Page 16 of Bearly Hanging On

I couldn’t help but draw closer, watching her claim his mouth before he took over. That rapid intake of breath told me this was hitting him just as hard, but it was her little moan that had me stepping closer. I pulled her hair back into a ponytail, heard her moan deepen as I wound it up and onto her head and then pressed kisses to the back of her neck.

This is what it’d be like if she accepted the bond. My fangs ached with the need to sink them into her neck, right as she came apart on my cock, marking her as mine. Her wedged between us, the two of us, three of us if Mack got his head out his arse, worshipping our mate. Right now, that involved tracing the line of her neck and shoulders, learning every curve with my lips.

Until she broke away.

“Whoa… You…” Her hand waved in the air. “That… I…” Watching her shake her head, as if trying to dispel the haze wewere all marinating in, was just perfect. I needed to know she was feeling this too. “So am I supposed to?—?”

“Tell me where the hooks need to go?” Mack was holding on by a thread, his eyes as silver as the moon. “Then I can get out of your hair and leave you to it.”

She smiled, strolling over to the couch and then pointing to the big wall above the couch.

“Three over there would be perfect.”

“Great.”

Mack had always been a master craftsman, but right now he was damn fast with it. The holes were marked, the holes drilled, and then the hooks were threaded into the plugs, secured tightly. I thought he’d bail at that, but he picked up the frames and hung each one, checking if they were straight with the spirit level; but when he was done, I saw how hard the wolf was pushing him.

“I…” His hands rose, clawing at the air, because he couldn’t bring himself to reach for Harper. Of course, that was the moment he saw his claws begin to lengthen. Perfectly pale, his eyes blazed pure silver before he turned and shoved his tools into the toolbox. “I’m done,” he announced, then turned to me. “Gimme the keys, Tor.”

“Mack.”

“Gimme the fucking keys, Tor.”

I threw them through the air and he went to catch them, but Harper’s arm shot up. She snatched them out of the air, holding them close to her chest when his lips curled into a snarl. I moved, Kieran moved, ready to step between them, but Harper seemed intent on going where angels feared to tread.

“You did a good job.” Did she see the fine tremor in his body as her hand went to his shoulders? “Fast, perfectly executed. I can write you a Google review if you like.”

“Maybe you should.” His growl echoed through the apartment. “Just as long as you step back.”

“I will in just a second, right after I…” He’d bawl me out for this later, but I saw it now. She was just a little human woman and he could bench press her with one hand, so Harper was no threat to him. So why was he completely stricken? His snarl fading as she drew close, and I knew what he had to be feeling. Like his lips needed hers more than he needed his next breath. “One kiss, that was the agreed price, right? Just one?—”

When he grabbed her, Kieran and I lunged forward, just in time for us to watch him pick Harper up and slam her against the wall. That little sound killed me, the tiger ready to burst out and tear his face off when I realised what it was. A guttural sound of pleasure as he thrust forward, grinding himself into the apex of her thighs, over and over as he claimed her mouth with his.

Right before he jerked away.

Just as fast, he plucked the keys from her grip as he set her down carefully, grabbing the toolbox and marching out the front door, letting it slam behind him. We all just stared. The sound of our truck’s engine, then a sharp beep of the horn, let us know that fun time was over.

“We’ve gotta go,” Kieran said.

“Yeah. Of course.” Harper’s legs seemed a little wobbly. “Um… thanks?”

“To be continued?” I moved in closer, wrapping my arm around her waist until I was sure she was stable.

“With service like that?” She looked up at me with a grin. “How could I say no?”

“Well, alright—” Another impatient beep. “Sleep well, pretty girl.”

“And lock the door after we go,” Kieran instructed.

She did just that. I stopped to check once we were in the car, watching her silhouette through the curtains obsessively.

“Shut up,” Mack snapped, even though no one had said anything. “Just shut up and let me get us home in one piece.”

“And then we’re going to fucking talk about this,” Kieran snapped. Mr. Chill could only be pushed for so long, and apparently now was his breaking point. “Because that’s our fated mate up there.”

“Your—”

“Ours,” Kieran growled, using all of his bear’s ferocity to silence everyone. “You can try to bullshit your way through this, but that…?” He glanced at the apartment stairs. “That changes everything. We’re a sleuth, and we’re going to work through this like one, so drive safely, or I’ll take the wheel.”

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