The True Birthday Gift - III

The sensation of her beloved's slender fingertips gliding over her skin caused Seraphina to shiver slightly. As she puzzled over why Ansel would unfasten her collar, she felt a light constriction around her neck return, but it was different...

This was not the electric shock collar she usually wore.

Could it be... could this be —

"Very well, open your eyes." 

Seraphina's cheeks flushed with warmth as she reopened her eyes, just in time to see Ansel fastening a collar around his own neck.

"An-Ansel..." the young girl's voice quivered with an unusual emotion, "Is this... Is this..."

"This is my gift to you." 

Ansel said, taking Seraphina's hand and guiding it to the collar. "Feel the engraving here."

With her mind a blank slate, Seraphina traced the indentations on the collar under Ansel's direction, which seemed to be a line of recessed lettering.

"Dedicated to my love."