‘You’re eager,’ Brad said. ‘For a guy who didn’t want to come at all.’
‘Eager to get it over with,’ Dax said. ‘Tell Mauri to be ready.’
Hanging up, he put his phone on the dining table, which stood between the entry way and the open plan kitchen, then he turned around to see Ivy was now sitting up on the couch.
‘You’re going over there?’ she asked.
‘Yeah. Mauri wants to talk.’
‘I have to shower,’ she said, rising from the couch to head for the bedroom.
‘You’re not coming,’ he said, getting between her and the living room door.
‘Why did I come all of this way then? I’m not going to sit here twiddling my thumbs. I remember all too well what happened the last time you left me here and went over to that house.’
She expected this to play out as it had before. He had been a dick to her then. He had left this apartment secure in their relationship, in a playful mood after leaving her aroused and unsated. But by the time he’d gotten back, to find her asleep in his bed, he’d been convinced that she had played him just to ensure her freedom.
‘Babygirl, things are different now. They’re not going to convince me that you don’t love me now, are they?’
‘I’m not afraid of them,’ she said, her defiant eyes narrowing on his. ‘If they want a fight—‘
‘You go in there looking for a fight and you’ll create one. You need to be cool.’
‘Act natural?’
‘Yeah,’ he said.
‘After all they’ve done? I don’t think so,’ she said.
‘If they hadn’t caught you in Vegas, this wouldn’t have happened. We wouldn’t have happened,’ he said, dropping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her in close to kiss her.
‘I know,’ she exhaled onto him when he lifted his lips. ‘But that doesn’t mean that they should just get away with their bullshit, does it?’
Her anger was understandable because the Starks hadn’t treated her well. But the vehemence in her tone concerned him so much that he backed off. ‘Payback? Is that why you came? You’re gonna go on some crazy vengeance spree?’
‘Why would vengeance be crazy?’ she asked. ‘You told me it’s what Trystan thrives on.’
‘Yeah, and look how that turned out for him,’ Dax said, clutching her forearm when she tried to back off. ‘You listen to me, Mrs Harrow, I take care of the lowlifes, ok? If there’s a score to settle that’s my damn job, you keep your sexy ass right here at home; you cook, you clean, you suck my cock, that’s your job.’
‘Don’t,’ she said, twisting her arm out of his grip. ‘I know that you like to think that reminding me of that chauvinistic misogynist you played in the beach house will calm me down—‘
‘That’s too many big words for a simple guy like me, Minx.’
‘Stop it,’ she said. This kind of anger from her hadn’t reared its head for a while, not since the last time they were here.
Grabbing her wrists, he thrust them behind her back as he rushed her against the wall. Switching both wrists into one hand, he used the other to snatch her jaw and hold her head up.
‘Do you prefer the alternative?’ he asked, giving her a shake when she tried to wrestle away.
Eventually she surrendered to his grip, she had no chance of physically overpowering him, and they both knew it. Ideas of revenge contorted her expression, and he didn’t know why he hadn’t seen it before.
‘Let go of me,’ she growled.
‘If you don’t want to play then I have no choice, I’ve got to be serious. You prefer this? You’re not going to miss my point now,’ he said.
Squeezing her jaw, Dax forced her lips to part. His goal was to prevent her from clenching her jaw in response to the fury that scalded her veins. But the temptation his action presented was too much for him to resist. He dipped his tongue into her mouth, pushing his kiss onto her and when he withdrew he dragged his teeth over her bottom lip.
‘Get your filthy fucking hands off me,’ she mumbled and damn if she didn’t make his dick go hard all over again.
‘You’re mine to touch,’ he said. ‘You belong to me.’
‘I’m your partner, not your possession, and you are not leaving me here alone.’
‘I am. If I have to lash you to the wall then I will,’ he said. ‘I can’t trust you now. When you get it in your head that you want to start something, then I’m the one who has to finish it. You see my dilemma?’
‘You don’t trust me,’ she said, trying again to writhe free of his control.
Consuming her mouth again, this time she returned his kiss using the energy of the hatred that she wanted to rein down on the Starks. In his opinion, this was a far healthier way to get rid of that venom.
Pulling her away from the wall, neither broke the kiss on their spinning journey toward the dining table. Anything they made contact with clattered to the floor, but he didn’t care about objects. He cared about the pain this woman had suffered, the pain that had thrust her into a frenzy of unhealthy anger that could get her hurt if he let her release it elsewhere.
Shoving her face down onto the table, he pressed her skull with the weight of his own. Her hair covered her face and fluttered out with each huffing breath she took. One of her cheeks was squashed into the table, he kissed the other through her hair, then her temple, and kissed above her ear before he spoke, resting his forehead on her soft hair, pinning her so that she couldn’t squirm away from him.
‘I own you, babygirl. You’re still my goddamn prisoner, and I will punish anyone who hurts you.’
‘No,’ she said, trying to look at him, but his weight locked her down. ‘I fight my own battles.’
‘I told you,’ he said, tightening his grip on her wrists, her chest was crushed on the table, but he kept her arms on the table on the opposite side from the way she faced. Forcing her legs further apart with his own, he pushed a finger into her still wet centre and began to work it in circles. ‘You’ll never have to fear enemies while you’re under my claim.’
‘You haven’t claimed anything, tough guy,’ she spat out, working her hips against his invading digit. When he snagged her earlobe in his teeth, she whimpered out her arousal and consent.
‘I claim this body. Your mind and your fire are mine too,’ he whispered, then slammed his dick into her again.
This time, she screamed through her gritted teeth and the primal roar made him smile. This would be the way she would release her frustration, and if she wanted him to plan an attack on those who wronged her, he’d do that for her too.
Chapter Three
The Stark mansion was the same as Dax remembered it. When he arrived, he hadn’t been shown into the usual office that they worked from, he’d been taken to Maurice’s suite of rooms, and that was unusual to the point of being concerning.
Serg was outside the suite and told him to go straight in. When Dax did go inside, the room was empty of people. The furniture was opulent and very classic in its style. The focal point of the room was the large fireplace, which was almost taller than he was. He’d never seen an actual fire burning here, then again, it had been a few years since he’d been in this usually private space.
There was no time to go looking for anything, the side door opened, and Mauri came in from the bedroom. It was immediately obvious to Dax that Mauri had lost weight, but other than appearing a bit gaunt, Dax couldn’t pick out any other indications that Mauri was ill.
They stood for a few seconds, just looking at each other, but there was nothing threatening in the exchange. Mauri came in and went to the Waterford in the corner to pour two fingers for each of them, neat.
‘Brad said you were reluctant to come home,’ Mauri said, taking the glasses to the table between the two burgundy upholstered armchairs to the left of the fireplace. Mauri sat down. ‘Sit down with me, have a drink.’
‘I’m driving,’ Dax said. He wasn’t driving at all, but he wouldn’t sit and drink like they were buddies, and he wanted to keep his wits about him. Mauri knew about Dax’s fighting skills, so he wouldn’t set just one guy on him. If Dax pissed Mauri off enough to call security, then he’d have a dozen guys up here within a minute.