Page 54 of Bearly Hanging On

“Fine, we’ll go, but multiple orgasms afterwards?”

“However many you need.”

His arm was a comforting weight as it wrapped around me. That and the promise of sexual bliss had me heading from my apartment with Kieran.

Chapter 22

Kieran

Maybe staying in Harper’s apartment would’ve been a better plan.

As I pulled up to the shifter school, I scanned the oval, seeing it had been transformed into a showground. The whole community had been working on it all day, but it looked different now that the sun had set and the party lights had been turned on. Trouble was, those neon lights illuminated a whole lot of familiar faces.

There were some of the elders. The Garrison sleuth had been a mainstay of the community since I was a kid. I couldn’t help but wonder if one day in the distant future, I’d be holding Harper’s arm as she hobbled along, determined to make her own way, despite her advanced age. Some of Mum’s friends were inspecting some of the baked goods one of the other families had brought. Kids I’d known since they were babies ran past, excitedly pointing to the nearest ride as they looked back at their parents.

“Everything OK, Bear Boy?” Harper’s tone was far more gentle as she sat forward to peer at me. “My offer still stands. If we leave now, we can be in my bed riding the sex train to Orgasmville in like twenty minutes.”

That had me snorting, shaking my head, and then shifting in my seat. My dick was plotting my demise, not understanding at all why we needed to wait. But I did. Mack was right, damn him. We needed to get to know Harper, not just rely on a bond she didn’t feel to pull us together, and that meant introducing her to my community.

So why wasn’t I moving?

“Look, I feel like I need to warn you about something.” I said.

“That you’re not really a bear?” She made a show of peering at me closely. “Or you are a bear but it's the gay kind. You’re big, hairy, and have a really big?—”

“No.” I forced my hands away from the steering wheel. “Look, the bear community is amazing. We come together for each other, support one another?—”

“But they’re kinda intense.” Her smile was a little wobbly right then, because somehow she knew. “Like well meaning, but totally over the top when it comes to showing how much they love you. Boundaries? What are they? That kind of thing?”

“Yeah.” I finally dared to smile. “Exactly that kind of thing, which makes me think you’ve had a similar experience.”

“Just wait until you’ve met my family,” she said. “My nanna will grill you over the best tea cake you’ve ever had. That woman could’ve worked for the Gestapo, wringing secrets from the Allies. And my mum…” When her smile faded, my hand went out, grabbing hers. Something settled in my chest the moment I touched her. “Well, she’s just intense in every way. If I can survive Susie Quinn, I can survive the bear community giving me the side eye.”

“You think they’re not gonna like you?” I shook my head and then got out of the car to open Harper’s door. “That isn’t going to be a problem. Fated mates?” I stepped in closer, sliding into the space between her legs when she turned my way. “They roll out the red carpet for them.”

“So what’s the problem, then?” Her hand rose on automatic and she stopped herself for a second, blinked, and then pushed a lock of my hair behind my ear. The bear chuffed deep inside me, loving that small gesture of affection. “If everyone’s gonna love me on sight?”

She was about to find out.

“Is that little Kieran?” The ladies from the PTA all looked up as we walked past their cake stall. I might have an apex predator hiding inside me, but the gleam in the ladies’ eyes was the same my beast wore when on the hunt. “And who’s this?”

Suddenly, every woman at the table was checking Harper out.

“Harper.” My mate’s smile was a little tremulous as she waved at the table. “Harper Quinn.”

“Lovely to meet you, Harper.” Jane was one of the mothers, and right now, she stared me down. “You didn’t answer my question, Kieran.”

“Jane, Harper is my mate.” My arm went around my girl’s shoulders, and nothing felt more right than when she was pressed into my side. “Everything’s still in the early stages and?—”

“You need to come to the community hall,” Ingrid announced, everyone focussing entirely on Harper now. “Find out what you’re getting yourself into.” My mate sucked in a breath to answer but didn’t get a chance. “Discovering that you’re the fated mate of a sleuth of bears…” She frowned. “What do you call the thing you have with the kitty cat and the dog?” she asked me.

“A sleuth,” I replied drily.

“Hmm… seems like there needs to be another word for it.”

“Ingrid…” Meryl, another one of the mothers, shot her a meaningful look.

“A zoo!” Ingrid seemed eminently pleased by that idea. “Deciding to accept the bond, it can be a complex thing if it's just bears you’re mating with.” Everything in me wanted to steer Harper away from this table, but that would’ve been seen as unforgivably rude. “Like, do you know what a baculum is? And what do big cats have?”

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