Page 54 of Love
He flashed me a thousand-watt smile, but Icould see tenderness just under the surface. “You haven’t even seen what it isyet.”
“What matters is you were thinking of me.”This wasn’t something he’d picked up at the corner store on a whim. “I want youto know I appreciate that, no matter what you got me.”
Dare leaned over and gave me a kiss. “Thankyou, baby.”
I got a tender hug before he pushed the boxcloser to my chest. “Open it before Ryan pops from excitement.”
“You get used to it eventually.” We’d been throughenough birthdays and Christmases that I was immune to his insanity at thispoint.
Dare grinned, shooting abe patientlook at Ryan that had him sighing dramatically. “I’ll be good.”
For now.
Opening the small box that was taller thananything I’d seen for a ring, I set the top down and pulled back a small pieceof fluffy batting.
It was a watch.
It was remarkably like the one I alwayswore to work, mostly because I liked the way it looked, and though it wassilly, it had made me feel more mature when I’d gotten my first job. I knewthere was no reason for him to give me something I already owned, so as he studiedme quietly, I pulled the watch out and turned it over in my hands.
There it was.
On the underside of the face, there was atiny inscription in a scrolling font.
always with you
Dare
Under the wordswere what had to be a tiny pair of handcuffs that almost looked like aninfinity symbol. I could feel my face heating up, but it was perfect. PullingDare close, I wrapped him in a tight hug and kissed his cheek. “Thank you,Sir.”
Snuggling into me, he wrapped his armsaround me and squirmed even closer. “It’s not a traditional collar, but I wantyou to know that I’m always your Dom and always with you even if I’m not rightthere.”
When I finally released him, I looked overto see Ryan nearly vibrating with excitement. There was no playing coy withhim. He wanted that sign of his Dom’s ownership more than I thought he’d everwanted anything else.
Dare chuckled, giving me one last kissbefore wiggling closer to Ryan. He let out a bark of laughter as Ryan pulledDare onto his lap and hugged him tight. “Me too?”
“Yes.” Ryan got a kiss from Dare before ourDom settled into Ryan’s lap and handed him the box. As I sat up completely,leaning against the headboard, Ryan was taking off the top and excitedlypulling his watch out of the box.
It looked almost exactly like the watch healways wore, one he’d gotten from his mother several years ago. As he turned itover to look at the inscription, I realized it was such a good match she’dnever know it wasn’t his watch unless she noticed the band was less worn.
“Always with you.” Ryan looked up, smiling.“And mine has a little paddle.”
Dare chuckled, clearly delighted withRyan’s reaction. “I’m Dom to you both and I want you to know I’m always goingto be with you, but you’re different people, and you need different things fromme.”
Ryan nodded, hugging Dare tight. “Theemotions are the same but the execution is unique. I get it. Thank you. It’s perfect.”
The gifts were perfect…the perfect way toshow his ownership of us even if he didn’t put it quite that way.
Leaning over, I kissed Dare and snuggledcloser to both of them. “Thank you for my collar, Sir. Will you put it on me?”
I might not know a lot about BDSM outsideof porn, but I knew he needed to be the one to mark me as his. He smiled,nodding. “Yes, baby.”
Dare wrapped it around my wrist and had itfastened in record time. As he stroked his fingers over it and around my wrist,he peeked up at me. “I know collars are usually something you can keep on atall times, but I wanted something subtle for you guys that you could wear towork where no one would question it.”
“It’s perfect.” I gave him another kiss ashe stroked over the smooth band. “It’s usually the only thing I ever wear, soyou’re right, no one will question it.”
As Dare turned back to Ryan, carefullyfastening his, Ryan beamed. “I never thought about something like this for acollar.”
Dare grinned, giving Ryan a quick peck.“Somehow it doesn’t surprise me that you’ve been trying to imagine what kind ofcollar you would get.”
