Page 9 of Switched
Hereweare,withdinner approaching sooner than I expected. I stand in the lobby of the Bellagio, staring at the one person who I can never quite figure out. No matter how much I try, or all of the energy I use… he is nothing but an enigma. A puzzle that I can’t quite seem to solve.
Shockingly enough I did exactly what he requested in his note. I laugh to myself, it wasn’t a request. It was an order – a test, one that I know I’ve very well passed, as well as failed. I’m wearing gold just as he wanted, but my hair is half up, half down. Something that he may not be too keen on, but Drake knows me. He knows what I’m like and he knows that I’ll constantly test my limits. I need control as well, and my hairstyle shows him that.
I approach him, greeting him coolly. “Drake.” His eyes rake over my body, taking in the dress I put on. It’s simple, elegant, and sinfully delicious. I chose not to wear a bra, for it would take away from the way it falls, complimenting every curve from my breasts down to my ass.
“Candace, you look ravishing. You little brat.” He smirks, takes my hand, and kisses the top of it, much like a prince would a princess. Before he says another word, he keeps my hand in his as we walk down the corridor and into one of the many restaurants that the Bellagio has to offer.
Drake chooses an intimate, dimly lit bar and bypasses the hostess station completely. He takes me back to the corner of a restaurant where plenty of privacy awaits us, and I now realize that he planned it this way. He wanted us to both have the privacy we wanted. We’re in public, yet we’re alone. Funny how even after years of knowing him he still manages to surprise me. Drake pulls my chair out for me, “Miss.”
“Thank you, Sir,” I reply back to him, catching the glimmer in his eye as the word sir passes through my very lips. He walks around the other end of the table and takes a long gander at me, before waving his hand up in the air, signaling the waiter to come and take our order. A young man in his early twenties approaches us, dressed clad in black. Drake rambles off an order of their best Pinot Noir and orders himself a steak and an Italian dish for me. “Before you think I’m a selfish bastard, I should inform you that I plan on eating both of these and we’re sharing tonight. You don’t have a problem with that, do you?”
I giggle, rolling my eyes at the man who sits before me. “You of all people should know that I don’t have a problem with sharing. The more, the merrier.”
Our waiter comes back and pours our wine, allowing Drake a moment to taste it, making sure that it’s up to his expectations. With a slight nod, the waiter continues to pour until we’re both served. He informs us that warm bread will be delivered in just a few moments and that if we need anything please let him know before he disappears yet again.
“I didn’t know you could find a quiet corner in here of all places.” I glance around, taking in the black and gold accents of the bar, seeing why Drake wanted me to dress as I have tonight.
“I usually manage to find quiet when I need it.” Drake takes a sip of his wine and sets the glass before him. “How are you feeling today?”
I wiggle my head from left to right. “I’m managing, given everything that’s happened.” Drake furrows his eyebrows and it makes me realize that I didn’t tell him about my father. “My Dad was shanked in the prison. He’s okay, in the infirmary, but it poses a problem with our legal issues.”
“Hmm. What has Carly said to you?” There he goes, bringing up my baby sister. Carly, therealbrat of the family. I haven’t seen her in almost a year and she doesn’t give a damn about what happens to our father. I’m the one who has to pick up the pieces and hold all the responsibility, so why should it matter? She was given the get out of jail free card. “She doesn’t know.” He figures it out before I manage to tell him. “You have to tell her. I know that your relationship isn’t the easiest, but it has to happen. He’s okay this time, Candace. You aren’t dumb, you’re quite the opposite and I know that you know your father well enough to know his behaviors and how something like this has an extreme possibility of happening again. In fact, you probably already know it will. I’m just wondering why you haven’t reached out to your only sister and told her.”
Drake pauses, allowing the air to fill between us. Meanwhile, our waiter comes back up and brings over bread with butter. Both of us stay silent, simply staring at one another while our server walks out of hearing distance.
I close my eyes, squeezing them shut as I start to feel tears welling behind my eyes. This isn’t easy, my relationship with Carly or my father. There are times when I truly believe that I was given the most complicated family on the planet. “What would you have me tell her, Drake? Should I start with the part where I’ve wasted thousands upon thousands of dollars on trying to get our untrustworthy, conman of a father out of jail? Or should I just completely avoid that part and tell her that he’s been stabbed and there’s a big chance that he’s not going to make it out of there alive, no matter what I do to try… Carly has always seen the good parts of him… you know that. She believes he’s done no wrong, and I don’t want to take that part from her. She’s innocent… a little naive, but innocent. I don’t want to rip that innocence from her and make her see the ugly truth, so fuck me for wanting to protect her.”
Carly is ten years younger than me, her mother is one of my father’s cons and even though her mother talks the worst shit about our Dad on the planet, she still loves him more than I can express. I wish that I could love the way that Carly does, there’s just something about her heart that refuses to give up on people. It’s a beautiful thing, but also crushes her from time to time. In the last year, we’ve grown apart, but that could of course be because she’s chosen to take up some not-so-great habits and I’ve aired my unsupportiveness. I’m not the kind of bitch who holds back what she’s thinking.
Drake forms his lips into a stern line. “Carly isn’t innocent anymore. She’s not a child. You know what she does for a living, fuck half of Vegas knows. She hasn’t been as innocent as you’d like her to be for well over a year, but you don’t need me to remind you of that. Do you? So, let’s change the subject. We should talk about what you said to me.”
With impeccable timing, our waiter brings out our dinner. A heavy, magnificent smelling lasagna for me and a medium-rare steak for Drake, topped with shrimp in garlic butter and freshly baked red potatoes. Drake starts cutting the steak and potatoes, sliding the meat through his fork he offers it to me, reaching his arm across the table and placing it on my lips. I take the bite and revel in the tenderness of the meat.
I’d been so caught up in my father and Carly that I’d completely forgotten about what I said to him. Of course, I know he wants to talk about it, if the roles were reversed and my sub had said something like that to me then I’d want to discuss it. But I’m not his submissive.
Not yet, I think to myself.
Shoot.
I’m so conflicted in my feelings. Iwantto have control. Ineedto have control… especially when it comes to my work. My job is being a dominant but is that what it is. Is it just a job? Or is it who I am? I’ve wondered this for years, eons it feels like. Deep down I know the answer, and right now is when I fully admit to not only myself, but to Drake what I need from him.
I take the wine in front of me in my hand and have a sip, setting it back down on the table in front of me. Staring Drake in the eyes, I say what I have to before I chicken out. “I want something more than what I’ve been doing all these years. I think I’ve come to realize that I want a relationship. I crave it actually, and maybe the reason that my relationships haven’t worked out in the past is because I’ve been looking for the wrong thing. I’d always looked for a submissive, but what I need isn’t a sub. What I need is a Dom to come home to, Drake.” I take another sip of wine before I really lose my courage. “WhoI need is you.”
Chapter 13
Drake
IwatchedCandacethemoment she entered the Bellagio, like a lion stalking his prey. She obeyed my instructions on the note I left her, to wear the gold dress and she looked so delectable. But she also showed a little of her bratty side by wearing her hair half up and half down. I like how she will obey but do something a bit different in subtle ways. It’s to show me that she needs a dominant male to keep her in her place.
Then those five words she just spoke shot through me, straight to my hardening cock underneath the table.
I take her hand, pull it to me, and look her in the eyes. “Candace, you know deep down you can trust me. You don’t have to keep those walls around yourself and block me from what you are feeling. Let it all go. I want you to be open and honest with me andonlywith me.”
I feel her pull back just a little, but I keep her hand in mine with firmness, which is what she craves. “I will be honest and open with you right here and now. I’ve always wanted you as my submissive. As a matter of fact, I’ve wanted you for a very long time but because of my past relationship, I didn’t want to admit it to myself. But now I realize I don’t want to dwell in the past anymore. I must move forward and live in the present with you by my side.”
A fleeting moment of fear shows in her eyes. I squeeze her hand, bringing it up to my lips to kiss it. “I’ll also admit that I’m afraid too, only because it didn’t work out for me in the past.”
Her hands are soft. I reach across the table and brush my thumb across her luscious bottom lip. She closes her eyes, as I dip my thumb in between her lips. She wraps them around it and sucks. “I want you to belong to me and only me, Candace. I will protect you, and cherish you. We are the perfect match. I would be the best Dominant you could have ever hoped for. And you would be my most cherished submissive. I can offer you the type of relationship you truly want, sweet girl. One where I respect your dominance, as well as your submissive nature. Just don’t expect me to go easy on you when you’re being a brat.”
