by Jane Henry
“You did not,” Diana says, holding Beatrice’s manicured hand in hers, her jaw dropping at the band that wasn’t there the day before. Beatrice was adamant. Every woman she knew growing up valued the size and worth of the diamond on their fingers, and she said she refused to get one. She wanted nothing but a simple wedding band in rose gold. It worked for me. The band was only part of what I had planned for her.
“You always were one competitive son of a bitch,” Tobias says with a chuckle, punching my shoulder.
“Damn right,” I say, watching as Diana yanks Beatrice over to her and gives her a hug so tight it leaves Beatrice breathless. “Couldn’t let you be the first, man.”
Diana’s wearing her wedding gown and she’s just said her vows to Tobias. We’re on our way to the reception hall to take pictures and shit, but Beatrice had something to tell Diana. We eloped in a quiet ceremony, just the two of us and a Justice of the Peace in the heart of NYC. She’s told no one yet. My parents were a bit bemused but happy for me when I called them. Next summer, I’ll take her to the Cape and to the beach and introduce her to my parents. She’ll love them.
Her parents will find out when she’s good and ready.
“You did the right thing, man,” Tobias says, watching our girls hug each other. Beatrice didn’t need a big wedding. She needs me. Just like I need her.
I nod. He’s right. It was the right thing.
But I have one more thing to do.
“You’re quiet, Zack,” Beatrice says, reaching for my hand across the console as I make my way back to my place. We’ve just had one hell of a session at Verge, and I’m still pumped, but there’s another reason my heart is beating rapidly and my pulse quickening. I squeeze her hand, then release it, gently grazing the pads of my thumbs over the slightly raised rope marks around her wrists. The pattern is beautiful, a physical symbol of her trust.
Tonight, we take it to the next level. We’ve talked about this, and though she’s on board and knows what’s coming, I’m still not sure how this will all play out. We stand at the very precipice of taking our relationship to the next level.
“Yeah, baby,” I say finally. “A little quiet. Just a lot on my mind, doll, and none of it’s bad.”
She nods, resting her hand on the console and allowing me to finger her wrist, feel her pulse, her skin as soft as silk. Sometimes I need to be quiet, and she knows that about me. Hell, it’s one of the reasons I know we’re meant for each other. My job is to help her reach her full potential, to support her, and take care of her the best I can. And she takes care of me. Just because I’m the dom doesn’t mean that I don’t need her every bit as much as she needs me. She fulfills my need to protect, but supports me as I am, no judgment. And it’s in that mutual give and take that we find our fulfillment.
It’s why I’ve planned what I’m about to do tonight. Why what we do next needs to happen.
After we reach our place and park the car, I take her by the hand and lead her upstairs, pulling her a little closer to me as the chill autumn wind picks up, making her shiver. I instinctively tuck her against my side, shielding her from the cold. She leans into me, accepting my protection in quiet thanks.
Jesus, she’s mine. My wife. And I’ll never fucking take that for granted.
She’s quiet, maybe in deference for my own need for contemplation, or perhaps she intuits that tonight is a special night. Whatever the reason, though, I can’t help but pull her into the entryway to my building, lightly push her up against the wall, pull her head back and claim her mouth in a hard kiss that makes her knees buckle. “I love you,” I say in a vehement whisper that brings tears to her baby blues, her eyes like the ocean at sunrise, filled with hope and light and the promise of good things to come.
She swallows hard, reaches a hand to my cheek and gently cups my jaw. “And I love you.”
Our lives are about to change, and we both know this. There’s no going back to the way things were. Tonight, and tomorrow, and the days and weeks and years after that, we face as one. In silence, we make our way upstairs. It’s been a long few weeks, and we’re both tired. The night isn’t over yet, though.
“Go get yourself ready for bed,” I order, slipping her jacket off her shoulders. I give her a playful smack on the ass, sending her to go do as she’s been told. Squealing, she goes, and as soon as the bedroom door closes, I get ready to meet her. I want this to be as perfect as she is.
I strike a match, the scent of smoke filling my senses, then warm vanilla as the wick burns the ivory wax. I stare at the candle, the flickers almost hypnotic. Will I remember the details of this night even when I’m old?
I’m listening to the sound of running water in the bathroom. She’s been living with me now long enough I know her routine. She’ll wash her face and remove her makeup, then slather some cream on, before she brushes and flosses her teeth. When I hear the final turn of the faucet handle, I’ll know she’s finishing up and about to join me. When the faucet squeaks off, I grab the square-shaped box from the bedside table and lay it next to me on the bed, where she can’t see it.
The door to the bathroom opens, and my heart melts a little at the sight of her in a pair of sheer red boxers and a tiny white cami, her hair wild and crazy, tied up in a little knot thing on the top of her head. She wears no jewelry or makeup, and she’s never looked so beautiful.
“Zack?” she asks, tipping her head to the side. “Everything okay, sir?”
A flare of pleasure floods me at the sir. A reminder that she’s my submissive and I’m her dominant. It comes naturally to her now, but I know it hasn’t always. Knowing she chooses this is what makes it so special.
I fought for her. And hell, I won.
“Everything’s more than okay, doll,” I say, my voice gentle at first, but now she needs to know I’m serious. I point to the floor between my knees. “Kneel, please.”
She’s tired but curious, her eyes expectant, never leaving mine as she takes her position kneeling before me, gently resting her hands on my knees. I take in a deep, cleansing breath to steady my nerves, no sound in the room now but her breathing.
“We talked about this,” I say, before swallowing, “And I know this is what you want. But you tell me now if you’re at all hesitant with what I’m about to do.” She sobers a bit, a little knot forming between her brows, but she says nothing, just watches as I lift the gleaming black box. Then her eyes go wide and her mouth parts open when I lift the lid. There, nestled against soft folds of velvet, lays the collar I’ve had hand-crafted for her.
I lift the collar before placing the box back on the bed. It’s a sturdy chain, rose gold in color with tiny, intricate engraving along the chain, two waves of lines woven into one beautiful pattern. “Do you see this?” I ask. “There are two waves that interlock to form a pattern. Neither is thicker or more pronounced than the other, and together they form a beautiful pattern they wouldn’t if separated.”
“Like us,” she whispers. I nod, my left hand brushing her cheek in praise.
“Yeah, baby. And I chose the rose gold because it fits you. Beautiful, feminine, and the strongest gold there is.” It also matches her wedding band, and it cost a fucking mint, but she doesn’t need to know that. She’s worth it.
“It’s discreet,” I continue, “with a tiny lock in the back. It has one key, and that will stay with me.”
She swallows, her eyes now on the collar in my hand.
“Are you ready, Beatrice?”
“Yes. Please, sir,” she says, her voice teeming with emotion. She closes her eyes and lifts her chin, baring her neck to me, and I’m filled with the knowledge that she trusts me. Earning this woman’s trust is the single most important accomplishment of my whole damn life. I’ll always, always honor that.
I take a deep breath, steadying my hands that want to shake, before I slide the collar around her neck. The pink-tinged gold lays against her creamy skin and looks as if it was made for her. “I love you,” I whisper, as I turn the c
lasp. Once it’s fastened, it will lock.
“And I love you,” she whispers at the same time the soft click tells us she’s collared.
“Come here,” I say, the need to claim her, to seal this moment making me near primal with need. I lift under her arms, pull her right up off the floor, raking down the red boxers and baring her to me. I take just a moment to seal this night with a kiss, before I’m removing my own clothes. I need to take her.
“Sir,” she whispers, fingering the gold chain at her neck. She’s wiping away tears and reaching for me, wrapping her arms around my neck, lifting her body to mine. Her knees part and she welcomes me, arching her back but saying nothing as I slide into her with a groan.
“You’re mine,” I say with a firm thrust.
“Yours,” she whispers.
The light of the candle flickers and she closes her eyes, welcoming the connection of heart, body, and mind. “I love you,” she says, her voice thick with emotion. And as her body tenses on the verge of climax right before I claim my own orgasm, I breathe with her as I make a promise. “I love you. I’ll say it when you wake up and when you go to sleep, whisper it in your ear and proclaim it from the rooftops. You’re mine today, and always will be.”
“And you’re mine,” she says, her eyes twinkling in that way I adore.
I’ll never fully tame this woman. She’s a wild one, and always will be. But she’s my wild one.
THE END
Bonus Material
Chapter one from Deliverance (an NYC Doms standalone novel)
“You son of a bitch,” I hiss, intentionally keeping my voice low. Crazy, half-cocked, vindictive ex-lover isn’t normally my thing.
Hell, there’s a first for everything, though.
“Diana! Stop. This is stupid, and girl, you know I know stupid when I see it because I’ve done all the stupid in my life.” Beatrice pleads with me to think twice as she shuffles toward me, trying to place her small frame between me and the car I’m about to destroy.
“Stop the lecture.” My hands tremble as I hold the keys, glaring past my blonde-haired, blue-eyed bestie, and focusing my hatred on the silver Maserati. I march past Beatrice, and before I can change my mind, dig the tip of my key into the gleaming exterior with maniacal glee. Crouching down, I take grim pleasure in destroying the most beautiful car I’ve ever looked at. Sat in. Been fucked in.
“Did you tell Little Miss High and Tight your sob story?” I cackle to the car as if it’s my ex-boyfriend embodied. I’d only just met the guy a few weeks ago, my first real boyfriend since my ex-husband took off, but I’d managed to convince myself he was the one. My savior. My hero. With a particularly vicious swipe, I lose my footing and nearly sprawl onto the snowy sidewalk, but I catch myself on the bumper. Wind whips at my hair, icy snow lashing my bare skin, but I hardly feel it.
Tequila for the win.
“Diana,” Beatrice cajoles. “You’ve had too much to drink. God, woman! Get ahold of yourself! You’ve done it, okay? You’ve done enough. I shouldn’t have let you out of the car. This isn’t you. You’re too smart to pull this teenaged shit. Just get in the car and I’ll—”
“Leave me alone.” I love this girl to death, but I don’t trust myself not to shove her out of my way if she tries to stop me. I scrape the key once more, so deep it feels like fucking nails on a chalkboard, but I like knowing the damage will be severe. “You don’t know what it’s like to walk into your bedroom and see some bitch with her lips wrapped around your boyfriend’s cock.”
Scrraaape.
“You don’t know what it’s like to see betrayal in the eyes of the man who said he loved you.”
Scraaaape.
“You don’t know what it’s like,” my voice catches on a dry sob, so I underscore my angst with another cut of the key, “to have to explain to your son that the bastard who promised to take him to the drive-in movie theater was a lying piece of shit who’ll never come back.”
Scrape, scrape, scraaape.
Sitting back on my heels, I eye the destruction with triumph.
Beatrice talks to me like one might speak to a rabid animal, her hands outstretched in a gesture meant to calm. “I may not know those things, but I do know that—” She freezes, her voice now panicked. “Oh. Oh, shit. Diana, stop. Oh my God. We have to go.”
But before I can respond, the deep growl of a man’s voice right behind me—a voice I do not know—makes me nearly stumble.
“What the fuck are you doing to my car?”
Shit.
His… car?
I turn, my cheeks hot despite the freezing cold, to stare into the terrifyingly furious face of the biggest man I’ve ever seen. He towers over me, even wearing my tallest spiky heels, and the involuntary step I take back helps me see him better. Everything about him is dark, with his swarthy skin and nearly-black hair, but it’s his eyes—black as coal beneath thick, heavy brows, that pin me in place. I can’t move. I can’t speak. I can barely think.
His jaw, covered in thick, dark stubble, tightens when his huge, muscled arms cross his expansive chest.
In any other time or place, I’d find the man sexy as fuck. But now?
“Your car?” I whisper.
“My car,” he says in a low growl. “What are you doing to my fucking car?”
I blow out a breath and close my eyes.
I’m screwed.
Deliverance is now live in the Amazon store.
Look for Conviction, a standalone entry in the NYC Doms series, out June of 2018.
About the Author
USA Today bestselling author Jane Henry pens stern but loving alpha heroes, feisty heroines, and emotion-driven happily-ever-afters. She writes what she loves to read: kink with a tender touch. Jane is a hopeless romantic who lives on the East Coast with a houseful of children and her very own Prince Charming.
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Keep in touch with Jane:
www.janehenryromance.com
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Other titles by Jane you may enjoy:
NYC Doms
Deliverance
Contemporary fiction
The Billionaire Daddies Trilogy
Beauty’s Daddy: A Beauty and the Beast Adult Fairy Tale
Mafia Daddy: A Cinderella Adult Fairy Tale
Dungeon Daddy: A Rapunzel Adult Fairy Tale
The Boston Doms
My Dom (Boston Doms Book 1)
His Submissive (Boston Doms Book 2)
Her Protector (Boston Doms Book 3)
His Babygirl (Boston Doms Book 4)
His Lady (Boston Doms Book 5)
Her Hero (Boston Doms Book 6)
My Redemption (Boston Doms Book 7)
Begin Again (Bound to You Book 1)
Come Back to Me (Bound to You Book 2)
Complete Me (Bound To You Book 3)
Bound to You (Boxed Set)
Black Light: Roulette Redux
Sunstrokes: Four Hot Tales of Punishment and Pleasure (Anthology)
A Thousand Yesses
Westerns
Her Outlaw Daddy
Claimed on the Frontier
Surrendered on the Frontier
Cowboy Daddies: Two Western Romances
Science Fiction
Aldric: A Sci-Fi Warrior Romance (Heroes of Avalere Book 1)
Idan: A Sci-Fi Warrior Romance (Heroes of Avalere Book 2)
Slave for a Day (A Heroes of Avalere novella)
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