Her Druid Desire (The Amber Druid Series) Read Free Page A

needed.
    ***
     
               
Camera’s flashed and snapped. Every paparazzo was out for a surprise shot.
Drake Thompson knew better than to let one hint of unsettling emotion cross his
face. That would only invite their specific brand of torture.
               
 He pressed his arm tighter around Laura’s waist, slipped a lazy, one
sided grin on his face and pretended that this was exactly where he wanted to
be at the moment. Which was a lie. What he really
wanted was his back porch, a cold beer, and his comfortable deck chair to
lounge around in. With the sounds of wildlife that was so abundant in south
Texas, Drake could unwind and listen to nature calm him like always.
               
As for right now, he stood there obediently and mentally chanted a small spell
which would turn every picture on every frame into a blurry haze for him, a
light Amber Druid trick that he incorporated to keep people from getting a
clear view of him on camera.
               
Ten minutes later he was inside the large ballroom that was set up for a
certain animal charity tonight. The plate fees were set at two thousand a
piece, but with all the proceeds and donations going to shelters and clinics
around Texas, Drake hadn’t minded forking out the money. The place was packed,
filled to the brim with politicians, ranchers, and business folk who knew just
how important this funding could be. Drake refused to get on his soapbox. He
would rather work hard and talk less, but he knew his appearance tonight would
be remarked upon and might draw generous donations not only for his clinic, but
also for others.
               
Society was like a mistress. You needed to charm her every once in awhile,
well, a bit more often than that, and if you were nice you might get lucky
every time you stood in her presence. Drake kept that phrase in his mind when
he thought of all of the invites he received in the mail. There was no need to
attend every single one, but every so often it was needed to keep the peace, so
to speak. Drake was a business man first and foremost, so coming out and playing
polite every once in a while helped.
               
“She is an upstart bitch.”
               
The phrase was scalding and came from across the room. With his Druid ability,
the statement cut through the room like a knife with deadly accuracy. Drake
could feel the tension rise. Even with every other conversation going on at the
moment, the drone of whispers from across the room was amazingly accurate, and
Drake didn’t have to look to see where the women were sitting.
               
“I heard from Tammy the other day that she walked in on Donavan with Suzanne
Harrows. They were going at it like rabbits on his office desk in his house.
When she noticed, she ran, and no one has seen her since.”
               
“Do you blame her? I wouldn’t show my face either. Everyone knows he was only
with her for the money, and she couldn’t keep him happy one bit.” This was
whispered by another woman in the group. Drake could taste their excitement
over the juicy gossip that was being shared.
               
 “Ever since Linda Browning died a little over a year ago, Donavan had
been sniffing around the new protégé’s tail hoping against hope that she might
give in and let him inside. Well, he was let in, and was just getting his hands
all up in that particular cookie jar, when little Ms. Upstart caught onto what
he was doing.”
               
Drake continued to glance around the ballroom, make small talk with Laura and a
few other guests, but the conversation across the room was giving him more
answers than anyone else had over the past week. He usually wouldn’t take
anything they said at face value, but for some reason this particular gossip
fest felt true, especially when he knew Donavan to be an ass already.
               
The appearance of Nadia on his