“And not only that,” she added with another brilliant smile, “You have several brands that are interested in making you offers. Luxury brands.”
My jaw was on the floor. “Are you serious?!”
“Dead serious,” she said. “Congratulations, Luke. I do not doubt that you’ll make it in the fashion world and continue to wow us throughout your career.”
I was speechless. Was it possible for all of my dreams to come true at once?
She stretched out her hand for me to shake. “It has been an honor having you in my class and watching you grow as a designer. Please consider taking my Tools Materials and Processes class next semester. I’d love to have you again.”
I closed my long fingers around her hand and shook it.
“It would be my honor.”
We chatted for a few more moments about the details, and then I got up to leave. On my way out, I passed her bookshelf again.
My eyes locked onto a familiar-looking black and red spine, but then I got shy and continued walking past it.
If I wasn’t mistaken, Professor King was the proud owner of one of the BDSM books I’d bought from that bookstore months ago. The one that goes into detail about the types of knots and ropes you can play with.
By the time I stepped out of her office, I was sure it was only a figment of my imagination.
“How did it go?” Adam asked, standing up from the bench.
“It was incredible!” I cried with a huge smile, wrapping my arms around him. We walked down the hallway as I filled him in on the details.
“That’s amazing, Luke, I’m so proud of you!” he said, happiness bleeding from his voice.
Then he pressed me against the wall and planted a kiss on my lips right there in the middle of the hallway.
You know how in romance movies, the heroine always describes her first kiss with the hero as this floating, out of body sensation? Yeah. This felt like that.
When Adam pulled away, his dark green eyes were sparkling with absolute happiness.
“I am honored to be your fiancee,” he said happily, then lowered his voice, “…and your Dom.”
I smiled up at him, unable to keep myself from checking him out in his police uniform. This guy, right here in front of me, was my man. I couldn’t believe I’d gotten so lucky.
I was so happy it felt like I was going to explode.
Then Adam’s eyes pulsed wide like he remembered something. “Oh, there’s one more thing I wanted to show you before I have to head back to the station.”
“Oh?”
“Come on,” he said, wrapping his hand around my wrist and pulling me into an empty classroom.
“What did you want to show me?” I asked, following Adam and his hulking, commanding presence.
“I got you something,” he said softly, his eyes glimmering with excitement.
“A present?!” I asked.
“Yeah… I was going to give it to you after your show yesterday, but… you know…”
I nodded, not willing to think about all that right now; not wanting to sour the moment.
He glanced at the door as he reached into his breast pocket. After some rummaging, he retrieved a flat velvet box about the size of a book.
My heart was pumping excitement through my body. Was Adam going to propose again?
“I’m proposing again, in a way,” he said as if reading my mind. A cute, hopeful smile curled on his lips and shifted the shape of his beard as he descended to one knee.
My hands went to my mouth, covering it so I didn’t cry out.
Adam opened the box to reveal a black leather choker connecting around a bright, silver ring. The band was thin and the ring was small, so it could easily pass as regular jewelry.
“Will you, my perfect submissive, my Solid, my Luke, accept this collar as the mark of a new beginning with me?”
Tears were pouring down my face as emotion swelled within me. “Yes, Sir!”
A single tear ran down Adam’s face, following the contours of his smile. “Then you’ve made me the happiest man in the world. Please accept this training collar as a symbol that you are mine; a symbol that we’re embarking on an adventure deep into kink together.”
He got off the ground, took the collar out of the box, and handed it to me.
“Aren’t you going to put it on me?” I asked, the smile fading from my face.
All I knew on an instinctual level was that I wanted Adam to put this around my neck. I wanted him to claim me in that way; the symbolism was suddenly very important to me.
“I will, but I wanted you to check out the ring, first,” he said with a mischievous smirk.
I lowered my gaze and examined the ring dangling from the collar. Etched on the inside of the sliver circle were the words “Power Bottom.”
I lifted my gaze back to Adam, my eyes overflowing with tears. “Th-thank you, Sir. This means so much to me!”
Inside, it felt like I was breaking. Like some kind of blocker that had grown heavier and heavier over the past few months was disintegrating away. All that was left in the spot it used to sit was love and acceptance.
Adam grinned from ear to ear, looking happier than I’d ever seen him. “Give me the collar, boy.”
I bowed my head and handed it back to him.
He pinched the tips and then wrapped it around my neck, securing the clasp in the back.
As soon as I felt the soft leather touch my skin, the rush of a feeling I couldn’t quite place overtook my body. It was a sense of belonging that I hadn’t felt before. The only way I could describe it was the feeling of my soul waking up when I didn’t even know it had been asleep in the first place.
I was exactly where I was meant to be, doing exactly what I was meant to do, and loving exactly who I was meant to love in the way I was supposed to love him.
For
