Page 29 of Slave

Brianna began to raise her head and then stopped. “Does that mean . . . you’re going to keep me?”

Keep her? What was she . . . ?

She thought I was going to give her back. I wasn’t sure why I didn’t get it right away. It wasn’t the first time she’d thought I would send her back. At that moment, I noticed her hand cupping her neck as though she was missing something. Her collar. That was the reason she kept thinking I wasn’t sure I wanted to keep her; I hadn’t collared her.

I had no doubt Ian had put that symbol of possession on her within the first hour, probably the first five minutes she was given to him. Here I had been agonizing over how to handle her emotional well-being, how to make her feel safe, when the one thing I could give her, I had not.

Pushing back from the table, I moved to stand behind her. Leaning down, I put my mouth to her ear. She held herself rigid. Waiting. “Yes,” I whispered.

A shiver ran through her body but for once, I wasn’t sure it was out of pure fear.

Reaching over her shoulder, I picked up my plate and stood once again to my full height. “I’m going out for a while,” I said as I walked into the kitchen. “Don’t worry about lunch, I’ll bring something back.”

She was still at the table when I walked out the door. I still had a few qualms about what I was about to do, but if this would give her security, I would do it.

I took my car and drove across town, still pondering what lie ahead. Brianna was nothing like the two submissives I’d collared previously, but she needed me like neither of them ever had. This was a huge step, one that meant more, at least to me, than the act of buying her. Before, I had felt an obligation to care for her because of her situation. Once she wore my collar, it wouldn’t be a mere obligation any more. I would willingly and completely be responsible for her.

My family had used the same jeweler for the last fifty years. There was no doubt in my mind that Beth and Roger would have exactly what I wanted.

As I walked through the door, a bell sounded announcing my entrance. A minute later Beth’s head peeked through a black curtain. The instant she saw me her face lit up. “Stephan! Roger, Stephan’s here,” she said, all the while walking toward me.

Her arms wrapped around me for a hug. “Beth. How are you?”

She pulled back a little to look at me. “Oh, how formal we are,” she said, slapping me playful on the shoulder. I laughed.

Then her husband, Roger, made his appearance. The only difference between his greeting and his wife’s was that his combined a handshake and a hug at the same time.

When he pulled back, he gave my shoulder a firm pat. “How have you been, Stephan?”

“I’ve been good. Keeping busy, you know. Are you both coming to the fundraiser this year?”

Beth waved her hand nonchalantly in front of her face. “You know we wouldn’t miss it.” And then she stepped back behind the counter. “I am assuming this isn’t a purely social visit?” she asked.

I shook my head in awe. She knew me too well. “No, it’s not. I need a choker necklace. I would prefer it to be white gold or platinum and it needs to be simple, nothing over the top.”

“Hmm,” she said, tapping her finger to her chin. “Let me see . . .” Moving to the necklace trays, her eyes scanned their contents. “Any charms?”

I shook my head. “No. Not right now anyway. But I want that to be an option.”

She glanced up at me and then smiled. I’d come in here once before to buy a choker for a submissive. Any submissive of mine had to have a versatile collar to wear out in public. Since removing it was not an option, it needed to be able to adapt to both casual and elegant settings.

Beth reached under the counter and retracted a simple circle. There was nothing fancy about it but a charm or jewel could easily be slipped onto it to dangle from Brianna’s neck.

“Is this what you wanted?” she asked with a smirk, already knowing my answer.

“Yes, I do believe it is,” I answered, running my fingers along the metal, imagining it on Brianna. It would look perfect around her beautiful neck.

After saying my goodbyes to Beth and Roger, I made my way to the locksmith. Brianna would need a key to my condo. She was not my prisoner, and if I was going to go so far as to collar her this early, the least I could do was make sure she knew she was allowed to come and go.

With key in hand, I had one more stop to make before picking us up a light lunch and heading back to my place. The University of Minnesota had some great programs, although being an alumnus myself, I was a little biased.

Pulling into the admissions office, I went inside to find Karen. Luckily, she was free and more than happy to see me. I knew she had a bit of a crush on me. Unfortunately, for her, it wasn’t mutual. I, however, was not above exploiting that fact in order to get what I needed.

It took almost an hour and the dodging of at least two dozen indecent proposals, but I got what I was looking for. I wanted Brianna to finish school, and UM had a program that could get her there. So many doors were closed to her right now, and I wanted to correct that. She needed to be able to stand on her own two feet and feel confident again. Getting her high school diploma would help.

The next block of classes didn’t start until fall, so we had some time. Karen provided all the registration papers Brianna would need. I’d just have to get her transcripts from her previous school, but I didn’t see that as too big a problem. We’d figure it out. She deserved this.

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