‘Dax, we need to talk. I told them that I’d do whatever you said, but—‘

‘We’ll talk when I’m through.’

‘Through with what?’ she asked and he drew the pink, metallic, bullet shaped object from the bag. ‘What is that?’ Her tone had become more wary and she clamped her legs together.

‘Just relax,’ he said, taking his proper place on the bed beside her. Lying on his side, Dax touched the tip of the toy to the inside of her knee when she loosened her muscles enough to let them part by an inch.

‘I don’t want you to…’

He turned the base of the object and the gentle buzz made her words disappear. Very gradually, Dax traced the cool metal down the inside of her thigh, letting the vibrations relax her legs further apart. The leg closest to him relaxed onto his and the contact was almost enough to shatter his resolve, despite the denim barrier of his own jeans that kept their flesh from touching.

‘Does that feel nice?’ he murmured and she nodded. ‘Close your eyes.’

She did as he told her to and the thump of blood cramming into his dick began to ache. While telling himself that he had no intention of using the engorged organ, he unfastened his jeans to offer himself some more space and comfort.

Taking the smooth stimulator to the apex of her thighs, Dax used it to separate her folds and circled her entrance with it. ‘How does that feel?’ he whispered.

‘Mm hmm,’ she said, nodding her head and then tipping it closer. ‘Kiss me, Dax.’

‘No,’ he said, resisting her attempt to find his lips. ‘I can’t fuck you, babygirl, I’m sorry.’

‘You can,’ she breathed in a hardly audible whisper. ‘Please, Dax, I want your dick in me.’

‘Don’t talk,’ he said, knowing that if she said much more, or asked too many times, he would give her just what she craved.

Of their own volition, her fingers curled around his cock. As quickly as he felt the urge to remove her digits, it abandoned him. That neat, smooth palm of hers felt too good wrapped around him. Those delicate fingers of hers stroked him with such a strength of entitlement that he actually went so far as to lower his own lips toward hers, but he stopped them only a centimetre from their goal. He wanted to fuck her, but he couldn’t, because if he did then he would never leave here, never leave this room or this woman.

Sliding the vibrator through her slit he pushed it into her clit and she arched up, purring against the pleasure it delivered. ‘That’s nice,’ he said. ‘Your beautiful face, that happiness, that delight, that’s what I needed to see.’

‘I need you,’ she said, squeezing him tighter in her fist and working her hand up and down. ‘Break the rules, Dax, come on.’

‘I want to see you come,’ he said, letting the buzz almost leave her, which made her squeak, then he circled her clit and took the toy back to her opening, letting it slip just inside.

She gasped and her face contorted. He was so jealous of that little piece of metal; it felt nothing at being inside her, yet he knew that was where his own bliss existed. Observing her gratification pass over her face, and watching her hand clasp her own breast and tease her nipple, made the pulse in his dick kick up. His own hips moved in time with her fist, which matched the way she bobbed up and down against the toy that he teased against her g-spot then drew out to stimulate her clit.

His timing became erratic, so he positioned the vibrator against her clit. Losing his ability to manoeuvre her pleasure came at the same time that she began to pant and buck. Her own climax came closer, she yanked on him and pulled, making it impossible for him to maintain his composure.

She screamed out his name and her hips flew up in a fixed seizure of tightened muscles. His convulsion of climax was roaring into shore too, he reared onto his knees and grabbed her hair to angle her head.

‘Open,’ he demanded, and she turned her head to comply, letting his seed spill onto her tongue while she rode through the aftershocks of orgasm he’d delivered her to. Now with himself in hand, Dax finished the jerking to ensure he’d emptied all of himself. The tip of his penis bounced on her lips as she swallowed him down, and while he was still in his haze of endorphins, her tongue came out to lick the last of the buds seeping from him.

When he was spent, Dax came back to his side beside her, and despite his previous words, he gathered her naked body against him and held her through her own post-coital harmony.

He didn’t want to break their peace, but what had just happened shouldn’t have, and she had been loud at the end, so there was a chance someone had heard them.

‘I’m having breakfast with Mauri in the morning,’ Dax said. ‘Alone. I’m going to talk to him.’

‘About us?’

‘Yes,’ he said. ‘This can’t go on anymore. He has to know that… the wedding isn’t gonna happen.’

When she tried to turn, he had to loosen his embrace so that she could face him. ‘Do you mean that?’

‘I won’t let Trystan have you,’ he said, stroking her hair away from her face.

‘Will Maurice let us be together?’

Dax took a long breath because the truth was he didn’t know how Mauri would react, he’d never let the old man down before so his reaction to the disappointment was an experience that Dax had been spared. ‘He’s reasonable, so I sure hope so.’

‘And you’ll come back for me?’

‘By tomorrow afternoon, I promise,’ he said. ‘You won’t spend another night in here alone.’

And because he knew that if he didn’t leave now he wouldn’t want to, he kissed her forehead and climbed off the bed.

‘You’re leaving already?’ she asked, pushing onto her elbows and he had to avert his eyes from her naked body, with the vibrator, still rolling loose beside her ass. The last thing he wanted to do was take himself away from this view, so he had to stop admiring it or he would be here until morning.

‘I’m gonna come back,’ he said, doing his jeans again and retrieving his jacket from the floor. ‘Sit tight for one more night, babygirl.’

She nodded and smiled, that kind of trust was rare and he’d never expected to find it let alone have it entrusted to him, but it was.

‘We’re going to be together, Dax, aren’t we?’

‘Damn straight,’ he nodded, and went for the door.

Locking her in there felt wrong, but they had to keep up appearances for one night. He’d get home and think more about what he wanted to say to Mauri. He had to believe that Mauri would listen to reason because if he wouldn’t… the choice that was left at Dax’s feet was just unthinkable.

By the time breakfast rolled around Dax was amped and more than ready to have the conversation. He was going to get his girl today, no two ways about it, he couldn’t leave her in there any longer. She trusted him, and he couldn’t let her down, he wouldn’t. Seeing her married to Trystan would tear him apart, because he knew what pain that would cause her, and what pain it would cause himself.

He didn’t like to feel this sort of resentment toward Mauri, but there was no doubt that it was building up inside of him. Seeing Ivy again hadn’t helped alleviate that. All that had done was remind him of what she’d been through and how he’d played a part in that.

A piece of him wanted Ivy to be here at breakfast so that he could see her again, but seeing her in the company of others wasn’t what he wanted, Dax wanted to see her alone.

‘Why so glum?’ Mauri beamed over the breakfast table. ‘You’ve done an excellent job.’

‘I have?’ he asked, obviously Ivy had made a good impression on Mauri yesterday. Dax wondered if she had been resigned to her fate and fully intending to marry Trystan during her conversation with Mauri, or if it had been another fake out on her part.

‘The girl is magnificent, and eager to do anything to please you.’

‘She is?’

‘Yes,’ Mauri said, pushing back in his chair. Dax had never seen the man display such open happiness, the smile on his face was a positive aberration. ‘She will marry Trystan providing that you tell her to, which of course you will. At the moment she is dependent on you, but we can wean her from you to Trystan. All you have to do is make it clear to her that you want her to marry Trystan.’