Chapter Three

 

Harper stormed into her darkened flat and slammed the door, her breaths ragged, her knees still trembling from Damon’s amazing kiss. At least it was amazing until he tried to sink his fangs into her.

And alarmingly, she’d wanted him to.

Blueish, flickering light shone from the TV, the end credits of Splash rolling on the screen.

“Lobster thermidor!” shouted Zarya, her voice slurred with sleep. She lay slumped on the sofa, with popcorn and crabsticks—her unusual snack combo choice—littering the side table.

“Sorry, Zar, didn’t mean to wake you.”

Her flatmate rubbed her eyes and sat up on the sofa. “What?” She squinted. “I must have fallen asleep.” She glanced at the screen. “Aww, I missed my favourite film.”

“It’s not like you haven’t watched it ten times.” Harper began clearing up the mess on the table, including the gross crabsticks. “Why don’t you go to bed, Zarya?”

“No, it’s okay, I’m awake now. How did your date go with the dashing Damon? I bet he was dashing, wasn’t he?”

Dashing didn’t even come close to describing how handsome he was, or how dangerous. “You were shouting in your sleep again, Zarya. Something about lobsters.”

Zarya narrowed her eyes. “You avoided my question. That bad, eh?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Nonsense.” She patted the sofa, her infamous, I-won’t-take-no-for-an-answer expression slapped on her face. “What are best friends for?”

Harper sighed, but maybe she did want to talk, and a sit down might stop her legs from shaking. She scooped the popcorn and crabsticks into the bowl, left it on the side table and slumped beside her friend. “It wasn’t bad, Zar. It was the best, most perfect first date I’ve ever had.”

“Ever? Wow, this Damon guy must be really something.”

“Yeah, he is something, all right. A total moron with an ego the size of planet bloody Transylvania.”

“Huh? Not following.”

“I met him at this posh restaurant, which he owned, by the way—not that him being rich bothers me one way or the other—but even though I stuck out like a nun at a brothel, Damon made me feel like I had every right to be there.”

“You’re hardly a nun.”

“Whatever. I’m a hundred years old—so what if I’ve had my fair share of lovers?”

“Hey, I wasn’t judging,” her friend assured. “Anyhow, why wouldn’t you have every right to be there?”

“It was a French restaurant in Mayfair, full of classy people dressed up to the nines, like they were going to meet the queen or something. I didn’t fit in; everyone looked down their noses at me when I walked in, but not Damon. He looked at me like…” She recalled his intense, chocolate-brown eyes, lost herself in the way his soft lips had brushed hers, how his designer stubble had scratched her chin as he tangled his fingers in her hair… She blew out a breath. “Like I was special. I know it sounds corny, but—”

“Wow, you’ve got it bad, girl.” Her friend grinned. “Smitten on the first date? I never thought I’d see the day.”

“I am not smitten. Love at first sight only happens in those soppy rom-com movies on Netflix.” Doesn’t it? “I had a great evening, that’s all,” she continued, attempting to play it down. “Damon wasn’t at all like I expected him to be. He was utterly charming, and attentive too, and he told the worst vampire jokes I’ve ever heard.” She couldn’t stop the smile spreading across her face. “And a few witch jokes too, not that I haven’t heard them before, but…”

Zarya chuckled. “Yep, you’ve totally got the hots for a dangerous vampire. What happened to you thinking he was an egotistical moron?”

Harper came back to earth with a reality-check thump. Damon was dangerous, there was no denying that by the way he’d lost control outside her flat. “You’re right. I’m an idiot. I thought Damon could be someone special, but then he went and ruined it.”

“How?”

“He tried to bite me.”

“He did what?” Zarya’s face hardened. “If that jerk hurt you, I’ll set my sharks on him.” Zarya yanked Harper’s hands away from her face and examined her neck, her eyes wide with concern. “Wait, you didn’t give him your permission, did you?”

Harper nudged her friend away. “No, I didn’t. I told him I wish I’d never met him, then ran in here.”

Zarya relaxed. “Well, good riddance, I say. I know you’ve always had a bit of a dark side, but—”

“But that’s the problem,” she finished for her.

“What do you mean?”

Harper’s head pounded with the truth. “My dark side wanted his bite.”

Zarya’s mouth made an O shape, but if there was one person who would understand the enticing power of the darkness, it was her best friend.

“Craved it, actually,” she admitted with a half apologetic smile. “The guy was so damn sexy, I wanted to rip his impeccable suit off his hot bod right there in the car.”

Her friend raised an eyebrow and smirked. “Harper Clarke, you wicked little witch.”

“I am, aren’t I?”

“So, why did you run away?”

“It was the way it happened.” She expelled a breath. “I know he’s a fledgling, young and inexperienced, but he lost control like an ancient vampire, Zar. We shared a kiss, the most incredible kiss, damn him, and then he got this crazed look in his eyes. He tried to bite me, and I freaked out.”

“So you freaked out, no big deal. I’m sure it was only a temporary blip because he’s a fledgling. His maker will put him straight.”

“His maker better had, because the way Damon behaved, he’s a danger to himself and to others.” Anger bubbled inside. “If I ever see him again, which I hope I won’t, I’ll make sure I tell him what a moron he is.” Harper pondered for a moment. “In fact, I do want to see the cocky Damon Vertefeuille again—to give him a piece of my mind.” She balled her fists by her sides, her arms rigid. “Maybe I should go to his restaurant, tell him exactly what an arrogant jerk he is, right in front of his snooty-nosed customers and see how he likes being brought down a notch or two from his I’m-a-vampire-and-I’m-awesome pedestal he’s put himself on. And another thing, if he thinks—” She paused for breath as Zarya burst into a full-on belly laugh.

“I fail to see what’s so funny about a vampire who makes me so mad I want to turn him into a weak little lamb and feed him to the werewolves. If I could,” she added.

Now tears trickled down her friend’s face. “Harper, calm down before you burst something. I get it, the vamp got under your skin. As I said, you’re totally smitten.”

Harper trembled as she glared at her friend. Zarya was right, but the mood she was in, she wasn’t about to tell her friend her feelings towards the infuriatingly sexy vamp had affected her more than she liked to admit. “I don’t care. He’s out of my life. For good.”

“Whatever you say, Harper. If you two have that much chemistry going on, Fate will find a way.”

She harrumphed. “Maybe, maybe not. It doesn’t matter. I have a business to run, including the meeting next week with the website designer who’s going to help me get Magik Dates online, hopefully. I can’t be wasting my time thinking about some wet-behind-the-ears vamp, no matter how hot and sexy and charming he thinks he is.”