A stream of laughter rippled through the audience.
He continued. “But it’s yours, a constant reminder of who owns you, who owns your body. By looking at it, I want you to know that it’s a signal of my love and protection, my ownership. Marking what’s mine. But you have to ask me for it.”
She nodded, hoping she didn’t cry and ruin her makeup. “I want to wear your collar, Sir.”
“Do you promise to be faithful, to protect what’s mine to the best of your abilities, to serve me…” He smiled, melting her. “To be my beautiful canvas?”
“Yes, Sir. I do.”
He clamped it around her right wrist, using a special hex key to tighten the almost hidden screw that kept it in place. Then he raised her wrist to his lips and kissed it. “My sweet, beautiful goddess. I love you.”
“I love you, too, Sir.”
“Oh, you’re not done,” Loren teased. She made a motion, and then Mallory realized Tony and Seth were bringing a massage table and cart over, followed by a man she’d met before but who’s name she couldn’t remember.
She gulped.
On the cart were piercing supplies.
Kel grinned as Tony passed a coil of rope to him. “Oh, yes,” Kel said, patting the table. “Up you go.”
He quickly trussed her to the table, skirt hiked up to her waist, legs spread wide. The man, who Kel reminded her his name was George, was a piercer.
Kel pointed to the sealed package holding a curved barbell with beads at either end. “Going to start you out with that. Once you heal, we’ll look into switching it out to a captive bead ring to match your nipples.” He grinned as Tilly held up the camera. “Oh, and she volunteered to take the pictures for me so I can hold your hands while he does it.”
She looked at Tilly. “Bitch.” Then she stuck her tongue out at her.
Tilly stuck her tongue out at her in return before she smiled. “That’s Princess Bitch, sweetie.”
Kel moved to stand at Mallory’s head, his fingers tightly twined with hers. He knelt down to whisper into her ear. “Just think about always having something rubbing against your clit and your nipples, reminding you who owns them and you.”
She closed her eyes as she felt George swab her clit and labia down with antiseptic. She kept herself shaved down there per Kel’s orders.
Kel’s lips pressed against her ear. “My cock is so fucking hard right now,” he whispered. “I want to hear you cry out when it happens.”
“Hold on,” Tilly said. “I need to zoom in.”
Kel snickered. “Don’t you love having friends who are sadists?”
“Okay,” Tilly said. “I’m good. Proceed.”
Mallory’s grip tightened on Kel’s fingers.
“It’s going to go quick,” George said. “Don’t move. I’ll do the piercing first, then place the barbell. It’ll be a two-stage process.”
“Take a deep breath,” Kel whispered in her ear.
She did.
A sharp, stabbing pain shot through her clit, making her scream. She thought a few women in the audience might have let out sympathetic yelps of their own.
“Suck it up,” Tilly said, snapping away. “It’ll feel better in a couple of minutes.”
She felt George doing his thing down there, another pinch of pain, and then he sat back. “Done.”
Already, the pain was fading. She opened her eyes, gasping for breath.
“Such a good girl,” Kel whispered in her ear. “Letting everyone watch you get pierced for me.”
She shivered, in the good way.
George swabbed her down again with antiseptic before Kel quickly worked to untie her. When he helped her sit up, Tilly helpfully offered the camera.
“Want to see?” She grinned.
Mal laughed. “You really are a sadist, aren’t you?”
Half of the crowd standing around them, people who heard her comment, all said, “Duh.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Mallory thought Kel would play with her there at the club, but he didn’t. He proudly spent the night with her holding onto his arm, or his arm draped around her, or with her sitting on his lap on one of the couches.
When it came time for the drive home, he helped her into the passenger seat. “I have to admit, living next door does have its advantages,” he said.
“Yeah, but it’s nice not having to listen to the music on the weekends when we don’t want to.”
“True.”
He still worked there, in his downstairs office. But they hadn’t decided what, if anything, to do with the apartment yet. They could still crash there on weekend nights after playing at the club, and had a couple of times.
Or they could retreat over there to fuck like bunnies, something the club’s rules didn’t allow, and then return to join their friends.
Tonight he drove them back to the house, opening her car door for her and helping her out, walking her into the house.
In the bedroom, he helped her out of the corset and skirt and knelt to examine her new piercing. They weren’t supposed to do oral sex with it for a couple of weeks to give it time to heal.
Didn’t mean he couldn’t do other things, though.
He tied her facedown across the bed, knees bent and legs spread wide, a towel under her.
“I still owe you that promise I made about filling you all in one night,” he teased, “but tonight isn’t that night. However, I am going to fuck that beautiful ass of yours.”
She heard him getting things ready, then the sound of him getting naked before he knelt on the bed, between her legs.
“Now then.” A vibrator clicked on. She realized it was one of the egg types just before he slid it into her pussy, making her moan as it lodged itself firmly against her G-spot.
“Oh, that feels good, doesn’t it?” He bit her on the ass, hard, making her cry out and her clit throb all at the same time.
Yep. Pain now made her horny.
And it made her even hornier knowing how hot it made Kel.
“That’s it,” he said. “Make lots of noise for me. You know I love it.” He bit her other ass cheek just as hard, until she cried out.
“You will come for me tonight, with that shiny new piercing lying along your clit.” Fortunately, it was just in the hood, not in the actual bundle of nerves of her clit itself.
Close enough, in the same neighborhood, to make everything down there stand up and holla.
She felt him squirt lube down the crack of her ass and the sound of him snapping on a glove. “We’re going to take a shower after we’re done,” he said, his tone turning serious. “Because I don’t want to risk any problems with your new piercing.”
Frankly, she already loved the piercing. The dull throbbing ache in her clit had kept her on edge all night. All her friends who had one assured her that within a day or so she likely wouldn’t have any pain at all, that it healed far faster than nipples.
And that once it fully healed, she would begin to truly appreciate the benefits of having it.
She heard the sound of him rolling a condom onto his cock before he pressed the knob against her rim. The slight pinching burn as her body stretched to accommodate him was all she needed to pitch her over the edge.
He laughed as he continued to ease his cock into her ass. “You’ve already started coming, haven’t you?” He smacked her ass, hard, making her moan even louder.
And come even harder.
Once his cock was completely fisted inside her ass, he held still, waiting for her to catch her breath. While he did that, he raked his nails down her back and over her ass, making her moan again.
Inside her pussy, the vibrating egg happily hummed away, quickly driving her toward another orgasm. She felt him reach over for something, then came the words that always sent a thrill up her spine.
“Hold still,” he said.
She could visualize the sadistic smile on his face.
The feel of the cold steel against her flesh, against her ass cheeks,
as he gently traced the blade’s tip around in circles, not enough to break the skin—yet—but feeling almost like a cat’s claw dragging along her flesh.
“Where to put this one,” he teased. “So many beautiful choices.” He traced the blade up her spine, down again. Up, across the back of her shoulders, back to her ass.
He nicked her on the right ass cheek with the tip, making her cry out, her body clenching around his cock in her ass and the egg vibrating in her pussy.
“That’s it, baby,” he whispered. “You know what I love to hear.” He nicked her left ass cheek, and that did it.
Over she went.
He chuckled, putting the blade aside as he slowly fucked her ass, drawing her release out. “That’s the other sound I love to hear. The sound of you coming around my cock.”
He held on to her hips, digging his nails in, making her cry out again.
It felt so good, a mix of pleasure and pain that she’d come to love and crave, the feel of his hands on her.
“Such a good girl.” He picked up the knife again and gently poked her in the ass, both cheeks. “Hold very, very still. This knife is extremely sharp.”
She gasped, trying not to move, not to wiggle as he poked her ass cheeks, his cock firmly wedged deep inside her. Then the tears started as they sometimes did, her brain’s wiring short-circuiting as she tried to force her body to hold still against the pleasure and pain inside and out.
He laughed. “There she goes.”
He set the knife aside again and started fucking her, hard, fast, one more orgasm sweeping through her from the force of his strokes, the sensation of his cock pressing the egg against her G-spot.
“Such a good girl.” His body stiffened, going rigid as he took one last, hard stroke and ended up with his cock deep inside her.
He folded his body over hers, catching his breath, kissing her along her back. “Hold on.” She winced as he withdrew. She heard him walk into the bathroom, the sounds of him cleaning up before he returned and untied her.
“Bath time,” he said, helping her up off the bed, capturing her right wrist and kissing her where the bracelet now rested on her arm.
In the shower he bathed her, taking his time, fingers slipping across her flesh, holding her body against his as the warm water sluiced over them.
This was heaven. Or felt like it. Compared to the last several years of her life, at least.
She knew there were some who might disagree, who wouldn’t understand, who would condemn her for her choices.
They could go take a flying fuck for all she cared.
“Who’s My good girl?” he whispered in her ear.
She tipped her head back to look up into his eyes. “Me, Sir.”
He smiled down at her. “Yes, you are.” He nipped the side of her neck. “My very good girl.”
They snuggled in bed, Mallory closing her eyes, her ear pressed against his chest as she listened to his heart.
“I love you, Sir,” she whispered.
He nuzzled the top of her head. “I love you, too, My sweet goddess.”
* * * *
The next afternoon, they drove to Kel’s mom’s house. Michelle Hansen lived only twenty minutes away from where Mallory’s house was.
Their house was.
Yet another good reason to live there instead of the apartment.
Mal loved Kel’s mom. They tried to have dinner with her at least once a week, and Michelle Hansen had insisted from the first dinner together that Mal call her “Mom.”
Of course she did. It felt right.
One more member of her adopted family to complete her life.
The woman also had eagle eyes. They’d no sooner come in and hugged her than she noticed the bracelet on Mal’s right wrist. “That’s new,” she said, admiring the rounded metal, niobium bracelet that seemed to shimmer and change colors. “Where did you get that?”
“I got it for her,” Kel said, sparing Mal any explanations. He laced his fingers with Mal’s. “Mom, Mal and I are living together.”
She smiled. “I know, silly.”
“No, not just as roommates. We’re living together, permanently.”
Michelle rolled her eyes. “I know.” She shrugged. “I know what the two of you told me that first night you brought her to dinner,” she said, “but I could see it in you both even then. There was a magnetic attraction between you two. It’s only gotten stronger the longer you’ve been together. I suspected you weren’t lying to me then, that you were just roommates. I knew it was only a matter of time before you two became an item. And I couldn’t be happier for you.”
“Thanks, Mom.” Kel hugged her. “I love her.”
“Good.” She hugged Mallory. “You love him?”
“Very much, Mom.”
“Good. Now, let’s go eat and quit talking about the obvious.” The two little dogs danced around their feet, begging for attention. Kel reached down and scooped one of them up, loving on him before doing it to the other one.
They hadn’t talked about children yet. Mallory wasn’t even sure if she wanted kids. Kel hadn’t mentioned it, but she suspected that, like her, he wasn’t in any rush to make that decision.
They were still having too much fun dancing among the shadows with each other, exploring those dark places where she loved spending time with him.
Always with him.
When they were on their way home later, she held his hand. “I hoped she’d take it well, but that went even better than I thought it would.”
He smiled. “I love my mom. I’m glad she really likes you.”
“I miss my parents,” she softly said. “I hated it when Saul and Aunt Susan divorced. I wish I’d fought him back then and tried to go with her.”
“He wouldn’t have let you,” Kel said. “Ed said it, too. You’re just lucky he was a stingy fuck with your money as well as his.” Saul had nearly five hundred thousand dollars of his own money saved up in an account.
Which had been frozen by court order pending the outcome of their litigation.
Ed had gone after Saul, suing him to recoup improperly billed expenses and his monthly trust executor management fee. The case was winding its way through court, but Ed was pretty sure they’d have no problems getting a judge to see things her way.
And she’d bought herself a brand-new laptop.
With her money.
She closed her eyes and settled back in the seat, peace washing through her. “Thank you,” she said.
“For what, sweetheart?”
“For showing me the shadows.”
He squeezed her hand. “Thank you for wanting to play in them with me.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“So what do you think?” Kel asked her.
She leaned in, arms circling him as her chin came to rest on his shoulder. On the screen he had his shopping cart displayed.
Containing several different colors of rope. Among them, pink, emerald green, and a royal blue a different shade than the rope he already had.
She smiled. “I like them.”
“I think they’ll look good against your skin tones and with your hair.” He turned and kissed her. “And I can’t wait to see how you look trussed up in them.”
Her heart fluttered. Everything about him could do that to her. His voice, his knowing glances, the way his long, lithe fingers stepped across a keyboard, the way they stepped across her flesh. “Thank you, Sir.”
“My pleasure, believe me. Are we still meeting up with Chelbie this evening?”
She’d almost forgotten. “Oh! Yeah. Sorry.” She wanted to stay in the habit of walking with her friend at least once a week. She’d added pool walking two days a week at the Y to her schedule as well. The weight wasn’t coming off as quickly as she’d hoped it would, but she had noticed her stamina had improved.
Since Kel wasn’t complaining, she guessed she shouldn’t, either.
Progress, not perfection.
After nearly eight months together,
he seemed to be as into her as he was when they first finally got together.
He reached up and touched her lips. “You know I don’t care about your weight, right?”
“That’s spooky.”
“You get this look in your eyes when you’re thinking about it. Stop it. Seriously. I want you to be healthy. We have a long life together ahead of us. I fell in love with your brain and your personality. The beautiful package they came wrapped in was a bonus, not a requirement.” He turned his chair around, encircling her in his arms and looking up at her. “I don’t care what you weigh, as long as you never stop being the gorgeous person I fell in love with.”
“I want to make you proud of me.”
“I am proud of you.” He stood, holding her against him. “Do you think I would have collared you in front of everyone if I wasn’t?”
With her face pressed against his chest, she felt his heart beating. The comforting feel of his body, his scent, it all took her to a gentle, loving place in her mind where she could shove the rest of the world aside and just be, there, with him.
“And I was thinking,” he said.
“Yeah?”
“We need to decide on a date.”
She tipped her head up to meet his gaze. “What?”
His expression was all serious. “A wedding date. That collar means more to me than a piece of paper, but unfortunately, it does nothing to protect either of us in the eyes of the law. I want you to be my wife, not just my slave.”
Her throat went dry. “You do?”
“Well, of course.” He frowned. “I thought I made the whole ‘forever’ concept fairly clear at our collaring ceremony.”
“I… You did, I… I mean…” Her mouth snapped shut. “Okay.”
A sexy smile curved his lips. “You do want to marry me, don’t you?”
She nodded, fast and hard.
“Okay. Just checking. You sounded a little shocked.” His smile faded. “And we’ll go to Ed and do everything right. Set up a pre-nup to protect you and me both, so you know I’m not after anything. That we’re both doing this because we want to be together and for no other reason.”
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