Page 80 of Binding Their Hearts

Finally.

Henry’s nod granted all the permission she needed to wrap her hand around the back of Jay’s neck and guide his mouth to hers. She fed him impatience and joy and the salt of her tears, and he clung to her lips for every moment.

Dazed, heady, she pulled away before she forgot their audience. Henry swept his arm around her and stole her breath. She leaned back, arching into his hold as he kissed her, half-sobbing with the unexpected delight of the brush of his ring against her spine.

He nipped her mouth and flashed a feral smile as he let her go. Their husband stood waiting.

Jay, fresh scrubbed and clean shaven, all shiny subby wonder, shivering with anticipation because waiting was so, so difficult—

Henry growled and clasped his hands on either side of Jay’s jaw, claiming him with a kiss in front of their friends and families. Jay’s loose-limbed melt when Henry touched him would never get old.

And that was just the start. Hopefully their last surprise would lift Jay into the stratosphere on a cloud of confidence.

Chapter thirty-eight

Jay

Jay’s lips buzzed with lightning from Henry’s kiss. He blinked, and the room twinkled with starry bursts. Dizziness took hold—no, no, that was Henry spinning him gently around and slipping his fingers under the collar of Jay’s coat.

“We do have”—Master Will’s voice boomed out over his head—“one last, very important matter to address.”

They did? Vows, rings, kissing—yup, ticked all the boxes. Probably an announcement to go get cake. His stomach, freed from swooping butterflies, decided wedding ceremonies were more taxing than a fifty-miler and demanded a hefty meal.

Most people loosened their belts for that, but Henry slid his coat down his arms. Jay shrugged back, making his arms a smooth ramp for the dismount.

In front of him, Alice gave no clues, only excited eyes and her failing effort to push back the grin that kept slipping out. She should be grinning; they all should. They were married now, as official as official could get. Behind his back, he rubbed his thumb over the new ring. Still there, all secure, not sliding, just steady and smooth-edged with a bumpy center.

Henry handed off Jay’s coat to Will and pressed up against his back like Alice catching a ride on his bike. Gripping Jay’s shoulders, he dug his fingers in a deep massage and worked toward the center, until he brushed Jay’s tie.

Jay turned his head, just his head, not his whole body, not a rejection but a check-in. None of this had been in his run-of-ceremony notes. Although, okay, their families speaking up for them hadn’t been either, and that had turned out amazing.

A kiss tickled the tip of his ear. “Don’t worry, dearest boy. I won’t take your lovely tie.”

Five years rushed through him in a sudden rainstorm, a summer downpour of memories and so much love he almost pranced in the puddles. He’d been so nervous that night. Trying to look like a submissive Henry would be proud to own.

“In addition to the bonds of marriage”—Master Will handed a bundle off to Alice that she took in both hands, with brown and silver spilling at the sides—“two of our company have expressed their desire to make a formal claim on this day, with the community as witness.”

Alice shook out the bundle. A leather chest harness hung from her hands. “Kneel for me, Jay.”

He sank to his knees, shaky and grateful his body answered her, because his brain sure as hell couldn’t. A claiming. A real claiming, the kind he’d spent so long wanting and hating himself for wanting.

Alice stretched out her arms, and Henry lifted the back of the harness. Four hands guided the straps around his head and down so they lay on his white dress shirt. The thick, deep brown straps straddled his shoulders.

Henry smoothed the back, the straps angling to what felt like a center ring and another strap down his backbone toward his waist. Alice took her time with the front, outlining the Y coming down the center of his chest, a ring at its heart, right over his breastbone. The bottom buckled around his waist, one buckle at each side, one of his lovers at each buckle, and how they knew who went for which, he didn’t know, but they looped and pulled and then—

And then his first real harness made him real. Henry and Alice’s love crisscrossed his body, gripping him tight but leaving him room to breathe.

This honor was a knighthood from his lord and lady, their promise and their trust and their belief in him. Proof of his belonging, his worthiness, right there on his body for everyone to see.

Henry gripped his shoulders again, through the leather, and Alice slipped two fingers through the ring at his heart.

She gave a tiny nod and took a deep breath, her gaze steady on his face as she towered over him in heels. “We hereby take Jay Michael Kress into our service, equal in our hearts and proud submissive in our household.”

“We trust in his capability”—Henry took up the promise, deep and stern, using his shiver-giving dom voice—“to carry out his responsibilities with excellence and to serve at our pleasure and his. In return, we pledge to grant him all of the rewards and privileges he so richly deserves.”

Relief spilled from his eyes in fat drops. His life had just fucking clicked into gear. He’d been getting closer and closer to the perfect fit—not the effortless gear, but the one that rewarded his effort and gave his path meaning—and here it was, in the space between heartbeats. The rhythm of his life.

“Jay?” Master Will dipped his head, blue eyes intent, his voice in the weighty note of Very Serious Things. “Do you accept this claim wholeheartedly?”

---