by S. E. Lund
“So good to see you again, dear,” she said. “And congratulations on the great news! A little girl? Sophia Marie, or so Drake told us.”
“Thank you,” I said, feeling awkward as the center of attention. “Yes,” I said. “Sophia, after my mother and great aunt.”
Soon, I had Ken, Sarah and Mrs. O standing in a semi circle asking me about how I was feeling, when I was due and a dozen other questions.
“I hear your due date is in August,” Mrs. O’Riley said.
“Yes,” I said and smiled. “August 27th or thereabouts.”
Drake stepped in between us and turned to them. “Don’t pester the poor girl. Now, let her be or she won’t be coming back again, for fear of getting ambushed.”
Drake gathered them all up and pushed Ken towards the stage.
Before she left, Mrs. O’Riley winked at me. “Come for Sunday dinner, Kate. I promise we won’t ambush you – too much – but you have to know that a baby on the way is irresistible and we’ll want to hear all about it.”
“I would love to come,” I replied and smiled back. “I felt like a prisoner for the past twelve weeks. I’ll be glad to get out and see people.”
“Good. We’ll have a nice roast with all the trimmings.”
By the time they all left me alone at the bar, and Colin began pouring drinks once more, my cheeks hurt from smiling so much. It was a relief to turn and listen while the band warmed up, playing their various instruments before the lights focused on them and the crowed became quiet.
The first song was by the Rolling Stones. “Ruby Tuesday.” Drake sang and played his bass, while Ken sang background vocals. The band was pretty tight and while Drake’s voice wasn’t as tart as Mick Jagger’s, he did a good job and it surprised me how much he got into character. I saw a whole different side of him up there on the stage. Drake always seemed reserved in public, so completely in control, although in private he had a really great sense of humor and loved to tease, but this was a different Drake than I had ever seen before.
While I was sitting listening, a tall, dark haired woman entered the bar and stood in the shadows by the washrooms. I don’t know why I noticed her, but it was strange that she didn’t come inside and take a seat, for there were a few tables open. A waitress went up to her and spoke with her, but the woman shook her head.
I turned back and continued listening to the band play, and she slipped my mind until a while later, when I felt her eyes on me. I turned and she was staring intently in my direction. I glanced around to see if she was looking at someone else, but there was only an empty table beside me. When I looked back, she was gone. I glanced around but she was nowhere to be seen.
Whoever she was, her expression sent a shiver down my spine. I turned back and watched Drake, pushing the image of the dark haired woman out of my mind. If I had come to O’Riley’s before I met him, I could have easily had a crush on Drake, seeing him up there on the stage, singing and playing his guitar. He was so handsome and well-built, his nicely developed physique apparent, even under his clothes. He looked like he belonged on the stage or on some catwalk at a DKNY show in Milan. Sometimes, it was hard for me to remember that instead, he was a very serious neurosurgeon who used robotic instruments to stop seizures and movement disorders in his patients.
His outward appearance was so different from the man inside.
I loved him so much at that moment, for letting me in this close to see this other side of him. The side he showed me that night was a side he usually kept from the women he had been involved with since his divorce, and him showing himself to me like this meant so much. It was the last wall he kept up between us, and it meant I was fully in his life.
I turned and watched the crowd and saw that most of the patrons were couples or small groups of men and women. I wondered what the women were thinking of Drake. They would see only the gorgeous hunk of man playing a guitar and know nothing of the slightly kinky man who liked to take control in the bedroom and was specializing in pediatric neurosurgery.
Now, with me at O’Riley’s for a performance, I felt as if the very last piece of food on Drake’s plate was touching all the rest.
As he’d said, he broke all his rules for me. I hoped he was happy and from the way he looked on stage, playing his guitar and singing, completely at ease and in character to play a song by the Stones, he was.
Drake announced the next song, with an intro that mentioned me.
“This next song goes out to the one I love, Kate, the love of my life and the mother of my child.”
When the song started, I had to cover my mouth from emotion. “And I Love Her” by the Beatles.
Ever since that first night I heard him play it, it had been on my iTunes playlist. I felt as if it was ‘our song’, even if that sounded corny. He said it reminded him of us, and so now, that is what it meant to me. It was Drake admitting he loved me.
It was Drake letting me into his life and his heart completely.
I knew at that moment how lucky I was to have met him. Who would have ever thought that going to my father’s fundraiser that October night would lead to the happiest time in my life?
The night I went to my father’s fundraiser seemed so far off in the past, even though it wasn’t quite a year and a half earlier. Back then, I still thought of my father as a controlling bastard who I could never please, who expected me to do a degree in journalism covering politics. I felt as if he didn’t really know me, his own daughter, having some wrong idea about who I was and what I really loved.
Instead, he only wanted me to be happy and fulfilled, and agreed with everything I ever suggested. It was me who didn’t know him.
I looked over the crowd, wondering what they were thinking about the music and what they’d think if they knew I was the one mentioned in the dedication for that song . It was then I saw her again – the dark haired woman – and for a moment, I thought about Drake’s stalker and I actually shivered. Was that her? Lisa?
On the stage, Drake was focused on playing his guitar. I’d speak with him about her later. I checked back to where she had been standing but she was gone again, as if she was popping in and out, and I wondered if she was in the dining room and just peeking in to see the band playing. I tried to brush my fears out of my mind. It was probably nothing.
The band seemed to really enjoy themselves as did the audience. They were pretty silent, considering it was a Saturday night. I guess they really did like the band. Mersey was a cover band and played no original music, but O’Riley’s was an Irish pub and people wanted British music.
While I liked the music, I enjoyed watching Drake on stage most of all, seeing this whole different side of him. Drake the public man, the musician, the band member who sang in front of an audience without any self-consciousness. No wonder he didn’t feel awkward performing in front of an audience during a dungeon scene.
Watching Drake singing, I was so glad that he wasn’t a sadist or into anything truly painful, because at that moment he was just so damn desirable that I would probably find it really hard to say no to him. If he had been a sadist , I hope I would have run away from him when I first met him, despite how good looking he was. In fact, I’m sure I would have run away if he had been a real sadist. But now? How far would I be willing to go with him?
Lara had promised me Drake wasn’t a sadist. I never felt any anger from him, or that our scenes could have ever edged over into something more frightening, but even Drake admitted he hadn’t really done much with me in terms of bondage and dominance. I felt pretty secure at that moment that he would never do anything I couldn’t enjoy or at least tolerate. Drake had always said he wasn’t a really strict Dom. He just liked control. Then I put all the thoughts about Drake out of my mind, took another sip of my soda and lime and turned off my mind, letting the music fill me, enjoying my first full day without nausea.
I watched the crowd enjoy the song, many of them nodding to the music, singing along. When the song was finished, Drake
and the other band members bowed and acknowledged the applause.
At that moment, Sarah came up to stand beside me, smiling when our eyes met.
“They’re good, right?” she said, nodding to the stage.
“Very good,” I said and smiled, my mind distracted from the dark haired woman so that I became lost in the music.
When the set was over, after a round of applause from the audience, it was past midnight and I had to cover my yawn with a hand, not wanting Colin or Sarah to think I was bored. I wasn’t, but I was tired. Despite having gone to bed after two in the morning the previous night, I’d woken early and never fell back to sleep.
The guys went downstairs with their instruments, and I sat at the bar and talked with Colin for a while until Drake was done. Colin told me that the pub would stay open for another couple of hours, and instead of live music, there was canned music. Colin popped in a CD and something vaguely Irish floated up on the sound system.
Drake finally arrived at the bar in about ten minutes and sat on the stool beside me. He leaned over and kissed my cheek and brushed a lock of hair from my face.
“Well?” he said with a glint in his eye. “What did you think? Bored to tears with our modern music?”
I laughed. “Not at all,” I said and then leaned closer. “I felt privileged to even be here.”
He smiled softly and leaned in once more, this time kissing me on the mouth, his kiss warm and lingering, his fingers tangling in my hair.
“The privilege is all mine,” he said when he pulled away. “The privilege of being in your life.”
He said it so seriously, his eyes burning into mine. His expression made my heart squeeze, for it was so earnest, as if he were baring his soul to me. Maybe he felt that way – music was something personal for him that he didn’t share with the women in his life. I was the one who was being treated.
I reached up and cupped his face with my hand. “I love you,” I whispered, my throat choked with emotion. I glanced quickly to check if Colin could overhear me, but he was busy pouring drinks a few feet away and seemed focused on his work. “If I had seen you playing your guitar and singing before I met you, I would have had a huge crush on you.”
Drake laughed out loud at that, his eyes twinkling. He leaned in and nibbled my neck, and I could feel him chuckling as he kissed my ear. “Only a crush?” he said and pulled back. “Not love at first sight?”
I grinned. “Lust at first sight, maybe.”
“I’ll take it.” Then he turned to Colin. “Put it on my tab,” he said and stood up. “See you tomorrow night.”
“Great,” Colin said. He turned to me. “So glad to see you again, Kate. You gotta know we were all so happy about your news. Drake’s going to make a great father.”
“He will,” I said and turned to Drake, smiling up at him. “The best father.”
Drake took my hand and kissed my knuckles.
“And you’ll be the best mother,” he said. Then he turned to Colin. “Later,” he said with a wave. He took my hand and led me away from the bar, threading our way through the tables and to the door. Patrons nodded to Drake and smiled at him as he walked by.
“As for you,” he said and leaned in close to whisper in my ear. “I have plans for you.”
That sent a thrill through me. “Oh, yes?” I said and quirked an eyebrow. “Plans? What could you possibly mean, Dr. Delish?”
When we got to the door, Drake pulled me against his body and ground his hips against me. “That’s for me to know and you to imagine. Now, come,” he said.
Colin waved to us from the bar before we were out the door. I waved back and then Sarah came up before we could leave.
“You’re coming tomorrow night?” she said, her face expectant, a tray of empty drinks in her hand. “Mom cooks a mean roast. Drake, you’re coming tomorrow, right?”
“Of course we’re coming,” Drake said and squeezed my hand.
“We’ll be glad to,” I said and smiled.
Then Drake pulled me out of the pub and into the Manhattan night.
We went back to the apartment, walking the few blocks to a parking garage and driving through the city, down streets filled with late-night revelers. Once we arrived at the apartment, Drake opened the door for me, ever the gentleman, and then before I had even taken off my sandals and put down my bag, he grabbed me and kissed me deeply.
“I need you,” he said in a low voice.
“I’m yours,” I replied, my voice husky with desire – desire he ignited in me with his insistent touch and the way he ran his hands over my body. I wondered what he had planned for me, thinking that perhaps he wanted to tie me up and blindfold me, asserting our D/s relationship as a way to reestablish that we were into power exchange and not just a vanilla couple. I thought perhaps that inviting me to watch him play might upset his equilibrium and he would need to go all Dom with me.
But he didn’t.
Instead, he stripped me naked and admired me while I stood in our bedroom, next to the bed, waiting.
“You’re perfect,” he said to me while he ran his hand over my shoulder, down to the curve of my breast. He cupped it and ran his finger over my nipple until it puckered under his touch.
I wanted to protest that I was far from perfect, reciting the litany of insecurity that still ran through my head when I was complimented – I was short, my hair was ordinary brown, my hips a little too curvy and now I’d be developing a pregnant belly…
But Drake’s expression when his gaze moved over my naked body quashed those doubts and insecurities. I could see the blatant lust in his eyes and it shut up those voices.
His expression said he couldn’t get enough of me.
I stood still and let him look at me, touch me, and his touch and gaze aroused me. Finally, he pulled me into his arms and kissed me, keeping his eyes opened, taking one of my hands and sliding it down his chest to his abs, and then to his thick, rock-hard erection straining against the fabric of his jeans.
“Feel what you do to me,” he said his voice low and smoky.
I squeezed his erection, running my fingers from the tip to the base, barely able to get my fingers around his girth. I closed my eyes and imagined him filling me up so completely while he fucked me.
“Your breasts are so lush, your body so responsive…” he said and cupped one breast, kneading the nipple between his finger and thumb. It sent a jolt of lust right to my clit and I moaned softly in response. His hand traced softly down my waist to my hip and then between my thighs, which he parted, forcing me to lean against the bed. “Mmm,” he said with a satisfied grunt. “Nice and wet. I need to fuck you. Now.”
“I’m yours,” I managed to whisper, my throat dry, my heart fluttering.
He pushed me back onto the bed and lay on top of me fully clothed.
“Aren’t you going to undress?” I asked, my hands stroking up his back.
“No,” he said and kissed the tops of my breasts. “I’m going to devour you completely with all my clothes on. Then, when I’ve made you come twice with my fingers and tongue, I’m going to unzip and fuck you hard and fast and make you come again, all while fully clothed.”
“Why?” I asked, knowing I was pushing the terms of our D/s relationship, but I was curious. “Why wouldn’t you want to be naked so our skin can touch?”
“Why?” he said, a touch of humor in his voice. “Because, I own you, Katherine. When you’re naked and I’m dressed, it reinforces that I own you, that’s why. You’re mine and I can do anything I want to you. What I want is to eat you until you scream out my name, and then fuck you until I’m blinded from pleasure.”
“Is that a promise,” I asked softly, knowing full well it was. When Drake said he was going to make me come three times, I believed him.
I closed my eyes and tried not to smile, but I heard him chuckle above me.
“Insolent girl…”
And then, he kissed me hard, shutting me up, and did exactly what he said.
> Later, when we were both spent, he lay on his back beside me, his arms spread out wide. I cuddled against his still fully clothed body, his belt still fastened, his zipper undone and his now deflating erection lying to one side.
“I like a man who keeps his promises,” I said with a grin.
He smiled back, his eyes still closed. “I’m a man of my word.” Then he turned his head towards me and his expression became serious. “You’re everything to me, Kate,” he said softly. “None of this,” he said and waved his hand around and I knew what he meant – the apartment with all the expensive renovations, his wealth. “None of it means anything to me without you. I realize now how lonely I was before I met you.”
“You had a good life, Drake,” I said and leaned up on my elbow so I could look in his eyes. “You had the band, your foundation, the company, your practice. You had submissives…”
“I think I worked so hard and kept so busy so I wouldn’t feel empty. I was very lonely. I didn’t know it, but I was hoping to find you – someone like you. When I did, I fell so hard…”
I smiled. “Me, too.”
“Not as hard as me,” he said, his expression serious.
“I fell just as hard,” I said and shook my head.
“Not possible,” he replied.
“If you think that, I haven’t been good enough to you,” I said, surprised that he thought I hadn’t felt for him the way he felt for me. “I haven’t done a good enough job showing you how hard I fell.” Then I kissed him and cupped his face with my hands. “I love you, Drake. Totally and completely.”
“I love you, Ms. Bennet. Totally and completely.”
We embraced for a few moments, and his arms tightened around me as if he couldn’t get close enough. When he finally let go, I rose up on my elbows above him and watched his face. His eyes were closed and he was smiling.
“What’s that smile about?”
He grinned more widely, but kept his eyes closed. “I want to talk to you, cuddle and do all the stuff women like after sex, but I’m exhausted.” He cracked one eyelid open and looked at me.
