Her Druid Desire (The Amber Druid Series) (24 page)

Now,
standing in Drake’s condo, staring into the guest bathroom mirror, Nadia
trembled. She ran her fingers down the soft, supple material of the gorgeous
dress she had gotten Derek to bring in from her Houston boutique.

A
gray silk slip made up the underneath of the dress. There was a deep
V
shape
neckline and split that came up to right above her left thigh. The top of the
dress was an ivory lace overlay. It clung to the under dress with delicate
stitching and gossamer threads. Nothing about the dress screamed sexy, but
Nadia knew as she finished her hair, with a low knot on the back of her neck
then placed a large cream Camilla among the dark strands, that her Spanish
heritage was there for everyone to see.

Her
father’s father had come from Madrid. He’d settled in Florida and married
Nadia’s very American grandmother. They only had one child, her father, Matthew
Morales, and like his parent’s before him, so had he. Nadia had fringes of
memory about her grandfather, since he had died when she was nine. A tall,
dark, silver haired man with an accent used to hold her when she was a tiny
scrap of a girl, and he repeatedly called her,
carino
,
“darling” in Spanish. Nadia’s family had lived in Florida until her
grandmother, Elizabeth, had died from breast cancer. Just six months later
Antonio Morales joined his wife in the hereafter. Nadia always liked to believe
that he couldn’t live without her.

With
the soft, cream colored lace overlay against the darker grey of the dress, her
skin glowed with a light tan. Her green eyes were large and with her hair
pulled back, she appeared younger than what she was. Nadia turned from the
mirror and sat at the small vanity. Her silver strap shoes were easy to slide
on and then she stood, grabbed her clutch from the bed, and tried to calm her
racing heart.

Walking
out of this room was going to be tough, simply because she knew that Drake was
ready and waiting for her on the other side of the door.

This
isn’t a date. This isn’t a date.
It became a mantra
inside her head.

But
why did it feel like one?
Because you are allowing your mind to make up this
little fantasy, that’s why.

Nadia
stiffened her shoulders and her resolve. She was determined to get through this
night without anything drastic happening.

She
grasped the handle of the door and turned the knob. The hallway was lit up by
an antique lamp hanging from the opposite wall. She turned and made her way
into the large living area, her heels making clicking noises on the hardwood
floor.

The
lights were on in the massive room and when Nadia walked all the way in she
noticed Drake standing against the large, floor to ceiling windows. He was on
the cell phone again, his deep voice talking about a merger that should take
place next week. Nadia heard every word he was saying, but none of it
registered in her scrambled brain.

The
sharp, slight smell of cologne hung in the air, along with a heated dampness
that told her he had also taken a shower. The right edge of his jaw clenched
and rippled with muscle as he spoke and even as far away as she was, the smooth
closeness of the shave he had just gotten was visible. The ruffled edges of his
hair were still damp. Nadia’s fingers curled against her palms.

This
was that closeness, the oneness that she would never have with him-to walk into
a room and smell his recent shower hanging in the very air around her; to see
the damp ends of his hair and want to run her fingers through it because they
ached so much from wanting to touch him in some way; to know that he wasn’t fully
ready yet when she saw the onyx and silver studs of his cufflinks sitting on
the counter between them, and be the one to go up to him and wordlessly help
him with that small task.

In
the back of your mind you knew this. Don’t act like you hadn’t thought of this
already.

Just
as she had cleared that thought from her mind, Drake turned. His eyes flashed a
beautiful bright golden color, but then he blinked. Nadia chocked it up to the
sun dipping down behind him and the lighting in the room.

Nadia
stood there, patiently waiting, as he held up one finger to her and then tried
to maneuver off of the phone. She took in the sights while he did that.

A
beautifully cut, exquisitely made, black tux covered his large body from
shoulders to ankles. Black dress boots, shined to deep ebony, were on his feet.
A blinding white shirt was under the black jacket, and a black vest and tie
completed the clothing. His burnished skin was starkly tan against his white
collar, where it sat open, showing Nadia a glimpse of the hollow of his neck
and strong edges of his collarbone, studded with dark, swirling hair. Her
traitorous fingers throbbed with the need to touch.

The
click as he slid the cell phone closed reverberated in the room around her.
Nadia jumped slightly as her eyes came back to his face.

“How
do you ever get any relaxation? Every time I’m around you, you are working.”
She knew if she talked about mundane things that would keep the subject on
mundane things.

Don’t
think about how he is walking closer to you, his mouth cocked in that sensual,
crooked smile. Don’t think about those two buttons, still undone, still
flashing you teasing bits of his hard, muscular chest. Don’t think about how
massive he is compared to your small body, and of how safe that makes you feel.
Just don’t think and you can make it through this.

“Some
things don’t have a time frame, and I have no way of ending it unless I get it
done right away.” He stopped when he got within two feet of her. The slightly
spicy, all male smell of his cologne and him wrapped around her nose, teasing
her.

“But
you need to relax sometimes; everyone does.”

“
Darlin
,’ that is the pot calling the kettle black.” His
eyes twinkled. “You should take your own advice. Besides, this is relaxation
for me.” His large hand came up beside her and out of instinctual reaction, not
from fear, she knew she shouldn’t allow him to touch her; she moved slightly.
The hurt look in his eyes was there and then flashed away so quickly that Nadia
thought she had imagined it. His lips tightened, “I would never hurt you.”

Nadia
stood immobile as his hand hovered over her shoulder. “I know and I’m sorry…I
don’t mean to move away, it’s just…” Her mouth worked but no reason came out.
Instead of touching her shoulder, his finger softly landed on the corner of her
mouth. All the blood in her body rushed to her head. She locked her legs to
keep standing, while her mouth and skin tingled like the undercurrents rushing
through a charge.

“
Shh
, I understand, I understand everything.” He wasn’t
smiling anymore. The tip of his finger traced the skin around her mouth, not
enough to disturb her lipstick, but just enough to scale the rise of her upper
lip and then the indention that ran from her nose to her top lip.

Nadia’s
lips trembled, as his eyes were transfixed on what his finger was doing. There
was no way he understood how she felt. The burning, all encompassing ache to
let her know how it was to be touched by this man, burned through her.

He
was closer now. When had he moved? So close that if she stood on her tiptoes
she could lick the edge of his chin. That maddening finger of his moved from
the indention that gave her lips a peaked look, down to the edge of her jaw.
She couldn’t control another tremble as it moved across her skin and teased the
tip of his finger. She sighed, embarrassed at her reaction to him, and jumped
to move away. Her eyes started to burn with heat, a forerunner of tears
threatening, when she glanced back up and saw something that should frighten
her out of her mind. Instead, she stilled, even the blood in her body felt
frozen. She dropped her clutch on the floor.

His
eyes, the gorgeous eyes that had always been a light delicious caramel, were
now glowing hotly. Bright golden striations replaced the light brown honey
color. How was this possible? Just as she thought that, he closed his eyes and
slid his hand behind her neck, pulling her into his hold.

Nadia
didn’t struggle, simply because this was Drake; she had known him since she was
twelve. She trusted him implicitly with her own life, so of course she didn’t
fear him.

His
voice, so deep, slid into her ear, “Do you trust me?”

Without
any hesitation, she conceded. “Yes, of course.” Then as if the moment wasn’t
unreal enough, she let out a hysterical laugh. “Otherwise, I would be across the
room by now.” His hold on her upper body increased. One of his large hands was
still under her hairdo, warm on her nape and the other was on her lower back,
keeping her pressed close to him. Her face was against his strong chest. She
could hear the pounding of his heart thud against her ears. What was going on?

“There
are things I should tell you Nadia, things that would shock you and probably
send you running.” He exhaled, and to her he sounded disgusted with himself. “I
can’t do it now. There is so much to talk about, but when we get back, I
promise you, we will talk.”

“It
can’t be that bad.” She mumbled against the material of his jacket. Her fingers
dug into his sides.

He
nuzzled his nose into the delicate strands of hair that fell around her temples.
The heat of his breath touched her, and she wanted to slide down his body into
a puddle of want right then and there. He inhaled, as if he was breathing her
in like an animal scenting its prey, and there was a surge of moisture between
her legs. All ten of her fingers dug deeply into the material covering his
sides. Dear God, he was killing her, slowly, ever so gently. And this was from
a man that claimed he didn’t want her like that, didn’t desire her in anyway.
What she felt was not one-sided. It wasn’t possible. Her brain screamed that
fact loudly.

“Not
bad, but different.” He moved his hand from her lower back, and used it to tilt
her chin up to meet his eyes.

Nadia
paused, but allowed him to move her face up to his. She was scared, scared
stiff. Not knowing if he was going to try and kiss her, touch her, or do
whatever. She didn’t know if she could handle not knowing, but she also didn’t
know if she could handle whatever he would do to her. She opened her eyes when
he stopped, but her body started to tremble uncontrollably.

Instead
of seeing him looking at her, he kept his face pressed against the side of
hers, his mouth resting so very close to her own. Nadia burned inside. She
wanted to move, just a bit, to where she could lick the seam of his lips right
across the middle and suck his tempting lower lip into her mouth. The thought
crystallized in her mind. She had never thought herself to be a wanton woman.
Apparently only Drake made her want to do wicked things. Her tongue throbbed in
response.

His
voice surprised her. “Promise me that whenever we get back tonight that you
will sit and listen to what I say, no matter how shocking or unreal it sounds.”

She
nodded immediately. Still focused on the placement of his lips and of how when
he spoke they had rubbed against her cheek. The singe of fire in her core slid
down her legs, making her clench her fingers even tighter against the long
muscles that stiffened under his tux.

“Ah…Nadia,”
he growled the words against her skin.

Nadia
shook against him. She had never felt like this before. As if one intimate
touch from him would send her over the edge. And she wanted to go over that
edge. Her body was one big, swollen erogenous zone. She had never felt this
turned on before, this hot, this explosive.

His
mouth touched the lobe of her ear, reverently, almost with a hushed silence
that was similar to worship. A sigh escaped Nadia’s lips. Then his tongue,
God
,
his tongue slid delicately along the rim of her ear. Heat burst along her
spine, slipped into her bloodstream and uncurled inside her body as if it had
been there all along, waiting for Drake to wake it up.

“Oh…please,”
she didn’t care if she sounded like she was begging. She only cared that he
continue
whatever it was he was doing. Her fingers clenched again.
Drake growled into her ear, and then he stopped.

Nadia
opened her eyes to find herself being held again. Reality started to invade her
mind and she went to move away from his arms, stunned and embarrassed at how
easily he could reduce her to insanity and he had only licked her ear.

“It
is past the time for us to leave, don’t you think?”

His
voice sounded husky, deep with nameless emotion. Nadia just nodded. He slowly
let her go. Wordlessly she walked to where his cufflinks sat and grabbed them
with shaking hands. Without looking him in the face, she walked back to him,
standing deliciously close to his body, while hers still shook with longing.

He
raised his hand to take the links away from her. “Let me, please?” She wasn’t
sure why she wanted to do this on her own but she did. Without protestation he
let her place the jeweled links on the starched material of his shirt cuff.
Nadia relished the feel of every part of his skin touching hers.

Then,
without words, she grabbed her clutch and they left the condo.