but if she was really fretting over me, I needed to make a change.

  “What do you want me to do?” I ground out.

  Her face lit up like the fourth of July. “Goldie, sugar-baby, I have made a spa appointment for you over at the Tranquil Bear.”

  I looked at her in horror. “No! Gran, you know what those bears are like. They are always sniffing around me in the grocery and staring at the post office. It makes me feel mighty uncomfortable; I can’t let them put their hands on me!”

  Gran’s bent hand came up to clasp me on the shoulder. “You can, and you will. They are going to take fantastic care of you, Goldie. And when you get done, you will be a new woman. No more moping around and working every hour of every day. Now, get a move on, they are expecting you.”

  I looked down at my coveralls that were covered in sawdust.

  “Gran, I need to go home and shower first,” I insisted.

  She shook her head, “They have showers there, Goldie. For all I know, you will leave here and never make your way to the Tranquil Bear.”

  The woman knew me too well.

  Grumbling, I brushed off some of the shavings and dirt from my clothes and wiped again at my forehead.

  “Alright, Gran, you win. I will head over and see you in an hour.”

  Her eyes twinkled, “I asked for the deluxe, premier package, Goldie. I would imagine that would take more than an hour.”

  For a brief moment I hesitated. “You aren’t up to anything, are you?”

  It was common knowledge that she had roped Scarlett, a friend of mine, into meeting her mates. It wasn’t that Scarlett wasn’t deliriously happy with her wolves, I just had no intention of finding my true love.

  My love life was as shaky as a house of cards and just about as steady. I had gone from one bad situation to the next until I was plumb sick of being kicked to the curb.

  My Gran was something of a matchmaker in town. Everyone called her Grandma Mara, because she tended to adopt people into our family like one picked up strays. It wasn’t that I didn’t love the woman, I just didn’t trust her.

  Gran’s face was the picture of hurt. “Goldie, sugar-baby, how could you think such a thing of your Grandma? I would never invade your personal life in such a way.”

  Guilt washed over me. “I’m sorry Gran, I didn’t mean anything by it.”

  Her face cleared up rapidly. “Not to worry! Now, run along, child. They are expecting you!”

  I grabbed my keys to the old Chevy that I drove and kissed her cheek. “Be back soon, Gran.”

  She grinned, “I’m sure you will come back when things are just right. Here is the gift certificate for the Tranquil Bear; just give it to the person at the front desk.”

  I gave her an odd look, but she was already bustling off to do something else. I had that strange tingly sensation that you get when something big is about to happen.

  Shrugging it off, I walked out the door and climbed into my truck. She might be old and rusted, but my girl drives like a dream. I pulled out of the furniture store and onto Main Street. Maybe a day at the spa was just what I needed to put things to rights.

  Of course, the moment I walked out of my family’s furniture shop, I ran smack dab into the idiot that had me questioning everything about myself.

  “Goldie, it looks like you chose not to follow the advice that I gave you,” he said snidely as his gaze raked me over from top to bottom.

  It was strange for someone that was supposed to be un-attracted to me; he sure seemed to have his eyes glued to my body.

  “Stuart, always a pleasure,” I managed, my tone clearly saying what my words weren’t. I hated that asshole.

  “Where are you off to in the middle of the day?” he scoffed. “Not very responsible of you.”

  I ground my teeth together to keep from chewing th
is man out. How I ever thought he was my happily ever after I would never know.

  “Not really any of your business, now is it?”

  His lip curled. “No, thankfully I am relieved that I don’t have to worry about your comings and goings.”

  It was on the tip of my tongue to spout that he had NEVER cared about my cummings. The man was a selfish prick from the top of his slicked back hair to the tips of his designer Italian shoes.

  I shoved past him and began to walk to my truck.

  “I knew that you would come to regret our splitting up,” he mocked.

  I turned on my booted heel and let it fly.

  “You are a fucking asshole. Do you know that? I thank God every day that I don’t have to wake up to your daily criticisms and insults. It’s you that regrets our splitting up, not me. I can finally see the jerk-off that you really are. If anything, I’m embarrassed that I had a relationship with you. So, fuck off, Stuart. I don’t want to be friends, and I sure as hell don’t want to waste my time talking to you.”

  With a slam of my truck door, I started Betty—the name of my truck. And with a final wave of my middle finger, I took off down Main Street thinking that maybe Gran was right. I needed to treat myself to a day at the spa; this was just what would get me back to rights.

  CHAPTER 2 – Bryson (Bear #1)

  Grandma Mara, a sweet old lady in town, had been after me for an age to take a look at her granddaughter. It’s not that I didn’t like women. Shit, I probably liked them too much. But the last thing I wanted to do was settle down and have cubs.

  And everyone knew that Grandma Mara usually had one thing in mind, get them wedded and bedded. And not always in that order, the woman was crafty to be sure.

  Besides, I had heard from some guy in town that Grandma Mara’s granddaughter was something of a tomboy. I liked them thick and curvy. The last thing I needed was a twig that I could snap in half.

  I politely declined and told Mara that we would give her a full day spa package any old time she wanted it. We, also meaning my two buddies, Benton & Braxton, who were also bear shifters like me. I realize that my offer was little more than bribery to keep the old lady from meddling into my private affairs.

  When I talked to the boys about it they were pissed as hell. Not that I gave the old lady a free spa day, they didn’t care about that. What had them concerned was that I had listened to that prick named Stuart.

  “He’s a douche canoe, Bry; you are a fool to give anything he says credence.”

  I winced at Brax’s censorious tone. “Would you rather I went after her? You know that I have certain—needs, that not every girl can fulfill.”

  Ben snorted, “He means that his kinky ass was worried about hurting her. Can’t you dial back the Dom every once and a while?”

  I knew that my brother shifters didn’t share the same proclivities that I did. But they were kinky ass shifters just as much as I was. And it wasn’t that we hadn’t shared a girl in the past before. We were not brothers by blood, but brothers in spirit. If any one of us were to fall in love it would get tricky.

  The brotherhood between us was a thick unshakable bond. I couldn’t see us ever adding women to the mix, which was disheartening because even though I wasn’t ready to play house, I didn’t want to be alone forever.

  When you have lived as long as I have you come to know a thing or two about life. People would come and go, but my brothers were the one constant thing in my life. When a shifter mates, their partner too will be gifted with extraordinarily long lives.

  However, I hadn’t meant a woman that I wanted to give up my brothers for. I know it’s ridiculous to have your cake and eat it too. But secretly I wanted all of us to find love and stay together. Call it my romantic side or plain idiocy, but I couldn’t help but wonder if the Moon Goddess had something in store for us.

  The bell rang, indicating that someone had entered the spa, and I looked up to see the top of a blonde woman’s head. I could see little else behind all of that amazing wavy hair. It was flaxen gold and she smelled of fresh cut wood, sweat, and woman. I felt my dick twitch and chided my bear for being attracted to something as stupid as the smell of trees.

  “Can I help you?” I asked in my most professional tone.

  This was a spa. We had naked people in here all-day long. I had long since learned to control my libido. In fact, most of the time I was worried that it had died out. But apparently today it was choosing to make a rapid come back.

  And I hadn’t even seen the woman’s face yet.

  She looked up distractedly and I caught sight of the most amazing aquamarine eyes that I had ever seen.

  Fuck me—and yes, I mean that literally. I wanted to bend her over the reception desk. Arms tied above her head and panties shoved into her mouth as I rammed my...

  “My Gran made an appointment for me?” she muttered as she dug through her purse. Finding a small gift card, she pulled it out triumphantly and succeeded in dumping everything out of the massive bag.

  I had to pull it together before I came in my pants from my own thoughts. I tried not to smirk at my own stupidity. I needed to get my act together and fast.

  “Oh shit!” she dropped to her knees and started shoving random items inside of her purse.

  I could hardly make out her body shape in the pair of baggy overalls that she was wearing, but her arms were toned and thin.

  “Let me help you,” I suggested as I sank to my knees beside her, and the smell of the woods and fresh flowers washed over me.

  I felt my dick trying to wave at the girl. I told him to calm the fuck down. He listened about as well as my bear brothers do.

  I handed her the items that I had picked up and she finally met my gaze without any hint of distraction.

  I felt a jolt of electricity shoot through me at her harshly inhaled breath. She liked what she saw, that was clear as day. The sweet smell of arousal drifted to my nose.

  I was in so much trouble.

  “Hi,” she said shyly and proceeded to tuck a lock of her blonde hair behind her ear.

  I cleared my throat—twice. “My name is Bryson; you said you had an appointment?”

  I helped her to her feet, ignoring the way my fingertips tingled at the touch of her silky skin. I noticed that the top of her head only hit me mid-chest.

  She was a tiny creature in stature but for some reason, she seemed bigger than her actual size. Maybe it was all that hair or the slight lift to her gorgeous chin.

  She smiled, and I felt it right to the tips of my toes. Damn, this girl was beautiful. Her aquamarine eyes sparkled, and her hair was a halo around her.

  “I came right from work,” she blushed, “so, I apologize if I smell like wood. My gran gave me this certificate and said that you were expecting me?”

  I wasn’t expecting anyone. In fact, I had planned on closing early as soon as my brothers finished with their clients. But there was no way that I would be sending this beautiful girl away.

  “Let’s get you registered,” I said smoothly, ignoring my screaming cock.

  “My name is Goldie,” she dimpled, “Goldilocks actually, but hardly anybody calls me that. Look, is there a chance that I could grab a shower before we begin?”

  Visions of her naked flashed in front of my eyes.

  Shower = naked.

  “Yes!”

  It may have come across a little louder than I had anticipated. Her eyes grew round at my outburst.

  “Sorry,” I said sheepishly, “I meant, of course. If you want to go into the ladies’ locker room and take a shower I will let you know when your mud bath is ready.”

  Goldie laughed. “Take a shower only for you to get me dirty again?”

  I was going to die at her unintended double entendre.

  I wanted to get her dirty. Shit, I wanted to know just how much of a dirty girl that Goldie could be.

  “We are a little unconventional here,” I said gruffly.

  She smiled innocently at me. “O
kay, well I’m ready. Give me everything you’ve got!”

  She doesn’t mean that literally, I told myself, but it didn’t matter. There were so many things that I wanted to show her and fuck me if I wasn’t going to try. With a strangled voice I pointed out the Ladies Room where she could shower.

  Normally I would have walked the client over there, but I was certain that she would see my massive hard on and run for the hills. As soon as she entered the Ladies Room I went to the front door and flipped the sign to closed and locked the door.

  My brothers could let out their clients when they were finished. There was no way in hell that I wanted to be disturbed because I was going to give Goldie the spa treatment of her life.

  CHAPTER 3 – Goldilocks

  The steam from the hot shower enveloped me and I nearly purred at how amazing it felt. There had been something about the man behind the counter that was getting me hot and bothered.

  My mind automatically conjured up his chiseled features. He had thick dark hair and just the perfect amount of stubble on his chin. He wore workout clothes that stretched over his massive chest, hugged his thighs, and showed every line of that tight ass.

  I was honestly glad for a little reprieve when I walked into the Ladies Room. I had been seconds away from doing something dreadful like jumping the poor man.

  For the record, I blamed Stuart for the self-imposed abstinence program that I had put myself on. I just had felt so un-sexy while I had been dating him. Everything was wrong with me, from my blonde hair that refused to stay tied back to my work overalls that were covered in wood shavings and wax.

  I’m not sure what intimidated him more. The fact that I could build things with my bare hands or that I could wield a power tool better than he could use his own tool. (Let alone anything that could be plugged in.)

  Stuart the ass hat had done a number on me, and I hadn’t wanted to date after breaking up with him. In my heart, I knew that his verbal abuse wasn’t true. But that is hard to convince your heart of, when you hear it day in and day out.