He laughs. “Well played.”
Before I can give into the temptation to drag him out of the kitchen and into the bedroom to punish him a little, I reach into my bag and pull out a small, unwrapped black box.
“I have something for you.”
I slide the box across the counter, and he catches it. He stares down at it then back at me, like he’s trying to decide if he deserves whatever is inside.
“What’s this for?”
“Consider it a ‘you’re here’ gift.”
He pulls his bottom lip between his teeth before finally giving into his curiosity and opening the lid.
Inside is a stainless steel chain that connects in the front with a single, thick, metallic green O clasp.
“Is this…”
I move around the island, and he turns on the stool so I can stand in front of him between his legs. He stares into my face as I take the chain out of the box and drape it around his neck, securing it with the clasp.
During our many conversations about exploring what kind of dynamic we both wanted, we discussed him wearing a collar. He was thrilled by the idea and begged me to put one on him then and there. But…I wasn’t ready. Not because I didn’twanthim wearing my collar. Because I was afraid to hope he’d never take it off. I still am, honestly.
But I want this so fucking badly—I wanthimso fucking badly—that I’m finally ready to put everything on the line. Even my heart.
No matter what happens now.
Jackson’s hand comes up, his fingertips lightly brushing the cool metal of the clasp where it rests in the hollow of his throat.
“What do you think?”
“I love it,” he says, his eyes shimmering in the warm light of the kitchen. “Thank you, Sir.”
The moment he drops his hand, I hook my finger through the circle clasp and tug on the chain. He gasps when he’s yanked forward, his hands flying to either side of my waist in an attempt to steady himself. I kiss him hard, just a quick press of my mouth to his, his whimper slipping between us.
“You’re welcome, sweetheart,” I whisper against his lips. Still holding onto him by the collar, I pull back and grin at the way he’s peering up at me with lust in his heavy-lidded eyes. “Eventually, we’ll replace this clasp with a lock that only I’ll have a key to. Make it official that you’re mine forever. That you’re not allowed to leave.”
“I don’t need a collar for that, Isaac. I was always going to stay whether I’m wearing your collar or not. But…”
Maybe one of these days, I’ll stop feeling a weight drop all the way from my throat into the bottom pit of my stomach when there’s any trace of hesitation or doubt in Jackson’s eyes.
But today is not that day.
I swallow hard. “But?”
“We should probably report our relationship before we take that leap,” he says as a slow grin creeps into his face.
I do a really shitty job trying to hide my relief, exhaling a heavy breath of air between us.
His brow creases. “We said we’d wait until some time passed after the semester, so it wouldn’t look like…you know.”
So it wouldn’t look like I crossed a line.
A different kind of dread starts rising up from that dark abyss, and my chest suddenly feels too small to contain it, my heartbeat shoved into my throat to make room for it.
Jackson frowns when I still haven’t said anything. “Does the idea of making it official scare you?”
I tug on his collar again, gentler this time. “Does this feel like that scares me? I put my collar around your neck, sweetheart. I’d say I made things pretty official. I promise I don’t want to hide you.”
“Then what is it?”
