Her Druid Desire (The Amber Druid Series) (33 page)

           
Nadia breathed so deeply that she shuddered from the force of it.

           
“Now you try and tell me how any willing, warm woman can make me come hard
enough to bust a couple of ribs. Tell me that so that I can find a way to get
you out of my mind.”

           
Furious with her, he dropped her hand and left the room, not trusting his
rapidly fraying control one second longer.

***

           
Nadia sat on the plane beside Drake and listened to him talk on his cell once
again. It was amazing that he had even been able to step foot out of his house
without people hunting him down. She had known he was a busy man, but sometimes
things got out of hand, as it seemed to be now, unless he was relishing every
call because that took the strain off of their being alone.

           
She sighed and looked out the window again. He had been furious, beyond
agitated that she would get the idea in her head that she wasn’t the reason for
his inability to have sex or even get touched by another woman. She, on the
other hand, just found it amazing, simply astounding that the beautiful goddess
that she had seen in the picture with him weeks ago had placed her hands on him
and he hadn’t been able to do anything with
her
stimulating him.

           
Maybe he’s telling the truth. Have you ever known him to lie anyway?

           
No, she had never heard him lie or be dishonest in all the years that she had
known him.

           
So he is being truthful. You are the only woman right now that can get him
aroused.

           
Just the thought that he was right sent shivers down her spine. To have the
full attention of Drake Thompson would send her into a tailspin. How would she
be able to stop herself from falling ever deeper and more dangerously in love
with him? And with his sensory abilities how could he not sense the way she
felt? Damn, did he sense it now?

           
Red burned her cheeks, so hot that her skin throbbed.
It’s a little too late
to worry about that now, don’t you think?

           
The two or so hours they had before leaving his condo were spent packing and
making sure she had everything she needed. When she’d finished, she placed
everything at the entry door to make sure she didn’t forget a bag and to do so
she had to walk past his bedroom door. Just the images from last night were
enough to scorch her brain. What would happen when they got back to Beaumont?
Would things go back to normal, or would he become the man she had been waiting
for forever, attentive, dedicated to her wishes, sharing his time with her and
only her?

           
She shook her head. Things like this were needless to dream about because they
would never happen. Drake would never allow himself to get in over his head.
Nadia knew that without having to be told. And his little slip about them
having sex, at some point in the near future, Nadia would take that with a
grain of salt. Not that she doubted his diligence, she didn’t, but it was
better to get real than to let dreams haunt you forever. She had enough with
loving him for so long that if things ever really changed, she wouldn’t know
what to do.

           
Later, when she felt the jostle of the plane touching down, she looked over and
noticed that Drake was still on the phone, this time with another business
partner. The stewardess came to help her exit and without meaning to, Nadia
turned towards where he was sitting one more time. Bright brown eyes held hers
for a second then he placed his hand over the phone and told her, “I’ll be done
soon, don’t leave yet. We need to talk.”

           
She nodded and exited the plane. Minutes later she had managed to pull her bags
to her Rover with help from Brian. She thanked him, and then stood there like a
numbskull waiting for Drake.

           
Why couldn’t he have talked to her in the two hours they had left while they
were packing? Why couldn’t she have told him that she now understood everything
he had said at the restaurant? Why let that crazy scene hold reference over
them? Nadia toed a small weed trying to grow from in between the cement slabs
of the walkway. Now that she understood what he had been trying to say, she
wanted, needed to tell him that she did. She wanted him to look at her again
like he had this morning and last night.

           
Heavy footfalls interrupted her musing and she looked up. Drake was walking
towards her and the setting sun tossed a good amount of light into his hair,
causing the locks to look like russet colored satin. His body was powerful,
with an easy, rock from the hip gait that made her insides clench with the heat
that he had awoken in her. That man, that gorgeous, leanly muscled, but massive
man had held her body up with his arms and had shown her so much pleasure last
night that she had almost cried from it.

           
She shook that thought off whenever he got close enough to touch her.

           
“Sorry it to--,”

           
“I
understa
--,”

           
They both started to speak at the same time. He smiled and gestured to Nadia to
go ahead.

           
She licked her lips and realized he was standing close enough for her to feel
his breath when he exhaled. It drifted over the top of her head, sending
strands of hair flying. “I understand now about what you were saying earlier.
I’m sorry for getting you so worked up, although I never realized such a conversation
would do that.”

           
His hand tilted up her chin and without any warning he let his lips close over
hers. Nadia inhaled sharply as her body came to instant life. He kissed her top
and then her bottom lip, licked the crease between and cut it all too short for
her liking.

           
With his mouth still whispering against hers he said, “Everything I told you
was true. I think at night of the ways that I can have you touch and kiss me. I
dream of the ways that I could turn the tables on you and show you just what I
have learned after being around for as long as I have.”

           
Nadia bit her bottom lip at that. His hand clenched on her chin.

           
“I want to know you as a friend, someone you would call in the middle of the
night when you need them.” He smiled against her lips, his thumb touching one
corner in a sensual dance. “And I want to know you as a lover, one that would
know every delicious place on your body…I do realize that this might take time,
but
darlin
,’ I can be a patient man.” Another swipe
of his thumb, “Are you up for that?”

           
She nodded, half dazed with passion already. Hell, what could he do to her when
he
really
turned up the heat?

           
“Then we should get cozy tonight. How about you come over in a bit, we’ll have
a bite to eat and maybe watch a movie.” He gave her another heart stopping lick
across sensitive lips, “maybe I’ll even get lucky enough to hit second base.
What do you say?”

           
She grinned at his ego coming through. “I’ll be there.” And even though it took
every ounce of guts she had, she turned from him and went to her vehicle.

***

           
Drake pushed his workout extra hard when he got home.

           
Knowing Nadia was coming was incentive to keep his simmering lust under wraps,
rather than unleash it on her unassuming body. Well, she now realized that he
would get a little out of control, but no amount of telling her would prepare
her innocent mind for the realization. He would have to be precautious.

           
After he finished that, he showered and fixed a light supper consisting of
sandwiches and a salad. He was pulling out some movies when she called and said
she would be there in a little while.

           
Drake stood in the center of his living area, grinning like a sixteen year old
who had just been asked to the prom.

           
He had lived for over two hundred years, seen countless things, war, and
famine, seen his family grow old and pass on, and still he was astounded to
know that there was something in this world that could amaze him. There were
still things she needed to know about him and his Druid side, things that he
hoped she would take well, as well as she had taken the rest last night.

           
There was also the fact that he was tampering with a woman, a woman he had
known since she was twelve, that would never stoop to just having a sexual
relationship with him. And even knowing all of this, knowing that she was
fairly innocent, sweetly demure and totally not his normal brand of woman, he
kept throwing out invitations and keeping her on a short chain when around him.
The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her, but for some reason he couldn’t
allow her out of his sight.

           
He hadn’t thought of his past and usually tried to keep from doing so, but
thinking of deep feelings for women made him think of the women he had been
married to. He was an old fashioned guy when it came to marriage. Even though
his standards for relationships now weren’t that way, his marriages had been
carried through, at least on his end, with deep feelings of love for each
woman, and a hope to make them understand who and what he was.  Neither of
those things happened, and each marriage had been shortened because of the fact
that those women had turned out not to be the right ones to handle that
information.

           
His sexual preferences were a bit unrestrained and too wild, which had led to
his second marriage with Marie, being totally disastrous. Even though numerous
years had passed, Drake could still see the unforgettable fear in her eyes when
she looked at him. Trying to dispel that fear and calm her hadn’t worked; she
had stayed far away from him, bundled in the corner of their house, shaking from
head to toe in terror. It hadn’t taken long for her to leave him. He later
learned that she had gone berserk in a town in Arkansas, the town deeming her
unfit to live alone and they had placed her in a mental ward. The memory of
Marie with her long black hair, beautiful curvaceous body and hauntingly sad
dark eyes rose up in his mind. He had loved her, more so than Loraine, because
something in Marie had needed him, needed his protection, his love, and he had
wanted more than anything in this world to give her that. In the end, he hadn’t
been able to.

           
The emotions he had felt for those two women had been the strongest in his life
so far. Yet nothing, not even those combined, could touch what he felt for
Nadia. He had known back when they danced at Cole’s party that something life
changing could come from him knowing that she secretly desired him, and he
could feel it happening, had felt it for awhile. He had tried to restrain
himself, tried to badly to keep what he felt for her under wraps, but he knew
if he went any further with her those hidden feelings he had they wouldn’t be
so hidden anymore.

           
She was the one that could turn him into a raving sexual lunatic or
surprisingly enough calm and control the beast, like she had last night. The
fact that he hadn’t taken her against the wall in the shower was proof enough
that his Druid side calmed from her touch. More than likely it realized the
purity of her and the strong feelings that Drake had and it held back, trying
to save face in front of such an unexpectedly strong woman.

           
Drake stepped out onto his deck and listened to the night sounds around him.

           
He would let himself as close to Nadia as he could get. There was no point in denying
the inevitable. She would be his. It was only a matter of time. And as far as
Drake was concerned, he would do his damndest to make sure that she never felt
threatened, forced, or terrified of him in anyway. If he had to go at her pace,
he would. Doing without wouldn’t kill him, and besides he had some control; he
would just have to learn how to use it.

           
You won’t scare her off Thompson. She is tougher than she looks. Just be
gentle.

           
Ah, now his conscience was
for
this relationship. Amazing how accepting
things could also make things much easier. He smiled into the night and waited
for Nadia to show up.

           
Nadia pulled on the edge of her tee shirt and glanced down to see her bare toes
peeking from the edges of her jeans and the flip-flops she had on. She wasn’t
exactly the epitome of sexual seductress, but Drake had said to get comfortable
and she had. Now she was walking up his meandering steps, and she could hear
music blaring from inside the house while security lights blazed all around.

Nickelback
sang loudly about “something in your mouth,” and Nadia couldn’t help the smile
that broke out on her lips. Drake listened to just about anything, but she had
never thought that the large Texan would like that particular band. Apparently
the lyrics made it more interesting.

           
Taking a deep breath she knocked as hard as she could on the front door, hoping
he could hear her through the loud music. Seconds later she saw a massive
shadow appear behind the hazed glass, and then the music lowered and he was
pulling the door open.