‘No,’ he said, loosening his jeans. ‘I’m just wondering why we didn’t do this a month ago.’

‘Because someone was sure it would all work out in the end,’ she said, holding up her arms to invite him down onto the mattress with her. But he didn’t come. ‘It turns out that you were right, just maybe not in the way that you thought.’

‘We’ve still got a long way to go.’

‘I know,’ she said, sitting up and pulling down his jeans to hurry things along. ‘But let’s not worry about that tonight.’

Taking hold of the thick appendage hanging before her, Ivy kissed his head and ran her palm along the length of his shaft. Taking him in both hands, she licked and sucked at his penis until the beads of his pre-cum were dripping out onto her tongue.

‘You keep doing that and I’ll end up consummating with your face,’ he murmured.

Ducking down, he picked her up under her arms and raised her higher on the bed, until her head landed on the pillows. He came down on top of her, already massaging her breasts, and when they were horizontal his fingers joined his lips. He sampled her nipples from every angle and with every part of his mouth.

The heat of climax teased at her and she gripped at his waist, bringing her legs up and around him, as high as she could, hoping that he would take advantage of the invitation to penetrate her. But he shifted his position higher and kissing her mouth she was further teased by his silken rod poking and stroking her abdomen.

‘Just fuck me, Dax,’ she exhaled, dragging her nails up and down his back.

He kissed her mouth and she was so frustrated that it took his tongue a few attempts at entry before she unclenched her teeth. ‘You’re tense,’ he said, pressing moist lips to her cheekbone, then her ear. ‘You’re not nervous are you, babygirl?’

But he knew exactly what was wrong with her because he was the one doing it. ‘You said I could handle tonight’s action,’ she said, remembering what he’d said in the car.

Trying to push him onto his back was futile, Ivy needed him to comply or she’d never be able to overpower him, so she needed him to choose to submit.

‘Maybe later,’ he said. ‘This here is a husband’s job.’

If she’d been asked on the night they met if she thought Dax was the commitment type, she’d have bet her life that he wasn’t. But now that she knew about his dedicated work with Mauri for all of these years, two decades, and about how long he’d been frequenting fights on the underground circuit, she knew different. This was a guy that when he was determined to be loyal, or he enjoyed something, then he was happy to throw himself into it full force.

‘We’re actually married,’ she said, gazing at the ceiling beyond his shoulder. ‘We’re married.’ Having not imagined herself in this position, Ivy needed time to let the development sink in, and then something occurred to her. She smacked the heel of her hand into the pressure point of his shoulder to get his attention. ‘You’re not gonna screw around on me.’

‘Was that a statement or a question?’ he asked, teasing her nipple between his teeth.

‘It was as statement. If your dick thinks about sniffing around any other pussy then I’ll chop it right off and carry it around in my pocket. I mean it, Dax. I don’t care how big and hard all your friends think you are, you are not allowed to—‘

‘Jeez,’ he said, abandoning his work on her body to elevate his head. ‘We’ve been married ten minutes and the nagging has started already. Keeping you happy is gonna be a full time job, Minx. I’m not interested in going out there to chase tail.’

‘Good,’ she said, broadening a smile then tracing the stems of ivy on his bicep. ‘Not many guys would do what you’ve done for me tonight, Dax.’

‘I haven’t done anything yet,’ he said, prodding his engorged head into her folds. ‘You keep waffling shit, which puts a guy off his game. In fact…’

He didn’t finish that thought, instead he rolled off the bed with his usual catlike finesse and pulled something from one of the closets. Raising herself onto her elbows, Ivy tried to see what he was doing. On his return to the bed Dax held something behind his back. Except Ivy was so distracted by the view of his intimidating erection nodding at her as he walked that she forgot all about her curiosity as to what it was he concealed.

Straddling her hips when he crawled over her, Ivy expected him to take immediate, intense action. ‘What have you got for me, big boy?’ she asked.

‘It’s not for you, it’s for me,’ he said.

Intrigued, her eyebrows slid upward, but her curiosity was quickly quenched when he brought his hand around to reveal a strip of cotton elastic. He unwound it with a single flick, then doubled it to tie around her head, gagging her to prevent further vocal disruptions.

‘That’s much better,’ he said, gripping his cock and stroking it while his other hand petted and pinched her breast.

Grumbling behind the gag, Ivy tried to ask him if he would need her mouth, but he couldn’t decipher her words. When his lips curled with satisfaction she relaxed and let her weight sink into the bed.

‘There’s a lot of shit coming and we don’t know how it’s going to go down,’ he said, dipping to bite her nipple so hard that she squealed at the jolt of torturous pleasure.

Her whole body seemed to be connected by strings. Every fibre of her was connected to another seemingly unconnected point through invisible rods of rubbery steel that conducted the current of his touch like zipping electricity. Each caress made her want to scream out and purr, both at the same time.

‘There’s one thing I’m sure of, one thing that you should worry your little head about while I deal with the rest of the crap going on in our lives.’ She couldn’t ask him what because of the gag, so she waited for him to answer. ‘Every night your bed, and your pussy, are going to be filled by me. I’m going to fuck you every night and every chance I get because you don’t need that spirit of yours to defend yourself anymore, Minx. It’s mine. Every part of you is mine. And that spirit which loves to spar with me and spit out at the world, that belongs to me now too, and I want you to use it. You’re going to use it to think about sex, use it to pleasure yourself on my dick every time I give you the opportunity.’

Again, she tried to grumble, because she wanted to fight and tell him that she didn’t need to be looked after. Ivy wanted to yell that she could be at his side to deal with any shit that might come their way because she didn’t want him to feel like he was out in the world alone; she knew how debilitating that could be. Except with the gag in place, nothing but grunts and mumbles came out. Ivy tried so hard, but all she succeeded in doing was dribbling on herself.

Dax might have taken this in the wrong way because he laughed and bowed again, to lick the saliva trail that ran from the corner of her mouth, then he dipped his mouth to her ear. ‘Does that turn you on, babygirl? Does the idea of dedicating your life to my cock make you drool? Knowing that’s how you feel about it makes your husband very happy, I’m gonna make sure you get constant access.’

Tumbling off her body, he stole a pillow from under her head to prop up his own then bucked up to make himself more comfortable. After that, he scooped up her body and kicked her legs apart with his. She didn’t have a chance to straddle him comfortably, or find her own place, because he rammed her body down onto his while thrusting upward and he plunged into her so deep that her squashed cervix was bruised in the intrusion.

But he kept on going, holding her at a height that gave him maximum offensive impact for his onslaught. He fucked his way up into her, driving faster with each insertion until her legs became so weak that she struggled to match his fervour.

Never had her centre been so sensitive. Webbed with pain and equal all-encompassing pleasure, she almost forgot that the muzzle was over her mouth. She kept calling and squealing each time he stabbed into a new or perceptive spot.