‘Do you know why you are here?’ She shook her head, she didn’t want to reveal what Dax had told her, in case he hadn’t been supposed to say anything. ‘My son, Trystan, has taken a shine to you and we want you to formally join the family. You have seen some of what we can offer. The Stark family are very successful, we own a dry cleaning firm and a haulage company and as you can see from where we are, we live very comfortably. Bruno assures me that you will be happy to accept our invitation, is that correct?’

What Ivy needed was time alone with Dax to find out if there was actually a plan in place, or if she was on her own. If it was the latter then all bets were off and she was going to find her way out of here by any means necessary. Not that she’d been ignoring chances to escape, her windows didn’t open and her bedroom door was constantly locked.

The life that the Starks were offering was one of extravagance, and she would never again have to worry about paying a bill, or being alone or in trouble. But that wasn’t enough to offset what it would mean to be joined with a man like Trystan Stark. He wouldn’t be a good husband or a good father, and he wouldn’t treat her well. She would sacrifice luxury for principle, because to her there was no better reason.

At the moment, she wasn’t in a position to say any of that to Mauri. This was as deep into the dragon’s lair as one could get, there was nowhere to run to, and so she went with plan B.

‘I… I do what my master tells me to,’ she said, portraying herself as weak and vulnerable, giving Mauri an ego boost with regards to his power of intimidation, while simultaneously lulling him into a false sense of security.

‘Your master?’

‘Dax.’

‘Ah,’ he said, and a broad smile adorned his face. ‘You have become enraptured by him?’

‘I must admit I’ve… I’ve been a little lost without his direction over the past couple of days.’

‘But you will do as he tells you?’ Maurice asked, peering closer. ‘If he instructs you to join the family then you will do so?’

‘He is my owner,’ she said, blinking a couple of times, and managing to smile. ‘I want to make him happy.’

‘Good. That’s excellent,’ Maurice said and stood up. ‘That is all that I wanted to hear from you, Ivy. You can go back to your room now.’

Springing to her feet, she nodded once, and went toward the door, hoping that she would be allowed to return to her room alone thus enabling a getaway, except she wasn’t. Serg was waiting on the other side of the office door when she stepped out into the corridor and he took her back to her bedroom, locking her safely inside. She hadn’t seen Dax again, but she knew he was still around, and Ivy just had to believe that he’d find a way to get to her.

Dax had anticipated that he would get to go home when he finished his business with Mauri. But as he pulled on his helmet and kicked away the stand from his motorcycle, he glanced up and saw her figure in the window. Ivy was there, right there, almost within reach, and it was too tempting an opportunity to pass up. So he set the bike back on its stand and shoved the helmet over one of the handlebars.

Stalking back up the stairs, he was determined that this conversation wouldn’t last long. He wasn’t allowed to touch her anymore, but that didn’t prevent him from making a stop on the way to her room to pick up the bag of things Bruno had cast aside from their time at the beach house.

He knew this house well and where she was located was actually part of the staff quarters, meaning it wasn’t a frequently trafficked area. No one was guarding the bedroom when he reached it. The Stark mansion was secure, Ivy would struggle to get out of here without being noticed, especially since she didn’t know the layout, not like he did.

Seeing Ivy again, in Mauri’s office, gave Dax a new purpose. Her skin had been pale and her spirit dampened, but there was no doubting that she still had fire, she still had fight, and damn if she wasn’t as beautiful as ever.

Picking the bedroom lock took no time at all, and he would be able to lock it again on exiting. If he wanted to go downstairs and get the master key, he could, but he didn’t want to waste any time in getting to her.

Opening the door, he strode in, and dropped the bag, kicking the door shut behind him. There she was, standing at the bottom of the bed. She gasped and turned, and her hand flew up to her chest.

‘Oh my god, Dax, you scared me,’ she hissed.

‘Have you been visited at night by anyone else?’ he asked, suddenly concerned that he hadn’t fulfilled his duty of caring for her and protecting her as he’d promised he would.

‘No,’ she said. ‘Hence why you scared me.’

She was wearing a satin night gown thing that hung on lace straps and was short enough that he could admire the full length of her legs.

‘Are you going to give me shit?’ he asked.

‘I should,’ she said. ‘You brought me here, you left me here… I thought…’

‘What did you think?’

‘I didn’t know what to think, Dax. You let me see who you are and I fell in love with that man, but… then you throw up the shutters and you become what they want you to be. You become what they made you. I don’t want to be with that man. I want to be with the man who won’t let go of my hand all night. I want to be with the man who turns me over his knee when I piss him off then caresses and kisses me to make me feel valued. All I’ve ever wanted in life is to belong somewhere. I realise now that it’s not about where, it’s about who.’

He’d expected her to be angry after the way he had treated her in the car. She was definitely hurt and maybe confused, but she wasn’t the only one. She came over to him and her arms rose as though to encircle his neck. Capturing her wrists, he held her arms together, while keeping their bodies apart.

‘We can’t do that,’ he said. Being with her, kissing her, was actually the thing that he wanted most in the world. But if he let her lay those lips on him then he’d lose all of his restraint.

‘If you’re not here to have sex with me then why are you here?’ she asked, shaking her hands free of his.

Sensing that she was becoming defensive, he knew that he had to defuse her wariness or they would end up in another fight. He didn’t have the time to soothe her from that, or the inclination to appease her. Although that wasn’t entirely true because appeasing her did things to him that he always had the time for. But if she started screaming bloody murder and he was caught here then they could both get into serious trouble.

So to put her at ease he reached for honesty, and was surprised by how easy it was to be open with her. ‘Because you’re damn beautiful and I can’t keep myself away… Come here.’ Grabbing up the bag, he caught her wrist and tugged her toward the bed. ‘Lie down.’

‘Are you kidding?’ she asked. ‘You won’t let me touch you, but you want me to get on the bed?’

‘I want you to get naked too,’ he said, shirking his jacket and tossing it aside. ‘Come on, babygirl, let me have some fun.’

‘What does that mean?’ she asked, slipping the lace from her shoulders to let the satin shimmer to the floor. ‘You want to torment me into frustration and then leave me hanging?’

She crawled onto the bed, giving him a bare ass view and he shivered as he licked his lips. Not touching her would be the toughest thing he’d ever done. He knew how perfect the glove of her body fit onto his, and how the slick heat of her clamped around him when he took her to climax. He’d never experienced anything like it in his entire existence.

‘Lie on your back and relax,’ he said. Dumping the bag on the bed, he unzipped it.

She rolled to her back, lying horizontal on the bed, from one side to the other, and pulled up her knees to let her legs flop apart and for a moment he forgot his own name.

‘That’s just perfect,’ he said, still unable to remove his eyes from her centre.