As I make my way down to the recording studio, I’m looking forward to the future. Since Clover’s agreed to be my submissive, I have a few things I need to plan—her collar, her new home, and her last name. Right now, I know she’s young and needs time, so the last one will have to wait for a little while longer, but the collar is something I’ll be buying sooner than she thinks.
Now that she’s moving to a manager who will take care of her album, I’m no longer directly associated with her professionally. I can now focus on my personal life and make sure that Clover moves in with me within the next few weeks. I need her waking up beside me every morning and falling asleep beside me every night.
And that’s exactly what is going to happen because my girl is mine forever.
“Hey,” I greet Tessa, who’s watching Clover sing.
“Hey, your girl is pretty good, Gideon,” Tessa tells me. Her voice is filled with admiration, and I can’t help but be proud of Clover. She’s been singing since she was a child, and the voice training she’s been through has helped, but I can tell it’s raw talent.
“She is.” I’m focused on Cover now. Her voice is impeccable, and I’m entranced by her singing “Delicate Surrender”.
In the whispers I hear you, come to me, come to me,
It’s the only way I know how, teach me, taunt me, tease me,
Only when I come down from my high, that’s when you’re mine,
It’s a delicate submission, a delicate surrender, when you hear my plea.
An hour later, we’re making our way to the car, and I’m itching to tell her I found her a manager. Once she’s slipped into the passenger seat, I join her, flicking the engine on. The engine purrs, but before I pull out of the parking garage, I turn to her.
“So, I have news.”
“I’m listening,” she tells me, and from her expression, she’s as concerned as I was.
I decide to put her out of her misery and confess, “You’ll be signed with Richmond Records, and Tessa will be handling it, and I’ll just be the man who you live with, sleep with, and possibly fall in love with.” I wait for her to realize what I’ve just said. I wanted to tell her for so long, to utter the words, but I never had the balls to do it. Now that we’re here, and I’m sitting right in front, with the possibility of a future with her, I need her to know how I feel.
“What?” Her eyes widen as she regards me with a smile that lights up her whole face. She’s so beautiful when she grins like that.
“You heard me.”
Clover shakes her head. “Yeah. I mean, I did, but are you sure?” Her hands find mine, and she laces her fingers through mine before I bring her hand up to my lips and press a gentle kiss on her knuckles. “Are you really and truly sure?”
“About which part?” I tease.
“I mean living together, stop acting like a smart-ass. Nobody likes a smart-ass, you know,” Clover taunts with her sass and confidence that make my heart thud in my chest. I love seeing her like this, taken over by excitement and happiness.
“I mean every word I say to you.” I pull her closer to me over the console, needing the contact of every inch of her against every part of me.
“And the love part…” Her words filter into the silence, and I know she wants me to admit how much I truly care for her. How much I love her. And I do. I never thought it was possible, but it is.
“Most importantly, the love part.”
She stills, pulls away, and I’m afraid I’ve done something wrong. But when she giggles, I can breathe again because she responds, “I love you too, Gideon.”
THE END.