Page 63 of Bearly Hanging On

I liked the way he fought to find the words, the way his body towered over mine. The feel of his knuckles grazing my cheek was sweet, but I needed more than sweet. Sweet wouldn’t drive away the memories of what had happened tonight, the incomplete explanation that Kieran had given me. So I pressed my face into his palm, then moved, flicking my tongue up along his thumb, then staring into his eyes as my lips surrounded it and sucked.

That sharp intake of breath was everything. I didn’t feel helpless, small, or a victim anymore. I had power, and I displayed it right now. Those golden irises were swallowed by his dark pupils, his breath coming in faster with every suck.

“Harper…”

He said my name like a prayer, but whatever god or goddess he was praying to, he lost the fight, pulling me free and then picking me up to toss me on my bed.

That’s when I knew I’d won.

Kisses bruised my lips and trailed down my neck, his stubble scratching the skin. I’d be red raw with beard rash and I didn’t care. The faint sting had me feeling more alive, something consolidated when my fingers sank into his hair. My mouth found his, my hunger a perfect match for his own.

Until it outmatched it.

I pulled away, tugging at my clothes and his until he pulled back.

“Harper, this isn’t a good idea.”

“Oh, I disagree.” I reached down and cupped the sizeable mound in his jeans, giving his dick an experimental squeeze, watching his eyes go heavily lidded. “This is my best idea yet.”

“Harper.” That growl did things to me, as did his hands as they went around my wrists, pinning them to the bed, because this was the kind of masculine strength I needed. Not threatening to hurt me or sniffing me like a dog in heat, but this. “You were threatened tonight. That had to be scary.”

“But that’s what you’re here for, right?” I pulled against his grip, somehow happy when he didn’t let go. “To keep the bad guys away, to protect me.”

“Always,” he said with a shake of his head. “Forever, Harper.”

“Well, what I need right now is to forget about those creepers.” My nose pressed forward, tracing the line of his neck and breathing in. I didn’t have the olfactory capability of a shifter, just getting lungfuls of woody male scent, but that was enough. “Help me to forget, Kieran?”

His teeth ground together. No, his fangs. I watched them recede back as he let out a guttural growl before lunging forward. My clothes and his were torn off and tossed aside, and then we were skin to skin. Yes, this, I thought dimly, as my eyes fell closed, my lips finding his, because this was the moment when my mind went blank and stopped worrying and just started feeling.

Chapter 26

Kieran

I needed to get up, put my damn clothes on, and head for the door. After making sure it was firmly locked, then I’d call Mack and get him and Tor to circle the wagons, because we had a problem

And what was that, exactly?

I couldn’t think, focus on anything that happened, not when she was right here with me. Harper’s scent was heady, sweet, sweeter with every kiss, and I couldn’t help but go back for more. The slope of her throat, her heartbeat fluttering like a moth’s wings. The hollow at the base, her scent deepening. The curve of her clavicle, then the swell of her breast. The softness there nearly undid me. My cock slid against the smooth cotton of her sheets, a poor approximation of how it would feel when I finally pushed myself inside her, yet almost more than I could take. Her, I thought frantically, it was like a lifeline in a thrashing sea. Focus on her.

That had me propping myself up on my arms, staring down at her long enough to see her eyes crack open for a second, a lazysmile following shortly afterwards. I kissed that off her mouth and then moved downward. She needed me to drive all thoughts of what happened tonight out of her head? Well, I’d do my level best.

So why was I glorying in the way her breasts gave under my fingers, licking, then sucking that hard point of her nipple, trying to make it pull tighter? Anything to make her moan, squirm, get caught up in a sensual undertow that was already threatening to drown me.

“Kieran… Kieran…”

As her back arched, pushing her breasts into my face, her hand slid down. Slow, meandering steps, down my abs and lower, I knew what she was after. Sure enough, those little fingers wrapped around my shaft, forcing me to pull free and pant through the feeling.

I wanted to rut into her palm, thrusting over and over until everything that was boiling inside me burst free. Marking her with my seed, splattering her stomach with it, then rubbing it in before she could wipe it free.

Yes, that.

I rose up, casting a dark shadow over her, it all making sense. The scent of another shifter on a human woman was enough to deter most other males. I could do that, temporarily claiming Harper until we sorted this mess out. Then her thumb had to press hard on the underside of my cock.

“I’ve seen Tor’s… extras.” Her voice was low and throaty, her hair a messy tumble over her shoulders, but that hungry look in her eyes was everything I didn’t know I needed. “Felt Mack’s. Don’t you think it’s time to show me what you’ve got, Bear Boy?”

For a second I just breathed, through the impulse to impale her on my cock, force her to feel every damn inch of me, right before my baculum jutted out. Through the impulse to rush everything.

Then ruin it.

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