Fighting Fate (13 page)

The cherry moved south and she sighed out her pleasure. She’d be happy for Dax to always be dominant over her, and their relationship, if it meant more of this and more of him. He said that she would never spend another night in that cell and she believed him. As for the future of their relationship, or even what would happen tomorrow, she didn’t know. So all she could do was live in the now, which at the moment was an especially blissful one.

Ivy’s morning started out particularly strange.

By now she was used to hearing Dax snore. She was used to having her breasts squashed into his back and her arm stretched around him. The unusual thing about this morning was the woman standing at the foot of the bed when Ivy opened her eyes. Blinking a few times, she made sure that the view wasn’t part of a dream. Yes, Rita really was there at the end of the bed wearing nothing but a leopard print bikini, leaning over, massaging Dax’s calf.

Feeling like she could be in the way, Ivy shifted her own legs away from Dax’s, which drew Rita’s attention up to her. The new roommate smiled and Ivy reciprocated.

‘Good morning,’ Rita said. She massaged higher, reaching the back of his knee and Dax moaned, but remained sleeping.

‘You… did Bruno send you up here?’ Ivy asked.

Rita shook her head and leaned closer to Dax as she massaged higher. ‘No. But after a fight Dax needs to work out the kinks in his muscles.’

She hadn’t considered that there might be a history between these two people. Asking Rita about that subject didn’t guarantee Ivy that she would get the truth; but Dax was still unconscious so she couldn’t ask him. Loosening her limbs from him she rolled away, managing to take the sheet with her, which left Dax naked, but Rita had already uncovered all of the good stuff to have a good look for herself.

‘I’m going to shower,’ Ivy said. She was still supposed to be dutiful to Dax and to Bruno, so she couldn’t give any orders to Rita and she couldn’t shoo her away. If Rita said that she did this for Dax as part of her duties then by the reckoning of everyone else, Ivy had no right to change that or tell Rita otherwise.

‘Take your time,’ Rita said, climbing up to kneel on either side of Dax’s feet when he rolled onto his front, burrowing the pillow under his chin against his chest.

Almost unable to take her eyes off the sight, Ivy watched for as long as she could but eventually had to go into the bathroom and take her shower.

Although she wasn’t keen on witnessing the possible progression of the activities, she also didn’t want to walk in on Dax being violated in his sleep, so she got showered and dried her hair, then went back into the bedroom.

Rita was now topless and straddling Dax’s ass, but he appeared to be in much the same position he had been and just as content in his sleep. ‘Did he wake up?’ Ivy asked.

‘Dax?’ Rita laughed. ‘No, he sleeps like the dead.’

‘I’ve noticed.’

The familiarity with which the blonde spoke of Dax made Ivy’s lip curl. Feelings of jealousy and resentment garnered in her a need to lash out. But if she did that then she took the chance that Rita would tell Bruno that Ivy wasn’t quite the happy camper she was supposed to be portraying. Dax had already implied that he didn’t trust her to keep going with the act in the event that something happened, which made her unhappy – Ivy wasn’t about to prove him right.

‘You should get dressed,’ Rita said. ‘Bruno is on the back deck if you’re looking for company.’

There wasn’t a chance that Ivy was going to leave this woman up here alone with Dax, not while Rita was massaging him in the way that she was. If Dax hadn’t woken up yet, then that meant Rita had removed her bikini top of her own accord, which told Ivy that his muscles weren’t the only stiff thing of Dax’s that Rita wanted to be massaging.

‘I’ll wait until he’s awake,’ Ivy said.

Rita laughed again. ‘He probably won’t be for a while.’ Leaning forward, Rita pressed her naked torso to Dax’s back and began to tongue his ear.

Staying in place at the bathroom door, Ivy didn’t have to wait too long for Dax’s eyes to open and when they did, they fixed on her. His sleepy lids didn’t remain droopy for long, Ivy folded her arms and he must have read the question in her before he established his own… if she was in his line of vision, far from the bed, then she wasn’t the one with her tongue in his ear.

To his credit, Dax flipped over in that instant and pushed his assaulter away without asking any questions. Rita just laughed and reached for him, but Dax was already halfway out of the bed.

‘What the fuck do you think you’re doing?’

‘Having fun,’ Rita said.

Ivy was content that Dax was awake and would deal with this situation how he saw fit. There was no need for an audience, so she slipped into the closet. Putting her towel in the hamper she pondered the issue of choosing her own clothes because Dax hadn’t selected anything for her.

Except Dax’s entry into the closet came not too long after hers. He came in and slammed the door at his back, signposting his rage.

‘What the fuck was that?’ he demanded of her.

‘You tell me. I woke up to find her climbing all over you,’ Ivy said, abandoning her task. ‘How well do you know each other?’

‘Rita’s been at the mansion for a while.’

‘She’s a hooker?’

‘Sort of,’ he shrugged. ‘She works for Mauri, does whatever is asked of her, but she’s freelance, so she can walk away at any time.’

‘Why would she walk away when she has prime specimens like you to mount whenever the mood takes her?’

‘I’ve never had sex with Rita.’

‘That’s not what she implied.’

‘You’re gonna believe her over me?’ he asked. ‘You might have woken me up, how long did you leave her alone with me?’

‘I don’t have the authority to say anything.’

‘So you’d be happy if I jumped into the shower and left you alone with a guy sliming all over you while you were naked in bed?’

‘If I’d said anything then she would know that I wasn’t the obedient slave, wouldn’t she? You can fuck whoever you want, remember, Master?’

While he thought about this, she took a dress down from her side of the closet and laid it on a chair beside her. His hand on her hip was her first warning that he was in proximity to her, and she quickly slapped it away.

‘No,’ she said, taking note of his plump hard-on pointing at her. ‘You are not using that on me. Is that for her?’

‘No! You’re naked,’ he said, though of this she was already aware.

When he took another step toward her, Ivy backed away again. ‘Uh-uh, no way, you are not bringing that thing near me. You can’t get massaged by another woman and then bring the arousal she caused and—‘

‘Shut the fuck up,’ he said, snatching her throat and forcing her back against the drawers. ‘You’re waving that fucking hot body around in front of me and my dick can’t handle that without reacting.’

Dipping down, he scooped up one of her legs, leaving the other foot on the floor. He lifted her leg high until her heel was on the top of the drawers then he angled himself between her thighs.

‘If you want to keep fighting after your pussy has taken her medicine then we will. But claiming you is the only way I can cleanse myself of that tramp out there.’

‘You feel violated?’ Ivy asked, pleased that he had no interest in the woman who had put herself on blatant offer for him.

‘Yeah, so shut the fuck up and give me and my dick a break this morning.’

Sighing, she tilted her head. ‘Ok, I suppose just this once—‘

Plummeting forward, he slammed himself into her, expelling all the air from her body because he took her so off-guard she had no time to brace for his incursion. She inhaled a sharp breath in preparation to shout at him, but the clenching of her body made him groan.

‘That’s right, babygirl,’ he said, plunging back in after a lazy back slide. ‘Pull me in deep, all the way.’

And the ecstasy in his intonation made it impossible for Ivy to argue with him. He could’ve had Rita this morning, just as he could have had Fifi the other night, and he had screwed neither woman.

Whatever was between them was growing and taking on a life of its own. The progression was instinctual and felt entirely natural. Now as he slid in and out of her, taking her into a daze of rapture again, she could only wonder where they would end up.

Being allowed to choose her own clothes was something of a novelty. Dax had become increasingly distant since they’d made love here in the closet and during their time getting ready for the day. He made no noise about selecting her wardrobe today, so she went on and did it herself. She was used to him not being Mr. Chatty Small Talk, but there was something different about the frown on his face this morning.

‘What’s expected of me today?’ she asked, sliding on her shoe. ‘If Rita is here to take care of the chores, what is it that you want me to—‘

‘I have to show you the operation,’ he said.

‘How are you gonna do that? Is there a secret meth lab bunker somewhere on the property that I haven’t yet seen?’

‘We’re going out,’ he said, fastening the buttons on his jeans then departing the closet.

The concept of leaving this house stunned her and for a few minutes she didn’t move or speak while she processed the idea. Now that she was being let out she would have a better opportunity to run, to escape. Doing that, achieving her goal of liberty, would mean forfeiting all prospect of a future with Dax. Unless she could convince him to come with her. If he was open to joining her then they could leave here today, without raising suspicion, and just never come back.

Rushing out of the closet, Ivy was ready to put the possibility to him, except Bruno was in their bedroom and the two men were engaged in conversation. This space was becoming a common room and she didn’t remember either her or Dax authorising that, but maybe she hadn’t been privy to that conversation.

‘Morning,’ Bruno called to her as though she was a hundred feet away instead of ten. ‘You’re going on an adventure today.’

‘So I understand,’ she said, clasping her hands behind her back and taking her foot off the floor to curl it behind the other. ‘I’m a little… nervous.’

‘Dax will look after you,’ Bruno said, slapping his shoulder. ‘He’s done right by you so far, hasn’t he?’

‘Yes,’ she said, trained to respond to all questions.

Bruno and Dax whispered to each other, then Dax reached behind him toward her, outstretching his hand. Ivy crossed to take the offering and went with the men out of the room. In the living room there was no sign of Rita. Bruno went off towards the back deck without saying goodbye and Dax took Ivy straight toward the front door and out they went. He led her across the drive to the convertible awaiting them in the covered car port.

He opened her door, but didn’t wait for her to enter the car, he just left the door swinging and rounded the hood to get in his own side. He’d got in, turned on the engine, and donned his sunglasses, and she still stood on the driveway, staring into the open car. Stretching an arm along the back of the seat, he waited.

‘What?’ he asked.

‘I… I don’t know, but…’

‘What?’ His impatience was showing. ‘Do you think I’m gonna run off with you? Don’t worry, we’ll be back before dinner.’

The very idea that he was laughing at was the one that she was going to suggest to him in their bedroom earlier. It was laughable now, because if she struggled with the idea of getting into a car, how would she survive on the run?

‘It just feels… peculiar.’

‘It will,’ he said. ‘You’ve been in that place for nearly two months.’

Had it been so long? Yes, as she considered it and all she’d been through, it had been that amount of time. Ivy had believed that she’d been spared from the brainwashing that Bruno and Dax were supposed to visit on her because Dax hadn’t applied the same stringent rules as Bruno did. That window Dax provided gave her a reprieve; time to centre herself again when she was in his company. But a part of her knew that she wasn’t allowed to leave this place, and that part of her overwhelmed her now.

‘I’m not going to get in trouble, right?’ she said with an awkward and very self-conscious laugh.

‘What kind of trouble?’ he asked. ‘I’m your Master, remember? Your owner, or did you forget?’

‘Ok,’ she said with a stunted smile, but no moisture returned to her mouth. With shaking fingers she took hold of the door and with one wavering step she slid into the warm leather of the seat.

‘Are you nervous about being punished for leaving here? Or worried about what will happen to you out there?’ he asked, bobbing his chin in the direction of the great wide world, without taking his attention away from her.

‘I don’t know,’ she said. ‘I didn’t realise that I felt this way.’

‘It’ll all come back to you. No one will punish you for leaving here, I’m the guy in charge and you’re with me.’

‘And out there?’ she asked.

‘Nothing I haven’t faced before,’ he said. ‘Like I said, you’re with me.’

That did actually make Ivy feel better because he wouldn’t abandon her; as much as because she was still needed for something, though she hadn’t figured out what yet. The journey started off quietly. Breaking the silence, Dax began to fiddle with the stereo until he found a tune he wanted to hear.

‘It will take about an hour to get into the city,’ he said, putting both hands onto the wheel. ‘Just relax and enjoy the ride.’

‘You are a good ride,’ she said and he afforded her a smile then handed her another pair of shades that he produced from somewhere on his door side. The sun was shining but the breeze was cool, this was a perfect California day. She let him get into his groove with the driving and the music before she tried to probe him. ‘Have you got any more fights lined up?’

‘You are not coming to see me fight. Mauri would never have it.’

This gave her the perfect opener. ‘Am I going to meet him?’

‘Today? No. Today I’m taking you on my rounds. It’s about time things got back to normal.’

‘You don’t usually do rounds,’ she said. ‘Do you?’

‘Before you I did,’ he said. ‘I do actually have a job, I don’t just sit around holding women prisoner all the time.’

‘That’s reassuring,’ she said. ‘So what do you do?’

‘You’ll see today,’ he said. ‘Have you ever been arrested? Any probation or outstanding warrants I should know about? Have you been involved in anything criminal?’

‘Nothing serious,’ she answered. ‘Have you?’

‘Don’t be surprised if Mauri knows everything that there is to know about you when you do meet him.’

He hadn’t answered her question, but his statement about Mauri was enough to make her forget about her concerns relating to Dax’s exploits. ‘How would he—‘

‘Mauri’s family have made a lot of money doing what they do, so he has the resources to do pretty much anything he wants. If you filled out information for that phony job, they’ll have your full name and social security number. The rest is just leg work, and most of that can be done at a desk these days.’

She hadn’t considered the personal information that this family had about her. ‘Why would they want to know about me?’

‘Because they chose you,’ he said. ‘And Mauri is particular about knowing everything about people he welcomes into his family. He’ll want to know if you’re bringing any trouble with you.’

‘The only trouble I’ve been around recently is you.’

‘And they know all about that,’ he said, squeezing her thigh then sliding his hand further up under her sundress.

‘Just how much do they know?’ she asked. ‘They know that we’re sleeping together, but do they know the details of that? How does Bruno fit into all of this?’ It was great to finally feel free enough to ask all of the questions she’d been too afraid to ask while in the environment of her captivity.

‘Mauri and Bruno have been friends for years, they worked together for Mauri’s old man when they were kids. Bruno knows everything that Mauri does… just about.’

‘And you? How do you fit in?’

‘I’ve been working for Mauri since I was a kid. He caught me trying to pickpocket him, which was amazing in itself because I was pretty good. I’d been doing it to feed myself for years. Stealing from spectators at fights then getting in the ring to fight for money, that’s how I kept myself alive. Mauri caught me, pinned me down, I thought I was dead. I had no idea who he was.’

‘Did he hurt you?’

‘Took me home with him and fed me, asked about my family, my history, and kept on asking until he knew everything about me. After that, I never left, I grew up in the mansion, not out front with the Stark boys as an official member of the family, but in back, with the household staff. They trained me up and looked after me. As soon as I could, I started to graduate through the ranks of Mauri’s team.’

‘Doing what?’ she asked.

‘Anything he wanted of me, I sold, I couriered, I did everything.’

‘And now you do this?’

‘I do what Mauri asks me to,’ he said, and he must have sensed her aversion.

‘Why didn’t he send you out here alone to deal with me? How many other women have you beaten into submission for him? Do you treat them all like you treat me? Or do you follow Bruno’s methods?’

‘You’re the first, I mean it’s the first time I’ve ever been involved in anything like this. I enforce a lot, and I do interrogate for information and that can take days, sometimes a week. But like this, a woman, no, I’ve never done this.’

‘But Bruno has?’ she asked.

‘I don’t know. I am trusted in the family and I know a lot of their secrets. But there’s no way I know everything, that’s for damn sure.’

‘So why now?’ she asked. ‘Why did they get you doing this now? Why not just leave me out here with Bruno if he’s more trusted than you are? He’s obviously more sadistic.’

‘Your purpose is unique, so to the best of my knowledge no one has ever had to do this before. As for Bruno, I told you, he can’t get a hard-on.’

‘So your purpose was purely sexual? You were selected because your dick functions?’

He shrugged, still watching the road. ‘Best I can figure, yeah, and because they trust me. I’ve had Trystan’s women before, so it’s not like the punk will get queasy about it, you know?’

‘Trystan’s women?’ she repeated and his jaw ticked. ‘What has he got to do with this?’

‘Trystan’s the guy you met in Vegas.’

‘Yeah, I know who he is,’ she said, picking up his hand by the wrist and tossing it back to his own lap. Twisting in her seat, she pinned her glare on his profile because from the prickle encircling her spine, she didn’t like the trajectory of this conversation. ‘I figured out that he was the one who wanted me snatched, but I’m not his woman. I haven’t even seen him for the whole time we’ve been out here.’

‘He’s in Europe,’ Dax said. ‘He has been since the day we brought you here. He’ll be back in a week or so.’

‘The deadline,’ she said. ‘The deadline for going back to the city?’

‘What are you talking about?’ he asked, flashing her a frown.

‘I overheard you and Bruno talking, he said that we were going back to the city, that after we went back we’d be off the hook. I thought you were here against your will too, that they were forcing you to do this.’

‘Forcing me to fuck you? Yeah, it was a hardship.’

‘Dax, be serious, what is going on here? I thought you were teaching me a lesson. I thought that Trystan wanted us to go through all of this so that I would be taught a lesson, just like you said about him holding a grudge.’

‘He does,’ Dax said. ‘He picked you because he felt disrespected by your rejection in Vegas, he wouldn’t stop going on about it.’

‘And the deadline? I thought that by then I was supposed to have learned my lesson, that I’d be turned free.’

When he did a double take, she knew she’d misinterpreted. ‘Freedom is subjective,’ he said. ‘At some time we will get the call to take you back to the city.’

‘And then what?’

‘You move into the mansion.’

Her chest tightened and she shrank back against her side door. ‘No,’ she exhaled. ‘Am I supposed to service his men? Be another Rita who will follow the commands given by anyone in that place?’

‘No, Rita is sport, a Stark employee there for the guys’ pleasure, or whatever,’ he said. ‘Everything that you were told is true. You’re going to live a life of luxury and privilege.’

‘And you? What are you going to do?’ she asked. ‘We move into your room in the mansion and then what?’

But he was already shaking his head. Breathing grew more difficult for her as panic began to take hold. ‘I don’t live in the mansion.’

‘Wh… wha… why not?’ she stuttered.

‘Because I’m a grown man and Mauri isn’t the only guy I work for. I couldn’t live like Brad and Trystan do, in the mansion, always under supervision.’

‘So you’re going to take me to the mansion and just leave me there? What am I going to be? Some kind of homecoming gift for Trystan?’

‘I don’t know what I’m gonna do with you yet,’ he said, clearly he wasn’t ready for this discussion and it was getting away from him. She couldn’t believe that she’d been kept in the dark about this when they’d been sharing a bed for weeks.

‘You’re not considering leaving me there,’ she said. ‘What about all that crap about caring about me? Didn’t you mean it?’

‘I meant it,’ he snapped. ‘But this isn’t as easy as—‘