“I’m surprised you don’t already know. That’s her secretary, Renee Allemande.”
“Renee, hmm…I believe Nadia mentioned her before, but I don’t remember ever seeing her until now. Besides, how could you forget a woman like that?”
“Now that you mention it, it’s been only lately that Nadia has brought Renee with her to many other charity events,” Drake mumbled, clearly getting a new direction of thoughts on why Nadia would do that.
“She is drawing confidence from a lady that clearly has plenty to draw from. I’ll bet anything that she is doing that because of what Donavan did to her.”
Drake turned and looked at Cole. It wasn’t too often that a human picked up on something so hidden, that only a Druid or witch would have seen. Apparently Cole listened to his gut about as much as Drake did. It wasn’t often that a human impressed him. Now was one of those times.
“I believe you are right. Renee is obviously very confident in everything she does; it fairly oozes from her. Nadia must have been more hurt by Donavan than she lets on.”
Just thinking about that ass caused Drake’s hand to itch. The urge to beat him to a bloody pulp, castrate him, then show him what kind of harm that he could really do, surged through Drake. This wasn’t the first time he wanted to kill a human. He was sure it wouldn’t be the last.
With a blink he changed his thoughts. It wouldn’t be wise to allow his anger to override his judgment. What a show that would be.
***
She felt his eyes on her from across the yard.
Now it was a forgone thing to ignore him. There was no way she would be able to get away from him if he wanted to readdress their discussion from the other night, bullshit about mundane things, or just tell her hello. She was well and truly stuck. And here she had thought her night would be amazing. How was it possible for it to turn crappy so fast?
Her eyes slid over him quickly. She didn’t want to be caught staring, and from what she saw, he was still making all the women drool. Didn’t matter if it was an outdoor party or black tie, the man was simply dangerous.
A plain black tee shirt that had the Safe Haven seal on the left side covered his upper torso. Dark washed blue jeans fit him tightly, and a trusty pair of boots was on his feet. He looked relaxed, at ease, in the early twilight that filtered through the many trees, the last rays of sun touching him, bringing every detail of his finely molded body into high relief. Even while she noticed him looking at her, she felt his relaxed stance. She couldn’t fight off the knowledge that he was more comfortable at night, in the darkness, where for some reason she sensed the subtle layer of privacy cloaking him really came down, baring the real man, the man that she itched to know.
Those light, caramel colored eyes tracked her movement until she was standing before both him and Cole. Nadia had about half a millisecond before Cole grabbed her in a huge hug and squeezed her.
“It’s good to see you again, Nadia. I’m glad you changed your mind,” he told her as he let her go and sent a wicked look towards Renee. Nadia was more than happy to introduce her secretary and let Cole’s interest be pushed onto someone else.
“This is Renee Allemande. She has been my secretary since I became president, but I have known her for almost three years,” Nadia told Cole.
“Miss Allemande, it is my pleasure,” Cole said, as he held out his hand.
“It is lovely to meet you, Mr. Walker. I have heard nothing but good things about you.” Renee sent him a sly glance, long enough to take him in, then gave his hand a hearty shake.
Cole grinned, “Call me Cole, and with Nadia doing the talking you never know. But I’m glad to hear they were good things.”
Nadia rewarded him with a slap on the arm. “Keep it up and I might tell her more than you want her to know.” She sent a wink in his direction, softening the threat, then turned to Drake who had been silent through the introduction but had a small grin on his face.
“I’m sure you remember Renee, right?” Nadia asked Drake.
Drake smiled his crooked grin, leaning in as he shook Renee’s hand. He was so tall that he had to bend a bit to look her tall friend in the eye. “Renee, I hope you enjoy yourself tonight. Cole makes some of the best barbeque in the state.”
Renee shook his hand and gave Nadia a quick look, “I’m sure I will enjoy myself. I just have to make sure that the boss lady here does the same.” Renee leaned in towards both men, as if she were about to impart a juicy secret, “We all need to do our part to make sure that happens, don’t we, boys?”
Only Renee could get away with calling two virile, mature men, “boys”, Nadia thought, while she silently fumed at her secretary’s underhanded attempt to make sure she had a good time.
Minutes later, Cole managed to steal Renee away, which left Nadia alone with the one person that she shouldn’t be alone with.
She looked everywhere, except at him.
Huge oak, sugar maple, and pine trees dotted Cole’s overly large yard, but they were spaced at certain intervals, which led Nadia to assume that all of this had been designed by human hands, not by Mother Nature. Even so, it was still extremely lovely and breathtaking. Flower beds were also trailing along at different angles, some at the base of the trees, some with their own beds closer to the large patio. People mingled, music blared from the side of the house, and Nadia could feel Drake’s presence like a drug in her system.
The warmth from his body singed her right side, but no matter how much it bothered her, Nadia knew she wouldn’t move away. She took any moment with him as one that should be savored.
“I might as well get it out in the open and tell you that I won’t apologize for sending Donavan off the other night.” The words were low, about as softly spoken as Drake would ever get, and even still his voice was deep, rich and melodic with his drawl.
“I knew better than to assume that you would,” replied Nadia.
“Well, since we have come to that conclusion, do you want something to eat?”
Nadia finally allowed her eyes to glance at him and nodded. Seconds later, they made their way to the patio where huge tents were set up covering the dance floor, the pits cooking the meat, and more than a few guests that were sitting at large round tables.
Nadia grabbed a plate and Drake did the same. They both stood in line and served themselves, buffet style. After piling their plates high, each of them went to the open bar and grabbed something to drink. Nadia ordered a soda while Drake got a beer.
Nadia walked out of the tented area, back towards the quieter atmosphere of the patio. She selected a table that was only large enough for three and so far in the corner that it was relatively dark and even a bit lonely. Thank God Renee was still with Cole so she wouldn’t fuss. Before Nadia could take her first bite, a shadow fell over her. She glanced up, surprised to see him standing there. Didn’t he have a date to sit with?
“Is this seat taken?” Drake gestured to the seat across from her, and Nadia’s heart sputtered. She so didn’t need this.
“Uh…no, go ahead,” she nodded, almost in a daze, to the empty chair.
With his heavily laden plate and beer in hand, he accepted the seat and gave her a weird look.
“What?” She questioned, not knowing what could have caused him to glance at her like that.
“I have the horrible feeling that every time you see me, you expect a woman to be hanging on my arm.” He shook his head slightly and grabbed a drumstick, which he promptly bit into. Nadia almost forgot the words in her throat. Hell, even watching him eat was intriguing.
“It’s kind of hard to imagine it any other way, when you know that is the truth.” Had she actually said that? She looked up and caught the look he threw her and Nadia realized she had said it aloud. Way to go Nadia. Are you trying to antagonize him? Ignoring her thoughts, she grabbed a forkful of beans and stuffed it into her mouth. Hopefully, no other words would emerge to embarrass her.
“At least I realize how you see me now.”
/> Nadia didn’t look up from her loaded plate. That would be an accident waiting to happen. “Sorry, but you know it’s true.”
Instead of him answering, seconds turned to minutes and before long they were both finished with their food. The table, which had once been roomy enough for Nadia to be alone, had shrunk in size since Drake had decided to accompany her. The lantern shades that had been hung around the perimeter of the house outside were now fully lit. Beyond the patio, in the wooded area of Cole’s yard, Nadia could barely make out anything of significance. It was a beautiful night for a charity benefit and Cole always did a bang up job. Now that twilight was deepening into night, the band was picking up tempo.
“Apparently Cole’s feelings for you didn’t go that deep.”
Drake’s deep voice slid over her ears, and Nadia turned to him when he spoke. He gestured to the dance floor where Cole and Renee were dancing with about ten other couples. Renee had herself glued to every square inch of Cole’s tall body, and he didn’t appear to mind in the least.
“It was never anything more than a harmless flirtation,” Nadia told Drake as she watched the dancing couple.
“Hmm,…if you say so.” His words had her turning to look at him again.
“Just what does that mean?” She asked him, begging him to keep going, to bring up something, anything that they would be able to argue about. When they argued, she didn’t have to hide her true feelings.
His eyes narrowed to suspicious slits. Leaning back in the chair with his long, big body reclined, he looked at ease, supine, and so very lazy. But Nadia knew better than to think that he had ever had a lazy bone in his body. It was all a front. He raised his beer bottle and took a swig, drawing Nadia’s eyes down to his Adam’s apple as it moved. She turned her head away sharply, trying to ignore the pulse of pure want deep inside her body.
“Why does it get you so angry when I say that a man was interested in you? Why does that bother you so much?” She rolled her eyes, knowing he could see the action, and licked her lips while she thought of an answer. Drake spoke before she could.
“I know for a fact that Cole Walker is an open book. He has no gambling tendencies, doesn’t hook up with rich women so that he can take their money, and as far as I know, he doesn’t like to rough house with women during sex.” He stopped talking long enough to take a swig of beer, and just when Nadia’s mind was starting to finally wrap around what he said, he kept going, shocking her into even more silence. “Although, I will admit, some rough housing can be quite fun.”
Nadia made the mistake of turning to look at him, and had to stop herself from dissolving into a puddle of need right there beside his boots. Rough housing can be fun? Dear Lord, just the statement caused all kinds of images to run rampant through her mind. She turned her head away from his thorough gaze and swallowed deeply.
“I have never wanted Cole in that way, although I have known for years now that with the slightest invitation on my part, he would have taken over and gotten past our friendship stage.” Just why was she explaining herself to him?
“I knew that. I just wanted to see you get riled up over something without me having to bring up the Donavan incident. I wanted a more relaxing conversation, not something so damn serious that we can’t even speak to one another.”
His words caused her to look back at him. The night was a bit darker now, and with the way he was sitting only one half of his face was caressed by the lantern light. The side that wasn’t was the picture of being devilishly handsome.
Nadia forced herself to think of nothing but lighter thoughts. She understood what he was saying. Every time they managed to end up sharing the same airspace, they had nothing but severe conversations. Drake was letting her know he was sick of it, and if she was being honest with herself, so was Nadia. She might as well enjoy his company since she was in it, although it would be hell on her heart to spend quality time with a man that never had and never would want her.
“I’ll bet you can’t wait until football season starts, huh?” She sent him a sideways look and caught the slightly crooked grin that stole over his sculpted mouth before he stopped it and donned a serious expression, and then ruined it all when he busted out laughing.
Nadia was floored. “What? You wanted a lighter conversation. That’s exactly what I was doing, starting a lighter conversation!” She huffed and turned away, silently laughing along with him, but acting mulish on purpose.
“Ah Nadia,” he told her when he finally regained his breath. “I distinctly remember you saying how much you hated football. I also remember a few guys asking you to football games when you were in high school, and you adamantly turned them down.”
She looked at him in shock, “I was a teenager for crying out loud. Hell, I never knew what I wanted then.” She huffed, “And anyway, I asked you the question.”
You are lying, lying through your teeth. You wanted the man sitting beside you. Even though you didn’t know at the time what wanting meant. But you do now.
Drake’s words caused her mind-rambling to stop.
“I clearly remember you when you were a teenager.” She caught his eyes whenever he glanced at her. The comfortable feel in the air put her at ease, so did the deep, hypnotic quality of his voice. “So slight, so delicate, and you always wore your hair in long braids.”
Nadia rolled her eyes again, “I hated those darn braids.” They couldn’t really be talking about her hair, could they? “Mom said if I didn’t take care of it, it would fall out.” A light laugh escaped her, “Mom always knew how to make losing my hair sound like the end of the world as I knew it.” Nadia stopped as another thought popped up in her memory. “Although I remember Carl Browning commenting on how pretty my hair was in braids. I think that is why I wore them for so long.”
“How old were you when that happened?” His deep, silky voice slid out of the darkness next to her.
“I would say around thirteen. At the time, I thought he was the hottest guy for giving me a compliment.”
Drake chuckled. Nadia gave him a glance and asked her own question, “Okay Mr. I’m Untouchable, I’m sure there was someone in your past that caught your eye. Everyone had somebody when they were younger that they were crushing on.”
“Crushing on?”
“Yeah, you know, you liked this person, even though you knew you would more than likely never have the chance to ever date them.” Damn, this was starting to sound like her life story.
“Hmm…I’m sure there was someone, but that was a long time ago.”
Nadia peered at him through the slight shadows and barely caught the smile on his face. The smartass was fooling her. He probably remembered the girl’s name, knew her age, and where she lived. Damn lucky girl. “You can’t tell me that you don’t remember.”
He shrugged his massive shoulders and took another swig of his beer. Nadia narrowed her eyes good-naturedly, trying to show him her mean face. Instead, he busted out laughing again. He was seriously too happy tonight…must be all that beer he was drinking.
“What’s wrong, you getting too far up there in age that your memory is taking a few hits?”
“Oh, that’s a low blow, Nadia,” he said it seriously, but she caught the smile he sent her way.
“Okay, back when you were a teenager, you know around the Inquisition, there had to have been someone that caught your eye.”
He smirked at her and said, “I really don’t remember.”
Nadia smiled at him. “Damn, that’s horrible. A whole lifetime lost to the ravages of dementia.” He laughed out loud, and Nadia couldn’t stop the smile that appeared. She loved the sound of his laughter, deep and melodious. “Does it run in your family? Because if it does, you might want to go get it treated right away. You wouldn’t want to waste the memories that you still have.”
He moved, sitting straight up in the chair, and Nadia’s easy going nature left as she remembered just exactly who he was and what he did to her insides. For an instant there she
had forgotten all of the years she had ached for him. It had been a different moment all together, something she had never had with him. Now she was missing it already.
“I never knew this side of you existed. But I know for damn sure that I like it.” Then he grabbed his empty plate and got up from the table, leaving a very confused and very mystified Nadia behind.
Chapter 5
What the hell had he been thinking, voicing the thoughts in his head? He knew better than to dangle a comment like that in front of Nadia. Ever since he had first laid eyes on her when she was twelve, something damn close to hero worship had been in those green depths. Over the years she had apparently learned to hide her thoughts and emotions.
Not that it mattered worth a damn.
Ever since that double glance when she was younger, he had felt her regard for him with every look, hesitation, and wide-eyed peek. Back then, he had thought it funny and kind of cute.
Now, it caused reactions in him that shouldn’t even be considered. For thirteen years he had thought of her like a daughter, looking after her whenever her parents passed had cemented that territorial feeling inside of him. But ever since he found out what Donavan had done, and her odd reaction on the terrace last weekend, all he could think about was how grown up she looked, and how he was starting to read her body and mannerisms like any other human he came into contact with.
Being an Amber Druid was like being on link with every person’s emotions within a fifty yard distance. Sometimes, if you were strong enough and dedicated to ignoring it, it was very possible to simply act as if the other person wasn’t there. Drake was able, and had been for awhile now, to do just that. He had learned early on to train his abilities and not let them rule him or his life. But with those abilities came drawbacks, or chinks in the armor. Sometimes there were certain people that he simply couldn’t ignore, and others that were too complicated to read.
Nadia was a mixture. At times, she was as easily read as a book. Her emotions were painted upon her face and she expressed them completely, not to mention the way her body responded, blood pooling happily in certain areas, causing her pearl colored skin to blush in the most interesting ways. That was happiness so extreme and pure that she couldn’t hide it. He hadn’t seen her act like that in awhile. Other times, her expression was closed off. Her eyes were shuttered and her breathing was choppy, as if she had just run around the block. The translucent color of her skin was ruddy, caused by rushing of the blood so close to the top of the skin. It was during those times, when she was angry or upset, that Drake had a hard time figuring out exactly what had caused her to become like that.
Her Druid Desire (The Amber Druid Series) Page 6
