Mabel knelt and pushed the veil aside to expose her neck for her Mistress, who locked a gorgeous silver collar of carved plates around her neck. They kissed, but Finley turned awaywhen tears started flowing, reminding him too much of his own marriage and how it ended.
“I read that it’s like a wedding but between a dom and a sub. It certainly had the emotional part.”
“Yes, pretty much.” Lucy dabbed a pristine handkerchief under her eye.
“I’ve seen some beautiful thick leather collars and delicate day collars in Mistress Renata’s shop and when I read about the meanings of the designs, I got confused.” Finley frowned as a question that had been bouncing in his head popped to the surface. “A padlock charm on a necklace can symbolise a sub’s collar. But Kage wears one like that. You've known him for years, do you know anything about it?”
Lucy shook her head. “It’s not my story to tell.” She cleared her throat. “What I can tell you is that we need an officiant in this club. It’s becoming more and more popular to get married during a collaring ceremony. People have been asking, you know…” Thehint hintin her tone was comical. She pursed her lips and tapped her chin. “Waitaminute. Didn’t you officiate Mat’s wedding?
Finley snorted a laugh at the theatrics. “Yeah, I did. You really think I could do it here too? That would be fantastic.”
“You could team up with Kage.”
“If he’d want to.” Imagining himself and Kage organising a collaring wedding together was easy. They’d make sure everything went smoothly, and the setup was perfect…
“Won’t hurt talking to him and Jagoda about it.” Lucy nudged him with an elbow. “Just saying.”
While the couple and friends were dancing and celebrating, Kage left the stage, possibly to prepare for the scene he’d have next.
“Yeah, small steps. I’d better go check if he doesn’t need help with the setup, despite what he said.”
“Go get him! I’ll be watching from the bar.”
Once Finley returned to the main room, he spotted Kage bustling about the stage, double checking ropes, the stability of the bench, and the implements on the table.
“Can I help?” Finley asked, rocking on his heels.
“Don’t apply again. I will deny it every time,” Kage said without looking at Finley.
“Why? It’s just a session to you anyway.” Finley crossed his arms over his chest.Wrong thing to say!“I’m sorry abo—”
Kage shook his head, his expression pained. “You’re too much.”
Finley swallowed as the words hit him in the chest, reminding him of Maggie. She’d told him he was too clingy when she was pregnant, too happy when Alice was born. He’d been too much.
Maybe if he stepped back from Kage, they could still patch things up. No. He wouldn’t let Kage go. Not until Kage told him why he was pushing him away. Their chemistry was off the charts, and yet Kage was still not letting him in.
“I see.” Finley nodded, gritting his teeth. “I won’t waste much of your time from now on, but I don’t want to fight. I’m off in two hours, then we can talk alone. Just to clear the air.”
“You don’t give up easily.” Kage’s amused tone suggested he didn’t see it as a bad trait.
Finley gave him a sad smile. “Not on this, I won’t.”
“We can talk in my room.” Kage lifted a hand in pause. “No, that’s a bad idea.” He raked his gaze over Finley, sending tendrils of heat through him.
He’s afraid we’d fuck again.
“How about tea at the bookstore?” Finley suggested. Maybe Lucy was right and Kage liked Finley more than he let on.Was he as scared as Finley?Impossible.
“Meet me tomorrow evening at eight in the big one on Piccadilly.”
Finley nodded. “See you then.” It closed at nine, so Kage planned to be rid of him within an hour. Fair enough.
“Are you sure you’re up to guarding the scene tonight?” Kage asked.
“Yes. Why? You don’t trust me anymore?” Finley crossed his arms and stepped down, not wanting to hear the answer. He was too old to play games, and too broken to let Kage walk all over his heart.
He took his spot in front of the stage, nodding to Tom on the other side. On busy days like today, Jagoda deemed it safer for the two of them to supervise the crowd and the partner of the Sub watching.
