Page 106 of Bearly Hanging On

“Every day we will treat you like a princess.”

The bear added his rumble to that, grateful for a new goal we could actually achieve.

“Well, you better get in here then.” My eyes flicked up. I’d been focussed on washing her arm, so I missed her lips quirking into a smile. “I mean being washed by a big, strong bear shifter is all the princess treatment I need.”

“Big?” I nodded. “Strong?” One thing Mum had taught me was apologising and making amends was the only thing that took the sting from fucking up, so that’s what I needed to do. It’d ease the ache in my chest, but more than that, Harper deserved it. “Not where it matters. I’m sorry, Harper.”

“For what?” She leaned over on the rim of the bathtub, staring at me with a frown.

“I wasn’t here when you got the news about Daria. I should’ve been there, by your side, when you went to rescue her.”

“Not trying to talk me out of my crazy scheme?” One eyebrow raised. “Not asking me to let the authorities take care of it, or Mack.”

“No way.” I dared a small smile then. “You want to go off and be a vigilante? I’m your guy. Wherever you want to go, whoever you want to take down, I’ll be there with you.”

Harper seemed to perk up at that.

“So we’ll be like Catwoman and Batman?” Her shoulders slumped. “Nope, I’m way too uncoordinated for that, though Mack is totally Batman.”

“Dead parents, dark and broody? Yeah, that fits.” She leaned forward to let me slot in behind her in the bath. “So what does that make Tor?”

“The Flash?” I barely heard what she was saying as she settled back against my chest. “No, Spiderman!”

“Because he likes climbing tall buildings?” I asked. “Or because he won’t shut up?”

“Little from column A, little from column B,” she said, waving a hand through the air.

“And…” I didn’t want to ask this, but I had to. “What am I?”

She turned around, staring up at me, eyes dancing. That was enough to lighten my mood, make me feel like all was not lost. “Superman!” I blinked at that, feeling like it was completely inaccurate. “No, he’s too much of a goody goody.” Harper settled back into the bath. “Thor.” Her head nodded firmly. “Big, strong, capable of wiping out all my enemies, then going to have a beer afterwards.”

Thor. I couldn’t hold back how much I loved that idea, but rather than grabbing Mjolnir, I picked up the soap, working it into her skin again.

“So what about you?” I asked as she leaned forward, letting me scrub her back. “If you’re not Catwoman, then who?” For a moment, there was just silence punctuated by the sound of the water lapping in the bath. “How about Harley Quinn?”

“The crazy one?” Her reply was somewhat muffled as her face was pressed against her legs. “The one that causes all that trouble?” My hand slowed, sure I’d offended her, but she turned around with a grin. “The one that fucks the bad guys up with her girl gang? Yeah, I’m into that idea.”

I dropped the soap back into the dish inset into the wall.

“Would Harley like Thor if they did a crossover movie?” I wasn’t asking about superheroes and she knew it. “They are pretty different.”

“She would if he was patient with her.” Harper rose out of the bath and I couldn’t help but watch the water slide over her breasts. “If he supported her rather than make her crazy, like the Joker did. If he realised that she had a pretty unusual way of doing things, but that’s just part of who she is.”

“He would.” I pulled her close as she straddled my hips. The bear, me, we were never letting her go, not unless we were forced to. “He’s a Norse war god. Pretty sure he’d be down for whatever adventure she could come up with.”

“And what about you?” Her hand trailed down the side of my face and I turned, pressing a kiss into the palm. “What about Harper and Kieran?”

“Whatever you want.” That reply sounded pat, so I was forced to explain. “I mean it, Harper. I choose us…”

I had a whole speech ready to deliver, but she had to reach down between our legs and then grip my cock by the base. It was hard. Of course it was, the damn thing standing to attention every time she got near, which made her touch so much more. That pressure, the way she held me, made me hungry for more. My fangs snapped down, my body ready for this. To make Harper mine, finally, but…

“Harper.” I ground that out as she moved, situating her body over mine, ready to bare down. “Bath, Harper.”

“I know,” she breathed. “Never done it in a bath before.”

“Because it’s not a good idea.” I picked her up and both of us stepped free of the bath. “Water makes for really shitty lubricant.”

“You know that how?” she asked, leaning forward with a smile, because she was still straddling my hips. My butt was now perched on the edge of the bath, the cold porcelain barely registering.

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