The Reluctant Vampire Page 0,47

again, presumably doing up what he'd undone, and then he caught her at the waist and eased back. Silently cursing the driver for being so damned prompt, Drina unhooked her ankles and allowed her legs to drop back down to support her. Harper held on for a moment as she found her balance in the thighhigh boots, and then he released her to quickly tug her dress back into place before catching her hand and leading her out of the alley to the car.

Harper had grabbed her right hand with his le , and didn't let go as he ushered her into the car but followed and closed the door, all while gripping her fingers. He con nued to clasp them firmly as he leaned forward to speak to the driver and as he sat back.

Drina peered at their entwined fingers, and then glanced up to his face, worry flu ering through her as she noted that he was staring out the window, his expression grim. She fre ed over what was going on in his head for the dura on of the ride, but couldn't think of anything to say to distract him. Her body was s ll humming from what had nearly taken place in the alley, which, now that she was able to think a bit, would have been a catastrophe, she thought with a grimace. Harper may be pu ng the reawakening of his "appe tes" down to residuals from Jenny, but the truth was they were life mates, and it was said life mates o en fainted a er sex during the first year or so. They could have been lying there unconscious in the snow for who knew how long had the car not arrived. Okay, so maybe she didn't mind that the driver was prompt after all, she thought wryly.

Chapter Eight

Harper stared out the window, Drina's hand warm and so in his. He couldn't seem to let it go; it was a lifeline keeping him tethered as his mind suggested the most incredible and impossible things, the wildest of which was the sugges on that she was his life mate. He'd nearly taken Drina there in an alley, up against a wall, during a freaking blizzard, for God's sake.

Harper wanted to think it was the Sweet Ecstasy, and it just might have been, he acknowledged, but what had happened in the bar itself was plaguing him. On the dance floor and then at the table, when he'd touched her it had caused him pleasure, and not the "it-pleases-me-to-please-you" kind, but actual physical pleasure. Tingles of awareness and excitement had shuddered through his body with every caress he'd given her, urging him on to do things he'd never even considered prior to this night. While the way he'd turned his back to the rest of the club had hidden what he was doing, touching her the way he had in their booth, with people all around, had been madness. But even worse, he'd wanted to do more, and wasn't really sure how he'd managed not to. It had taken great effort. He wanted to touch her now too and was holding her hand to keep from grabbing her by the waist and pulling her onto his lap. He wanted to push her coat and dress off her shoulders, remove her bra, and feast on her flesh. But mostly he wanted to tug her skirt up, rip her pan es off, and sink himself in all that warm, moist heat he'd found between her legs. And he didn't par cularly care whether the driver was watching while he did it.

Harper had never wanted anyone as badly as this, never felt such a bone-deep need. Not even for Jenny. The thought shamed him. Jenny was dead, she'd died leaving few to grieve her, just himself and her sister, and yet he couldn't remember her face and now wanted another woman with more passion than he'd ever felt for her.

It's the Sweet Ecstasy, Harper assured himself.

But the Sweet Ecstasy wouldn't allow him to experience Drina's pleasure, another part of his mind argued, and he'd definitely felt ngles race through his body when he'd extended his fingers and let the ps brush across her nipples. The first me had been an accident. He hadn't realized his hand rested that close to her. But the excitement that had coursed through him had made him do it again, and more. Perhaps it was just the excitement of what he