“Thank you, Ellie,” said Patrick still grinning. “You were the first person to come to my head. I saw the work you did for Andrew. Trust me, you earned the offer.”

“Okay then,” Ellie said, relaxing slightly, and her smile was brilliant.

“Good, that’s settled then,” said Michael, lifting Ellie up to a standing position. He bent down and rummaged through his bag. “Just one last thing before we go out into the club.”

Straightening up, he held a thin leather collar with a d-ring in one hand and a pair of leather cuffs in the other. Really only the collar was necessary, but he wanted the cuffs too. The collar marked her as off limits, even if she decided to venture into the Lounge area to chat with friends, and the cuffs completed the look even if they weren’t needed for the message.

She blinked rapidly and took a deep breath, but didn’t try to back away.

Very gently, Michael fastened the collar around her neck while she held completely still, barely breathing. It was just a club collar, but - like the plug - he’d bought it specifically for her and it was made of extremely soft, supple leather. The buckle was silver and he left just enough room for him to slide a finger between the collar and her neck, and that was it.

When he looked Ellie in the eyes again, they were practically glazed over, which shocked the hell out of him. She looked the way she normally did at the end of a scene. Soft, submissive, and satisfied.

“Wrists,” he said gently.

Again, blinking and focusing on his request seemed to bring her out of her submissive daze a little. She lifted her hands, eyes widening at the softness of the cuffs too.

Okay, so he might have gone a little overboard, purchasing items for her. But he’d wanted to use new things, toys that were totally hers. It had been a long time since he’d had a club contract with a submissive, but it just hadn’t felt right using his old stuff. Ellie was special, and he wanted her to know it right from the beginning.

“Is it just me, or was that weirdly hot?” Lexie asked, breaking through the tension.

Ellie giggled as Michael grinned and turned to look at her. Blushing slightly, Lexie just shrugged, only a little abashed as Patrick rolled his eyes.

“Sorry,” Lexie said with a shrug. “It was kind of weirdly hot though.”

“I’m not going to argue,” Michael said easily. Reaching out, he tugged Ellie’s dress back down over her hips, hiding her lower body. “We’ll get out of your hair now though, with our weirdly hot antics.” Now Ellie was blushing as Lexie laughed. Michael gestured down at his toy bag. “I trust you can take care of having my bag in the Jail at the proper time?”