Her Druid Desire (The Amber Druid Series) (32 page)

           
His finger swept a line from her neck to her nose. “Yours are,” he said,
simply.

           
She placed the mug back on the table before she dropped it on herself then made
a move to get up. His massive hand swallowed hers on the blankets. Nadia could
feel the heat inside his body. Her own clenched in renewed hunger.

           
“I wanted to tell you that I enjoyed last night. I had many, many dreams about
you, my hands touching you, and your hands touching me, but I think it is safe
to say that what happened eclipsed every single one of them.”

           
He had dreams of her? Nadia shuddered as heat washed over her. The image of
Drake, his hand moving on his erection, bringing himself pleasure was like HD
in Nadia’s brain. She hadn’t gotten what she originally had wanted. Instead she
had gotten something surprising, even to her, but she wanted that primal, raw
moment with him back. She wanted to test her boundaries with him.
She
wanted to put her hands on him and bring him ecstasy.

           
No, you don’t!! Think before you speak. Don’t allow yourself to get pulled
under. He is only screwing with your desires.

           
Nadia watched him as he gave her a slow, heated perusal from those hot eyes of
his. He might be a man that switched from one woman to another with quick and
efficient ease, but why would he do that with her, with the one woman he was
always in constant contact with? Wouldn’t that be crazy?

           
But on the same hand that didn’t mean he was going to pledge undying love to
her and drop down on one knee either. Besides, he had been married twice
already. That was still shocking to her. She realized right then that even
though she did love him deeply, she didn’t want something from him that he did
out of pity. If Drake wanted her, then he simply wanted her. She wouldn’t be
rash and tell him of how long she had loved him and cared for him. That was her
secret, her burden for herself.

           
What she had with Drake last night was a guilty pleasure, one that she wouldn’t
mind repeating if only she could unglue her tongue from the roof of her mouth.
Even if she could, Nadia knew it would take a bit more persuasion for her to
ask anything from him, especially sexually.

           
Licking her lips, she said, “Thank you for your patience with me last night and
from earlier at the gala. As you can tell, I’m not as experienced as you and
what you showed me…last night…was simply…incredible.” Those words came from her
heart; they meant something and by the way Drake was looking at her that he
realized that.

           
The look in his eyes was fierce, but tender all at once. His hand traveled from
her jaw to her neck and then to her chest. Fire bloomed along the places where
he touched, but Nadia kept her cool. His hand, large against her body, stopped
right above her left breast, where the beat of her heart was strong, rapid and
sure.

           
“Just when I think you can’t surprise me more, you do. You walked in on me
doing something that probably would have shocked or disgusted another woman,
but instead of running you barged in, all wide and hungry-eyed.”

           
“I wasn’t thinking…just feeling.” She told him honestly. He blinked and Nadia
noticed a gold film creeping over his irises. He was beginning to change again,
apparently from arousal.

           
His hand stayed in place, fingers flexing against her skin. “I know, and when I
saw you standing there I wanted you so badly…” his words started to lisp and
she noticed the tips of his fangs peeking out from his lips. “You make me burn,
angel, burn so hot for such a small, delicate woman.”

           
“Surely you don’t think you would hurt me?” She eyed him with a curious look.
“I’m sure you realize that women’s bodies are made to,” Oh God, was she going
to say this out loud? “
accept
different sizes.” Her
face had to be bright red right now.

           
An amusing look slid into his golden eyes. “So sweet…” His hand left the thump
of her heart and slowly ever so gently, made its way lazily over the curve of
her left breast. The long fingers of his hand cradled her gently and Nadia felt
as if she had stepped from a cliff into a freefall. Her nipple hardened to a
painful peak, but he never touched her there, he just cradled the weight of her
in his hand, while his thumb brushed the sensitive skin above her nipple. Nadia
felt her vision haze a bit from the pleasure he gave her.

           
“Yes, I’m a very large man and no, it isn’t my size that worries me, it is my
Druid nature that scares me. I don’t want to get too rough with you, but once I
get inside your body it won’t be any other way.”

           
Just the thought that he wouldn’t go easy on her sent shivers crawling along
her skin. His hand left her breast and Nadia couldn’t stop the pouting sound
that left her mouth as he did so. She opened her eyes and he was closer than
she had first thought.

           
“I don’t know why this happened all of a sudden, but I do know this. I will
have you, you will be mine, but I won’t ever force you to do anything that you
don’t want to do.” His eyes blazed at her while his breath tickled the skin of
her neck. “I will teach you anything that you need to know, and think about
that because, angel…I’ve been alive for a very, very long time.”

           
He made sure that thought had settled in her fogged brain before leaving her to
think about everything they had just spoken to each other.

***

           
You sure know how to put yourself in situations that will make things extremely
hard on you, don’t you?

           
Drake ignored his mind muttering at him and turned his attention to the scroll
of the stock market on the bottom of the flat screen in his office. Usually he
didn’t watch the market that closely, but right now he needed a distraction
from thoughts of Nadia, so the stock market was it.

           
After making a few calls, checking on the clinic and a few of his business
partners, he turned his attention to getting Brian on the phone. He wanted to
make sure the plane would be ready to go at the proper time.

           
An hour later he was knee deep in the background file of a possible business
partner when a slight tap echoed through the room. Drake looked up and noticed
Nadia standing there. Her long black hair had been pulled into a ponytail. A
bright yellow tee covered her chest while Capri pants and some little
sandal-looking shoes completed her outfit. She looked so very young and so
carefree standing there.

           
“Hey,” he told her as he moved the papers around and placed them in the
requisite file.

           
“Hey back,” she replied with a small smile. “I was wondering if you were
hungry. It’s almost lunchtime.” She twisted her fingers nervously and Drake
caught the flutters of anxiousness in the air between them.  A tense,
uneasy woman had never attracted him before, but now that he knew
he
was
the reason why she was this way, he overlooked that and tried to think of ways
to make her overlook it too. “I was thinking maybe we could go get something to
eat.”

           
He didn’t waste a second before answering. “Sounds good, what are you up for?”

           
The sudden acceptance of her question apparently stunned her for a moment,
until she snapped out of it.
“Uh…how about some awesome steaks?”

           
He stood up from behind the desk and came around to meet her at the door.
“Angel, I’m a red blooded Texas man. I’m always up for steak.”

           
She smiled and Drake
felt
that smile like a punch to the middle of his
chest.

           
“Good, I know just the place.”

           
“Well, lead away
darlin
.’ I’m right behind you.”

***

           
They settled on Mexican instead, since the steakhouse she wanted to go to
didn’t open until five-o-clock in the afternoon on Saturdays. Now they were
sitting in Drake’s living area and he was watching her sip the rest of the
martini she had from the restaurant. Noise from a golf tournament on T.V.
echoed in the background.

           
“That was delicious, but the juicy, tender, fall apart in my mouth steak that
was calling my name at The Capital Grille could have easily topped it.” She
smiled in his direction over the coffee table. “But the company couldn’t be
topped.” What really surprised him was that she only
blushed
a little when she said that. She was getting a bit more comfortable in his
presence.

           
He nodded his head in her direction. “You got that right.”

           
She took a sip of her drink and Drake took advantage of the moment to study her
profile. Her forehead was smooth, unlined, and free of worry. The tapered end
of her nose was cute as hell, and Drake had a hard time holding back the urge
to reach over and tweak it. Her lips were naturally pink and plump, and
glistened from her tongue that had came out to catch stray drops of her mango
martini. She was slowly but surely growing at ease around him, which he took as
a good thing, of course.

           
“You know, out of pure curiosity, I just can’t help wondering how you got to be
the age you are without the amount of experience that I would have guessed with
being twenty-five.” He watched her as he said that, and she did blush, but not
as fiercely as he’d expected. “Young women these days are much more sexually
active than they were when I was that age.”

           
“It wasn’t as if I were a recluse or anything.” Huge green eyes came up to his
face and Drake wanted to reach over and kiss her right there. “I’m sure you
remember how painfully shy I was when I was younger. Well, that didn’t lend me
any attention at all.”

           
“I just can’t get over the fact since you are so gorgeous. Back then you were a
lovely young woman too, so it just doesn’t add up in my mind. The guys nowadays
must be blind.”

           
She rolled her eyes and waved him away with her hand. “Drake, you’re being
silly now.”

           
He leaned over the coffee table and grabbed that hand with his, letting his
thumb rest on her pulse as it fluttered in her wrist. “I’m not being silly. You
are a gorgeous, tempting young woman and it boggles my mind how you stayed so
damn innocent in a world that prides itself on eradicating purity.” He could
see the shock on her face and feel it emanating from her body. “And don’t act
as if I don’t find you attractive.” He let his eyes rest on hers, burning her
from the inside out. “You should know better than that, especially after our
little tryst in the shower, love.”

           
She licked her lips and Drake imagined that tongue on his body. “T-Thank you
for the compliment, but I never really felt as if I had to jump into bed with
the next available guy to learn about sex and relationships. Apparently I give
off a do-not-touch-vibe.”

           
Drake smiled. “
Darlin
’, you are so untouchable to
some of us
men, that
the arrogant,
important
ones find that immensely exciting.” He leaned over as close as he could. “We
want to see how far we can seduce you before you allow us a touch, a kiss or
even a glance.” Smoothing his thumb over her soft skin he continued, “You are a
temptress, a woman that unthinkably knows how to seduce a man with those very
hesitation tactics.”

           
She arched an eyebrow at that. “So, if I’m listening to you correctly, you are
one of those
important
men that want to run me to ground and
teach
me what I have been missing all these years, not only that, but I also
unknowingly tempt you beyond reason.” She didn’t hide her eye roll. “The day I
become a temptress for a man like you is the day that hell will freeze over.”

           
He gripped her wrist a bit harder with his fingers. “After last night, how can
you doubt the reaction I get around you?”

           
She looked down at her to go cup and licked her lips again, then whispered,
“I’m not stupid, Drake. I know that you were touching yourself with the sole
purpose for a quick release. Just because I happened to walk in doesn’t mean
that I’m the one that made you that way. I just helped you accomplish what you
wanted in the first place. Any warm, willing woman could have done that.”

           
Now he was seeing red. “Let me tell you something. Do you remember our argument
in your house when Belle died? I can see by your face that you do. Remember
when you screamed at me for being away and as you so eloquently put it,
“fucking Ms. Vintage Valentino”? Well, I wasn’t fucking her, but she did have
the experience, the ‘know how’ and the sexual intelligence that we could have
ended up in bed together.”

           
Nadia tightened her fist and tried to move away, but Drake wasn’t done yet. “She
was even on her knees, her dress pushed down with her breasts out in the open,
her hand on my body…her mouth inches away from my cock, and you know what,
angel? She still couldn’t get me hard.” He watched her breathe a harsh curse.
“All I thought about while she undid my pants was
you
. All I saw when
her hands touched my body was
your
hands doing the touching.” He caught
her eyes and held her there, trapped with his gaze. “All I wanted was
your
mouth inches from my cock.”