Текст книги "Harrow Duet"

Автор книги: Scarlett Finn

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‘Worried that you might get overexcited?’ he asked. ‘Spread your legs. Get them further apart.’

‘Dax—‘

‘Do it.’

Hearing his increased volume, then getting another smack, she didn’t take the risk of refusing him again. His hand skimmed down until his finger dipped between her folds.

‘Fuck, you’re wet…’ The strangled groan that accompanied the words confused and stimulated her. As opposed to angry, he sounded juiced up and agonized all at once.

‘Do you want me to apologise for that too?’

‘Just tell me that Brad wasn’t the one who—‘

‘Who? Your creepy friend? He didn’t turn me on, he freaked me out… and I don’t think he likes you very much.’

‘No, but he trusts me and that’s all I need from him.’

‘I thought he wasn’t coming tonight.’

‘Change of plans, and you need to stop listening in to conversations that don’t concern you.’

‘There’s not much else to do around here,’ she said and he spanked her. Their casual conversation had made her forget she was half-naked, presenting for him.

‘Watch your mouth, Minx.’

‘We could slip away. Go upstairs, you could let me apologise—‘

‘I have something to do,’ he said, taking up position behind her. ‘And I don’t know why this matters to me but… I need to hear you say that you trust me.’

‘You need my trust before you fuck me? Since when?’

‘That’s the thing, babygirl… you’re not the one I’ll be fucking.’

‘Ready?’

A blonde wearing a green satin dress came in and Dax tugged down Ivy’s skirt to conceal her body again. ‘Didn’t I tell you to wait out there?’ Dax said to the blonde.

‘I’m impatient,’ the green dress girl pouted. ‘You promised me an intimate tour. Not many girls get that offer from the great Dax Harrow.’

‘Wait here, for real this time,’ he said. ‘I have to get this out of our way first.’

Ivy could see the attraction and awe glittering from the size two woman in the green dress and heard the unspoken promise in Dax’s tone. He was going to have sex with this woman and the “this” that he had to get out of the way was her.

Being so preoccupied with the virtue of her own chastity meant that Ivy hadn’t considered Dax’s fidelity… or his lack of it. He pulled her out of the kitchen and through the living room. She staggered along in a daze, knowing that she had no right or ability to ask for his loyalty. Maybe Brad had been right in what he’d said and maybe the truth was that Dax didn’t care about her at all, that he only cared for himself.

Reality jarred back into focus when Dax opened the door to the basement and yanked her down the stairs.

‘No,’ she said, trying to drop all of her weight to the floor in an attempt to hold him back, but Dax swung her up into his arms then over his shoulder like she weighed no more than a bag of sugar. ‘No, Dax, please! I’m sorry!’

She didn’t know what she had done to be relegated down here again, especially after such a long reprieve, all she knew was the burn of acid firing up her oesophagus.

‘It’s just for tonight,’ he said.

‘Please! I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have spoken to him!’ Talking to Brad must have been the catalyst for Dax’s foul mood and inexcusable actions. She had no idea that Dax could be jealous, not after all he’d seen Bruno do with her.

‘It’s not about him,’ he said, carrying her through the gym then opening the outer door to her previous prison. ‘I need the bedroom and while I’m busy in there I can’t keep an eye on you.’

‘You think I’ll run? I won’t!’

He opened the door to the cage and tossed her inside, slamming the door before she could get to her feet.

‘Or that one of them will take what isn’t theirs,’ he said, locking the door. Remaining on his side of the bars, he reached through for her but she leapt away from him.

‘You’re going to have sex with her, in the bed you shared with me? Our bed?’

Curling his scarred fists around the cold metal bars he scowled at her with the intensity she’d met in Vegas.

‘Nothing is ours, it’s you and me. I told you I’d get bored of you eventually,’ he spat.

‘You fucking bastard.’

‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘But have you seen the sweet buns on that slut? She’ll let me ride that tight ass all night long… I’ll let you suck me off in the shower in the morning if you’re still hungry for it.’

‘Not a chance,’ she said, wishing she had the ability to lash out in an effective way, but this was just another example of how her freewill was being strangled.

He grumbled under his breath and turned to depart. Her anxiety made her dash forward, hurtling herself at the bars.

‘Wait,’ she inhaled and he paused. ‘I’m sorry, ok, baby? Take me upstairs with you.’

Slowly he turned back, his frown remained static. ‘What?’

‘It might be fun,’ she said, trying to calm her breathing so her panic would be disguised by the smile she hoped was saucy. ‘You could have both of us.’ Reaching through the bars, she beckoned for him.

‘You would do that?’ He came back to her and she got hold of the edges of his shirt, hoping to keep him close.

‘You could have both of us,’ she said again, pulling her body to the bars. ‘A fit, strong, healthy guy like you could handle that, and if we tire you out… she and I could always entertain each other.’

‘You want to have a threesome with a woman you have never been introduced to?’ Covering her hands with his, he watched their fingers mingle.

‘I trust you.’ These murmured words made his eyes shoot to hers and the frown was gone.

‘Good. I need you to remember that, babygirl,’ he muttered and ducked to kiss her through the bars.

Still with hope that he would consider her request, and let her out of this hole, she accepted his kiss with gusto. All too soon he withdrew his mouth, took her hands from his shirt, and retreated.

‘Please don’t leave me down here,’ she mumbled, but read conviction in him. He wasn’t taking her away from her hell, he was delivering her to it.

Dax left the space and distress built to rage. The adrenaline sent a stream of curses flying from her lips, but she doubted that he heard more than the first couple. Music, activity, and the building structure would obscure her words from his ears, she just wished that they would obscure his actions from her awareness.

Chapter Eleven

Not too much later, although she didn’t know the time, the volume of the music was reduced. A few vehicles left, but the sun was nowhere near rising and the party was still going on. She would guess it was maybe three or four AM, but lying on this foam pad, staring up at the ceiling, the time was the last thing that she cared about.

In Vegas, she’d felt a sexual connection to Dax, even when he was threatening her. After she was brought here she quickly reached the conclusion that she needed an ally; after a few nights starving and dehydrating here in this cell she did anyway. Dax had seemed like the safest, and certainly the most appealing, bet to take on that role.

Having sex with him was part curiosity, part manipulation, only it hadn’t worked. Ivy might have satisfied her curiosity because she had experienced what it was like to sleep with him, but she hadn’t managed to manipulate him into caring about her, at least not enough to want to ensure her safety, or her happiness.

The latter was a pipe dream. A last minute desperate dream for a woman who realised too late that she’d only gone and fallen for the kind of man she’d hoped her whole life to avoid: a bad boy.

‘I fucked up.’

The words startled her into a seated position. She hadn’t heard his approach, but there he was, birthed from the shadow beyond her cell. When she identified it was Dax, and not a chancing letch from the party, she relaxed to lie down again. This time she closed her eyes as though to imply she had been sleeping and unaffected this whole time.

‘I don’t need a blow-by-blow.’

‘Not that,’ he said. His voice was closer, but she wouldn’t let herself be intrigued enough to isolate its point of origin. ‘With you.’

‘Don’t worry, I won’t let you make any more mistakes with me where being fucked is concerned.’

‘Every guy in the place tonight wanted you. I told you to make them… only I didn’t bargain on being one of them.’

‘Please,’ she scoffed. ‘Spare me the act. Do you think I’m the type of woman who lets her man run around on her? You get one chance with me and tonight you blew it.’

‘Watching you up there and watching those guys drool over you… not one of them would have turned you down, but you couldn’t care less about that or that they were objectifying you. You always rise above the bullshit and I don’t even know how you do it. After everything you’ve been through and… you’re unbreakable, Minx.’

‘Is that what tonight was about? Was it your attempt to break me?’

‘No,’ he said. She was surprised to hear the loosening of the lock and the opening of the door. ‘Bruno wanted to get you high and let the guys take whatever they wanted. You were supposed to be the only female here and everyone was supposed to take a shot.’

‘That’s not what happened,’ she said, maintaining her sleeping pose because she didn’t want him on guard.

‘I couldn’t let that happen. I told him that you were compliant, that we’d broken you and you were ready.’

‘For what?’

‘To put up with anything.’

‘So you got your chance to screw around and make sure I didn’t get too close to you or get any ideas above my station? Bravo. Well done.’

‘You don’t get it at all.’

He must have come to her and sunk down at her side because his fingers drifted through her hair then his lips met hers. Ivy sputtered away while shoving at him to get him out of her path so that she could once again sit up.

‘Stay the hell away from me,’ she protested, rubbing off his kiss with the back of her hand.

‘That would be the smart thing to do,’ he said. ‘It turns out that I’m not capable.’

Grabbing her upper arms, he forced her onto her back on the bed and lay on top of her. Locking their mouths together, he wasn’t deterred when she didn’t kiss back, he kept on going. Fondling her chest was a brief interlude on route to her crotch. Through it all she fought him, but he was unaffected. He kissed and touched her as though he was making love to an ardent mistress, not an objecting, kicking opponent.

‘Stop it,’ she said, but his strength was too much for her. He pulled her legs apart and explored the reluctant moisture seeping from her intimate passage. Then his hand was gone and the buzz of his fly crackled in the air. ‘No, Dax, no!’

‘I need to fuck you,’ he mumbled through his kisses on her neck. ‘I’m sorry, Ivy, babygirl, I need it. I need to be inside you, it’s the place I belong, you need me there.’

The bulge of his engorged head probed at her entrance. From the gloss of mania in his eyes, Ivy knew that he wasn’t in his right mind. Invading her body with this Goliath was a forgone conclusion for him.

Using all of her might she pounded both of her fists on his shoulder, hoping to break through to him. ‘Hey! I said no, Dax. No!’ Halting his advance, he blinked and his attention met hers; some of his haze cleared. ‘You can’t have me, Dax. Your dick has a new place to call home. You moved him in there tonight. That blonde from the kitchen, that’s who you belong with.’

‘No,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘I didn’t fuck her. I just needed them to think that I did.’

‘What? Why would—‘

‘They needed me to prove that you would put up with anything, with everything a partner could throw at you,’ he said. ‘But walking away from you, bringing you down here to leave you alone, it… it hit me… Tonight it hit me how bad I’d fucked this up.’

‘How did you fuck up?’ she asked. Releasing the tension in her arms, she looped them around his neck.

‘I was meant to train you so that you’d follow my every command… Instead, it’s me who fell under your spell.’

‘If that were true then you wouldn’t have taken another woman up to our bed.’

‘Fifi and I go way back,’ he explained, bracing himself on his elbows so that he could peel down the straps of her dress. ‘I paid her to lie. She’ll tell them all that I fucked her, that I was the best ride of her life. But I never touched her, not tonight.’

‘Why should I believe that?’

‘Because telling you this, the truth, could get me into a lot of trouble. Tonight we were supposed to prove that you’d let me do whatever I wanted and still pander to me tomorrow. They wanted to see that you were so browbeaten that I could fuck another woman and you wouldn’t bat an eye.’ He kissed her. ‘I was going to let you believe that I did it, to put some distance between us, you know? But lying up there in that room while Fifi slept, knowing you were down here by yourself… I couldn’t leave you alone.’

‘You couldn’t?’

‘I wanted to come down here and fight with you. Ream you out for believing I could be interested in that tramp, but I’ve never given you a reason to believe that I give a fuck about you. But I do… it just doesn’t mean anything.’

‘It does,’ she said, combing her fingers through his hair. ‘It means something to me.’

Guiding his mouth down to hers, she was ready now to let him fulfil his desire. Never one to shy from doing the work, she took hold of him in a certain fist and elevated her hips to pierce herself with his rigid offering.

That was all the invitation that he needed. Without quitting her mouth, they fell into a slow rhythm which was far gentler than anything they’d practiced with each other before this. Climax was achieved together and it took her to epic heights that only climbed deeper into the clouds when he positioned her on her side and took his place in front of her, pulling her hand over his abs to hold them in their usual spoon position, with him facing out into the cell and her protected behind him.

‘You’re staying?’ she asked, having expected him to abandon her when he was done.

‘For as long as I can,’ he said, kissing her palm then flattening it over his heart. ‘I’ll have to go up in the morning. I want to kick all of those bastards out before I bring you upstairs. But we’ll spend the day in our bedroom, all day, no Bruno, I promise.’

‘That’s ok. I’m getting used to him now.’

‘I hope you’re not attached to him molesting you because it’s over. It will never happen again.’

Whatever had caused this transformative breakthrough, she was glad of it. It could have come sooner, but she’d rather have it now than never.

‘Does this mean that I can come and watch you fight now?’

‘You’re that determined to watch someone kick the shit out of me?’

A laugh met his spine, but she followed it with her lips. ‘No one stands a chance against my tough guy.’

‘Thanks for the vote of confidence.’

Her eyes were growing tired; the hard work and lack of sleep were catching up with her. ‘Just imagine that you saw your opponent with his hand up my skirt before the fight.’

‘That wouldn’t work.’

His contradiction stung a little, she thought they were making headway with their intimacy. ‘Why not?’

‘Too many witnesses when I murder the guy. You’ve got to be smart about stuff like that, babygirl, and think ahead.’

‘Silly me, but what do I know about those kind of things?’

‘All you’ll ever have to,’ he said. ‘I’ll be taking care of business from here on in.’

‘My business or yours?’

‘Both,’ he said, but followed it up with a mumble. ‘I’ll just have to figure out how I’m gonna do it.’

‘Dax,’ she yawned, and curled in closer when she shut her eyes.

‘Yeah?’

‘Does this mean that we’re done with the bullshit? That we’re being honest with each other now?’

‘Yeah, honest, but you’ve got to trust me. It’s not gonna be easy to manoeuvre our way out of this mess.’

Other than being held captive by the man she now held, Ivy was unaware of what other mess they were in. But Dax seemed to have made a choice tonight and for now that choice was her. Whatever was to come he was smart enough and tough enough to figure it out. So relaxed, reassured, and sated, she let herself sleep in the safety of his shielding form.

‘Dax,’ she said later, interrupting his subdued snore. They’d fallen asleep in their usual position after he’d awoken her for a second bout of sex. He kind of snorted, but didn’t react further, so she gave him a nudge, he mumbled and loosened his grip on her hand.

He probably thought that she wanted her freedom to use the restroom, forgetting in his slumber that they were nowhere near their room, or internal plumbing. His sleep was deep and usually undisturbed, probably because a man of his skill didn’t need to worry about anyone getting the drop on him. Even if someone did get the first punch in, or the first few, Dax would still triumph in a fist fight – of that she was sure.

But it wasn’t the bathroom she wanted now, it was his safety. Picking up his arm, she read the hands on the heavy back metallic watch on his wrist and was shocked to read that it was after nine AM. The music was no longer playing upstairs, in fact she couldn’t hear anything except the breathing of her snoozing lover.

‘Baby,’ she said, returning his arm to his torso. Even with another nudge and some kissing of his shoulder blades he still didn’t waken.

So slipping her fingers over the corrugation of his abs to the line of dark hair that descended to the invader that so frequently plundered her, she decided to take things to a more intimate level in hope of rousing him. In almost the same second that she made contact with his flaccid appendage it sprang to attention with impressive speed.

The cadence of his snore became more of a purr. Tightening her grip, she pumped her hold, adjusting the angle of her thumb to swipe the breadth of his head when she reached his summit.

If he came fully awake before he ejaculated then he’d want to fuck her; but there wasn’t time for that. So in a burst of abrupt energy she climbed over and down him, and closing her lips around his cock she inhaled with all of her strength, quickening her fist.

‘Fucking hell!’

Dax came awake, but his salty load was already draining into her. Her siphoning force emptied his sap into her throat in a series of delighted, sporadic injections. Tasting him out of his sleep and into consciousness was satisfying and the power it proved that she had over him was flattering. Drinking every drop that he spoiled her with, she cleaned up the drips budding from him before she slithered up his body.  In passing, she gave the length of him a cleansing wipe in her cleavage to rid him of the remnants of her oral lubrication.

‘That was a helluva good morning,’ he said, still not fully recovered or awake.

‘You have to leave,’ she said, rubbing her jaw on his stimulating stubble.

‘Not just yet,’ he said, taking hold of her to insinuate her between him and the mattress.

Though the sensations of his exploring mouth stimulated her into considering what his roaming hands were suggesting, she knew that it was too dangerous to take the risk of further intimacy. The last thing that she wanted was for Dax to get into any difficulty, or rather trouble, for spending this time with her.

‘Yes, yet,’ she said. Extricating his hands from her body by linking their fingers, she brought them up to the sides of her face. ‘You have to go upstairs. Bruno will be looking for you.’

‘If he was then he would’ve found me,’ he said, straining the muscles in his arms to push up in a push up.

Drawing her lower lip between her teeth, she loved how his taut body could expend energy in such a casual way. Maybe he recognised her burgeoning arousal because he did another push up, and another, his fingers still linked in hers against the mattress.

The man wasn’t even breaking a sweat, he could probably do this all day. The knowing slant of his lips displayed his amusement at her response to what he considered a mundane action. He was stretching stiff, tired muscles, in his own way, and because she’d had a hold of his hands he couldn’t do it in a conventional manner; so he did the next best thing as far as she was concerned.

The guile of his expression grew and he took one pair of their twined fingers around to his back, and began to push up again, this time with one hand.

‘You’re showing off,’ she said, bobbing up to kiss him on his next descent.

‘If you just open your legs a bit wider and arch your hips.’ He winked and clicked his cheek.

She laughed because she had to give him points for trying; the man certainly did have talents. ‘You can plank on me later,’ she said. Bringing their arms around from his back to hold his wrist between their faces, she showed him the time on his watch. ‘Look at the time.’

‘Right,’ he said, clearing his throat then springing off the bed and onto his feet in a crouched stance. It was a practised manoeuvre so expert that she had to blink.

‘You have mad skills, tough guy,’ she said. Getting onto her knees to take his face in both of her hands, she kissed him, being careful not to send mixed signals about her intention to take things further. The thrust of his tongue begged for more, so she separated their lips by an inch. ‘What would you do if I punched you in the face right now?’

‘Try it,’ he said, and tried to kiss her again, but she resisted.

‘Are you saying that I couldn’t hit you? Or that you’d let me hit you?’

‘I’m telling you to try it and see what happens.’

This was where he crossed into cocky and her competitive heckles bristled. ‘I’ve punched guys before,’ she said. ‘I do have some abilities of my own, you know.’

‘Show me,’ he said. Leaping to his feet, he widened his stance and lifted his fists. With his four fingers he beckoned her toward him, moving nothing except those digits. ‘Come on then, Minx, get up. On your feet, pledge.’

‘You’re naked,’ she said, remaining on the bed. Moving to sit on her butt, she stretched her legs along the floor toward him.

‘Not my usual get-up, sure,’ he said. ‘But you’re naked too, we’re equal.’ Stretching across the floor, she snagged his jeans and tossed them up to him. ‘You’re that worried about protecting my junk?’ He pulled them on, but didn’t buckle the belt. ‘I guess you’re a girl who fights dirty.’

‘I’m a girl who retreats when their opponent is dazed and confused,’ she said, crawling across the concrete floor to retrieve her dress, which had somehow ended up near the bars. When she passed him he swooped down to spank her naked behind, causing her to glare over her shoulder at him. ‘I was perfectly behaved last night. You were the naughty one. Should I turn you over my knee?’

His grin burst to a laugh. He bent to snag her arm and lifted her off the ground with such force that her feet left the floor for a second. ‘Try that any day, I’d love to punish you for forgetting your station.’

Except she didn’t feel subordinate when he snatched her against his chest, trapping her arms between their bodies. Something was different this morning. They’d been verbally sparring since their first conversation and Dax had never been as sadistic as Bruno. So while Bruno had issued commands and taken pleasure in demeaning her, Dax was happy to receive the same amount of respect from her that he showed. Others may consider the spanking thing disrespectful, and she might have agreed with them if it wasn’t for the thrill she got when she was dominated by him.

‘Can you take me to the bathroom before you disappear upstairs?’

‘I’ll come back down,’ he said. ‘I just need an hour to get the place back together. I don’t want you seeing what went on up there.’

‘It’s probably going to be my job to clear up the mess.’

He shook his head. ‘Not anymore.’ He kissed her then removed his watch from his wrist to put it in her hand. ‘One hour, you can time me.’

‘I’d still appreciate the chance to pee, baby, please.’

‘There’s a restroom in the gym,’ he said. The cell door was still unlocked, so he led her through the gym to the restroom, the door to which was under the stairs.

He opened the door and switched on the light for her, she crossed to the toilet and lifted her dress. But when she turned and sat he was still there in the doorway, leaning against the doorframe, his arms folded across his chest, his thumbs resting on his biceps.

‘You’re going to stand there and watch me?’ she asked, unimpressed by his amusement. She had peed while he was in the room before, but he was usually busy with something else, not standing there observing her like she was putting on a show.

‘Yep. You might try to run away. You are my captive don’t forget.’

Glancing around, she drew attention to the lack of exits. ‘There are no windows.’

‘You’re a smart girl, who knows what plans you might have.’ He didn’t even believe his own accusations, but yanking her chain was growing to be one of his favourite pastimes.

‘You want to watch me pee out of the pussy you eat?’

‘That’s right,’ he said, not losing that tang of enjoyment. She wasn’t ever putting him off this lark.

Relaxing enough to let herself urinate, she wasn’t going to allow his antagonism get to her. To let him know that she was unaffected, she maintained eye contact throughout, right up until she washed her hands. The mirror in this room was on the back of the door so she didn’t see him coming up behind her.

‘I don’t want to leave you in there,’ he mumbled onto her crown.

‘You said it was important that they believe you slept with that girl, and that I believe you did, so you have no choice. You have to lock me in there. But you’re going to find out what’s going on upstairs and then release me, right? Do you want me to be a little bit pissed at you up there in front of Bruno?’

‘Not pissed,’ he said, squeezing her waist. ‘You’re supposed to be Little Miss Happy Slave. You should let me do whatever I want and still follow my orders. You have no right to get pissed at me.’

Twisting around, she looked up at him. ‘Do I?’

‘Do you what?’

‘Do I have the right to get pissed at you if you screw around?’

‘Babygirl, there’s a lot going on here that you don’t understand. There’s a lot of back room family politics with a bit of betrayal and sabotage mixed in. We’re in a fucked up situation.’

‘That sounds like the let-down, Dax. You’re breaking up with me before we ever got started. I thought you were a fighter. If you want me, why can’t you have me?’

‘Like I said, it’s about family.’

‘Family?’ she said.

‘You’re not meant to be for me.’

‘Screw what they want, Dax. I’m here and I’m telling you that you can have me. Are you too much of a pussy to possess me, tough guy? Too frightened to step up and take what’s yours?’

‘Don’t,’ he said, letting her go and retreating back to the door. ‘Don’t try to get me riled.’

She followed him through to the cell, where he was gathering up the last of his clothes and dressing. ‘Why not?’ she asked. ‘What happens when the great Dax Harrow gets riled? I’ve never seen it myself.’

‘If you start a fight with me I’ll end up fucking you,’ he said, sticking his feet in his boots. ‘Do yourself a favour and sit your ass down on the bed.’

‘I’ll never understand enough to help if you don’t let me in,’ she said, not following his order, but slipping into the cell just inside the door.

‘Loyalty is important where I come from, Minx. I’m not ready to betray my family and even if I did… You would flip out if you knew the truth and I need you playing along, you’re too volatile, and if you freak in front of Bruno right now…’

‘You don’t trust me,’ she said, stating the obvious but pushing him to confirm it, except he didn’t.

‘I’ll be back in an hour,’ he said, not addressing what she had said.

He kissed her cheek, which was either a sign he was pissed at her, or a sign he didn’t want to lead himself into temptation. The door shut with a clang and locked, but she didn’t bother to move from her perch leaning on the bars. She assumed that he was gone, but he spoke a moment later.

‘I’m trying to hold this together,’ he said. ‘What I… feeling anything for you at all is a betrayal of everyone in my life, and it could make things worse for both of us.  If it comes down to choosing to be with you or saving your life… I’m going to choose the second.’

The enormity of his words drew her in a semi-circle. He was in the shadow by the door, but she could make out the determination on his face. ‘What does that mean, Dax?’

‘That I will give you up when the time comes. Things could get a whole lot worse for you and I’m not going to make you any promises about stepping in to make them easier.’

‘You’d let them hurt me?’

‘They’re going to hurt you,’ he said without an ounce of doubt. ‘They are, babygirl, and for that I’m sorry. I’ll do everything I can to minimise—‘

‘Don’t do me any favours,’ she snarled. ‘What’s the point in telling me that you give a fuck if you’re just going to let them follow through with whatever their plan is anyway?’

‘I have some pull… I just don’t know if it’s enough.’

‘You’re going to try, but you think that you’ll fail? So why bother? Is that how you think walking into every fight? Sometimes you have to make a decision, Dax, it’s not always the easy choice, but you have to pick what’s best for you and the people you care about.’

‘You’re not the only one I care about.’

‘Do you care about them more?’ she asked, filing away his admission without acknowledging it or rather making a big deal of it. ‘That’s the only choice, you pick them or you pick me. Own it and face the consequences.’

‘Interesting advice, we’ll see if your opinion changes when you learn the truth.’

‘We’ll see,’ she said, and they shared silence for a few seconds before he turned and left.

So she was left here, in her old quarters again. She didn’t like it, but for an hour she would handle it. Dax portrayed such strength, like he was a man who could do anything he set his mind to. But he answered to others and it was those others who would ultimately decide their fate.