The Drake Restrained Compete Collection: Part 1 - 4 (The Drake Series Book 7) (33 page)

I woke early the next morning and after a walk on the beach, I had a shower and met some of my colleagues for breakfast. Laurisse Marchand and I sat on the patio and spoke of previous conventions, catching up on each other’s news and current interests. My co-author for the paper I was presenting, Laurisse was there with her husband. We agreed to meet for an hour just after lunch to go over the paper once more although both of us had the final PowerPoint presentation for a week and knew our parts.

The first session started at nine and was on deep brain stimulation in pediatric movement disorders. I was considering a specialty in pediatric neurosurgery as there were few in practice with my expertise in deep brain stimulation. Working with children in Africa had given me a fondness for pediatrics and although it would mean a few more years of training, I was interested in going down that pathway. Laurisse and I worked on transitioning the procedures for pediatric patients and I was eager to enter into the new field.

Keeping busy with the conference kept my mind off Kate, but when I stopped and thought about seeing her, I felt a twinge of adrenaline, and had to stop myself from smiling too widely. Around eleven, we took a break and a group of us headed up from the convention level to our rooms, to check our email.

As we were mounting the staircase to the main floor, I glanced up and saw her.

Katherine.

Wearing a skimpy cotton sundress that displayed her delicious cleavage, and highlighted her pale skin, which was now showing signs of a light sunburn, she looked ravishing with her hair twisted up in a knot.

Our eyes met and her eyes widened, her mouth open.

"Excuse me," I said to Laurisse as I watched a rapidly retreating Ms. Bennet. "Kate!" I called after her but she didn’t stop. I turned back to Laurisse. “I’ll see you after lunch.” Laurisse had the grace not to ask me about Kate, so I followed Kate to the elevator, where she stood poking the button.

I reached out and touched her arm. "
Kate
," I said, stopping her when the elevator doors opened. "You arrived."

She turned to me and her face was flushed. "I
arrived?
"

"Yes," I said and let go of her arm. "I was expecting you."

Kate entered the elevator but if she was hoping to escape me, she was mistaken. I pressed the close button before anyone else could get on so we could be alone, then I cornered her, my arm on the elevator wall beside her head. I could barely suppress a smile.

She avoided my eyes, in her usual way. I’d have to break her of that habit when we fucked.

And we were going to fuck. At that moment, I wanted it more than anything.

"Was this all a set-up?" she whispered, frustration in her voice.

I said nothing, biting back a huge grin. She glanced up at my face cautiously. "You could call it that."

"You and my father?"

"Me and your father. He thought it might be a good idea for us to get away from it all, work through this 'difficulty' we're facing, I think he said. Of course I agreed."

Kate frowned. "What did you tell him?"

"Oh, I made something up about how you were concerned about my schedule, and how busy I was, thinking I wouldn't have time for you. That kind of thing. He bought it completely." I moved a bit closer, running my fingers over her cheeks. "You're a bit burnt. Your skin is so fair..."

"I told you we can't be together."

I leaned down and caught her eye. "You said you were doing this for my own good. I have to know what you mean by that or else I can't accept it. I'm the one who should decide what's for my own good."

"Drake this can't happen."

"
Shh
. When I told your father about a conference I had to attend and that I was
not
looking forward to it because I was worried about you, he offered to bring you here for a bit of a getaway. Of course, I thought it was a
spectacular
idea…"

When the elevator door opened, I stepped away and Kate rushed off the elevator, using her keycard to open the door to her room. She went inside and I followed. This was not going to end with me on her doorstep, her on the other side of the door. I heard her exhale as if in frustration and went to stand beside her at the large picture window.

"
Kate
…" I said, and took her shoulders in my hands, turning her to face me. "Come
here
."

She stiffened. "Who was that woman you were with?"

What? She was jealous of Laurisse? There was hope for me yet. "Her?” I said and grinned. “That's Doctor Laurisse Marchand, from Quebec. She does the same work I do and we've collaborated on a paper we're presenting. She's very happily married with kids and is a few years older than me. She also has a very dominant personality, like me. In other words, not my type, so don't even let your mind go there."

She blushed profusely and it made me want to ravish her.

"Nothing can happen between us, Drake."

I took her hand and pulled her over to the couch. I sat in the middle, and pulled her down onto my lap so that her face was just inches from mine. I wanted to remind her of that first night and how intimate we were. I wanted her to think of us fucking.

"You look absolutely ravishing. I want to ravish you."

"I'm serious,” she said, but I could hear the fight was gone from her voice. “ We have to end this. For your own good."

"Tell me how ending this would be for my own good."

"You have to trust me. Someone knows about you. Your kink. They threatened to expose you if we kept seeing each other."

"What?" I said, frowning at the thought someone wanted to expose me. "
Who?
"

She shook her head. "I can't say."

"You can't or won't say?" As much as I though Kate might be overblowing this threat, I had to play it safe with my reputation.

"Both."

I exhaled heavily. Despite this so-called threat, I wasn’t going to go gently. I wanted Kate and I was going to have her. I’d deal with whatever threat arose myself.

"Kate, I can't just end 'this' like you seem to think we have to. You're an unanswered question. You're unexplored country and I very much want to explore you. Every single
inch
of you, inside and out."

I nuzzled her neck, kissing the skin beneath her ear. My lips brushed her earlobe.

"Unless you can tell me who is threatening you so I can understand it, and agree or not, find a way around it, I am
not
giving you up,” I said. “You said you'd sign my agreement last week. I don't think anyone’s threatening you. I think you read my limits and you're afraid.” I pulled back and examined her face, trying to meet her eyes. “What was it that shocked you? Was it vaginal fisting? Anal sex? I
told
you I put those in specifically so you could strike them off and feel some degree of control."

She glanced away and I knew that she had been shocked by those items. Once more, I wished I’d shown better judgment.

"It wasn't that. I'm telling you the truth."

"Then, who is it?” I demanded. “Tell me or I won't believe you."

"Drake, I
can't
" She pulled out of my arms and stood but I followed, determined not to let her back out without a full explanation. Hell, nothing could get me to accept that she didn’t want me. She did. I could feel it in her body. I could see it in her eyes. She was afraid.

Finally, I had her pressed against the table. "Tell me, or I'll keep after you. I won't give up on you, Kate."

"Why not? Barely anything has happened between us. It would be a lot easier to end it now rather than later when we're forced to after you've been disgraced because of my carelessness."

"What about your carelessness?"

She shook her head, "I," she said, fumbling for words. "I left the agreement on my desk and someone found it."

I closed my eyes and exhaled heavily, dismayed that someone had seen it. "
Who
found it?"

"Just someone who doesn’t want me to be with you, Okay?"

"Nigel," I said, thinking he was a likely suspect. "It was Nigel, right?"

"No!" she shook her head.

"Don't protect him, Kate. I know he doesn't really approve of me."

"What do you mean? Why wouldn’t he approve of you?"

"Did he force you to stop seeing me? He knows that I'm in the lifestyle." I shook my head and then I realized I could deal with Nigel. He wouldn’t want to be exposed either. I was sure Nigel was just bluffing.

I stroked her cheek, then brushed my fingers against the tops of her breasts. "I can talk to him, assure him that I mean you no harm."

"It wasn't Nigel. Does Nigel know about you?"

"Yes."

"How does he know?"

"I can't tell you how he knows. That's private. He just knows. I thought he was okay with it, but if you're protecting him, you have to let me know. I'll have to speak with him if he's pressuring you."

“Nigel's
kinky?
" she said and frowned.

I rubbed my forehead, kicking myself for suggesting it. Kate obviously didn’t know.

"I can neither confirm nor deny that statement," I said, angry with myself and my lapse. "It's not my place to out people. I take this seriously. Kate, I've known people who've lost their jobs and their lives because of adverse publicity around BDSM. All I can say is that he knows about me. Please, just tell me who's threatening you so we can figure this out."

"I can't and we can't just figure this out,” she said, her voice firm. “This person will not back down, no matter what. This person is very morally judgmental. And irrational. If they think we're together, they will tell my father about you. Now, you'd better go.” She had this look in her eyes and sound in her voice – resignation and a hint of regret. “This can't happen."

"Who is it?" I said once more, determined to find out so I could fix things.

"It's someone who doesn’t understand BDSM. They never will. Listen, this is just too much trouble, Drake. Why are you so
insistent?
"

It wasn’t too much trouble. It wasn’t any trouble at all. Or if it was, my mind wasn’t letting me see it. "Because I
want
you."

"That doesn't
matter
."

I sighed in frustration and stood staring at her, wishing there was something I could say that would make her realize that we couldn’t let this drop. I couldn’t let this thing between us – whatever it was – end before it ever really started.

"Look, I won't touch you, if you really don't want me to,” I said and tried to catch her eye. “I promise we'll just talk."

She wasn’t having it and shook her head. "It's not that I don't want you to touch me. I
do
, God do I want you to,” she said, her voice emotional, “but you're in danger.” She looked up into my eyes, her expression earnest. “Can't you understand?"

"So you
do
want me to touch you," I said, a jolt of adrenaline surging through me. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her against my body. She had no choice but to put her arms around me or else fall into my arms.

"
Drake…
"

"Sorry, you said the operative words,” I said, pulling her even closer, leaning down so I could kiss her. “I need to finish what I started that night before we were so rudely interrupted by my cell phone alarm."

I kissed her, my lips on hers, my mouth hungry for her, my hands roving over her body as if I were a horny teenager with his first girl. I couldn’t help it – the thought that she wanted me after all, and that this wasn’t some excuse to break it off out of fear but was done out of some sense of chivalry, made me feel as if my chest would explode. My tongue found hers and I sucked it into my mouth, one hand finding her ample breast and squeezing, the other on her ass.

"
Fuck
, I need you." I pressed her down onto the table, sweeping the gift basket and chocolates onto the floor. I couldn’t get enough of her, my mouth trailing down her throat to her neck and cleavage. I pulled her sundress over her head and stood over her as she lay on the table in her tiny white bikini. Her breasts spilled out of the top and the bottom barely covered her. "God, you're
luscious
. I want to eat every inch of you."

Her cheeks were pink, her breathing fast, and I knew she was as aroused as me. No longer worried about consent, I untied her bikini top and pulled it down to expose her breasts entirely. What beautiful breasts… heavy and full, the nipples pink and hard in the cool air of the air conditioned bedroom. She must have been too long in the sun, for the start of a sunburn was evident on the tops of her breasts along the bikini line.

"You're sunburnt, you bad thing. As your doctor, I must chastise you severely for that."

Her eyes widened for a moment but then she smiled. "If you're my doctor, isn't there some kind of ethical issue with becoming involved with a patient?"

"Fuck ethics," I murmured against her skin, too aroused to be engaging in playful banter anymore. I couldn’t get enough of her breasts, squeezing and sucking her nipples one after the other, my tongue circling the areola, my lips tugging at them, teeth grazing over them softly until she groaned in pleasure, pressing her hips up against me.

I barely heard the knock at the door, my mind so focused on her luscious body, my mouth trailing down her belly and hovering over her pussy to lick her through the fabric.

Ethan
. Damn him!

"Katherine? Are you there?” came his gravelly voice. “We have reservations for lunch."

Kate immediately tensed. "Drake!" she whispered.

Finally back in the current moment, I exhaled and rested my forehead on her belly, my mouth still above her pussy.

"Fuck,
Ethan
," I whispered. "You have
horrible
timing." Then I rose up and laid on top of her, grinning. "So close and yet so far."

She smiled back and it was that smile in that moment that told me she could be my partner in crime. My
willing
partner in crime.

"Katie? Are you OK sweetie?" Ethan said through the door. "We were worried about you." He jiggled the door.