Page 17 of High Reward

Victor pats my thigh. “Agreed. Now, if you’re not going to nap, we can talk about something a little more serious.”

I sit up as my anxiety jumps. “What’s wrong?”

He pulls me into his lap. “We need to talk about your neck.”

Confusion scrunches my face. “My neck? What’s wrong with it.”

He lifts a shoulder. “It’s… a little bare.”

My heart jumps. Is he talking about a collar?

“Are we ready for that?” I ask.

“I certainly am. You’re mine, Grace. And I have no intention of changing that. Do you?”

“No Sir. I’m yours.”

“We are still working out the details of our dynamic, but I would like to at least talk about a collar.”

“What about a training collar?”

Victor frowns. “A training collar?”

“You’ve heard of the concept. Dr. Singh recently put one on her newest partner, Talia. It’s a symbol that Talia is learning how to be her submissive and that they are still negotiating their own dynamic. I heard them talking about it a few weeks ago. She has a rigid training program for her subs, and they have to earn her full collar. The part I have no interest in is that if they don’t pass their training, she releases them.”

Victor is thoughtful. “That sounds like something we could adapt for ourselves. We’ll come up with our own parameters for graduating to a full collar because there is no way I’m releasing you. You belong to me, and I belong to you.”

“And Lili?”

“We all belong to each other. I’m… hesitant to plan long-term with Lili. But she’s welcome in our lives as long as she wants to stay.”

“Why so hesitant?”

He sighs. “She’s gone through some very traumatic things, butterfly. And when she heals, she may decide she doesn’t want to be with the person who kidnapped her and kicked off this whole situation that she faces.”

My stomach twists at the thought of Lili choosing to leave us, but deep down, I know he’s right. Still, I’m willing to take agamble that she’s sticking around and put my whole heart into our relationship. I hope Victor can do the same.

“Come,” Victor says, standing so fast I blink in surprise.

Then he laughs. “Sorry, butterfly. Poor choice of words. No coming for you yet. Follow me.”

I giggle as I stand and follow him to the front office where Bellamy usually does bookkeeping. Something I tried to do for her when she was going to move to London and failed miserably to the point that Matteo was threatening me with his belt. A rarity since he started dating Skylar.

He opens the safe and pulls out a jewelry box.

“We give these to some VIP clients.” He passes it to me, and I open it.

It’s a simple silver necklace with four white diamonds in the shapes of a club, diamond, heart, and spade.

“Do you like the idea of having to earn my collar, Grace? I only want to do it that way if it speaks to you and your journey as a submissive.”

I finger the diamonds on the simple necklace and smile. “Actually, Master, I do. The idea of achieving goals you set for me and becoming the kind of submissive you want me to be is very appealing.”

Victor nods. “Good girl. I’ve never done it this way before, but it feels right to me as well. Thank you for the suggestion. This will be your training collar. And when you’ve achieved the goals we set together, you’ll get something custom-made just for us.”

I pass him the box with one hand and lift my hair with the other, but he shakes his head and pushes my hand away. “We’ll do it tonight. I want you to think about what being trained by me means to you for the next little while, and then, when you are ready, you’ll bring me the box and kneel for me. Understood?”

“Yes, Master. Thank you for this.”