Page 14 of Seeds of Malice

"I thought it was time you got in the pool," I say, then dive under the water. I kiss her belly and slide my hands around to her ass. She struggles to get away. But I hold her tight and come up right in front of her lips.

Her breathing increases.

"Oh, Dax has fresh meat," Avery calls out. "Save some for the rest of us."

I ignore her, but I don't miss Ivy's expression. I'll have to convince my sister to shut her mouth around Ivy. I don't need rumors going around about me and other women, even if they are true. And I definitely don't need Avery trying to seduce Ivy. She claims she's bi-sexual but the only time I ever see her go for women is when she's trying to get something from them. So I'm unsure what her true sexuality is, but I'm not letting her dig her claws into Ivy.

"Hot dogs or hamburgers?" Bobby calls out.

"Hot dog. No, hamburger. No, both," Cooper picks.

"Burger on lettuce, no cheese, only mustard," Avery adds.

I dramatically roll my eyes, and Ivy starts laughing. Like every other girl in this town, my sister is skin and bones. I don't remember the last time she ate a carbohydrate.

I yell out, "Ivy and I will have cheeseburgers with buns. Isn't that right?"

She nods and giggles.

I add, "See? Isn't this better than unpacking?"

She smiles. "Yeah. It's a nice day."

"Sorry about my sister. She's annoying," I mutter.

Ivy glances at Avery, declaring, "She seems okay."

I grunt. "I can assure you she's not."

"Thanks for bringing me with you."

I claim, "No problem. Tomorrow, I'll take you somewhere away from this place."

Her eyebrows arch. "Where?"

"I'm not telling you."

"You're not telling me?"

"No. Don't you know what a surprise is?" I tease.

She bites on her lip again.

God, I want to sink my teeth into it until it bleeds and suck on it until it's swollen. Then all she'll have to do is walk around, and everyone will know it's from me.

She tilts her head. "You're really not going to tell me where you want to take me?"

"Nope."

She raises her eyebrows.

I add, "Don't tell me you're scared of surprises."

She shakes her head and laughs, but the thing is, she should be scared of any position I put her in. Very, very scared.

3

Ivy

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