Her Druid Desire (The Amber Druid Series)

by Trish F Leger

  She was whining in the background, saying how she could make it all better, but Drake ignored her and called his driver back to come get him. He knew she would probably spread rumors of how he couldn’t get it up, but right now if he so much as got into any sparring match with her, his full change would take place, and there was no way to explain that. As it were, his eyes were on full Druid mode, so were his fangs, and he could feel that his face was changing also. He had to get the hell out of there.

  Thank God she never stopped him.

  ***

  When Drake got back, a week to the day since he left, he came back to heartbreaking news.

  “I noticed she was acting funny around Tuesday.” Chase explained while Drake stood there in the surgery prep room of the Haven and stared dumbly at his Vet. “You know some of the symptoms, vomiting and diarrhea, very uncommunicative. She didn’t want to come out of her area, and since she was such a lovable little thing I knew something was wrong.” Chase shook his head sadly, “We, Trent and I, did everything we could, even did a deep clean around her wounded leg, but we knew after some tests that the infection was internal.”

  Drake stood there in shock, running his hands through his hair and basically feeling lost. That little dog had been special. She was two years old and had been in prime health until the accident where Nadia had hit her. When Nadia had brought her to his house, Drake could sense the instant imprinting between Belle and her. He knew then that Nadia needed to feel that small dog’s presence in her own life. Nadia needed to heal from her disastrous mistake of seeing Donavan with Suzanne. Sometimes animals were better than humans in dealing with pain and anger. Drake sensed the absolute unwavering love that Belle could have given Nadia, and it pained him that the small dog hadn’t pulled through her infection.

  “Shit.”

  Chase’s eyes came to his face. “I know man, I know. It isn’t a good day when you lose one like that. But we have plenty of other animals here that are healing nicely if Ms. Morales wants one of those instead. She was pretty upset when she came in yesterday afternoon.”

  Drake’s eyes zeroed in on him immediately, “Nadia was here? You called her?”

  Chase looked directly contrite. “But that is routine, by the book. You know that. Why wouldn’t I call her?”

  Drake turned and tried to imagine just how upset Nadia had been yesterday. He could see her in tears, sobbing for the life of the small Border Collie. Damn, this wasn’t supposed to happen. She had always been deeply emotional; that incident of Donavan cheating had hurt her far more than anyone imagined. Drake feared this just added to the hurt.

  “She declined adoption of another animal right now,” Chase told him.

  Of course she did, Drake thought to himself as he watched Chase glance at his watch.

  “It’s almost five. I’m heading out. Max is on night duty this weekend since Trent needed the weekend off.” Chase glanced back at him and Drake could sense that the other man thought he had done something out of code in dealing with Belle’s death.

  “Ms. Morales, was she very upset?” Drake asked, although he sensed the correct answer.

  “Yeah, it was hard to break the news to her that we would have to put Belle down. I knew once we started talking to her that she cared for Belle.”

  Drake drew his fist over his mouth, imagining what Chase was saying, “Alright, I guess I will see you Monday then. Try to have a good weekend.”

  “You too, boss.”

  After watching the young man leave, Drake left the prep room and made his way to the office he had at the back of the compound. The large, masculine space instantly soothed him, calming him in a way that being around nature did. He stared out the window, glancing at all of the large areas that were fenced in, where animals were mending or being cared for in a way they never would away from here.

  Thoughts of the little dog, Belle, infused his mind. She had been a pretentious thing-a little spitfire of a dog, the perfect foil for Nadia’s cool, calm, and collected personality. Belle had also been hurt in the past. Her huge brown eyes had told stories of pain and a mean-spirited owner before she had run away and ran into Nadia’s path.

  Drake could see some of his crew leaving for the night and he knew, in the back of his mind, that he needed to check on Nadia.

  Don’t do this man. You are getting too worried about her. She needs to be far, far away from you right now.

  He ignored the voice in his head, grabbed his keys from his pocket, and strode from the building, heading for the one woman that he shouldn’t seek out.

  Thirty minutes later, his big rig was pulling up in front of her small, cottage-style home on the outskirts of Beaumont. He had known for years where she lived, but actually driving up in her driveway gave him a funny feeling in his chest.

  Going to her door, he glanced around, noting the small touches she had given the old cottage. Azaleas and Iris’s were blooming in landscaped portions of the front and back yard, and tall, mature oak and maple trees gave the place a homey feel. He glanced back to the door and liked that the front door was painted bright red, which offset the rest of the neutral home. Apparently Nadia had a flash interest in color. For some reason that made him smile.

  He could sense her on the other side of the door. And for a few seconds, he felt her curiosity until she got closer to the door, and when she looked through the peephole, he felt that curiosity turn to raw anger.

  Staring bemusedly at the door while she opened it, Drake wiped his expression and kept his thoughts to himself.

  “Hey,” he told her, when she opened it fully and glared at him from her diminutive height. It was almost laughable, really, that she could stare him down when he was more than a foot taller than her.

  She nodded in his direction but didn’t smile. Peering around his body she pointedly glanced at her front drive. “Are you lost?” Then she pulled those green eyes back to his.

  Man. The animosity in her stance, permeating the air around her, almost choked him. Was she blaming him for Belle’s death? Surely not, surely she understood that he had been out of town, and he hired only the best to work in his clinic. His eyes catalogued everything about her, and he sensed the blood flow in her body as he watched a ruddy blush climb over her neck. She was pissed, highly so.

  “Why would I be lost?”

  Her lush mouth firmed in anger, “You never came to visit before, so how was I to assume that you knew my address?”

  He ignored that angry statement. “Can I come in?” If it was possible her eyes turned greener than they were before. But he knew that was emotion trying to spill over from the inside. She scoffed. A soft noise that told him a lot about what she was feeling. Then she gave him a tight smile, “Whatever you need, you can surely tell me right here.”

  He was shocked. Never before had Nadia turned her anger on him. Belle’s death must be hitting her harder than she wanted to admit.

  A breeze fluttered the old tee shirt she had on that was loose around her body. All the while, the purple color brought out the paleness of her skin and the black length of her hair. Her old cutoff shorts showed him long, sexy legs, and he tore his gaze away, coming back to her face.

  He cleared his throat, “I know about Belle.”

  There it was. That brief flash of pain that she held so deep inside. He knew it wasn’t good for her to do that, but she was stubborn, and always had been. Morales’s daughter had grown up with spunk; he knew that, but it was surprising to see it, when all he saw from her was the polite façade that she showed to society.

  “I know. They did everything possible to save her.” Her throaty deep voice was raspy. In that instant he realized she had cried all night over Belle. He watched her look back to the inside of her house, and he knew she was hedging about leaving him standing on her front step.

  “If you know that, why am I still standing on your front step instead of in your house?”

  Her manners were bred into her, and even though she was vibrating in her an
ger, she slowly opened the door fully and moved to the side. Drake walked in and immediately felt as if he were drowning in sorrow. Her acute pain was so deeply imbued in the house that he could feel it in the air around him.

  “I would ask you if you want something to drink, but I don’t feel all that hospitable at the moment.” Her eyes surveyed him closely as he stood in her living area, and he began feeding off all of that negative sensation she was sending him. He could sense her pain underneath the anger, and had the insane urge that he should hug her, make her understand that everything would be okay.

  “It is hard to lose something that you were looking forward to having around.”

  She scoffed again. He was coming to hate that sound.

  “Look, maybe you should get out, go out tonight, find some friends and have fun, Nadia. You don’t need to be home alone right now.”

  Apparently that was the wrong thing to say. She turned the full force of her green eyes on him and the heat of her emotions stung his skin. He had never, ever beheld such pain before, and he had been around for a long time. Even when her parents had passed, she had been wracked by hurt, but this was pure anger.

  “You have no say over me Drake. And don’t pretend worry when we both know that you only think of me as baggage from your past.”

  Whoa. Yes, there was some definite fury here. He needed to tread lightly. If he got caught up in her emotions too much, she might learn more about him then he wanted her to know.

  “Whatever you’re saying is based on pain. I am concerned for you, Nadia. You are like family to me.”

  She stood behind the sofa and sent green daggers in his direction.

  “That’s funny. I’m like family to you? What the hell ever Drake. Don’t try to pull your head games over on me.” She threw her hands up, as if she were done talking.

  “This is no game, and I have no idea why you are so pissed at me. I employ the finest vets in three states. Belle was in the best care possible. I had no id--.”

  “No idea!” She screamed it, finishing his sentence for him, and then continued her rant.

  “Of course you didn’t.” Her finger pointed in his direction, and Drake could see her chest rising with harsh breathing. “You were up in New York, with Ms. Vintage Valentino, probably fucking her brains out! Of course you were too busy to see about one little dog that you promised to me!” Green eyes slammed like lasers against his brown ones. The tension in the air went up about ten notches.

  “You don’t know what I was doing in New York, and even if I was ‘fucking Ms. Vintage Valentino’, like you say, it is none of your damn business.” Seething anger pushed through, tingeing his voice with a gravelly drawl, trying to come to the surface. Drake held tight to his control. His skin was tightening, the blood rushing through his system, and his gums burning, but he kept it under wraps.

  “That was a promise, Drake.” Tears swam in her eyes, but she didn’t stop. “You were supposed to let me have her. I needed her, don’t you see? You were right, I needed Belle.” She touched her upper chest. The tears that threatened now spilled over her cheeks, but instead of giving into harsh sobs, she held her ground. Those eyes of hers seemed to be huge green orbs in her small, slight face.

  His anger dissipated. He felt glued to the floor in the middle of her living area. Emotion swam in the space between them as she held onto some vestige of her tattered pride. Her small delicate chin wobbled, and Drake felt his hands twitch. The need, the compunction to hold her, to console her, rose to unbelievable heights inside of him. Never had he thought he would see this strong woman break.

  “You were away, gone, and she was there.” Nadia pointed in the distance, while her green, pain filled eyes rose to his, and Drake felt as if someone had hit him with a Mack truck. ‘I’m sorry’ seemed so minute, so puny, and wide off the mark in the face of such sorrow. He had known that she needed Belle. He hadn’t known how much. Now it was clear that she was going to fall apart if something didn’t happen soon.

  “Nadia, I—“

  “Please, just leave. I can’t do this right now.” Her voice that had ripened with anger was now whispery thin. He felt her falling slowly apart, even as he saw it with his own eyes.

  Standing there he knew, without a doubt, that she would not welcome any reassuring gestures from him right now. And even though he hated to do it, he turned and went back to her front door. Stopping at the door, he turned and took in her hunched shoulders, head facing the floor while tears brimmed over her eyes. The power coursing through his body at that moment told him that he could ease her pain and anger, if only she would allow him to touch her. The shield she had surrounding her chased that idea from his mind. She would sooner touch a snake than his hand right now.

  Clearing his voice he told her, “Don’t hesitate to call me if you need something, Nadia.”

  A burst of condescending laughter edged from her throat, but she didn’t reply. Drake opened the door, and walked out of her house, dreading each step that took him away from her while she was in this state. He knew he could help her, but she didn’t want that. He had to acknowledge what she wanted and not push her, even if that might make her hate him even more.

  ***

  There had been many instances in her life where Nadia had felt such horrible emotion. This surely wasn’t the worst, but now she would remember it as the day that she had driven a stake between her and Drake.

  But that was what you wanted, wasn’t it? You needed something to drive you away from him, something to keep your mind from conjuring up images of him at every turn, just so you could live a normal, healthy life.

  Well, now she was stuck in the one scenario she had hoped for. She just hadn’t thought she would lose Belle over this. But she had. There was no way around it and after realizing that, things had been a bit better. But her irrational anger at Drake had burned red hot and out of control when he had come to her home.

  All the time he talked to her, the only thing she could see was Lorelei’s body wrapped tight around his. She wanted to smash the pretty woman’s head in. When she had accused him of fucking the woman’s brains out, that had been anger talking-until Nadia realized that he had probably done just that.

  That sent a wave of remorse flooding through her, but she knew that was only jealousy making her think that way.

  With tear-filled eyes, she sipped her tea, and stared out onto her back porch. Moonlight gilded every edge of furniture, patio equipment, and her overgrown grass yard. Fireflies buzzed around, their small bodies lighting up the denseness of the dark. Nadia took another sip and tried to stop her emotions from overreacting.

  Just the idea that Drake had been with Lorelei was like a killing blow to her middle. Nadia wasn’t sure of how many more images she could conjure up with Drake and that woman, but if her brain flashed one more shockingly descriptive picture, Nadia just might consider becoming an alcoholic. Being drunk made her sleepy, and sleeping was the only way to stop seeing them doing the deed over and over in her mind.

  God, she had been rude, terribly rude, but what she told him hadn’t been prettied up at all. Every vehement word had spilled out, and she felt a slight bit better.

  The tears gathering in her eyes once again mocked her. She knew that she was crying because of what she had done, rather than what she had lost with Belle. Furious with her emotions, she wiped her wet cheeks and remembered the shock in those warm caramel eyes of his when she had basically yelled out his actions with Lorelei. Apparently he had never assumed his little Nadia would rant and rave about him having sex before. Now he knew just how hot her temper ran when stoked. She wanted to crawl under the floorboards.

  Other than admitting just how attracted she was to him, she had just planted a huge sign on her forehead that screamed JEALOUS. And with Drake being the astute man he was, she was damn sure he would figure it out real soon.

  Then what will you do?

  Nadia had no idea.

  Chapter 7

  Bright and early
Monday morning, the first bouquet arrived.

  The beautiful arrangement instantly made Nadia suspicious, and her suspicions were confirmed when she opened the card and read Drake’s elegant scrawl:

  No words can express how sorry I am. Enjoy the flowers.

  Drake

  Nadia brought her eyes back up to the spray of Orchids, Tulips, and other fragrant flowers and met Renee’s wide eyes over the bouquet.

  “Damn,” she muttered, giving Nadia a look that stated just how surprised she was. Nadia could agree. She had never received flowers from Drake before. She ignored the warm glow and looked around Renee to the delivery guy still standing in the office doorway.

  “Please return these and you can tell him that it was a lovely gesture.”

  Renee gasped and the guy shrugged, reaching out to grab the large bouquet and then he left the office, leaving Renee standing behind him, her mouth working like a gasping fish.

  “What the hell?” Renee’s eyes instantly went to Nadia’s face. “Are you sick? That yummy man sends you flowers, flowers, Nadia, and you send them back?”

  Nadia told herself that she had bared enough to Renee when she had called her Sunday, she shouldn’t need to say more. “I just want to go on about my life without thinking of anything that happened Saturday.” And that was the truth. She wanted to forget her humiliating actions in front of Drake.

  She had just sat back at her desk when Renee said from the hallway, “Girl, I don’t know what you have planned in that head of yours but I have a feeling you had better line up your next shot. This Drake fellow doesn’t seem like he would give up that easily.”

  That was what worried Nadia.

  An hour and a half later her worry grew.

  The same delivery guy was back in her office with the same bouquet. “He isn’t happy and he said to make sure you read the card.”

  Nadia’s insides trembled, but she brushed it off and gallantly took the card from between the fronds of baby’s breath and greenery. Apparently this delivery guy was working directly from Drake’s office for his bold scrawl was once again on the card.