Her Druid Desire (The Amber Druid Series) (10 page)

           
Being an Amber Druid was like being on link with every person’s emotions within
a fifty yard distance. Sometimes, if you were strong enough and dedicated to
ignoring it, it was very possible to simply act as if the other person wasn’t
there. Drake was able, and had been for awhile now, to do just that. He had
learned early on to train his abilities and not let them rule him or his life.
But with those abilities came drawbacks, or chinks in the armor. Sometimes
there were certain people that he simply couldn’t ignore, and others that were
too complicated to read.

           
Nadia was a mixture. At times, she was as easily read as a book. Her emotions
were painted upon her face and she expressed them completely, not to mention
the way her body responded, blood pooling happily in certain areas, causing her
pearl colored skin to blush in the most interesting ways. That was happiness so
extreme and pure that she couldn’t hide it. He hadn’t seen her act like that in
awhile. Other times, her expression was closed off. Her eyes were shuttered and
her breathing was choppy, as if she had just run around the block. The
translucent color of her skin was ruddy, caused by rushing of the blood so close
to the top of the skin. It was during those times, when she was angry or upset,
that Drake had a hard time figuring out exactly what had caused her to become
like that.

           
On the terrace last weekend she’d shown him so many varying emotions that even
with his specialized abilities, he still couldn’t put an exact finger on what
had gone on. The only thing that stood out to him then was that she felt many
degrees of pain, heartache, and such blazing want, that Drake’s body
immediately zoned into change mode.

           
When such a level headed woman like Nadia sent out such screwed up messages, a
man like Drake couldn’t help but wonder what had caused it. But the deeper he
got into this puzzle, the more intriguing his object became.

           
Looking at her now, still sitting at the same table they had occupied about
thirty minutes before, it seemed as if the placement of the table and the
darkness of her corner did nothing but pull her in and enfold its dark arms
around her. She was so slight, so much smaller than him. That was another
reason why he was so protective of her, even though he did know she had a
buried steel backbone under that delicate exterior.

           
Her long black hair was pulled up in a clip on the back of her neck. A tee
shirt that had TEXAS emblazoned on the front covered her from the waist up,
while a low slung pair of boot cut jeans clasped her legs and ended in a pair
of pointy-toed cowgirl boots. Even though he knew her to be twenty-five, she
still managed to look all of eighteen years old. Too damn young for him, no
matter what age.

           
But even as he thought that, he started walking back in her direction. For some
reason, unknown to him, everything inside of her called out to him.

           
It’s only because you can’t read her clearly.

Drake
knew better than to read anything into his interest in her for tonight. It was
lack of company that had him returning to that seat. Another excuse was he
hadn’t really,
really
talked to her in years. He missed little Nadia.
That was the only
plausible
reason for him to go back and meet her at
the table.

***

           
Drake sauntered back towards her with all the grace of a panther on the prowl.
His long legged stride ate up the distance between them with unerring speed.
His beer from earlier was gone, and she hadn’t seen him grab another since. As
he walked, the shadows from strategically placed lanterns gleamed off of him.
Chocolate colored hair turned russet in the lowlights, and the lines of his
body were starkly delineated. People seemed to glide out of his way, as if
anticipating when he was coming near and simply moving away from his purposeful
stride.

           
Take a breath. Don’t let him see how much he affects you. This should all be
routine by
now.
…until
she remembered his comment about rough housing during sex. For some reason,
that sent her blood pressure up and away. Thoughts of him and sex, period, were
enough to fulfill fantasies for a very, very long time. But when she added
images of him being just a little rough, hell, Nadia felt her ears burn.

           
Women had always melted around him. Even the most frigid ones Nadia had ever
seen were no match for Drake and his slow but dangerous approach to seduction.
He took his time with everything, so Nadia assumed that same quality would be
applied to his sexual appetite.

           
Stop this! Your imagination always gets you in trouble.

           
She distinctly remembered one of those times when she had been sixteen, and the
bus had dropped her off at the Haven to meet her father that afternoon. Since
her mother worked later hours, instead of going home by herself, Nadia would
meet her dad at the Haven most afternoons. That afternoon proved to be one of
the best of her teenage life.

           
One of the large barns on the grounds of the shelter was being renovated and
enlarged to house more animals. About fifteen men were working on the barn when
Nadia got there that afternoon. She barely gave any of them a glance. Instead,
she went inside to let her father know she was there,
then
she came back out through the back part of the shelter to read in quiet.
Minutes passed in silence while Nadia got comfortable beside the large, wild
bird cages. Sitting under a huge oak tree with her back to the base, she
squinted in the sunlight as she heard a man walking by.  Drake came into
view, with his slow saunter, and torso bare to the harsh Texas sun.

           
Nadia’s breath evaporated in her lungs.

           
She had seen younger guys without their shirts on, but never before had she
felt the rush of warmth through her system as she was now. Licking her dried
lips, she watched with hot eyes as her father’s boss passed not but twenty feet
away from her, walking towards the barn with a large hammer in his hand. 
Drake always made her feel inconsequential, but he was never mean or rude to
her, like other guys that she knew. But Lord, he was some kind of handsome,
even more so than she had ever seen in her young life.

           
Dark, luxurious hair, wet with the humid air, clung to his head. Rivulets of
sweat moved in streams from his dark head, down onto his neck then it dripped
onto large, muscled shoulders, making his skin slick from the stuff. Like a
well oiled up statue, he moved in the barn’s direction slowly. His long, slow,
sure stride causing Nadia’s heart to beat so fast that she feared she might
pass out. Her eyes followed his stride, and she couldn’t help but feast on the
sight of his butt covered in blue jeans.

           
She was about to look away when he stopped abruptly and turned in her
direction. His eyes zeroed in on her sitting there beneath the tree, and Nadia
froze in fear. It was one thing to openly stare at a man without him knowing;
it was another thing for him to find out about it while it was happening.
Instead of some kind of recrimination towards her, he gave her a slow nod, then
turned and continued on his way towards the barn. Nadia’s heart continued
beating.

           
Her friends at school would die when she told them just how beautiful her dad’s
boss was without his shirt, and sticky from sweat. As it was, her palms were
itching and she wished she was old enough and pretty enough to even be
considered his.

           
For weeks and months after, the images of Drake in those tight jeans and sweat
coursing from his body had made an indelible mark on Nadia’s brain. When she
became older, she had dreamed of the situation, but it had been a bit
different. For one thing, she was older, so in her mind she could think of
things to do that wickedly sexy body of his. Another thing was no one else was
there except them. When he turned and caught her staring, well, the grown up
version of her gave him a sly wink, and stood up from the base of the tree to
walk over to him seductively. Drake had stood there, slick with sweat and
waited for her to come to him.

           
The dream always ended when she made it close enough to touch him. For some reason
the closer she got, the more her dream Drake changed. His dark, good looks
turned harsher, more devilishly sexy, and his eyes changed to a glowing gold
color. Nadia would stare in shock and then zap out of the dream breathing
deeply, trying to get her mind back in order, while the sheets beneath and
around her were twisted against her body.

           
The dream was always the same, sexy in the beginning, and then turning odd
whenever he looked at her with that gold gaze, singeing her where she stood.
Nadia had no explanation for it and probably never would. But it hadn’t stopped
her from wanting to get her hands on him, even when she knew that would never
happen.

           
Coming back to reality, she took a deep breath when she realized how close he
was getting to her. And God help her, but after their conversation earlier, she
couldn’t help but feel a bit more curious about him and his life before she had
even met him. Sudden questions pushed at her mind.

           
What was his favorite color? Was he a boxers or briefs kind of guy? What was
his favorite food? Just how old was he?

           
The last question was the gnawing one. After all these years she still didn’t
know his true age. He seemed to be somewhere in his mid-thirties. Nadia had always
guessed that he was just as private about his age as he was everything else.

           
“You’re still here,” his deep voice slid against her ears as he pulled out the
same chair he had been sitting on earlier.

           
Nadia shook off her thoughts. “Yeah,” she looked in the direction of the dance
floor where Renee and Cole were still dancing. “I keep thinking she might get
tired and then be ready to leave. So far it hasn’t happened,” she turned to
Drake with a slight smile.

           
He looked at the couples dancing then back at her, “Why aren’t you dancing? I
know it’s not for lack of partners asking.”

           
Shock held her mouth quiet as he spoke. So apparently he had seen the two guys
earlier that had asked her to dance. He hadn’t danced with anyone either. More
or less it seemed he was here just to donate and network, which he had done
when he had left her table. That was Drake to a tee. There was always a reason
to drum up sponsors, donations, or even interest in helping animals.

           
“I just didn’t feel like putting on a false front for some man I didn’t know,”
she answered, and it was an honest answer.

           
“I don’t see why you should have to have a false front for anyone. If they
don’t like what they see, they wouldn’t have asked you to dance.”

           
“That is some eloquent thinking and the truth, but I just don’t feel like
putting up with anyone right now.” Her eyes caught and held his for one moment.
Hot molten caramel turned her insides to liquid. It was always like this, this
burn from the inside, even when they were having a normal conversation.

           
“Would you like me to leave?”

           
Ah, he was such a gentleman to even offer. “No, I’d rather you than someone
else.”

           
A crooked grin covered his mouth.
“How surprising that I have
moved up in your estimation.
No wonder we had rain earlier today.”
Apparently her comment had sounded a bit insulting.

           
She rolled her eyes, “Sorry.”

           
He laughed at that. “You have to admit, Nadia, that you haven’t always been
such a warm person to me lately,” he told her, his grin gone, nothing but a
serious expression on his handsome
face
.

           
Nadia felt her insides flare up. She could not tell him the reason for that.
Never would she explain why she had to act a certain way around him. Instead,
she shrugged her shoulders and kept staring at the dance area where people
turned and swayed to the music, never guessing that she was about to lose her
mind with a serious case of the nerves if Drake didn’t stop asking questions
that she couldn’t answer. And if she kept trying to turn the subject, he would
wonder.

           
“Take it from me, that it isn’t you making me like this, but more like recent
circumstances that have hardened my so called shell,” she told him, still not
looking at him. The torn edges of his dark washed jeans, and shined tips of his
boots, were in her line of vision. She could feel his heat and warmth beside
her arm on the top of the small table. Her gut clenched. Would she ever be able
to touch him? The only time he had voluntarily touched her was when her parents
had passed. The memory of his arms closing around her shoulders was something
that Nadia had never forgotten.

           
“I’m sorry that you had to learn the hard way about Donavan and Suzanne,” He
told her. Nadia couldn’t help herself; she had to look in his direction. But
now he was looking at the dance floor. “There had been rumors for weeks that
they had something going on, but of course a rumor is a rumor. And it wasn’t as
if we had the kind of relationship that gave me permission to walk into your
office so that I could warn you about the man you were seeing.”