Bound to Submit

His feet appeared in her line of sight, and Kenna took a deep breath. This was it.

He draped a silky robe over her shoulders and offered her his hand. “Rise.”

She frowned but obeyed. This wasn’t the plan. Maybe he was changing the position at the last minute? But what was with the robe?

Kenna looked up and saw that Master Griffin’s eyes were glassy, and that he was holding something in his hand.

***

Griffin had known Kenna was the woman for him for weeks. Hell, for years. And after everything they’d shared on Thursday night, that had never been more clear. So when she’d left on Friday afternoon, he’d driven directly to the nicest jewelry store he knew and bought two things. Having done so was part of what made him realize he’d belonged in Florida, at Kenna’s side.

Just like she belonged at his.

Always.

When Kenna rose, he gestured to the robe and said quietly, “Slip this on, little one.”

She did.

And then he dropped to one knee.

Griffin barely heard the gasp in the audience because he was so intently focused on Kenna—on the joy brightening her beautiful face and the love in her wide gray eyes.

“Kenna Sloane, will you please marry me? I have loved you for so long that you’ve become a part of me, and I don’t want to walk through this life for one more day without knowing that you’re mine and I’m yours. I don’t just want a submissive—though I do want that, too—I want a partner, a best friend, a companion, a confidante, and a wife. In short, I want you, baby. Will you please do me the honor of becoming my everything?” His heart was hammering inside his chest as the worlds spilled from deep inside him, because they were the most important words he’d ever spoken.

Happy tears ran down her face as she dropped to her knees right in front of him. “Oh, Griffin. I love you so much. And nothing would make me happier in this whole world than to say yes,” she said. Applause and cheers filled the room, and it made his heart so full he wasn’t sure how it stayed in his damn chest.

“Fuck, Kenna,” he said, his hand shaking as he slid the emerald-cut ring onto her finger. “Finding you again was the luckiest thing that ever happened to me.” He pulled her into a tight embrace and devoured her with a kiss she eagerly returned.

His other purchase from the jewelry store? That would have to wait until they were alone. Because Griffin didn’t want to share that first act of collaring his fiancé with anyone else—that would be theirs and theirs alone.

And, fuck, but he was so ready for it all. The good parts, the bad parts, the celebrations, and the heartaches. As long as they were together, they could handle whatever life threw at them. Griffin was sure about that.

When they came up for air, Kenna was grinning and crying. “Luckiest for me, too, Griffin. Luckiest for me, too.”

An announcement rang out saying there would be a delay in the start of the demonstration, which earned a big round of laughter from the audience, and then Griffin guided Kenna into the small waiting room for another kiss.

Their friends poured in to offer congratulations—Kyler and Mia, Quinton, Leo, Jonathan, Cruz, and more. And it felt like family. It felt like everything.

“I’m so happy, Griffin,” Kenna whispered to him.

He kissed her, unable to resist. “Me, too, Kenna. You feel like a dream come true.”

Finally, their friends cleared out, and it was just the two of them again. “Do you still feel up to doing this?” he asked. “We can reschedule. No one will mind. Not with all the champagne that’s probably flowing out there right now.”

But he could see the answer in her eyes. His kick-ass warrior.

“Yes, Sir. I’m green all the way.”

He tugged her in against his body. “You ready to be bound to me?”

“Yes, Griffin. Make me yours. Tie me to you in every way you can,” she said, looking up at him with so much love.

He nodded, hunger and need stirring in his body again. “Then let’s do this, baby. Go out there and get on your knees. And let’s show them what we’ve got.”

THE END