Rebecca
When the sun rose, I awoke not in the playroom or my bedroom, and I was alone. The bed beside me cooled in the air-conditioned room, and silence surrounded me. I listened anyway, hoping against hope I’d hear Anatoly in the bathroom. After one of the most beautiful nights I’d ever had, I didn’t expect to find myself alone in bed.
I got out of bed and resisted the urge to call out to Anatoly. It would take some getting used to, now that I knew he couldn’t hear, to make sure I didn’t embarrass him. As I wrapped the sheet around me, the door opened and I turned to find Lev there, instead. He watched me quietly for a moment, and my stomach bottomed out.
“Where is he?” I asked.
“Get dressed, Rebecca. We have a meeting I need to get you to.”
I shook my head, stumbling back against the bed. “Tell me where he is.”
“I have permission to take you out of here like I brought you in on day one. Don’t make me have to force you.”
Why?
I thought we’d broken through, maybe found a way to have more than just sex and left those long gone behind us. I swallowed past the lump in my throat and clutched the sheet to my chest.
“Rebecca,” Lev warned.
I forced one foot in front of the other, tears coursing down my cheeks. This wasn’t how things were supposed to go. I broke through to him, I helped. We found a way to give into what we needed for each other. But with each step I took away from Anatoly’s bed, the more I felt like I’d lost everything. If I left, I wouldn’t be able to come back. I didn’t want to leave, but I could see the threat in Lev’s eyes. If I didn’t do what he ordered, he’d drag me out kicking and screaming and dump me in the middle of nowhere.
Maybe I’d gone too far. The sudden thought made my heart freeze in my chest. I shouldn’t have pushed him so hard. Maybe he resented me for opening his wounds like that, and he couldn’t stand the sight of me. I swallowed the sudden urge to vomit. What if I’d left him feeling violated and exposed?
“Lev, just let me talk to him. I know if I do, it’ll be okay.”
“I have two hours to get you where you need to go, and I’m going to do just that.”
“But—”
“But nothing. Go get dressed, Rebecca. It’s all going to be fine.”
But it wasn’t. Anatoly wasn’t here to tell me himself, and I knew that meant something. I needed him here, to tell me in his own words that he was discarding me. I wouldn’t accept it from Lev. If Anatoly wanted me gone, all he had to do was order me. So Lev could shove it. I wouldn’t leave until I saw Anatoly.
“No,” I told Lev.
“I’m sorry, but I need to remove your collar.”
No!
I gripped the rough leather like a lifeline and raced passed Lev, out of the room and into the playroom.
“The hard way it is, then. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
*
Anatoly
Infidelity’s logo scrolled in beautiful gold caught my eye as I waited for Karen to meet with me. It had been several years since I’d been inside this place, directed by Lennox Demetri to find a way to heal my heart. I didn’t believe him when he’d told me being placed with a companion could work wonders for a broken heart. Hell, I’d never seen the man anything but calm and collected. But when I saw him with his Alex, well, I understood he’d been broken before her. And he’d understood the loss of a loved one more than anyone. As I stood rooted to the floor, I was more than thankful I’d taken his advice.
“Mr. Vasiliev, it’s great to see you,” Karen said as she came out of her office. “Would you like to come in so we could talk?”
“Yes, of course,” I replied.
She directed me to a chair and waited until she sat across from me to speak. “Are you sure?”
I nodded. “I don’t want to have the agreement between us. After what she’s done, I have no doubt she’s the woman meant for me.”
“If we do this, we won’t be able to match you a second time. You do understand that.”
I nodded. It was terrifying, the decision I was making, but I felt alive. Rebecca had shown me, without a doubt, that she could handle my darkness and still bring me to the light. I wanted to cherish that more than anything.
“Being locked into a contract with the woman I love seems a bit awkward, does it not?” I asked.
Karen smiled. “You haven’t fullfilled your year, so you would have to buy out the remainder of her agreement, and we will also provide a severance package. You’re aware this money will go directly to her?” Karen asked.
“She won’t have to worry about money ever again, so I’m not concerned with this sum going to her. In fact, I think it might help. Knowing she has a lump sum sitting in savings to protect her interests won’t be a bad thing.”
Karen nodded and then produced two folders. “Here is her contract and the cancellation. The other folder is her severance package.”
“Let’s get this over with. I have another rather large purchase I can’t be late for.”
*
Rebecca
I should have gotten dressed.
I stood in the center of an exclusive jewelry store, in only a sheet around me and my hair in complete disarray from fighting with Lev. At least the store was empty, but the craftsman who waited for Anatoly to show up was red-faced and wouldn’t look me directly in the eye.
“I told you everything was going to be okay,” Lev whispered.
“You could have told me I wasn’t being kicked out,” I argued.
“This was more fun,” Lev returned, laughter dancing in his gaze as he chuckled.
“I hate you.” It was childish, and I didn’t mean it, but it made me feel better.
“That’s rude,” Lev answered, but he smiled at me.
I opened my mouth to reply, but the door opened and I couldn’t speak. Anatoly stepped in, a black trench coat and suit covering his powerful frame. His hair was wet from a shower, and the inky-black strands fell around his forehead as he looked at me.
“You are not dressed properly, pet.”
I knelt, relief and heat spreading through me.
“I thought—” I tried to start, but I choked on the words. “I thought you were throwing me away.”
Anatoly crouched down in front of me and framed my face with long fingers. His firm hold eased the ache in my heart as I leaned into his touch.
“I want to be yours,” I whispered, but he didn’t need to hear it. He only needed to read my lips, to sense the thumping of my heart when he touched my pulse.
His wide eyes took me in, and he smiled. “That is the plan, my pet. That is, if you’d wear my collar.”
My hands lifted, of their own volition, to my bare throat. Lev had cut my collar from me, stripping me of my connection with Anatoly. “I’m sorry, Master.”
Anatoly shook his head. “That was temporary. I want to know if I can brand you as mine, for all time. If you will bow at my feet when I need, say yes when you are afraid and want to say no, that you will fight me when I have lost my way, and that you will give me your heart and soul as well as your body. That collar is not one of leather but of precious metals and stones.”
I gaped at him as he gripped my shoulders and helped me stand. “Will you wear my collar, Rebecca? Will you let me be your Master?”
I trembled, lost and swaying in elation that left me light-headed. “Yes, Master. Oh God, yes.”
Anatoly turned me in his arms so we could face the jeweler together. “Do you have the piece I wanted measured?” Anatoly asked.
“Um, yes. Here it is.”
He pulled out a vision in ruby and gold, but it was different than a flat collar around the neck. It was built to dip into a V at the base of my neck so a large ruby would sit there, with a lock in the back.
“I can remove several links near the lock, here, based on her sizing. I want to make sure it can be removed easily enough for you but rest on her skin seamlessly,” the man said.
“Fine. Measure her now. I’d like to see it.”
Anatoly turned me once more, so my back was to the jeweler, and then I felt the heavy weight of my new collar slide over my skin. Anatoly was right. The weight of this one meant so much more than the previous. I wouldn’t forget it was there, no matter how long I wore it.
“I love you, Master,” I said.
“I love you, too, pet. Didn’t you know? To be collared is to be loved.”
I swallowed my cry, but my Master felt it anyway. He took my mouth in his, ignoring the expensive jewels at my throat. It was the sweetest taste of all, his dominance and love.
THE END