Her Druid Desire (The Amber Druid Series) (6 page)

           
“Ah, I see your lovely ex-boyfriend made it to the festivities,” Renee drawled
as she looked at Donavan over the rim of her wineglass. “And of course he
brought a date. What a surprise to see it is Suzanne.”

           
Nadia didn’t even look in their direction. “It was bound to happen, Renee. We
both knew that.” The words felt like dust in her throat.

           
“Yeah, honey, I know you are right, but there is something called subtlety and
Donavan doesn’t know the meaning of it.” The other woman licked her lips, and
Nadia could clearly see the bloodthirsty gleam in her eyes. “Or, he just didn’t
care one way or another.”

           
“It doesn’t matter anymore. It was all a mistake to begin with.”

           
Blue eyes leveled on Nadia with speed and accuracy. “Don’t you dare put all the
blame on
you.
He’s a man and if he wanted out, for any
reason what so ever, he should have ended things before deciding that he was
going to screw some other woman while you were still considered to be
his
.
Doesn’t matter how the relationship was going,” Renee said with a cutting
motion of her hand.

           
Nadia listened to what Renee was saying, knowing that her secretary cared for
her like a friend, but still she felt alone in this full ballroom even with her
friend at her side. Her eyes unerringly searched out the area across the
ballroom, once again landing where Drake was sitting with his date, and a full
table. The woman was Natalie Ramos, a well known author, and society darling.
Tall, blonde, and stunningly beautiful, she sat beside Drake as if she belonged
there. In Nadia’s estimation, she did.

           
Drake’s arm was around the back of Natalie’s chair, and every once in awhile he
would send the woman a crooked grin, one that made Nadia’s heart beat faster
and her palms sweat. Nadia could see the flow of conversation at the table,
mostly between Drake and Natalie, and felt the old familiar need pulse low in
her body. She’d wanted that man before she’d even known what wanting meant. Now
that she was older, and you would think wiser, the need hadn’t changed. The
pain was the same.

           
He smiled that one sided grin again. Nadia shivered. The backs of her eyes felt
like they were on fire, and ever so slightly, she felt the threat of tears.
Damn.
Why
? Why did she have this burning, all consuming feeling for a
man she would never be able to touch,
much
less have
for herself?

           
No one else had ever made her feel like this. And now, after a year of her
emotions being dulled by the presence of Donavan, he was out of the picture,
and her old wants were making her remember exactly why she had allowed Donavan
so close. She needed someone, a man, to be a buffer between her and Drake. She
would never have a chance, and probably end up making an ass of herself over
him, if she didn’t have some damage control. Donavan had been her damage
control. Now he was gone.

           
Nadia blinked out of her thoughts and instantly felt speared by heat. From
across the ballroom Drake was staring at her. Stilling instantly, she blinked,
thoroughly caught in the snare of warm brown eyes, and an instinctual maleness that
made her tremble. Her fingers caught the soft fabric of her dress and clenched.

           
This wasn’t the same look that he had given her when she had allowed him
entrance to her office weeks ago. It certainly wasn’t the look that he threw
her when she’d shown up on his doorstep with the injured dog. It was scorching.
Hot.
Raw.
And it made Nadia’s mouth go dry. While a
sharp, painful blush climbed up and over her cheeks.

           
She tore her eyes from his and took a deep, calming breath, just as Renee
cursed softly.

           
Nadia looked up from the table, and met the green gaze of Donavan standing by
the table.

           
As if her night couldn’t get any worse.

           
“Nadia,” he nodded in her direction, not even saying hello to Renee. Thank God
he had come alone, leaving Suzanne somewhere in the ballroom. “I was wondering
if I could speak to you alone.”

           
Renee scoffed at him under her breath, while sending out signals that said she
would be more the willing to peel his skin from his body. Nadia held her calm
composure. The other members of the table were now dancing, leaving only Renee
and Nadia to greet Donavan. “You can say whatever you need to say right here.
Renee is a close friend of mine, as you already know.”

           
And besides, Nadia knew if she left the table with him, the raw hurt she felt
every time she saw Drake nowadays might lead her to accept his apology-and
whatever else he wanted the minute they were alone.

           
He chided her with his eyes and tried again. “
Dia
,
honey, we don’t need to talk with her around. This needs to be said in
private.” His tone was slightly pleading, and it grated on Nadia’s nerves.

           
“
Hmph
, I see no reason to say what you need to say in
private. You sure as hell weren’t thinking about
Dia’s
welfare whenever you were doing Suzanne, were you?” Renee spoke out, much to
Nadia’s dismay.

           
“Renee, hush now,” she told her friend, hoping to calm down her bulldog
attitude before Renee decided to do harm to Donavan.

           
“You know he doesn’t deserve any breaks, hon. He is only trying to ‘pretty up’
what he did wrong,” Renee told her, sending killing glances towards the man in
question.

           
“You need to stay out of this, Renee. This is none of your business,” Donavan
glared right back at Renee.

           
Well, that certainly wasn’t the right thing to say.

           
Renee jumped from her seat, pointing her finger in his face. “It became my
business whenever I had to console her after she found you humping Suzanne on
your desk, asshole.”

           
“Renee! Sit down!” Nadia furiously whispered, hoping to calm her friend into
some kind of order. They were starting to draw curious stares. Thank God the
music was loud enough to drown out their argument.

           
Blue eyes flashed to her, and Nadia could feel her friend’s anger. “I will
handle this, okay?”

           
Renee snorted, but kept her gaze trained on Donavan as Nadia grabbed his arm
and pulled him away from her table and around the ballroom. She found one of
many French doors and pulled it open, leading Donavan out into the warm, balmy
Texas evening.

           
“Say what you need to say to make yourself feel better and then leave,” she
told him, as she whirled around and stood before him.

           
“
Dia
, honey, you know I’m sorry. You know I never
meant to hurt you.” He brought his hands up to her shoulders, and for one
insane moment Nadia wanted to lean into him, to allow him to console her, to
make the emptiness go away, even though she knew he wouldn’t be able to. That
depressed her, knowing that she was so starved for human emotion, for another
person’s touch, that she would allow it from the man that caused some of the
pain in the first place.

           
“I don’t know anything anymore.” Was that her? That woman that sounded wounded,
hurt, and confused?

           
“Ah, my
Dia
, you are too sweet, too gentle to be in
this cutthroat world of society. Suzanne is just sex to me darling. She could
never take your place in my world.”

           
Nadia could hear him talking, but curiously enough she didn’t feel anything but
emptiness. She felt dead, to him, and every other emotion. He was still going
on,
rattling about how he had needed sex and Suzanne was an
easy lay, nothing more. Nadia just continued to stare at his bowtie, feeling as
if the world had ceased to exist. She had somewhat trusted this man and he had
taken that and cleaved it in two. But the pain, the hurt from weeks ago numbed,
and now she just felt disgusted with men in general. This is what she got from
trying to do the right thing. She should have known it wouldn’t work.

           
New sounds came from behind Donavan and he, thankfully, halted his voice in
midsentence. Nadia looked beyond his shoulder, disinterestedly, and could
barely make out the tall shadow of a man standing there. The minute he spoke,
she knew immediately who it was.

           
“I see you are still trying to worm your way under Nadia’s radar, Donavan.
Don’t you think that by now she has realized what a bastard you really are?”

           
And that easily she felt awake, every nerve ending alive and thrumming. Donavan
exhaled an indignant scoff, and tried to peer through the darkness at who would
dare insult him, but once Nadia had heard his voice, she didn’t need to see who
it was. What really surprised her was that Drake would take it upon himself to
come out here and confront Donavan. By his words, he wanted him gone. That
pissed Nadia off. As if she couldn’t handle Donavan herself.

           
“Thompson, you go too far,” Donavan told him. Nadia could clearly sense his
anger.

           
Drake slid out from under the shadows and Nadia suppressed a shudder at how
eerie he looked standing there. Never before had she noticed how attuned this
man was to the darkness.      “Clearly Donavan, I
don’t go far enough. For the past year you have made her the laughingstock of
Texas society.
Seems like you keep doing a bang up job month
after month.”

           
Donavan bristled again, but Nadia calmed him a bit by placing her hand on his
arm. She turned him to her. “Ignore him, and let me tell you this, whatever
happened, happened. Don’t think that I will welcome your attentions now.
Please, go back inside and go to Suzanne.” She hoped he would take the hint and
leave. She was through with him, and didn’t want him around her again.

           
Instead of saying anything, he sent Drake a disgusted look, and turned to go
back in the ballroom. Even as he left, Nadia realized this wouldn’t be the last
time that she would have to lay down some rules between them.

           
The minute he was gone, Nadia whirled on Drake, furious.

           
“What in the hell were you thinking coming out here and baiting him like that?
This is none of your business, Drake. None! I could have easily handled him.”
She tried not to yell, but it was hard. She took deep breaths and focused on
his dark silhouette against the stone of the building. The words he just said
rolled around inside of her brain. He’d called her a laughingstock.

           
“Handle him? The man needs more than just words spoken to him. He needs a good
boot up his ass.” There was enough venom in those words to make Nadia’s skin
crawl. Drake sounded furious, which was a first for her.

           
He shifted away from the building, causing more shadows to fall upon his tall
frame. Darkness slithered around him like a living thing, wrapping his body in
swatches of moonlight and obscurity. Nadia noticed he looked more menacing in
the dark too. Shivering slightly, she tried to hide her anger and find a nice
way to leave him and go back to the security of the ballroom. It wasn’t as if
she was frightened of him. She was more wary than anything else.

           
“I still don’t understand why you came out here.” She sounded as if she cared
that he came to her rescue. Damn. Clearing her throat, she looked anywhere but at
him. Not that it helped. She could be blind and still know he was around. His
smell, his presence, just him breathing was enough to make her body stand up
and take notice.

           
Instead of answering her statement, he sauntered closer to the edge of the
small portico where they were standing. The play of muscles in his shoulders
was highlighted by moonlight. Nadia clenched her fingers against the material
of her dress.

           
“I knew what I was getting when I allowed Donavan close to me.” Now why in the
hell had she admitted that? That was none of Drake’s concern.

           
Shut up, Nadia!

           
“Did you really, little
Dia
?” The endearment sounded
condescending when he said it. Donavan had been the one to start calling her
that. Many other society members picked up on it also. “The man gambles most of
everything he has away. He barely has money for his own business to stay
afloat. He loves rich women, I’m sure I don’t need to tell you why, and among
other things, his taste runs towards rough sex.”

           
Those words went through Nadia like a shockwave. She knew some of it, and a few
other things that he hadn’t mentioned, but it was still wicked to hear him talk
so base to her like that. She looked towards him in the dark, and could barely
make out his facial features. Strong emotion wafted off of him.

           
“He is scum, Nadia.
Filth.
So far beneath the purity
of you that I’m surprised you didn’t turn brown when you touched him.” He
turned to look in her direction, and Nadia swore she saw a flash of golden
light where his eyes were. She shivered and wrapped her arms around her upper
body, not able to deal with this new side of Drake so easily. Exactly what had
she just seen?