Ruby's Gift

"Let's go home."

Once in the car, he said, "Baby, there's something in the glovebox for you."

Ruby opened the slim package she found there and threw him a flushed, excited grin. "Nipple jewelry! Thank you, Sir."

"Put it on."

Her cheeky grin froze and AJ realized that what he loved best about this woman was the quality of her submission. She did notblindly obey him. She did notalways obey him. She gave him an intelligent woman's thinking obedience that, to his mind, was the most powerful and seductive kind of submission.

Her hand trembled as she lay the golden chain on the seat beside her and reached to unbutton her pale green blouse. When she pulled the blouse apart and out of the clutch of her seatbelt, he confirmed what he had suspected throughout dinner. Ruby wore no bra. Gold loops glittered and flashed in each pert nipple, lit by the periodic strobe of passing street lamps.

His lower body tightened. "God! You have the prettiest nipples!"

"Yours," she whispered, shivering a little.

"Mine," he acknowledged with a jolt of satisfaction.

She hooked the nipple chain through each loop and sat with her eyes closed, her fingers curled into the edge of her shirt. She wanted desperately to pull the edges together, he knew. Essentially a very private person, Ruby found it extremely difficult to expose herself to strange eyes.

AJ's gaze flicked to the road as he assessed traffic, "You may close your shirt when we arrive home and not before."

The chain glittered, stretched between her breasts as she inhaled deeply and acquiesced, "Yes, Master." And then...softly she whispered, "Ilove being yours."

His. All his. His blood heated and sparked as though full of champagne bubbles and, of a sudden, he could not get her home soon enough.

At the curb, he helped her out of the car and then pinned her against it, sliding his hands inside her shirt along the satin heat of her skin and curving his fingers over her ribs just below her breasts. Her heart thumped heavily beneath his thumbs as he kissed her.His. The word beat powerfully through him, in time with his own pulse.

They never made it to the bedroom. AJ pushed her shirt off her shoulders and dropped it in the foyer as they cleared the front door. He hooked his finger on the nipple chain and tugged Ruby up to her toes, kissed her hard; kissed her long; kissed her so thoroughly they both gasped for air.

"Mine," he said against her lips.

"Yours," she breathed.

He kissed her again and drew her down onto the carpet with him as he opened his trousers. The cool air against the enfleshed flame of his cock seemed a taunt, a tease. He didn't want cool, he wanted ignition. He wanted the sizzling humid clasp of his submissive's body. AJ pulled inexorably on the nipple chain so that she had no choice but to straddle him, bending low over his chest obedient to the chain.

Ruby moaned softly as he slid his hands under her skirt.

"Ruby-mine," he whispered with affectionate humor, cupping her smooth petal-soft sex, "no underwear at all! Good girl."

AJ pressed upward and nearly moaned aloud as her body unfurled over the head of his cock. He pushed deep in one thrust and she shivered as she settled on him. Need of her drove him: the need to claim her, the need to possess her.

"Where am I?" he asked, as he lifted his hips and pulled up on the nipple chain, stretching her nipples taut.

"Home," she gasped out, whimpering and trembling, "in your submissive who loves you-"

"Look into my eyes, don't look away. Cum for me, lover."

Her hair tumbled forward as she locked her eyes on his and rode him. He varied his thrusts, entranced by the effect on her: the way her breath whooshed out of her and the way her face flushed. The nipple chain swayed and glittered until he hooked his finger around it and jerked down sharply. Ruby whimpered, and responded by holding her body down against his as he pushed up.

Pleasure and passion, lust and love, bright intelligence and wanton joy, all flashed in her eyes as he impaled her again and again. Her breath locked hard in her throat when the first wave of her orgasm overtook her and then she moaned. Eyes on his, surrendering to the pleasure, surrendering to him, Ruby came and shook and flushed with release.

AJ curled his fingers in the soft flesh of her hips and altered his rhythm, driving for his own release. He praised her. At least, he meant to. But hot rapture overtook him in a glorious kind of amnesia; there was only her clinging heat, the liquid sound of them, the music of her whimpers and moans. And then. Then there was that lustrous expulsion, that bone-melting release, that sweet floating emptiness. His eyes never left hers.

"Mine," he said.

Journey Into Submission: The Collaring

The day of the collaring ceremony dawned overcast and with sultry blossom-scented air. While AJ had seen to most of the details, each of them had written the vows they intended to speak and Ruby had secretly chosen the clothes she would wear.

Kayte, Chrissy, Amy and a host of others descended upon the orchard at the home of AJ's younger brother, Donnal, with flowers, lights, rented chairs, laughter and excitement.

Diane had agreed to be Ruby's attendant and she arrived just after noon for a ceremony walk-through. After the brief rehearsal, she spent the afternoon helping wherever she could.

The ceremony started promptly at dusk. Folding chairs had been arranged in a large circle among the flowering apple trees. Blossom petals drifted like scented snow across the grass. Tiny white lights twinkled around a dozen tree trunks. Tall vases here and there held bouquets of rose stems. Rose petals intermingled with apple petals on every horizontal surface.

"Attention, please." Lisle stepped into the center of the circle as she spoke. "We are invited here this evening to witness a formal collaring between AJ and his submissive, Ruby. After the ceremony, Donnal and I will play hosts at the dungeon. Private play only, I remind you." Lisle glanced briefly at AJ and at his nod, said: "Let the ceremony commence."

The soft lovely music of Loreena McKennitt's "The Mummer's Dance" began to play from hidden speakers as AJ moved to the center of the circle with Donnal at his side. Both men were dressed in black.

AJ wore a loose silk shirt, open at the throat and tucked into black leather pants. He wore black leather boots that came half way up his calves; the silver buckles winked in the softening light. A light breeze ruffled his dark hair as he waited, facing the way she would come.

Donnal stood next to him, similarly attired, with one hand clasped in the other behind his back. A dark collar danced 'round and 'round through his fingers. His silver-tipped sable hair curled in a careless riot as though he had not thought to comb it. He watched the guests with a lively, amused interest.

When Diane appeared between the trees, walking slowly with a candle cupped in her hands, AJ felt his brother stiffen alertly.

She was dressed in a long soft sheath of deep scarlet. There was just enough breeze to mold the material playfully against her; first twining it 'round her legs then molding it lovingly over her breasts. AJ admired the effect as she approached and wondered idly if she knew - had planned for - the teasing combination of material and wind. Her dark hair hid her face as she watched her candle.

Diane looked up and smiled at AJ as she reached his side. With calm concentration she lit the candles in a tall candelabra next to him before placing hers in the last open spot. Though Donnal's interest was plain enough to AJ, she seemed oblivious as she took her place opposite him at AJ's side.

The music changed, slid into McKennitt's "The Dark Night of the Soul" as a flicker of light drew AJ's attention. His heart jumped.Ruby. She wore a diaphanous cloak of silver-edged, multi-layered indigo silk. The filmy stuff caught and reflected the light. It was just opaque enough to hide what she wore underneath as she walked into the circle.

She had left her hair loose and it spilled over her shoulders to her breasts in a fall of golden light. The breeze toyed with the glittering strands: lifting them, twining 'round them, dancing them into pseudo-life.

She clasped her hands in front of her as though in prayer. The silver chain was wound 'round them, binding them loosely palm to palm. The tiny golden key dangled just below.

As they had rehearsed, Diane took the chain while Ruby removed her cloak then handed it back in exchange for the silk. As she retrieved the chain and key, Ruby knelt at AJ's feet.

She was dressed in a black and silver corset that pushed her breasts up and barely covered her nipples. Her black silk skirt was so short that the lace tops of her thigh-high stockings were visible. Black, thinly-strapped high heels showed off the feminine, sexy arch of her feet.

AJ understood with a swell of hot emotion that she had chosen to wear these clothes - to expose so much of her delectable self - as yet another measure of her devoted submission to him.

With the key resting on her open palms, Ruby looked up and spoke her vows in a clear steady voice, her eyes locked to his.

"AJ, my Master, I kneel before you, full of love and adoration.

"I offer myself to you: all that I am, all that I can be, all that I will be. And I make you this pledge:

I will submit to you now and always, for only in complete submission to you will I realize the depths of my love for you. I will be in submission to you, my beloved Master, whether or not you are physically present, for I am yours in all that I do.

"I vow to learn all that you wish to teach me to the best of my ability for I know that it is only through your loving direction, firm discipline, and appropriate punishment that I will reach my highest potential as your submissive.

"I shall have faith in your decisions to take me past my limits when you feel that I am ready, for therein will lie my greatest growth as both a submissive and a human being.

"I shall communicate with complete honesty my needs, desires, thoughts, reactions, and limits even when it may be difficult for me to do so.

"I shall give you my trust, secure in the knowledge that you will always protect me and keep me safe.

"I shall constantly seek opportunities to please you, for my greatest joy and delight is in knowing I have done so. I promise to do my best to fulfill your wishes and desires.

"I pledge to love and adore you, for we are opposite sides of the same coin: you are the warp to my weft, the earth to my moon, the reason to my emotion, the tree to my vine. You complete me.

"Beloved Master, I will accept your collar as a symbol of my submission to you and the pledge I have made you this day. I shall wear it with pride, always."

AJ smiled warmly down at Ruby for a long moment and then spoke his vows:

"As I gaze at your kneeling form I am filled with compassion, affection, and pride.

"You offer yourself to me - all that you are, all that you will be, all that you can be - and in return for this precious gift I make this pledge:

I will love and cherish you for the woman you are: strong, loving, intelligent, and submissive.

"I will help and support you, guide and teach you, as you struggle to reach your full potential as my submissive.

"I will never belittle you, as a submissive or as a woman. I shall praise and encourage you always. I will take the trust you give me and build upon it, being open and patient with you as you grow.

"If you fall, I shall catch you, comfort and hold you, before placing you back on your path.

"I will protect you always, for I understand your fragile submissive heart and honor the gift you have made of it to me.

"I will act responsibly in all things, taking care never to harm you. I pledge to control my temper and to step back when it is necessary to cool down. You need never fear that I will take my anger out on you.

"If I make a mistake, I will accept the consequences and correct it to the best of my ability. I promise never to blame you for my own failures.

"I shall always communicate with you, even when it may be personally difficult.

"We complete each other. Dominant and submissive, two sides of the same coin, whole at last.

"Ruby, you are, and will always be, my joy, my love, my life, my jewel."

To the guests, Ruby's gasp and visible shiver seemed simply an emotional reaction to the moment. Only Ruby and AJ knew that she'd had an orgasm when he spoke her trigger word. Her eyes flashed to his and he let her see the confirmation she sought: that he was truly her Master and it pleased him to demonstrate in this way and at this time that she was truly his.

AJ put out his hand and drew her to her feet before turning to his brother to retrieve the collar.

"Beloved," AJ continued smoothly, "this collar is a symbol of our pledge to one another; that from this day you are mine. I am no less yours."

He placed the collar - black anodized metal in a vaguely Celtic pattern - around Ruby's neck before taking the tiny key from her and locking it closed. After he placed the chain and key around his own neck, he met her eyes and smiled lovingly at her.

"My own."

Ruby smiled back with transcendent joy. "Yours."

Lisle stepped forward again, "Let all here present know that this woman has offered her submission and it has been accepted. She is claimed.

"Let all here present know that this man has accepted into his care this woman to guide, to treasure, and to Master to the best of his abilities.

"Let us wish them joy."

Epilogue:

As AJ drew a glowing Ruby close to his side to accept the well wishes of their friends when they crowded 'round, Diane turned away to swipe at her tears; profoundly moved by the vows and the moment, her throat tight with emotion and longing. She was surprised to meet Donnal's gaze and expected him to look away, to give her the illusion of privacy.

He didn't.

He held her gaze, looked down into her for...an eon? Five seconds? While she stood there weeping both in joy for her friend and heartsick longing for herself: he continued to look, to see, to know.

He stared back at her with his dark discerning gaze and Diane could feel the moment stretch. She had the physical sensation of falling as the sound, sight, and scent of the world around her faded.

He captured her in that moment and would not let her look away until awareness of it flooded her eyes. Only then did he give her a slow smile.

"Here," he said.

Dumbly, Diane looked down and realized that he offered her his handkerchief. But even as she took it from him, she knew she had accepted something else.

(This is NOT the end of Ruby and AJ’s story - Be assured that positive feedback will see the continuation. This IS the beginning of Diane’s story. To all of you who have encouraged and supported me, deepest thanks. And most of all, to the wonderful loving Master who has pushed and guided me so far…Moyd, Sir, it is my deepest honor and brightest joy to be your submissive. May we continue to grow together. jewel)