Cedric
It arrivedin a discreet white box on the third day after Cedric had placed his order. While Gabriel hid down the hall, frightened almost to tears by the doorbell for reasons Cedric couldn’t understand, he picked the box up from the stoop and turned it around in his hands. It stood approximately half a foot tall, but it was light, and by the sound of the paper receipt rattling around inside of it, Cedric didn’t think its contents took up muchspace.
He brought the box through the living room and into the kitchen, then laid it on the counter. The transparent circle of tape that secured the flap into its corresponding slot shone beneath the overhead lights, and Cedric worked it up and off with the nail on his thumb. Padded footsteps down the hall marked Gabriel’s arrival, and Cedric heard the minuscule creak of the floorboards as he leaned around the doorway to glance into thekitchen.
“It’s all right, Rabbit,” Cedric said without turning to look. “It was a delivery. There’s no reason to be afraid. In fact, I want you to come here. This is somethingforyou.”
There was a moment of hesitation, but before Cedric had to address Gabriel a second time, he came through the doorway and joined Cedric at the counter. Cedric spared him a quick look to take inventory of what he was wearing, then worked the flap out from its slot. Gabriel’s jeans were a little tight, but his t-shirt was loose and comfortable. It would have to do. Once he’d adjusted to his new limitations, he would rework his wardrobeaccordingly.
Cedric opened the box and took his purchase frominside.
The posture collar was worth every penny. Made of high-quality leather, its sleek, black exterior was complemented by downy padding on the inside. Cedric ran his thumb across it, testing it for comfort, but also for breathability. When he tightened the dual straps and fed them into their corresponding buckles, Gabriel’s skin would need to breathe. It would do them no good if the collar was uncomfortable—Cedric wanted him in it for long periods of time. Training would not be effective if he had to remove it at regularintervals.
At his side, Gabriel tensed. The leather was intimidating, Cedric knew. There’d been a time when he’d worn a similar collar. Brittany had wanted everyone to see his face, and there’d been no better way to do it than to keep his head in place. But eventually, the thick D-ring on the front wouldn’t look as imposing, and the heavy-duty build of the collar would become as natural to Gabriel’s body as his own neck was. All it would take was time, and time was something they hadplentyof.
“This,” Cedric said, tracing his fingers along the D-ring on the front, “is yours from now until the endoftime.”
Gabriel said nothing, but there was buzzing energy in the air—nervous or excited, Cedric couldn’t tell. He turned his head to look at Gabriel, hoping to source the change in the air, only to find Gabriel’s eyes were partially lidded. His teeth had sunk into his bottom lip, small flashes of white that drew the eye to his tempting mouth. It wasn’t nerves, and excitement didn’t begin to cover it—Gabriel was aroused. Cedric detected the first stirrings of it in the air, and his cock throbbed at the thought that his perfect pet was turned on by the prospect of being so visiblyclaimed.
Doing his best to ignore the growing need behind his fly, Cedric continued, “This collar is your punishment for your misstep the other day, and you will wear it until I decide that it’s time for you to takeitoff.”
“Yes, Sir.” Gabriel’s voice quivered, but not from fear. The sound of it struck Cedric squarely in the gut, and he tightened his stomach as a fresh wave of arousal passedthroughhim.
It wasn’t right to think this way about Gabriel. Broken, abused, and twisted, Gabriel needed to know his worth before he knew another man’s touch again. Right now, Gabriel needed to focus on getting better… but Cedric didn’t know how much longer he could continue to denyhimself.
Gabriel was special. It was in the way their bodies felt when they touched as much as it was in who Gabriel was at the core of his being. It was the same pull he’d felt to Brittany all those years ago, but intensified—made into something monumental by forces Cedric couldn’t hope tounderstand.
And that force almost swept Cedric away as he fitted the collar toGabriel’sneck.
The unspoken tension between them swelled, and sparks the like of which Cedric had never felt before flew. Cedric gazed into Gabriel’s partially lidded eyes and saw in them that what he felt, Gabriel felt, too. The tiny uptick of Gabriel’s pulse and the scent of arousal on the air stirred Cedric more than it ever hadbefore.
He wanted to touch. He wanted to pin Gabriel to the couch and knot him—to mark himashis.
Instead, he watched as Gabriel lifted his chin and accepted the collar. Cedric’s hands were tied. There was nothing else hecoulddo.
The collar molded to Gabriel’s neck like it had been built for his body. Cedric tightened the straps and buckled them into place, then assessed how the collar hit Gabriel’s clavicle. He ran a finger beneath to make sure the fit wasn’t too tight or uncomfortable, then turned his attention to how it fitted against Gabriel’s chin. Posture collars, rigid and tall, were made to restrict the movement of the head and neck. Gabriel would no longer be able to dip his head when he wanted to escape the reality of the situation, and he would look Cedric in the eyes when theyspoke.
Pretty, ocean-blue eyes that left Cedricbreathless.
Cedric bit the inside of his lip and pushed thethoughtaway.
“How does it feel?” he asked. Unable to help himself, he ran his finger from the upper edge of the collar to Gabriel’s neck, and then upward along his jawbone. Every time they touched, it stirred Cedric, and he couldn’t get enough. It was selfish and irresponsible, but when Gabriel was so close, his body and his mind were at war, and there were some battles Cedric could not win. “Is it irritating your skinanywhere?”
“No,Sir.”
Gabriel’s skin was warm, and he smelled good.God,did he smell good. Cedric leaned a little closer, just to breathe him in. The war inside was being waged, and right now, his mind was losing to his body. “Is itcomfortable?”
“Yes, Sir.” What little was visible of Gabriel’s eyes was glossy, and his pupils were blown out with lust. “It’scomfortable.”
“Then you’ll wear it for me.” It wasn’t a question, but a statement whispered onto Gabriel’s lips. They were too close and Cedric knew it, but he couldn’t bring himself to pull away. “And when you want to sleep at night, you’ll come find me, and ask nicely if I’ll take it offforyou.”
Gabriel’s eyes closed, and he tilted his chin upward as if he were expecting a kiss. “Yes, Sir. Ofcourse.”
Butterflies took flight in Cedric’s stomach, and his cock strained against the front of his jeans. He knew that Gabriel had to be able to smell his arousal, but he didn’t care. Gabriel had to know that he was desirable, and there was a chance that knowing Cedric wasn’t immune to his charms would inflate his sense of self-worth.
Pink lips, ruddied by how Gabriel had worried them, were so close that all Cedric would have to do would be move a fraction of an inch forward to make them his. Gabriel wore his collar now, and he would until Cedric decided that he’d been taught his lesson. Wouldn’t it be natural to make his lips Cedric’s as well? To make sure that Gabriel knew that he wasclaimed?
Cedric leaned forward, ready to give in just this once, when athudfrom the carport stole his attention away and jerked him back from the omega he was about to claim. He turned toward the side door as his heart raced, both glad for the interruption and gutted by it. A sound like that wasn’t caused by the wind—whatever was out there was too solid, tooheavy.
