Page 124 of Whirlwind

Angel gave her a delicate kiss, just a brush of her lips though it sung through her body. “Here’s what I want. And you can tell me if it works for you.”

Nina nodded, letting their lips touch again.

“I want to get to know you again. I want to take you on dates, and I want us to be exclusive while we decide if we’re going to work out. If we do, I want to give you the opportunity to earn my collar.” Angel ran a finger along her neck, making Nina shiver down to her toes. “What do you say, sweet girl?”

There was only one answer. Even if it was crazy. But she’d always been crazy for Angel. “Yes.”

“But first, I want your art decorating my house. You can’t work in here, can you?”

Nina shook her head. She knew she was messy, but that was because her mind was always so cluttered. When she painted, she needed her space to be pristine and almost empty. She’d found it hard to concentrate even in the art studio at school and often turned her easel to a blank wall or window.

“Then that’s the first condition of our relationship. I’m getting you an art studio. We can rent a room for you somewhere, or we can convert one of the bedrooms at my house. I would prefer the latter, but I won’t push you on that.” She kissed Nina’s temple.

“You decide when to use it and what you work on,” Angel continued. “You decide whether you want to sell your work or give it away. If things don’t work out for us romantically, it’s still yours. Did you know that’s how I think of you? In front of an easel and lost in your own world. I want to see you painting again. Everything else we can negotiate later. Alright?”

Nina was too stunned to speak. Then she threw her arms around Angel, covering her face and neck with kisses. No one, no one, had ever given her something so thoughtful and important. It wasn’t just the cost of the studio, which she might have been able to swing on her own, and which her trust fund could cover many times over. It was Angel’s confidence in her and the care she’d shown in knowing what mattered.

“So, you like that idea, then?” Angel was grinning. She’d never smiled so much when they were teens and Nina wanted to see that all the time.

“It sounds amazing. I mean, it’s not about the actual space, but it is. I mean… No one has ever done something like this for me. I don’t need a lot of space, I promise. Just somewhere empty to store some supplies. Even a closet would be fine. I can pay for part of it. Or all of it, I guess. It’s not really the money it’s just… do you really want my art in your house? I don’t know if I was good before and I might have forgotten everything…”

Angel cut off her babble with a kiss. “I believe in you. This isn’t about how good you are, although I think you’re extremely talented. This is about you deserving to be happy.”

“What about you? What would make you happy?”

Angel nuzzled her nose. It was nothing that the old Angel would have done, too sweet and too silly. “Knowing that you’re painting would make me happy. Being with you would make me happy.”

They were both different people now, but perhaps as they’d each grown, the new ways that they fit together would be even more compatible. If nothing else, Angel was giving her the nudge she needed to reconnect with a buried passion and it would be good to have another friend.

But she was sure that there was more there.

Angel pulled back. “Hang on just a second.”

Curious, Nina leaned against the cabinet while Angel darted back into the bedroom. She came back, still naked, and with one hand curled into a loose fist.

Angel looked shy again. It was such a vulnerable expression from someone who was so fierce and commanding at other times. Nina’s chest felt warm, like a small glow had been lit inside.

Angel slowly opened her hand, revealing the glitter of metal. A thin, delicate chain. A thick, block ring.

Nina covered her mouth. It couldn’t be.

“I found this on the floor the day I was moving out and tossed it in my purse. I didn’t even know that I still had it.”

Nina nodded, speechless.

“It doesn’t have to mean anything. Or, I mean…”

For a lawyer and a Domme, Angel was awfully inarticulate right now. The glow in Nina’s chest crew into a flame.

“I just wanted you to have it. As maybe a promise to start things over. The way they should have been before. But the way they are now, too.”

“I’d like that. Will you put it on me?”

Angel made a circling motion with her finger and Nina turned. She lifted up her hair while Angel reached around her neck. The heavy ring settled between her breasts, solid and intimate.

Nina turned back to find Angel looking her up and down. “Damn, you look good, pretty baby, wearing nothing but my necklace.”

Nina felt good. She felt beautiful. She felt… owned. She knew it wasn’t a collar, but it felt like a lot more than a piece of jewelry. It was a promise.