down from the third floor and descend the creaky stairs. Now it was midmorning, and he was apparently s ll sleeping. Or hiding in his room. She didn't know which but suspected it was the latter.
"What are you going to do about it?" Stephanie asked quietly, finishing dealing and se ng the remaining cards on the table.
Drina shook her head. She'd lain awake most of the night trying to figure that one out, and she'd been fre ng over it since rising with Stephanie this morning and s ll didn't have a clue. It was hard to know what to do to drag him out of his gloom and preoccupa on if he was going to just hide in his damned room.
Oh, she knew what she wanted to do. Drina wanted to go to his room, climb into his bed, and wipe the memories of Jenny from his mind with hot, live-life-mate sex. Unfortunately, she had responsibili es here. She had to spend the nights with Stephanie to be sure the girl didn't take it into her head to run off to her mortal family, and she had to spend the days watching out for her un l Anders took over. That le only the evening hours for her to do anything, and Drina suspected Harper was going to use the presence of the others to keep her at arm's length, or -
Her thoughts sca ered to the four winds, and Drina s ffened as she heard footsteps moving along the landing above them and then start down the stairs.
"It's him," Stephanie whispered, sounding excited, and Drina glanced at her with surprise. Before she could ask how the girl knew it wasn't someone else, Harper came around the corner and into the kitchen.
"Good morning, ladies," he greeted, crossing straight to Drina and bending to press a kiss to her forehead.
"Morning," Drina whispered huskily, surprise and relief leaving her wide-eyed as he straightened. Harper paused halfway upright, his gaze caught by hers, then bent to kiss her again, this time on the lips.
"Oh geez, gag," Stephanie said with disgust, as the kiss turned carnal. "Really, Harper? At least Dree is imagining dragging you upstairs to the privacy and comfort of a bedroom and not throwing you on the table to have her way with you."
"The table?" Drina asked breathlessly when Harper immediately broke their kiss.
"Sorry. A stray thought," Harper muttered, straightening.
Stephanie snorted. "More like a full-blown fantasy. I mean, it was pre y detailed." Standing, she moved around the table, heading for the stairs. "I'm going to brush my hair and change my clothes if we're going out. That gives you two about ten minutes to get it out of your system, so I'm not stuck with a couple of frustrated horndogs all day. But no pressure," she added on a laugh as she swung out of the room and started upstairs.
"We're going out?" Drina murmured, turning her gaze back to Harper.
"I thought I'd take you girls to the city for lunch and some shopping," Harper admi ed, catching her hand and dragging her from her chair.
"Oh," she breathed, stumbling after him through the kitchen and into the pantry. "What are we doing?"
Harper came to a halt in the small pantry, turned to catch her by the waist, and lifted her onto the counter in front of the window overlooking the backyard.
"What - ?"
"You heard her. We have ten minutes," Harper mu ered, catching the hem of her T-shirt and tugging it upward to reveal another of her new bras, this one a pale pink that stood out against her olive skin. Pausing, he breathed, "Damn, I think I have a new favorite."
"Harper," Drina protested on a laugh, grabbing for his hands as he tugged one cup aside to free a breast.
"Stop, we can't."
"Ten minutes," he reminded her, bending forward to latch onto the nipple he'd just bared.
"But we'll pass out, and she'll find us naked on the pantry floor," Drina groaned, releasing his hands to grab his head instead. Unfortunately, while her mind was being sensible - at least a ny part of it was -
her body wasn't like-minded, and instead of forcing his head away, she laced her fingers through his hair, silently urging him on.
"Damn," Harper breathed, le ng her nipple slip from his mouth. He remained s ll for a moment, and then straightened and slipped her breast back into her bra.
Drina nearly groaned aloud when he then tugged her shirt back down, but she