‘Take my cock out of my shorts,’ he said. In a show of strength, he locked one arm around her waist, holding her up with only that arm so he could free his other hand to unwrap her breasts from her bikini, and untie the strings on her hips.
‘I am not a part of your work out, stranger.’
‘You are today, or I’m a part of yours.’
Seating himself on the inclined weight bench, he leaned back and nodded downwards. ‘If you make me do it you’ll get yourself a spanking when we’re through, and I’ve got weapons down here.’
Coiling her arms around his neck, she pulled herself close enough to press her face to his. ‘I thought weapons were against the rules.’
‘You wouldn’t stand a chance in the ring with me, Minx.’
‘Throw in some jello, take away the clothes and the audience and I think I might be able to pin you down.’
His smile creased his cheeks and the reverberation of his laugh made her recoil, it was the first time she had heard it. ‘You’ve got me pinned now.’
That wasn’t really true, his arms were still around her waist and although she was on top, he was definitely in control. Her parted thighs gave her premium position to undulate against the thick organ protruding from his shorts.
‘You didn’t fuck me last night.’
‘I’m not gonna to fuck you now,’ he said. ‘You’re gonna do it all by yourself.’
‘How do you manage to stay in control even when you’re underneath me?’
‘You want to please me, don’t you?’
And she nodded, realising that his pleasure was important. Seeing how she could control and influence this monolith of a man made her feel powerful in a set of circumstances where she was otherwise powerless and that heightened her own enjoyment. ‘I do, Dax… Master.’
‘I hate that word,’ he admitted, much to her surprise, but she tried to quell it.
‘Ok. What would you rather I called you?’ spreading her hands on his bare chest, she kept moving her hips against him. ‘Chief? Major? Guru?’
‘Stranger will do just fine.’ Taking a breast in hand, he squeezed then tensed his arm to arch her back giving him leave to suck her nipple into his mouth. ‘They do taste good, damn good.’
That was something close to an apology for what he’d said in front of Bruno. Every day more of the males’ dynamic was revealed, and every day she was more perplexed by it. In front of Bruno, Dax acted like she was nothing and he tried to maintain that indifference when he was alone with her.
Yet, he was far more honest than she’d have believed he would be and thought nothing of revealing the truth in these rare moments of intimacy. As far as she knew he had never lied to her. When they were alone he battled to maintain his disinterest but often failed. Sex made him honest and he seemed to demand that same honesty in return.
It was like he was only willing to have sex with her if he could be himself while he did it and he’d only have sex with the true her. He didn’t want her scared and pitiful, he wanted her fire, the truth of her personality in his bed. Outside the bedroom, and in company, he didn’t care who she was but he wasn’t going to play games in bed. Maybe he was supposed to and he just sucked at this game, or maybe lulling her into his confidence was a game all in itself.
But she could only judge the situation on what she witnessed, Dax didn’t get off on demeaning her like Bruno did. In fact, Dax seemed happier to leave the room when Bruno was exerting control over her. As long as Bruno did his work in a place where Dax didn’t have to see it then Dax could ignore it.
Whatever Bruno’s game with her was, Dax felt the need to play along with it when they were all together, because he never corrected or questioned the older man. However, when Bruno wasn’t around Dax let the shield fall, it could mean that he cared, or it could just mean that he didn’t care about Bruno when Bruno wasn’t around.
Except one thing kept nipping on the periphery of her mind, she was keeping a secret for Dax. He let her question him and talk to him as an equal in private, if she did that with Bruno he’d send her to the basement. So by not revealing Dax’s indifference to Bruno’s rules, Ivy was keeping Dax’s secret. She played along with the rules in front of Bruno and Dax didn’t get her into trouble for what she said to him, so he was keeping her secret too. In each other, they already had an ally.
‘If I call you stranger it’s like we’re not connected,’ she said, reluctantly prying herself away from his kiss. ‘It’s like we’re still in that alley.’
‘I wanted to fuck you then,’ he said, kissing his way to her throat then down in a triangle to her other breast. His arm around her shifted to whip the lower half of her suit away. Casting them aside, he ran a finger between the cheeks of her ass.
‘You said that you didn’t.’
‘I lied,’ he admitted, confirming that her assumption that he’d always been honest was incorrect. ‘Your body is hot, and you’ve got these fuck me eyes, like the only way a guy will ever get your respect is to fill that smart mouth with cock every time you step out of line.’
‘I’m entitled to my opinions, why should I shy from voicing them?’ she whispered, aroused by the idea that he’d even considered earning her respect. The speed of her heart was making it difficult to talk. Her lungs weren’t taking in enough air and she knew there was only one cure.
‘You should know your place,’ he muttered.
‘Beneath you.’
‘That’s right.’
Her fingers found their way into his shorts and when she touched his solid dick, she sighed out, making the appendage jump in her grip. The heat of her breath must have affected him because he dug his teeth into her bosom until she squeaked.
‘Sex is all you ever want from me,’ she said. Squeezing his member in her clenched hand, she removed it from his shorts and elevated her hips to prod his dribbling head onto her clit. Undulating, she merged their juices, stimulating herself with him, letting her wetness lap and lick the bulb, which was eager to conquer her. ‘Is Bruno your boss?’
‘We work for the same man,’ he said, licking her breast and rolling the peak between his warm fingers.
The bench was narrow and her feet were hooked up behind her over his thighs, it was the only thing giving her leverage, but the chance of cramp in this position was high. ‘I need…’ she inhaled, not really sure how to make the best of this position.
‘What?’ he asked, stroking up to her shoulders and down her spine with the very tips of his fingers, making her quiver. ‘What does my babygirl need?’
The pet name made her lose all cohesion and her torso fell against his, her breasts heated against his damp chest, and he swept her hair out of the way to suck and nibble on her ear and neck. Words were gone from her brain, so all she could do was take hold of his wrists and guide his hands down to her ass, where he could take some of her weight.
‘Like that?’ he grumbled and she nodded, nuzzling against his throat. Pushing her weight to her shins she rose and lined him up so that when she released the tension in her legs she sank down onto him. ‘Oh yeah, like that.’
Moving up and down, her pace was fast instantly, she didn’t want to take her time here. What he had started to burn in her made her so wet for him that their bodies wouldn’t rest or relax until they had sought completion with each other.
‘You feel amazing inside me,’ she breathed into his mouth on another kiss. ‘Dax, this, your dick…’
‘Yeah?’ he asked, gripping onto her ass and using his own strength to raise her body faster until it became a fight, he pulled up and she pushed down at the same time his body fought to remain in her.
‘I’ve never…’ Maybe it was the position, her legs were stretched so far apart that her thighs burned, and she was entirely at his mercy because his body was the only thing holding her up on this narrow bench.
‘Say it,’ he demanded.
‘Don’t ever take it away from me,’ she screamed out at the first ember of orgasm that b
urst in her crotch.
His roar wasn’t one of climax, but his arms clamped around her and she yelped when he stood up and slammed her onto her back on the bench, then he was pumping into her with such fierce single-mindedness that she couldn’t see man, only animal.
‘Look at me!’
Grabbing a handful of her hair, he wrenched her eyes to his and that cool iceberg in his eyes was aflame with a determined possession that fired through her like a missile aimed for her core. Shrieking out his name, she cared not about volume or about Bruno, and Dax didn’t appear too either because at the same time she arched up, her body locked in spasm around his, the boom of his orgasm shook through her and they growled together, their eyes matched in their epiphany.
One huff followed another. After they were both done and she was riding out the aftershocks, they stayed right there, her on her back, him above her, inside her, staring down into her eyes.
‘Shit,’ he whispered and she had no time to ask why he cursed because his mouth came to hers in a slow, but punishing kiss that pinned her skull to the bench and allowed him to pour the truth of his curse into her. He did care about her, and her admission in the midst of their passion that she wanted this, wanted him, was enough for him to release that truth to himself.
Jerking his mouth away, he dismounted the bench and pulled his shorts back up. ‘No more bikinis,’ he said, picking up his hand wraps from the floor to begin wrapping his hands again.
‘Ok,’ she said, retrieving her bikini from the floor because it was all she had to wear now.
‘I can’t stop him from touching you. If I tried it would… raise too many questions.’
‘What kind of questions?’ she asked.
He looked up from his task, and she saw anger in him now, she definitely recognised it. ‘You don’t understand what’s going on here and how we all fit into the bigger picture.’
‘What is the bigger picture?’ She tied her bikini back on.
‘I can’t tell you that,’ he said. ‘It’s not my decision when you’re told about your purpose. You don’t belong to me.’
Finishing the knot behind her neck, she crossed to him, resting her hands on his hips. ‘I… I think I want to.’
‘That’s what they want,’ he said, his timbre low and quiet. ‘They want you to think that.’
‘What do you want me to think? You don’t want to own me?’
Grinding his teeth, emotions washed over his face. ‘I want you to go upstairs, get showered and changed, then get back to work.’
‘That’s it?’ she asked. ‘You tell me that you don’t want me to wear a bikini anymore and that I don’t belong to you then you just dismiss me?’
‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘That’s it. Get to it, or you’ll get more than a spanking.’
Lowering her chin, she slid her arms around him. ‘Now I’m curious.’
‘This time not from me,’ he said, unlocking her arms from around him. ‘If Bruno catches you not where he left you, then you’ll be going back in there.’
His eyes moved behind her and she turned to see the door to the place she’d been kept captive. ‘You’d let him put me back in there?’
‘Yeah I would,’ he said, without hesitating. ‘Though I’m not sure I’d be able to leave you alone at night.’
The idea of being back in that hovel made her feel sick, but knowing that Dax might come down to join her because he was compelled beyond logic or reason to do so, made her smile. ‘I’ll do what you say.’
‘I know that you will. You were told that was the only thing you had to do, what you were told.’
‘I’m not doing it because it’s Bruno’s rule. I’m doing it because… because I want you to trust me. I’ll have your back, Dax, if anything goes down. I’m going to be on your side.’
‘Talking like that could get you hurt,’ he said with a frown. ‘You worry about yourself, Minx. Nobody else.’
‘Are you doing the same thing?’ she asked.
Leaving him to consider that, she headed for the stairs. She didn’t want him to answer because she didn’t want to push him into saying something that neither of them wanted to hear. If he admitted to caring for her then he would be in trouble. But if he denied it then he would be lying, and she didn’t want him doing that. So she went upstairs and did as he had requested, then went back to work.
Keeping up appearances for Bruno was important and doing so would show Dax that he could trust her. But when they were alone, she’d keep pushing on the buttons that she had found, only now she wasn’t so clear on her motivation. Was she manipulating him to ensure her safety or escape? Or were her own buttons on show as well? Meaning that maybe she too felt more than she’d anticipated for the street fighter with the sinister eyes and the rock hard body that made her weak.
It was a few nights later when she was lying in their bed in the dark that she decided to push for more. He had connected her ankle to the bedpost, as he always did, while he went into the bathroom. The burst of light from the side of the room told her that he was coming back. He extinguished the light, closed the door, and came back to bed.
Because it was so dark there was no way for him to know that she was still awake. Snatching her hand he hauled her body to his, turning his back on her, he pulled her to mould against him, signalling that he was ready to sleep, except she wasn’t.
‘Why do you let me do it?’ she whispered against the smooth skin in front of her lips.
‘Do what?’ he grumbled.
Dax was a man who enjoyed his sleep and when he decided it was time for it, he wasn’t long delayed in achieving it.
‘You let me be me here, in this room, when we’re alone. Why don’t you tell Bruno that I’m playing him?’
‘You’re not,’ he said. ‘He wants you to do what you’re told and you do. You let him do whatever he wants with you.’
‘So you think that if I keep taking his orders it will eventually become automatic?’’
‘What do you want from me, Minx?’ he asked. ‘Do you want me to beat you and lock you up?’
‘No.’
‘Bruno is here to teach you to take orders and I’m here to fuck you into line.’
She was compliant in bed with him – for the most part. So he was right, in a way, he did his job just by sharing a bed with her. But that didn’t explain why he let her sass him in a way that Bruno would never tolerate.
‘Do you have family?’
‘No blood,’ he said.
‘I haven’t seen my mother in years,’ she said. ‘My sister stays with my aunt, least she did the last I heard—‘
‘I don’t need your life story, just access to your pussy.’
‘What about your parents?’ she asked, bending her elbow to curl a hand under her pillow, the other was still confined in his. On nights like this, after she was tied to the foot post, they often slept further down the bed, but her face was still buried in his back.
‘Never knew my mom, dad started me fighting at eight to make us some money, he sold me to the circuit when I was about ten. I ran away a few times, got picked up by the cops a few times, then I met Mauri.’
‘That’s so sad,’ she said, kissing his spine.
‘No sadder than your step-dad molesting you.’
‘He didn’t actually… you know… he just tried it one too many times, and I knew I could only fight him off for so long. My mother didn’t give a damn and so I left. I stayed with my aunt sometimes, then she moved to Florida and—‘
‘Minx,’ he mumbled. ‘I don’t care. Unless your mouth is filled with cock it should stay shut.’
She wasn’t deterred, she knew that she was getting through. As much as he didn’t want her to believe it, he had taken a liking to her. Ivy had seen the way he tensed when Bruno touched her. Dax’s touch had changed too, not all the time, most of the time he still treated her like a piece of meat, but sometimes he’d brush a lock of hair from her face, or slip his fingertips down her spine, and something differe
nt passed between them.
‘Sex is better when you know who you’re doing it with,’ she said.
‘Not in my experience. Now shut up or I’ll gag you too.’
That wasn’t completely beyond him, and it was already uncomfortable enough to sleep with her leg connected to the bed, so she didn’t want another tether. Though she imagined she would always find peace sleeping next to Dax because as soon as he started snoring she fell into her own satisfied slumber.
Chapter Eight
For the next month things carried on in the same way, Bruno ordered her around all day, she cooked and cleaned and did everything that she was told to. At night, and in daylight when the whim took him, she became Dax’s.
During the day Dax came and went, she’d heard talk of Brad and Mauri, and murmurs of some other names. But one name that she never heard was Trystan, the name of the man who had gotten her into this predicament in the first place.
On this morning, Bruno had come into their bedroom early to speak to Dax, then he left without addressing her. She tried to ask Dax about what was going on, but as always he ignored her questions and goaded her into fucking him instead. Morning sex was unusual for them as was the nap that followed.
He still tagged her ankle to the bedpost but now they slept in a spoon position with her behind him. He liked to hold her arm around his waist and over his abs, so that his body coated hers, providing a barrier to separate her from the rest of the world.
The words he used when addressing her were no less harsh, and in front of Bruno he spent most of his time ignoring her. Yet, when they were alone there had been a subtle shift. She still showed contempt for him, and he belittled and objectified her, but that glimmer of respect they’d garnered for each other hung on, only showing its face in private.
Unsure if he was still sleeping or not, she rubbed her lips on his back, and sealed her lips in a puckered O, to leave a vertical line of kisses on his shoulder blade. She was about to move onto the V of her name, when he spoke.
Fighting Fate Page 9
