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  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

  This book is intended for adult readers only.

  Any sexual activity portrayed in these pages occurs between consenting adults over the age of 18 who are not related by blood.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  THORN

  1. Hawthorne

  2. Allie

  3. Allie

  4. Hawthorne

  5. Allie

  6. Hawthorne

  7. Allie

  8. Allie

  9. Hawthorne

  10. Allie

  11. Hawthorne

  12. Allie

  13. Hawthorne

  14. Hawthorne

  15. Allie

  16. Hawthorne

  17. Allie

  18. Hawthorne

  19. Allie

  20. Hawthorne

  21. Allie

  22. Allie

  23. Hawthorne

  24. Allie

  25. Allie

  26. Hawthorne

  WYATT

  1. Georgia

  2. Wyatt

  3. Georgia

  4. Wyatt

  5. Georgia

  6. Wyatt

  7. Georgia

  8. Wyatt

  9. Georgia

  10. Georgia

  11. Wyatt

  12. Georgia

  13. Wyatt

  14. Georgia

  15. Georgia

  16. Wyatt

  17. Georgia

  18. Wyatt

  19. Georgia

  20. Wyatt

  21. Georgia

  22. Wyatt

  23. Georgia

  24. Wyatt

  25. Georgia

  26. Wyatt

  27. Georgia

  28. Wyatt

  HUTCH

  1. Veronica

  2. Hutch

  3. Veronica

  4. Veronica

  5. Hutch

  6. Veronica

  7. Hutch

  8. Veronica

  9. Veronica

  10. Hutch

  11. Veronica

  12. Hutch

  13. Veronica

  14. Hutch

  15. Veronica

  16. Veronica

  17. Hutch

  18. Veronica

  19. Hutch

  20. Veronica

  21. Veronica

  22. Hutch

  23. Veronica

  24. Hutch

  25. Veronica

  26. Hutch

  STERLING

  1. Ophelia

  2. Sterling

  3. Ophelia

  4. Sterling

  5. Ophelia

  6. Ophelia

  7. Sterling

  8. Ophelia

  9. Sterling

  10. Ophelia

  11. Sterling

  12. Ophelia

  13. Sterling

  14. Ophelia

  15. Sterling

  16. Ophelia

  17. Ophelia

  18. Ophelia

  19. Sterling

  20. Sterling

  21. Ophelia

  22. Sterling

  23. Ophelia

  24. Sterling

  25. Ophelia

  26. Sterling

  SAM

  1. Presley

  2. Presley

  3. Sam

  4. Presley

  5. Sam

  6. Presley

  7. Sam

  8. Presley

  9. Presley

  10. Sam

  11. Presley

  12. Sam

  13. Presley

  14. Sam

  15. Presley

  16. Sam

  17. Presley

  18. Sam

  19. Presley

  20. Presley

  21. Sam

  22. Presley

  23. Presley

  24. Presley

  25. Sam

  MATT

  1. Matt

  2. Cannon

  3. Matt

  4. Cannon

  5. Cannon

  6. Matt

  7. Matt

  8. Cannon

  9. Matt

  10. Cannon

  11. Cannon

  12. Matt

  13. Cannon

  14. Cannon

  15. Matt

  16. Cannon

  17. Matt

  18. Matt

  19. Cannon

  20. Cannon

  21. Matt

  22. Matt

  23. Cannon

  24. Cannon

  25. Matt

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  Bears of Burden

  Complete Six Book Series

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  THORN

  1

  Hawthorne

  “Check out the blonde in the pink dress.” Sterling Mallory whistled under his breath. “Da-yum, she’s a looker.”

  I’d already noticed. I’d also gone back to her place the week before.

  I stretched back in my chair and flashed a wide grin. “Go ahead, call her over. It’s been what? Twenty minutes since the last time you struck out with a woman? ‘Bout time for you to try again.”

  Sterling’s big brother, Hutch, clapped me on the back and huffed a laugh. “Twenty minutes? Hell, you must’ve missed that bouncy little redhead not ten minutes ago.”

  Sterling shook his head. “She was a lesbian. Don’t count as striking out.”

  It counted. I slid a glance towards the bar. Abram, my assistant manager, nodded. Everything was fine, which meant I could stay and relax for a bit longer in my favorite chair at the corner table with my lifelong buddies, Sterling, Hutch, Sam and…

  “Where’s Wyatt?”

  Sterling ignored me and left his chair to approach the blonde, who was eyeing me, a coy smile playing at the corners of her lips. I just shook my head and tipped my old John Deere cap at her. Sure, she was a beauty, but I wasn’t about to give false impressions. I didn’t go back for seconds.

  “Last I knew, Wyatt was headed up the mountain with another group of would-be survivalists.”

  A shudder ran down my back. “How he deals with some of those crazies, I’ll never know. I swear that bear attracts the nut-jobs.”

  Hutch nodded and then nearly snorted out his beer. The pretty blonde had just slapped the hell out of Sterling. “Another strike out. Looks like little brother is going home alone tonight.”

  “Nah. He always manages to find himself a pity screw.” Even as the words left my mouth, a tall brunette came up to Sterling and cupped his bright red cheek. “See. I don’t get it, but some women love the wounded ego thing.”

  The ear-splitting sound of shattering glass echoed through the place followed by a collective groan from a group sitting at one of the tables up near the juke box. As the crowd parted, I spotted Cammie rushing to clean up
a massive mess of spilled beer and broken mugs. From what it looked like, she’d dropped an entire tray of drinks. Damn.

  Sam Jennings chose that moment to plop down in his usual seat beside me. He followed my eyes to Cammie and her disaster and shook his head. “What’s that? The fourth time this week?”

  I pushed off from my chair and stretched out my legs. “Fifth. I don’t think this is going to work out.”

  I left them sitting there and joined Abram at the bar. He’d been my assistant manager for years and knew what I wanted before I did most of the time. “What’s the deal with her?”

  His eyes went to Cammie then trailed over to Sam. “Your buddy bedded her and hasn’t called her back.”

  Fuck. I had a strict policy about my friends staying the hell away from my waitresses. It was hard enough to keep good help around, what with dealing with a bar full of drunk shifters, and humans alike, day after day. I glared over at my best friend and decided I was going to bleed him later.

  “Think she’ll bounce back?”

  Abram expertly shuffled a few beers into customers’ waiting hands. “Not a chance. She’s already told me tonight’s her last night.”

  I grunted. At least she was going to finish her shift. That was more than they normally did.

  As if she’d heard my thoughts, Cammie plunked the tray she’d been carrying onto the bar and without a word, without even meeting my eyes, yanked the apron off her hips, and tossed it on top of the tray before turning and sprinting out the front door.

  “Dammit.”

  Abram laughed like it was the funniest thing he’d ever seen. He slid another couple of beers down the bar and shook his head. “Looks like you just got a promotion, Boss. I don’t reckon that apron is going to fit you, though.”

  I tossed the apron towards the bin of soiled towels and picked up the tray. “Do we have some resumes left over from last time we hired?”

  “I’ll figure it out,” he nodded, “You just get your cute little butt out there and earn you some tips!”

  I flipped him off and grabbed several beers, assuming that’s what most of my patrons would be drinking. When I stopped by my table, Sam looked up at me with a hangdog grin.

  “Sorry, Thorn. I didn’t expect her to run.”

  I smacked him on the back of the head and handed a beer to Hutch. “Keep your fucking dick away from my waitresses, Sam. This shit is getting old. I got a business to run.”

  He still didn’t manage to wipe the grin off his face. She must’ve been worth my ire. I shook my head and headed back to the bar, ready for what would no doubt be a long night.

  The little blonde cut me off and smiled up at me. “Hey, Thorn.”

  The pink dress she had on certainly did hike up her girls, and I found them distracting as hell. “Hey.”

  “I haven’t heard from you so I thought I’d stop back by and say hello. I had a lot of fun the other night.”

  I let a crooked smile tilt my mouth. “Me too.”

  She rested her hand on my arm and batted her eyelashes. “I’m free later tonight.”

  Damn. I looked around the bar and saw how busy it was. By the time the night ended I’d be exhausted and cranky. I decided that it’d be kinda nice to have a little something soft and warm waiting on me. I slipped my arm around her side, brushed my lips against her ear, and growled, “I’ll come around to your house after I close up.”

  She shivered and pressed herself against me. “I’ll be here. Just find me when you’re finished.”

  I watched her saunter over to her friends before I turned back to the bar. Abram had been observing with a grin on his face. When I got back to the bar, he just laughed.

  “You’re just as bad as Sam. Only difference is you don’t screw the waitresses.”

  Which is the point.

  2

  Allie

  Texas. Hmm… not exactly where I’d planned on ending up, but, then, I didn’t really have a plan to speak of. Who knows, this might just be the hand of fate guiding me, right here. Burden, Texas. Hell, the name alone seemed to foreshadow my destiny.

  I’d run out of gas on the side of the road with absolutely no money left in my bank account. My sporadic road trip was just that - completely and utterly sporadic. I’d thrown a few things in the back of my old Mustang and just headed the old girl west. What I hadn’t done was make sure I had the finances for my travels.

  My phone died somewhere in the middle of Arkansas and I’d left the charger back in North Carolina. The snacks I’d packed had been depleted in Tennessee. I’d grown tired of sleeping in my car the first half of Texas.

  I’d gotten off the interstate in Arkansas to enjoy the scenery and crossed over to Texas in the same way, on back roads. Going through the small towns had been stunning, until I found myself on the side of the road, stranded with not another soul in sight.

  I’d just passed the sign for Burden when the damn car sputtered to a stop. I looked around and rolled my shoulders. The outskirts of Big Bend National Park had spectacular views. Burden was at the bottom of the far west side of Texas, on the Mexican border. I’d driven far off the beaten path for a chance to see Big Bend and now, here I was, stranded in what was potentially a ghost town.

  I wasn’t entirely sure it was abandoned, since I didn’t actually know the first thing about Burden, Texas. I think I remembered seeing it on the road atlas I’d studied at a gas station outside of Austin. But, I’d driven through several ghost towns that had also been listed on the atlas, so the prospects of Burden actually being inhabited was somewhere around fifty-fifty.

  Anxiety started to wear at the edges of my consciousness. I snatched my backpack from the trunk and tossed it over my shoulder. I’d hike through the park and hope to find a park ranger. Hiking the last thirty miles into Big Bend hadn’t been my plan, but then again, I didn’t exactly have a plan. And besides, this trip just might be my very last taste of freedom. The last chance I had to throw caution to the wind. My final hurrah as it were.

  It was May, so not the hottest month of the year, but the daytime temperature was still in the high nineties. I’d dressed in simple, loose cotton shorts that morning that stopped just below my ass and a spaghetti strapped tank top. My clothes were perfect for the weather. My flip flops sucked for hiking. No matter, I tied my hair out of my face with a bandana and marched on.

  This might be an unexpected hiccup, but I wasn’t one to let something like this get me down. Sure, it sucked to break down. Even more so outside a place called Burden, a place that was probably just some rugged land with a few abandoned adobe style structures on it. But, technically I was still on the road, which had been the point of leaving in the first place. To experience an adventure. I wanted to see everything. I wanted to spend as long as I could seeing everything.

  It had nothing to do with me running scared from the marriage proposal my boyfriend had sprung on me. Nope. Nothing at all.

  Summer hadn’t taken over yet and wildflowers were still blooming on each side of the road. As I walked, the blooms charmed me and I couldn’t help but smile. Green grass blew in the hot breeze. In the distance, the road dipped and I lost sight of whatever it was that I was walking towards. Only when I got closer, could I see the town spread out in the valley below.

  Burden looked like a perfect little town. I could see enough movement to convince me that it wasn’t an abandoned ghost town. Awesome luck!

  With a pep in my step, and my flip-flops slapping the soles of my feet, I headed towards this little slice of salvation. The first structure I came across was a large log cabin style place. A rustic wooden sign mounted over the door read ‘The Cave’. I peeked in the window, and the sight of neon beer signs made me feel like I’d won the lottery. Looks like I wasn’t gonna die from heat stroke or dehydration out in the middle of Nowhere, Texas after all.