The Drake Unwound Complete Collection (The Drake Series Book 9)(53)

“Drake, she was a total bitch to you, and was having an affair,” Lara said, her voice hard. “Out of the blue she tells you she’s leaving and when you dare to try to talk to her, stop her from leaving, she gets a temporary restraining order. Don’t tell me she isn’t a f*cking bitch.”

I smiled at the vehemence of Lara’s hatred of Maureen. Lara had never liked Maureen when they met before we married. Then Lara and I lost touch. When Maureen left, we reconnected when I reached out to her for help.

“Okay. She’s a bitch. Compared with Kate, she’s the Wicked Witch of the West.”

“Speaking of Kate, how’s she taking all this?”

I shook my head, so glad that Kate was there for me, even if she wasn’t there for me at that precise moment.

“She’s fantastic. Like a rock about it.”

“That’s great. I knew she’d be good for you. So tell me about Liam?”

I described him to her, talked about meeting him and seeing how frail he was. I even told her about the fistfight with Chris.

“Holy crap, Drake. You should have called me sooner. I can do something to help you get access to Liam if you want.”

“No, that’s all right. I don’t want to intrude. Chris looks like a good father and I don’t want to confuse Liam. They have enough to worry about without me barging in on their lives.”

“They didn’t think twice about barging in on yours…”

“Lara, it was to save Liam’s life,” I said, surprised that she couldn’t understand. “Of course, they had to contact me.”

“So, why did you call me? What’s up, beside having a son, who has leukemia, doing a stem cell donation and delaying your trip to Africa? Oh, and getting into a fight with your ex’s husband…”

I could imagine her smile as she sat at her huge mahogany desk in her office.

“I called you because of Kate.”

There was a pause. “I thought you said everything was good with her…”

I sighed. “Things are wonderful, except she became quite upset this morning after I wouldn’t have sex with her. She likes sex in the morning, but I wanted to wait until this evening when we could do a full scene. She actually slammed the door when she left the apartment.”

I heard her chuckle.

“It’s not funny, Lara. Seriously. I’m having problems maintaining the proper Dom / sub relationship with her when it comes to sex.”

“Why?”

I thought about our relationship. I was ecstatic with Kate, but felt out of control. “We’re really sexually compatible, but she doesn’t quite understand that she doesn’t get to make decisions when it comes to sex.”

“Have you shown her this? I mean, in your behavior with her? You have to be firm. If you give in, she’ll learn she can push you. Twist you around her finger. That won’t make a sub happy and soon she’ll be looking for someone who will be strong with her.”

I nodded to myself at that. “She’s pretty good overall. But this morning didn’t go well.”

“What are you afraid of?” she said. “I mean, what’s keeping you from enforcing things with her?”


I shrugged. “I don’t want to scare her off…”

“Drake’s in love…” she said and I could hear the tease in her voice. “Drake, I shouldn’t have to tell you this, but not showing your dominance with her is more likely to drive her away than if you do. She wants you to take control or she wouldn’t be interested in D/s. Period. End of story. Show her you love her and indulge her outside of sex. Be firm when it comes to sex.”

“You’re right, of course.” I would have given myself the same advice. I guess I just wanted to hear it from Lara, to reinforce what I already knew to be true.

“Thanks, Lara. I know you’re right.”

“I am. You already knew this. Now, go and take what you want. That’s how you’ll give Kate what she needs.”



Although I felt better after speaking with Lara, I went through the motions of my morning with very little enthusiasm. It wasn’t just that Kate expressed her dissatisfaction with me. It was everything. Maureen’s return, Liam’s existence and illness, Dawn’s meddling, Chris’s disrespectful treatment of Kate, my fight with him…

All of it conspired to make me feel particularly down.

I dragged myself to the hospital to read over patient files and check in on a few stragglers who were still recovering on the main surgical ward. I even called up Ken to see how he was doing. All of it meant to keep busy until Kate calmed down and contacted me. I probably should have contacted her first, but I wanted to give her the space to decide for herself to text or call me.

Later that afternoon, while I was sitting in my office reading a paper I was working on with a colleague, my cell chimed.

A message from Kate:



I'm sorry, Drake. Please don’t be mad at me. I was being a spoiled child. Forgive me? It's just that sometimes, I have so much desire for you, I forget how to submit.





I sat and tried to compose a response that would both satisfy her and yet didn’t give in or apologize. As Lara said, Kate wanted me to be a Dom, but that wasn’t something that I could turn off and on at will like a light switch.