Her Druid Desire (The Amber Druid Series) (40 page)

           
Her small, shaking hand ran from his collarbone, down over his chest,
fingernails pricking the edges of his tattoo, delicate fingertips coming
dangerously close to his cock, so close that he could feel the heat pinpricking
him there, and that part of his anatomy lifted to her automatically, without
his consent. Drake gritted his teeth, feeling the tips of his fangs bite down
onto his bottom lip, but welcoming the pain because it made him focus.

           
A hushed reverent tone escaped her mouth, “You are so very beautiful…I can’t
even describe how perfect you are.”

           
Drake didn’t say
or
do anything, letting her have this
moment to herself, to acquaint herself with his body like he had already done
with hers. And he would do this for her even if it killed him.

           
Her small hands compressed into tiny fists, as if she were trying to stop
herself from touching him. The fragile edges of her
face,
that had been animated and blushing a fiery red when he first saw her on his
deck, were
now pale and streaked with salty tears, a testament to how
long she had waited for this moment to look her fill.

           
Drake thought of all the years he had known her and never once had he assumed
that she had been attracted to him. Sure, she had sent him glances of teenage
crush worship, but he had never seen any sly glances, over long touches or
secret smiles sent his way. He chocked it up to blind stupidity. Never would he
have thought that Matt’s daughter had the
hots
for
him. And if he would have known, he probably would have pushed her away out of
some absurd reason to try and stop her from making a mistake on a guy that
would never do right by her. But now, standing here naked, with those huge
green eyes of hers making him feel like a bug on a pin in some museum, Drake
knew that it had happened this way for a reason. It had taken him a little
while to open up his mind to the possibility of a relationship, sexual or
otherwise, with a woman that he had known since she was twelve.

           
All he knew was at this moment he didn’t feel any familial references to her at
all. And he knew she realized that too…Thank God.

***

           
He was standing right in front of her, proudly showing off his body to her
without the barest vestiges of cowardice.

           
Of course, Drake had always been confident; right now just proved it to Nadia.

           
With her hands shaking like leaves, she re-clenched the fists she had made and stared
anew at all of that hot, hard, muscled flesh that was right in front of her,
begging
her to touch, taste, and feel it against her. She had waited so long, so very
long to not only see all of him and have the ability to touch until her heart
was content, but to do so when she knew they both felt heightened emotions was
like a dream come true for Nadia. The tears in her eyes were a reaction to
that.

           
The joy inside of her body was a simple, reverent joy, made all the more
explosive because of the calm, sedate way he stood there, offering her his body
as if he knew how much it meant to her.

           
Nadia’s eyes slammed into his. Dark, glowing gold amber peered calmly back at
her and she could make out the tips of his fangs biting into his bottom lip. He
knew. He knew exactly what she felt. With his abilities he had finally figured
out the full breath of her emotions.
Amazingly enough, she
didn’t feel fear at him knowing.
Instead, a bright, burning light grew
in her center, expanding outward with a slow creep, calming her shaking fingers
a bit, giving her the renewed bravery to continue her perusal of his body even
as he now knew what she felt for him.

           
And the best part was now she could tell him everything, everything she had ever
wanted and ever dreamed of doing with him was etched deep into her brain. She
had never been able to forget lying in bed, late at night, daydreaming of
constant scenarios that put her within touching distance from him.

           
Squeezing her fists she cemented her thoughts. She wanted all of that with him,
and she wanted to start right now.

           
Even with her bravery she still felt a few moments of cowardice, so she didn’t
look into his eyes as she stepped even closer to him, her high heels bringing
her head directly under his chin and her mouth right up to his thick, tendon
roped neck. His hot breath eased over the top of her head when she settled
against him, head to shoulder, breasts to chest, fingertips to hot skin.

           
He smelled of soap, which was obvious because he had just left the shower.
Nadia looked up and caught the damp ends of his hair touching his ear. When the
urge to lick the moisture from his neck took over, she gave in, relishing in
the fact that she knew it would get her hot and drive him crazy. He tasted
divine, salty,
and manly
. Nadia moaned lightly and her left hand went up
over his shoulder and grasped his head closer to her. She licked him again,
from his clavicle, over his Adam’s apple to the soft spot under his ear where
she could feel his heart racing. Flames began to burn inside her body.

           
He never moved, and she silently thanked him for that. But he did growl and
exhale against her. She didn’t let that stop her. She wanted time to learn his
body…and see how much temptation she could take before exploding.

           
Her hands ran over large pads of muscle from his shoulder and biceps, down his
arms until she reached his wrists and hands, such large hands, capable of pain
or gentleness. Bringing her hands back to his chest, she twisted her fingers
deep into his chest hair where it was thickest at the top, and then she
followed the thin line that ran down his stomach and hard abs to where it came
up to his distended erection. Still, she never looked into his eyes.

           
She licked her lips as she eyed his arousal. God, he was huge…massive, really.
From between his legs he rose, proud and hard to rest against the hard flesh of
his lower stomach. He was darkly flushed and roped with veins. As she watched a
small amount of pearly liquid formed at the head, and Nadia felt as if she were
in classroom learning all about men’s bodies, but with a live model in front of
her.

           
She started talking to cover up the slight nervousness she began to feel when
she watched his body react to her.

           
“I remember when I first noticed you as a sexual, attractive man, rather than
my father’s boss.” The words were quiet but she knew he could hear her, the
sound of his breathing slowed and she could practically feel his eyes on her.
She resolutely looked at his body instead. “You and some other guys were fixing
one of the barns; I was sixteen, getting off the bus at the Haven and waiting
for Dad.” She licked her lips again and let her hands come to rest on his
leanly muscled waist. She felt him tense up. “I went outside to sit beneath one
of the trees and read when a noise made me look up. Then I saw you.” Not being
able to stop herself, her eyes met his.

           
Molten amber was all she saw, along with an impressive set of fangs. Facial
features had melded into something that resembled Drake, but looked nothing
like him. His Druid side was exposed to her. His expression was wild, his
breathing was rough, uneven and to Nadia he looked seconds away from losing his
mind. But still she felt no fear. She kept talking and her fingers ran along
his skin.

           
“You were shirtless, wearing jeans and boots, and I swore that my mind went
absolutely blank.” One corner of his mouth crooked up and Nadia smiled
slightly. “There was sweat all over you; you were practically slick with it and
it was running down your back, into your jeans. I didn’t understand the urges I
was feeling, not until much later, but my body knew. It knew that there was
something going on and it liked what it saw.”

           
Nadia took a deep breath as she focused on his chest again then moved her eyes
down to where her hands were coming very close to grasping his erection.

           
“From then on, every time I saw you, I tried to tamp down the urge to touch
you. That urge made my fingertips burn, my body ache, and my mind shut down.”
Nadia traced the crisp edges of his tattoo. The cross was Celtic in nature with
the round piece in the middle that showed his Druid mark. Elaborate tribal
markings winged outward and away from it in beautiful designs. She tried to
focus on everything except the raging erection that twitched with every
movement from her. She would get to that soon enough.

           
“But it didn’t work. Years went by and even with the barest glance from
you,
I would go home so hot, so turned on that falling
asleep wouldn’t be an option.” She leaned close to his shoulder again, giving
him butterfly kisses on his lean muscles, ones that would cause him to jerk and
groan against her mouth. “With my sexual nature being awakened by you it seemed
to me that no other man could touch me except you. Even the faintest thought of
that happening caused me to go ice cold inside.” The whispers of words against
his skin gave her tongue the excuse to touch him. With every glance her insides
went hotter and hotter until she could feel her core contracting with pleasure.
She held her thighs together in a vise grip, but that only caused the ache to
grow.

           
“The constant want grew until I couldn’t even make it through the day without
thinking of you in some aspect. When I would finally get another glimpse of
you, you were always with another woman. I began to wonder what they had that I
didn’t,
what they could do for you that I couldn’t.”
Nadia drew a deep breath and settled against his chest in a gross exaggeration
of a hug. “It became too much for me to handle. I withdrew unto myself,
constantly having to push down my feelings for you, to keep telling myself that
you would never stoop to my level.” He jerked against her with a deep growl,
but corralled it, seeming to know that if he interrupted her now she would
never finish.

           
“When Linda passed and I took over, I remember thinking that the new position
would put me in your path even more.” She breathed a heavy sigh and leaned her
forehead against his chest so that she could see down his body to where her
hands were resting on his waist. Her body throbbed with need, but she wanted
him to understand just how long and how hard it had been for her to keep all of
this inside; she needed to say all of this now. “I almost turned it down, but
decided I needed it, the busy world of charity and magazines to keep my mind
off of you. At my introduction to society you were there, so was Donavan. It
took everything I had to accept a dance from him, but I knew as I did that that
I would allow him other liberties…as long as it kept me away from you.”

           
Blinking away tears at how stupid and naïve she had been, she watched her
fingers trace his skin. He was so warm, so alive, so very much hers for as long
as he allowed himself to be.

           
“I know in your mind you’re probably thinking that if I would have told you any
of this you would have gone, left, so that I wouldn’t have had the temptation,
but that’s the one thing I didn’t want to do, for that reason. I couldn’t have
you, but I also couldn’t stand to see you leave, to never be able to see you
again would be heartbreaking for me, so I kept quiet and put up a front with
Donavan for you and everyone, even though it killed me inside to do so.”

           
She picked up her head and started to speak, but stopped when she saw his
direct gaze as it plowed into her. His eyes were hazy, as if he was tearing up,
but Nadia knew that was ridiculous. She wrapped both arms around his shoulders,
pulling his face down to hers a bit, and pressed her mouth to his. The instant
heat that arced between them surprised her but she opened her mouth, letting his
tongue glide inside, plundering her with deep strokes while her body erupted in
flames. His arms went around her back in a viselike grip while he stepped into
her body with his hips, placing his erection right where she would react to it
most. With one last nibble on his lower lip she pulled away with a moan as he
shifted against her. She felt a rush of moisture immediately.

           
She inhaled and said, “I’ve waited a long time for what happened between us
this past weekend. It was everything I’ve ever wanted, but now,” she trailed a
fingertip down his chest to his waist and then to the burning heat that
surrounded his erection. “Now I want all of you.” With those words he jumped
against her fingers as she wrapped them around him.

           
“Ah angel…” The words sounded as if they had been torn from him.

           
“So now you speak,” she told him with a smile, as her fingers learned the
length, breadth and shape of him against her palm. He was so hard, but soft at
the same time.

           
“You were doing all the talking earlier…I’m a gentleman…didn’t want to
interrupt…”

           
She laughed a little at that and looked down to see what was going on. Her
thumb touched the head where that small bit of liquid sat. She got it on her
fingers and rubbed it around, spreading it over him and her both. Almost
immediately he growled deeply at her, causing her to look back up, just as he
sent his fists into the wall behind her. Nadia swore, and jumped about two feet
off the ground, but she never let go.