by Lund, S. E.
She shook her head. “I doubt she will. She’s skittish.”
“She’s afraid. It’s understandable, given who her father is.”
My beer arrived and I took a big sip, needing the alcohol to relax me for the penetrating interrogation I knew was coming. Lara was always on my case about finding a permanent partner who could share my life as well as my kink.
“It seems as if Ms. McDermott has given up on being your new submissive, Drake. Speaking of which,” she said and nodded in the direction of a young woman sitting down the bar from us. I glanced over and saw the look that passed between Lara and the pretty young blonde. She slipped off her stool and came over, an expectant smile on her face.
“Drake, this is Kira,” Lara said, gesturing towards her. She wore a sexy black number with ample cleavage. Her wide blue eyes in combination with being on the petite side, gave her the kind of look Lara knew I was into. I had to hand it to Lara – she knew what I liked.
“Kira, this is Drake,” Lara said pointing to me. “I told you about him and thought you two might hit it off.”
I gave Lara a glare, for she didn’t warn me this was a matchmaking session, but then I tried my best to be chivalrous, considering the young woman was obviously looking for a Dom. No doubt Lara was hoping to divert my focus from Kate to someone she felt was more suitable – and available.
Problem was that I was simply not interested in anyone else. I’d kissed Kate. I’d had her naked beneath me. I’d touched her skin and had my cock inside of her – barely. There was so much I wanted to do with her, so much I wanted to try, so much I wanted her to experience. She was already mine. My task was to convince her of the fact.
I wanted Kate.
“Nice to meet you, Kira,” I said and shook her hand. “There’s been a misunderstanding. I’m not in the market right now.” I shrugged and smiled, hoping to nip this little matchmaking game in the bud before Kira became too interested.
“Drake…” Lara glared at me, her expression frustrated. “Not like you to hold a torch,” she said under her breath. Then, as if resigned, she turned to Kira, who looked embarrassed. “Let’s go, sweetie. I know a place where you might be able to meet someone who is available.” Lara turned to me. “Sorry, Drake. We have to go. You understand.”
I did understand. Lara would try to salvage the night by taking the girl to Diamant, a bar in the Upper East Side frequented by people who were active in the lifestyle. Lara would parade her around, introduce her to the Doms she knew and try to fix the young woman up with one of them.
I sighed in relief, and turned my back to the bar so I could at least watch the Nicks while I finished my beer.
I spent the next day at my office seeing patients for their pre-op appointments, post-op follow-ups and consultations.
At around three in the afternoon, I receive a call from Ethan to let me know that he, Elaine and Kate would be coming to the Bahamas for Thanksgiving Weekend.
“What did Kate say when you asked her?”
Ethan paused before he spoke. “I didn’t say anything about you being there,” he said. “I figured she’d find some excuse to back out. She needs a break and some sun. Would do her a world of good.”
“It will be great to have her there,” I said, wanting to be as up-front about my interest in Kate as possible. I needed all the help I could get.
“I’ll call you when we get in.”
“If I don’t answer, it’s because I’m in the conference. Just leave a message with the front desk. We should meet for dinner. The hotel puts on a Thanksgiving spread for all the American tourists so we could do the whole turkey dinner thing.”
“Sounds great.”
We said our goodbyes and I hung up, a huge grin on my face. Then I kicked myself mentally. Don’t get ahead of yourself, Drake. She’s not yours yet.
But I was determined to make her mine. When I was determined about something, I did everything in my power to make it happen, whether it was having a career as a surgeon, playing in a retro Brit Rock band, or seducing and winning the reluctant heart of a submissive and very shy Kate.
Ken called around five in the afternoon. I checked my calendar and saw we had a practice session at O’Riley’s that night, but it would mean a late night before my flight the next morning. I wanted to cancel but I’d be gone all weekend and we’d already cancelled several practices and a paying gig.
“Drink a can of Red Bull and meet us at ten,” Ken said when I groaned about how tired I was. “You can sleep on the beach.”
“I’m attending a conference.”
“I know what you doctors do at conferences,” Ken said and laughed. “You play golf, go to clubs to watch exotic dancers and get lap dances and drink expensive wine.”
I smiled. “I’m delivering a conference paper.”
“Yeah, cry me a river, Drake. See you at ten.”
Despite being generally exhausted after two days of surgery and a day in my office, I made it to O’Riley’s at ten that night after rushing home for a shower and bite to eat at eight. I’d just done evening rounds with my residents and would really rather have spent the night on the couch, but Ken would not be denied.
Once the evening dinner crowd had finished, we brought our instruments out of the basement and set up, using the bar dance floor as our stage for a practice session. People knew we practiced and were getting their seats at the small tables surrounding the stage. Others sat at the bar, their backs turned so they could watch.
Once we were set up, we fooled around on our instruments, tuning and getting everything set up properly, discussing amongst ourselves what we’d play first.
“How about Tell Her No by the Zombies?” Cliff said. “We haven’t played them for a while and they’re doing a North American tour.”
I nodded. My voice wasn’t as high as Colin Blundstone’s so we adjusted the key so I could avoid having to use falsetto too much. I liked Tell Her No. It was one of my father’s favorites. The song was about a woman’s betrayal and warned the listener that if a woman tells you she loves you and tempts you, you shouldn’t believe her.
Tell her no, no, no…
He’d play it when I was younger, singing along, winking at me. “Take the Zombie’s advice, Drake. Women are fickle. Quick to love and quick to hate. Don’t ever think you can trust them.”
Like everything else my father said to me, I tended to reject it out of hand. Maureen taught me just how right my father was after all.
We were a bit rusty, but after a couple of minutes of playing around, we found our rhythm and started over, playing Tell Her No completely through without stopping. A round of applause followed and we all smiled. For a group of over-the-hill wanna-be musicians, it was music to our ears.
Just as the song was ending, I looked out over the small crowd and saw Allie at a table against the far wall. It threw me, knocking me off my place and I fucked up the words to Time of the Season. Luckily there was a long coda so I was able to collect my wits before we moved into She’s Not There.
When we were finished, Ken leaned over to me. “What happened to you?”
I gestured to Allie with my head. “She happened.”
Ken glanced over to where Allie sat, a drink in her hand, her face expectant. “Ahh,” he said. “Ex girlfriend not willing to be an ex after all?”
“Something like that,” I muttered.
“Don’t let her throw you.”
I nodded to Ken and strummed my bass.
“How about we play some American music for a change,” Ken said to the others. “The Turtles.”
I didn’t really care what we played, distracted by Allie’s presence. I wondered why she’d come to one of our practice sessions. Did Lara send her?
We played You Showed Me, Eleanor and then Happy Together. It was in the middle of Happy Together that I thought the song choices weren’t the best, given my ex-submissive was sitting in the audience and was obviously not over the relationship.
The crowd
applauded when we were finished, and after we took a bow, I put my bass down and left the stage, determined to confront Allie and settle things once and for all.
“Allie,” I said when I sat across from her. “I’m surprised to see you here.”
“Are you really?” she said and I could already see she was upset by the way her mouth turned down. Her eyes sparkled in the dim light of the bar. “Are you already over me? Was coming here once really such a crime?”
I sighed. “Allie, I told you right from the start that I don’t do girlfriends. I don’t do sleepovers. I don’t do breakfast in bed. I fuck. Period. You knew my terms. You were the one to break them.”
“Can’t we try again? Lara said you haven’t found a new sub yet. I haven’t found a Dom. I promise I won’t push. Just sex.”
“You came here tonight, I said and shook my head. “You should have let Lara contact me. Besides, Lara’s wrong about that. I have found someone new.”
Allie frowned. “Lara said she broke it off.”
“No, she didn’t. Things are just…” I hesitated. Was I fooling myself? Kate had broken it off. She wasn’t answering my texts or answering my calls. “Things are just complicated. I’m not in the market, Allie. I’m sorry.”
“Give me back my fucking key, then,” she said, frowning, real tears in her eyes.
“I don’t have your key.”
“I left it here that night. I thought you’d at least drop it off, but you’re so selfish and self-centered you didn’t even think to do that.”
Then I remembered that Allie had left her key on the table when we broke up.
“Hold on a minute,” I said and went over to the bar where Chris was bartending. “Did you find a key on a keychain a couple of weeks ago?”
“Let me check,” Chris said and bent down, rustling through a box. He pulled out the key to Allie’s apartment and plopped it down on the bar. “This it?”
I nodded and took the key chain. “Thanks.”
I went back to where Allie was and placed it on the table in front of her.
“I’m sorry you’re so upset, but things didn’t work out with us, Allie. Both of us have to move on.”
She looked up at me, tears in her eyes, a determined set to her mouth. “Eight months for nothing.” She grabbed the keychain and left, bumping into me hard as she rushed by.
I went back to the stage where Ken and the other guys were dismantling things.
“That looked rather unpleasant,” Ken said, his voice low.
“Tell me about it,” I said and helped carry the large amp out the back to the basement.
Very unpleasant. I sure hoped to see Kate tomorrow so we could hash things out. Seeing Allie reminded me that something was missing in my life. There was a hole, gaping, where bondage and dominance, sex and pleasure was supposed to be.
I wanted Kate to fill that gap.
Badly.
CHAPTER TWO
My flight to the Bahamas was quiet and as I sat in first class, alone by the window, I read over my paper one last time, checking the tables in the PowerPoint presentation. I had a day to rest before the conference was scheduled to start and I planned to get some sun, catch up on sleep and take it as easy as I could, considering I’d been working straight for almost a year without a vacation.
I took a limo to the hotel in Nassau, located on the northern coast. A beautiful old colonial building built during the British colonial era as the name suggested, the hotel was grand and luxurious. After checking in and unpacking my bags, I changed into some casual slacks and a white linen shirt, open at the collar, rolled up at the cuffs and went for a walk along the beach. The sand was sugar-white, the surf gentle, and the water azure blue. I rolled up my slacks to the knee and waded in when I grew too heated from the intense sun, and then splashed along the shore, enjoying having absolutely nothing to do but wait until seven for dinner.
I made my way back to the hotel after about an hour, and into the lounge, sitting at the huge mahogany bar surrounded by dark wood, glass and crystal, and had a vodka tonic with a lime wedge. It was refreshing after my time on the beach. While I was sitting nursing my drink, a very attractive and very well-dressed woman in her twenties leaned against the bar two stools down from me. Dark hair and dark eyes, tanned skin, she was exotic and beautiful in a white dress with a frilly low-cut neckline and short skirt. She ordered a drink and glanced my way, smiling when she caught my eye.
A working girl.
She sipped her drink and then took the stool next to me at the bar.
“Hello,” she said in a husky voice. “You look like you’re new here.”
“Why is that?”
She pointed to my face. “Sunburn. Gives it away every time.”
I laughed and took a sip of my drink, wanting to see how this played out.
“So,” she said and leaned closer, displaying her décolletage. “You in for the neurosurgery convention?”
“I am,” I said, and took another sip.
“Neurosurgeon, huh?”
“That would be why I’m attending the neurosurgery convention.” I smiled at her. “I don’t pay for it, sweetheart. Sorry.”
She shrugged. “For you, I’d be tempted to give it away.”
I shook my head and swirled my drink with the swizzle stick. “I’m meeting my new lady here, so I’m not looking for a hookup either.”
“Shame,” she said and licked her lips. “Like I say, I’d give it away for a piece of that.” She glanced down my body, a feral smile on her face.
Then she sighed and looked around. “Any of your single physician friends here I could meet, maybe party with?”
I glanced around the bar but didn’t see anyone I knew. “I’m here a bit early. The rest will be coming later tonight or tomorrow morning for the first sessions.”
“Keep me in mind if any of your colleagues need an escort.”
“I will,” I said, although finding hookers for fellow doctors was not on my list of skills.
She wandered off, eyeing the other patrons for a likely target.
I moved to the patio for dinner, and sat under a crisp blue and white umbrella at a small table overlooking the beach and enjoyed a feast of fresh seafood and a bottle of very good chardonnay. The breeze was warm, the sunset beautiful, and I was ready for a good night’s sleep by the time nine o’clock rolled around. After a quick shower, I stood at the window in my room and watched the harbor lights while I listened to the news on cable. The world seemed so far away. All the pressures of my practice, the work of the foundation and my father’s company, and my band were forgotten. I felt lighter, refreshed by the bright sun and warm salty air.
My cell dinged and I checked. An email from Ethan. They would be arriving late that night but would see me tomorrow for lunch before the afternoon session.
Kate was coming and when I read the news, a surge of adrenaline flowed through me. She knew nothing of my presence at the hotel and I wondered how she’d respond. Probably not well at first, but I was lucky to have Ethan on my side.
I felt only a tiny bit guilty that Ethan and I were ambushing her this way, but I was sure after a while, she’d accept it and she and I would have a little chat about her needing to protect me.
Was it something to do with public knowledge of me being in the lifestyle? That was the only thing I could think of that she would have to protect me from.
Unable to keep my eyes open any longer, I shut off the lights and lay in bed, the windows open to admit the breeze. I could have turned on the air conditioning, but I wanted to smell the salt air while I slept. Luckily, the weather wasn’t too hot and I fell asleep to the sounds of a ship’s horn in the distance, the lovely Katherine on my mind.
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 pr
esenting, 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.
