Spinning around, she leaned on the glass. ‘Can I go outside?’ she asked, wondering if she would always be asking him for liberty.

‘In a minute,’ he said. ‘I’ve got to shower and change and get over there.’

‘What are you going to say to him?’ she asked. There was no need for build up to this conversation. They had rushed back to this city to face down the demon on their tail, so both knew exactly who she was talking about.

‘I’ll tell him the truth,’ Dax said and tossed the keys on the table. ‘I don’t want you letting anyone in here while I’m not here.’

‘Ok,’ she said, believing that was a sensible request when they didn’t know who was on their side yet. Having never lived in LA herself, Ivy didn’t know anyone. She had no plans to call up a posse of friends and have a rave while he was absent. ‘Do you want me to come with you?’

He shook his head. ‘No.’

‘It doesn’t feel right, sending you over there to deal with this alone. We’re as responsible as each other, I mean… I fell in love with you first… I kissed you first too, so I guess you could argue that this is all my fault.’

‘If things start to go south I’ll tell Mauri that,’ he said, and while he remained aloof his smile slipped up.

Moving across the room, she got back to his side and it felt right to encircle him in her arms. He edged back to perch on the dining table and nestled her in the vee of his thighs just holding her. ‘Should we have a contingency plan?’ she asked.

‘In case I don’t come back?’ he asked. ‘I’m not going to get hurt.’

‘I don’t trust these people as much as you do.’

‘These people,’ he said. ‘Are the closest thing that I’ve ever had to family.’

‘I’m your family and I love you,’ she said, leaning back to look up at him. ‘I would never make you come to me and grovel.’

‘I’m never gonna steal your girl, am I?’

‘I was never his and you know it. This… it’s all a power play and I don’t understand why—‘

‘Don’t start again,’ he said, nudging her away so that he could slip out and head toward the bedroom she’d glanced.

Ivy followed on in his wake, through the entryway. She expected him to go into the bedroom she’d seen before, but he didn’t. Perpendicular to that bedroom door was another bedroom door that she hadn’t noticed.

When they entered she might have spent time exploring the room with its large bed and closed doors, which she guessed led to a bathroom and maybe a closet. But Dax started to strip off and she was distracted by his sculpted body.

‘Are we going to have sex?’ she asked, not meaning to sound quite as formal as she had.

‘No,’ he said, entering the bathroom. ‘Let me fix this mess with Mauri and then we can think about the honeymoon.’

Somehow she knew that a honeymoon wasn’t anywhere on the agenda for them, Dax had already said that traditional wasn’t his style. Now Ivy had all the time in the world ahead of her to establish just what his style was. Fixing the problem with Mauri would just be the start, even if he accepted what Dax told him, they would still be a part of each other’s lives.

While Dax showered she snooped around the bedroom a bit. Ivy found no indication that he’d had women here recently and there were no women’s clothes left in the closet, which gave her some relief.

Turning to depart the closet, she was barricaded in the room when Dax materialised. Filling the door, he was still naked except for a small black towel around his hips. The combination of that, his black hair, tanned skin, and the noir ink on his arms made her shiver. The bruise on his cheek only added to the danger that he exuded.

For a second all of her apprehension fled, it was still incomprehensible that this man was her husband, he belonged to her. The reminder of that truth made her smile.

‘Are you sure you don’t have time?’ she asked, slinking toward him, but he took her shoulders and moved her out of his way.

‘If we get into bed I’m never going to get to the mansion tonight. Let me get this out of the way, babygirl, and then I’ll take care of you.’

‘You should sleep,’ she said, concerned for his wellbeing. ‘You’ve been on the go all night.’

‘I slept a bit, I’ll be fine.’

He slept a bit after they consummated their marriage and before they went down to the casino, a lot had happened since then. ‘You’d be better if you rested before you went over there.’

‘If I drop the towel and get into that bed, are you gonna let me sleep?’

She couldn’t make any promises and chewing on her bottom lip was enough to convey this to him. ‘I said rest, not sleep,’ she said. ‘I could climb on board, take on some of that tension you’re carrying.’

Passing her, he retrieved clothes and began to get dressed. ‘If I have to leave you in bed without fucking you raw then I’ll be carrying more tension, babygirl… You’re just trying to keep me here. If you’ve got plans to keep me under your thumb, you’re gonna be disappointed.’

Slipping out of her own dress, she accepted that he wasn’t going to be delayed. Subconsciously, her greatest goal was to keep him here where she could keep an eye on him and know that he would be safe. Long term, she knew that he wasn’t ever going to be under her thumb, but there was one thing she was sure of.

Naked and happy that he was admiring her figure with a satisfying bulge in his jeans, Ivy pushed out her chest and crept toward him. ‘You would do anything to keep my pussy happy,’ she said. ‘If you want guaranteed entry any minute of any day then you’re going to have to make sure that the rest of me is smiling too.’

Propping a hand on the shelf behind her, he created a barrier around her, crowding her into the restricted space. ‘I put a ring on it, babygirl. It’s mine whenever I want it. I own you.’

‘And I own you right back,’ she said, raising her arms in a round sweeping motion to hang them around his neck. ‘If I demand your cock then you better give it to me.’

‘I’ll give it to you good, on my own terms,’ he said.

When he moved fast, snatching her hips and whirling her around, she gasped at the sudden change in position. He bent her over and began grinding her ass on his groin. ‘This better be a prelude to something.’

‘To making you wait,’ he said. ‘Get yourself into that bed and sleep. When I get back here we’re gonna be consummating all over the apartment.’

When he got back here Ivy was going to make him sleep, she might even make him something to eat. But for now she was happy with the illusion. ‘You’re going to let me sleep in your bed while you’re not here? Should I expect a zip tie around my ankle?’

‘No foot post on the marital bed, I’ll fix that soon.’

‘I’m not calling the bed you slept in with god knows how many harlots our marital bed.’

‘No harlots, just you.’

Maybe that meant he hadn’t lived here long, or that he never had women back here. But knowing she was unique in this setting gave her the drive to push back into his crushing caress. The line of his dick nudged her ass cheeks as he rolled her hips back, squashing their pelvises together.

‘You could fuck me fast, right here, tough guy,’ she panted hanging onto the closet shelf for support.

‘Yeah, I could,’ he said, giving her ass a hard smack then backing away.

She still couldn’t breathe, so when she turned to seek him out she leaned against the shelf. Her hands were still in need of the support, her hair hung over her face, and her chest heaved as she tried to pull in oxygen. He’d got her riled into one hot mess and now he was going to walk out the door.

‘Dax,’ she whispered and he glanced back with a satisfied smile spread across his face.

‘But think about how crazy you’re gonna be for me by the time I get back.’

With nothing to think about except the arousal he’d sparked in her, yeah, she’d be hornier then than she was now, which meant she might ask fewer questions. But all of that logic seemed too complicated in the face of her need to be united with him.