His eyes filled with liquid glass, blinked away before I could reach for it. “Not in the shadows. Not for you. When I can get us out of the dark Leon has forced on us,thenI’ll ask you.”
My hand squeezed his tighter. “Wewillget away from him.”
He nodded. “I’ll make sure of it. Whatever I have to do.”
“Whateverwehave to do,” I corrected.
He smiled.
Then the waiter interrupted us as he bought some fancy bottle of French wine I’d never heard of but was sure cost more than anything I’d ever drunk before.
“There’s no menus,” I whispered after he’d walked away.
“We don’t need them.” Harper smiled fondly. “I’ve already ordered for us.”
“When did you find the time to do all this?”
He shrugged a shoulder. “Might have been here earlier today setting up.”
“Settin’ up?”
“The room, and the dinner. The menu changes every day, so I had to do it today as well.”
“You set up the room yourself?” I thought of all the candles and rose petals.
Harper scowled. “Of course I did it myself. It wouldn’t be special if I made someone else do it.”
I beamed. I’d have thought it was special if he did anything at all, but knowing he’d been here today, instead of at work, setting all this up for me… “I’m gonna eat your ass out all fuckin’ night.”
He choked on the mouthful of wine he’d been attempting to sip.
It was a blessing Ma hadn’t let me eat before leaving to pick Harper up from work, because it turned out when he said he’d ordered for us, what he meant was that he’d orderedeverythingon the menu.
I asked him if he’d set that up too, and he only shrugged with a small smile on his lips. The thought of Harper conspiring with my ma about his plans only made the warmth inside me grow. He’d trusted her, and it might not have been with something big, but it wassomething.
By the time we returned to the room, my stomach was as full as my chest, and I was determined to show Harper my deep appreciation for filling them both by filling something of his.
However, after we’d tumbled into several items of furniture between frenzied kisses, he put his fingers over my lips to keep them from him long enough to tell me he had to give me my birthday present before we did anything else.
I knelt for him between his spread thighs as he sat on the edge of the bed, a black box with a black ribbon in his hands.
He seemed a little nervous.
“I hope you like it. You can wear it as much or as little as you want to, pup.”
He handed it to me.
I opened what very much felt like another proposal, only instead of a ring, there was a black leather collar in the velvet padded box. There was a gold tag on the front that read “Harper’s Pup.” It was circled by a second collar in the form of a necklace, also in gold, with a small “H” engraved on the clasp.
I already knew that he wanted me to be his submissive, his partner, and that what we had was special and it wasn’t going anywhere, but to have this physical representation of our bond, of the trust we had for each other and our commitment to each other… It hit me harder than I could ever have anticipated.
“Do you like them?” Harper asked, and I realized I’d been staring at the collars in complete silence.
“I love them. I love you.”
“I love you too, pup.”
“Will you put them on me?”
