Bear Boss

by Love, L. J.

  Aurora had admonished herself repeatedly for allowing the affair between her and Will to continue. They were growing extremely fond of one another and neither could deny that they lavished each other with some of the best sex either had ever had. Still, she knew that it wouldn’t last; it couldn’t last. The circumstances just weren’t favorable. It was true that it was better that the two of them would agree to end it than to have someone discover their secret. But they weren’t ready to let it go, so they did their best to keep things professional at work and meet under the cover of night.

  ***

  It doesn’t get much better than this, Will thought to himself as he gazed out the window of his office over the city of Alpharetta. In the distance lay Dahlonega and Will’s mind wandered towards the hilly forests there and the need for a good run.

  He still could not believe how being back home and having Aurora in his life was making him feel. It was outrageous that anyone would want to stop him having these amazing feelings. It was true she’d eventually have to learn about their family secret and her reaction to that couldn’t be predicted. It was a risk that Will was willing to take; perhaps his brother didn’t see things quite that way. If only Robin could understand what having her meant to...

  “Ahem! Great job on the Tsang Wei deal, Mr. Genius. I don’t even want to know how you pulled that one off.”

  Will looked up at his open office door to see the woman of his daydreams standing there, looking at him.

  “Elementary, my dear Watson. Elementary!”

  “Well, you look very relaxed, Mr. Guyton. Did I actually catch you clock watching?”

  “Not at all, Aurora,” he replied with a huge smile on his face. “I was just thinking.”

  She stepped inside and closed the door behind her.

  “What were you thinking about?”

  His smile broadened as she sat on the edge of his desk looking at him, then he said, “All the things that I can’t do to your gorgeous body on Guyton Industries property. Besides, it’s Friday and that means when I get a hold of you next, I don’t have to let you go for two whole days.”

  She laughed at his response and stood to leave. When she got to the door, she turned and asked, “So, I guess we’re still on for tonight then?”

  “I wouldn’t miss it for the world!”

  ***

  Will Guyton’s house, Atlanta, Georgia.

  That night, Aurora moved closer to Will until her naked body was pressed firmly against the flesh of his back. He let out a sigh and snuggled closer to her warmth. She smiled and kissed the nape of his neck, taking in the soft scent of his shampoo and letting her kisses trail over his shoulders and down his back. When she kissed the skin between his shoulder blades, Will woke from his sleep and sighed deeply. He turned to face her and they smiled at each other as he took her mouth with his. He kissed her with a passion that rose from deep inside him, a hunger that he couldn’t explain. The desire he felt for Aurora was nothing like the young love he had experienced rolling in the fields and in the hay barn at Guyton Estates. This was something deeper, truer, more urgent, more potent.

  He knew he was as hard as a rock by the time he dipped his mouth to the bounty of her breasts. Aurora’s head went back as her back arched pushing the luscious mounds even closer for him to enjoy. A breathy sigh escaped her lips and soon after she was moaning deeply. Her thighs undulated seductively against his groin and it wasn’t long before Will could stand it no longer. He lifted her leg and swung it over his hip and around his waist, separating her delightful thighs. She grasped hold of his shoulders and looked him straight in the eye as he positioned his stiff shaft at the entrance to her moist sheath. With one powerful, long thrust, Will glided in, filling her with his manhood.

  She held on to him as if her life depended on it, when he started to move inside her. Aurora felt as if he were moving her entire world with every thrust of his hips. She met his every plunge with the rocking of her thighs, and the feeling of intense unity between them soon made Will throw back his head in ecstasy as he filled her with his seed. His body was cosmically charged and so was hers. The energy between them was intense. Even as they reveled in each other’s embrace, Will began to move inside her again. He never faded after his brush with rapture, but only took a moment to regain his breath and lavish kisses along Aurora’s neckline.

  It was Aurora’s turn to surprise him as she swung her leg around, turned him over and sat squarely on top of him. She gathered the sheets around her waist and positioned herself on his engorged member. Slowly, she moved her hips back and forth, rocking with the rhythm of passion and abandon. They were one, moved as one and soon their breathing was ragged and urgent, but she was determined for their encounter to last, so she slowed the pace, her movements become more deliberate and sensual. Their eyes were locked on each other, both of them drinking the other in and fully immersed in their lovemaking.

  Suddenly, the door opened and a voice called out, “Will, are you still asleep?”

  When Robin Guyton came through the doorway and into the room, he cried out, “Oh, my living God. What are you doing here?”

  “Mr. Guyton,” Aurora stuttered as she grabbed for the bed sheets to cover herself.

  “Robin? What the hell are you doing here?” Will shouted. “Don’t you know how to knock?”

  Robin backed out of the room, shaking his head as if he could somehow erase the scene he had just witnessed from his mind. Will hopped out of the bed, hurriedly dragged on a pair of pajama pants and went after him. As if to form a stronger defense, Aurora threw on a robe and belted it closed as she followed Will to the first floor sitting room. He stood on the last step, watching his brother pace from one side of the fireplace to the other.

  “I thought you understood what I told you the other day. We are not the same kind of people. Our sort don’t mix and when we try to, it’s never successful. I’m just trying to be a good brother and a good friend. I’m just trying to shield you both from getting hurt.”

  “Robin, Aurora did nothing wrong. I asked her to come here. I want to be with her. I don’t care if we work together. This is our private business; it has nothing to do with anyone or anything else.”

  “She is not right for you, Will. Have you forgotten how she paraded herself in front of our father for all those years and then threw herself at Zach the first chance that she got? This will not end nicely. She is too different from us. There’s no way she’ll be understanding about the way we are; she might even run to the press with a story about us trying to get her fifteen minutes of fame. I’m just trying to open your eyes here, Will. The truth is, you deserve a lot better than her.”

  At that remark, Will stepped down into the living room and stood squarely in front of his brother.

  “There isn’t a chance I’m giving her up. You separated me from someone I loved and cared for once before and I’m not going to let that happen again. I love her and I’m not letting that go this time.”

  “You’re going to regret this, Will, mark my words. This little fling won’t last very long, even if I have to see to it myself. If you go through with this, you’ll never be able to show your face in civilized society again; you won’t fit in anymore.”

  “I want you to leave, right now. Get out of my house and leave that key on the table while you’re at it.”

  “But Will, please listen to me.”

  “I said, get out!”

  Just then Aurora stepped down onto the landing. She couldn’t believe what was unfolding right in front of her eyes.

  “As for you, Miss Aldridge. You will rue the day you defied my instructions to leave my brothers alone. You have always been such a willful, know-it-all bitch. I will make you pay for this. Dearly.”

  Just then Will came up behind Aurora and put both his hands on her shoulders.

  “I told you to get out,” he repeated and watched satisfactorily as Robin turned on his heel, went through the front door of the townhouse and slammed it behind hi
m.

  Before another word could be said, he picked Aurora up in his arms and carried her silently back up the stairs to the bedroom. He gently placed her against the pillows and let the auburn tresses fall over them surrounding her face like a halo. He ran his fingers through the loose curls, spreading them across the white pillows. She sighed at his touch; how could she stay angry or upset?

  “Aurora, I have something to tell you about my family… the men in my family.”

  She put a finger to his lips and quickly interrupted him. “I saw Zach shift at the house in Bermuda… and then your Dad gave me the summary. It’s the only explanation I need. The Guyton secret is safe with me. Mr. G knows I’d lay my life down for his legacy and this company.”

  It was all the confirmation he needed. She was his true mate. Aurora knew everything there was to know about him and she loved him despite it all. He grabbed her around the hips, pulling her closer to him and undid the robe she wore, pushing it open and over her shoulders. He ran his hands up over her thighs, then slid them down over her buttocks and was satisfied when he found no evidence of underwear. She felt the heat of his breath as he dipped his head and traced his tongue gently along her neck from her shoulder to her earlobe and kissed her there. She did not object when his tongue continued down along the arch of her throat deep into the valley between her breasts.

  He lay down beside her and looked into her strange, hazel brown eyes and kissed her lustily on her full lips, trailing kisses back down to her breasts, cupping each in his tender hands and teasing the nipples until they were hard and eager for his attention. His mouth surrounded a nipple and Aurora gasped as his tongue flicked over it. She plunged both her hands into his hair and ran her fingers over his scalp. He groaned with pleasure, sucking tenderly at one breast after the other. She rolled on top of him and straddled him sitting over his loins prohibitively. He groaned again and opened his eyes to look at her.

  “I love you, Aurora. You know it’s the truth, right?” he asked.

  She smiled softly.

  “You have no idea how long I’ve waited to hear those words, Will,” she replied, pulling his head again toward her exposed breasts.

  ***

  Guyton House, Stone Mountain, Georgia.

  Robin slammed the car door heavily and walked up the pathway to the front door. Liz held it open for him and greeted him cheerfully. He grunted in response and stormed into the library.

  “Dad, you will not believe what I caught your son doing this morning... or rather WHO I caught him doing this morning in the townhouse in Fontainbleau.”

  “What in heaven’s name are you talking about?” John Guyton demanded.

  “I walked in on him and Aurora Aldridge in bed.” When he didn’t get the reaction that he was seeking from his father, he proceeded to elaborate. “Fucking. They were fucking, Dad. I told you something was going on between them. She was just too good. All these years, she’s just been plotting which one of us she was going to line up in her sights.”

  “Its none of your business, Robin. Will is a grown man; he can do as he pleases and sleep with anyone he chooses to.”

  “But, Dad...”

  “No buts, Robin. Keep your nose out of it and your claws out of Aurora’s hide. If it’s as serious as you’re making it out to be, Will’s not going to take kindly to you interfering in his private life. Furthermore, I won’t stand for you talking about Precious like that either. I want you to remember that when your mom and I started working together we were in love, but we weren’t married. Do you think they would be the first couple to fall in love on the job? Do you think because they hold positions of prestige and responsibility at Guyton, that they would let their private lives interfere with their work? Clearly, you don’t know the same Will and Aurora that I do.”

  “But he doesn’t understand that he will shame us all. It will be the biggest scandal to erupt in southern society since Pocahontas. We’ve got to put a stop to this right away.”

  “I’ve told you my stance on the matter. I’ve told you to drop it. If you won’t listen to me, then do what you feel like, but I will not have any part in it. I love my son, enough to know when he has a chance at happiness and to allow him to pursue it. That girl’s been nothing but a Godsend to me since the day she walked in that office. And before you insinuate that she was trying to seduce me all along as well, let me tell you this, son. If I was a different kind of man, I would have offered that girl anything she wanted if she would be with me. Hell, the thought crossed my mind several times over the years. I never made an advance on her, though, and that was because I knew that she would never allow herself to accept what I was offering. She’s too good; her morals are indubitable, her values are esteemed. When I realized it, I never had the thought again, but that was when I started calling her Precious. It’s what I had called your sister for the two hours that I sat in that hospital and rocked her as I watched her life fade away. Aurora’s like the daughter I never got to have.”

  John turned away from Robin and walked out of the library, slamming the door behind him as if to punctuate his statement. For a moment, he stood there, stunned. He couldn’t believe his own father had turned his coat against everything they stood for and wouldn’t help him put an end to the nonsense that Will was up to. In that instance, he decided that the best thing to do was to just let the proverbial cat out of the bag and sit back and see how well Aurora Aldridge would be able to stand up for herself in the onslaught of filth he would dig up about her past. But there was no way he could be implicated as the person who let out Aurora’s secrets. That would cause too much scrutiny and excessive bad blood, even if he was right in the end. His brother would still hate him for it. Maybe while he was at it he could enlighten Aurora about some of his brother’s past indiscretions as well. Robin took his cell phone from his pocket and dialed Colton Reader’s number.

  ***

  Atlanta, Georgia.

  Aurora parked around the corner from the mailbox company and walked around the block before approaching the building. Inside the foyer, she took the small envelope from her pocket, looked at the address and number written on it again and began to search for the mailbox. The task was simple as the boxes were arranged in numerical order along the walls of the room and spread further back into the space around two corners, leading off the foyer area. She wasn’t surprised to find that the box she was looking for was at the far end of the row around one of the corners, that it was at chest height and had to be accessed with one’s back turned to the entire corridor and subsequently, any other users. It offered complete privacy of use; no one could tell what she was doing there.

  With a deep breath, she put the key in the lock and turned it. The mechanism moved smoothly and she could hear when the lock sprung open. Inside, were several white bill envelopes placed to one side, but on the other side, neatly pushed up against one side was a large brown envelope that seemed positively full. She pulled everything from the box and closed it. Back in the safety of the Audi, Aurora scanned through the mail. It was all bills, as she had suspected. Putting them aside, she opened the brown envelope and pulled the contents from it carefully. The shock of what she saw was such that her mouth fell wide open. Inside the envelope were stacks of photographs of a lot of the very same men that she had come to know well at Guyton Industries. In every photograph, the men were caught in extremely compromising positions with what looked to be like high priced prostitutes or possibly escorts. They were clearly not posed. Some of the men were engaged in intercourse with the women, others in bondage scenarios and other types of similar role play.

  The magnitude of the evidence that Aurora was now running through her fingers was enormous and a heavy feeling of dread came over her. It was clear and apparent that someone was trying to tell her about what was really going on at her beloved company. She picked up her cell phone from the seat beside her and dialed Rebecca’s number.

  “Hey there! Where the hell are you? I’ve been calling you for ho
urs. Please don’t tell me you went to check out that P.O. box?”

  “Oh, hell! Rebecca, you will not believe what I’m about to tell you. I think someone just handed us a reminder that the whole mystery of why Zach was framed so many weeks ago has still not been resolved. They’ve also provided us with enough information to blow this thing wide open.”

  “What do you mean? Tell me.”

  “There is photo evidence of almost everyone we know at Guyton engaging in sexual activities with what looks to me like prostitutes or paid escorts.”

  “Oh, my God.”

  “That’s so right.”

  “Are you thinking that someone is blackmailing them and ended up framing Zach because he wouldn’t pay?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m thinking. I need you to rearrange the data we have.”

  “How?”

  “I need you to open a spreadsheet, download all the names of men working at all of Guyton’s companies that are middle management and higher, along with their department. I’m also going to need their bank records. I’m betting that if we correlate the dates and the amounts I’ve found associated with each name that we will be able to pinpoint who the blackmailer is.”

  “Okay, I’ll have it done in a couple of hours.”

  “Great, and Rebecca, make sure to enter the figure in the same color it was recorded in.”

  “Why?”

  “I think that the black figures are the ransoms that were already paid and that the reds were the transactions in progress or not yet initiated.”