Free Druid Temptation (A Druid Quest Novel Book 2) by Stacey Brutger

enslaved by others in order to use their powers for their own gain.
    If the Watchers ever caught up with her, not even Gabriel would be able to protect her.
    Determined to catch up with him and tell him she’d changed her mind, Diana launched to her feet and rushed out into the hall.
    Only to find the entryway completely empty.
    Gabriel had vanished.
    Diana stared at the front door and stopped dead, unable to step over the threshold. She pressed her hand flat on the surface, hating the longing Gabriel provoked, desperately wanting everything he offered…so much that she couldn’t bring herself to leave without at least trying.
    Her conscience twinged.
    Even if she wanted to chase after Gabriel, the threat of Williams halted her.
    She was trapped.

Chapter 5
    G abriel stood outside his study , his heart thundering as he stared at the door.
    One second.
    Two.
    When Diana didn’t race after him, a huge grin split his face, and he was able to breathe for the first time since he left the study.
    Before she could change her mind, Gabriel whirled and raced upstairs, taking the steps two at a time. He thrust open the door to his room and headed straight for his desk. His fingers shook with nerves, making him clumsy as he rifled through his personal correspondence, but came up empty. Panic burned in his gut.
    He couldn’t have tossed it out.
    Gabriel plopped in his chair and tugged open the drawer, digging until he reached the bottom, his chest growing tight, when he finally spotted the faded envelope tucked in back.
    Ignoring the mess he created, he carefully removed the envelope, and swept the rest of the papers into the drawer without bothering to sort them.
    He sat back, placed the letter in the center of his desk and opened it carefully.
    A special license stared up at him, his name and title scribbled boldly on the appropriate line, the date and the space next to his name glaringly empty.
    After his wife died, he’d given up on marriage. He didn’t attend routs or balls, remaining practically a recluse while he raised his daughter. The license was a not-so-subtle gift from his great uncle on the one-year anniversary of his wife’s death. The bishop had declared that men in their family didn’t do well alone. Gabriel accepted the gift with a shudder, never wanting to go through the hell of marriage again, but the disappointment in his uncle’s eyes held him back from his first inclination, which was to burn the license.
    By rights, the thought of marrying again should horrify him. He’d spoken the truth when he said he never expected to remarry, but standing next to Diana and defending her had felt right. She exuded a calmness that eased his usual awkwardness around women.
    Her existence rattled his predictable life.
    Solitude no longer felt comforting, but incredibly lonely.
    Her presence forcibly reminded him that he actually had enjoyed women once upon a time. He missed their softness, their scent, not to mention their delectable shape.
    Her hand on his knee nearly sent him over the edge.
    Though he regretted the prospect of delaying the consummation, he needed time to gain control of himself first. But that wasn’t the only reason. He needed to practice touching her until it came naturally; he was determined to ease her gently into the prospect of deeper intimacies.
    He wanted her to crave his touch.
    He would not have her come to think of sex as a wifely chore.
    He wanted the closeness of a true married couple, and he was determined to have that with her.
    If he had to put off consummating their vows to get her to agree to marry him, then he would submit to her will.
    For now.
    Despite his best intentions, his cock hardened at the image of her naked beneath him, and part of him cursed himself for being a gentleman and waiting.
    What threw him off-kilter was his name meant nothing to her. She wasn’t marrying him for his wealth or status. If he had to guess, if she knew the true extent of his wealth and power, she