The Reluctant Vampire Page 0,95
un l the bit about her being incredible breeding stock, she decided. That last part just hadn't sounded as fla ering as she suspected he'd meant it to be. Or maybe other women would find it fla ering, and she was an oddball for taking umbrage at being talked about like a broodmare.
She opened her mouth to point out that it was unlikely anyone even knew they were in the house, so they should be safe, but paused as she noted that Harper's gaze had slid past her to the door to Elvi's room and that a haunted look had entered his eyes.
Frowning, she glanced toward the door and s lled when she noted the dark stain on the hall wall beside it where the paint had been charred . . . as if something on fire had leaned or slumped there. Her gaze then dropped to the floor and she saw large charred spaces - two of them, one larger, one smaller. That must have been where Anders and Edward had encountered Harper and Stephanie and doused the flames consuming them, she realized, and released a slow breath.
Turning back, Drina stepped forward and kissed Harper. He remained s ll under the caress, but she kept at it, nibbling at his closed lips, and then trailing her mouth to his ear, then his neck, her mind working fran cally. She liked this house, she liked the town too, and she liked Teddy. She also liked the other lifemate couples she'd met here, but she especially liked Stephanie. Drina wanted to be able to visit the girl here on occasion, but would never inflict that on Harper if coming here would s r bad memories for him. She needed to try to replace his bad memories of the fire with new, more pleasant memories, and this was the only thing she could come up with. Drina wasn't sure if it would work, but she was going to give it her damnedest, she decided, nipping and kissing his neck as she began to tug his T-shirt upward so she could play her hands over the skin of his stomach and chest.
"Drina?" he said uncertainly as if coming out of a fog.
She li ed her head and kissed him then, relieved when Harper slowly began to kiss her back. Even so, Drina wasn't sure she'd fully reclaimed him from his ghosts un l she slid her hand down to find him through his jogging pants and felt a shaft of pleasure stir between her own legs.
"Let's go to my room," he muttered, breaking their kiss and reaching for her hand.
"Next me," Drina promised, evading his fingers and dropping to her knees, her eyes never leaving his face.
"But - " Harper began, and she saw his gaze flicker to the wall several feet behind her, but then his gaze jerked back to her on a sucked-in breath as she tugged his joggers down and clasped his growing erection. When she took him into her mouth, he let that breath out on a moaned, "Next time."
Harper woke up crumpled on the hardwood floor with Drina's head in his lap. He li ed his head to peer at her and smiled faintly, but the smile faded as he peered at the marks on the wall beyond her. He stared at them for a moment, recalling how they had got there, then let those memories fade away and looked at Drina.
He knew exactly what she'd tried to do, and he loved her for it. It had even worked for the most part. At least, Harper thought it had. When he'd first seen the charred mark on the wall, and then the others on the floor, his ins nct had been to abandon the idea of ge ng clothes and rush Drina back downstairs. Or at least go wait for her downstairs while she collected clothes for herself and Stephanie. He'd wanted to be away from it and the bad memories it roused in him.
Now, however, while he wasn't exactly happy when he looked at them, Harper didn't feel an immediate need to get away, either.
Drina s rred sleepily, her hand ghtening around his sha , and Harper bit his lip and closed his eyes as the damned thing began to awaken too. Honest to God, he was bloody insa able where she was concerned . . . and short on staying power. Not that new life mates were supposed to have great quan
es of that, but seriously,