‘I’m going to shower,’ Ivy said. She was still supposed to be dutiful to Dax and to Bruno, so she couldn’t give any orders to Rita and she couldn’t shoo her away. If Rita said that she did this for Dax as part of her duties then by the reckoning of everyone else, Ivy had no right to change that or tell Rita otherwise.

‘Take your time,’ Rita said, climbing up to kneel on either side of Dax’s feet when he rolled onto his front, burrowing the pillow under his chin against his chest.

Almost unable to take her eyes off the sight, Ivy watched for as long as she could but eventually had to go into the bathroom and take her shower.

Although she wasn’t keen on witnessing the possible progression of the activities, she also didn’t want to walk in on Dax being violated in his sleep, so she got showered and dried her hair, then went back into the bedroom.

Rita was now topless and straddling Dax’s ass, but he appeared to be in much the same position he had been and just as content in his sleep. ‘Did he wake up?’ Ivy asked.

‘Dax?’ Rita laughed. ‘No, he sleeps like the dead.’

‘I’ve noticed.’

The familiarity with which the blonde spoke of Dax made Ivy’s lip curl. Feelings of jealousy and resentment garnered in her a need to lash out. But if she did that then she took the chance that Rita would tell Bruno that Ivy wasn’t quite the happy camper she was supposed to be portraying. Dax had already implied that he didn’t trust her to keep going with the act in the event that something happened, which made her unhappy – Ivy wasn’t about to prove him right.

‘You should get dressed,’ Rita said. ‘Bruno is on the back deck if you’re looking for company.’

There wasn’t a chance that Ivy was going to leave this woman up here alone with Dax, not while Rita was massaging him in the way that she was. If Dax hadn’t woken up yet, then that meant Rita had removed her bikini top of her own accord, which told Ivy that his muscles weren’t the only stiff thing of Dax’s that Rita wanted to be massaging.

‘I’ll wait until he’s awake,’ Ivy said.

Rita laughed again. ‘He probably won’t be for a while.’ Leaning forward, Rita pressed her naked torso to Dax’s back and began to tongue his ear.

Staying in place at the bathroom door, Ivy didn’t have to wait too long for Dax’s eyes to open and when they did, they fixed on her. His sleepy lids didn’t remain droopy for long, Ivy folded her arms and he must have read the question in her before he established his own… if she was in his line of vision, far from the bed, then she wasn’t the one with her tongue in his ear.

To his credit, Dax flipped over in that instant and pushed his assaulter away without asking any questions. Rita just laughed and reached for him, but Dax was already halfway out of the bed.

‘What the fuck do you think you’re doing?’

‘Having fun,’ Rita said.

Ivy was content that Dax was awake and would deal with this situation how he saw fit. There was no need for an audience, so she slipped into the closet. Putting her towel in the hamper she pondered the issue of choosing her own clothes because Dax hadn’t selected anything for her.

Except Dax’s entry into the closet came not too long after hers. He came in and slammed the door at his back, signposting his rage.

‘What the fuck was that?’ he demanded of her.

‘You tell me. I woke up to find her climbing all over you,’ Ivy said, abandoning her task. ‘How well do you know each other?’

‘Rita’s been at the mansion for a while.’

‘She’s a hooker?’

‘Sort of,’ he shrugged. ‘She works for Mauri, does whatever is asked of her, but she’s freelance, so she can walk away at any time.’

‘Why would she walk away when she has prime specimens like you to mount whenever the mood takes her?’

‘I’ve never had sex with Rita.’

‘That’s not what she implied.’

‘You’re gonna believe her over me?’ he asked. ‘You might have woken me up, how long did you leave her alone with me?’

‘I don’t have the authority to say anything.’

‘So you’d be happy if I jumped into the shower and left you alone with a guy sliming all over you while you were naked in bed?’

‘If I’d said anything then she would know that I wasn’t the obedient slave, wouldn’t she? You can fuck whoever you want, remember, Master?’

While he thought about this, she took a dress down from her side of the closet and laid it on a chair beside her. His hand on her hip was her first warning that he was in proximity to her, and she quickly slapped it away.

‘No,’ she said, taking note of his plump hard-on pointing at her. ‘You are not using that on me. Is that for her?’

‘No! You’re naked,’ he said, though of this she was already aware.

When he took another step toward her, Ivy backed away again. ‘Uh-uh, no way, you are not bringing that thing near me. You can’t get massaged by another woman and then bring the arousal she caused and—‘

‘Shut the fuck up,’ he said, snatching her throat and forcing her back against the drawers. ‘You’re waving that fucking hot body around in front of me and my dick can’t handle that without reacting.’

Dipping down, he scooped up one of her legs, leaving the other foot on the floor. He lifted her leg high until her heel was on the top of the drawers then he angled himself between her thighs.

‘If you want to keep fighting after your pussy has taken her medicine then we will. But claiming you is the only way I can cleanse myself of that tramp out there.’

‘You feel violated?’ Ivy asked, pleased that he had no interest in the woman who had put herself on blatant offer for him.

‘Yeah, so shut the fuck up and give me and my dick a break this morning.’

Sighing, she tilted her head. ‘Ok, I suppose just this once—‘

Plummeting forward, he slammed himself into her, expelling all the air from her body because he took her so off-guard she had no time to brace for his incursion. She inhaled a sharp breath in preparation to shout at him, but the clenching of her body made him groan.

‘That’s right, babygirl,’ he said, plunging back in after a lazy back slide. ‘Pull me in deep, all the way.’

And the ecstasy in his intonation made it impossible for Ivy to argue with him. He could’ve had Rita this morning, just as he could have had Fifi the other night, and he had screwed neither woman.

Whatever was between them was growing and taking on a life of its own. The progression was instinctual and felt entirely natural. Now as he slid in and out of her, taking her into a daze of rapture again, she could only wonder where they would end up.

Chapter Thirteen

Being allowed to choose her own clothes was something of a novelty. Dax had become increasingly distant since they’d made love here in the closet and during their time getting ready for the day. He made no noise about selecting her wardrobe today, so she went on and did it herself. She was used to him not being Mr. Chatty Small Talk, but there was something different about the frown on his face this morning.

‘What’s expected of me today?’ she asked, sliding on her shoe. ‘If Rita is here to take care of the chores, what is it that you want me to—‘

‘I have to show you the operation,’ he said.

‘How are you gonna do that? Is there a secret meth lab bunker somewhere on the property that I haven’t yet seen?’

‘We’re going out,’ he said, fastening the buttons on his jeans then departing the closet.

The concept of leaving this house stunned her and for a few minutes she didn’t move or speak while she processed the idea. Now that she was being let out she would have a better opportunity to run, to escape. Doing that, achieving her goal of liberty, would mean forfeiting all prospect of a future with Dax. Unless she could convince him to come with her. If he was open to joining her then they could leave here today, without raising suspicion, and just never come back.