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Two years later...
Myphonelightsup the dark in the back of the Mercedes SUV. I unlock the screen and read the text from Jasmine, asking me if I’m sure I can’t make it to tonight's party. I text her back and tell her I’m sure I can’t make it, but that I hope she has a good time and to do a shot for me. She replies with an eggplant emoji and three splashes.
We’re barely a week into the start of our junior year, but it feels like I’ve been away from Aidan for much longer. I’ve been looking forward to going home since he kissed me goodbye last Sunday.
I slip my phone into my overnight bag just as Benjamin pulls up in front of our apartment building. My parents’ property as well as Aidan’s former estate both sold for well above their asking price last year. Rather than look for a new home right away, we decided to wait until after I finish school to go house hunting. I’ll be applying to dance with ballet companies on both coasts, plus a few overseas. Where we put down roots will depend on where I get accepted, though my dream is to dance for the New York City Ballet.
Benjamin jumps out to open my door for me. I thank him for the ride and head inside the building, taking the private elevator up seventy-six floors to the penthouse.
I like living in the city. There’s always a ballet or a play showing somewhere, and you can get anything you want to eat at any time of day or night. As I step into the grand foyer, I hear Aidan talking on the phone in his office. Since Jen and Ethan got married last year, she’s been heading home earlier on Friday evenings. I won’t get to see her until tomorrow, but knowing Jen, she’ll be here bright and early.
I head into the bedroom to drop off my bag and undress, then pad across the expansive apartment completely naked all the way to my studio. This is where I wait for Aidan on the nights when I return from school.
On my knees in the center of my beautiful dance floor, facing the mirror, watching the door.
I don’t have to wait long for Aidan to show himself.
He watches me from the doorway for a moment before he enters the room. My heart beats faster as he comes up behind me.
“Stand up, little one,” he says, and I do.
He combs his fingers through my hair, then runs his knuckles down my arm and across my chest. Down the side of my breast to my navel.
I gasp as he skims his fingertips over my mound.
“You were very good about not texting me this week,” he says. After being together all summer, Aidan was concerned about me getting back into the rhythm of things at school. He introduced the rule that I wasn’t allowed to text him more than twice a day, six hours apart.
If I managed to abide by this new rule, he would reward me with a selfie. If I went a full twelve hours without texting him, he would send a naked selfie.
He captures my nipple between his fingers, pinching gently. I gasp as pleasure zips through my body like electricity. He withdraws a pair of pliers from his pocket, then steps behind me.
I watch his reflection with curiosity.
“What are those for, Sir?”
“Removing your collar,” he says.
My heart leaps into my throat. The only reason I ever remove my collar is for a performance.
I swallow my apprehension so I can ask him, “Did I...do something wrong?”
“Not at all.”
I feel him fiddle with the locking mechanism at the back of my collar.
“Then why are you taking it off?”
My stomach seizes as the chain loosens, then falls. I catch it on its descent, cradling it like a treasure between my palms.
“It would look odd to wear two at once, don’t you think?” he asks.
“Yes,” I say. “Wait, what?”
Aidan slides his hand into his other pocket. An unfamiliar glint in his gaze has me squinting at his reflection. He sweeps my hair over my shoulder, then scrubs at his jaw. I realize suddenly that my Dom is...nervous.
He reaches both hands over my shoulders to drape something across my neck.
It’s another collar with an O-ring—only this ring is lined with diamonds.
