“No. Wide enough to make her feel owned, but not wide enough to restrict movement.”
“How big is her neck?”
Shit. How was he supposed to measure for something like that?
He looked at his hands and thought about how her neck felt when he had them wrapped around it.
“Show me.”
A little creeped out about having this conversation with a strange woman, he made a circle with his hands, remembering instinctively how much his fingers overlapped.
Banner and Konstantin both chuckled, but Della waved a hand at them.
“Oh, like you were any better, Banner.” She rolled her eyes. “The first time you came, you had to bring me that ugly sex-store collar you were using on Kate to show me her size.”
Misty brought them coffee. Ambrose was coached through picking colors and embellishments, and hoped he’d chosen things Everly would like.
The design of the collar was important, but whether she’d accept it was still a mystery. Sure, they’d said the L word to each other, but that didn’t mean she was ready to accept him as her Master in a more permanent sense. Maybe it was “I love you for now,” or “I love you based on what you’ve told me about yourself.” Maybe having a collar made for her was premature, considering how much he was keeping from her.
Della focused on cutting things out and stitching them together, and the guys settled in to wait. Banner was getting a kick out of pointing out the subtle and not-so-subtle kink renos that had been done, just in the living room, even though Ambrose spotted most of them before he said anything. When you were into kink, you never assumed the O-rings in someone else’s ceiling were for missing swag lamps or plant holders. Almost every piece of furniture had been adapted so restraints could be easily attached. Della was hard-core, and Ambrose felt like he’d been invited into the home of a kink Jedi.
“So when are you going to come clean with her?” Banner asked, grimacing. “You shouldn’t offer her a collar until you two have that conversation.”
Ambrose sighed, his hope sinking. Things were going so well. Did he have to tell her?
Of course he did, but he wished he would have found a way to tell her sooner. The longer it dragged on, the worse all of his rehearsed explanations sounded in his head.
“Just tell her the truth. What’s the worst thing that could happen?” Konstantin punched Ambrose’s shoulder and then leaned on him. “If it’s that much of an issue, then it’s best to find out now. You can only keep this game up for so long.”
“What’s that?” Della asked, looking up from her work. “Have you been lying to this girl?”
Ambrose nodded, ashamed to have to admit it.
“Well, fuck. Even the newest of Masters knows that’s no way to start a relationship.” Della frowned at him, and he felt like he was in the principal’s office. “You can’t give this to her until you lay all of your cards on the table. So what’s the big secret? You have another girl on the side who she doesn’t know about?”
“No.”
“You’re fucking pretty boy there?” she asked, flicking a finger at Konstantin.
Konstantin chuckled and shifted closer, throwing an arm around Ambrose’s shoulders.
“No,” Ambrose replied. “He wishes.”
Banner grinned and sat on Ambrose’s other side, joining in the group cuddle.
Della rolled her eyes. “So what, then?”
“She doesn’t know he’s rich and he’s too chickenshit to tell her.” Konstantin barked a laugh. “Poor girl. She’ll be so disappointed to find out you want to take her to Europe.”
“How on earth do you hide something like that?” Della asked. “Do you want a regular buckle, by the way, or a locking one?”
“Regular.” He moved to put his empty mug down on the coffee table, refusing Misty’s offer of another refill. She whisked his mug away almost before it touched the wood. He had a hard time imagining Everly being a service sub like that, but they could always hire a maid.
“He rented a crappy apartment in a crappy part of town and everything.” Banner nudged him companionably. “To be fair, he still dresses the same as he always did.”
“She has an enchanted pussy,” Konstantin confided. “Banner and I can’t think of any other reason he’d be doing such crazy shit.”
Della whistled. “It might seem ridiculous, but lying is lying. How can she trust you with her submission and her safety if you’ve been lying to her?”