The Drake Restrained Compete Collection: Part 1 - 4 (The Drake Series Book 7) (35 page)

"Maybe you should take the top off so you can cool off," I said. She tried to pull the arms off but the suit was too tight around her bust, the zipper not down far enough.

"
Goddammit
," I said, frustration building. Kate held the top of the suit and I pulled and jerked  the zipper but had no luck.

"I'm feeling a bit faint," Kate said, the sweat now running down her neck and face.

"
Christ
," I said, examining her. "We have to cut you out of this –
now
."

We found a small pair of scissors in one of the desk drawers, but they were more suited to cutting fingernails than a rubber wetsuit.  Luckily, the instructor found a box cutter in his tool box, which I used to cut around the zipper and down to Kate’s crotch, peeling the suit off her, her body slick with sweat. She was faint and her knees gave out so we had to lay her down on a bench and cool her off with bottled water from a cooler. The instructor pointed a fan at her and soon, Kate started to cool down, her heart rate slowing from its rapid pace. She lay practically naked, dressed only in flesh-colored sheer panties and bra, both of which were soaked and left nothing to the imagination. Her pubic hair and nipples were visible through the sheer wet lace.

I fanned her with a magazine and pressed a wet cloth against her forehead and soon she came around. When she sat up, concerned about her state of undress, I knew she was better. A really sick patient is oblivious to how they appear.

When I was certain the danger had passed, I helped Kate sit up and rest for a moment, wanting to ensure she didn’t faint when she stood up. The instructor brought her a bottle of fruit juice and some ice-cold water and soon, she was feeling better. I helped her with her sundress, lifting it over her head to cover her wet bra and panties and then we left just in time for the next crew of divers.

The limo was waiting for us and so we returned to the hotel. I held onto Kate as we drove up the coast and back to the hotel on the bay.

"You scared me," I said, running my fingers through her hair. "You were overheating and could have developed hyperthermia if we hadn’t gotten you out of the suit. Plus, you have quite a sunburn."

"I'm just glad it's over,” she said and sighed. “I thought I was going to faint."

"You almost did."

I lifted her chin with a finger and kissed her softly, glad that I was there to care for her and glad that nothing came of the mishap with the old rubber wetsuit.

Once we were back in the hotel, she yawned and wrapped her arms around herself as if chilled. "I feel really tired," she said. I took her back to her room, knocking on the door to Ethan’s room to let them know we had returned. They came right in, just as I was getting Kate onto the bed, comfortably propped up with pillows and a blanket. Ethan went right over to her, after unlocking the adjoining door which connected both rooms.

"What took you so long?" he said.

"We had trouble with the suit and had to cut Kate out of it. She overheated a bit."

"Is she OK?" he said, his bull-dog face concerned, his brow knit.

I nodded. "She just needs to rest. Get some more fluids into her."

Ethan sat on the bed beside Kate. "Maybe you should stay in your room for dinner. Drake can order something in for you. They could send up some turkey and fixings."

Kate smiled faintly and nodded. "I'll just stay here and watch TV."

I put my hand on Ethan’s arm. "I'll make sure she's all right. She needs to just rest. We can order something from room service when she gets hungry. You two go ahead."

Ethan and Elaine kissed Kate on the cheek and then left us alone.

"I'm hungry," I said, checking out the menu. "What would you like to eat? Do you really want turkey? Or something local, fresh?"

Kate shook her head. "Whatever you want. I'm just going to close my eyes for a bit."

I called room service, speaking quietly because Kate was starting to drift off, her eyes closing. When I was finished ordering our meal, I sat beside her on the bed and took her wrist to check her pulse. It was fine, slow and steady. I leaned down and kissed her forehead.

"Just rest a bit. I'll watch some headlines."

I stretched out on the bed beside her and turned on the television, switching channels until I found the international news. Beside me, Kate closed her eyes. The afternoon hadn’t turned out quite the way I hoped, but I was glad to be there with her.

After a while, I grew sleepy myself and so I turned down the volume to the television and snuggled down behind Kate, who lay on her side with her folded hands tucked under her cheek. She looked so sweet and vulnerable, lying there in her pretty sundress, her skin slightly burnt, her hair fanned out on the pillow like satin. I carefully pressed up against her, spooning my body next to hers, one hand gingerly slipping around her waist and sliding up beneath her breast where I could check her apical pulse if I wanted. It also provided me with a nice handful of her breast. We lay like this for some time, but after about half an hour, she rolled over onto her back and I adjusted my position, all warm and comfortable. I kept my hand on her breast.

"You like keeping your hand there?" she said and smiled.

"I was just taking your pulse, making sure you were okay."

"Yeah,
right
…" she said, grinning up at me.

"Seriously," I said, trying to keep a smile off my face but failing. "You overheated. I wanted to make sure you were all right. I was feeling your apical pulse, just under your left breast." I tried to sound official, but I was bluffing. Of course, I felt her pulse once but it was fine and there was little chance that she’d decompensate at this point. I was enjoying the chance to feel her delicious breast.

"Oh," she said, her cheek pink. "I didn't realize doctors did that."

I couldn’t resist her – she was so earnest. I leaned in and nuzzled her neck, pressing my nose against the skin beneath her ear so I could inhale her scent. "No, you sweet thing, I was just kidding. I just like squeezing your lovely breast. But I did also feel your pulse and it was perfect. I
could
have felt it here," I said, slipping my hand down her body from her pubic mound to her inner thigh. "It's called the femoral pulse, but I thought that might be a bit dangerous…"

Of course, it was then that room service showed up with three quick knocks on the door. "That's room service with our meal."

I jumped up and opened the door to admit a waiter wheeling in a cart covered in white linen, with several dishes covered with metal domes to keep the food warm. I signed for the bill and gave the waiter a tip. When we were alone, I lifted the domes and examined the food.

"What did you order?" Kate asked from the bed.

"Fresh fish and vegetables, some salad,” I said, inspecting the food. “Not much of a turkey man. Hope you're hungry, because I sure am."

Kate sat upright, watching as I arranged the table, setting out the dishes and pulling the chairs into proper position.

"Come," I said, motioning to the food. "You need some food in you, get your blood sugar up. I'm going to keep you busy tonight and you need your strength."

Kate smiled at that. "You have it all planned out?"

"You know it."

I pulled a chair out and motioned to Kate to join me. She smoothed her hair and dress and then did, taking the seat to my left. Then, I began to feed Kate her meal, wanting to continue looking after her needs while she recovered from her ordeal at the diving club.

"Do you always feed your subs?" she asked, tilting her head to the side while she watched me cut up the fish.

"I don't usually eat meals with my subs,” I said, holding out the fork. “But I enjoy looking after them."

"Why?" she asked as I spooned some rice pilaf into her mouth. She chewed for a moment. "Why don't you eat with them?"

"The relationship is just about sex."

"Eating is too personal?"

I nodded. "But I like taking care of a sub's needs.
All
of them. It also reinforces my dominance, which is necessary for submission to work. A sub needs to feel totally cared for, totally safe and cherished if she's going to submit completely. That,” I said and examined her as I fed her some more fish. “Your complete submission is what I want."

She let me feed her and seemed to enjoy it as much as I was.

"Have you figured out why you want a woman's complete submission?" she asked while I served myself a plate and sampled the fish. "I imagine, given your training, you'd have some theories..."

I shrugged and cut up some fish, then held the fork up to her mouth. "I need control. I
love
having a woman completely under my control."

"What does that control give you?"

I considered for a moment. Having thought about my interest in D/s a great deal over the years, I thought I had myself figured out.

"When she's tied up completely, willingly, waiting for me to do what I want to her, I am," I said and paused, taking in a deep breath. "Completely
satisfied
. It also makes me incredibly hard. Hearing her moans of pleasure, seeing her response to my touch, my words? Nothing else can get me off as well. But it's that she
wants
it, that she
chooses
it, that she trusts me completely to have her under my control that gets me off."

She nodded. "Lara said she taught you to top someone. You can't get off if the woman takes control?"

I chewed my food for a moment. How to phrase my response? I didn’t want Kate to see me as anything but dominant, and telling the story of Lara teaching me to be a Dom might make her question the strength of my need for it.

"I can, and did when Lara topped me. I actually tried out pain, but it did nothing for me personally, either giving or receiving. Lara even got me subs who were painsluts to see if I enjoyed it, but it did nothing for me.” I shook my head, remembering. Administering pain never worked for me because while I could work my mind around D/s and the need for power exchange as part of desire, pain was like a black hole to me. I couldn’t see into it enough to understand. I always avoided pain with my patients. I treated them for intractable pain. It wasn’t something that signaled success to me as a surgeon. Quite the opposite.

“I always felt bad for damaging such lovely flesh. A surgeon is used to cutting into the body, but it’s always to heal, fix, improve. We create wounds, yes, but the patient never feels pain while we do it and we pride ourselves on a patient who experiences the least pain possible post-op. I'm curious about sadists and masochists, but in an entirely clinical way, not sexual."

I looked at Kate pointedly. "You don't have to worry. There isn't a sadist hiding inside of me, waiting to get out. I had ample opportunity to see if there was, and no."

"I'm not worried."

"Good. Don’t
ever
be."

Kate sighed heavily, and I knew then that something was bothering her still. "What was that sigh about?"

She shook her head. "I just wish this person could understand, Drake. I can't see that they ever will. They had a very traumatic experience and that's made them unable to understand. You and I? We can want each other and be good for each other, satisfy each other's kinks, but this will always be dangerous for you. You have to really think seriously about this. We'll have to really be extremely careful if we carry on when we get back to Manhattan."

"
If
we carry on?” I said, the thought we wouldn’t making me upset. “You mean,
when
we carry on back in Manhattan.” I leaned down to her, fixing my gaze on her. “I'm not giving up on you that easily. I have yet to plumb your depths, Kate. I want to plumb them. See how deep you go."

She smiled softly at that, and then glanced away.

After we finished our meal, I felt a need to get outside. "Let's go for a walk along the beach now that the sun is down."

We went out of the hotel to the beach and walked along, hand in hand. It was really nice, comfortable and I felt as if Kate’s previous reluctance to become involved with me was fading. It felt as if she was starting to trust me. To feel relaxed with me.

“Tell me about your band,” she said, glancing up at me when we reached a break wall and had to stop.

"Just a bunch of guys from college," I said, my arm around her shoulder. "We started to play during our Junior year and never stopped. We found our niche and even though we're older than most bands, we enjoy playing."

"I'd like to hear you some day,” she said quietly, “or is that also off-limits for your subs?"

I said nothing for a moment, watching the ocean as we stood in an embrace. I didn’t like my subs to come to my performances. I didn’t like them to be part of my life at all, except sexually. Although I felt more for Kate than I had for my other subs, and had let her more deeply into my life than I usually would, I held back.

"You may not like our music."

"Retro-psychedelic rock?" Kate said, and I could tell from the sound of her voice that my answer hurt her feelings. She forced a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. "British Invasion? I heard you talking to my dad at the concert. I like some of it. I've heard my father play it before on those Oldie Goldie satellite radio stations. I don't have to hear you play, if it makes you uncomfortable."

 Her response told me everything I needed to know. If I let her in more deeply, she’d want more. Despite the fact I wanted her badly, I wasn’t sure that I could give it. I was horrible with relationships.

"I tend to keep things separated. The different parts of my life don't intermingle, Kate."

"I know. I'm sorry. I won't expect anything."

We walked along in silence and I knew I’d blown the evening with my response, but I didn’t want to encourage Kate to expect anything more than I could give. I was great at sex. I was terrible at love.

I stopped her and pulled her into my arms, not wanting to bruise her delicate heart. "Lovely
Katherine
," I said and stroked her cheek. "I've already gone off my usual routine with you, broken my own rules. Let's play things by ear, okay?"