“Whatever you are thinking of, stop it right now. I know that look and it is nothing but trouble.”
Renee’s blue eyes turned positively radiant. “Honey, I have figured out your solution.”
“Whatever it is, I’m sure it is bad for me.”
Renee’s pretty mouth turned down in a pout. “Now, why would you say that?
“Only because your mind is devious and I don’t want it to land me in hot water.” Nadia spoke truthfully and waited with baited breath to see what her secretary had to say.
“The answer to your problems is right under your nose, literally.” Renee pointed down.
Nadia glanced down, looking at the papers on her desk, seeing nothing that stood out. Until her gaze snagged on the card that had come with the flowers Drake had delivered weeks ago. She felt a very feminine, very wicked thrill move through her body.
“No.”
“How did I know you were going to say that?” Renee muttered, not to happily.
“Because you know it won’t work. Why would I put myself through that just for some form of protection?”
“Because he is like a bull in full rut whenever you are around. He cares about your wellbeing enough to spend the night in your home to make sure you are okay. He rescued your ass from the specific guy that will be in attendance that same night.” Renee’s blue eyes sparkled deviously and Nadia wanted to smack her. “There are many other reasons. One of them is that you have loved him for forever, he will be within touching distance at all times, you could just reach out…”
“Stop, this is insane. I can’t just make Drake tag along to something like this for my protection.”
“Why not? He is on the attendance list, isn’t he?”
Nadia shut up at that. He was in fact on the list. Matter of fact, he had already RSVP’d her to let her know he was going.
“He already RSVP’d. That means he probably has a date already,” She told Renee with a sulky voice. God, was that her speaking like that? Sounding like a two year old whose toy had been taken away?
“Honey, you won’t know until you call, will you?”
Damn her for being right. “But I still have the order.”
“Girl, you think after what Donavan already had the balls to do to you, that he would stop with some little order? I know we both hope that, but be realistic. The man is nuts. And, if Drake tags along as your date, you know you would be protected from anything that might happen.”
Nadia sat there and contemplated what Renee was saying. The bad thing was every word from her friend’s mouth made complete sense.
Chapter 10
You are ten times a fool.
Well, of course she was, which was why she was here, walking up Drake’s front walk at eight thirty at night, on a Friday night of all things. But his truck was parked in the drive.
She had called repeatedly, both his office and his cell, and he hadn’t answered neither. He had told her weeks ago that he had his calls rolled over so that he could pick them up anywhere, but he hadn’t answered at any of those locations. And Nadia knew if she didn’t get an answer for her specific question tonight, then she just might go crazy.
I can’t believe that I’m actually doing this.
Things could always be worse, but for Nadia this ranked pretty low on the list. She never imagined she would be basically reduced to begging Drake for his help. Hell, there were plenty of other guys out there that would bring her, keep her company and such, but Nadia knew Drake could handle Donavan if he got out of line. Right now that was all that mattered-keeping Donavan and his slimy hands off of her.
His front door was unlocked, and Nadia knocked three times before going in. The looming entrance was massive with open beamed ceilings and rustic ambiance. The quiet of the large house closed in on her and immediately Nadia had a horrible thought.
What if he has a woman here?
Shit. There was no way she was going to barge in on that. Standing there Nadia had a wavering moment. Should she turn around and leave immediately or should she take fate in her hands and look for Drake, ask him what she needed to ask, and get things over with? The option was taken from her when she heard a low, barely audible click-clack on the hardwood floors.
Ah damn, he does have a woman here.
Feeling about as low as she could feel, Nadia turned towards the sound that was coming from a hallway off to the side of the kitchen. What she saw crystallized the breath in her lungs. There was no woman in high heels standing there, shooting daggers at her. Instead there was a very large, very menacing looking, pure black German shepherd. Liquid black eyes categorized every muscle on Nadia’s frame. And she made damn sure that she didn’t move too fast as she slowly started to inch towards the front door behind her.
“Pretty doggy, you stay right where you are and I’ll leave and we can just act like I was never here, okay?”
The massive animal just stared at her with intelligent, all knowing eyes, and Nadia felt stupid for talking to it in such a sing song voice. It was apparent the animal was extremely smart.
“Nadia?”
The questioning voice snapped her out of the trance she was under with the dog and she turned.
Drake stood under an arch that lead to what Nadia assumed were bedrooms. His massive body was nude except for one lone towel, dark blue in color, draped seductively low around those hard hips of his. Nadia’s mouth dried to dust. She couldn’t even form coherent words. Her eyes were glued to his body. She realized this was as close to heaven as she would ever get. Her fingertips started to tingle.
Large slabs of muscle delineated his chest area where a smattering of dark hair formed a triangle, then moved down in one tiny little line towards the towel, disappearing there. His arms were at his sides but even in rest, Nadia could see tendons roping under hard skin and the beautiful liquid movement of muscle when he propped one arm on his hip. When that arm moved she caught the dark edge of something hiding beneath his towel. Her eyes narrowed and she realized it was the beginning of a tattoo. Her shocked eyes slammed back to his.
He wasn’t smiling. Matter of fact, he looked pissed off. Nadia immediately started talking.
“Um…sorry, I wasn’t trying to interfere with whatever…um…I need a favor from…no…I need to ask a favor of you. That is if you aren’t busy being naked…Oh God, I mean busy making other plans with another woman…Just let me stop talking.” Nadia took a deep breath before letting her eyes come back to Drake’s face. Now he was smiling. Of course, she had just made an ass of herself. She watched as he sauntered closer and tucked the towel a bit more while he did so, his crooked smile on his face the whole time, the wretch. The massive dog trailed behind him.
One hand gestured towards the huge dog by his side, “This is Lila, sorry if she startled you. She is nothing but a big puppy.” Then he looked directly at her again. “Why don’t you take a deep breath, start from the beginning, and then try again.” His eyes sparkled at her in humor. She didn’t find any of this the least bit humorous.
“I need a date for the Dallas Black Tie gala.” Her eyes landed on his face only this time, while she licked her lips. “And I need it to be you.” There, it was out. Nadia pressed her hand against her abdomen and she could feel her heart fluttering in nervousness. She looked down to where her creased trousers met her peep toe shoes. The bright red shoes were her one concession to shocking footwear. Her wild side rarely came out. Standing in Drake Thompson’s house, asking him, basically, on a date, was something she never thought she would do in a million years. Apparently her wild side was calling the shots now.
Rubbing her hands nervously on her hips, Nadia glanced back up and caught the piercing look that Drake was giving her. He walked over to where she was still standing at the entrance to the foyer. Within seconds he was close enough for Nadia to smell the clean, woodsy soap he had used, and she could see water droplets sliding from the ends of his hair onto his shoulders. She balled her fingers into fists as he propped his
hip against the back of a tall, decorative table behind his sofa.
“Usually, when a woman asks me out on a date she looks a bit more interested than you do at the moment.” His hands came to either side of his hips on the table and Nadia could see the strength in his arms and shoulders undulate beneath his skin.
“It technically wouldn’t be a date.” How she was able to form those words, she had no idea. Her mouth was as dry as the Sahara at the moment. It seemed every drop of moisture in her body had pooled south.
Oh, don’t think about that certain part of your anatomy. The one that is pulsing, clenching, and basically screaming at you to do anything, something, to get your hands on this man.
Nadia blinked, trying to focus on why she was here.
“Darlin,’ it would be a date if I accompany you there and stay by your side the whole evening.” He wasn’t smiling, but Nadia had the feeling that he wanted to. Those eyes of his said enough for him not to.
“The only reason I need you, specifically, is because I have it on good authority that Donavan will be attending. Now I know I have the restraining order but…” She glanced around, trying to look anywhere besides at Drake. She didn’t want to come out and say that she felt safe under his watch. Although that was exactly what she would have to say if she wanted his help. “I feel…no, I would feel safer if you were there with me.”
His face was hard and showed no emotion, but she knew he was upset to know that Donavan would be going. Eyes that could be so warm with humor were now as hard as diamonds. “Of course I will go with you, especially now that I know for a fact he will be showing up also.”
“What about your date? Won’t she be upset?” Jealousy burned in her gut, but she needed to know if he had planned for someone to come with him.
“She’ll get over it. Right now you need me more.”
You need me more.
Such a smooth talker he was, but she knew from the determined look on his face that he meant every single word.
“Ah…good, thanks, so I need to leave out the day before to make sure things are going according to plan, since my company is heading this gala.” Nadia kept her gaze resolutely right over his shoulder. She wasn’t too sure if she could handle looking him in the eyes right now. “My flight is scheduled for eight on Friday morning and…”
“Cancel it.”
Her gaze flew to his. “Excuse me?”
He shrugged his shoulders. “Cancel it. I have a private plane. We can use that so we can both go at the same time. More convenient that way, don’t you think?”
“Um…sure, I guess.” Oh God, this was totally getting out of hand. “I can do that. Do you think we can still leave at the scheduled time?”
“I can inform my pilot and he will schedule accordingly.” Strong, hard arms wrapped around each other in front of his huge chest.
“Okay,” She mumbled. This was all starting to feel a bit surreal and totally out of her control. “I’m staying at my usual, the Coventry Condos Villa. I can call and see if they have another opening for you. Unless you stay somewhere else whenever you head up there?”
“You can cancel that too, if you want. I have my private condo downtown, not too far from the ballroom where the gala will be.” Caramel eyes sparkled at some private joke. “Unless you would feel safer across town, far away from me and ten minutes out of the way from police, should you need them.”
Lila chose that moment to sniff at Nadia’s fingers. Since she was in such a daze from the turnaround that the past ten minutes had given her, she barely noticed the dog’s attention. Just how could she turn down that offer when it made so much sense? And he knew it, the wretch. He knew he could get her with that last statement, offering her protection and safety basically on a silver platter, holding it right there, under her nose.
“I’ll think about that.” Oh and she would, but it would be for totally different reasons.
“I’m not trying to bulldoze you darlin,’ but you need to realize that Donavan is not what you thought. I’m not saying he’s going to try anything, but wouldn’t you feel more secure if you were with someone you knew, and not by yourself across town if he did try something stupid?”
She listened and realized he was telling the truth. She honestly didn’t think Donavan would do anything, but how did she know for sure? Look at what he had done when she had thought she’d known him.
“You’re right,” she fiddled with her purse strap. “Okay…whatever.” Damn, she felt so lost. What in the hell was she doing? She was putting herself in a load of trouble.
“Good, everything’s gonna be fine, you’ll see. At least this way I can watch you without having to worry about you being so far away with no protection.”
She really wished he wouldn’t say things like that. Nodding absently she studied the fine grain on his wood floors.
“I need to go. But thanks for agreeing with me on this.” She told him, finally able to look him in the eyes, before tearing her gaze away and turning back for the door. Her fingers closed around the metal handle when she felt his hand come up to her shoulder.
Please don’t touch me. You’ll only make things worse, so much worse.
He turned her and immediately pulled her into a hug. Her body was small, so very small against his, and she only came up to his upper chest. All the sexual tension she had been feeling for the past ten minutes faded as he gave her a comforting hug, one that meant to console, not arouse. Nadia blinked back tears as his hands caressed her upper back. So much strength in his hands, and never once did he move to an area that he shouldn’t touch. He stayed perfectly proper, and her heart all but melted when he spoke deeply above her head.
“I’m glad that you came to me with this, you hear?” His mouth nuzzled the top of her head and Nadia felt faint. “Don’t ever assume that I won’t drop everything to help you.”
Tears slipped out from beneath her closed eyes and she nodded. Her fingers were clasped around his hard upper arms and his skin was scorching hot, but to Nadia it felt like home, like somewhere that she had been searching for, for a long, long time.
“Things will get better and regardless of Donavan being there or not, you will have a good time next week. I won’t allow it to be otherwise.” He gave her crown a gentle kiss then pulled away and opened the door wider. “Goodnight, angel…call me when you get home, kay?” His hands moved her hair away from her face, tucking it behind her ears as he gave her a gentle, killing smile.
Nadia nodded, not knowing what to say in return, and walked out the door.
***
Was he trying to kill himself? Did he really have to make things, or parts of his anatomy, any harder than they should be?
Drake shook his head and let Lila out to do her business in the backyard. She belonged to Alana, a fellow Druid. He was only watching her for the weekend while Alana had business to deal with in Houston.
Thinking back to Nadia, he wondered just exactly what good could come from what he had done. He had practically invited her to spend the night with him, in his condo, in Dallas. Not to mention he would be around her all night long at the gala, because there was no way in hell that Donavan would get within those 100 feet that he shouldn’t be in at all, not while Drake had anything to say about it.
At first he hadn’t believed his eyes when he saw her standing in his foyer. He had heard her come in, but he hadn’t known who it had been. If he had, he might have put some clothes on first. Then he remembered the awed look on her face. Nah, if he had a chance to do it over again, he would do it the exact same way. The look on her face had been priceless.
She had been flustered beyond all reason. Her speech and mannerisms had given her away. Drake couldn’t make his body frame smaller than what it was, and he doubted she was actually afraid of him anyway, but he sensed that his largeness had something to do with her anxiety. But the vitals she had shown him in those few minutes were very telling. Blood had pulsed low in her body. He could almost feel the clench of femin
ine muscles, and taste the sexual excitement boiling in her blood. Yeah, there was no doubt in his mind that she was attracted to him, deathly so. God, he didn’t need that, not tonight. He would go to sleep tonight with the look of her imprinted on his brain. Prim, tailored pantsuit, crisp red undershirt peeping out from beneath the starched edges of the lapels, bright red high heeled shoes had almost given him a heart attack. Those sexy, red pumps had given him a small glimpse into Nadia’s head and he knew she had a sensual, wild side hidden deep inside somewhere. Dear God, he wanted to be the man that made it come out, with a vengeance.
His fangs pricking his lower lip, Drake growled, but knew he had to stop these images from bombarding him. But he couldn’t, he couldn’t stop from seeing Nadia standing there so primly in his home, long black hair falling past her shoulders, light green eyes huge in her face as if shocked by the way she was responding to him. He couldn’t stop from imagining his hands pulling the clothes from her body and showing her how good it could be between them.
No, don’t do this to yourself Thompson! She can’t be yours. Remember Marie, remember what happened. Don’t fall into that tailspin again.
Of course, he knew better. But the lines between Nadia and him were starting to blur a bit, and he wasn’t so sure he could stop himself from doing something delicious and utterly forbidden to her if he had the chance.
His phone buzzed with an incoming call, knocking him back to the present.
“Thompson here.”
“Drake, just wanted to let you know I made it home,” Nadia said, her breath coming fast against the phone. Drake wondered just what she had done, or was doing, that was causing that to happen.
“Good, and what we talked about earlier, if there is anything that you aren’t comfortable with, don’t hesitate to tell me, okay?”
Don’t cancel, don’t cancel, I want you with me.
“No, the plans are fine. I was just acting childish. The situation warrants a smart decision and there’s no reason why I can’t stay with you.”
“I will do everything in my power to keep you safe, darlin’.”
Her Druid Desire (The Amber Druid Series) Page 14
