The Drake Unwound Complete Collection (The Drake Series Book 9)(8)

"You'd probably be looking for a new submissive. Lara would be busy sorting through her list of hopefuls."

"No. I'd have been overly invested in my work and my music. After you?" I shook my head and turned to her. "A relationship with just a sub would feel hollow."

She smiled, seemingly pleased at my confession. We drove in silence for a few moments and I thought about how empty my life would have been if Elaine hadn’t called.

"I'm so glad she did call," Kate said, her voice a bit choky. "I haven't thanked her enough."


I kissed her knuckles again. "We had a lot of people behind the scenes trying to get us together."

"And one determined to pull us apart."

We cruised to a halt at a traffic light. "She can't hurt us now," I said and glanced at Kate, at her sweet face, her large eyes and lush mouth.

After we drove on a few more blocks, she turned to me again. "Does anything ever faze you?"

I frowned and searched her face for her meaning. "Does anything ever faze me? Does anything ever faze me. Let's see…" I turned my attention back to the road, chewing my bottom lip for a moment. I was admittedly a very calm and controlled person. "You." I glanced at her. It was the truth. She fazed me.

"Me? You control me so well. How could I faze you?"

"I don't control you so well, in case you didn't notice,” I said, reluctant to admit it, but we were in confessional mode and I thought, what the hell. This is the woman I love. “With you, I'm a terrible Dom. I'd be laughed out of a dungeon if other Doms saw how much I'm wrapped around your little finger."

"What?" she said, laughing. "You're not wrapped around my finger. The other way around, Master."

"Ha," I said and shook my head. "I'm convinced you call me Master to keep me happy. Kate, I'm usually much more firm with my subs than I have been with you. Other Doms would punish you far more than I have. They'd demand absolute obedience by now. No questions. No hesitation." I smiled sheepishly and turned to look her in the eye. "I'm a lousy Dom."

"You're not happy with how things are between us?"

Of course, it was the wrong thing to say. "Yes, of course I'm happy. Remember? Meat and potatoes all smothered in gravy?"

"I think you control me quite well."

I chuckled, thinking what Lara would say if she saw what a bad Dom I had become, letting Kate get away with so much. "I can control you sexually fairly well, so far. But you made me break all my rules, Ms. Bennet, despite all my efforts to keep the parts of my life safely separate. You totally fazed me. I never thought I'd say it, but I enjoy you too much, especially when you resist me, question me. I'd do anything to keep you." I turned to her and smiled. "Love does that to you."

She smiled softly and squeezed my hand.



We arrived at my apartment building on 10th Avenue and West 23rd Street, a few blocks from the Hudson. I parked in my spot in the parking garage and we walked to the building. I saw it again as if for the first time, imagining it through her eyes. She was accustomed to wealth, so it wouldn’t impress, but there was something really grand about the old building. My apartment was worth a couple million on the current market and it had all the bells and whistles in addition to being in a historic building.

The concierge greeted me, holding the door open for us. We took the elevator to the top floor and before we entered, I stopped.

"Here," I said and slipped an arm under one of hers, picking her up. I wanted to re-establish control over her, and I knew one way was to make her feel helpless by picking her up. It worked and she tensed, resisting me.

"What are you doing?"

"You should be carried the first time you enter my apartment."

"Drake!" She tucked her head into the crook of my neck while I carried her inside. We stood in the entryway that had doors leading off to other rooms. I turned to examine her.

"So," I said, my eyes narrowed. "What's your first impression?"

She wriggled in my arms. "Are you going to put me down?"

I nuzzled her neck, needing her to let me lead, but she was still so independent.

"I don't know…" I murmured in her ear. "I kind of enjoy holding you like this. It brings out the Dom in me."

"But I want to see it!"

"You can see it anytime you want, Ms. Bennet,” I said, unable to resist the double entendre. “All you have to do is ask."

She glanced at me and when she saw that I was smiling, she did as well. I let her slide out of my arms and threw my keys onto a plate on a circular table in the center of the room. Kate walked into the living room, which looked out onto the red brick building across the street.

"It looks just like you," she said, turning in a circle. "Sleek, high end, rich, dark, cultured."

I glanced around. The place was crowded with musical instruments, a baby grand, my guitars and amps. On the walls were my father’s posters from the 60s and 70s of all his favorite bands.

"Are these your father's?"

I nodded and watched as she walked around and examined my possessions.

"He collected old photographs of the musicians and the bands he saw."