He put a clamp on his reaction to brand her as his and instead let his recent orgasm satiate his mind as well as his body. He would need a very relaxed state if he wanted to get her bathed and out of this shower.
She was trying to stay in her corner of the shower when Drake moved and let the force of the water hit her. He hadn’t turned on the top showerhead only the side one. With his left hand he grasped the edge of her torn shirt and let his hand slide under to rest on her warm, beautiful skin. Her stomach was soft, decidedly female and even though she was such a slight woman, she still had a small curve to her belly that Drake thought was just precious. He had never liked women with more muscles than curves.
“You okay?” he whispered as he rubbed his thumb across her delicate navel. The tip of his thumb fit right into the slight hole there. God, she was so small. His whole hand could grasp the middle of her body.
She nodded, and Drake knew her shyness had kicked in. He tipped up her chin with his other hand and gave her a crooked smile.
“There’s no need for you to go all shy on me now. Not after everything we just did in here.”
“I know. I just can’t help but feel as if I’m dreaming.” The redness of a blush tinted her cheeks and she looked everywhere but at Drake.
“Tell you what, let’s get washed up then we can really do some dreaming in that big bed out there.”
She didn’t answer him, but nodded. His hand moved on her skin again and he grasped the edge of her shirt in his fingers.
“Mind if we get you naked so that I can go ahead with that plan?”
The red blush stayed, but she nodded again, apparently at a loss for words.
Before he was allowed to change his mind Drake grasped both edges of her torn shirt and pulled them away from her skin. Without giving her or him a chance to do anything else, he took the waistband of her pants in his grasp. “Do you want to do it, or are you gonna let me?”
She pressed her face into his chest and whispered, “Go ahead.” giving him the permission he needed. He knew she was having a tough moment right now and he didn’t want to make things any worse by being a rude, overbearing barbarian.
After he had pulled off her damp pajama pants, along with her panties, Drake didn’t give himself much of a chance of looking, knowing that she would be waiting for that. Instead he reached for some dry towels that he kept on a ledge over the top of the showerhead and grabbed a washcloth for her and him. Turning, he caught her trying to cover up her body with hands that were too small for such a large job. It was almost funny, but he stopped the grin forming on his face. The last thing she needed was to be laughed at.
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 ree
led.
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.
Chapter 14
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.”
His finger swept a line from her neck to her nose. “Yours are,” he said, simply.
She placed the mug back on the table before she dropped it on herself then made a move to get up. His massive hand swallowed hers on the blankets. Nadia could feel the heat inside his body. Her own clenched in renewed hunger.
“I wanted to tell you that I enjoyed last night. I had many, many dreams about you, my hands touching you, and your hands touching me, but I think it is safe to say that what happened eclipsed every single one of them.”
He had dreams of her? Nadia shuddered as heat washed over her. The image of Drake, his hand moving on his erection, bringing himself pleasure was like HD in Nadia’s brain. She hadn’t gotten what she originally had wanted. Instead she had gotten something surprising, even to her, but she wanted that primal, raw moment with him back. She wanted to test her boundaries with him. She wanted to put her hands on him and bring him ecstasy.
No, you don’t!! Think before you speak. Don’t allow yourself to get pulled under. He is only screwing with your desires.
Nadia watched him as he gave her a slow, heated perusal from those hot eyes of his. He might be a man that switched from one woman to another with quick and efficient ease, but why would he do that with her, with the one woman he was always in constant contact with? Wouldn’t that be crazy?
But on the same hand that didn’t mean he was going to pledge undying love to her and drop dow
n on one knee either. Besides, he had been married twice already. That was still shocking to her. She realized right then that even though she did love him deeply, she didn’t want something from him that he did out of pity. If Drake wanted her, then he simply wanted her. She wouldn’t be rash and tell him of how long she had loved him and cared for him. That was her secret, her burden for herself.
What she had with Drake last night was a guilty pleasure, one that she wouldn’t mind repeating if only she could unglue her tongue from the roof of her mouth. Even if she could, Nadia knew it would take a bit more persuasion for her to ask anything from him, especially sexually.
Licking her lips, she said, “Thank you for your patience with me last night and from earlier at the gala. As you can tell, I’m not as experienced as you and what you showed me…last night…was simply…incredible.” Those words came from her heart; they meant something and by the way Drake was looking at her that he realized that.
The look in his eyes was fierce, but tender all at once. His hand traveled from her jaw to her neck and then to her chest. Fire bloomed along the places where he touched, but Nadia kept her cool. His hand, large against her body, stopped right above her left breast, where the beat of her heart was strong, rapid and sure.
“Just when I think you can’t surprise me more, you do. You walked in on me doing something that probably would have shocked or disgusted another woman, but instead of running you barged in, all wide and hungry-eyed.”
“I wasn’t thinking…just feeling.” She told him honestly. He blinked and Nadia noticed a gold film creeping over his irises. He was beginning to change again, apparently from arousal.
His hand stayed in place, fingers flexing against her skin. “I know, and when I saw you standing there I wanted you so badly…” his words started to lisp and she noticed the tips of his fangs peeking out from his lips. “You make me burn, angel, burn so hot for such a small, delicate woman.”
Her Druid Desire (The Amber Druid Series) Page 21
