Chapter 24
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Freedom Mansion
Shay
“Two dates in a single night.” I pace the small, bare observatory at the top of the mansion, vibrating with unexpected nerves. “Jude and you are spoiling me, love.”
I’m excited but anxious too.
My Robyn wants me.
She wants to collar me.
She thinks I’m worthy of that.
Except, does it mean the same to her as it does to my Sir?
As it does to me?
I can deal with pressure on the ice, but I feel like I’m the one down on one knee holding up a ring, proposing.
I try not to show on my face how much I would love to be doing that for real.
Does Robyn realize?
This room is special to me because D’Angelo built it as a safe space for me. When I first saw it, I began to trust that maybe he didn’t see me as a temporary part of his life.
The rule is that no one enters here, until I invite them to join me. It’s a sanctuary, where I have full control. Robyn is the only woman who will receive that invitation.
A set of wooden cabinets stand on the far side of the room. The roof is low, glass, and domed. When I glance through the roof, I can see the crescent moon collared by sparkling stars.
I blink.
Is that like one of the tests psychiatrists give you, where you read into things that you have on your mind? And I only have one thing on my mind tonight. For once, it’s not tonguing Robyn’s sweet pussy, even if she does look like a flame-haired beauty in that cute little orange dress.
Robyn leans against the wall, watching me closely. “Aren’t we the ones who are being spoiled? Are you going to make me guess?”
I stumble, catching myself on my gleaming bronze telescope. I wince, catching my elbow.
“Sorry, baby.” I rub my elbow and then hurriedly over the cold, telescope mount. “Daddy still loves you.”
I struggled to buy the telescope with my first salary from the Bay Rebels. I have dreamed of owning one since I was a kid.
This telescope means the bloody world because it opens whole new worlds to me.
The universe.
“Will people stop calling themselves daddy? It’s not my kink.” Robyn snorts. “Although, we don’t need kids. Eden has his book babies, and you have your telescope.”
That’s fair.
I fight to focus on Robyn. “What are you guessing, love?”
Her expression softens. “I don’t know. Maybe only what has made me pace the mansion biting my nails for the last few hours, while you were out at the bar with D’Angelo. Eden ended up force feeding me chamomile tea and cookies to keep me calm.”
I stare at her. “Are you okay?”
“I will be when you tell me what your answer is. Will you accept our collar?”
I stare at Robyn.
I just assumed that D’Angelo had sent her a text or phoned her.
Shit, did he assume that I wanted to tell her myself?
He may have buckled me into the car seat himself with a stern sit still because I was fidgeting with such excitement to return to Robyn.
Yet I don’t explain things as well as he does.
Instead, I was busy working out how to show her with actions how much it means to me that she offered the collar — to prove to her that I can earn it.
What service to offer her in return.
Robyn misunderstands my hesitation and instantly straightens, alarmed. “You don’t need to. There’s no pressure. D’Angelo did explain that there was no pressure, right? I don’t understand this as well as he does. It’s just that…”
Before she can hit peak Robyn rambling, I stride across the observatory and drop to my knees in front of her.
Her mouth clacks shut.
When our gazes meet, I feel like we’re saying as much to each other, as if we were holding an entire conversation.
It’s like that with Robyn. She understands me more than anyone but my twin ever has.
Sometimes, more.
“I’ve always been owned by you.” I clench my hands in my lap, never looking away from Robyn. She moves as if to touch my tumble of hair; her fingers twitch. But she holds back. Her hand hovers just over my head; I can feel its warmth. “From the moment I met you — I was yours.”
“Is that a yes?” Robyn whispers.
“It’s a please collar me, love.” My eyes glitter with sudden joy.
This is real.
I have imagined this moment for months.
Every time that I’ve seen Everett, I’ve stared longingly at his collar.
Once, Everett patted me on the shoulder with silent understanding. He pulled me aside for a quiet conversation about what taking this step could mean. He wanted to give me the opportunity to talk about my situation, frustrations, and needs with another sub.
It has meant the world to me to have friends like him.
Robyn’s shoulders slump with relief. “Oh, get up here.”
She grabs my shoulders, urging me to stand.
Grinning, I bounce to my feet, pushing her against the wall.
Excitement rushes through me.
I cage her, slamming my hands on the wall.
Robyn laughs in delight, pressing her mouth against mine. I meet her with equal passion. Her lips are bloody addictive.
I moan into the kiss, teasing her lips open with my tongue. I entwine our tongues in a slow dance.
Her body is hot, soft, and mine, as much as mine is hers.
My cock hardens, trapped in my tight jeans. My balls ache.
Robyn reaches up, tracing her hand along the silky material of my shirt’s sleeve.
We’re both panting.
Finally, I pull back. “It will be the best birthday present I’ve ever received.”
“Good.” Robyn keeps my gaze, before dipping her head and kissing down my jaw and throat.
I shudder. “Bloody hell, love.”
Robyn reaches the base of my throat and kisses deliberately around my neck. She’s kissing the outline of the collar that she intends to place around my throat.
My eyelashes flutter. I claw the wall. I can’t stop myself humping against Robyn.
She’s killing me.
I hope that she never stops.
Robyn peeks up at me through her eyelashes. “We are designing a one-off day collar for you. It will be unique and special. Just for you. No one will know what it means when you’re in public, but we will. It’s what you deserve.”
My throat is tight.
Don’t cry.
But my eyes are burning.
What I deserve?
No one else thinks that.
My biological parents didn’t believe that I deserved to be told that they were abandoning me on a windswept beach or to keep their promises to me.
What did I deserve, according to almost every woman in my life?
To be rejected. Abused. Degraded.
“Did I say something wrong?” Robyn has drawn back.
She is studying me with concern.
I shake my head. “You’ve said everything right. I’m just getting used to the idea that someone would believe that I’m worth…”
I gesture at her and then around at the observatory.
How am I this lucky?
Eden used to clean houses like this mansion.
My adoptive parents’ entire house in Guildford would fit in the lounge downstairs.
In the nights that I can’t sleep, I sometimes wander through the vast, empty rooms by myself, unable to stop wondering whether my entire life in America is the dream, and one day, I will wake up.
To my shock, Robyn grabs my collar. “You’re worth as much as anyone in this family. Whose ass do I need to kick who made you feel that you’re not?”
My lips quirk. “Can I tell you how much your badass vibes are turning me on? Also, it’s a long list.”
Robyn wrinkles her nose, which wrecks her badass look and turns her more adorable.
Is there such a thing as an adorable assassin?
I kiss her either way.
Robyn drags me harder into the kiss by the collar.
I groan, and my cock thickens further.
“I can tell because I can feel your cock against my hip.” Robyn bites my lower lip, and I moan. “I’d guess that your brother is already keeping a list.”
“He has since he was a kid.”
Actually, he kept one of toys who offended him.
Poor Sir Snuggles.
And the least said about the fiery end to Emotional Support Bear the better.
Robyn lets go of my collar, smoothing it down. “Did you have a good time with D’Angelo? Was he careful? No breaking doc’s orders?”
“Jude always makes sure that I have a good time. Don’t worry, he was a good boy.
” I can’t help the smirk because I imagine D’Angelo’s outraged expression if he heard me calling him that, then how he’d call me a bad boy and how any consequence would be worth it.
“We drank mocktails, and he put the scene that he’d planned on hold. The date was romantic. I liked it.”
Robyn smiles softly, as if she’s imagining her own romantic dates.
My chest fills with warmth.
I love how I don’t need to say more because my girlfriend is dating the same man. She knows what D’Angelo is like on dates and in bed.
Then my smile falls.
Robyn has known D’Angelo for years longer than I have. She’s his first love.
I will never know either of them as well as they know each other.
Yet I love them more than I love myself.
By becoming their collared sub, however, will I have found a way to belong to them, which means I can always stay by their sides?
Where they will…if not love me as deeply…possess me?
Eden doesn’t understand.
But I need that safety.
I wrap my arms around Robyn’s waist, desperate for her touch. She responds immediately, looping her arms around my neck.
I glance up at the tapestry of the ancient night sky.
“Dance with me under the stars,” I murmur.
“There’s no music. I’ll probably fall over my own feet.”
“Then I’ll catch you.” I tighten my hold.
Robyn rests her head on my shoulder.
Slowly, we sway across the wooden floors in the center of the room.
Under the moonlight that streams through the glass dome, the moment is intimate.
I’m content and settled in myself in a way that I rarely am.
I never thought that I would find this.
It is everything.