As soon as we arrive at Dax’s place, he flings me against the wall of the spacious entryway and fucks me. There is no foreplay, no kissing, no romance. Just raw, intense fucking in every position possible. Then he carries me upstairs and continues, his hand tight around my hair, bringing me to scream with both pleasure and agony.

Later as I lay in bed, I realize that he was trying to let out his frustration of the evening. Losing that one award hit him hard. Even though he didn’t want to talk about it on the way home, secretly it brings me pleasure to think I helped him in some way, that he shared his pain with me.

When he starts to fall asleep, I kiss him softly on the lips, but he doesn’t return my kiss.

In the middle of the night, unable to sleep, I turn to face him, watching him in the darkness, listening to the gentle sound of him breathing. I’m surprised when he stirs and pulls me into his arms.

“I’m sorry, baby,” he says, “I was having a rough night.”

“Why?” I ask. “You walked away with more awards than anyone else.”

“You’re right.” He tightens his arms around me and presses his lips to mine. “It’s just that I’m greedy. You know that already.”

He grips my ass, drawing me closer, pressing me hard against his body. His hand moves to the back of my head and he brings my face even nearer so he can thrust his tongue between my lips. I feel myself forget the disappointment of not being acknowledged by him, of not being properly congratulated. I allow myself to melt to his touch. And then he’s on top of me, pushing me into the mattress. Since there’s no shred of clothing between us, nothing stands in the way of him entering me.

“I love you, Dax.” I shut my eyes as our bodies move against each other. “And I love your dick.”

“I know you do.” He picks up pace as if this is a lovemaking competition and he’s determined to win. When he kisses my lips again, I taste the salt of his sweat. It tastes sweet on my tongue.

When we are finally both satisfied, he continues to hold me tight. “I’m so proud of you,” he whispers.

“Thank you,” I close my eyes, satisfied. “And I’m proud of you.”

“Thanks, babe.” He presses a kiss on the nape of my neck and cups my vagina with his hand. We fall asleep that way and I dream of being back at the awards. I didn’t win this time.

***

DAX IS STILL ASLEEP, his handsome face at peace now. Even in sleep, even disheveled, he looks extremely handsome, his dark eyelashes resting on his cheeks. The light sprinkles of gray on his temples give him a distinguished look that turns me on. Under the covers, he’s still naked after we made love last night.

As I watch him, my chest tightens. Something is bothering me and I can’t put a finger on it. I should be excited after my success yesterday, but I’m not.

I slip out of bed and head to the bathroom, where I turn on the shower and step inside to wash away my worries, whatever they are.

As I stand under the jet of water, my head tilted up, my mind returns to yesterday, when Dax told me I should trust him to make the decisions for us. My body remembers the ache I had felt in that moment.

Images of my parents’ faces flash across my mind. A mother I loved and a father I despised. My father was controlling and my mother did everything he told her to do. At mama’s funeral, I made a vow to never fall in love with a man that reminds me of my father. The same year mama died, papa had a heart attack. I remember thinking that he died because his only joy in life had been to rule over mama.

Not long after I finish washing my hair, I hear the door open, bringing in a gust of cool air. Dax steps into the shower to join me. He kisses me against the cool marble stone tiles. I’m no longer in the mood for sex, but it feels good to be touched by him, to be wanted. I moan as my body betrays me. He lifts me off the floor and I wrap my legs around him. This time, he doesn’t finish what he started. He simply slides into me, pauses, then pulls out.

Without saying a word, and his dick still hard, he steps out of the shower and dries himself off. Unsure what to say to him, I finish showering and turn off the water.

“What are your plans today?” He reaches for his toothbrush.

“I’m meeting Curtis for breakfast.”

“Is it important?” He pauses. “I was thinking of flying you to Aspen for the day. We could leave right now and have breakfast on the jet.”

“Aspen?” I wrap a towel around my body and pick up my toothbrush. “You didn’t reserve anything yet, I hope. You should have mentioned it to me yesterday.”

“It was supposed to be a surprise. We’re supposed to celebrate our engagement, remember?” He continues to brush his teeth.

“But can’t we do it some other time? I have my weekly meeting with Curtis. After the awards, we have a lot to talk about.”

Dax drops his toothbrush into the black, bowl-shaped ceramic sink, rinses his mouth, and grabs me by the shoulders. He pulls me toward him, his lips meeting mine in a deep kiss. He has surprised me to the point I don’t willingly kiss him back.

“What was that about?” I ask when he breaks the kiss. It was almost as though he wanted to shut me up.

“Can’t I kiss my fiancée when I please?”

“Of course, of course you can.” I’m still confused as I brush my teeth. Something is not right. I just feel it. We’re both quiet until I finish brushing my teeth.

“I don’t want you to have breakfast with Curtis.” He leans against the second sink. “You’ll be eating with me.”

“Dax, you know I can’t just cancel at the last minute. He’s my agent. It sounded important.”

“But he takes too much of your time. And since we’re both so busy, we don’t get to spend enough time together.”

“You know that’s not true. We were in Paris for a month.” Whenever we’re not shooting, we spend every moment together.

“Can you blame me? I can never get enough of you.”

“I know. But I need to start work again.” I move to walk out of the bathroom, but he grabs my wrist and yanks me back to him, kissing me again. This time, he gives my bottom lip a small bite.

Later, when I’m getting dressed in a black, backless chiffon jumpsuit I keep at his place, it dawns on me that the kiss was a message of some sort. Dax was telling me that I belong to him.

“Are you sure you can’t cancel?” he asks again as I zip up my dress.

“No,” I say firmly. “But I promise I won’t be long. Instead of Aspen, let’s just have a nice lunch or dinner at the LaClaire or some other nice place. We don’t need to go far to celebrate.”

He rakes a hand through his hair and walks to the window, a towel around his waist. “Fine, call me as soon as you’re done.”

“I promise.” I remove my engagement ring from a drawer and slide it onto my finger now that it’s official. It’s a stunning pink and white diamond ring that looks so expensive I feel nervous wearing it out in public.

He turns around again. “Tomorrow, you should start packing. I want you out of that crappy apartment for good. I want to be surrounded by your things.”

A flutter of excitement rises up inside my chest at the prospect of living with him. But not yet. “We haven’t even decided on when we’re getting married? Shouldn’t we be discussing that?” As much as I want to spend the rest of my life with him, I want to have sealed the deal before moving in.

“I’ll have a look at my calendar and we can figure it out.”

“Dax, this is not something to just figure out. It’s our wedding.”

“I get that. But you know how many projects I have lined up.” He comes to wrap his arms around me. “Don’t worry, I plan on making you my wife before the year is over.”