Laid Bear

by Eve Vaughn

  Logan grabbed a chair from the corner of the room and set it beside the bed for Zora to sit. She smiled at him gratefully.

  Zora reluctantly returned her attention to her mother. “How are you feeling?” she asked, to be polite.

  “I’ve been better. That hairstyle really suits you. You’ve always been a pretty girl, but now… ”

  “I’m sure you didn’t want to see me to compliment my hair. What did you want to see me about?”

  Her mother looked away and released a heavy sigh. “I don’t really know where to begin, Zora. I owe you so many apologies that they probably won’t mean squat to you.”

  Out of everything she was expecting, a repentant mother was not one of them. Zora shifted in her chair uncomfortably.

  “Umm… ”

  “You don’t have to forgive me, Lord knows I don’t deserve it. I’ve forsaken everything that mattered to me, my mother, you and… your father. uh, Darren, the man who raised you…

  he wasn’t your biological father.”

  She stiffened, not knowing how to react. Zora digested the information, trying to figure out how she felt. She was neither happy nor sad. So many things that hadn’t made sense growing up suddenly did. She didn’t favor him or any of his relatives. She felt no visceral connection. And the little comments he made toward her came back. He’d called her a little bastard on a several occasions, but she thought he was just being his unfeeling self. And then there was Heath’s bizarre comment a few days ago in the woods when he implied he wasn’t her father. How did he know?

  She turned to him. “Heath, you knew?”

  Heath was leaning against the wall and stepped forward.

  “I shouldn’t have dropped it on you in the heat of the moment like that. I already surmised you believed him to be your father, but the scents didn’t match. We all have our own unique scent and often we can sniff out a familiar connection even if it’s faint. There was nothing. Not like there is between you and your mother. I figured it out then.”

  “I see.” She nodded, accepting his explanation. She turned back to her mother’s downcast eyes.

  “Who is my real father?”

  Tears misted in Rayna’s eyes. She clutched her chest as if she were having pains. “A good man. I just wish I had been brave enough to take the chance like I see you have.” She looked past Zora to Logan, Heath and Gavin.

  Zora shook her head in confusion. “I don’t know what you’re trying to tell me.”

  “I think I need to give you a little bit of background. I never knew who my father was. Your grandmother told me hardly anything about him. Apparently it was a great source of pain to her, but what I did get out of her was that they had a brief fling. He’d told her she was his mate or something of that nature. I didn’t really think too much of her odd choice of words, but there you have it. I think I was always starved for a father’s love so I sought it out in ways that I’m ashamed to admit. But through it all, Darren was around. He was a sweet boy, or so I thought. He was there through every break up, giving me a shoulder to cry on and offering me his friendship.

  Then I met Calvin Wanamaker. He was tall, broad and just beautiful. I think I fell in love with him instantly. I knew right away that all those other guys didn’t mean a thing. And even when I told him about them he didn’t care.” A tear slid down her mother’s face. She hastily wiped it away.

  Zora remained silent, waiting for her mother to finish.

  “We got serious, then he mentioned something that threw me for a loop. He wanted me to meet his brothers. Calvin said it was important that I like them. I thought nothing of it until he introduced me to them and… well, then he told me they were descended from the Kelowna. They told me I was their mate. It brought back to mind what my mother said. Even though I felt a pull to his brothers, I didn’t believe them. And then they showed me. They turned into bears! I… your men…

  they’re bears, aren’t they?”

  Zora looked behind her to gauge her men’s reactions. Their expressions remained passive. She turned back to her mother.

  “Yes.”

  Rayna nodded. “Thought so. Those are some big boys.”

  She chuckled to herself. But just as quickly, her expression turned grave. “Unlike you, I didn’t handle it well. I panicked and ran back to Darren. I needed his friendship and I told him everything, taking a risk that he’d think I wasn’t crazy. He believed me. Calvin and his brothers came looking for me, but I couldn’t face them. I was too much of a coward.”

  Zora’s mother turned her head away. “A few weeks passed and I realized I was pregnant. I couldn’t tell my mother because I knew she’d be so disappointed. She wanted so much more for me than to bear a child out of wedlock. So I decided to go to Calvin, only to find he and his brothers had gone missing. Just like that. I couldn’t understand. I was frantic. Not only was I pregnant, but I’d lost the love of my life. And Darren… he was there. He offered to marry me as a way out, and coward that I was, I accepted. I felt love for him but I wasn’t in love with him. He seemed to accept that. My mother never liked him and I couldn’t understand why, but I soon learned after I married him.”

  Tears fell freely down Rayna’s cheeks now, but she didn’t bother to wipe them away.

  “Darren was sweet in the beginning, but I think it started to get to him how I couldn’t love him the way he thought I eventually would. He started going to church more. He became almost fanatical and he got verbally abusive. I hadn’t finished college and didn’t have skills and I had you to think about. So I took it. And when you were old enough to understand what was going on, he got fixated on you. He’d throw my indiscretions back at me. He beat me down mentally so by the time he hit me physically, I was already an emotional wreck. Oh, he never did it with any witnesses and he always made sure he hit me in a place where the bruise could easily be covered. The only time he threatened to hurt you was when I would show affection to you. He hated me giving attention to anyone. So I, please forgive me Zora, but I shut you out. I thought I was doing the right thing by you, but I know now I made a terrible mistake. I know I was cold toward you at times, but in my mind I thought I was protecting you. Not long before you left for college, I noticed him looking at you in a way that wasn’t right. I was worried he might touch you. I caught him watching you in the bathroom. It was one of the few times I stood up to him. He beat me pretty bad after that.”

  Zora gasped in horror. How had she not noticed? She’d been so wrapped up in her own pain she hadn’t recognized her mother’s. “Oh, Mom.” For the first time, she reached out and grabbed her mother’s hand. “I didn’t know.”

  “There was no way you would. He was very careful to hide his true nature.”

  “Not really. He’d call me names and treat me like crap.

  Didn’t you see that?”

  Rayna squeezed her eyes shut. “I did, but in my mind I thought things would be okay as long as he didn’t touch you.

  I was so glad when you left because I felt you would be safe.

  Shortly after our last talk, he joined a church that was by anyone’s standards strict. He became even more of a zealot and he started saying crazy things, especially about you. He wanted to bring you back and teach you the right way.

  Sometimes it was like he was speaking to no one at all. When we found out what happened with you and that boy, he kind of just snapped. He was already slipping into another reality, but he felt you had betrayed him. He claimed he’d find you and bring you back.

  “By this time, I knew I had to leave but each time I tried, he’d find me. It was only recently we discovered you were staying with my mom. And that’s another regret I have. He basically destroyed the relationship I had with her. I didn’t see her buried either. You bore that alone. I can’t apologize enough, Zora.”

  “It’s okay. The rest I can pretty much fill in for myself. He found me and he planned on handling me.”

  “Yes.” Rayna nodded. “He went after me first. Told me he wa
s going to send me to hell with those three bastards and then he’d take care of my whore daughter. That’s when I realized he had something to do with Calvin and his brothers’

  disappearances. I could never prove it, but he basically admitted it. He said he went hunting. I think I lost it then. For the first time I fought him and he beat me and locked me in the trunk. I don’t know how long I was there. A few days had passed. The next thing I knew, your guys saved me and I’m here.”

  “I see.”

  “Do you?” Rayna asked. “I know I have no right to ask your forgiveness, but maybe one day you’ll let me get to know you as a mother should know her daughter?”

  Zora chose her words before finally answering. “Honestly, I don’t know. I’ve had to deal with this pain all my life and I feel so much resentment toward you for not being my mom.

  But I also know now that you suffered too. Get some rest, I’ll be back to check in on you.” Zora moved to get up. Her mother squeezed her hand.

  “Do you promise you’ll come back?” There was such a piteous look in the older woman’s eyes, Zora’s heart melted slightly.

  “Of course, I live here. Where would I go? Besides, you’re a guest in this home for as long as you need to be.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Get some rest, Mom.” When Zora stood up, she gave her mother a parting smile before heading toward the door.

  Something made her pause and turn back around. She walked back over to her mother, bent over and kissed her on the forehead. She’d never kissed her mother before and it felt nice.

  Rayna smiled and then she closed her eyes, seeming at peace.

  Once Zora was out of the room, she leaned into Heath.

  “That was tough.”

  “You did a good thing in there.” Gavin leaned over and kissed her cheek.

  “I was so scared to see her, but now I’m glad I did. I can’t believe all she endured because she was too frightened to love who she was meant to be with. Hopefully one day, she’ll find peace. My father, I mean Darren, was so evil. He nearly destroyed me, but I’m still standing and maybe one day she’ll stand tall again too. If I don’t say it enough, Heath, Logan, Gavin, I love you. And I’m glad you found me.”

  “We’re glad we found you too. Our lives would be nothing without you,” Logan said gruffly, a mouthful for him.

  Each man took turns kissing her before Zora pulled away from them. “Okay, how about we go back downstairs and look at color swatches?”

  Her three bears gave a collective groan.

  Epilogue

  “That’s it baby, move those hips. Don’t hold back,” Logan growled from behind her, pumping into her hot pussy with precise strokes.

  Zora moaned, loving the delicious sensation of being filled with a hard, thick cock. She pushed back against him, meeting his thrusts. Heath positioned himself in front of her on his knees and she eagerly grasped his shaft with her fingers. She slid her hand along his length before taking him deep into her mouth, swallowing him.

  Heath gripped her hair and pushed forward, burying his dick down her throat. Zora tightened her lips around him, bobbing her head back and forth, using her tongue to wet him as she moved.

  “Fuck yeah, Zora. So good. So fucking good,” Heath shouted.

  Knowing she had the power to bring this big man to his knees in ecstasy empowered her, fueling her desire. She continued to suck, savoring the musky masculine flavor of him. Even though the four of them had made love in several positions, this one remained her favorite—one in her mouth and one pounding into her from behind, going so deep she felt it all over her body.

  She pulled back just enough to release his hard length, but immediately captured his heavy sack in her mouth.

  “Damn, Zora, you don’t know what you’re doing to me.”

  Logan chuckled, still thrusting into her with all he had.

  “She knows exactly what’s she’s doing. Don’t you, baby?” He brought his palm on her upturned rear, causing her to clench her muscles around his cock. “Ah, yeah. I’m not going to hold on for much longer,” he groaned.

  She loved the sound of surrender in her mens’ voices.

  “Then don’t.” She grinned as she recaptured Heath’s cock and took him deep in her mouth. She turned her head just enough to make eye contact with Gavin, still catching his breath after taking his turn behind her.

  She worked in time with Heath and Logan’s powerful thrusts, pushing, pulling, grinding. Heath let loose first, shooting his seed down her throat. She greedily slurped every bit of his essence, enjoying the look of pure bliss that crossed his face.

  Logan hit just the right spot over and over again and Zora could no longer hold it in. Her orgasm was explosive, like a series of fireworks shooting inside and around her. Logan climaxed almost immediately after she did, filling her pussy with his seed. She whimpered when he pulled out. He pulled her against him on the bed with the two of them facing each other.

  Gavin took the opportunity to mold himself to her backside and drop a kiss on her shoulder. Heath lay across the foot of the bed at her feet. The four of them didn’t speak for several moments until Zora broke the silence. “That was something else.”

  Logan smirked. “Tell me about it. You were insatiable.”

  She snorted. “Can you blame me? This is the first time in months we haven’t had someone else in the house. Between your parents and my mom, I never thought we’d get the house to ourselves again.”

  Heath, Gavin and Logan’s parents had wanted to visit right away, but they’d wanted to give Zora a chance to adjust to being with them first. Besides, it was unnerving enough when someone had one set of in-laws, but Zora had inherited three mothers-in-law and nine fathers-in-law. At any rate, they had all agreed to wait for Rayna to fully recover before inviting any more guests.

  Once that happened, the in-laws descended en masse. At first it was an overwhelming experience for Zora to meet them, but they all turned out to be nice people. She could see where Logan, Heath and Gavin had gotten their personalities.

  And with four other women in the house, Zora sought their guidance for redecorating, which seemed to win her mothers’-

  in-law approval. Even her mother, who had been a bit shy among all the strangers, seemed to warm to the motley crew and threw herself into the activities. Family game night was a riot, but Zora still managed to win.

  The in-laws ended up staying for two weeks and as much as Zora had come to love them, having so many people under one roof began to grate on her nerves. She was sad to see them go but was happy they’d return to visit soon. Her mothers-in-law let her know in no uncertain terms they expected her to be carrying their grandchild the next time they saw her.

  Zora smiled to herself as she thought of the promise she made to them. If she and her bears kept at it, that promise would be fulfilled in no time. Her mom was staying with them until she could get back on her feet, but already she was thinking about going back to school and pursuing her degree in animal husbandry, of all things.

  Despite a rough beginning, things were starting to get better between Zora and Rayna. Zora still had a lot of resentment issues to work out, but decided forgiveness was the best thing for them. Besides her mom, though misguided, had been as much a victim as she was. They would probably never have the typical mother and daughter relationship, but they were moving in the direction of being friends.

  The man she had known as her father had been reported missing by his siblings, but no one had ever heard from him again. Zora knew her men had gotten rid of his car and any traces that he’d been in the area, but she never asked what they did and she didn’t want to know. All that mattered now was moving forward with her men.

  “What are you thinking about?” Gavin asked.

  She smiled at each of them in turn. “I was just thinking about how much I love you all. And how thankful I am to have found you.”

  “And we love you too, Zora. With all our hearts,” Heath replied.


  She looked at each of them, seeing the love radiating from their faces, and her heart swelled ten times over. For so long she felt as if she had no place in this world and something seemed off. But now… everything was just right.

  About the Author

  Eve Vaughn has enjoyed creating characters and stories from an early age. As a child she was always getting into mischief, so when she lost her television privileges (which was often), writing was her outlet. Her stories have gotten quite a bit spicier since then. When she's not writing or spending time with her family, Eve is reading, baking, traveling or kicking butt in 80s trivia. She loves hearing from her readers. Eve can be contacted through her website at www.evevaughn.com.