Page 46 of Thorns of Malice

"Of course it's ready, you eager fuck," Dax seethes, then quietly pleads, "Ivy, please. Let's go talk."

I rise. It's now or never. Even though I hate Dax, nothing sounds better than being alone with him. I can't help it. I'm a sex junkie who wants the high I've been craving for ten years. The electricity between us hasn't faded over the years.

So I don't want to be around any of the others. I don't trust them, except maybe Lilly. I still can't tell what her part was in all this.

Play the game.

I slide my hands up Dax's torso as I rise, and then wrap them around his neck. "We can talk on the way to the after-party. Let's have it at your place."

His eyes turn to slits. "My place?"

I nod. "Yeah. Do you still live in the cottage? Or are you in the main house now?"

Avery chimes in, "We're all in the main house. Cooper, Dax, me. He can't kick us out."

Dax clenches his jaw. He puts his arms around my waist, tugging me closer, begging, "Ivy, please. Let's go talk. Alone."

"We will, but everybody has to come to the after-party," I declare, smiling.

Dax's expression hardens.

I lean into his ear. "Do you want to talk to me in the car, or do you want me to leave with Dyer?"

It's enough for me to get my way. "Let's go," he replies, leading me away.

Dyer steps up next to us. "Where are you taking my date, Dax?"

I put my hand on Dyer's. "We're going to Dax's. I'll meet you there."

"No, I'll drive you. You're my date," Dyer insists.

Dax moves me to the other side of him and jabs his finger in Dyer's chest. "She's not going with you. You're lucky you have an invite, but I advise you not to show up."

"Dax, don't be like that," I chide, putting my hand on his cheek.

He doesn't say anything. He swiftly moves me through the crowd, and everyone stares at us.

I can only imagine what's going through their minds.

No one at Clifton University is unaware of what happened ten years ago. I'm sure everyone in the room's seen the sex video.

After the scene I created on stage, everyone at the table bidding on the necklace, and Dax putting it back around my neck after paying $200 million, I can't imagine what they must think.

Why did he design it for me?

We get out into the cold air, and Dax silently leads me to his car. It's right at the front in his reserved parking spot. It suddenly seems funny to me and I laugh. He opens the passenger's door. "What's so funny, gorgeous?"

My heart soars.

Gorgeous. How long has it been since I've heard that word from his mouth?

It doesn't mean anything,I remind myself.

I point at the sign. "Of course you have a reserved parking spot in this lot." He had one for school, but it was in another area.

"And?" he questions, confused, as if having reserved parking spots all over campus is normal.

It is in his world.

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