"No?" he asked with a smile, his hands sliding up and down her back.
Drina shook her head, and then smiled and admitted, "Well . . . there are some things I'd like to do to you that I don't think we're going to get to for a decade or so until this new-life-mate madness passes, but . . ." She shrugged. "I guess I can be patient."
"Decade?" Harper asked with a grimace. "I thought it was a year or so before it slowed down?"
"So they say," she agreed. "But I'm not holding my breath."
Harper grinned, and then bent to kiss her. It started out a sweet, gentle kiss, but soon turned more carnal. When Drina pressed close and wrapped her arms around his neck, he began to back her up, then turned them and fell back on the bed so that she landed on top.
Breaking away on a laugh as they bounced, Drina sat up to straddle him and grinned wickedly. "Now I have you right where I want you."
"I thought that might be the case," Harper admitted solemnly, and when Drina stilled and eyed him quizzically, he explained, "It occurred to me that you're a woman who has fought for independence and control all your life, and yet in this area I keep taking that control from you. I don't want you to hate me, so it's time I gave up the reins and-" He paused with surprise when she suddenly covered his mouth.
"First off," she said softly, "I don't hate you for being dominant in the bedroom."
She felt his mouth move under her hand and lifted it.
He was smiling crookedly, and now that he was free to speak, said, "I'm glad to hear it."
"Secondly," Drina began, smiling back. "As it happens I . . ."
When he raised his eyebrows at her pause, she sighed and shrugged her shoulders helplessly.
"Surprised as I am to admit it, I don't appear to mind. I don't understand it myself," she added in a rush. "I mean, I noticed in Toronto that you liked to be in control, and since I'm all about control, I wondered myself why it didn't bother me, but . . . it doesn't. I even like it. It kind of turns me on." She frowned, and then admitted, "Which really rather bothers me."
Harper smiled gently at her confusion, and then raised a hand to brush her hair behind one ear, murmuring, "Or maybe you're just tired of having to be in control all the time and are enjoying a break."
"That's possible," she admitted wryly, and then warned, "Which means it may change."
"I sincerely hope so," Harper assured her and when concern flittered across her face, he said, "I'm sure it will change for me too. We have time immortal ahead of us, Drina. Change is good."
Relaxing, she nodded. There would be times when he was dominant and times when she was, and times when neither was, she supposed. There might even be times when they wrestled each other to be on top. But that would probably be fun too. Definitely never boring, she decided.
"Take off your T-shirt."
Drina blinked her thoughts away at his words-which had most definitely been an order, not a request-and met his gaze.
"Take it off," he repeated. "I want you naked."
She smiled faintly, aware that her ni**les were tightening, and moisture was pooling low in her belly, then sat up straighter, reached for the hem of her T-shirt, and slowly began to pull it up and off. She swiveled her upper body slightly to toss it to the floor, then turned back and simply waited as his eyes slid over her br**sts, taking note of her already erect ni**les. The sight made his eyes begin to glow.
"Now take off your pants," he said gruffly.
Drina hesitated, and then slid backward along his thighs to get off the bed and stand up. He immediately sat up, and she was aware of his eyes following her every move as she slipped her thumbs under the waist of her joggers and began to ease them down. When she bent forward to finish the job, he reached out with one hand to fondle her breast briefly, and she paused as excitement jumped through her. The moment she stopped, Harper stopped and withdrew his hand.
Devil, she thought affectionately, and finished removing the joggers. She then straightened.
"Come here."
Drina stepped forward, stopping just short of their knees touching. He took her hand then, and she swallowed as the slow pulse of excitement beating through her gained an echo.
"Someday, I'm going to tie you to the bed and lick every inch of your body," Harper said quietly.
Drina closed her eyes as the words evoked an image in her head that had the pooled liquid in her lower belly overflowing and sliding toward the apex of her thighs. Who knew she was secretly into bondage? she wondered faintly, and then opened her eyes with a start as his free hand suddenly slid between her legs.
He smiled at the wetness he found there, and then watched her face as his fingers moved across her slick skin. Drina bit her lip to keep back a moan as pleasure shimmered through her in double waves and wasn't at all surprised to see that his jogging pants had formed a tent. It looked like it was going to be another one of those "too soon and swoon like a girl" encounters, she thought. If they even got to the encounter part of it. She was already on the verge of exploding.
Really, Drina decided, new life mates were just pathetic . . . and then she stopped thinking as he released her hand to reach for one breast as his mouth moved to latch onto the other.