‘Or he makes a surprise return.’
‘I’m never gonna leave you anywhere that you’ll get into trouble.’
Her faith in him did console her. ‘I have a talent for that, I could get myself into trouble in an empty building.’
‘No doubt about that,’ he said. ‘I’ll take you in, someone will show you around and you’ll probably be given a room… I don’t think they’ll put you in Trystan’s suite.’
Revealing any vulnerability churned her stomach so she tried her best to disguise her jitters. ‘You haven’t shown me your place, maybe we could go there first.’
‘When Mauri calls and tells you to do something you don’t do anything else “first”, you do what he’s told you to do.’
‘To the detriment of anything else you might be doing? What if we were having sex?’
‘I probably wouldn’t have answered the phone.’
‘Probably?’
‘Depends how well you were holding my attention. As long as I’m amused you’ve got nothing to worry about, babygirl.’
‘Amused,’ she said, twisting to lean closer and press her palm to his fly. ‘Is that how you usually feel when we’re in bed together?’
Using sex to manipulate him seemed dishonest now, given their revelation of having feelings for each other, but her choices were limited. Tracing her lips on his neck, she urged her breasts against his solid arm while rubbing her body on his in time with her hand that kneaded his now stiff cock.
‘I’ll drive the scenic route to the mansion if you get your mouth down there,’ he said, turning his head to kiss her quickly.
‘I’ll get my mouth down there and let you fuck my throat ‘til you fill my belly, if you take me to your place.’
He let her keep going for a few more seconds then took her hand off his groin and curled her fingers around his knee.
‘We have to go to the mansion. If we go to mine they’ll just come over to find out what is going on.’
‘So we tell them,’ she said. ‘Isn’t that what you said that you were going to do?’
‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘I haven’t had a chance to talk to Mauri in private. I have to talk to him first.’
‘You’ll get that chance if you take me to yours.’
‘Mauri won’t be the one who comes over and even if he did, he wouldn’t be alone… there’s a line of respect, babygirl—‘
‘Don’t say babygirl to me in that patronising tone,’ she said, removing herself from his person and taking his hands off her. ‘I thought you were a man, Dax. I guess I’ve been sucking too hard on those balls you carry around in your pants, I seem to have more ‘nads than you do.’
‘If you start running your mouth you’re gonna make me do something that we’ll both regret.’
His fingers worked the steering wheel, squeezing and twisting around it. ‘I’m not afraid of you, Dax. Do your worst with your superior fighting talent.’
Surging forward, he fired the car into a rest area and slammed on the brakes to bring the vehicle to an abrupt halt.
‘Have I ever hit you?’ he asked with a snarling rage.
‘Well the spanking—‘
‘That’s a different thing and you know it. Have I ever hit you in anger?’
‘No,’ she confessed, confused by the fury he displayed now. ‘But you just said—‘
‘Let’s get one thing straight, babygirl. Just because I don’t do things your way doesn’t mean I’m a coward. I do things my way and you better get damn used to that, fast, because from now on that’s how you’ll be doing things as well.’
‘So I’m supposed to sit tight in this guy’s big house because you tell me to? And if his men choose to take turns of me—‘
‘I’ve already told you that won’t happen.’
Seizing her wrist, he wrestled her back to his side. ‘Let go of me!’ she protested, trying with her other hand to get him off her, to no avail.
‘I’ve claimed you, Minx. You’re mine.’
‘Claiming me in private means nothing,’ she hissed. ‘Are you afraid of them?’
‘Mauri’s given me everything and now I’m stealing his son’s girl.’
‘You’re ashamed of your feelings for me?’
‘Yeah,’ he said, without hesitation and his scowl deepened. ‘I vowed never to screw Mauri over and that’s what I’m doing. So yeah, I’m gonna send you in there and you’re gonna play along just like you have been. I’m not going to embarrass Mauri, we’re gonna handle this right and give him the respect he deserves. That way, when I tell him what’s going on, he might be open to the idea of not forcing you to marry Trystan. Mauri shouldn’t be inconvenienced just because I can’t get the scent of your skin off of mine, or that vision of your god damn smile out of my head.’
‘Because he’s not the one who has done anything wrong, we are,’ she said not meaning a word of it, which she figured Dax knew except he showed no hint of acknowledging her sarcasm.
‘Yeah. We are. This was never supposed to happen. And it’s not Mauri’s fault that touching you makes me wanna slam the door and keep us alone and naked all day. It’s not his fault that whenever you look at me with that goddamn unimpressed scowl I wanna go out and find myself a no-bell, no-forfeit fight. I’m a guy who is always in control, that’s what Mauri knows, I’ve worked hard for him, I have. I’m the problem-solver, not the problem-creator and you, Minx, are one major head-fucking problem! One I could do without!’
‘Do you love me, Dax?’
His grip loosened with the jolt that question gave him, it was obvious now that his adrenaline was coursing. ‘You looking for a fucking ring?’
‘No, but this is a rough call for you. From what you’ve said this situation could rip your family apart. You’ll have to dishonour the man you consider to be your father in order to be with me. If you’re not sure that you love me, then is this worth it?’
She was aware that her question could backfire but what she hoped was that it would give him some clarity, which might push him into action.
‘So if I don’t plan to keep you forever then what? You’d rather marry Trystan?’
‘I would rather not be the cause of conflict in your family for you to decide to dump me in six months. Then none of you are happy with me and I’ve lost all hope of protection.’
‘You won’t get the chance to fuck around with other dudes,’ he said. ‘It’s my job to make sure of that—‘
‘What does that have to do with—‘
‘The only thing you could do to make me mad enough to maybe hate you is fuck around. I won’t let that happen.’
‘Do you love me? Don’t tear your family apart and ruin your life unless you’re sure. You’ll only end up resenting me.’
His face hardened, but his eyes left hers and for every passing second she prayed that he was coming to the conclusion that his feelings for her were deep and true.
‘If you love me then we have to get out of here now,’ she said, linking their fingers. ‘We don’t have to go back to that place, we can’t reason with the illogical.’ It was illogical to assume that she would marry Trystan without putting up a fight, but the Stark family had believed that she would. ‘Let’s not walk into another of their prisons, I might not get out of this one, Dax. Baby, let’s just go… please?’
‘No,’ he murmured and his eyes crept back to her. Now stony and cold, they littered ice across her. ‘Mauri’s going to listen; this is all going to work out.’
Slamming the car back into gear, he sped away from the rest area sending a scattering of loose chips firing up behind them. Their speed was greater this time and her anxiety kicked up.
‘Where are we going?’
‘The mansion,’ he said, his focus fixed out the windshield.
‘But… if we go in there—‘
‘We’re going in there,’ he said. ‘You’re right. If you force me to betray him now and leave with you… I will end up resenting you for forcing my hand. Mauri gave me a job, to get you to the mansion, and I’ve never let him down yet.’