“Of course.” Finley slid a hand up Kage’s chest to the open top buttons of the shirt. “It’s bare without the necklace.”
Hopefully, not for long.
“I will forever be his sub. But now I’m letting him rest—the memory of him in my heart and his necklace in a box.” Both Kage’s heart as well as the space around his neck belonged to Finley now.
“I never tried to replace him.” Finley’s hands danced up and down Kage’s sides, soothing.
“And you’re not. You’re my separate story, a new journey.” He kissed Finley’s nose. “And you will never be in his shadow. He is my past, but I’d love for you to be my future.” At that, Kage lifted a finger in a give-me-a-sec gesture, stood up and retrieved a black box from his bedroom.
Sitting next to Finley, he took his hand.
Finley’s eyes widened at the sight of the box, so Kage opened it and pulled out the contents.
He placed the thick titanium necklace in Finley’s palm.
“I thought I was helping you figure out your sexuality and kinks.” Kage paused to take a breath. “I was such a blind fool.Because you’ve been the one helping me all this time since the moment you looked at me.” He cupped Finley’s cheek, caressing it with his thumb. “God, how I love your smile. The one that reaches your eyes and reflects the joy in you. I don’t remember being this happy before you.”
“Oh, Kage…” Finley turned the gold padlock in his fingers and the silver key next to it. He frowned and met Kage’s gaze.
“It’s thick and short to go with your style and—” Kage swallowed. “Would you do me the honour of wearing it as my partner? My sub?”My entire world.
“Yes.” Finley’s whispered syllable rang loudly in the room as he took Kage’s lips into a quick yet searing kiss. “With pride. But why is there a key next to it?” Finley’s Adam’s apple bobbed as his gaze darted to Kage’s hand where he held another necklace.
“Your silver key fits my padlock, and mine,” he showed Finley an identical chain but with a silver padlock and a gold key, “fits yours.”
“So we belong to each other.”
Kage nodded, showing Finley the tiny inscription with the word mine on the padlock, and yours on the bow of the key. “You unlock the best in me, and I want the whole world to know it.”
It was their own collaring ceremony, on a quiet rainy evening.
Kage used the key from his necklace to unlock Finley’s padlock, then locked the ends of the chain with it around his partner’s throat. It sat high, so even when Finley wore a t-shirt it would be visible, but it was close enough to his skin to make it impossible for anyone to grab and pull when he was on security duty.
With steady hands, Finley unclipped the key from his chain and unlocked Kage’s padlock, repeating Kage’s process until they both wore matching collars.
“Your wearing a new padlock will make people think that you’re a sub,” Finley said, his fingers tracing his new piece of jewellery.
“I don’t care. I just want everyone to know we belong to each other. That you’re off the relationship market.”
“I never joined that market in the first place.” Finley smirked. “But I’m glad you’re into dragging broken goods home.”
“Don’t make me put you over my knee.” Kage failed to keep a straight face when Finley was grinning like a madman. No, like he was happy. Which in this case, was the same thing. He remembered days where he’d probably felt that way, but not the feeling itself.
Kage’s breath hitched when Finley popped the buttons of his shirt one by one, with unhurried movements that drove Kage insane. But that was the point. No matter how they touched each other, if they fucked hard and fast, had a long pre-planned session, or languidly rocked until they both came, it was perfect.
Their bodies knew and understood each other by now, and they both could read reactions like they were their own.
Bare-chested, Kage took Finley’s t-shirt off and tossed it aside. They continued the mutual strip-tease until they were naked and Finley pulled Kage to straddle his lap.
Kage held on as Finley stood up and walked towards the bedroom. His thick thighs ate the distance with ease, his upper body strength manifesting in the effortlessness with which he carried a grown man.
Sure, Kage was a Dom, but he needed just as much care and affection as his Sub. After years of being alone, he finally let himself luxuriate in the love Finley showered him with. Kage buried his face in Finley’s neck and nibbled.
That overwhelming feeling in his chest, spreading through his body must be happiness. And love.
Finley laid on their bed, leaving Kage straddling him. Undulating his hips, Kage teased Finley’s hard-on, loving how Finley threw his head back and gripped the headboard.
Not all sex was about the power exchange, but Kage adored how Finley craved it, how his submission came natural to him.
