Submit (The Underground Book 4) (34 page)

At Belinda’s right stood Mikhail with his arm similarly wrapped around Haley and his hand resting on his sister’s shoulder.

Belinda twisted to face the front as the crowd screamed louder.

Katie wrung her hands and lifted onto her tiptoes, wrapping her fingers around Nikolav’s bicep to balance herself.

“Where’s Taylor?” Belinda asked, tipping her head back so Nikolav could hear her.

“Not sure right now. Saw her a moment ago.” He scanned the room, stopping when his gaze landed someplace on the other side of the cage. “I see her.”

Sometimes it seemed Nikolav and his friends included Taylor in their metal tally of who to protect, even though the woman was an FBI agent and had at least three weapons strapped to her body somewhere.

Nevertheless, she’d become more than an agent to them. She was a friend.

Belinda felt that more than any of them after spending hours with her last night, first in the fake safe house and then in the real one. When the woman was working, she was all business—serious, brows furrowed, always scanning her surroundings. But in those few moments between, when the danger wasn’t as imminent, Belinda saw the human side of her.

She was a regular woman like anyone else—a woman who happened to work for the FBI and carried an arsenal of weapons in her car and on her person. Now that she was no longer a possible suspect in anyone’s mind, she noticed Nikolav watching out for her.

It was endearing. Unwarranted, but endearing.

Belinda realized she was staring up at his face when he tipped his chin down to meet her gaze again and smiled. She rested her chin on his chest as the announcer introduced the fighters, tuning him out after hearing
Leo “The Master” Gulin
.

Seconds ticked by as she held Nikolav’s gaze, not willing to blink.

She’d known him two weeks. Two weeks that seemed like months or years. In that time she’d been poisoned, survived an explosion, run for her life, been held hostage, hidden in a safe house, and fallen in love.

Was it insane?

Probably.

But this was her new life. It wouldn’t always be like this.

Taylor was confident they were one step behind Yenin. He couldn’t evade the FBI forever. His days were numbered. They would get the proof they needed to take him down and find him. He couldn’t hide forever.

And Belinda needed to force herself to get over the fact that Nikolav was going to be glued to her until Yenin was behind bars. She was okay with that. It was better than sitting alone in a safe house without him. And she needed to be able to do research.

She’d spoken to her boss that morning. He understood the stakes. She wasn’t expected to enter
Chicago Multimedia
again for the duration. The story didn’t require her to be inside her office building. In fact, she gathered much more intel picking the brains of her new friends.

In a few months when Yenin was out of the picture and things died down, she would have a story unlike anything she’d ever done in her life. Career changing.

“You okay?” Nikolav asked, his face tipping to one side as his eyes narrowed.

“Yeah.” She flattened her face to his chest one more time and breathed in his scent again. God she loved this man.

And then she turned in his arms to watch the fight. Great opportunity to understand his world better on a night when he was smashed against her instead of in the cage himself.

“Tell me what’s happening,” she said as she watched Leo bounce around in the cage, arms up in a protective stance, face menacing.

His opponent clipped Leo with a right hook, sending Leo staggering backward a few paces and forcing a yelp from Katie at Belinda’s side.

Katie covered her eyes for a moment, squinting between her fingers. “Why do I subject myself to this?” she muttered.

Nikolav leaned in to let his lips meet Belinda’s ear. “He’s good with his legs. Watch him. He’s goading the guy. In a moment he’s going to spin around and kick him high on the chest.”

Sure enough, as if in slow motion, Leo spun in a circle, leg lifted high, and nailed his opponent under the chin. Impressive. Leo followed that kick with a series of punches to the guy’s face and upper body, striking so fast it was difficult to follow his movements.

Now she understood why they spent so much time beating the hell out of the speedbag in the gym.

The tattoos covering Leo’s back were lines of Cryllic script. Beautiful. She wondered what they meant. She would ask Katie someday.

Leo’s opponent jumped out of range, bouncing into the fence and then regaining his step and maneuvering back to the center of the cage.

“He’s getting tired,” Nikolav stated into her ear.

“Who? Leo?”

She felt Nikolav’s lips tip up in a grin. “No. Leo never tires. Brickhead does.”

“Brickhead?”

“That’s what they call him. He never seems to be affected by a hit to the head. Guy’s skull is made of brick.”

Belinda nodded, grabbing Nikolav’s forearm to lift higher on her toes. “Why don’t they have chairs at these things so we can all sit down and see the match like civilized people?” she complained.

Nikolav chuckled. “Where do you see civilized people?”

She rolled her eyes but didn’t look back at him. Lifting on the balls of her feet again, she watched Leo spin around to land another kick on Brickhead’s upper arm. The crowd went wild, and the announcer spoke quickly into the microphone, but whatever he was rambling about she tuned out.

If she allowed herself to admit it, the sport could be beautiful. Artistic. The fluid movements amazed her. The way Leo balanced on his feet, bouncing back and forth to evade his opponent, was spectacular to watch.

She wouldn’t tell Nikolav that. Didn’t need him to think she was falling for his sport. His head was big enough.

Suddenly, Leo threw an impressive uppercut to Brickhead’s jaw, sending the man flailing backward until his eyes rolled up and he collapsed.

Katie gasped. Belinda did the same. Alena moaned. And Haley cringed. Yep, Belinda was in good company with these women.

The crowd roared louder as the announcer declared Leo the winner, holding his hand in the air.

“Thank God that’s over,” Katie muttered as she turned around to face the others.

“Easy for you to say,” Alena whispered.

Belinda didn’t miss her words, though. Yeah. She was into Ivan. Whether or not they had officially outed themselves as a couple didn’t matter. Alena’s feelings were written all over her face.

Nikolav held Belinda tighter against his chest, kissing the top of her head and then lowering his mouth to her ear again. “How’s your ass, babe?”

A flush crept up her face, and she didn’t move. She had no intention of answering him. Her butt was fine. It stung this morning, but he’d insisted on putting lotion on it after they showered, and now it had dulled to more of a light burn. It actually felt good. It reminded her of how hard she’d come after he spanked her, and the lingering ache had kept her aroused all day.

But she wasn’t about to tell him that.

He chuckled low, his breath tickling her ear. “If you want to avoid another round of swats so soon after the first, I suggest you stop bouncing up and down rubbing your sweet ass against my cock.”

What? She froze. She hadn’t intentionally pressed against his erection. Sure, she felt it behind her. No way to miss it. But as far as she knew, he was always hard and ready. How was this evening any different?

“We have several more fights to watch, babe. Keep that in mind while you attempt to seduce me with your ass.”

She still didn’t move. He was full of shit. Wasn’t he?

“Try me,” he continued, his hand around her waist snaking up to rest beneath her breasts.

Her breasts swelled and her nipples tightened beneath the lace bra she wore. Dammit. How did he manage to affect her so much?

He lifted his gaze and scanned their surroundings again. “I need to pay attention, imp.”

Right. Yenin. There was danger everywhere, and not just inside the cage.

“You see anyone suspicious?” she asked.

He shook his head. “No. And I’m not surprised. The man lost four people yesterday alone. Surely he needs to back up a step and regroup. Lick his wounds. Something. I think we’re safe tonight.”

Belinda let her gaze roam the room too. She didn’t know how she would recognize any of Yenin’s men, but she could spot a few obvious FBI agents, including Patel. And Taylor, who had inched closer to the cage and appeared to be watching everything around her at once as though she had eyes in the back of her head as well as the front.

Maybe she did. Belinda wouldn’t put it past her. She had a renewed respect for the woman since last night. They all did.

“It’s going to be okay,” Nikolav whispered as if he were reading her mind. “This nightmare will be over soon, and we’ll resume our regularly scheduled lives.”

She twisted in his arms to face him, putting her hands on his chest. He still had one arm wrapped around her, but his other hand rested on Katie, never letting go.

She loved that about him. His dedication to his friends was an impressive quality that endeared her even more. And she knew for certain she could count on any one of them to protect her just as they each pitched in to protect the others. Hopefully one day she would get to meet Dmitry and Lauren too. Maybe when this was all over, the two of them could return to the US.

Based on Nikolav’s interaction with the other four men, she knew they were closer than brothers, and all of them felt their missing family member deeply.

“We’re going to be fine,” she echoed. “Perfect. Better than. If we can survive what we’ve been through in the last two weeks, we can survive anything.”

He smiled and hugged her closer. When he bent to kiss her gently on the lips, she shivered at the brief but intimate touch.

Oh yeah. This giant vampire of a man was hers. And in spite of everything else happening around them, she’d never been happier.

Becca Jameson lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband and two kids. After years of editing, she is now a full-time author. With over 40 best-selling books written, she has dabbled in a variety of genres, ranging from paranormal to contemporary to BDSM. The voices in her head are clamoring to get out faster than she can get them onto “paper”! She loves chatting with fans, so feel free to contact her through email, Facebook, or her website.

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Keep reading for a sneak peek of
Thrust
, book 5 of this series releasing September 2016.

“Alena, what the hell are you doing? Go put some clothes on.”

Yes. That’s almost exactly what she expected him to say. Word for word.

She ignored Ivan’s narrowed eyes and perfected frown and continued toward the refrigerator. She’d planned this for weeks. It had taken that long for two specific stars to align, converging at the same time—a rare opportunity when no one but the two of them were in the apartment
and
she had the nerve to act.

Ivan groaned as she leaned over to reach for a soda on the bottom shelf of the fridge.

She knew perfectly well that the towel wrapped around her wasn’t long enough to quite cover her ass in this position. Hell, it barely reached around her small frame in order for her to tuck one corner in between her breasts.

“Alena. Babe. Go put some clothes on,” he repeated. “You can’t waltz around here naked. We aren’t the only people living here.”

She caught him glancing at the front door when she turned around. But she knew everyone’s schedule for the day. No one was going to be home for hours. No one was likely to be home at all for the rest of the day and night.

Mikhail was permanently attached to Haley and hadn’t been back to the apartment for more than a few minutes at a time in a month.

Nikolav was at Belinda’s, where he’d been since meeting her a week ago.

And Sergei hadn’t been home for two nights. He probably wouldn’t return again that night, though he’d been tight-lipped about his destination. Now that she thought about it, he’d been tight-lipped for days. Alena was clear on his status as a lady’s man, however. So he’d undoubtedly landed himself a woman.

She rolled her eyes as she popped the top on her soda. “I’m hardly naked. And no one’s home.”

“
I’m
home.” He pointed at his chest for emphasis. His gray T-shirt stretched tightly across his pecs. “Alena, I’m standing right here.” Leaning was more like it. He’d been leaning against the counter when she entered, staring at something on his phone. And at this point, it seemed more like he was using the counter to keep himself upright.

Score one.

“I noticed.” She took a sip of the soda, intentionally adjusting the front of her towel, hiking it up so her breasts plumped and the tail end at her sex lifted a bit too high.

Ivan fumbled with his phone until it slipped from his hands and landed on the floor. Thank goodness it had a protective case.

Score two.

It was so very hard not to laugh. She bit her lower lip, hoping her eyes weren’t dancing with mirth. And then she lifted the soda can to her lips and took a pretend sip of the sugary sweetness just to cover her expression.

She never drank soda. It wasn’t a taste she’d ever developed. It reminded her of liquid candy. Orphanages in Russia certainly didn’t stock it or feed it to the children, so she’d been almost an adult before she had ever tried it. Apparently for some people that was a bit too late to acquire the taste.

While Ivan was bent over picking up his phone, she rolled the cold can across her forehead as if it were too hot in the apartment. It was anything but too hot. Burly men who spent most of their time honing their bodies for mixed martial arts lived in the cramped space. They kept the thermostat set way too low. Most of the time she wore a sweatshirt or a cardigan to keep warm.