My chest was tight with a strange mix of excitement and dread. What were we doing?
He handed me the box and I opened it to find an exquisite silver chain with a key pendant. The clasp had a miniature padlock on it, and another silver key, a tiny one, lay on the velvet cushion beside it.
‘Wow,’ I said. It was much prettier than a dog collar.
‘Look at the hallmarks,’ said Jasper excitably, picking up the tag beside the clasp.
‘I’d need a microscope,’ I objected, but I screwed up my eyes and tried my best.
‘Is it Mappin and Webb?’ I asked, looking up with vivid interest. ‘It’s Victorian, isn’t it?’
‘Bingo. Mappin and Webb, or rather, Mappin, as it was then called. Webb didn’t get into bed with Mappin until the early twentieth century, as I’m sure you’re aware.’
‘Sorry, yes, I knew that. Heat of the moment. But it’s beautiful, and highly unusual for a Victorian piece.’ I lifted the pendant into my palm, examining it closely.
‘Yes, well, you see, it was commissioned by an ancestor of mine. I get the feeling kink might run in the family.’
‘Yes.’ I smiled up a
t him. ‘So do I. How fascinating.’
‘I want you to wear it. Always. You can’t take it off, unless I unlock you.’
‘Really?’
‘Will you?’ He took the necklace away from me, holding it at arm’s length.
‘It means we are committed?’ I said, not because I really needed to ask but because I was thinking my decision through out loud.
‘Yes, it does. Until you decide you want to take it off, or I decide I want to remove it. But the idea is, that never happens.’
‘I know, I know. Who did it belong to?’
‘Can we talk family history later on, please?’
‘Sorry. Yes. Yes, put it on me. I want to wear it.’
‘You’re sure?’
‘I’m sure. I, um …’
‘Yes?’
He stopped, the necklace at my throat, its chain brushing my skin.
‘I love you,’ I said.
He smiled and told me to turn around so he could sort out the clasp and the padlock.
‘And I love you,’ he said, putting the key back in the box. It felt ceremonial, however informally it had been done. We had spoken vows.
The silver burned against my skin and I put my fingers to the little key pendant. I felt changed and ridiculously tearful. Was this what getting married felt like?
Jasper hooked a finger inside the chain and tugged at it, tightening it around my neck.
‘You are mine now,’ he said. ‘I’ve made an honest submissive of you.’
My little laugh was more like a sob. I turned to him.