Submit (The Underground Book 4) (21 page)

He’d chosen the dress she wore, initially surprised she owned something that sexy considering how often he’d seen her in far more demure clothing. But then he’d seen the price tag still hanging from the sleeve and almost laughed. She might have owned the dress, but she’d never worn it.

It was sexy as hell. Short with a full skirt that hung loose around her thighs. The bodice was fitted and held up by thin spaghetti straps. Her full breasts were bare beneath the silky material. He couldn’t wait for the opportunity to slide his fingers under the front and swipe over her nipples.

They’d argued about her panties until she cocked a hip and set her hands on her waist to glare at him. “You can’t possibly expect me to take you to a dinner with my family without underwear. I may be submissive, but if that’s a deal breaker, then I’m out.”

He’d laughed at the way she nearly stomped her foot and spoke only one word before he left the room to let her decide. “Thong.”

He hoped it was black.

A petite woman who looked incredibly too young to have a thirty-year-old daughter, let alone a thirty-two-year-old son, wove her way between the many relatives in the room to greet them at the entrance. Where Belinda might have had a few of her father’s defining facial features, she matched this woman as if they were identical twins separated by thirty years.

The woman leaned in to kiss Belinda on the cheek. She lifted her gaze toward Nikolav and took his hand to squeeze it.

“Nikolav, this is my mother, Marta Gallo.”

“Nice to meet you, ma’am.” He squeezed her hand in return, enjoying the fact that she was every bit as pleased to see Belinda with him as her husband was.

Another voice tore through the air from behind Marta. Shrill. Annoyingly high-pitched. “Belinda? Oh my God. I haven’t seen you in ages.” The woman speaking to Belinda never once glanced at her. Her gaze was pinned to Nikolav in a blatant manner that was so comical, he had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from outright laughing.

She wore a flashy, colorful, floral dress that was a size too small. And as Belinda had described, her enormous breasts were busting to get out. Her hot pink heels clicked on the floor as she approached.

“I saw her last month,” Belinda whispered.

Nikolav did chuckle at that as he casually set his arm around her shoulder, letting his fingers dangle against her chest, teasing the skin. When he then used the same hand to lift her chin toward his face and leaned down to kiss her lips briefly, she smiled against his mouth.

The woman finally reached them as Nikolav released Belinda’s lips, licking the seam so they would be left wet.

He finally let his gaze ease back to the other woman who wore a slightly shocked expression as her eyes darted back and forth between Belinda and Nikolav as if she’d just realized he was with her cousin—the one she’d pointedly addressed as an excuse to approach.

He should have listened to Belinda. No wonder she was worried. Not that she had any reason to be, but he could see why she would be concerned.

Two more similarly endowed and flamboyantly dressed women flanked the first one, and Nikolav and Belinda hadn’t made it all the way through the door yet.

“Told you,” she muttered through gritted teeth and a fake smile.

“Indeed you did,” he agreed.

After quick introductions to all three women whose names he immediately forgot, Belinda took his hand and wiggled between them to get farther into the room. She made a beeline for the back corner where a man stood chatting with a far more reasonable-looking woman who nodded as he spoke.

“Sal,” Belinda called as they approached. “Happy birthday.”

Ah, the brother. And the girlfriend.

Belinda turned her gaze toward the woman. “Josie. How are you?”

“I’m good.” The woman was a few inches taller than Belinda, with dark hair and similar skin coloring. She might have also been Italian. She lifted her gaze to smile at Nikolav.

“Josie. Salazar. This is Nikolav.”

Nikolav reached around her to shake both their hands, keeping his other on her waist. He fully intended to claim her in every possible way this evening.

She was a gem. If it helped his cause to make her family love him, he was all in.

“Russian?” Salazar asked.

“Yes. Born and raised.”

Salazar’s gaze roamed up and down Nikolav’s frame. “You a body builder or something?”

“MMA fighter.” He left out the underground part.

“Ah. Interesting. I’ve watched the sport. You must be in the best shape.” He smiled. “Belinda won’t have to worry about anyone jumping her as long as she’s with you, will she?”

Nikolav flinched, but tried to hide it. He sure hoped not. But what her brother said hit a little too close to home.

“She’s like a hundred pounds. Makes me nervous.”

“True. But you’re right. Not many people mess with me.”

Josie giggled and set her hand on Salazar’s bicep. “Where did you two meet?”

“Through friends,” Belinda responded.

Luckily, a booming voice filled the room at that moment, keeping them from being bombarded with too many questions. Belinda’s father spoke from the other side of the room. “If everyone would please take a seat. Dinner will be served in a moment.”

Belinda pulled out a chair right in front of her and pointed at the one next to it. “Sit, before we get separated.”

Lord, who would pull them apart?

He took her advice though and settled in the seat next to her. There were open bottles of wine on the table and water and wine glasses at every place. “Big wine drinkers.”

She grinned. “Italians.”

He grabbed the closest bottle and filled the glass in front of her.

“Do you want me to order you something else?”

“No. I’m fine.”

She frowned. “It’s no problem. There’s no rule that you have to drink wine. The waiter can get you a beer or a mixed drink.”

He leaned forward and kissed her gently again. “I’m fine, baby. I have to fight tomorrow night. I don’t like to drink the night before.”

“Right. Okay.”

He lifted his water glass and held it up. “To huge crazy Italian families.”

She clinked her glass with his and took a long drink. “Hold your opinion. The night is young.”

“I think your parents liked me,” Nikolav said as he tugged his tie loose on the way into her apartment three hours later.

She laughed. “I’d say you won them over. Yes. My dad took me aside and gave me his approval when I went to the restroom.”

“He did the same to me.” Nikolav chuckled. “Told me you were a wonderful woman and I should hold on to you if I had any sense.”

“Wow.” Belinda was shocked. Her dad said that? To a man he’d briefly met?

“Said he could tell by the way I look at you that you mean something to me.”

She flushed. Did she? Mean something to him?

He pulled her toward him and leaned down to kiss her, his hands cupping her shoulders in a way she’d grown to adore, especially on a night like this when they were bare. It was possessive, and it made her panties wet every time.

Although that wasn’t difficult either, considering how many times he’d set his hand on her thigh under the tablecloth and inched his way toward her pussy. She’d lost count, but she’d gotten adept at slapping his wrist and grabbing his forearm to stop his advances while continuing to pretend to listen to whoever spoke to her from across the table.

Now they were home. And she intended to reap the benefits of his earlier promise. She set her hands on his waist and then drew them around to his front to cup his cock. It was fully erect, but when wasn’t it?

She wasted no time tugging his belt loose, unbuttoning the front of his pants, and lowering the zipper.

His cock sprang free, the entire glorious length filling her hand.

Before he could come up with some excuse as to why she shouldn’t be touching him, she lowered to her knees and leaned forward to suck him between her lips.

His salty masculine flavor filled her mouth as she drew him in.

“Jesus, Belinda.” He threaded his fingers in her hair. “We just got here.”

Yeah, and I don’t intend to let you change your mind
.

She inhaled his scent, drawing in a long deep breath through her nose. He smelled like the soap he used in her shower earlier and Nikolav. She hadn’t given a blow job before and was surprised at how heady it made her feel. Potent. As if she held a fraction of the power in this relationship.

She swirled her tongue around the mushroom-shaped head and through the slit.

Nikolav jerked his cock out of her mouth and stepped back, holding her shoulders far enough away that she couldn’t reach him.

She lifted her gaze, praying she hadn’t fucked this up somehow. “What? Did I do something wrong?” She had to control her voice to keep from squeaking.

“Baby, you’re doing everything way too right, but let’s get some of these clothes off. I love watching you suck my cock on your knees, but I’ll like it better with your tits swaying in front of you and your pussy bare.”

She exhaled a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.

He hauled her to her feet and reached around her back to lower the zipper all the way to her butt. When he slid the tiny straps down her arms, the dress fell to the floor. “God, I love seeing you in heels and nothing else.”

Easy enough. She could keep them on.

He released her and stepped back a pace. “Take the thong off. Slowly.”

A week ago she would have blushed ten shades of red at that tone and those words, but last Friday, before she met Nikolav, she’d been a different woman. The post-Nikolav-meeting Belinda did a full strip tease as she wiggled her ass back and forth, shrugging the thong over her hips and then down to her ankles. She made a production of stepping out of the scrap of lace in her heels.

“Jesus…” He unbuttoned his shirt while she performed her tease, tugging it out of his pants and then over his arms to toss it aside.

Instead of approaching her as she’d expected, he rounded the couch to head for the armchair. When he arrived, he kicked off his shoes, removed his pants and socks, and lowered his gloriously naked body into the seat.

“Come here.” His voice was huskier than she’d heard before.

It gave her courage.

She approached slowly, trying to look sexy while doing so.

“You liked my cock in your mouth.”

“Yes.” It was the truth.

He pointed at the floor in front of him. “On your knees. Here.”

She lowered herself to the floor as gracefully as possible her gaze lingering on the elaborate tattoo that reached around his shoulder and down his bicep. Wings. Angels. They seemed to be in a battle. Good against evil?

“Spread your thighs.”

She jerked her chin downward and inched her legs out, sucking in a breath as the air hit her pussy. She was wet. Dripping. From his words now. But also from his actions all evening. He’d kept a hand on her somewhere all evening except the times one of them went to the bathroom. He’d whispered intentionally close to her ear several times also. He’d kissed her more times than she could count, sometimes lingering longer than most people would in public.

She liked it. A lot.

He was the perfect balance of possessive and respectful in front of her family.

She felt like she could conquer the world on his arm. And everyone in the room knew it. Even her mother had commented on his good looks, manners, and the way he clearly adored her.

Did he?

And how had they gotten this far in so few days? It was crazy.

She’d dodged the question of when they’d met about ten times, not wanting to ruin her perfect evening with the raised eyebrows of the skeptics.

“Look at me.”

She lifted her gaze, setting her hands on his knees.

“You’re a gorgeous woman. No one in the room held a candle to you tonight. Don’t ever doubt that.”

“Thank you.” She’d grown as a person in the last few days too. It seemed easier to accept his compliment. Not that she suffered from self-esteem issues. She’d always been secure about herself. She knew she turned heads. She was smart. Hard working. Intelligent.

But when her cousins were around… Those women were like vultures. She’d never had the guts to test any man’s loyalty around them. They could eat a man up and spit him out in an hour. Probably as a group without hesitation.

She loved her family. All of them. And she didn’t ordinarily care how her cousins behaved around men, but that was before she brought her own man into the fray.

Was he? Her own?

He wrapped his hand around his cock and stroked it from the bottom to the tip. “You want this?”

“Yes.” She breathed heavily, refocusing on his girth.

“Keep your hands on my thighs, your legs spread open, and your tits hanging loose. Use your mouth only.”

She leaned forward. She could do that. Well, all but the mouth only part. She wasn’t sure how that was going to work out.

But he had a plan apparently because he held the base of his cock for her as she eased her lips around the tip. Was there a wrong or right way to do this?

“Just do what feels natural, baby.” His husky voice was back. As was his mind-reading ability.

She licked through the slit again, drawing out his precome. And then she sucked him deeper until her teeth hit his shaft and she released him. She didn’t want to hurt him.

“Tuck your lips around your teeth if you want.”

Ah. She did as he suggested and tried again. Much better.

And she was rewarded with a low groan from Nikolav that gave her the confidence to continue.

A line of wetness leaked from her pussy down her thigh. Her nipples stood erect, pleading for attention. But she concentrated on the thick erection in her mouth.

When he cupped the back of her neck with his free hand, she felt all of the power she had over him through his fingertips.

Heady. Exhilarating.

She swirled her tongue around the head again and dipped it into the slit.

Nikolav released a long moan that vibrated through his body. She felt it in his cock and sucked him in as deep as she could.