“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.
Chapter 12
For most of the night things had gone astonishingly well. Except for his slip earlier with Nadia, Drake felt as if the rest of the night would be fine, and so far it had been. But everything would come to a head tonight, after the gala. The ice forming in his veins told him so.
He hadn’t meant to show her the drastic change of his eyes. That had been his first step to destruction. His next was the small, desperate kiss on her ear. Hell, that one simple, innocent touch had been hotter than some of his previous sexual encounters. All because there was no pretense with Nadia. What she felt broadcasted to him so easily, and he knew from the way she had shook in his arms, the way her breathing had hitched with suppressed desire, and the way her body had molded to his that she had wanted that, and whatever else he could give her just as badly as he did. And that he knew without using any of his Druid skills. If he had let that part of him go free, he would have had her up against the wall in seconds, pounding himself deeply, and oh so hard, into her body.
The thought of that made his eyes and gums burn. He ruthlessly shoved that down and focused on his dance with the mayor’s wife. There was no need to give the older woman more excitement than she could handle.
Wherever he went, his eyes and his senses stayed attuned to Nadia. She was constantly checking things, the caterer’s orders, the guest list to make sure no one had been left out. Her actions were telling to Drake. She was nervous and she was attempting to work off that nervous energy. Tonight, if she let him touch her after their conversation, he could give her a relaxing spell, something to help her sleep better and not worry about the desire she felt for him instead.
Just how far was he going to go with this? Should he tell her the whole truth? Should he put all of this on her right now? Or should he tell her part of it and try to stop lust from taking over. Because if she knew everything, Drake had the bad feeling that she wouldn’t come near him again. But he could be wrong. Maybe she was different; maybe he was being too hasty with his judgment. He would have to wait and see.
An hour later Drake found Nadia at a table talking to a number of people. He looked at her and felt a jolt of excitement curl through his blood. Her glorious hair was pulled back into a low bun on the back of her head where a large, beautiful Camilla rested amongst the black satin strands. The deep V of the front of her dress was echoed in the back, and Drake knew that he had never seen anything as stunning as Nadia in that moment.
The curve hugging dress was entirely lace, the only saving grace was the under dress that was a deep gray color. The cream colored lace combined with the gray color was unique, and the total package was astounding on Nadia’s frame. She looked like a picture perfect senorita, one that he couldn’t wait to hold in his arms again, even as his head told him not to contemplate that.
No matter how much he knew it shouldn’t happen, he found himself thinking of ways that it would happen. She was so lovely, so innocent and artless that Drake wasn’t sure he could not touch her again. It would happen. His fingers would glide along her skin, slip into the heat that was under that heavy fall of hair against her neck, rub along those ridiculously long legs, and at some point in the near future, his fingers, his tongue, and his body would be inside of her, bringing her nothing but pleasure-something he was sure she had never felt, at least not the way she should have by now.
His gums throbbed as he walked up behind her. The conversation had stopped as some of the group had left to go dance. Drake let his body come up close, not close enough to touch, but close enough to let Nadia know he was there. He let his breath whisper out along the side part of her neck. Immediately chills popped out along her skin.
“I haven’t seen Donavan yet, have you?” She was breathless as she spoke.
His cock throbbed at the way her body reacted to him without conscious thought. And that was just from him standing behind her. Damn.
“He is here, but he is staying clear of you, as he should.”
“Where?” Her head turned automatically scoping out the area. The ballroom was massive, but Drake knew if she took her time she would find him.
Drake didn’t even look in Donavan’s direction. He didn’t have to. Thank God the bastard had stayed in the same spot for the hour he had been here. “Up along the right wall, towards the top corner with a group of about ten people. Do you see the tall blonde with the long white dress?” Drake waited for Nadia to glance in that direction. “That is his date for the night. She isn’t from Texas, which I guess is why he picked her to come.”
He felt Nadia stiffen. Apparently she had spotted him. “Who is she? I feel like I should go over there and warn her about who she is with.”
“Annabelle Scrota, daughter of an Italian photographer. I have no idea how he met her, but she seems to be a bright girl. Maybe she will catch on by herself.” Drake walked up beside Nadia and then stepped in front of her. “You know damn well you can’t go over there. You would be violating your own order.”
“I know. I just feel horrible about any woman getting entangled with him.”
Drake caught the worried look in Nadia’s eyes. He sent out feelers across the ballroom and scoured Donavan’s aura, looking for any anger or antagonism directed towards the lovely Annabelle. He didn’t pick up anything of the sort. Now there was fury, but that was clearly directed at Drake and Nadia. He turned and sent Donavan a quelling look. The bastard knew better than to fuck with him or the woman at his side again. Drake turned back to Nadia.
“She’s going to be fine. She is stronger than she looks.”
Nadia’s green eyes landed on him. “How do you know? Have you met her before?”
Ah, jealousy, a new emotion from her, to be sure. He tried not to smile. “I have met her before, but it was long ago.” The blood in her body began to move a bit more feverishly. Oh yeah, she was not happy about something.
“I’d say she made an impression.” Nadia did everything but huff in his face.
The smile he had been holding broke over his face. “She is a lovely woman, smart too.” Yes, he was baiting her on purpose.
Green eyes landed on him full of fire. “Maybe you
should have asked her to come instead.”
Whoa. Someone needed to hand him some ice. Nadia was hot enough to start fires. He wasn’t sure he should say what he needed to, but he might as well let the truth out; otherwise, she would find out from someone else and then he would have hell on his hands.
“She was my date.” There. He said it. “My original date for tonight. She had called me about two weeks ago and asked me if I had an invitation and then if I had a date or not.”
Nadia’s green eyes sparked flames at the tall blonde. Drake was amused, but he kept it to himself. He had never imagined that little Nadia would have been jealous over another woman, especially one that had been connected to him. The new things he was learning about her were eye opening, to say the least.
His eyes travelled once more down her small, compact, but very lovely frame. She had no reason to be jealous of another woman. Even if that woman was with him or not, she was beautiful in her own right. Apparently the guys she’d dated before had never informed her of that fact. Drake had never thought of her as having a low outlook when she viewed herself. This was all very surprising. Nadia was turning out to have more layers than he had originally thought.
“She is a very beautiful woman. I’m sure you both would have had a great time tonight.”
Then she turned and walked away, leaving a very shocked Drake standing there with his mouth gaping.
***
Tears burned in her eyes and fell over the lower lids, scalding down her cheeks. Nadia sniffed and hastily made her way out into the lush courtyard that surrounded the ballroom. There was no way in hell she could have stood there any longer and stared at the woman that Drake had intended to take with him here before her plan came into effect. She was beautiful, tall and golden, so unlike Nadia in every aspect.
A mature climbing rosebush was situated in front of her with a latticework arch where the branches twined around the wood. She stopped there. The hot night air brushed along her skin, but the heat did nothing to stop the tears that ran unchecked down her cheeks. She knew it was stupid to get upset over the fact that he dated beautiful women. She had known it for years. It was no surprise to her at all.
But after what had taken place at his condo…What? What had taken place there? Not a damn thing. Not enough for a well seasoned man like Drake to take anything into consideration. Not enough for him to go crazy with desire, not enough for him to ache in places like Nadia was right now, not enough for him to get hysterically jealous over any man that had dated her or found her attractive.
You’re being idiotic, Nadia.
Clearly she was taking this to extremes, but she couldn’t stop herself. It was like a spring had been uncoiled inside her body and only he could set it back to rights again.
The pain of not allowing herself to give into her emotions for over nine years sucked her down. The ache caused her heart to hurt, and her insides to churn. The incident in his condo was some delicious figment of her imagination; it had to have been. But to Nadia, it had woken up every single trembling inch of her body in a way that only Drake could pull off. Added to the emotions she experienced when he was around, she became a mess of a woman.
She grasped the beautiful material of her dress and wanted to rip it off of her body. It didn’t matter what clothes she dressed in, what circles she moved in and everything she did to make her life better, nothing could make Drake feel for her what she felt for him. Nothing she did could make her anything like that tall blonde woman in there. Nothing could make her enough for him. And if he hadn’t felt anything for her by now, would he ever? Probably not.
The truth caught Nadia deep in her chest and sent pain radiating outward. She hiccupped and then a loud sob tore from her chest. Oh God, it hurt so bad. It always had, but now she knew how he could make her feel with the barest touch from him, and knowing what she could never have hurt even worse.
Her hands tore at her hairdo, loosening the pins and dislodging the beautiful Camilla she had so lovingly placed there. Her shoulders hunched over when the weight of her hair fell down in cascading waves around her arms. Tears poured from her eyes as she tried to calm her breathing. She could never go back in there like this, never.
“Nadia?”
At his voice in the darkness, Nadia immediately halted all sound and movement. She barely even breathed.
No, please make him go away. I will never be able to explain all of this.
Her mind screamed at her to turn in the other direction but she couldn’t. The only way out of this hidden arbor was back in his direction. She hastily began to wipe the tears from her cheeks, even as fresh ones started again.
Seconds later she felt those telling tingles erupt over her skin, and knew that he was standing close. She sniffed as delicately and quietly as she could manage, but she knew that he had heard her. Hell, how couldn’t he have? It had been as loud as a train blast.
He didn’t say anything, but he moved closer. Soon his large body was next to hers and Nadia could smell his scent on the hot breeze. Everything about him was familiar. Then his hand came up to rest on her shoulder, and Nadia knew he was going to turn her around.
When he applied pressure she went with it. There was no use in trying to stop him. His blinding white shirt came into view, and the lovely expanse of his thrilling skin was now hiding beneath buttons. Nadia wanted to rip it from his body.
“Angel…why are you crying?”
His soft, deep voice sparked fresh tears, and even more humiliating than that was her lip started to shake, then her chin, and soon enough she hiccupped again.
When his arms came around her, Nadia knew she should be running in the other direction, but she couldn’t. So she turned to the one man that was the reason why she was the way she was. She allowed him to pull her close, to comfort her while she cried, and she allowed him to pity her for what she was doing. At the moment she didn’t care. She was past caring. Her tears fell quietly now.
Her face nestled right up against his large chest and her arms stayed at his side. He was hot, so very hot under his tux. His hands held her so close to him that Nadia doubted a ray of light could have moved in between their bodies. She soaked his tux and his shirt, but all he said was ‘Its okay’ over and over again, while his large hand caressed her back up and down.
Seconds ticked by, then minutes, and soon Nadia was starting to feel childish for her jealous comments earlier. Her face was surely wrecked, her hair was a mess, and she had cried all over Drake. Her night was ruined. And she had ruined his too.
“I’m sorry,” she muttered against his tux, trying to make him see that she really was. Her fingers continued to clench against his side, where she could feel muscles vibrate when he moved his arms away from hers, and pulled her face up to his. Embarrassed, she finally lifted her eyes and looked at him. He looked pissed off. Nadia didn’t take that as a good sign.
“Why exactly are you sorry?” He gritted those words out so low that they shook through her from where she was pressed to him.
“For making a scene, and for you seeing me like this, and for acting this way. There is no excuse.” The words dwindled at the fury that was coming over his face. For a brief second Nadia became scared, even as she knew he would never hurt her.
“I never thought I would say this, but you are turning out to be one infuriating woman.”
That took her aback. And set her temper off. “If you don’t like it go back inside to Annabelle. Maybe if you are quick enough you can steal her away from Donavan and finish your night off with her.” Furious and hurt all over again, Nadia pulled her body from his embrace and took off with determined steps back to the ballroom.
She got only as far as a few feet when she felt his hand pull her back around.
“Oh no you don’t, Ms. Spitfire. Stop right there. We are going to finish this right here.” He pulled her close once again, and she shoved. Now that he had gotten her riled, her blood was boiling at its peak.
“Let go of me!” She
shoved again, only managing to make herself get tangled with his arms.
He chuckled, and that really set her off. She hauled back and lifted her hand. He stopped her on the upswing, his fist crushing her small wrist. She looked up into his face, but he was in a half shadow. Still, Nadia could sense his fury, and she knew she had almost overstepped the boundaries between them. But that didn’t stop a furious remark from leaving her lips.
“How dare you!” She spit the words at him, but she knew she was the one that was in the wrong.
He pulled her close to his body. “I dare whatever I wish, Nadia. You should know that by now.” His deep voice caused the hairs on her arm to lift in warning.
“Brute! All men are the same. They try and bully a woman into th-,”
He pulled her against him so abruptly that she stopped speaking all together. Now she realized the danger. Now that she was close enough she knew that he was going to punish her for the assumption she had just screamed at him. The insult hung in the air. His body was hard and so very large against hers.
His voice growled, while his eyes glowed hotly at her. “You dare much by slinging that insult on me. Maybe you are the one that needs to learn a lesson in curbing what you think.”
Without a second to spare his lips captured hers. Nadia ceased to move, breathe and even think.
Her body was at his mercy. He held her in a bruising grip, his hands hard around her arms and his body punishingly close to hers. Then she realized her legs were dangling from the ground. He had actually picked her up. His mouth forced hers open in a vengeful kiss, one that she had never seen coming, and he took over from there.
Hard lips forced hers open, plundering her mouth, stealing the very breath from her lungs. Nadia moaned against his mouth while her hands tried to move against his body, but she couldn’t. He held her so closely and so hard against him that any movement was prohibited.
Her Druid Desire (The Amber Druid Series) Page 17