Not until he had blown out all the candles and pulled the covers over the two of them did she stir from her contentment. Spooning into his arms, she snuggled tight. His whispered words in her ear made her smile. Turning her face to him, she murmured, “I love you too, Sir.” A moment more and she was fast asleep.
Chapter Fourteen
Permanence
“She’ll be here, Sarah. Stop worrying.” Jill inadvertently tugged on a strand of Sarah’s hair. The collaring ceremony was set to begin in less than half an hour and she still didn’t have the slave-to-be’s hair upswept to her liking.
Sarah shook her head, hardly realizing she pulled the strand clear of Jill’s fingers again. “I don’t know, Jill. Beth’s been pretty distant since the accident. And she was pretty hurt to think I’d get married without her.”
“Stop fidgeting!” Jill laughed. “You’re going to look beautiful for the collaring ceremony if it’s the last thing I do on this earth!”
Sarah grinned and took to twisting her fingers on her lap to rid herself of the nervous energy that threatened to overwhelm her. Had she been this antsy when waiting for her wedding to Tom? Biting her lip, Sarah decided her first wedding was a whole different beast altogether. Then she’d been a naïve virgin starting off a new adventure, without much of a clue about what would happen.
While she still wouldn’t call herself worldly, this time around Sarah knew exactly what she was getting into. Two days ago, she and Phillip had been legally married by the same judge who had presided over his court case. Tonight’s ceremony in the cottage wouldn’t be legally binding but that didn’t matter. This ceremony held another purpose entirely.
“I don’t think Beth’s coming.” A tone of finality crept into her voice. “I told her about the ceremony and all it entailed.” Sarah’s fingers touched her still-bare neck.
“And?” Jill twirled another strand of Sarah’s golden-brown locks, pinning it into place.
“And she said she’d be here to show her support for me, even though she still thinks I’m making a mistake marrying a man who beats me.”
“When are you going to tell her otherwise?” A hard note sounded in Jill’s voice and Sarah felt obligated to defend her best friend, or the woman who had been her best friend up until a few months ago. Since the accident and all it had revealed about her sex life, Beth might as well have been living in another city altogether for the amount of time they’d spent together. Sarah missed the long talks on the phone but had given up calling when Beth’s haranguing got to be too much.
“I did try to tell her, several times. She just doesn’t want to hear that I like…pain.” Even to her ears it sounded sick and disgusting, two words Beth had used in their conversations, though Beth had turned them around and used them on Phillip.
Jill’s look softened. “The vanilla world often doesn’t understand. From what you told me of her before, I had thought she might be able to see the Dom side of a D/s relationship or at least the Domme one but apparently not?”
“Not. Definitely not.”
Sarah glanced at the clock on Phillip’s dresser, then clutched her stomach and took a deep breath as she realized the time. “Jill, we can’t wait much longer. It’s almost time. Do you think Phillip’s as nervous as I am?”
She swallowed several times as a fist of iron suddenly grabbed her stomach and squeezed. Despite how anxious she’d been for this day to arrive, despite the fact that she’d longed for it, despite the fact that, in the eyes of the law, she and Phillip were already married, she still needed several deep breaths to keep the meager contents of her stomach inside where they belonged. A huge change in her life sat right outside the bedroom door. Was she truly ready to commit to being a sexual slave for the rest of her life?
The warmth that spread up from her pussy gave her the answer. After months of waiting, months of talking and discussing what fell under Phillip’s dominion and what did not…the moment was here. Jill stepped back and made a low sound of appreciation.
“You are spectacular, Sarah. Stand up and take a look.”
Sarah moved her head experimentally, making sure none of Jill’s careful work would fall. Her hair had been upswept into several curls and ringlets, piled high and out of the way. Running her hand from her bare neck down, she felt the stiff bones of the corset that narrowed her waist and turned to see the view from the side. The cream-colored hose and garter continued the line all the way down to her shoeless feet.
“Let’s tighten those laces and get you into your dress, shall we?”
Sarah nodded, glad for Jill’s calming presence. As Will’s slave, Jill actually held no part in the ceremony other than to get Sarah ready—a big enough job, Sarah decided—and to bear witness along with the other guests to the vows soon to be spoken. Obediently, Sarah turned around and held her breath as Jill firmed up the corset, forcing her breasts up almost as if they were sitting on a shelf, then she held up her hands so Jill could slip the peasant-style blouse over her head, settling it off her shoulders and showing the tops of her breasts. Despite the play she and Phillip had done in public on only two occasions, showing this much cleavage still made Sarah blush.
Jill held out the full-length skirt and Sarah stepped into it, taking a moment to zip it up in the back before stepping into the low-heeled slingbacks that completed her outfit. With a final tug to tighten her blouse under her skirt, she turned to the pier glass mirror that hung at the foot of the bed.
“You look beautiful!” Jill flounced Sarah’s wide skirt, watching it settle in graceful folds. She didn’t mention the fact that Sarah’s nipples raised her tightened blouse. No sense it making her more nervous. Jill glanced at the clock. “And with ten minutes to spare!”
Sarah opened her mouth to say something but a quiet knock on the door interrupted her. For a moment, panic clutched her stomach. Phillip wasn’t supposed to see her yet. She had an entrance all planned out. How she’d walk the length of the living room to where he stood at the far end and how she’d gracefully kneel beside him.
But it wasn’t Phillip Jill let in the door. A familiar face, wreathed in brown curls, almost timidly poked her head around the door.
“Beth! You came!” Sarah squealed and ran to throw her arms around her friend. She nodded at Jill, who discreetly left, closing the door behind her.
“I decided I didn’t want to miss it.” Beth disengaged herself from Sarah’s hug. “Look, Sarah, there’s something I need to say before you decide if you want me to stay or not.”
Afraid that whatever Beth was going to say would ruin things forever, Sarah tried to head her off. “It doesn’t matter, Beth. You’re my friend and you’re here. It was important to me to have you here. I think because you’ve known me forever. You even knew Tom. I don’t want that part of my life to end just because a new part of my life is beginning.”
Beth took a deep breath. “Well, I’ve thought a lot about this whole thing, believe me and I need to tell you I can’t agree with it all. No, don’t interrupt.” She held up her hand to forestall Sarah’s protest. “Let me get through this. Please?”
Sarah nodded, forcing herself to let Beth have her say, even through the fear that their friendship was ending in spite of her words.
“I’ve been doing a lot of research on the web about your particular…kink. I know, when you showed me that list of sites to visit, I swore I never would. But I did. I always knew that stuff existed but to realize you were into it to the point of wanting to do it always? I guess I’ve just been so shocked by that, I couldn’t think straight.” She ran her hand through her short hair in a gesture Sarah recognized. Whenever Beth was working at solving a problem, from where they should go for dinner to dealing with crisis situations, the habit was ingrained. Suddenly Beth dropped her arm and grinned. “Hell, I’m not sure I’m not still shocked.”
Sarah opened her mouth and again shut it without uttering a single word when Beth held up her hand.
“I’ve decided, however, that we’ve been friends far too long to let something like this come between us. I’m still not totally convinced you’re not brainwashed or something.” She gestured to the four-poster bed where a pair of cuffs still dangled from one corner and shuddered.
“Sarah, I came because you’re my friend and I love you. And friends don’t abandon friends, even if they really don’t understand the road they’re on.” She dropped her hands to her side.
“So. If you still want me to stay, knowing I don’t really understand it or agree with it, I’d love to witness the ceremony and stand by your side.”
Sarah took Beth’s hands. “I just need to know you’re going to be happy for me. I don’t want to have you watch over my shoulder all the time, waiting for some catastrophe to happen. Phillip is a good man. I both love and trust him. All I ask is for you to love and trust me.”
Beth smiled, tears in her eyes. “I can do that, Sarah. I really can. If you’ll still have me?”
Sarah threw her arms around her best friend. “Thank you! I love you too, Beth! Please stay!”
* * * * *
Sarah had left the particulars of the ceremony to Phillip. Now he stood at one end of his living room, the furniture pushed back against the walls, waiting for the woman who would soon vow to live her life as his slave. On either side of him stood the two men who had guided his life—his Uncle Irv Anberg, who had first explained the facts of life to him and Will, his best friend and mentor. In a few moments, Sarah would enter, kneel before him and take vows that would make her his slave forever.
The very thought of all the responsibility he was assuming settled on his shoulders like a cloak of lead. Sarah was the one, of that he was sure. But was he up to the task? The charges brought against him by an eager intern and rookie cop had shaken his confidence more than he’d let anyone know. He hadn’t meant to hurt Sarah, in fact, he hadn’t hurt her. The stripes he’d given her had moved her to a higher plane, giving her an incredible orgasm. How did one explain to the vanilla world what that did to him? How it made him expand with power and satisfaction and just plain old joy to see the woman he loved writhing in sexual ecstasy? How he gloried in her submission, not to lord it over her, but to bring her to those heights over and over and over? He shook his head as he waited for his soon-to-be slave to emerge from the bedroom, where currently she was closeted with her vanilla best friend. Phillip knew Beth had approved of him right up until the secret of Sarah’s submission came out. Glad for the two steadying presences on either side of him, Phillip resisted the urge to cross the length of the living room, stride to the bedroom door and demand his woman.
Will leaned in to mutter something in his ear that Phillip didn’t catch. He turned to his best man with a puzzled expression and Will repeated himself. “Jill just gave me the okay sign.”
“What does that mean?” He hadn’t even seen Jill reenter the room and as he looked around, he saw no sign of her now. Apparently she’d given her message and disappeared.
“She’s been listening at the door and Sarah and Beth have made up. Give it another minute or two and we can get started.”
Phillip nodded and curbed his impatience. If Beth was on her way to accepting Sarah’s choices, that was a good sign. He smiled at the others gathered to witness the collaring ceremony. They hadn’t invited very many, since most of the world really wouldn’t understand what was about to happen. Paul, Beth’s mostly on-again boyfriend, stood chatting amiably with Anton as Lady Aleshia looked on and Phillip wondered if the two of them had more in common than they might suspect, based on what he knew about Beth.
The woman in question hurried into the room, coming to stand beside Paul, giving Phillip a teary-eyed nod as she took her place. Apparently all was well between Sarah and Beth. That made Phillip feel good. Taking Sarah away from her friends was something he had never intended to do. He liked her independence. Just not where sex was concerned.
All thoughts of the guests fled, however, when Jill took her spot in the center of the arch leading from the hall to the living room. Will turned to the stereo system against the front wall and a moment later, the deep sounds of Pachelbel’s
Canon in D
filled the room. Wearing a simple pink shirtwaist dress with a matching wide belt, Jill moved forward, her steps slow and steady, her eyes twinkling and a delighted smile dimpling her cheeks. In her hands she carried a small nosegay of holly and evergreens to symbolize Sarah and Phillip’s everlasting love.
Jill stepped to Will’s side and Phillip’s breath caught to see the vision that graced the archway now. Dressed in a tea-length skirt and matching blouse of ivory muslin, her upswept hair cascading little curls around her face, Sarah stood poised and calm and waiting for his signal. In her hands, she held a small blue velvet pillow and resting on top, the collar Phillip’s uncle had designed, its silver gleam catching the last rays of sunlight.
His heart pounded to see her, so ready to make a commitment that would change their lives. Although legally husband and wife for two days, the ceremony getting underway now would bind them much more thoroughly than any court of law could ever hope to achieve.
Phillip nodded and Sarah moved forward, her step sure and graceful, her eyes fixed on Phillip’s face. Later she would realize she should have acknowledged the witnesses but so caught up in the moment, she barely remembered their existence at the ceremony. Phillip’s eyes held hers and she glided gracefully to him, paused a moment until she heard the right beat in the music, then knelt before him. With a long-practiced gesture, she held up the blue pillow and waited.