The Drake Unwound Complete Collection (The Drake Series Book 9)(7)

We drove along in silence for a few moments, and I could almost feel her mind working.

"How many submissives have you had?"

I was actually surprised she hadn’t asked me before. "Eight with signed contracts."

"Eight?" she said, turning to me, a frown on her face.

I smiled, a bit guilty given that it had only been five years since my divorce. It worked out to quite a high rate, especially when you added in the subs that were one-offs when I’d gone to dungeon parties and took part in scenes.

"That doesn't include the subs I topped at play parties. I don't know how many there were. Maybe another six or so. You have to remember," I said, forming my words carefully. "Lara trained me and introduced me to a number of different subs. She was helping me learn what kind of Dom I was, so I went through quite a few in the first couple of years. It’s not easy to find compatible people."

Beside me Kate nodded, but there was this look on her face. I reached over and took her hand, lifting it to my lips to kiss her knuckles.

"You don't have to be jealous. I never felt anything for them other than a desire for bondage and to dominate them sexually. They were a more rewarding way of having an orgasm than jerking off. You're completely different."


"I'm not jealous," she said, but I didn’t believe it for a moment. I didn’t even want to hear about her past – not anymore.

"I'm curious,” she said. “And intimidated."

I smiled. "Good," I said. "A Dom is supposed to be a bit intimidating. It helps get the sub in the proper submissive state of mind, but when you think of me as your partner, you should feel my equal."

"I'm really not your equal.” She glanced at me, her gaze moving over me like she was sizing me up. "You're a neurosurgeon. I haven't even had a real job yet."

I laughed. "Kate..." I leaned over and kissed her on the cheek briefly. "I'll let you in on a very well-kept secret." I focused back on the road. "Take away all the trappings of power, the accomplishments, the money, and underneath every mogul, however successful, is just a flesh and blood man. We all want the same thing, deep down."

"What?"

I glanced at her, smirking. "Hot sex with a really great-looking babe."

"Drake!" She pulled her hand out of mine and punched my shoulder playfully.

"Just kidding," I said, laughing. I grabbed her hand back and threaded my fingers through hers. "No, seriously. Men fall in love more easily than women. When I finally met you, before our meeting with Lara, I wanted to ask you out, even thought I knew it would probably only be vanilla. I'd already plotted out a way to seduce you and initiate you into my depraved ways and so learning you were the sub I was supposed to initiate into the secret world of D/s..."

"You really were going to try to seduce me, you bad man," she said, her voice lightly scolding. "I told Lara that the relationship would be purely research."

"Lara thought you needed a bit of encouragement. You know," I said, grinning. "Find your 'inner sub'. I was more than willing to try because I'd already thought of it. I do love a challenge. I just had to find out how to push your buttons, so to speak."

"That sounds so,” she said, hesitating as if to find the right word, "Machiavellian."

"Oh, it's completely Machiavellian. I can't lie. I wanted to conquer you, Ms. Bennet." I smiled to myself. "I thought I'd have you totally under my control in no time flat. How wrong I was…"

"What do you mean?"

I didn’t answer. I was not going to let her know just how much control I’d lost in this relationship. She wanted me to take control. If I slipped, if I became too relaxed and loose with her, she’d go somewhere else and find someone who offered her the control she craved. I couldn’t let that happen.

"You look like the Cheshire Cat," she said, looking at me from the corner of her eye. "The Cheshire Cat who swallowed the canary, to mix metaphors."

"Oh, I ate the lovely little canary. " I glanced over at her, unable to stop grinning. "I had her for breakfast and lunch and dinner."

"Don't get too smug." She took her hand back, her arms folded across her chest, smiling. "You're the one who came to me in the end, professing your love. Not wanting to be parted from me ever again."

Of course, that was right. I did come to her to profess my love. And I did love her. Too much for my own good. I reached over and took her hand once again. "You don't have to remind me about that. I thought I'd lost you for good. I was serious when I said I don't want us to be parted again."

"And yet, you were going to leave me, leave Manhattan and go to Kenya without even a goodbye?"

"Kate, remember what happened to me the last time a close relationship ended." I said nothing for a moment, thoughts of my divorce sobering me up a bit. Finally, I sighed. "After you said it was over, I tried not to feel anything. I shut down emotionally so I wouldn't over-react. I went through the motions of my life, hoping that going to Nairobi would distract me enough to keep the emotions locked away. Luckily, Elaine called me to tell me you'd fallen in love with me and were miserable, or right now, I'd probably be in some bar in Nairobi with a colleague, drowning my sorrows in a bottle of cheap vodka."