by Lund, S. E.
Katherine, I received your agreement and will read it over. We can discuss when we meet.
Drake
All week, I kept busy with work, waiting for Kate to contact me so we could do her interviews. On Friday while I was dictating notes after a surgery, I received a text from her:
Why don't you send me your schedule so we can set up some dates to meet next week and discuss the lifestyle. We can discuss the agreement at that time. I'm pretty free for the next couple of weeks with the exception of Monday and so I'd like to get started with the interviews.
I texted her back right away, wondering what she was doing on Monday. I had Wednesday off and Friday and had a practice session with the band on Monday, but I was curious. What could she be doing on a Monday night?
I'm pretty busy all week with my surgical slate and personal commitments… What are you doing on Monday night? What time are you done? I could make a late meal at a restaurant, if you're free after 10 PM.
She texted me right back.
I'm going to Carnegie Hall with my father and his wife.
I quickly Googled Carnegie Hall’s schedule and saw it was a special Veteran’s Day performance. I had to take her. I’d rearrange my schedule, tell the guys we had to change our practice session to Tuesday instead.
I want to take you.
There was a very pregnant pause and I tapped my foot, waiting for her response. I was that close…
We could meet after. I don't know if I'm ready to start the whole 'dating' ruse yet…
What difference would it make to meet after the concert? A date for coffee was still a date but I wanted to go with her. I wanted to see how she responded to music, and share something that was important to both our fathers. She didn’t want it to be an official date, but there were ways around that.
We could meet there by accident during intermission. I could invite you out for a late meal. I'm sure your father would be pleased. We could start the whole interview process.
When she didn’t respond right away, I sent another text in the hopes of assuaging any concerns she had and prevent her from outright declining.
I'll have you home by midnight as I have surgery early in the morning. No funny business. Scout's Honor…
Finally, after a few minutes of delay, she texted me back.
I'll go for coffee and dessert with you but this is a special family event. We always have a family dinner before the concert.
Then I had a brilliant idea – I’d take her out for dinner to my favorite restaurant after the performance. Coffee and dessert was nice but I wanted to pull out all the stops with her. If we went to the Russian Tea Room, she’d be on my turf, in my comfort zone while she’d be in unfamiliar territory. I would be in complete control, thus beginning my seduction of her as my submissive.
Can you hold off eating and join me at The Russian Tea Room? I feel like some Pelmeni and blini. Have you been and tried their blini? To die for. I would love company.
Quite a few moments passed and I waited to see if she would agree. If she did, it was game over for the delightfully reticent Ms. Bennet. She’d be mine if I could get her to go out for a late meal with me. I’d ply her with vodka and hand-feed her rich food. I’d sit close to her and look deeply into her eyes, treating her like a princess. She’d be eating out of my hand, literally and figuratively. Getting her to invite me back to her apartment would be all the easier if I could feed her. I’d know at the first forkful of food I scooped into her mouth.
Finally, she texted back.
My father is very rigid about these things but I told him you invited me to go for a meal after the concert and he said I could miss our usual family dinner. Boy, does he like you… If he only knew…
I texted right back, wanting to keep the momentum of her acceptance going before she gathered enough courage to stop me.
He doesn’t know and I want things to stay that way. I don't want him finding out about my… pastimes. Just keep that in mind when you worry that I'll push your boundaries. I won't.
She was fast to respond:
I'll hold you to that. Good afternoon.
Success.
Adrenaline surged through me at that and I couldn’t resist.
I'll meet you in the lobby during intermission. Until then, Ms. Bennet…
She was falling, and it was only a matter of time before she was tied up to the headboard of my bed, crying out my name.
CHAPTER FOUR
On Thursday, I was at the club working out when I ran into Ethan once more. The fact we both were members had been a godsend with Kate.
“There you are, my boy,” he said in his gravelly voice. “I hope Katherine invited you to sit with us in our box seats.”
I smiled at Ethan and to myself, for imagine my surprise to learn Ethan asked her to invite me to sit with them for the entire performance. The better angels of my nature told me to be good and ‘find’ her at intermission. The lesser angels won out easily. I was only too happy to accept Ethan’s gracious invitation and would especially enjoy Kate’s face when she saw me walk up and sit right beside her.
“I was planning on joining you at intermission, but I was able to rearrange my practice session with Mersey until another day so I’m free.”
It was a lie, but that could be easily made true. I’d call Ken later and ask if we could practice on Tuesday instead. It would be no problem as we occasionally changed dates depending on people’s schedules.
Ethan clapped his hand on my back and we said our goodbyes. Monday evening couldn’t come fast enough.
My weekend went slowly, especially now that Kate was going out with me on Monday. Despite being busy with the band, and having a monthly general meeting of the local chapter of Doctors Without Borders to attend on Sunday afternoon, time seemed to drag. I was eager to see Kate and so my usual weekend pursuits seemed tedious. They were events to get through, not to enjoy.
I was sitting with my fellow band members after Sunday dinner with the O’Riley’s when the subject of my love life – or lack thereof – came up as it usually did.
The pub closed early on Sunday and each week, we were all invited for dinner. Everyone, from the cooks to the waitresses and waiters, as well as our band members, had a standing invitation and for a few hours, the pub was taken over for a sit-down meal. I didn’t always attend, but I needed a distraction. After we finished eating, I sat with the other band members enjoying a drink in the deserted bar, when Mrs. O’Riley leaned on the back of her son’s chair and peered at me pointedly.
“So when are you going to settle down, Drake?” she said, patting her son on the shoulder. “My other boys are always bringing their wives and children here for Sunday dinner, but you’re always alone. If anyone should be married, it should be you. Don’t tell me you’re afraid to walk down the aisle again?”
I smiled. With Mrs. O, the talk usually turned to my bachelorhood. She couldn’t stand the thought that one of her ‘boys’ was single – especially not a doctor. She saw it as an affront to the female species.
“Once bitten, twice shy?” I said, finishing my beer so I could escape any further grilling.
“You? Shy?” she said, scoffing. “You’re the great brain surgeon. Handsome. Rich. Accomplished. I’m surprised some society gal hasn’t snapped you up. What’s wrong with you?”
She said it only half in jest. I knew she worried about me, but frankly, I wasn’t used to having women concerned with my well-being. My mother abandoned me. My wife left me.
Only my submissives seemed to actually want me.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me, Mrs. O,” I said and shrugged. “No one has captured my heart yet.” I placed my hand over my heart and made a face of sorrow.
The guys all laughed at that.
“He has too many women to choose from. Why only have one?” Ken said, punching me lightly on the shoulder. “He dates college girls who only want to party. But Drake’s getting old. Soon, he won’t be able to keep up.”
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“Someone will catch you,” Mrs. O said, nodding as if she’d made a decision. “Take it from me, Drake. Life’s awfully lonely when you’re single and old. You can only fill your day up so full with work and the band.” She had only recently lost her husband of thirty years to a heart attack, so she must have been feeling her widowhood particularly hard that night.
“I have a busy practice. I have the company,” I said, forcing a smile. “I have the Foundation. The band. I keep really busy. I’m not lonely, so don’t worry about me.”
Mrs. O pointed at me and squinted. “You find someone. Don’t die alone.”
She walked off, and the other guys all glanced at me for my response. I stayed steadfast in my silence.
“No new girlfriend?” Johnny asked. “You and your last girl broke up. Nothing new on the horizon?”
“As a matter of fact, I’m seeing someone new.” I didn’t say anything more, but I couldn’t keep a huge smile off my face.
“Uh, oh,” Ken said, grinning like a mad man, cuffing the back of my head. “That smile betrays you, my single but soon-to-be attached friend. Tell us all about her.”
“It’s not really a date,” I said, trying to downplay it, but my gut told me I was more excited about seeing Kate than I let on. “I’m meeting her and her parents at Carnegie Hall for a concert tomorrow.”
“Holy crap – her parents? Why haven’t we heard about her?” Ken said, making a face of mock anger. “That’s huge!”
I shook my head. “It’s nothing serious. Just the daughter of a family friend.” I took a drink and avoided Ken’s eyes, not wanting to see the huge grin on his mug.
“What’s her name?” Cliff asked, leaning forward expectantly.
“Kate,” I said, putting my empty beer glass down. “And that’s all I’m telling you bastards.”
“Come on,” he added. “How old is she?”
“Is she pretty?” Johnny chimed in. “What color is her hair?”
“What does she do for a living?” Ken added.
I laughed at their exuberance. “Twenty-four, beautiful, chestnut brown, journalism grad student, nice rack.” I stood up, trying to escape the inevitable twenty-questions. “And that’s really all I’m saying.
They all laughed and protested when I started to walk away.
“Have you nailed her yet?” Cliff asked, his face poker straight.
I frowned. “Have I nailed her yet? Jesus. Are you in high school?”
They all laughed uproariously at me and for a moment I was pissed, but then I saw the shit-eating grin on Ken’s face. “He really likes this Kate woman. Could she possibly be ‘the one’?”
The others nodded, not even trying to hide their amusement.
“The one to haul in the big fish.”
“Seriously, I have to go,” I said when Ken grabbed my arm to stop me. “I have early surgery in the morning.”
“One of these days, Drake will realize the emptiness of all that free sex, medicine and rock’n’roll. He’ll succumb like the rest of us,” Ken said, releasing my arm and holding up a glass to everyone. “Let’s toast the impeding end to Drake’s bachelor days.”
The guys all laughed at that and toasted me, raised their glasses as well, but I was pretty much convinced that I’d die a bachelor. Marriage and family were not in my cards.
On my way out of the pub, I walked by Mrs. O’s office, where she sat sorting through the night’s receipts.
“Drake,” she said as I passed. I stopped and leaned into the office. She glanced at me over her reading glasses. “I hope you didn’t take what I said the wrong way.”
I bent down and kissed her on the cheek. “Not at all. I know you’re only being motherly. I was married. I didn’t do a very good job at it. Don’t worry about me.”
“What happened?” she said, although we’d spoken of my divorce before. She couldn’t seem to get her head around the idea that my ex-wife, or any woman, would reject me.
I shrugged, not willing to get into it again at that late hour. “It didn’t suit my temperament.”
She nodded. “You were younger. Just a boy. You’re a man now. You’ll find someone.”
I smiled and pecked her cheek once more before leaving.
Monday passed quickly, and I was glad to have a full slate of surgeries for the day. It kept my mind off Kate and the concert. I had some time to kill at lunch, and it was only then that I thought about the night and how I’d approach her.
Kate was the proverbial good girl who tried to please her father, obey the rules, and make people happy. It was obviously not making her happy and she felt oppressed by her own obedience and yet unable to break out of the mold. She wanted freedom, but was afraid of it as well. She was also uptight sexually, but had an undeniable attraction to BDSM and the idea of sexual submission. If it didn’t appeal to her on some primal level, she would have never even considered it for a research topic. That was an excuse to indulge her fantasies.
As much as she balked at being under her father’s thumb, she craved submission to someone strong. She wanted personal freedom but at the same time, someone strong who knew what he was doing sexually. That’s why she wanted to interview a Dominant. She wanted to see what it would be like to be with a man who was in complete control – who wasn’t her father. Someone who made her feel secure and protected but who controlled her sexually.
Lara was right.
I was perfect for her.
After my day was done at New York Presbyterian, I went to my apartment and showered, changed into a suit of slate grey with a white shirt and black tie. One last buff of my shoes to remove the dust and I was off to Carnegie Hall to listen to the concert. I arrived just before the start of the concert so Kate would have little time to respond to my presence. I’d show up and sit down beside her and that would be that. No protests. No escape.
I wouldn’t put it past her to run, given her history with me. She couldn’t run tonight. I knew I had Ethan on my side.
I found my way to Ethan’s box and slipped through the door, catching Kate’s eye immediately. In contrast to Kate’s glare, Ethan smiled, and reached out to shake my hand.
"There you are, my boy. So glad you could make it. Come and join us!"
Kate frowned. "Drake…"
Kate looked … beautiful. I tried not to leer at the delicious amount of cleavage showing from under the low neckline of her dress as I stood over her but I couldn’t help myself. I pulled my eyes away only when I had to, focusing instead on her hair, which was up in a loose up-do with tendrils falling around her neck, and then her lips, which were red and slightly pouty.
I had the crazy urge to kiss her, pulling her into my arms and damn discretion.
Ethan was gracious, as usual, and took a seat farther away so I could take the empty one beside Kate. The look on her face… It was priceless. Shock. Confusion. I smiled and took her hand, leaning down to kiss her cheek.
"I ran into your father at the health club and when he asked me if I was joining you, I told him I was able to rearrange my jam session with my band to another night and was pleased to keep you company."
"Oh," she murmured. "That's … good to know."
I said hello to Elaine, commented on her dress and then sat beside Kate, enjoying that I’d completely thrown her off balance. That was key – she had to be kept off balance so I could retain control over her and the situation. If she felt too in control, she might just shut things down between us. I would not accept that.
I leaned in close to her, breathing in her perfume, the scent intoxicating.
"Don't sound so pleased to see me. Nice move, by the way, forgetting to invite me to sit in your box as your father asked," I said, my lips hovering over her cheek. I fought my urge to kiss her there and then and almost gave in, but Ethan turned to me and began asking me questions about Mersey. I answered, keeping half my attention on Kate as she sat in silence beside me. Petulant silence, a frown over her beautiful eyes.
Ethan sh
owed me his opera glasses and I pulled out mine, which I found in my father’s belongings after he died. I remembered them at the last minute and brought them with me so I could watch the performance.
Kate was completely shut off. She sat rigid, her hands folded in her lap, twisting the program in her hands nervously.
Finally, she leaned over to me, avoiding my eyes. "I consider this pushing my limits."
I smiled and leaned down to her. "I'm a good Dom, Kate," I whispered, my arm slipping over the back of her chair. "We push our sub's limits. It's the only way they experience anything new or as intensely as they could because they're too afraid on their own."
"You said you'd honor the agreement to the letter."
"It hasn't taken effect yet. Not until November 15th, if I recall correctly. This is just me being who I am."
She sat back and frowned even more deeply. If she thought she’d convince me to leave, she was sadly mistaken. I was here for the duration.
"This is a special event for me," she said, her voice low. "I don't want you here."
"What do you mean?"
"Why don't you ask my father?"
It was my turn to frown. I leaned over to Ethan. "Kate said this is a special night for her."
"Oh, yes, that's right. Katherine used to go with her mother each year to hear this performed. Symphony No. 3 by Gorecki. About the Holocaust. Lost some family on her mother's side in the camps. Isn't that right, dear?" he said and smiled at Kate. "Katherine and her mother used to cry like babies when they listened to it."
