Her Druid Desire (The Amber Druid Series) by Trish F Leger Page A

what was she going to do? This was too
dangerous. She knew better than to dwell on anything he was doing or saying.
But it was so hard when he was saying all the right things, and touching her in
all the right ways.
                You can’t have him Nadia. You knew that years ago, and you still know it
now.
               
Listening to her conscience warring inside her head, she pulled her chin from
his hold then locked the memory of his fingers on her skin in the vault of her
mind. Slowly stepping away from him, she put space between them, even as her
insides screamed at her not to do so.
               
“Whatever danger I was in with him around is no longer apparent,” the words
came out low, and deep. Nadia cleared her throat and continued, without looking
directly at Drake. “He will never be welcome in my life again.”
               
Without giving him a chance to say anything, she turned and left him standing
out in the moonlight, with only the sounds of night as company.
    ***
                What in the hell just happened?
               
Drake clinched his fists, ground his molars together, and literally stopped
himself from breaking the top of the stone portico ledge in half. After a few
seconds the need to change had passed, but as a defensive mechanism, his fangs
were scraping his bottom lip.
               
“Fuck.”
               
The word was murmured low. Even humans couldn’t hear it, but just saying it
eased the tension coiling tight inside his body.
               
Movement jostled the small bush next to him on the outer perimeter of the
portico. His enhanced vision could see clearly in the night, and as he peered
into the bushes a small nighthawk gazed back at him coolly, her yellow eyes
warm and friendly. The bird let out a soft trill, a short hoot that fell on
Drake’s ears warmly. To any other human it would only be the sound of a bird
squawking. To Drake, he understood the emotion behind it. The hawk felt sorry
for him. Apparently the bird sensed his tension.
               
“Believe me, I don’t even understand it, friend.”
               
The hawk tipped her head curiously to the side, peering fiercely at Drake, then
flew off to find more interesting company.
               
The barrage of emotions from Nadia left Drake feeling as if the floor had been
scraped out from under him. It wasn’t often he was left standing around with
his thumb up his ass and nothing to say. Actually it was a very rare
occurrence. Usually he was able to cut through the bullshit and get to the
point. With Nadia, he couldn’t do so. He had the horrible feeling that he would
hurt her feelings if he did, so he never pushed her too far.
               
Brushing his hands through his hair he let out a growl, shook whatever tension
from his body that he could, and pushed the confusing thoughts away. He only came
out here to make sure Donavan, the ass, didn’t try something stupid. Something that might warrant Drake kicking him into the next
century. Of course that hadn’t happened, much to Drake’s dismay. But
damn, it would have been fun to take out his frustration for the dumb bastard
on the very man that caused Nadia’s pain in the first place. Just thinking of
that particular form of exercise got him all worked up again.
               
Remembering the pain, hesitation, and confusion that warred around and mixed in
her aura minutes ago was what had made him so confused. He hadn’t known whether
to console her, hug her, or leave her the hell alone. The blood inside her body
had also been at full alert, zinging around, rushing through her veins and
calling out to Drake, which told him that there was something happening here
that he wasn’t quite too sure of.
               
At first he sensed her depressed emotions, then tinges of wanting, of needing
something badly had come to the