Her Druid Desire (The Amber Druid Series) (31 page)

           
The washcloth forgotten in his hand, his hand came under her jaw. Tipping her
face up to his, he leaned down and placed a very chaste kiss on the corner of
her mouth. Then he leaned back a bit.

           
“You are lovely, exquisite and simply gorgeous. There is nothing, nothing on
your body that I would find remotely ugly, and with what just happened between
us, you need to know that if I stay in this shower with you, naked, any longer
than I have to…things are going to happen.”

           
He let his eyes take in her huge green ones, travel down her neck to a
delicately sloped chest, where breasts so beautiful and so delicately made sat
awaiting his perusal with dark, coral tipped nipples thrusting proudly up at
him. Burning eyes continued on, taking in her very feminine curves, her insanely
small waist to very womanly hips, where closely trimmed dark curls protected
her from his view. Her long legs trembled, and when Drake finally looked back
up he knew his eyes were glowing again.

           
“Those things would involve your tight little body welcoming me inch by inch.”
He swiped his thumb along her shaking lips. He could feel her arousal thrumming
around both of them again. “But I can’t do that without going a bit crazy, so
let me clean up real fast then I will leave you to do your thing,
kay
?”

           
At her nod Drake handed her the washcloth then turned, took a deep sigh and
washed his body with record speed. Not even two minutes later he grabbed a
large towel from the top, placed it on a side rack for her to grab when she was
done, and then grabbed himself one to wrap around his hips. He turned, gave her
a quick kiss on shocked lips and said, “Take your time. I’ll be waiting when
you’re done.” Then he left the shower.

***

           
Nadia went through the motions of washing as if she had cotton for brains.

           
The things that they had done and said in this shower couldn’t even be surmised
in one word. She wanted to weep from the pleasure he had shown her, but on the
other hand she wanted to do it all over again. She wanted that rush of
emotions, fire and excitement thundering through her veins to happen again and
again.

           
She rinsed off, her mind still in a daze and turned off the water. Grabbing the
huge dark green towel, she dried her body and then wrapped it around her. When
she stepped out, she stopped in front of the mirror and found out that she
didn’t look any different; except for puffy lips and a few red marks on her
shoulders, she looked like the same old Nadia that had allowed herself to be
seduced into getting in the shower with one of the most sinful men she had ever
known.

           
Then she realized she would have to walk in front of him to go back to the
guestroom for something else to sleep in. Embarrassment tried to creep in, but
she shot it down. She couldn’t be mortified every time he did or said something
to her.

           
She gripped the door handle in her hand and turned it, walking out into his
bedroom and to where he was now sitting on the edge of the bed. Dark, tousled
hair stood up on end and went in every direction while caramel eyes tracked her
movement as she walked into the room. His body was bare except for a pair of
black boxer briefs and a crooked grin that she was coming to know all too well.

           
Nadia felt as if her feet had become planted to the floor. She tried to
continue walking but she couldn’t.

           
“I pulled out a shirt for you to wear, if you want to wear it, that is.” He
gestured beside him and Nadia noticed a plain white tee sitting on the bed
beside him. She bit her lip and walked closer to him, glad that he didn’t reach
out to touch her because she might just come again, simply from one carefully
placed touch. Her inside muscles throbbed with renewed ardor.

           
She reached out and grabbed the shirt with one hand, while the other held a
death grip on the towel.

           
“Thank you,” she said, as she pulled the soft shirt closer to her body. But
then she wondered how was she supposed to just walk out of the room after what
had happened? How could she just tell him goodnight and then leave to go back
to her guest bedroom…alone?

           
“You’re welcome,” he told her in his deep voice. The little hairs on the back
of her neck stood up. He was so very close now. Nadia glanced in his direction
and found her eyes captured by his. He was no longer smiling. Skin, glorious,
hard, hot burnished skin was inches away.

           
“I guess I should go to my room now…” Well, she had sounded like a petulant
child just then.

           
“There’s no need for that.”

           
“No need?” Nadia parroted back to him, nervously twitching the shirt in her
hands.

           
“No, you can sleep right here…with me.”

           
“With you?”
God, she needed to stop this.

           
A smile tipped the corner of his mouth, one he was unable to hide from her this
time. “Nothing will happen, angel. I’m perfectly capable of holding you and
falling asleep.” He let his hand come up and tangle into her damp hair. “So,
why don’t you go put that shirt on and then come back and meet me?”

           
“Okay,” Nadia turned and left the room so fast she was surprised there weren’t
flames behind her.

           
She didn’t contemplate anything on her trek back to the guestroom. Apparently for
the past hour she hadn’t been thinking too clearly anyway, so why ruin the
night with thoughts? She tugged on the shirt, inhaling Drake’s particular
smell, then pulled on panties, and raced back to his door. She slowed when she
reached it, not wanting to seem too eager to spend the night in his bed. IN HIS
BED, dear God, she was going to be in a bed with Drake. Her mind reeled.

           
After chewing her lip to pieces, she finally made her way into his room again
to find him already under the covers. Slowly, she walked over to the large bed
that she had admired an hour ago and before she could reach the covers to pull
them back, he was doing the honors. Nadia glimpsed at his strong, muscular
torso before she snuggled down for the night, IN HIS BED.

           
Within seconds he had wrapped his strong arms around her, whispered good night
and pulled her into his body. Nadia took a deep breath and prayed for sleep
never to claim her.

           
Drake let Nadia’s deep breathing that rustled over his chest wake him up by
slow degrees. A quick glance at the clock on the wall proclaimed it to be very
close to seven in the morning. Too early on a Saturday morning to worry about
what time it was.

           
Another breath across his skin and Drake inhaled deeply, taking in the scent of
freshly washed cotton, the mountain fresh soap he had in the shower and one
smell that he couldn’t catalogue no matter how hard he tried, pure clean warm
woman. His feelers were awake all of the time, unless he shut them down with
a glamour
, and right now since she was asleep he figured
there was no reason to know what she was feeling.

           
Long black strands of hair were coiled around her body, from her crown to her
back. Shiny locks wound around one arm and then lay against the dark green of
his sheets. Her slight body was curled towards him, but not resting against
him. Even in sleep she was too skittish to touch him. A very feminine and long
fingered hand rested palm up on the sheet beside her body. Her other hand was
under her frame, out of sight from Drake.

           
She looked so comfortable and so deep in her slumber that he doubted he would
be able to bring himself to wake her. Then he remembered the flight wasn’t
leaving until this afternoon, so there was no need to wake her now.

           
The bright white of his shirt was startling against the darker colors of his
bedding. The neckline was so huge on her that one shoulder had made its way
through the neck opening. Beautiful, translucent skin peeked at him through the
fall of her long hair. Drake knew she had been embarrassed last night, but even
with that embarrassment she had allowed herself to let go and give into her
emotions. Now she needed to realize that he wasn’t going to do anything to
mortify her. She needed to get accustomed to his body and his presence.

           
He had known that not giving her an option would help, which is why he told her
to join him in his bed. Since he hadn’t given her a choice, she hadn’t brought
one up.

           
With the softness of morning light beginning to make its way into the room,
Drake watched her sleep and felt the hard mold around his heart break free. He
had felt heavy emotion before. He had allowed his heart entry into both of his
marriages, and he dismally remembered how that had turned out, which was why he
now only allowed women close enough to have sex with him. Now looking at Nadia
curled up so trustingly by his side, he knew he had been remiss in thinking
that he could only enjoy her and not let her deep into his heart.

           
It was too late. She was deeply embedded in his psyche and he doubted he would
ever be able to remove her.

***

           
Stretching, hiding her mouth behind a yawn, and uncurling her body from the
position she had been in, Nadia woke, like she always did, by slow degrees,
noticing things one at a time. A beautiful four poster, natural pine bed with
deep greens, gold, and other colors was what she was lying on. The rumpled bed
linens were heavy and comfortable, with soft down filling. Nadia yawned one
more time and let out a slight sound with it as she took in the room around
her.

           
A deep burgundy pillowcase was in the way but Nadia shoved it away, focusing on
the massive corner bookcase against the far wall. Old leather spines were
visible from here, but she couldn’t make out the writing, while huge
leather-wrapped, masculine furniture sat at angles to the books, inviting
relaxation and ease.

           
Her eyes had just found the heavy wooden dresser where she could see a man’s
watch, some cufflinks, and a few odds and ends, when the door to the bedroom
drifted open.

           
Drake strolled in looking more than rumpled, wearing nothing more than an old
pair of worn, button up blue jeans. Nadia immediately started to run her
fingers through her mussed hair and straightened the huge shirt she had on. He
stopped beside the bed, sat down right next to her hand and placed a large mug
of what smelled like hot tea on the bedside table.

           
“
Mornin
’ angel,” he told her, as his hand came up to
a strand of hair which he moved out of her face. Nadia felt her heart thump
somewhere around her ankles.

           
Extremely aware of morning breath, she mumbled, “Morning, thanks for the tea.”

           
“You’re welcome.”

           
She took a sip, found it not too hot, but not lukewarm, perfect. She licked her
lips and her eyes went right back to his face. Gorgeous eyes warmed like liquid
heat as they roamed over her face and then down her chest. She willed her hands
not to yank the covers up and over her body.

           
The things they had done, the things she had seen him doing last night, whirled
around in her brain and Nadia took a deep breath, trying to focus on the
present.

           
“So, our flight leaves this afternoon, right?”

           
“At six,” he said with a nod.

           
What in the world was she going to do with that much time on her hands and a
sexy devil of a man around her at every waking moment?
A sexy
devil that had touched her, in places that no other man had touched, a sexy
devil that had made her feel things that she had never felt before.
She
was going to have to learn to employ some damage control and fast.

           
“I guess that gives us plenty of time to laze around and do nothing.” She
looked up into his face, “Unless you have something that you have to do?” She
waited for him to say yes, that he did have something to do, something to keep
him away from her curious hands.

           
A crooked grin touched the corner of his mouth. Nadia’s breath freeze dried.
“No angel, I have nothing to do but sit right here all day, if I want, and
watch you lick that delicious mouth of yours.”

           
And just that easily the sexual tension in the room was back.

           
Nadia felt a blush work up and over her shoulders. Drake, meanwhile, had
dropped the smirk and was now watching her as if she were being hunted slowly,
methodically and dangerously. She gulped, but whatever was left in her mouth
turned to ash. Her body, that he had awakened to desire so easily last night,
now flamed into a hot conflagration, the flames worked through her nerves and
into her stomach.

           
“I love when you blush. Your delicate skin flares with heat.”

           
Nadia had never heard it put like that before. “Blushes are never pretty,
Drake.”