Hey! How's it going? Is your new year starting off right? Did you finish the list of 2023 boy stories you wanted to read and are already making 2024's list, hehee. Well, I hope you read Bear & Cub, I worked real hard on it and am real pleased with my first Detective story. I think Counting Down is a huge hit and I believe it's picking up speed.

I'm thinking about the next story (actually, I'm always thinking about the next story) and could use some of your help. I'm thinking about writing my next story in a different genre. I'm thinking I would classify, Counting as dramatic, and Bear & Cubs as thriller/Detective, so how do you feel about stories that are wrapped around a genre like that? I can write superhero, Magik, alternate universes, space, etc. (I don't do horror, sorry for you horror fans) Email me (Foxfire3730@proton.me) and I'll take a tally then decide where to go from here.

If you do enjoy Bear & Cub, please read some of my other works on AO3 (TuxEdwards): Counting, Counting Down (the sequel to Counting), Not Capable of Love, Fire (Boys of Grizzly Valley on AO3), Go Bag (Boys of Grizzly Valley on AO3), and Jaded (on AO3). Please take a few minutes to drop me an email to let me know if Counting Down is for you: Foxfire3730@proton.me

 

If you like my stories and want to tip or donate to me, consider buying me a coffee at this link: Thank You

 

"The Universe is Made of Stories, Not of Atoms" -Muriel Rukeyser

The Cabin

Bear & Cub

This is surprisingly relaxing. Burns sits on the couch with each of us boys on either side of him. Ryder and I exchange glances once in a while with cheeky smiles as Burns reads a book that we bought today. It's about a detective named Harry in Chicago, Illinois, and he's trying to solve a murder. His only weapon is magic and a very large pistol. There's no pictures, but that doesn't stop me and Ryder from watching Burns read each page. 

"Harry needs a dog wike Bear, right?" Asks Ryder, giggling. All of us look over to Bear, who is lying upside down, sleeping at Burns' feet. His cheeks have flopped over his eyes, and he's doggie snoring. 

Burns puts down the book and tickles us both for a second or two, just to get us both giggling. Then, as we're gasping for air, he begins to get back to reading the book while us boys get comfortable. 

After a few more pages, suddenly, Bear and I hear something, causing me to turn my head towards the door and Bear to spin in place till he is up on his feet. Burns stops reading, and Ryder looks confused. I give Burns a scared look; he gets up and stops me from following him by holding up a hand before he draws his pistol. He sneaks up to the window next to the door and looks out into the darkness. 

"Cub, are you sure?" Burns asks me as he searches the dark parking lot.

"Yeah, I know what I heard."

Ryder shifts his body as close to me as he can. Taking my hand, he asks, "What is it?"

Burns looks around outside. Bear moves himself between the door and us boys. The hair down his back stands on end as he stares at the doorknob. A low growl slips from his muzzle, and from his body language, that dog is about to fuck up the next person through that door.

Burns takes the walkie-talkie off his belt, and it makes a quiet static sound before he says, "Someone tell me something." 

"We've got a car that has been driving around the block. They drive slowly past the hotel, and my brother thinks something's up," says one of the twins. I can't tell them apart yet. 

"Same old, same shit behind the hotel. I got nothing," now that I know, was Officer Jen. She must be watching the alley.

"Burns, did you see something?" Asks Smith.

Burns looks at me, holding a scared Ryder on the couch. He looks at the bags that we packed next to the couch when Ryder took his nap this afternoon and then at Bear, who hasn't changed. He thinks to himself and then says in the walkie-talkie, "We're moving now."

"Are you sure you want to go now? It's not midnight yet. Your escort won't be here for another three hours," Jen confirms Burns decision. 

"Something's wrong; the dog is alert. I've learned to trust the dog. Team A, take the street, and B,take the parking lot," Burns says as he waves us to the door. "Listen, boys, we're going to go now. Take the bags and the dog and make your way to the Jeep." 

Ryder practically leaps into Burns' arms. He's really scared and is already crying and shaking. I put my backpack on with the stuff I packed and grabbed Ryder's. "Hey, hey, it's going to be okay. Smith and the other officers are making sure that we get out of here safe, and before you know it, we'll be at the Smith's family's cabin. You're going to have so much fun swimming and walking trails in the woods." He hugs Ryder tightly and then kneels down, reaching for me, and pulls me in. The three of us hug, and I can't explain it, but my nerves get too much for me, and I begin crying. 

Once it starts, I can't stop the rest of my fears from coming to the surface. "Don't go out there, Burns! What am I going to do if you don't come back?"

He takes me by the face, so we can't do anything but stare into each other's eyes. I can feel my body shaking, and all I can do is hold onto his and Ryder's hands. "Cub, we're all going to be fine. We're all going together. I'm not leaving you." 

Breaking the tension, Bear begins to snarl, and I can tell even Burns heard that noise at the door. Suddenly, without warning, the door burst open, and a man with a gun rushed inside. Bear is like a blur and is in the air, biting down on the hand with the gun. Burns pushes us boys back, and I fall over Ryder's backpack. 

Burns goes for his gun, but the second man through the door slams into him, knocking him away. He falls over in a roll and is back up on his feet before the man knows and before he can raise his gun. Burns traps his arm, knocks the gun from his hand, and spins his arm upside down. The man tries to weakly punch Burns but is more worried about his arm breaking. Burns knocks his punch away, knees him in the gut, and forces him out the window, sending glass shattering everywhere. 

The next man is at the door and goes for Burns, but he blocks the punch and goes for the gun, but the man kicks it away. He pushes Burns hard into the wall. Hard enough to create a hole in the drywall. The man pulls a knife and dives for Burns, and he kicks the man's leg out from underneath him, sending him falling. Once he's on his knee, Burns punches him down. 

A large man with a shotgun stepped in as Burns was on the floor and scans the room. "Aus, Bear! Fass!" I yell, pointing at the shotgun. My guardian releases the first man, launches himself into the air, and lands on the man with the shotgun. The two hit the ground, and the man has a hold of Bear above his face by the bulletproof vest. The canine's jaw snaps and snaps just above his face as he struggles not to let my best friend bite his face off. 

"Burns!" I yell and scamper over to the gun. I scoop it up as I dive and turn, tossing it to Burns. He catches it, falls to his side, and shoots the next man through the door. Then he shoots the big guy that Bear is trying to bite his face off. The dead man immediately drops Bear, and he bites down on his neck. 

The first man that was through the door recovered enough to freak out and go for the gun that Bear made him drop. He gets it and goes to shoot Burns. Being the only one to see this, Ryder screams. Bear instantly switches prey and spins on him. The man yells, "Fuck you dog!" and shoots Bear, making him yelp and flinch, but he didn't stop. Being shot seemed to piss off Bear more than I've ever seen. The man shoots two more times, missing Bear, as he rushes him and bites down on his leg, pulling the man down. Once he was down, Bear switched to his neck and yanked and yanked. There was a sick crunch that was unmissable, even with all the noise in the room. 

"Aus! Aus!" I yell my command to Bear, and he releases the man's neck. The man that Burns punched out didn't stay down long. He recovers and goes to stand up. He gets to his legs and goes for Ryder. I shout, pointing at him, "Fass! Bear Fass!" The dog explodes on the man, tearing skin and breaking bones as the man tries to defend himself by holding up his hands. 

"Fuss! Bear, fuss!" Yells Burns. The dog falls back, and the man turns with a gun, but before he can shoot Bear, Burns shoots him. Burns hurries to help me back to my feet. "Cub, are you okay? That was wreckless! You stay back. Stay safe!" His eyes are shaky, and he is fighting for his next breath. I nod my tearful face and embrace him. It doesn't take long until a panicking and sobbing Ryder joins us in our hug. 

"Is everyone okay?" Burns asks as he pushes us away from him and feels our bodies to make sure we're not bleeding. When he's done, he quickly hugs us again. 

"Bear! Bear, here, boy." I call to my guardian, and he leaves the dead man's body to trot to my side. I pet him and am joined by Ryder, who practically hugs Bear with everything he has. 

"Such a good boy," Burns says as he moves his hands in and out from underneath the bulletproof vest. At one spot, Bear flitches, but Burns says, "There's no blood. He might have a bruise, but he's okay." Leaving us to hug Bear, Burns checks the outside and talks to a few officers down in the parking lot.

Burns comes back and grabs our backpacks and his, then hurries us out the door. We get to the bottom of the stairs, and Smith picks up Ryder and runs to his car. Burns picks me up from behind me, and I happily accept it. Waving his gun towards the jeep, Burns says, "No, we'll take my jeep. You can come back later and get your car."We rush to the Jeep and even have to step over a couple dead bodies, but we get there, and Smith hops on the passenger side. Burns finishes getting Ryder in his booster seat, and we get the hell out of here. 

Clyde Burns 

Once we hit the 101 out of town, I began to relax a little. The night has proven to be a little cooler than average Los Angeles nights for this time of year, so I had the boys pull their sweaters from their backpacks and put them on. The blanket from underneath the seat took care of those little, shivering, chilly legs, and the dog, who didn't care one way or another, was sleeping at the boys' feet.

The boys are so scared I feel terrible that they've got to go through this. I'm not surprised that Ryder has stayed awake for this trip. I think this is his first time in the Jeep without passing out. 

I have the radio off so I can think about tonight's events over and over, looking at how... how everything went down. Other than the hum of the tires on the road, the conversation in the back seat was cute and sad at different times. 

"You were so brave tonight," Ryder says over the wind blowing through the Jeep. 

"You were too," Cub quickly adds, looking a little embarrassed. "I didn't even see that guy at the end, but you did."

"I suppose, but I was so scared."

"So was I. There's nothing wrong with being scared, Ryder. Bud used to tell me that being scared gives us the chance to be brave," Cub says as Ryder lays his head on his lap. Cub covers him up with his share of the blanket. 

Back in the front seat, Smith is telling me that our exit ramp is coming up. "How much longer?" I ask him.

"About an hour, I guess. It's totally off the grid; no phones, electricity, or barely any cell service. No one will know the boys are here."

"We have to figure out what the number is for," I tell myself out loud. "There has to be a pattern or clue to what it's used for."

"Well, don't worry about it; we'll figure it out. No one will bother you up here, and while we work that out, the boys can relax. They look a little uptight," Smith says with a chuckle, looking behind us at the boys.

I look behind me, and a little laugh slips out when I see them both asleep. "Yeah, they look to be handling it better than us," I add, and we both get a good laugh. 

Time ticks away, and Smith and I fall into our own thoughts. I can't speak for him, but I am lost as to what those numbers that Ryder has memorized are. There are over a thousand numbers on that page that Ryder wrote for me. The Armenian crime syndicate known as The Kevson Family, is pretty backwards when it comes to technology. The old man who runs the family is from the old country, has never used a computer or cell phone to run his business, and doesn't see a reason to start. This makes tracking him and following the money very difficult. I'm guessing that the numbers have to be a way to track his different businesses around the city. They probably destroyed every hard copy of the list after Ryder memorized it. The list can be anything, really. I copied about a third of the page down and gave it to the team to work on. Ryder made me promise to not show anyone the complete list. 

Jen is thinking they might be longitude and latitude numbers and has been working on that at the police station for the past couple weeks. The twins think there is some kind of code in the numbers--a secret message--but without a key, it's hopeless. They have sent the sample I gave them to the FBI puzzle team, but we haven't heard anything as of yet.

Much later, I realize that this road we're on is the scariest place I can think of. The dark trees reach over the road like skeleton arms with bony fingers stretching for the Jeep. My head swivels back and forth as glowing eyes glare at us from deep inside the woods. I check on the boys, and they are still asleep in the back seat. 

"Good thing they're sleeping through this. This is the creepiest drive I've ever taken, and I've seen some shit," I half tease Smith. 

"Well, I told you it was out in the middle of nowhere. By the way, if you hear a banjo, run in the opposite direction."

I know Smith was kidding, and we both laughed at the joke, but I don't think it's too far from the truth. Turning down the long driveway, we make it to the log cabin. It's two stories tall, with a wraparound porch and a garage made to look like a cabin. Behind the cabin, the full moon shines on the lake's mirrored surface. 

I picked up Cub as Bear jumped out of the Jeep to mark his new territory. Smith picks up Ryder, and we head inside the cabin. After getting the furniture uncovered and the bags out of the Jeep, we laid the boys down for the rest of the night. I tuck them in and kiss them goodnight. Before I get out of the room, Ryder sleepily asks, "Are we safe, Uncwe?"

"Yes, you're as safe as safe can be. I'll never let anything happen to you. Now go back to sleep." 

Ryder snuggles into Cub's side and drifts back to dreamland. I head downstairs and find Smith smoking outside. I light a cigarette of my own and lean on the deck rail to marvel at the lake in the moonlight. 

"Are the boys asleep?" He asks as he blows smoke rings into the night.

I let the smoke from my cigarette fill my lungs and felt the heat relax me before I let it out and answered, "Yeah, they're so tired. What happened back there?"

"I'm not sure. The noise from upstairs alerted us down in the parking lot, and we would have come up, but a car of them busted through your gate. I'm glad no one was hurt."

"You can thank the dog for that," I say with relief. "Bear totally saved my ass like four times in that fight. He's amazing." 

"Hey, I'm going to turn in. I want to be up before the boys so I can get the kitchen in order. They're probably going to be starving when they wake up," Smith says as he puts his cigarette out in the ashtray on the handrail. 

"Good idea," I say, exhaling a smoke cloud before I put mine out next to his smoking, smashed filter. "I'm exhausted and could use some sleep." 

The next morning, Smith and I wake up way before the boys and work to get this and that working, including: the generator, hot tub, fire place, etc. He also took me around the house and property. He showed me the security room with all the cameras and explained the alarms, the lake, the pier, boats, fishing hut, the firewood, the woods and the forestry tower a few miles past the lake. I guess there is someone in it twenty-four seven watching for forest fires, this is California. This amazing property and the cabin is set up and stocked for someone to live here for months.

I figured Smith is wealthy, but I always thought it was family money until he said, "By the way, don't tell the guys I'm this well off. They wouldn't understand." On the way back to the cabin, I wondered why they wouldn't understand unless it had to be something other than family money.

An hour later, after a disagreement between me and Smith in the kitchen, he heads upstairs while I finish breakfast.

Cub

The sun beams through the open window, waking me up. The first thing I see is the upside-down face of my dog. His terrible dog breath curls my nose, and I quickly push him away. "Bear! Damn man, eat a breath mint or something," I complain, and he nonchalantly rolls over onto his feet and then hops off the bed. He trots out of the room, leaving me lying here next to Ryder. Both of us are still in the clothes we wore yesterday and are zipped up in our sleeping bags. 

I climb out and smell inside my shirt, and I experience a smell almost worse than doggy breath. "Damn, I need a shower," I tell myself out loud. My first instinct is to wake Ryder so we can take one together, but he's so cute laying there sucking his thumb with rosy cheeks on his adorable face that I can't bring myself to wake him. I dig through my bag, get fresh underwear, and then strip down naked. 

I walk down the hall, swinging my underwear in my hand and looking through each room, just being nosy. I find the master bedroom and recognize Burns' gym bags open on the bed. Next to that room, there is a suitcase open on a small couch at the foot of the bed. This must be Smith's room, because I don't know any of the stuff in here. I seem to be alone, so I decide to snoop. He's got a few books on top of a bunch of clothes, a handful of clips for his gun, and four boxes of bullets in his suitcase. Along with a weird-looking phone. It's huge--maybe the size of my shoe--and it has a large antenna attached to its side that is almost double the length of the phone. 

On the bed, there is a bulletproof vest with a business card laying on it. There is a phone number written in blue ink across it. I recognize that business card! "Ummm, did you sleep well?" Asks a voice coming from behind me.

I spin around and cover my dick with my hands in front of Smith. The tall Asian man looks down on me with his almond-shaped eyes and smirks. I've seen the look on his face on a lot of men. He's judging me. He's trying to decide how much I'm worth. He's wondering if he can fuck me without anyone knowing. 

"I'm... I was just looking. I didn't touch anything. I didn't find anything. I didn't see anything. I wasn't going to take anything, honest," I manage to say without thinking. It's what I normally say when someone catches me where I don't belong. I feel that it answers any question the person might ask me before they ask it. 

"Why are you naked?" Smith asks the one question I wasn't expecting. 

I shamefully look down at my spindly but muscular legs, and what is hidden behind my hands begins to stiffen. Why am I getting hard? Stop getting hard, please, stop getting hard! "I was... I am looking for the shower. I stink and... and need to wash up." I stammer and begin to worry about the look Smith is giving me. 

"What are you hiding in your hands? Did you take something from my suitcase?" He asks and waves his hand, wanting me to move mine. 

"It's just my underwear, I swear, I didn't take..."

"Gus, show me what's in your hands, please," he asks me, and from the look in his face, he's only interested in seeing what is painfully trying to stand up between my legs. 

"Cub?" There comes a friendly voice from the hallway, and I see past Smith is a sleepy Ryder with his thumb in his mouth. He takes his thumb out of it and asks, "Cub, what'cha doing in here?"

Smith stares at me, and I'm afraid of moving. Breathing heavily, I do everything I can to not think of the ever-growing hard-on under my sweaty hands. "The bathroom isn't in here. This is my bedroom. The shower is on the first floor, next to the kitchen. There are towels in there to use, so you don't have to walk around naked afterwards. I know we're all guys here, but it's probably best you boys wear clothes while you're here, okay?" 

Ryder says okay, in his normal innocent way, even though he doesn't understand why, and I blankly nod my head, wondering how close I just came to something very unpleasant. 

I hurry past Smith, and I can feel his eyes on my ass as I grab Ryder's hand and practically pull him down the hall to our room. "Wow, you've got a huge boner!" Ryder tells the world. 

"Shhh!" I hush, looking back at Smith as he checks his suitcase. He picks up the business card and thinks for a minute before looking back at me.

"Why are you naked?" There are other people here than just me and uncle; he asks me, totally oblivious to my urgency to get behind a locked door.

"I don't know; I guess I wasn't thinking. Smith was like, crazy scary for a minute before you got there," I tell him as I shut our bedroom door, but not before I peek through the crack before it latches to see Smith walk out with the card in his hand and look down the hall at our door. I quickly shut and locked it. Staring at the knob, I expect it to turn, but it doesn't. I exhaled a lungful of air I didn't realize I was holding and rethinking what just happened.

"What was'ya doing in Agent Smith's room?" Ryder asks as he hops on the bed on his butt.

"Snooping, that's all, honest," I admit, looking through our room more closely. I don't fully understand what I just found. I mean, he could have had that card for a thousand different reasons. Maybe he rents boys. Yeah, that's probably it. No need to tell Ryder about it. He'd just get upset for no reason. I find some towels and a washcloth on the dresser. I wrap the towel around my naked body, take my washcloth, and retrieve my underwear from the bed before heading back out into the hall. The pitter-patter of bare feet on the floor brings Ryder to my side with a towel around his naked body as well. 

I can hear Smith and Burns talking downstairs, and we follow the voices. They lead us to the kitchen, where Burns is drinking coffee and Smith is about to step outside for a smoke. His eyes met mine. I quickly look away and grip my towel a little tighter. He smiles at me and flicks his lighter. The little flame dances in the wind for a second, then is sucked into the waiting cigarette, lighting it. 

Burns meets him at the door, saying, "Come on, in or out, you're as bad as the boys." 

He pushes Smith outside, and Ryder asks, "What's wrong, Cub?"

I open the door to the bathroom, and the both of us walk inside.

I turn and lock the door for peace of mind before I answer, "Smith was giving off weird vibes, that's all. It could be nothing, but watch yourself around him, okay, and let's keep our clothes on all the time while he's here, got it?"

He nods his head as he drops his towel. His perfectly shaped body is on display for me, and as he's stepping in the tub, he realizes I'm staring. "You want to pway? Don't you want to taste this?" He asks, wiggling his limp cock at me.

Oh my god! Yes! Please, please, ignore my promise to Burns. I step into the tub and sit on the ledge. I draw my hands up his legs, from his shins to his plump ass. Slipping my fingers into his ass crack, I separate it as I draw him closer. Breathing in his scent, I pop wood immediately and lick my lips in anticipation. And right before, and I do mean within an inch, Ryder says, "Uncwe Cwyde is amazing, isn't he? He's so nice to us and we don't have to do anything to deserve it." 

I slowly push his perfect dick away from my waiting lips. "Yeah, he's pretty great," I say, knowing what I have to do. "Ryder, are you offering yourself to me because you think it's the only way I'll love you?" I ask.

"No... I want my dick sucked. It's been so wong, and I can't get Uncwe to touch me, no matter how much I hint at it. I don't think he's interested in me." 

It's crazy to me that Ryder is so innocent, even after what he's been through, that he doesn't understand what's going on. I stand up and wrap a towel around my bare ass and excuse myself, "Be right back; don't lose that bone." He giggles and begins to stroke it. I take one more look at my little naked angel, and just the sight of him makes my horns ache. 

I hurry through the kitchen and open the porch door just enough to get Burns' attention. "Pppssst!"

Both men turn, and Burns asks, "What's wrong, Cub?"

"Can I talk to you...," I ask, and then realize he's going to want me to ask in front of Smith. "...alone, please?" 

He picks up his coffee cup and says, "Sure, I needed a refill anyway." He gets inside, and I close the door and watch Smith, making sure he isn't going to follow. "Cub?" Burns says, pulling my attention back to him as he pours the coffee into his cup. "What's going on?"

"I um... You told me not to... and I agreed, but that was before... He's so cute, but I promised... and you saved my life more than once, so I owe you... soft hands, little fingernails... Suddenly, I forgot why I was so mad... He asked me to hold him... He is so warm, and then I felt, excepted... But his ass is so... and I want it, and he wants me to want it... By the way, he wants you to want it too... He lays in my lap... He licked my cock head, and I stopped him... I stopped him. What was I thinking? I think about him all the time; do you understand what I mean?" He nods and takes a drink of his coffee. I sit down on one of the kitchen chairs, upset with myself. I know what I want to say, but it's not coming out clearly. "I don't know why, but what you think of me is important to me."

The room becomes quiet, and I begin to doubt what I said. Burns puts down his cup and approaches me. He kneels in front of me and hugs me. I don't know if it's that I'm practically naked or maybe it's the towel; no, it can't be the towel, but I want this man to take me to bed and do everything to me. 

I hated that I had to let men slobber and drool all over me to get enough money to survive, but Burns is different. Burns cares about me first. He wants me safe. He wants me to be my own person. I think he loves me for me, not just for my cock or asshole. Damn! Burns smells so good. His hand slips under my towel, and roaming fingers rub my nuts and massage my taint on their way to my small hole. I moan a little, and then, surprising me, that hand picks me up and carries me to the bathroom. 

Clyde Burns

Less than an inch from his little tight rosebud, my hand rests comfortably, holding Cub's naked body next to mine. I am tempted by the aroma coming from the crotch of the little cub in my arms. His small bear cub tattoo on his shoulder is inches from my mouth, and the incredible urge to kiss it is almost overwhelming. His cryptic confession was difficult to understand, but I've been expecting his mixed emotions for Ryder and myself to overflow his `I'm a straight big boy' personality.

As I enter the restroom, I see Ryder quickly pull his fingers out of his ass and stand up straight, as though I had caught him with his hand in the cookie jar. Sighing, I don't think I can hold this conversation from happening anymore. I really wanted to talk about it on the beach or sitting on my makeshift porch, but Smith's secret cabin's bathroom will have to do. 

"Hey boys, it sounds like I can't put off us having this talk anymore," I tell them both as I set Cub on the toilet seat. "Aren't we an unlikely trio? Two little boys are from the business of men having sex with boys, and a man used to participate in the pleasure of boys. I've asked Cub not to do sex stuff with you, Ryder, because I didn't think you were ready to begin having it for fun."

"For fun?" Ryder asks, looking confused. 

"Yeah, like, you know... Maybe you just want to suck a dick," Cub says, blushing. "I wouldn't mind sucking Burns' big one." 

"Really? How do you know it's big?" I'm kind of taken aback by the sudden direction this conversation has gone. 

Cub hides his every growing rod between his legs and answers, "Well, you walk around in your briefs before bed, and they don't hide anything."

"Okay, we can talk about that later. Right now, you two can play around, but it has to be a mutual decision. Sex or stuff like that doesn't make other people like or love you. Boys your age can just play around for fun. So, you've got a green light from me, but do me a favor; wait till Smith leaves," I say, and I get a hug from my two naked boys. My hands roam their bodies and slide up and down their ass cracks, teasing their little rosebuds. I have to force myself to pull away. 

`I don't have sex with little boys anymore.' 

`I don't have sex with little boys anymore.'

`I don't deserve it, not after all of those boys I couldn't save.'

I remind myself over and over, but as I leave the bathroom, I subconsciously find myself doing something I haven't done in years; I smell the sweet boy-ass aroma on my fingers.