Her Druid Desire (The Amber Druid Series)

by Trish F Leger

“Now honey, all I wanted to do was talk. I deserve to have some of your time, don’t I?”

  The thick underbrush surrounding the house scraped against her ankles, but Nadia continued her slightly backward walk. She had the awful feeling that if she gave him the opportunity he might just tackle her in the yard. But no, Donavan wouldn’t draw attention to this little mix up, would he?

  “You don’t deserve shit from me. I gave you more than what you deserve.”

  Feeling just a bit stronger since there was more space between their bodies, Nadia turned her back but kept glancing over her shoulder every few feet while her legs swallowed up the distance back to the front of the house. When she noticed he wasn’t really following her, just standing off of the corner of the house, she turned fully and went back into the party, breathing a sigh of relief as she did so.

  Trying to ignore the painful beating of her heart, she took in a lungful of cool, air conditioned air and grabbed a wineglass from the tray in the foyer. For about ten minutes no one really bothered her, and her eyes never caught sight of Donavan coming in the door, thank God. After twenty minutes, she started to get her bearings back when she caught sight of Darlene waving at her through the crowd.

  She was introduced to the grandchildren, who were men her age, and as they all conversed in the large library, Nadia’s eyes took in Drake’s form over by the large wall of books. His dark chocolate hair was mussed, as if his hands had burrowed there repeatedly, and his hands moved slightly when he spoke to the three other men standing around him. Their conversation was deep and more than likely businesslike, Nadia assumed. But as she turned back to the sound of Darlene’s laughter, Nadia realized she felt extremely safe in his presence.

  An hour later she said her goodbyes and almost walked back in the library where Drake was still talking to the men, but she decided against it. He didn’t need to know when she left the party. And he probably didn’t care either way. Shaking her head, Nadia grabbed her belongings from the coatroom and slipped out into the humid summer night. There were a few other people leaving, so she didn’t feel alone, until they all left through the front entrance and made it to the sidewalk. When the woman and man she followed out turned the opposite way from Nadia, the fear came back. But she shoved it away as nothing more than paranoia. There was no reason to fear walking to her car, which was parked around the block from the grand house. This was Beaumont, not Houston.

  The huge oak trees from Darlene’s yard hung over the sidewalk as Nadia walked, lending the mysterious night air something a bit more sinister and forbidding. She grabbed her purse tighter against her, fished out her keys so that she would be ready to start her Rover right up and started walking fast.

  When she turned on the sidewalk, the extremely dark, narrow lane where she parked screamed at her to go in the other direction. Ignoring the warning and wrapping her keys around her fingers, like a pair of brass knuckles, she forged on. Darlene lived in the historic district of Beaumont where the streets were narrow and there wasn’t that much traffic at night. Don’t remind yourself of that right now, Nadia admonished herself.

  When she got within twenty feet of her Rover, beeped the doors and saw the light come on inside the huge vehicle, pure relief swamped her.

  With her heels clacking on the pavement, she raced around the side of the vehicle to get in, and out of nowhere a huge hand clasped over her lower jaw, silencing her efficiently, while another hand threw her keys to the ground before she could set off the panic button. She started kicking immediately which apparently pissed off her attacker, because he hauled back and slapped her, hard.

  Nadia slumped, dazed, against her vehicle as her vision blurred before her eyes. Even sounds were going in and out, whooshing through her head with alacrity.

  “Now that I have your attention you will do nothing to screw this up, do you hear me?”

  He didn’t say his name but Nadia knew the voice. With her legs trembling beneath her, her body shaking heavily and tears brimming in her eyes, she needed to get somebody’s attention. She tried to suck in enough air for a scream when his hand covered her mouth again.

  His breath ruffled the hair close to her cheek and Nadia cringed away. His palm tightened against her arm and Nadia knew she would have a bruise there tomorrow. “Don’t move away from me. You know I have been nothing but patient with you.”

  Oh please make him stop.

  The whispered litany was repeated in her head when his mouth slithered onto her neck. “We don’t want any one to intrude on our reunion, do we honey?”

  Tears fell from her eyes when he let go of her arm and used the hand that had covered her mouth to push away her dress strap. “You little tease. You tied me in knots for a year, and now I see you making eyes at Thompson? There’s no way I’m letting you give him what I’ve been very patiently waiting for.”

  With her mind foggy from pain, she took another deep breath and screamed for all she was worth. The sound reverberated down the small street and deep into the night, shocking in the silence.

  He hauled back and slapped her again, sending her into another slight daze. “You little bitch.” With vision murky from his abuse, Nadia stood there confused while he murmured words she didn’t recognize.

  That’s okay, someone heard me. Someone will come soon.

  Her fear along with his abuse was causing her to float about in this odd state where what was happening to her seemed like a dream. That was, until he leaned back slightly and then suddenly, he wasn’t there anymore.

  Slumping against the hard body of the truck, she huddled with her eyes closed, tears streaming down her cheeks, shaking like a leaf in a hurricane while a fierce growl reverberated in the air around her. She didn’t open her eyes to look, terrified as she was by the sound, but just stayed hunched over, rocking herself on the small road, and wanting so badly to wake up from this horrible nightmare.

  There was a rough curse, then shuffled footsteps, and Nadia felt tingles shoot up and down her arms right before a shadow fell across her body. She scooted away on the pavement as fast as she could and would have gotten past the corner of the vehicle when the shadow spoke.

  “Baby, don’t do that. Come, it’s me, Drake. Let me help you, okay?”

  The timber and tone of the deep voice carried to her ears, and Nadia knew it was him but everything inside of her was telling her, screaming at her to run. Instead she sat there, in her ruined sundress with no telling what kind of bruises and dirt stuck to her. She was a huge ball of fear. Trembling, she looked from the corner of her eye and noticed the tips of Drake’s cowboy boots, right there in front of her. She could tell he was squatting down beside her, and all at once she realized she should cover herself, cover up the damage that Donavan had done.

  His hand reached out to grasp hers gently, and Nadia flinched. She heard a low, vile curse, but allowed him to grab her hand in his own. He gently, ever so slowly, helped her up. When she stood fully, her legs gave out, and instantly she found herself being picked up in his strong arms. She felt a moment’s hesitation, a cringe against him out of fear, but then at the same time a sob tore from her chest, and with a small cry she curled into his chest and shuddered, while harsh sobs tore from her throat.

  ***

  Drake clenched his fingers so hard against the steering wheel that he heard a small ripping sound. With one look he realized he had popped the elegant stitching on his wheel. Damn. This was his favorite pick up truck. The frayed ends of the leather cover showed up blue against the immaculate glowing backdrop of the dashboard.

  Thank God Nadia was asleep in the passenger seat. He would have no excuse to cover up his display of rage. He needed this to be a lesson for him.

  Control yourself man.

  He did have one good thing to say for himself. Donavan was still alive, although he probably wished he was dead instead. Drake had maintained some form of control, enough to realize that he should live so that he could spend the rest of his sorry life in jail. Donavan was in a Be
aumont hospital at the moment. The broken jaw and fractured arm Drake had given him were nothing compared to the areas of internal bleeding that were being monitored. He should be damn lucky that was all he had wrong with him.

  Drake looked in Nadia’s direction. Pale, watery moonlight illuminated her profile. Long dark lashes crested the gentle rise of her cheeks, while her gently upturned nose and bruised mouth quivered with slow, deep breaths. She was safe now. Safe from Donavan, that was. Drake refused to think about his certain weakness where this young lady was concerned.

  He couldn’t even begin to describe the sheer rage, the gut wrenching reaction that had come over him whenever he heard that high pitched scream and he had known, deep down, that she was in trouble. With his abilities, he was able to be at her side in seconds and when he had seen Donavan leaning over her prone body, up against her Rover, Drake had known then that the bastard had sealed his fate. Drake had gone into killing mode, not caring who was around, just knowing that a low, vile, piece-of-shit human, was violating something that belonged to him.

  Drake knew he could have easily been found out. Hell, there might be someone out there tonight that could have seen him change, but knowing that Nadia was alive and conscious beside him made everything else pale in comparison.

  Somehow, some way, he had calmed the second he touched Donavan. Rather than killing, he had inflicted small damage only. To him, that was his good deed for the day. But it could have so easily turned into a murder scene, especially when he saw the damage done to Nadia up close. Instead of going back to the asshole and ending his life, Drake had picked up Nadia and made sure she was covered, before walking back into Darlene’s house and informing her of what had just happened right outside her gated yard, while he made sure one of the guests called the police.

  The guests had been shocked, outraged, but that was exactly what Drake wanted after he told them where to find Donavan, out cold on the road beside Nadia’s vehicle. Now there were no excuses or ugly rumors that could be started that the fifty or so people from the party couldn’t stop in its tracks. Donavan would be forever branded an attacker of women while everyone already knew of Nadia’s gentle, caring nature. Donavan would go down, in more ways than one.

  That was the only thing about this night that caused him to smile.

  After contacting the Beaumont Police, Drake had only given them enough time to ask pertinent questions before bringing Nadia to the hospital where he wanted her thoroughly checked over. Yes, he had admitted to the police that he’d seen a woman being abused, and that’s why the attacker was in such bad shape. Needless to say, Donavan wouldn’t be pressing charges against him. Drake had taken care of that with a little threat of his own.

  After an hour spent there and a full exam, Drake found out from the E.R. doctor that she had suffered two blows to the face which had caused a split lip and more than a few bruises and small cuts from the ring that Donavan had worn. She had numerous bruises on her upper arms and a few on her knees, but that was all.

  Drake knew it could have been much, much worse. Just the thought sent a deep burn into his eyes and his gums. He clenched his jaw, forcing his fangs down and carefully clenched his hands on the wheel.

  Seconds later he covered her hand with his and sent a calming, soothing sleep spell deep into her body. Since she needed the rest, Drake didn’t feel quite so bad about his underhanded approach to making her relax. She would sleep the rest of the night and long into the day, and if it were up to him, he would be there if nightmares threatened.

  Chapter 9

  A slight tingle, much like the one that she felt whenever Drake entered her personal space, slithered through her body while the dark, starless night closed in around her, Nadia shivered but kept very still.

  Tall, mature trees stood like massive sentinels in the dense wooded area surrounding her. The moon was a small slash of cream against the black backdrop where no stars shone. Night sounds permeated the still, foggy air around her. Whippoorwills called and every few minutes a lonely, chill inducing whine came from the darkness.

  Wrapping her arms around her shoulders, Nadia peered into the darkness that hovered around the trunks of every tree in her line of vision. She couldn’t pinpoint exactly where she was but the only place this wooded that she knew of was Ridge Lake. The smell of sweet gardenias was thick in the air, and Nadia knew that there were many of those bushes that lined the wild areas of the lake.

  A sound caught her attention. Nadia swiftly turned her head in the direction and waited. Seconds later she didn’t see anything, but the hair rising on her arms and that persistent tingle kept her eyes on that particular area. She didn’t feel apprehensive or afraid. The emotions inside of her at the moment were more engrossed with the strange surroundings than anything else.

  Her eyes picked up on a large shadow lingering near the edge of one massive pine-about fifteen feet from her. She was just allowing herself to move her vision from the ground up when she realized that it was a man. Even though it was particularly foggy and highly dark where they were standing she was able to make out his large frame and the width of his shoulders. As her eyes traveled up towards where she assumed his face would be, a startled gasp escaped her mouth.

  A beautiful glowing gold, something that resembled the deep brilliant color of a 24 karat nugget, gleamed in the darkness where his eyes would have been. Nadia was intrigued and fascinated. She knew she probably should feel a deep, resonating fear, but she didn’t. She wasn’t terrified at all.

  The large man with the odd eyes moved closer and immediately Nadia felt faint. Seconds later, she blacked out.

  ***

  The house was dark when Nadia woke. The odd dream lingered in her mind, not frightening or scary, just different and unusual.

  Sunlight filtered in from her window, just barely illuminating part of the hardwood floor with its soft yellow radiance. She turned in the bed, opened her mouth to yawn when severe pain caused her eyes to fly open and her hand to come up to her cheek and lip. Images from last night flashed through her mind like an old movie still, showing her again and again just what had taken place.

  Shuddering, Nadia’s fingers came up to touch the bruised skin on her cheekbone, and the small gash on her lip. The bastard had done a good job on her face. Thank God Drake had shown up when he had.

  As if thinking of him heralded hearing his voice, a slightly raspy, deep Texas drawl sliced through the quiet of her bedroom. “Don’t fool with that too much darlin.’ You’ll start it to bleeding again.”

  Nadia let her eyes, swollen from crying the night before, fixate on the corner of her bedroom, where the voice had come from. Her fingers stopped fiddling with the swollen flesh instantly. It wasn’t necessarily stark panic that had her frozen at the sound of that deep baritone. It was more like awareness, an overwhelming knowing that the substantial man sitting in her small, very feminine bedroom was a devastatingly masculine one. He all but sucked the very oxygen from the room just because he was in it.

  His face was in one of the many shadows around the room but Nadia was able to make out certain things, like the broad, straight blade of his nose, the mussed ends of his hair and the harsh, uncompromising jut of his jaw. An old, worn blue tee shirt covered his huge chest while worn, frayed jeans clasped muscular, hard legs. White socks were on his feet and to Nadia that was almost as intimate as him being here in the first place.

  She could barely make out the light, rich color of his eyes from where she was sitting, but she knew he was looking at her. The knowledge that he had stayed the night here slid through her veins like warm molasses.

  Don’t read anything into that.

  “Does it pain you?” He asked, pulling her back to the present as he moved from the soft wicker chair in the corner to the side of the bed. When he drew near Nadia had the automatic reaction to move away from him. It wasn’t as if she were afraid of him, it was more or less that her conscious made her move before she even realized she had done it. When he
saw her reaction he stopped all together.

  Nadia sat there feeling humiliated. Drake had never before done anything to warrant this behavior from her. She knew the attack last night was what caused this wary feeling but it made her feel sick to know that he was probably thinking that she was more affected by this incident than she let on.

  “Sorry,” she whispered, not even knowing if she had said it loud enough for him to hear. She didn’t look up at him standing there so close, rather she kept her hands busy threading the soft fringe of her chenille throw through her fingers. Apparently he hadn’t pulled the covers back when he had laid her here. Instead he had covered her with the soft blanket. He couldn’t even bring himself to change her clothes to make her comfortable.

  You have known for years how he feels about you. And sexual desire isn’t it.

  “That’s fine,” he spoke right above her and Nadia had to stop her heart from jumping out of her chest. “It’s understandable with what happened last night.” His huge body sat beside her on the bed, but not too close. “You never told me if it pains you or not,” he told her, gesturing to her face with his right hand.

  “It throbs a bit, especially my lip.” She dared a glance while he was sitting beside her. Long, brown eyelashes with tangled ends hovered over caramel eyes. His cheeks were rough with bristled whiskers, but the look in his eyes kept her spellbound.

  Nadia’s heart picked up tempo, and after a few seconds she felt as if one word from him would send her into some deep, dark oblivion where he was the one calling the shots. Those light brown eyes of his were full of knowledge, secrets and things that Nadia would never know the answer to, no matter how much she wanted to.

  “You know the doctor gave you a prescription for pain that I got filled this morning while you slept. If you want, I can go grab you some.” The look in his eyes was unreadable.

  Nadia nodded her answer and seconds later her bedroom felt like hers again. When she was sure he had made it away from her door she plopped down on the bed. “Damn.” She didn’t need the object of her desire in her home, waiting on her hand and foot while she pined away in some pool of lust for him.