Chapter 38 Benny #2
“Thank you, Sir.”
“Now let’s go to dinner so we can get you nice and fed before I find out what that suit looks like on the suite’s floor.”
The suit was fitted enough that having an erection, like I did right now, wasn’t at all comfortable, or subtle.
But Harper seemed intent on leaving all sexual advancements building behind those perfect diamond eyes rather than acting on them.
I knew this was about to be a very uncomfortable dinner.
The table he’d reserved for us was against the glass serving as a wall. While the restaurant wasn’t as high as our room, it still made me queasy if I looked outside for too long.
He didn’t seem to have the same issue. His eyes took in the city and view with interest before they turned on me and remained there.
The entire place had dimmed lighting, with a wooden wicked candle on every table that crackled and popped like a tiny fireplace. It smelled of vanilla and some other spice I couldn’t name but decided I very much liked.
Harper’s hand found mine over the table. This was undoubtedly a date. Of course, we both knew that, but what surprised me was that anyone else who looked at us was sure to know it too, and yet here we were. And it had been his idea to be seen with me like this.
“Are you sure about this?” I couldn’t help but ask, even as my thumb smoothed over the soft skin of his.
He nodded. “I’ve never been surer of anything than I am of you.”
My heart was aching again with how full it was. “Even if people see us?”
“Let them see. Let the whole world know that you’re mine and I’m yours. I’m done hiding, Benny. I want to stand in the light with you.”
My eyes burned as I nodded. “I’d like that.” My voice broke.
“I’m sorry it took me so long.”
I shook my head. “Don’t be sorry. Don’t you ever be sorry. You’ve done nothin’ wrong. I’d have waited forever for you if I had to.”
“Because you’re good.” His fingers slotted between mine as he brought them to his perfect lips.
He kissed over my knuckles. “You’re the best person I know, and the best thing that’s ever happened to me.
And I want to be the best I can be for you as well.
I want to give you everything. All that I have and all that I am. ”
I huffed, using the hand that he wasn’t holding to wipe away a stray tear. “All I want from you is to be happy.”
“You make me so happy.”
Another tear. “Why does it feel like you’re gonna propose or somethin’?” I joked, because I was feeling too many things to express them in the way I wanted to.
He didn’t laugh, and my heart either gave out or was beating so rapidly I couldn’t feel it anymore. Maybe it really had exploded.
“Would you?”
I swallowed. “Would I?”
“Marry me?”
It was taking everything in me not to stand up in the middle of this fancy ass restaurant and scream to every person in this building and the entire city beyond my answer to that question.
Instead, I spoke loud enough for only him to hear. “I’d marry you right now. I don’t need a fancy dinner or a fancy suit or even a ring. I’d marry you in sweatpants in my livin’ room. I’d marry you in the shadows and I’d live there happily wantin’ for nothin’ but your company.”
His eyes filled with liquid glass, blinked away before I could reach for it. “Not in the shadows. Not for you. When I can get us out of the dark Leon has forced on us, then I’ll ask you.”
My hand squeezed his tighter. “We will get away from him.”
He nodded. “I’ll make sure of it. Whatever I have to do.”
“Whatever we have to do,” I corrected.
He smiled.
Then the waiter interrupted us as he bought some fancy bottle of French wine I’d never heard of but was sure cost more than anything I’d ever drunk before.
“There’s no menus,” I whispered after he’d walked away.
“We don’t need them.” Harper smiled fondly. “I’ve already ordered for us.”
“When did you find the time to do all this?”
He shrugged a shoulder. “Might have been here earlier today setting up.”
“Settin’ up?”
“The room, and the dinner. The menu changes every day, so I had to do it today as well.”
“You set up the room yourself?” I thought of all the candles and rose petals.
Harper scowled. “Of course I did it myself. It wouldn’t be special if I made someone else do it.”
I beamed. I’d have thought it was special if he did anything at all, but knowing he’d been here today, instead of at work, setting all this up for me… “I’m gonna eat your ass out all fuckin’ night.”
He choked on the mouthful of wine he’d been attempting to sip.
It was a blessing Ma hadn’t let me eat before leaving to pick Harper up from work, because it turned out when he said he’d ordered for us, what he meant was that he’d ordered everything on the menu.
I asked him if he’d set that up too, and he only shrugged with a small smile on his lips. The thought of Harper conspiring with my ma about his plans only made the warmth inside me grow. He’d trusted her, and it might not have been with something big, but it was something.
By the time we returned to the room, my stomach was as full as my chest, and I was determined to show Harper my deep appreciation for filling them both by filling something of his.
However, after we’d tumbled into several items of furniture between frenzied kisses, he put his fingers over my lips to keep them from him long enough to tell me he had to give me my birthday present before we did anything else.
I knelt for him between his spread thighs as he sat on the edge of the bed, a black box with a black ribbon in his hands.
He seemed a little nervous.
“I hope you like it. You can wear it as much or as little as you want to, pup.”
He handed it to me.
I opened what very much felt like another proposal, only instead of a ring, there was a black leather collar in the velvet padded box.
There was a gold tag on the front that read “Harper’s Pup.
” It was circled by a second collar in the form of a necklace, also in gold, with a small “H” engraved on the clasp.
I already knew that he wanted me to be his submissive, his partner, and that what we had was special and it wasn’t going anywhere, but to have this physical representation of our bond, of the trust we had for each other and our commitment to each other…
It hit me harder than I could ever have anticipated.
“Do you like them?” Harper asked, and I realized I’d been staring at the collars in complete silence.
“I love them. I love you.”
“I love you too, pup.”
“Will you put them on me?”
Harper nodded, taking the box back from me. He put the simple chain on first. It hung down to my collarbones, and I knew right now I’d never take it off ever again.
Then he fastened the leather collar around my neck. It was heavier, but the leather was soft, and the weight of it was comforting.
“This one is just for us,” he told me, his fingertips tracing the edges of it. “Wear it for me when we’re alone.” His fingers dipped to the chain. “And this one—”
“Always,” I answered eagerly. “I’ll wear it always.”
He smiled. “Because you’re mine always.”