"I better stay," she said, her voice soft. "Do you know who Elaine is? Can you ask her to come and speak to me?"
I nodded. "Sure. If that ankle doesn't get markedly better in a couple of days, you might want to get an x-ray. Can't do anything for a broken bone in your foot but rest it. You could probably use some crutches."
I smiled and left her on the bed, but what I really wanted to do was push her down on it and run my hands over every inch of her from head to foot, slipping one beneath her skirt to feel the garters, and her panties. I wanted to pull down her bodice and push my face between her breasts, bite her nipples softly to hardness and suck on them until she moaned with delight.
But discretion is the better part of valor…
CHAPTER SIX
I ran a hand over my groin to ensure that my semi was flagging before returning to the party. I found Elaine, Ethan’s wife, standing with a small group of donors by the huge window in the living room. She was a decade or more younger than Ethan and pretty in an elegant way, everything perfectly in place and expensive. Ethan was a lucky man.
"There's a young woman in the back bedroom who asked for you. She fell outside and hurt her knees."
"Who?" Elaine said, frowning.
"I didn't catch her name," I said. "Sorry."
I was surprised that I'd been so unprofessional, but I was caught between being a physician and a man and she was such a delicious morsel of a woman, I'd been thrown off my game. That was completely unlike me, but the compromising position I'd found her in and her obvious embarrassment made me reluctant to pry any deeper.
I found Dave Mills, the manager of my father’s foundation, standing in the living room with a couple of men and joined his group. We shook hands and he introduced me to two donors from some tech company. I barely caught their names, still thinking of the pretty young woman with garters and nice breasts, wondering who she was.
When she entered the room, I was aware of her right away.
She stood just inside the doorway, her arm on Elaine’s shoulder, as if she was reluctant to be there. Once more, I was struck with how pretty she was in an innocent way. Long straight golden brown hair. Light green eyes fringed with thick dark lashes. Clear fair skin. A little sleeveless black lace dress to her knee. She was wearing black slippers and bare legs, her bandages obvious.
"There you are my girl," Nigel said, his voice booming above the chatter, so that everyone in the room turned at the sound. He pushed through the people standing around him to get to her. She blushed, her cheeks reddening but she smiled when she saw him. She opened her arms wide and Nigel picked her up, holding her up in the air as if she were weightless.
The contrast between the two was amusing. Nigel was close to three hundred pounds and six foot six, and she was all of five foot three, and probably one hundred and twenty. He placed her back down on the ground and kissed both her cheeks in the Continental manner before putting a huge arm around her shoulder, escorting her into the crowd. I watched with envy as he introduced her to all the lawyer-types and businessmen in several-thousand dollar suits.
Dave stood beside me.
"Hey, Drake. Did you meet Nathaniel Graham?"
I was too busy watching Nigel with the pretty young woman to care.
"Who?"
"I told you about him. His agency works with relief organizations to outfit field hospitals in war zones. You should come over and say hello."
"Sure," I said, watching as Peter, Ethan McDermott's chief of staff pulled the pretty woman away from Nigel, escorting her around the room. She smiled at one of the men she was speaking to and her smile transformed her face from merely sweet to full out lovely. She looked wistful when she smiled like that.
Innocent.
That innocent look did something to me and inside of me, two forces collided. I loved how young she looked, how fresh. Part of me wanted to protect her. To be her champion. The other part of me – the darker part – longed to see her on her knees before me, waiting on my every word, completely under my control. How much I'd like to be the one to corrupt her and turn her into a wanton woman for my personal use. How much I'd love to see that sweet face filled with lust, her eyes heavy with desire.
Peter turned to us and brought her over before Dave could drag me away.
When Dave saw them approach, he stood straighter, adjusting his jacket.
I put my drink down and watched her expectantly. I was glad to meet her formally, having felt an immediate and intense attraction to her. There was just something in her bearing that brought out the Dom in me. Despite my usual reluctance to seduce a vanilla woman, I was already thinking of ways to approach her, become her lover, and then, when I felt secure in her openness to it, introduce her to D/s and bondage.
"Drake, Dave, may I introduce—"
Before Peter could introduce her, Dave stepped forward. "Ahh, the lovely Miss Bennet," he said in an affected British accent. "Um, I mean the lovely Kate needs no introduction."
Kate. The pretty young woman I wanted to eat like a delicacy finally had a name.
She glanced at Dave and then to me. When our eyes met briefly, she smiled. Then she turned back to Dave.
"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a man in possession of a good fortune must write out a check and make a donation to the cause," she said in an equally affected British accent, keeping with the Pride and Prejudice reference.
Dave laughed. "Well played, Ms. McDermott, well played."
It was then I made the connection. Kate.
Katherine…
A shock went through me. The pretty young woman I had imagined ravishing only moments earlier was none other than Ethan's beloved daughter.
"You're Katherine…" I blurted out like a smitten schoolboy.
"Oh, this is Kate McDermott," Dave said, gesturing to Kate. "Kate, this is Dr. Drake Morgan, brain surgeon, bass player, philanthropist. I assumed you already knew each other."
"I met, but didn’t really formally meet, Ms. McDermott," I said, a surge of something indescribable flowing through me. "I've known you by reputation for years. My apologies for not introducing myself."
"By reputation?"
"Your father told me about you, and I read your articles on Mangaize."
She smiled briefly, and then turned away as if still embarrassed by our encounter.
Dave turned to her. "Dr. Morgan's father Liam fought with your father in Vietnam. Drake volunteers with Doctors Without Borders," he said, sounding officious. "I run his foundation, which donates surgical equipment. Drake goes to war zones where civilians have experienced brain trauma and fixes them up."
She turned to me and her pretty green eyes widened. "My father's spoken of you before. It was Dr. Morgan this, Dr. Morgan that. He thinks you're practically a saint."
I smiled, enjoying how easily she blushed. She couldn't hide her emotions and that was something I highly valued in a sexual partner. So Ethan thought I was a saint? Little did he know… And if he knew how I was lusting after his baby girl, how I wanted to blindfold and gag her, tie her up and fuck her over and over again, he'd probably hire a hit man to take me out.
"Sorry, I didn't introduce myself earlier," she said, her cheeks and neck covered in a flush. "I was in kind of injured mode."
"Nice to finally meet Ethan's beloved daughter." I extended my hand. "Your father told me so much about you. I should have known it was you by your eyes, but I was in slightly caddish doctor with bad bedside manner mode and not my charming and gracious guest mode."
I kissed her knuckles and glanced in her eyes as I did, noting how once more she blushed, her cheeks red.
I had to have her. It was that simple.
"I'll leave her with you then," Peter. Then, Dave stepped forward as if trying to get in between us.
"So, Ms. Bennet, how have you been since our last meeting?"
They made some small talk about Jane Austen, and I watched as Dave tried to push himself on her, standing very close to her, shaki
ng her hand and smiling at her in an attempt to monopolize her. She smiled, but I could tell by how she stiffened that she didn’t enjoy his overly-obvious attention. She pulled her hand out of his and stepped back.
"My father warned me about men like you, Mr. Mills," she said, sneaking a glance at me. "Suave. Charming. Devastatingly handsome…"
"Oh, that's riiight. Your father The Hangin' Judge… Does he keep a shotgun under his bed to keep away your suitors? I take it you only go for the nerds? The dorks? The ones who don’t have a clue what to say or how to treat a woman? Some of us do know."
"I don't know why I'd be of much interest to you," she said, as if trying to change the subject. "I'm looking for donations. Care to donate to Nigel's foundation?"
Dave smiled at her and they locked eyes for a moment as if in battle.
She was shy, but she wasn't a pushover. She was just as witty as Dave and wasn't intimidated by him.
"Kate was with Nigel in West Africa during the famine," Dave said to me.
"I'm well aware of her work in Africa," I said, not taking my eyes off her. "The Judge talks about you a lot."
"He does?" Katherine frowned as if she was surprised.
"It was always, Katherine this and Katherine that. He's very proud but he's kept you pretty well hidden."
"I've been really busy with school and work…"
I nodded, aware of how she'd had a breakdown after returning from Africa. How concerned Ethan was about his beloved daughter. How fragile she had been for a while, but how she was coming back slowly.
"Your father told me you got a job with Geist. What are you writing about now?" I said, wanting to focus on her as a person rather than as a woman, the way Dave was.
"Philanthropy in the age of social media."
Dave turned to her when he heard that. "Drake's foundation funds a number of hospital projects in West Africa if you're interested in philanthropy. I'm his manager of fundraising."
"Yes, that's what my father told me." Kate smiled at Dave. "I'm doing an article for Geist," she said. "Maybe I could do an interview?"
Dave stepped closer to her and leaned in, not getting her obvious cues.
"I'd be only too happy to do an interview, Ms. McDermott. Your place or mine?"
She laughed but I could tell she was embarrassed at his suggestion.
"I think she meant she wanted to interview me," I said, irritation with Dave’s cluelessness filling me.
Dave wouldn't let up, waving me off.
"You're far too busy with all your important breakthroughs in robotic brain surgery, your band and humanitarian projects, Drake. I'd be more than happy to oblige, take Ms. McDermott off your hands."
"Either one of you would do fine," Kate said and smiled. Just then, Peter came back and put a hand on her shoulder, scooping her up and away from us. Dave made a telephone sign with his hand and mouthed call me.
"Nice to meet you Dr. Morgan," she said and smiled at me, and it sent a little jolt to my groin. I wanted that smile all to myself. I wanted to see it in the morning when she woke up naked in the bed beside me, her hair all mussed, her cheeks warm.
"Please, call me Drake, considering," I said, pointing to her knees.
She gave me another quick smile and left, limping off with Peter to the next group of wealthy suits.
I felt an actual physical reaction to her leaving. Regret. Loss.
I rarely felt this way about a vanilla woman, but she… She wasn't just any women. She was different.
She was Katherine.
"So that's Ethan's daughter," I said, a bit breathless, my heart beating faster. "He calls her Katherine. I didn't connect the dots at first."
"Oh, I forgot," Dave says. "You and the Judge are on a first name basis. I'm surprised you haven't already met her."
"Other than at the health club or at a Doctors Without Borders event, I never see Ethan socially."
"Too bad she's his daughter. I'd like a piece of that," Dave said, wagging his eyebrows.
"Wouldn't we all," I said, bothered by his suggestive tone.
Dave laughed. "I offered but she's not biting."
I raised my eyebrows. "You actually hit on the Ethan's daughter?"
"Hey, she needs some dick, too," Dave said and laughed again. "Poor girl." He took a sip of his beer. "Must be hard to have a man like him as a father."
"I wish I'd had someone like him," I said and frowned, my irritation with Dave mounting.
Usually, I was amused by his antics. We met and became friends during several drunken parties in our undergrad years, and had seen each other at our worst, but just then, I wanted to tell him to get serious. Kate wasn't just some easy hookup. I could tell that just by meeting her. She was smart, talented, and fragile emotionally. Someone like Dave would use her and throw her away when someone new spread her legs.
I sipped my drink and watched as she was introduced around the room to various movers and shakers.
Judge McDermott's daughter wore black retro hose and garters? I felt a real affection for the old man, which fought with my desire for his daughter. He had been quick to befriend me when my father died and for that kindness he showed when he didn't have to, I was loyal to him for life.
I watched Kate as she limped beside Nigel Benson, leaning on his arm for support. She knew what it was like to have a famous and powerful father. To live in his shadow.
"So, how do you know Katherine?" I said, wanting to know more about her social life.
"I tried to get her drunk at a fundraiser a couple of years ago but she played hard to get.”
“Maybe she wasn’t attracted to you," I said, hoping Dave would get the hint.
"What? Not attracted to me? Never,” Dave said, laughing. “She’s no innocent. She dated some former Marine pilot who flies for Doctors Without Borders. I know because I checked up on her.”
“She’s not your type, Dave,” I said, irritated at him.
“Every pretty woman is my type,” Dave said and slapped me on the back. “Daughters of preachers, senators and judges are probably wilder underneath the formal exterior. You know, pretending to be a good girl, but underneath, nymphos. I bet she’s hot.”
I had to hold myself back. “She's doing her Masters of Journalism at Columbia and was in Africa with Nigel when he did his documentary on Mangaize. She’s not a nympho." I was growing more angered with Dave by the moment, feeling more and more protective towards her the more he pushed. "She's a serious writer. You should read her work on the Mangaize camps. Really heartbreaking."
"She's got a nice rack," Dave said, grinning. "I had hopes she'd come home with me some night and ride me like a stallion."
I frowned, angry that he was being so carnal about her.
"She's not like that," I said, gritting my teeth. Of course, I had already thought of tying her up, blindfolding her, and eating her like an ice cream.
Dave held his beer up to his mouth for a sip. He grinned, wagging his eyebrows suggestively. "I haven’t found a way between her thighs just yet, but I'm working on it. One of these days."
"She's not your usual type, Dave. She’s smart," I said, trying to keep my anger in check. "Full scholarship at Columbia. She's really driven."
"Obviously too busy for men. Must be a lesbian," Dave said with a grin.
That really pissed me. "Maybe she's just picky."
"Must be if she turned me down," Dave said and laughed out loud.
"Maybe she’s just not into you," I said, wanting him to get the hint.
"You're just jealous because she was having eye sex with me and not you. Apparently Ms. McDermott isn't impressed by your neurosurgical skills or the size of your wallet…"
No, she didn't appear to be, showing no particular interest in me at all other than to note that her father had spoken of me.
I had to admit I'd go vanilla for her, at least, for a while. But to thine own self be true was my motto. I'd want her on her knees to me and soon.
Then she was spirited away t
o another room and I stood there and watched her leave. I hadn't wanted to get to know a woman like that for some time. Know her. In every sense. Usually, I didn't want to know anything about women except their kinks around submission.
She was different. Unfortunately, she was Judge McDermott's daughter and so completely off limits. He was my father's oldest friend and she was not the kind of woman I needed.
Finally, someone joined Dave and me and the conversation turned to new regulations governing tax shelters. I couldn’t pay any attention, my mind occupied thinking of Kate and how our fathers were best friends before my father’s death. I was certain my father would be happy to know the two of us were together. But I was getting ahead of myself. I hadn’t even asked her out for coffee.
A while later, I came upon a group containing Katherine and stood on the periphery to hear her talk about West Africa. She turned and spoke directly to me.
"People with influence have to step up to the plate and use their power to do good. Like Dr. Morgan, using his father's foundation to provide hospital equipment to Africa. Those who have the means should use them."
I was completely surprised that she referred to me and bowed my head, touching my chest to show her words had affected me deeply.
"My father was committed to Africa," I said. "I'm just trying to fill his big shoes using whatever influence I have."
As that conversation ended, Nigel pulled Katherine away and once more, I felt a mix of emotions – pleased that she acknowledged me, and frustrated that I wanted her and knew I couldn’t have her. I could never have her because of Ethan. He'd die if he ever learned of my lifestyle. I knew I'd lose his friendship if he found out. I felt such affection for him and such respect for Katherine that I couldn't do it despite how much I desired her at that moment.
I hated myself for being so principled and for once in my life, I wished I were more like Dave Mills, lacking any scruples when it came to women.
If I were, I wouldn’t let her out of my sight.
But I wasn’t like Dave and so for the next half-hour, I tagged along behind Dave as he made his way around the room, glad-handing the other big rollers who were here from Wall Street, thoughts of the delicious Ms. Bennet in her stockings and garters plaguing me. When I next saw her, she was standing surrounded by a herd of men who were all eagerly listening to her talk. I kept to the periphery of the group to see what they were discussing.
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