Page 109 of Devilish

In fact, I was starting to believe that that was just the case. Just as I knew deep down in my soul I’d been made for him.

For years I’d been searching. I’d been to every exotic place on the planet and never seemed to find what I was looking for. Not like I felt right here looking at him. Something I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

“Kai?”

“Hmm?” His fingers flexed where they rested on my shirt like a content kitten, and I couldn’t help but stroke a hand over his soft hair.

“While tonight was to celebrate all those things I mentioned earlier, there’s something else.”

“Lucien, you’ve already done too much.”

“By now you should know the words ‘too much’ don’t exist in my vocabulary.” I reached under the side of the cushion, where I’d hidden away a small, wrapped box. Kai sat up, taking the gift when I handed it to him.

“What’s this?”

I nodded for him to open it, feeling an odd flutter in my stomach, nervous for the first time in my entire life.

Kai slid his fingers beneath the wrapping, so careful in the way he opened it, and when he lifted the top, his breath caught, his eyes full of wonder.

“Lucien… This is…” He gently traced his finger over the smooth gold bracelet that was nestled inside. “This is exquisite.”

“So are you.”

“You’re spoiling me.”

“No.” I ran my fingers down his jaw then tipped his face up. “I’m loving you.” I nodded to the box. “Why don’t you take it out, try it on?”

Kai bit into his lip and nodded, carefully pulling the bracelet free. He held it up to get a closer look, and when he saw the inscription engraved inside, he sucked in a breath.

My Beautiful Boy, Always.

I studied him closely, my heart in my throat as I tried to gauge his reaction. He was either going to want this or?—

The love shining in his eyes as they turned glassy told me all I needed to know.

He swallowed as he ran his finger over the engraving again. “Is this your version of a collar? Are you…claiming me?”

“Do you remember that painting in my office?” I reached for the bracelet and gently took it from him. “I once told you that a collar is a symbol of a dom’s ownership, his love.” I unclaspedthe piece of jewelry. “But I don’t want to own you, Kai. I want us to belong to one another.”

Kai nodded and held his arm out, and I fastened the bracelet around his delicate wrist.

“This is so the world knows you’re mine,” I said, then took his hand and brought it to my lips. I kissed his fingertips then drew them down to my shirt. “And this”—I slipped them under the material, over my heart—“is how you know I’m yours.”

I unbuttoned my shirt and parted it, and Kai saw the tattoo I’d recently acquired for the first time. I’d made sure to keep him blindfolded or in the dark whenever we’d been together of late to keep my surprise.

“Oh my God.” He pulled his hand back, but I drew it to me again, using his finger to trace the Perseus constellation and his name, both now permanently inked into my skin. “That’s beautiful.”

“I’m glad you think so, because the person it represents is the most beautiful I’ve ever met. Inside and out. My beautiful boy.”

Kai licked his lips as he continued to trace the pattern, and it was a ritual I knew I’d never get sick of.

“I love you,” he whispered. “So much I sometimes wonder how I ever survived without knowing that.”

I cradled his cheek, wiping away a tear that had fallen. “Maybe you survivedbecauseyou knew it was out there somewhere waiting for you.”

“Fate?”

“Hope. Another reason I love you so much. After everything you’ve been through, you still held out hope for more. You never gave up.”

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