CHAPTER 14: The Collar

ISABELLA

“If it is,” I thought, barely breathing, “then I’d take it again.”

Shame burned through me like fire.

My legs trembled, my fingers fisting the sheets. I bit down on my lip so hard it nearly bled. Damian's tongue moved like he owned me no, he did own me. I could barely think through the wave of pleasure crashing over me.

I wanted to scream. To grab his head and tell him don’t stop, please don’t stop.

But I couldn’t.

He had rules.

Rules that silenced my mouth and tied my hands.

The mirror across from the bed caught everything my wide eyes, my parted lips, the way my body betrayed me. I couldn’t look away. Couldn’t hide from the truth. I was falling apart under the man who had destroyed my life.

My soul screamed no, but my body?

It arched into him needy, traitorous.

The pressure built, a slow burn in my core. Tight. Hot. Unforgiving. Every flick of his tongue pushed me closer to that edge until the edge wasn’t enough.

I was falling.

Right when I thought I’d break open, unravel completely beneath him

He stopped.

I gasped, air catching sharp in my throat. My hips jerked instinctively, searching for the heat, the friction, the finish.

But it was gone.

I looked down at him, breathless. Desperate.

“Please,” I whispered before I could stop myself. “Don’t stop.”

I hated the way my voice broke. The way I meant it.

He rose with the calm arrogance of a man who knew he’d won something me. His eyes held mine, dark and dripping with control.

“You don’t deserve it yet, little princess,” he murmured, licking his bottom lip as though he could still taste me. “Obedience first. Then pleasure.”

Before I could speak, his hand wrapped around my arm and spun me sharply toward the mirror.

The girl staring back at me flushed, trembling, naked was a stranger.

He stood behind me, the heat of his body blanketing my back. One arm snaked around my waist, holding me in place, the other lifted to brush hair away from my shoulder. I could feel him pressed against me thick, solid, ready.

But he didn’t move.

He didn’t need to.

“I could take you right now,” he whispered, his voice a velvet knife against my skin. “Right here. In front of yourself.”

My breath came in shallow gasps. His reflection in the mirror looked so calm, while I unraveled.

“But you haven’t earned it. And I don’t reward defiance.”

I clenched my fists, fighting the war inside me pleasure, guilt, shame, hunger.

Then something shifted in him.

His fingers softened. His grip loosened. When he spoke again, the cold steel in his voice thinned, letting something human slip through.

“I don’t want to hurt you, Isa,” he said quietly, almost too quiet to hear. “Don’t make me into something you can’t forgive.”

I blinked, stunned.

His gaze, mirrored in the glass, was sharp but beneath it, a crack. A flicker of emotion. Restraint?

Gone in a heartbeat.

He stepped back and reached into his trouser pocket. When his hand emerged, he was holding something black leather, red shimmer, metallic studs catching the light like blood.

A collar.

My stomach dropped.

“What… what is that?” My voice barely came out.

He didn’t answer. Just stepped closer with that same calm menace.

I took a step back.

“No,” I whispered. “You can’t”

His hand shot out, gripping my wrist with a snap.

“You don’t move unless I tell you to,” he growled.

My lungs froze. My skin went cold.

With slow, deliberate hands, he fastened the collar around my neck. The leather was soft but firm. The red dragon insignia gleamed at the center like a warning.

A symbol of ownership.

His mark.

His rule.

“This stays on,” he said. “No matter where you are. No matter who sees you.”

I turned my head to the mirror.

The collar stood out like a brand against my skin velvet black and blood red.

I looked like property.

Like something owned.

My fingers hovered at the leather, trembling. My lips parted, but nothing came out.

I wanted to scream. To rip it off and hurl it at his face.

But I couldn’t move.

Couldn’t speak.

Could only cry.

The tears came silently, streaming down my cheeks as my body sank into stillness. A slow surrender.

He watched me. Then, wordlessly, wiped one tear away with the pad of his thumb.

“Go back to bed,” he said, his voice flat again. “We leave at sunrise.”

I forced air into my lungs. “Where are you taking me?”

He paused by the door, hand on the knob. Didn’t look back.

“You’ll know when we get there.”

The door clicked shut behind him.

Silence wrapped around me like a second skin.

I stood there, bare and hollow, staring at my reflection.

The girl in the mirror wore a collar.

And something inside her had shattered.

Not because of him.

But because part of me… let him.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

Hey loves,

I’m so sorry for the delay in updates I've been feeling a bit under the weather lately. But I promise, whenever I feel a little better, I’ll always upload a new chapter for you. Thank you for being so patient and understanding.

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