Her Druid Desire (The Amber Druid Series) (19 page)

***

           
After dosing up Nadia and watching her make her way into the bathroom for a
shower, Drake went into her kitchen. The day had turned slightly overcast, with
clouds gliding over the blinding sun every few minutes. As the spotted light
crept through the window, Drake made a pot of coffee but skipped the breakfast.
It was almost lunchtime anyway.

           
The bright, cheerful sound of a mockingbird slipped into his ears. Drake braced
his hands on Nadia’s countertop and controlled the urge to rip it in half.

           
He had felt rage before. Christ, he had been alive for over 200 years. Every
emotion known to man had flooded through his body at one point or another.
Sorrow, heartbreak, fear and all-consuming wrath when his family
had been taken from him.
Yes, he thought to himself as the mockingbird
flitted over to window and trilled especially for Drake, he had known many
feelings throughout his long life. It was only now that he was considering
hunting down Donavan and actually plunging headlong into the fray of anger that
had hold of him, that he
wanted
that sick human’s blood on his hands.

           
He was considering murder-killing another human being! Drake shook his head and
dropped it between his shoulders. He had been raised by loving, strict parents,
and had been taught moral codes and values that were sometimes lacking in
today’s generations. If his parents, heck, his family could see what he was
thinking now, he would be swallowing a couple of his teeth from his mother’s
slap, while his father would be asking him if he needed help hunting down the
bastard. It didn’t matter that his immediate family had been dead for a long,
long time. He could sense them turning in their graves.

           
It wasn’t as if he had never taken a human life before. He had, but that had
been during war and times of major upheaval in Texas. Things had been different
then for the new state and its warring people. But this, this was something
that Drake knew was wrong. Premeditated murder was not something that was
forgivable. The bad thing was his Druid nature sometimes overruled his human
nature. Things that seemed so cut and dry as a human were slightly more fuzzy
and unrecognizable when his powers were on full force. The push of his energy
was telling him that he needed to right this wrong. What had been done to Nadia
last night was a punishable offense. He knew better than to think that Donavan
would go to jail. The asshole had too many connections and probably had favors
to turn in. Fucking bastard, he would walk around, more than able to taunt
Nadia at his pleasure.

           
Drake had to make sure that she put a restraining order against him. Last night
she had been in pain and too upset to finish everything at the police station,
but if Drake had his way, he would drag her back there kicking and screaming
the moment she left the shower.

           
“You’re still here?”

           
Nadia’s voice kicked thoughts of murder and bloodshed to the curb. Drake turned
as she walked stiltedly into the kitchen. Long black hair was damp and curling
at the ends. Her face was devoid of makeup and she was wearing jean shorts and
a tee shirt that claimed,
I read minds…and you should be ashamed of
yourself.

           
Drake couldn’t help the smile that tilted the corners of his mouth. He was still
awed that she had managed to slip past his radar and sneak up behind him, but
the shirt made up for it. It wasn’t often that he saw her relaxed enough to
wear something like that around him or anyone else.

           
He ignored her question. “Nice shirt,” he told her as he leaned back on the
counter behind him.

           
The blush started at her collarbone then traveled up, tinting the tops of her
cheeks. He could feel the surprise and astonishment that she felt, not to
mention the slightest bit of sexual desire drifting from her, now that he knew
to look for it. His heart sputtered then resumed with such force that Drake
cleared his throat and automatically turned his feelers off. No way would he be
able to get through a single conversation with her if he kept imagining his
hands on her body.

           
“Thanks,” she murmured, brushing past him on her way to the coffee machine.
“Thanks for making the coffee too.”

           
“No problem.”

           
Minutes later she sat at the table with a huge mug of steaming coffee while
Drake stayed by the counter with his own cup, knowing better than to get too
close to someone that intrigued him that much.

           
She cleared her throat, “About last night…” Huge green eyes peered up at him
from where she was sitting and a fist squeezed his heart. He had saved her from
Lord knew what last night. Just the words brought reality smashing down on him.
Donavan could have raped her, murdered her, or violated her and left her
broken, lying there on the pavement. Drake counted his blessings again for
attending the party last night. He didn’t want to think about what would have
happened if he hadn’t been there.

           
His eyes slid back to her because he knew she wanted to thank him properly.
That was the way she had been raised, almost with the same morals and values as
he. His breath sputtered when he noticed the sheen of tears in her eyes and the
trembling of her small chin. It was enough to make a grown man feel
inconsequential.

           
“I can’t thank you enough for what you did.” She fiddled with the handle of the
huge mug she had in front of her as she spoke, “I never…never would have
thought that Donavan would do something so horrible…and to me of all people.”
Those large haunted eyes of hers swam in tears as she looked up at him. Her
fingers left the mug and went to her mouth, then to the back of her neck. He
imagined she was feeling more than stressed. Hopefully the pills would help
with that.

           
“I never expected to see you out there. I thought my every option to get away
was gone.”

           
Drake shook his head negatively, trying to pump up her self esteem, “With the
way you screamed, I knew in that instant something wasn’t right.” He put his
cup down on the counter beside him, then turned his eyes back to hers, trying
to will some of his strength into her small frame. “Don’t think that you
weren’t doing enough to protect yourself…you were. I’m sure if I wouldn’t have
come along you would have maimed him in your own way.” He smiled slightly,
trying to inject some humor to lighten the situation. He would rather see her
smile than cry.

           
She did smile, but it wasn’t near what he wanted to see. She looked all around
then came back to him leaning there. Her eyes sparkled with unshed tears and in
that second Drake realized that Nadia had grown up right before his eyes. She
had a confidence, although bruised and battered, that radiated her self worth
to those around her. Even with the incident last night, she still sat straight
and solid at her table. She was only teary eyed because of her gratitude, not
because of what had happened. To be on the receiving end of that honest, pure
emotion made Drake feel about two inches tall.

           
She was no longer the small, gangly, uncertain daughter of his accountant. She
was no longer the teenager that followed him around with huge, innocent green
eyes. She was a woman. She was capable, strong, and beautiful, but most of all,
the innocence, the purity, and that unknown sparkle in her eyes were still
there. Her progression from young lady to full blown woman hadn’t changed her.
Drake admired that.

           
He was still extremely glad that he had arrived when he did last night, but
that didn’t mean that he didn’t think she couldn’t have gotten her way out of
that situation. When Nadia wanted something, she was damn determined. He would
never put anything past her.

           
“Thank you, again. I will never be able to repay you.” Her voice was slightly
scratchy and hoarse but Drake latched onto the word ‘repay’ and turned it over
and over in his mind.

           
“You’re welcome,” he told her, but in his mind he thought of ways he could get
her to repay him. And he knew all of them would shock her silly. Immediately,
he blocked those thoughts. Nadia should never feel as if she had to repay him
for anything, especially with something like this.

           
Drake shook those thoughts from his mind. This was still Nadia, the same Nadia
that he had watched over from a distance for years. And even though he knew she
found him attractive and desirable, that didn’t mean that he was going to give
in and start seducing her with the intent of sex.

           
You just keep reminding yourself of what and who you are, your past with women
that get too close, and what Nadia would think if she knew the real you. That
should stall any thoughts of lust at once.

           
Turning, Drake went back to the counter and stared out the window.

           
Listen to that voice in your head. You know its right.

           
Yeah, but the bad thing was that Drake knew that if he allowed it, Nadia would
turn out to be much more than just sex. And there was no way that he could
allow her to twist herself into his life and heart.

***

           
By Tuesday of the next week Nadia had finished up with the police reports and
restraining orders, much to Drake’s enjoyment. If she had to hear from him one
more time about the pros of a restraining order, she would lose her mind. She
knew it had to be done, so she’d done it. Of course the nightmarish scene from
the street had played out in her mind since then, so that had also given her
some incentive to get the order immediately.

           
“Girl, have some more dessert,” Renee’s voice slipped in under Nadia’s radar
and snapped her back to the present. She was having dinner at Renee’s house,
and Renee was doing everything she could to fish out details from the night of
the incident.

           
“I honestly don’t think I could eat anything else,” she told Renee as she
placed her empty plate in the sink and turned to catch the frown on the
redhead’s face.

           
“I can’t ever remember you turning down another serving of my ‘better than sex
cake.’ Now I
know
you are still feeling ill effects from last weekend.”
Renee gave her a small smile and poured her another glass of wine. “C’mon, come
sit back down and tell me how Mr. Drake Thompson made everything all better.”
She gave Nadia a salacious wink as she said that and moved towards her living
room, pulling Nadia along with her.

           
Plopping down in a deep, soft loveseat Nadia tried to evade Renee and her
questions, but she knew it was a foregone thing. “He did what he had to do to
secure the situation and then he made sure I felt okay before leaving me
alone.” Nadia listened to herself explain the rescue in some clinical way, but
all she really remembered was the smooth, almost unhurried way that Drake had
disposed of Donavan.

           
Her mind had remembered other things hours and days later, like the strong
current that had slipped in and around her body when Drake had interfered.
Another odd thing was the growling noise she heard. It had sounded like an
animal, something wild and thoroughly upset. Her dream image of the man with
the bright eyes popped up in her mind immediately.

           
“He stayed with you overnight?” Renee gushed. “You are one lucky, lucky woman.”

           
Nadia rolled her eyes. “He was only making sure I was okay. It wasn’t as if he
had ulterior motives for coming to my house, Renee.”

           
“Honey, when a man like him comes to your house, you make him find ulterior
motives.” Blue eyes full of friendship peered at Nadia. “If you care for him as
much as you say you do why don’t you make a move? I honestly don’t think he
will toss you away if he knows how you feel.”

           
Nadia had told Renee about Drake and how she felt for him just two days ago,
right after the incident with Donavan. Since she had been on medication for anxiety,
she chocked that up as an excuse for letting her secretary know her personal
business. If she was being honest with herself though, it was like a load off
of her chest to be able to share the news with another woman, one that she
considered a friend.

           
She shook her head and took another cold sip of wine. “I wouldn’t waste my time
on him.”

           
Renee reared back in shock. “Waste your time? Honey, have you really taken a good
look at the man? Dear God, he’s beyond delicious, and he is settled. He has his
own business; he has money. I could go on and on.”

           
Nadia nodded, “I know.”

           
“Then why are you so broken up about it? I have never known you to be so
determined to ignore something that I know you want. I can name numerous times
in the past where you have been like a bulldog with something that you wanted
badly for your magazines or your charity work.”

           
Nadia sat there listening to Renee, knowing what she said was true, but also
knowing Renee would never understand her viewpoint. Renee was a go getter with
men, like Nadia was with business. With her upfront, in your face sexuality,
Renee was someone that Nadia wished she could be like when it came to a
masculine God like Drake. Unfortunately, she knew that would never happen. She
was wired differently.