She looked up at me and smiled before she lifted the lid off of the box. She gasped loudly as she saw the collar laying neatly in the box. She reached...in the box with her right hand and lifted the collar gently from the box. She held it in her right hand as the fingers of her left hand softly ran over the laced X’s on the front. She slowly looked up at me and smiled a very sexy smile. “Oh my, God, Dan, I love it,” she softly said as her eyes met mine. “I’m glad you do,” I said with a sigh of. It's a graduation requirement."I looked at Owen. "You do look a bit familiar. Have we met before tonight?" Maybe. What psych classes have you taken?" Um, 100, 301, and one other ... what was it?" Four-twelve maybe?" Yeah! The one about human sexuality," I said, then moaned. "Oh, my head! You got any ibuprofen?" Yeah, hang on."Owen reached into a drawer and pulled out a bottle. "I hurt my knee last year and I got the 800 mg kind for the pain. Since I don't take them often, I save them for my. “But I would not have you stoop so low as to marry me, My Lady.”“Oh, all very touching. But time passes. What is it to be? Must we prolong this ridiculous pantomime until tomorrow? If you refuse to marry him, then justice can be dispensed today. See? The funeral pyre is prepared, ready and waiting.”She raised her voice “Before God, and before you My Lord Bishop, and before all the assembly here, I proclaim my innocence. I will marry this, my only protector. And do you, before all these. "And you'll be gentle." She whines. "And careful?" Uh-huh." And-"Stephanie." You admonish her sharply. "Didn't you say you loved me?" You stare at her expectantly until she nods in reply. "This is what grown ups do when they're in love. And you told me you're all grown up now." You sigh and step back. "But I guess maybe you're too young for this." Wait!" She cries, dancing on your strings like a marionette. You shudder at the sound. Along with 'please be careful' and 'no' they were your.