My Gold (A Steele Fairy Tale Book 1) Read online

  My Gold

  A Steele Fairy Tale

  C.M. Steele

  Copyrighted © 2017

  All Rights Reserved

  No part of this book may be reproduced, copied or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system without written expressed permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

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

  Cover design: C.M. Steele

  Cover Image: Deposit Photos

  The use of actors, artists, movies, TV shows, and song titles/lyrics throughout this book are done so for storytelling purposes and should in no way be seen as advertisement. Trademark names are used in an editorial fashion with no intention of infringement of the respective owner’s trademark.

  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or if it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return it to the seller and please purchase your own copy.

  All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior express, written consent of the author.

  This book is intended for mature adults only. Contains sexual content and language that may offend some. Suggested reading audience is 18 years or older. I consider this book as Adult Erotic Romance.

  Logan Lockwood, with his parents in tow, came home to a house in disarray. His favorite chair is broken and the scent of a stranger permeates through the house. Chasing her scent to his room, he sees a beautiful blonde laying in his bed. All can be forgiven because she’s his.

  Grace Harper got into a world of trouble simply because she had to use the bathroom. Always the good girl, she’d never before thought of entering someone’s home uninvited, but desperate times and all that. Things go from messed up to extremely confusing with just a quick nap.

  What happens when she wakes to find three large people staring at her, one with possession on his mind and desire in his eyes?

  Can she accept Logan's claim or will he be forced to let her go?

  Copyrighted © 2017

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Epilogue

  Ten Years Later

  Upcoming Titles

  Chapter 1

  Grace

  “What possessed me to come on this camping trip?” I grumbled to myself, stumbling through the woods away from our campsite to find somewhere to pee. I’d gone with my friend, Dana Nolan, her parents, and brother, Jared. Every previous year, I turned them down. This time I caved. Initially it was because I thought he wasn’t going to be there, but then as soon as he learned I was going, Jared was canceling his plans with his latest girlfriend. He was a horny twenty-year-old shithead, who eyed me anytime I was in the room. We’d only graduated high school this summer and I was in the process of going to a community college. Living on my own made boys a last priority and Jared was one I wouldn’t even consider being friends with let alone anything more.

  We had set up our camp just outside of the Black Mountains in North Carolina. Getting as far away from him as possible was what had me in this mess. The clearing made me think it was a thinly wooded forest, but as I tried to get out of viewing distance, I felt like I was swallowed up by large brush then massive trees branches. The forest floor was covered in plants, dirt, fallen branches, and leaves.

  It was getting dark since the sun was setting earlier as fall approached. I knew I shouldn’t have gone too far out of earshot of the campsite, but I didn’t trust Jared not to spy on me. The entire ride he kept making excuses to talk to me. I was beyond annoyed with him. It wasn’t like I was special, he flirted with any female, so I didn’t feel an ounce of guilt when I told him to go fuck himself. Hell, I was barely legal and he’d been hounding me well before that time. In truth, I was afraid that he would corner me where no one could hear. I continued to look over my shoulder as I found a place to use as a makeshift bathroom.

  Now, I was in the middle of the wilderness looking around for a spot to pee. This was wrong and I wanted to get it over with as fast as possible. This was a first for me, tinkling in the wilderness. Animals would probably pick up my scent and have me for dinner.

  I squatted near a tree and did my business. I used wipes and a trash bag so I didn’t litter or go back smelling like I peed myself. I’d just pulled my ponytail out and tucked my hair back into place before tying it back up. The heat was oppressive and even with my hair off my neck.

  Before I could take another step, there was a crack of a branch and I freaked out, spinning around in a circle only to see it was a rabbit. I took a deep breath to get a hold of myself.

  I marched back the way I came…or so I thought. I’d been walking a few minutes and couldn’t see the clearing approaching. How did I get turned around? I continued to walk in the same direction for another five minutes and still nothing. The humidity was high. Sweat slipped down my blue tank top, making me feel sticky. Fall was around the corner, but not close enough. The temps were in the high eighties.

  A brief moment of fear blanketed my flesh as a stiff breeze passed through the trees. I shivered, but continued to move forward. I knew that I must be going the wrong way, but for some unknown reason I pushed along. Why did I leave my bookbag at the camp with my cellphone in it?

  Another thirty minutes later, I found a clearing. It wasn’t the same one, but at least there was a home in the center next to a dirt road. Maybe I could get help there. I walked onto the dirt road, looking to see if there were any signs. Nothing. I felt like I was tripping on something good. Was I so dehydrated that I’d become delusional? I shook my head and walked to the large country house.

  A veranda wrapped around the front and sides and I cautiously approached the house, then searched for the doorbell. I didn’t see one, but then I turned my head and saw a rope with an old-fashioned bell attached. I’d seen it in classic movies, so I tugged it down. It chimed like a perfectly shaped, miniature church bell.

  I shook as I waited for someone to appear. Nothing. I walked around the back, thinking maybe they would be out there grilling on this hot day. I did smell something delicious. I couldn’t tell what it was, but as I got to the open backyard it was empty. It was beautiful with a large flowerbed and a fountain in the center. Water cascaded down in an arc over the flowers, allowing just a mist to land on them. I’d never seen anything like it; I was mesmerized. My nostrils flared as I had a sick feeling that I wasn’t alone anymore and it wasn’t a human that joined me. A low growl emanated from the forest behind the yard. I could see it. A cougar. Shit. It would be fast so I had to be even more so. I slowly took a step back, hoping the animal already ate and that I was safe.

  I wasn’t. It jumped from a large branch into the yard, just behind the fountain with only about twenty feet between us. I closed my eyes and booked it o
ut of there, seeing an open window. I felt the cougar’s breath on my neck. I flew through it, my life depending on getting inside. I felt the burning sting of a cut on my arm from a slash of the cougar’s claws. My body crashed into the large kitchen table, smashing into a chair and breaking it as I landed on the floor. The air escaped my lungs and ached as though I broke my sternum. Fearing the animal would jump through the window, I turned my head and used my arms to lift my upper body. It was gone. I got up as gingerly as possible, my body suffering more damage than it ever had. I looked around the large kitchen and saw that I managed to knock the table over and another chair into a large glass cabinet. I was going to be in so much trouble with the homeowners.

  The pain was still there as I stood. I looked toward the window, and I could see the cougar pacing the yard with his gaze in my direction. I slammed it shut. Well, I should say that I tried to, but it was a struggle. My chest hurt badly. I took a seat in one of the other chairs, trying to cope with the pain, but I was so thirsty. I looked around the room for the sink, but it seemed so far. The fridge was about two feet away from me. Maybe they had bottled water or something. I hobbled over there, apparently my leg was bruised as well. Opening it, I saw what looked like a homemade protein drink. I took a whiff of it and yes, it was. I drank it down feeling my thirst being quenched.

  A sudden overwhelming feeling of exhaustion swept through my bones. I needed to rest. I dropped the cup onto the counter, making a mental note that I was going to have pay them back for everything I broke or used, but right now I had to lay down.

  Chapter 2

  Logan

  I was so damn tired from a long day at the lumberyard. It was a blessing to own both the yard and tree farm. It allowed me to control the prices and number of trees that could be cut down per year. I never let a surge in lumber sales force me to cut into the next year’s crop. It took a long time to grow them to the proper size.

  My body was sore and I was pissed because one of my employees quit and left me shorthanded. I had to work my ass off in the yard and office. I needed to hire another laborer, or least an assistant for me. It was already seven at night, making it a fourteen-hour work day. I was beat and ready for the protein shake I forgot to take with me.

  My phone buzzed in my pocket, so I took it out and saw it was my parents. “Hey, I’m on my way back to the house.”

  “We are as well,” my mother said through their Bluetooth car speaker.

  “I’m surprised you’re not home already. You stayed out late today.” They usually fished for a short time then came home with enough fish for an army. I hated fish. It was strange of me to hate it, but I do. That’s why I enjoyed my protein shakes and meat.

  “Yes, well…mind your business, son,” my mother chastised me. I closed my eyes, grossed out because that meant they were fucking in the mountains somewhere.

  I started the engine of my truck, shaking my head. “Oh, well I’m glad you got it out of your systems for the day. Maybe I’ll be able to sleep without all the racket.”

  “Logan, you’ll find the one and then you’ll make more noise than us oldies,” my dad stated.

  He didn’t need to remind me that I was lonely as fuck. I hadn’t met anyone special that I wanted to share my life with. It was too complicated to invite just anyone into it. I was far from normal as were my parents. “Thanks, then I’ll be moving out. I plan to make a lot of racket.”

  “Hopefully that day never comes because the house is big enough for you and your family. I want grandbabies, mister,” my mother complained.

  “Yes, mama bear,” I muttered. “See ya when I get there.” I called her by her nickname when she got too motherly. At twenty-four, I was a grown man, but that could not be truer than with my mom. I had little to no friends growing up because we lived out in the wilderness. Some of the workers’ kids were all I had, but then I could never invite them over. I was transferred to a different school because of a forest fire. It was the worst time of my life. Everyone had been total dicks to me. I was scrawny and little, so I was picked on. One day my mother saw and intervened which only made the teasing worse.

  It wasn’t until my sophomore year that it all ended. I showed up to school at six-seven, muscles growing every day. My puberty hit late, but my father said he had been the same way. I had noticed the changes starting at the end of my freshman year, but by the time we returned, I was a giant. No one dared say a word and after that my size alone commanded respect.

  My grandfather passed the next year and to my surprise, I was given the company. My father was a partial owner, but preferred his life as it was. He was a best-selling author for serial killer books. With help from my parents and the staff at both the lumberyard and farm, I was able to finish high school and keep the company afloat. Then I became everyone’s best friend.

  Those memories soured my outlook of ever finding a mate. We didn’t have to stay with one for life, but I felt I could never trust any woman with my secret, then just expect her to accept that I was a bear shifter and any kids we had would have that gift too. I continued my drive home, wallowing in my self-pity.

  I arrived just as my parents pulled in. We lived together because there was no need for change and I really loved having someone cook for me.

  “Where’s your catch?”

  “We didn’t bring it back. We made a fire and ate in the woods with a bunch of people camping. There was a big uproar when they lost one of their hikers.”

  “Really? Did you scent the hiker?”

  “Yes, but we lost her scent. It was headed this way, but then we saw two mountain lions, so the party retreated.”

  “They left a female in the woods alone?”

  “Chivalry is dead, son. But…” He raised his nose in the air. “She made it this way.”

  “Oh my goodness. The house.” I sniffed the air and my eyes widened.

  “What is it, son?” my father asked.

  “We have to find her,” I growled, running up the porch steps and unlocking the front door like my life depended on it. They were right behind me. Her scent grew as we moved toward the kitchen. I pushed the door open to see it was a wreck. My favorite chair was on the floor in pieces. It was the one I first built as a ten-year-old with my grandfather. My anger was building. This woman had invaded our home, broke my seat, and messed with my body. I had this simmering emotion coursing through my veins and felt like beating my chest. I had no idea who she was but I wanted to see her, smell her.

  “She’s bleeding,” my mother said. I saw the blood drops to the fridge and sink. Seeing those dark red stains only made my rage grow, but it wasn’t at her. Why was she here and hurt? I didn’t smell anyone else. I saw my smoothie shaker in the sink and just started laughing.

  “It’s not funny,” my mother chastised me.

  I shook the empty cup at her. “My chair, my replacement meal; I wonder if she’s sleeping in my bed, too.” I dropped the cup back into the sink then climbed the stairs to my room two at a time. I closed my eyes and tilted my chin, sniffing the air. With a smile, I nodded my head. She was in my room, laying on my bed, her scent soaking into the sheets.

  The thought of a stranger entering my home uninvited made my blood boil. With our secret, I always worried someone would come snooping. Why that no longer upset me was easy to figure out based on the undeniable hard-on in my pants. This woman in my room, in my bed, probably under my covers, had my body under her control and it frightened me as much as it turned me on.

  My parents were on my heels as I opened the door quietly. The erratic thumping of my heart could be felt in my ears. The sound was so loud that I thought she’d wake up from the noise. I approached the bed with caution because the beast that had been under my skin ached to break free. My parents stood on either side of me, but all I was focused on was the woman nestled in my bed.

  She was wrapped up in the covers with her long blonde hair draped over my pillows. She had a large gash on her forehead, but it didn’t take away from t
he beauty of her face. Her eyes were closed and despite the blonde hair, her lashes were dark and long. My dad grabbed my arm tightly, while my mother pressed her hand on my chest and laid her head on my shoulder.

  I wanted them out of the room as much as I wanted them there. With them present, I couldn’t just take what I felt belonged to me. I knew deep down in my soul that she was mine. How the fuck she got from the campsite area to here was a mystery, but this woman wasn’t leaving. She broke into my home and then invaded my life. It was my right to keep her.

  I couldn’t peel my eyes away from her as her chest rose and fell with each breath. Her lashes fluttered then a low moan of pain escaped her pink, chapped lips. “I’ll be right back,” mama bear whispered, leaving the room. My mother had been a registered nurse in town for two decades, so I knew she ran to get her first aid kit. She had just returned when my angelic intruder opened her oceanic blue eyes.

  Chapter 3

  Grace

  My head was pounding out of control as I lay in the most comfortable bed in the world. It felt like my body was cradled just right even though my skull was thumping. I moved my legs, trying to stretch them out. It took a moment to realize that I wasn’t supposed to be in a bed, let alone a house; I was on a camping trip. Where the hell was I? And how much trouble was I in?

  I looked toward the foot of the bed to see two huge men and a woman about my height, but fuller, staring at me. Even in my confused state, I was completely aware of the younger man in the middle. He was watching me so intently that I could feel his eyes boring into my soul. His massive, muscled arms were folded across his broad chest with his hands resting in the crook of his elbows while his chest heaved. I should be afraid of the way he was looking at me, but I wasn’t. He had predator written all over him, evident in the sheer size of him. I knew I shouldn’t be where I was, but couldn’t help it. I had the money to pay for the damages, but it was still wrong of me.