Page 139 of Axe Marks the Spot

“Hang with me, because I swear this will all have a point.” I rub my thumbs over her knuckles, and she nods. “I’ve told you a bit about my parents, but the home they kept wasn’t a nice one. They fought a lot and were cruel to each other. They weren’t in a dynamic like we are, but my dad lorded over my mom and me like a king. She turned to me because she needed a friend, and I was that for her. To my dad, I was a worker, a person beneath him.

“When I left home at eighteen, I’d already battled with my own dominant tendencies. I didn’t want to be like him, but I also didn’t know how to be any other way. So I found kink, found a Dom who taught me a lot of what I know. I found a way to be a better man than my father and accept who I am.”

I take a breath. “The life I’ve built since then has worked for me. I found peace in the woods and comfort in my dynamics with my submissives online. For years, I’ve had no desire to disrupt what I built or attempt to bring someone into my life that could be more. Until I met you, Lindsey.”

Her cognac-colored eyes become glassy, and her grip on my hands is so tight, our fingers are turning white.

“It’s okay,” I hush. “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

She shakes her head. “It’s just…You’ve been through a lot, and I feel honored that I’m the one you chose to let in.”

“You’ve been through a lot, too. You’re an incredible woman, and I’m the one who’s honored that you’ve trusted me the way you have.”

She looks down at our hands then back into my eyes. “I still don’t understand why you gave up your clients for me.”

“I didn’t give them up—I let go because it was time, for them and for me. But you? You’re mine. You’re the only partner I want in my life. And if you’ll let me, I want the honor of taking care of you, of being the Dom you deserve. The kind of man you’d want not just for yourself but for Kasandra, too.”

At the sound of her daughter’s name, a tear drips from the corner of her eye. I release one of my hands from hers and wipe it off her cheek.

“Everything you’ve been saying sounds like you’re proposing,” she says.

I consider telling her that, in my own way, I am. The relationship we have is still building, and we’re not ready for marriage yet, but our dynamic, the training collar I’m going to offer her…I hope one day it will all lead to that. Not just marriage but a permanent collar.

That thought alone would’ve scared me once, but not with Lindsey. With every day that passes, I see more and more that I want anything and everything that has to do with her. I hope that, after all is said and done, she does, too.

“Is marriage something you’d want?” I voice.

She blinks and nods. “There was a time when I would have said no, but that was before I met you.”

I kiss her knuckle softly. “That’s good to hear, because I feel the same way. I should have asked you that sooner.”

“We’re learning and growing together, Dane.”

“We are.” For a moment, I mull over what to say next. My plans for tonight got derailed a bit, but we needed to have this discussion, and I’m glad we were able to be open and honest with each other. It means what we’ve been building is strong.

I pull my hands from hers, and my eyes drop to the velvet box I’d laid in front of her seat before she arrived. She follows my gaze, and her breath picks up.

“I did want to make a different kind of proposal tonight. We can discuss it if that’s what we’re both ready for.”

“Sir?” Her voice is soft as she uses my honorific instead of my name, but I can hear the bit of excitement in it.

“Open it, baby.”

Lindsey sits up straighter in her chair and pulls the box closer to her. Her fingers tremble as she lifts the latch. Her intake of breath is sharp as she stares at what’s inside. “A training collar, Sir?”

“Yes,” I reply. “I had it made for you.”

Lindsey takes the thin black leather choker from the box. In the center of it sits a silver O-ring, one I can fasten a leash or other fun things to.

She places the box on the table and holds the collar reverently, a fresh wave of tears glistening in her eyes. “It’s beautiful, Sir.”

“I’ve also had a day collar made, a necklace for you to wear that isn’t so obvious. I can show it to you later, if you choose to accept.”

She wipes a tear from her cheek and looks at me. “I accept, Sir.”

Her eagerness pleases me, but I need to be sure. “Before you do, I want to talk about what this will mean for our future.”

I take the collar from her hands and hold the stiff yet soft leather in mine.