These Damn Suspicions Read Online Free Page A

I was looking forward to trashing this room!
    “Are you ready?”
    I nodded, looking around me. If I were a gift from Callum, where would I be?
    “Your three minutes starts…now!”
    I yanked open the nearest cabinet door and squeaked happily as rainbow-coloured polystyrene packing chips fell onto the floor. “Oh my God, this is just like I pictured!”
    I had to scoop more polystyrene out of the cabinet to check whether the gift was there. It wasn’t, but I’d made a huge mess of the floor, which was exactly the point of doing this. I turned to a drawer and pulled it open, tossing handfuls of coloured paper ribbons aside to check the interior.
    By the time I pulled the throw cushions off the couch, I was well and truly in the mood to make a mess, children’s game-show style. The cushions ended up in a pile on the floor, followed by the bigger ones that formed the seats and back padding. No gift. Damn.
    I continued on, pulling books out of bookshelves to check behind them and realising in the process that they weren’t even real books—just props. Callum had pulled some strings in a props department recently…
    No gift was hiding behind them, though.
    “One minute left,” Callum warned, amusement in his voice.
    “Really? Damn it!” I spun, looking for somewhere new to search. “What happens if I don’t find it in time?”
    “Then you have to wait until I find another way to give it to you. Might be a while…” He watched me open the small ottoman that served as a footstool and rifle through the junk inside.
    Whatever this gift was, it was important enough to Callum to put this much effort into the presentation of it. I wanted to find it now.
    “Thirty seconds,” he added.
    “Fuck! Give me a clue, Sir?” I checked behind the curtains, then noticed a fake-looking potted palm in the corner.
    Callum was silent, and I didn’t want to waste precious time looking at him. Taking hold of the fake plant’s trunk-like stem, I pulled it up out of the pot and found another layer of polystyrene chips under its false soil and roots. I dropped my handful of plant and dug into the packing materials, and my fingers brushed something flat and velvety.
    “Ten…nine…” Callum began to count down.
    “I have it; I have it!” I held up whatever the thing was triumphantly, looking to him to stop the timer. “This is it, right?”
    He laughed and pocketed his phone. “Congratulations, little miss. Wanna see what you’ve won?”
    A little out of breath, I examined the blue velvet box in my hands. It was much bigger than a ring box, so a proposal wasn’t imminent. I wasn’t even sure how I’d feel about that.
    Callum came to stand by my side in the sea of packing chips. “Open it,” he urged.
    Slowly, I flipped the catch and pulled up the hinged lid of the box. Shining metal caught the light, and for a moment all I could do was stare, my mind going blank.
    “It’s a collar,” I breathed, looking up at Callum for confirmation. “Is it—?”
    “What do you think, little miss?” He watched me intently. “Wanna be my officially collared submissive?”
    I stared back down at the silver band. It was at once sturdy and elegant, functional and beautiful. The O ring at the front made it impossible to mistake it for anything but what it was—a collar of ownership.
    There was a small padlock at the catch. Somehow I doubted it was just for decoration. Questions whirled in my mind, but first I needed to give Callum an answer.
    “Of course I’ll wear your collar, Sir. Did you really think I’d say no?”
    It wasn’t until he relaxed that it sank in how tense he’d been. I wrapped my arms around one of his legs and pressed my face against his thigh. “You thought I might?”
    He wound his fingers into my hair and gave a light tug. “I try not to assume anything until I know you’re okay with it.”
    I studied the collar again, not moving from Callum’s leg. “As long as you don’t make me wear the collar to