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"Your father called me and told me you'd be here tonight. That if I was going away, I should come over and say goodbye."
"This is torture."
He smiled as if nothing was wrong. "Kate, your father knows. He gave me a dressing down, telling me that he already knew about the restraining order. About my 'proclivities' as he called them. He's known all along."
"He knows?"
Drake nodded. "He's been watching me for years, monitoring me for my father. He knew about the restraining order. He knew about the BDSM through Nigel."
He led me to the couch in the living room and sat with his arm around me, touching my bottom lip, brushing a strand of hair off my cheek.
"He and Nigel go back a long way. I guess Nigel faced some blackmail over his sexuality years ago when your dad was still a defense lawyer and your dad advised him. Nigel told him about me after he saw me at a Fetish night."
"That's why Nigel was looking at you that way the night of my father's campaign fundraiser…"
"Yeah, he told me that I had better not ever hurt you or he'd have my balls. I had no idea he'd told your father."
"My father knows you're a Dom?"
Drake laughed ruefully. "Who would ever have believed it? He knows even more about me than my own dad did."
"And he approved of you as my boyfriend…" I shook my head. "I don't understand. I thought he'd be horrified."
"So did I but I guess not. He said," and Drake put on a mock voice that sounded gravelly like my father, "'For some reason I can't think of off the top of my head, Kate seems to have a preference for a dominant man and you're a helluva lot better than some jackass who doesn't know what the Sam hell he's doing, like that flyboy she had the sense to get rid of.'"
I covered my mouth to stifle a sob, tears filling my eyes.
"He said that?"
"His exact words."
I closed my eyes and leaned against him, but even though I was relieved that my father was so accepting of this, Drake was leaving.
"But you left NY Presbyterian. You’re going to Africa…"
He pulled back and looked in my eyes. "I figured that if I did, I could lay low for a year and return when all this blows over. I talked to the head of the College and we agreed that I'd take a year leave of absence. I've been meaning to go to Africa and do a longer stint. Teach a class at the College in Nairobi."
I shook my head, a feeling building in me that I couldn't identify.
"So you came to say goodbye."
He took my face in his hands again. "I came," he said, taking in a deep breath, "to say that I've developed a taste for potatoes and gravy and meat all on the same fork." He stared into my eyes, his expression so earnest, his brow furrowed. "Lara played a recording of you telling her you thought you could love me. She even tried to entice you to meet another Dom and you refused, saying you wanted me. That almost made me reconsider leaving, but could isn't does." He moved closer, his eyes so intense. "When Elaine called me this afternoon and told me that you said you had fallen in love with me, I realized that I would never meet anyone like you again in my life. So perfect for me in every way. And I think I'm good for you, too. I think I could make you happy."
He leaned down and kissed me tenderly.
"I couldn’t stand it. I couldn't lose you. So I came over and spoke with your father while you were sleeping, perfectly willing to accept what ever he said I should do. He admitted to knowing about me all this time and said that if I had feelings for you, I shouldn't leave without telling you. Then, he sent me home to change and I came back as quickly as I could so we could talk and I could confess my feelings for you."
I bit my lip to control my emotions.
"Ms. Bennet," he said and shook his head, his eyes searching mine. "Kate, I love you. I never, ever want to be separated from you again."
Emotion built in me, my vision blurring. I couldn't speak.
"Kate," he said, his smile indulgent. "Your face is getting red. You should breathe now."
I burst out crying at that, covering my face with my hands, and he just wrapped his arms around me, cradling me, my face in the crook of his neck. He pulled a handkerchief out of a pocket and gave it to me so I could mop up my eyes, rocking me back and forth. Then he tilted my head up and kissed me.
"But you're leaving…" I said when he pulled away.
