Drina hesitated, taking in his impersonal expression, then got out, her teeth grinding together when he took her elbow to usher her away from the helicopter.
Like she was an old crone rather than the life mate he'd made love to seven times in the last twenty-four hours, she thought bitterly. It was a noticeable difference from the affectionate way he'd slid his arm around her waist and tucked her to his side as they'd made their way to the helicopter in Toronto. She could actually feel the ghost of Jenny Harper slipping between them, cold and clammy.
Infuriated by that fact, Drina searched her mind for something to say or do to stop what was happening, but in the end she simply slid her booted foot to the side, tripping him. She then allowed herself to fall with him when he went crashing toward the ice. Harper did what she expected and caught her to his chest, turning as they fell, so that he took the brunt of the impact.
"Oh, I'm so sorry! My foot slipped on the ice," Drina lied, raising herself up on his chest and shifting "unintentionally" on his groin to peer into his stunned face. "Are you all right?"
Harper struggled briefly to regain the wind that had been knocked out of him, and then nodded. "I'll live."
"Oh, my poor Harper. Thank you for saving me from the worst of the fall," she said, and kissed him. It was no, "my hero" peck. It was an "I-ain't-wearing-these-bloody-painful-FM-boots-for-nothing-buddy," devouring of his mouth.
Much to Drina's satisfaction, Harper only managed to hold out for a moment before his arms closed around her, and he took the lead. She knew she'd won this round when he rolled her in the snow and began to yank at the buttons of her coat to get at what was underneath as he ground his hips against her.
"All right, you two, cut it out, or I'll have to arrest the pair of you for lewd behavior. There are kids watching, you know."
Harper tore his mouth from Drina's and glanced around to stare blankly at the man crossing the schoolyard toward them. "Teddy."
"It looked like you took a hell of a spill, and I rushed over to see if you two were all right, but it's pretty obvious you recovered quickly enough," Teddy muttered, pausing beside them and offering Harper a hand.
Sighing, Harper accepted the assistance. Once on his feet, he turned back to help Drina up. She glanced around as she rose, noting that, as had happened when they'd left, there were faces peering out of nearly every window of the surrounding houses, and several of them were children.
So, her plan hadn't been the best, Drina thought with a shrug. At least it had worked. If nothing else, she was now pretty sure that she just had to keep hammering at Harper's walls with sex. As her life mate, he would find it hard to fight their attraction. So, every time the ghost of Jenny Harper slipped between them, and he threw up a wall, she would use sex to tear it down, Drina decided. She could handle that.
"Good Lord, girl!"
Drina blinked her thoughts away at that exclamation and glanced to Teddy Brunswick to see him eyeing her boots with dismay.
"It's no wonder you can't stay on your feet. Those boots are for looking at, not walking," the chief of police muttered. Shaking his head, he took her arm as if afraid she wouldn't be able to stay upright long on the heels, and then he urged her forward.
"They're fine," Harper said quietly, slipping his arm around her waist and drawing her against his side. It was a possessive act and one that sent a stream of warmth through her, as well as the hope that they would overcome his guilt and work things out after all.
Teddy chuckled. "Well hell, Stoyan, I'm not surprised you like them. If those aren't a pair of FMs most red-blooded men would like to lick, I don't know what are."
"You know about FMs?" Harper asked with surprise over Drina's head.
"I may be old, but I'm not brainless," Teddy said dryly, and then paused to glance both ways as they reached the road.
Drina bit her lip to keep back a chuckle at Harper's disgruntled expression, and asked, "You were at the house, Teddy. Is everything all right?"
"Fine as far as I know," Teddy assured her, urging them to cross the street. "I was just stopping by to check on things on my way home. I wanted to ask about Tiny's turning too and had just pulled into the driveway when your helicopter showed up, so I waited to walk in with you."
"Tiny's turning tonight?" Harper asked tensely, and Drina didn't need to read his mind to know he was thinking of Jenny's turn. The ghost had returned, but with Teddy there, she couldn't trip Harper and throw herself on him again. She would have to be patient.
"Not tonight, no," Teddy said. "But I'm sure it will be soon. Anders brought the blood down for it, and Leonius isn't in the area, so there's no worry of his attacking while everyone is distracted . . ." He shrugged, and then added sensibly, "There's no use in waiting. I'm sure it will be in the next day or two, and I want to be on hand when it happens in case they need extra help."
"Right," Harper muttered grimly.
"So how was your outing in Toronto?" Teddy asked, as they started up the driveway to the house. "Heard you got snowed in."
"Yes, but it was still nice," Drina said quietly when Harper remained silent. "In fact, I'm almost sorry we had to return."
"Uh-huh." Teddy nodded. "So you two are life mates?"
Drina turned on him sharply. "Did Stephanie and Mirabeau tell you-"
"They didn't tell me a thing. You two just have that new-life-mate glow about you. I've seen five new life-mate couples now, not counting you two, and recognize the look."
"Six," Harper said tightly.