Page 103 of Bearly Hanging On

“Noo…” She held her hand to her chest. “Really?”

“But if you need to know that the moment I saw you my heart felt like it stopped and then started again, then yeah.” He nodded. “That happened. And when it began beating, it did so for only one reason.” Mack tapped her breastbone. “For you, Harper. Keeping away from you, holding you at arm’s length, it was all for you.”

“Which I did not ask for, just so we’re clear,” she said.

“Kinda like coming up with a ridiculous plan to take on a rabid wolf shifter in his lair,” he countered. “The other person might not ask for it or even want it, but you do it because that’s what your heart tells you have to do. Because you… because you love them.”

“So, just checking if I have this right?” Her eyes rolled upwards, as if calculating this whole thing. “You love me.”

“Just like you love me.”

When he dragged her closer, we moved. I slotted in behind Harper, my lips finding the bite mark he’d left, giving it an experimental lick. Her whole-body shiver made clear how that was making her feel. Gave me ideas about where I was gonna leave mine. Because I would tonight. Harper wasn’t leaving her room until she was ready to accept the bond, because I needed inside that head of hers. To see if I could head off her crazy schemes at the pass, stop her from ever getting hurt again. Her arm went around my neck, holding me close as Kieran kissedhis way down the other shoulder. Mack? He claimed her mouth, drawing these cute little sounds out of her.

And I wanted her to make a whole lot more.

I was down and off the counter in one second, sweeping her into my arms in the next.

“Hey!” someone yelled. “Hey!”

“Can’t hold back anymore, pretty girl,” I told Harper as I stood at the door of her room. “If you don’t want this, you need to say now.”

“Do I want this?” She looked past me to where the others were running down the hall. “It feels like I’ve been waiting for this for ages. Don’t make me wait anymore.”

“Your wish is my command, my mate.”

Chapter 44

Harper

“This is happening,” I said as soon as they walked into my room. “No more excuses…” Trying to be sassy is hard when your voice cracks on the words. The guys looked at me in concern, but that’s not what I needed. “Naked, all of you, now.”

“Harper—” Kieran started to say.

“No…” If I blinked, I’d see it all over again. Daria, Dax, Mack… I shook my head, as if that was enough to dislodge the memories. It did keep them back for a moment, long enough to focus on this. “No. You’ve been holding me off with dreams and ‘Harper, you’re not ready’ and ‘just jump.’” My eyes ached and I wanted to scrub at them, but then the tears would come. Later, I promised, just let me have this. “Well, I’m done waiting. I’m done.”

Whatever it was in my voice that they heard, it stopped all conversation. The guys glanced at each other and then moved. Bloodied clothing and dirt-streaked garments were tossed on the floor, all evidence of today tossed aside, just leaving them.

My mates.

It was then I realised I was still dressed, so I wrenched my shirt off, then my jeans, stepping free, and that’s when I heard their collective growl. Not from overwhelming lust, which I admit, was kinda disappointing. Instead, their focus was entirely trained on the marks left on my body.

“Don’t,” I said, shaking my head. “Don’t.”

“You need a shower,” Kieran said. “And medical assistance.”

“I need you.” My throat worked, but that did nothing to dispel the massive lump there. “I don’t need a doctor. I need?—”

“I know.” Tor tried to smile and failed, something far more real in his eyes. It shone as he got closer and closer, something finally settling when his hand touched mine. “I know.” Our fingers linked together. “I feel it too.”

My hand rose and came to rest on his chest, the frantic beat of his heart all the reassurance I needed, because mine was exactly the same. I stepped close, never having felt as conscious of what I was doing as now.

Were Tor’s lips always this soft? Did he always smell spicy, like really expensive incense? Had his hair slipped through my fingers when I raked them from root to tip, soft as silk? Every sensory detail hit me like a gut punch, then demanded I look for more. The hard expanse of his chest, the way his muscles flexed, I absorbed it all as my shaking hand swept across it. His little intake of breath as my hand moved slower, his breath raspy, right as his hand went around my wrist.

“Harper—”

He was going to do what he always did. Put me on the bed and worship me like a queen, and while I was definitely open to ongoing princess treatment, that’s not what this was about.

“Last time was about me,” I said. “Getting my rocks off, then getting the fuck out. I can’t let myself be that selfish again.”

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