"So... you two are married?"

I almost choked on the water I was drinking. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Xander gave you a giant mark on your neck." Ryan said, pointing at the collar that was wrapped around my neck. it's been a day and I still love it as much as I did the first time Xander put it on me. I don't think I'll ever take it off. Well, except when I want to shower or have a bath. Even then it's a fifty percent thing. I never want to take it off.

"It's a collar, Ry."

"I know what it is. J almost talked my ear off when he saw it on you this morning." Ryan said before taking a spoonful of ice cream. "And he told me what it meant. Well, J and google. Google is really fucking helpful."

"Yeah, it is." I said, placing my cup of water on the table, so I don't spill it on myself. It's lunch time and we decided to eat in the office cafeteria. We took our seat at the back, we had both picked a ham sandwich, some lasagne and cookie dough flavoured coffee. Thankfully, there were not a lot of people in the cafeteria today.

"So... are you married or not?" Ryan asked. "I want to know if I missed your wedding so I'll act mad and angry at you."

"How long have you been wanting to ask me this?" I asked, softly shaking my head at my friend. We had been at work for four hours and he hadn't brought it up until now. Yeah, I wore my collar to work but it went with my outfit. Black shirt tucked into black pants, my white sneakers. My hair was pulled up into a bun and my collar wrapped around my neck.

People have been staring but it made me feel more proud to show off my Dom's collar. Well, they don't know it's my collar, nor do people know my lifestyle but they stare because it's so beautiful, expensive, shiny and based on some judgey looks, not something a man should wear or have seen a man wear. Well, they can kiss my ass.

"All day. So can you answer the question now? Ive asked it twice."

"It's... equivalent to an engagament or wedding ring, it depends on the couple. Like it has the same meaning and significance." I said, trying to find the right words to explain to Ryan. "it's a sign of ownership and commitment."

"So is that a yes?"

My cheeks grow warmer. "For Xander and I, it's like a pre-engagement. It shows how serious we are about each other and that we are ready to take the next step." I said and Ryan clapped, cheering as he does. The weirdo.

"I am so happy for you." he said and he looked it. He was smiling so wide it must hurt his cheek.

"And I am happy for you and J." I said, reaching out to place my hand on top of his. "He really makes you happy and I don't see you half of the time now."

"He does." Ryan said, his cheeks going red. "And you don't see me half of the time because you have all but moved in with Xander at this point and J spends the night at ours." he said, suddenly looking shy. Naught naughty.

"You are so blushy. What do you two get up to there? Or do I not want to know?" I asked.

"I don't think you want to know." he replied and I let out a loud oooooooh.

"I think we should have another dinner. Maybe this time we go to a drive-in and watching movies, with popcorn...."

"Like we didn't get to in high school?" Ryan asked and I blinked at him. What? What??

Ryan suddenly looked like he had said too much but I reacted quickly. I reached out and placed my hand on his. It sucked that we didn't meet earlier but I'm here for him now and we're going to do everything together.

"We can do that. There's a carnival, the next town over and we can also go there. We have a lot of sick days and annual leave stacked up." I said. We could do it, we could take a week or two off and have fun with our significant others.

"Do you think J and Xander would want to?" Ryan asked.

"Please. J never says no to you." I said, shaking my head at his friend.

"Look at who's talking. Your man got you an island and four limited edition cars that you don't drive most of the time." Ryan teased, sticking out his tongue at me afterwards.

"I do too drive the cars."

"Please, don't even."

He wasn't wrong. We had our lunch and coffee, talking and laughing until it was time for us to get back to work. In the elevator ride upstairs, I pulled out my phone and texted Xander. He hasn't replied in awhile but the messages were marked as seen. He did say he was going to a Serious Meeting. Capital S and M.

To Xander: Just finished lunch with Ry. We have something planned but I'll tell you later.

The message was marked delivered and I wondered if Xander was alright. I spent the entire day texting Xander but didn't get a reply. I checked the news and nothing related to the Lupo gang was on there. Well, nothing new.

I spent the day tapping my feet against the floor and it was driving Ryan crazy. He took the calls and went to offices to fix the problems. I just couldn't help it though. I was worried. Xander has never gone this long without answering a message. The messages have gone from being seen to just plain delivered. His phone was ringing but not being answered. So yeah, my worry was shooting through the roof.

By the time it was time to close, I was ready and running out the door. Ryan on my heels. For work, I had driven the Ferrari and all I could think about was heading to the house to find Xander. To make sure he was okay. J apparently wasn't picking either but Ryan didn't notice until it was too late and I had brought up the fact that Xander wasn't responding either.

I sped the entire way home, I was so worried and my eyes were heavy and burning and I was so close to crying. Shit. What if something was wrong? Oh god.

I pulled right into the driveway and leapt out of the car, running up the stairs and into the house.

"XANDER!" I called out, checking the places he might be downstairs. He wasn't there. I made my way over to the stairs, Ryan right by my side. We got to the top of the stairs and my heart slammed into my chest when I saw blood.

The first place I checked was his study but he wasn't there, instead we found J who looked rough as hell and Ryan ran over to him. J wasn't awake and even when Ryan tried to wake him, he was sleepy and disoriented. He needed rest.

The last place I checked was our bedroom and that's where I found Xander. He was lying on his side, shirtless, his chest wrapped in gauze. His clothes were tossed onto the arm chair far to the corner and against the wall. His hair was all over the place and he was breathing.

I rushed over to him and once my bum hit the bed, his eyes opened.

"Curly..."

I reached out, gently tracing my nails against the white material covering his body. "Are you alright? What happened?" I asked as I reached for his head. I gently placed his head on my lap while he stretched out on his back.

"Someone tried to pull a fast one and things took a sharp turn. I got stabbed while trying to get to J who had been cornered." Xander tried to explain and I just listened, running my hands through his hair. He liked it when I did that. I can't believe someone tried to hurt my man.

"What happened to the other person?"

"Shot him in the head." Xander stated simply and I let out a deep breath. At least he was alright. At least he was alive. At least J was alive.

"How's your wound? Have you gone to the hospital yet?"

"Got checked by a personal doctor. I'm alright, just a surface wound but it hurts like hell, so he gave me some medicine. J hit his head when he fell but the doctor said he's alright. He just aches from the pain and was also given medicine." Xander said.

"I kinda want to beat up who did this to you."

"No. My angel doesn't beat up people." Xander said, small smile on his lips.

I glared down at him and he had the effrontery to laugh. He laughs for a couple seconds before his face scrunched up in pain.

"Stop laughing at me or you'll hurt yourself." I said, my fingers petting his face. Tracing his brows, the slump of his nose and his lips. My gorgeous man. Unlike J, Xander doesn't have bruises on his face but he does have here and there on his body and it physically hurts me to see them.

"You're frowning, kitten."

"I'm not."

"Are you saying I'm seeing things now, Curly?" Xander asked, smile still on his face.

"I'm saying I'm not frowning." I said, bending to press a kiss to Xander's temple.

"I love you." Xander said and I smiled at him. I was so glad he's alright that I could cry with relief.

"I love you too but if you ever scare me like that again, I'm going to punch you where the sun doesn't shine." I warned and this time he actually grinned at me. Like my threats meant nothing. Like I was a puppy that

"You shouldn't threaten the love of your life."

"Who said anything about you being the love of my life?" I asked.

"It's rather simple." Xander said, reaching for my hand, he held it tightly before placing it on his chest. "You are the love of my life and you look at me the same way I look at you. So yeah, I know it goes both ways. There's also the added fact that you have told me this yourself."

"If you weren't hurt, I'd have punched you."

Xander shakes his head, looking right at me as he says. "My kitten isn't violent."

"Your kitten had a long troubled day." I said, pressing another kiss to his forehead. "Are you hungry? Do you want anything?"

"I'd like some soup but someone in this house would scrunch his nose up in disgust- yeah, just like that." Xander said with a short laugh, pointing at my face with his free hand. I had done precisely that when he mentioned soup. But my baby wasn't feeling great, so whatever he wants, he gets.

"I can make you soup. What kind do you want?"

Xander looked at me, blinking slowly. "You want to make me soup?"

"Yeah. that's what you want and what my baby wants, he gets."

"It's the other way round, Bram. You're my baby boy. My gorgeous boy." he said and I smiled down at him. My dom was the cutest person ever. He changed his position, curly around my with his nose lightly touching my shirt. "As much as I'd love to taste the soup you make me, I want to stay like this for a while. Is that alright?"

"Anything you want, Xan."

Xander falls asleep on my lap and I stayed still until he was deep in sleep. I gently placed his head on the bed and walked over to the bathroom, I had some creams I could apply to the bruises. I covered him up with another duvet since he was sleeping on the one spread out on the bed, keeping him warm.

I did make him some chicken soup and fed it to him gently and slowly. I took a shower, slipped on one of Xander's shirt and black boxers, my hair packed up before slipping into the bed, moving closer to Xander, placing my head on his shoulder and just holding him.

"I love you." I whispered.

Just as I was about to close my eyes, Xander whispered. "I love you more, Kitten."

—

Happy Valentine's Day my bunnies.

❤️❤️