Page 88 of Bearly Hanging On

Chapter 37

Harper

I didn’t want him to die saving us. I didn’t want Daria getting hurt, or worse. I just wanted everyone I cared about to be OK. That’s why I leaned forward, pressing a tremulous kiss to his lips. One kiss bled into the other because that’s the way it was with us. We circled each other warily, like angry dogs, but the moment we collided? It was electric.

I found myself clawing at him, tugging at the neck of his shirt to get to more of him. He responded instantly, tearing his shirt up and over his head as my hands fanned over his chest. Tiny little scars, that’s what I noticed close up, faded almost to the point of being invisible, but my sensitive fingertips registered each one. Then my hands slid down to try to match them to the big slash on his side.

His eyes met mine and I couldn’t look away as I saw the obvious pain there. Mack was too tired to maintain the mask, it shattered into smaller and smaller pieces by the second. The pain he’d been forced to endure, then, now, it was right there. Itinformed his every decision, kept his eyes open, even as the lids grew heavier and heavier, determined to protect us from it.

And now I wanted to return the favour.

I leaned in, feeling his stubble graze my cheek as I thrust my nose into his hair. I breathed in that woody scent, trying to memorise it, before kissing my way down his throat. My blunt, human teeth were bared, and when I nipped at his skin, his grip tightened.

“Careful.” The wolf was riding him hard. “I’m so fucking close, Harper.”

“Close to what?” I asked, right before I bit down.

I was dislodged in seconds, thrown on my back on the couch with him looming over me.

“The wolf wants to mark you,” he growled. “Claim you.”

“Maybe that’s exactly what I want.”

He pulled back, eyes almost silver as he stared at me.

“Harper, you can’t mean?—”

“Can’t I?” My thighs wrapped around his waist, and he didn’t resist when I pulled him closer. “Aren’t you the one destined to love me, to care for me, to protect me?”

“Yeah, but?—”

“Out of all the men in the world, the three of you are the only ones perfect for me.” I flipped us back, so he was sitting on the couch and I was straddling him. I wasn’t strong enough to pin him, but when I pushed his arms wide, holding them against the couch, he let me. “Tor gave me a bit of advice last night.”

“Great.” He shook his head. “Please hit me with his pearls of wisdom.”

“He told me that nothing’s certain.” My fingers trailed along the inside of his arms. “That waiting around for the perfect moment is futile, because it will never come. That sometimes you have to move forward because…” My eyes closed for just a second before I sucked in a breath and forged on, “At somepoint, the pain of staying where you are is worse than the potential pain of changing. That at some point, you just have to make the jump and hope it pans out.”

“Harper…” Mack had a whole lot more to say, but I yanked my shirt up and over my head. When I reached behind to unclasp my bra, he was there, taking over. “This is a really bad idea.”

“It was all a bad idea, Fur Face,” I said, leaning forward. My breasts bobbed just short of his face and he watched their every movement. “So, are you going to jump with me or what?”

I wanted that low groan, then him lunging forward, his hands sliding up my back as his lips landed on one breast. I wanted the greedy way he sucked on one nipple, pulling almost painful thrills of pleasure from me. I loved the way that rock hard lump felt in his pants as I ground down on him, but I liked it better when I pulled away, staring into his eyes, daring him to stop me, as I pulled his cock out. I wanted him, wanted this, had been teased beyond all reason by all of those damn dreams, but…

“Harper…” he gasped as I started to swivel my hand up and down his entire length.

“Worried you’re going to come too soon?” I asked with a grin, smearing my thumb through the precum pooling over the swollen head. “Me too.”

“Harper!”

I wanted the terrible stretch that came from shifting on his lap, then easing him in. Physically, I wasn’t quite ready, and yet emotionally I was completely. I needed this to hurt just a little, because I had a plan.

“Harper… fuck…” His hands went around my waist, and for a moment I feared he’d pluck me off his lap, but instead he pulled me down harder. “You want this, beautiful? You want every inch of me?”

“Fuck…” I hissed as he thrust deeper. “Yes, more!”

“You got it.”

I was on top, supposed to be fucking him, but that was never going to work. He topped from beneath me, thrusting up and into me over and over. The strokes were punishing and perfect, brutal and exactly what I needed. My hands went around his neck, moving in closer to whisper in his ear.

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