Their eyes met and the chill of those ice blues brought her to a crashing climax. Sucking in a breath so deep that the gag became concave, Ivy managed to huff the syllable of his name. Dax lunged on, prodding further into her repeatedly, desperate to reach his own summit.

He tossed her backwards so that she landed on the bed between his thighs. The unexpected move left Ivy searching for her bearings, she was anchored again when he landed on her and penetrated her with a vigorous plunge. Every inch of him occupied her and when he was all the way inside, he stopped, locking his eyes to hers, he stayed static.

Mumbling, she tried to move, but he locked their pelvises and just stared. ‘I’m gonna fuck you all night.’

She wanted to tell him that he could and that didn’t mean he couldn’t come. The longer he remained where he was, the more she was convinced that he was trying to prevent himself from getting to orgasm. Whether it was a test of stamina or restraint didn’t matter to her, she just wanted him to have the same completion that she had.

‘I’m the last man who will ever be here, inside you, like this. Mine is the last dick that your pussy will ever swallow.’

That possessive reality made her wriggle and she wanted to kiss him, to reassure him while reminding him that her pussy would be the last space that his dick would occupy too. But his hand appeared between them and the undulating motion of his fingers around her clit joined the gentle rocking of his pelvis and her eyes slipped shut.

All coherent thought abandoned her and Dax was all that filled her head, her heart, and her intimate passage. This man had chosen her, married her because he loved her and to protect her from being taken by another.

Knowing that she had hit the jackpot, the pulse of his throbbing dick sent her over the apex of pleasure again and this time he couldn’t resist. Ivy clamped down around him so tight that he was unable to move, and neither of them were able to breathe. The volume of his slick seed pumped into her and she felt every quiver of him as he loaded her with his DNA. Each ounce of fluid was plugged in place by his cock which remained corked in her even after he was no longer stiff, and he had folded himself around her.

But she didn’t move because she didn’t want him to leave her body, or this space. Ivy was exactly where she was meant to be, exactly where she belonged.

Chapter Eighteen

They ordered room service, watched some bullshit TV, and had sex again. After that they went down to the casino for a while. Every time Ivy caught a sideways glance at Dax she had to remind herself that he belonged to her because it seemed so unreal.

Anyone on Dax’s trajectory cleared the path so that he could walk in a straight line without interruption. Yet, he was oblivious to the intimidation he exuded. He strode with the same manner he would adopt on an abandoned beach, it made no difference to him that he was actually on a crowded sidewalk or in a mobbed casino. His superiority was more than just a case of height and formidable form. His expression was clear, he didn’t scowl, yet he managed to maintain an intensity that made it impossible for anyone to know what he was thinking.

He existed in a bubble, no one could penetrate it; no one would dare enter the personal space that was restricted behind the invisible barrier. It was as if he had his own transparent security team ensuring no one could touch him. No one except her.

Ivy had been accepted into his bubble and as much as she wasn’t privy to all of the details of his past she knew that this was a rare occurrence. Not that history mattered now, they were married, and she wouldn’t let any other woman into her husband’s inner bubble because she’d make sure that he never needed anyone else.

After a few drinks and some flirting at the bar, they made their way back up to their hotel room. Tomorrow could prove to be a big day if they went back to California, but that was a big “if” because Ivy had already made the decision to take another swing at talking him out of that.

‘Your legs working this time?’ Dax asked while opening their door.

‘What?’ she asked, strutting past him, giving him no choice except to hold the door open for her.

She went all the way into the bedroom which was a grand large room with a massive bed and although it wasn’t exactly a suite, the bathroom was big enough to have a double shower cubicle and a Jacuzzi tub. Dax had offered to take her to the GoldSpring, in fact it was the first place he pulled the car up to when they got into town, but the last thing that she wanted to do was face her old colleagues.

‘Tradition isn’t my thing,’ he said.

‘No white picket fence in our future?’ she asked.

Sitting on the end of the bed to slip off her shoes, Ivy made the decision that she would have to buy more heels if she was going to spend the rest of her life on Dax’s arm. She didn’t like that when they were walking together tonight she couldn’t kiss him or whisper in his ear without first having to tug on his arm like a child looking for the acknowledgement of a parent.

‘Get ready for bed,’ he said, striding past her toward the bathroom.

Leaping to her feet, Ivy knew that now was the time to try and appeal to his better sense. If she left it any later they’d be engaged in the physical and talking would be the last thing he would have interest in. ‘My aunt lives in Florida.’

The peculiar look that crossed his face when he stopped to peer at her told her that Dax wasn’t following her line of thought. ‘So?’

‘So,’ she said, creeping toward him. ‘Maybe we could go and visit her, we could go to the beach and laze in the sun all day.’

‘We’re in the fucking desert now,’ he said and she curled her fingers around his wrists. ‘And I’ve seen you in a bikini enough to last me the rest of my life.’

‘We could find ourselves a topless beach. I could leave the bikini at home,’ she said, but her teasing only made him frown.

‘Why would I want you parading around in front of other guys? If I want to see your tits I snap my fingers.’

‘Oh, it’s not as easy as that,’ she said. ‘You forget that I’m not your captive anymore, there’s no basement to relegate me to. I can be as mouthy as I want.’

Sidling closer, he lowered his face. ‘Didn’t I prove earlier that I control that mouth? I can prove it again right now.’

‘No way,’ she said, her smile slinking upward. ‘I’m wise to you now, big boy. There’s no way you’ll be keeping me quiet again any time soon. Next time you screw me I’m going to scream to high heavens.’

‘Screaming is acceptable, your back talk is not.’

‘You married a woman with opinions,’ she said, elevating herself onto her tiptoes. ‘Opinions that you just love to contradict.’

‘Because they’re wrong,’ he said. ‘You keep your opinions to yourself and spend more time listening to mine.’

‘Why would I do that?’

‘Because mine are the ones you should be spouting. My opinions should be your opinions. A wife should toe the line that the husband orders her to.’

Although he maintained his sincerity, Ivy laughed, because she couldn’t honestly believe that he would think a piece of paper would suddenly make her Miss. Compliant. Bruno hadn’t managed it with physical abuse and imprisonment, so Dax wouldn’t achieve it with marriage.

‘That so?’

‘You are going to be a good wife,’ he said, touching a fingertip to the underside of her chin.

‘So I should meet you at the door with a kiss after a hard day of enforcing? Have your favourite meal cooked and on the table every night?’

‘A blowjob at the door and a good spanking over the dinner table is what I expect you to submit to.’

‘Why would I need a spanking,’ she pouted, hooking two fingers into his jeans belt loops. ‘I might have been a good girl.’