Page 87 of Surrender

I shrug. "I don't think he's a bad man. He could have forced me. I think maybe he's a bit off. Without access to me, he'll move on. I just hope whoever is in his sights next, he goes about it differently."

Dec shakes his head. "How you can have empathy for him, I'll never know."

I shrug again. "I'm different. I'm socially awkward and my brain's not normal. That doesn't make me a bad person. Maybe it's the same for him."

Declan pushes me back against the tile wall and kisses me. It's adoring, and worshiping, but not hot.

After we've toweled off and wrapped around each other in bed, the final shoe drops.

"I need you to move back in. I'm not sure I can handle you being away and vulnerable again."

I nod, and the final ounce of tension fades from his tired face. "Thank you," I say, between kisses.

"For what?"

"For waiting. For trusting me. For dating me. I know it couldn't have been easy on you, but I'm ready to come home now."

Chapter fifty-three

Declan

"I'm ready to come home now," plays on repeat in my head the next night at The Envelope. Daniel, Harrison and I are at our regular table, but it's early in the night. Serenity stayed home because she's not scheduled to work tonight, and wanted to put away all of her things that Joseph and Vivek had moved out of her apartment for her.

She especially wanted to rearrange the library and divide the books into ones I've read and ones I haven't read yet and demanded I keep reading them and sending her my thoughts. I love having something in common with her - a shared hobby - something we can talk about over dinner and coffee in the morning.

I insisted she move into the master bedroom, too. It's just as much hers as it is mine and it's where she belongs. She wanted to mulch the front gardens, too, and tend to her rose bushes, which had started to bloom again in the warm March weather.

She explained to me how roses lose their petals in the fall so they can pour their energy into building deeper roots so they can blossom better in the Spring. And that's what it feelslike happened for us. She had to leave for our relationship to grow deeper roots, and now we have everything. We had sex, respect, domination and submission, but after our time apart we also have love, and care, and longing. We have a foundation to build the rest of our lives on. Whatever happens - kids, jobs, or lawsuits - I know we'll make it.

I don't care what she does as long as she's home, and safe.

Anderson had texted earlier, letting us know that Volkov had dropped the case. I took it as a sign of his surrender - his giving up on pursuing Serenity. It was a good sign, but I wasn't leaving anything to chance.

I'm scrolling on my phone, looking for personal security dog breeders and trainers. She said she'd prefer that, so Hank can have a friend, over a bodyguard. Joseph will guard her when we're together, and will escort her around campus, but he can't work twenty-four hours a day, so a dog is a reasonable backup.

I'm not paying attention to the room around me when Daniel elbows me. I look up and he nods towards the door.

Serenity walks in, in a gorgeous ballgown I haven't seen yet. God, she's stunning. I'm not sure there will ever be a day she doesn't take my breath away. In running shorts, my baggy t-shirt, or a ballgown, it doesn't matter. That woman has my entire heart and soul.

I stare, in complete awe and shock, as she kneels next to me and places an eternity collar on my lap. I suck in a gasp. We haven't talked about this. We haven't discussed boundaries, or the lifestyle, and honestly, I didn't care if she never subbed for me again. I have her and that's all that matters to me. This beautiful, stunning, incredible woman had chosen me, and that was more than I could have ever hoped for. She brought me back to life and gave me something to look forward to every day.

And here she was, kneeling in all of her submissive beauty, offering herself to me for eternity. It might as well have been amarriage proposal. I can hear Daniel suck in a breath next to me, but the rest of the world disappears, and it's just Serenity and me. I swallow down a ball of emotion as I take her in. She is serenity. Here, head bowed, hands up, soft smile on her face, she is the definition of serene.

I run my hand along her head, biding time until I can trust my voice again. I take the collar, and motion for her to spin with my finger. She does, and moves her hair to the side, giving me access to her neck. I slip the collar around her elegant neck and secure it. It's a sign to the rest of the world that I own this woman completely. Just the way she owns all of me.

With the collar clasped, I pull her into my lap just as Daniel grips my shoulder and gives it a little shake in congratulations.

I nod my thanks, but my entire world is sitting in my lap right now.

"Hi," I say, once I'm sure my voice won't crack. I can't stop staring at her neck, and the sterling collar around it. Fuck, I like the way that looks on her. My inner caveman is preening.

"Hey," she says with a smile, running her fingers across the back of my neck.

Pink creeps up her neck and warms her cheeks. "What?" She's being shy, which I haven't seen on her in a long time.

"People are staring," she whispers. Ah. I guess that makes sense. Our patrons have never seen me with her. They haven't seen me with anyone in a long time.

"Is this okay?" she asks on a whisper.

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