6. Nina
6
NINA
Nina
D ante lunged against me so quickly that I had no time to react. He vaguely instructed me to play along with whatever plans he had, then before I could shove him back and insist on some personal space, he held me up against his car.
His solid body pressed into mine, shoving me back roughly before I could protest.
He hadn’t given me a chance to catch up, to insist that he back off. But now with his hard presence firmly locking me in his embrace, I had no willpower or desire to tell him off.
I wanted no space between us. As I looped my arms around his shoulders, hugging his neck as he plundered my mouth, I wanted no barriers or distance between us. With his muscled body flush to mine, his hulking size blocking me from the view of those bikers who’d pulled into the lot, I couldn’t think of anywhere else I’d rather be, anywhere else that would make me feel this secure.
And wanted.
I inhaled through my nose, caught off guard with how suddenly he’d crushed his lips to mine. One second, I was battling through the humiliation of admitting to this successful and rich man that my brother had stooped so low as to lose me in a bet to a criminal. The next, he was thrusting his velvety and demanding tongue into my mouth and making me both gasp and moan.
I grunted, unable to form words, and he pulled back, out of breath and staring at me with urgency. “Play along,” he ordered again before he dove back in and kissed me harder. His hot lips brushed back and forth as he sought a deeper angle. Then his tongue slid inside to steal my taste, exploring without patience.
With need. Hell, the idea of this guy wanting me… It was crazy, nonsense, but I did as he told me to. Getting over the shock of his actions, I surrendered to his impulsive idea and tried to play along. I kissed him back. I threaded my fingers up into his thick back hair as I held on to his neck. And I arched my back to promise this kiss wouldn’t end, not even for air.
“Act like you want it,” he growled, misinterpreting my fidgeting as an attempt to squirm free.
Escaping him was the last thing on my mind. Even if those bikers weren’t parking nearby and talking loudly, I wouldn’t have dared to cease this shocking kiss.
Dante ground against me, forcing me to hook my legs wider apart and higher. It didn’t seem to be enough for him. He lowered his arms to cup my ass cheeks.
“Make them think twice about interrupting,” he whispered into my ear before he trailed his wet, hot lips along my neck.
The second his fingers slipped under the elastic of my panties, I cried out. Those hard, callused fingertips stroked so damn close to my pussy, and I couldn’t help but thrust my hips toward him.
“Yeah, like that. Show them who’s got you,” he urged, every word dark and filthy with gritty seduction.
I whimpered as he dipped his fingers into the juices he caused to leak from me. I was slick, slippery, and too warm with arousal as he sucked at my neck. Alternating between kissing and biting, then licking away the sting, he ground against me and eased his fingers into my wetness.
As soon as he curled his fingers, moving higher to find my clit, I let my mouth hang open as I groaned.
“Fuck, Nina. Just like that. Let me hear it.” He sucked on my earlobe as he rubbed circles around my needy bud. “Louder.”
I didn’t hold back. I couldn’t. Common sense was gone. I wasn’t capable of replying, much less thinking. All I could do was hold on as he slid his fingers back to my entrance, grinding his body against mine for much-needed friction.
With the first touch of his kiss, he’d lit me on fire. A sweet, addicting tension built within me, harder and faster, until I was panting with the rush to just come.
“Dante!”
He pushed me to burst apart. One quick thrust of his fingers deep inside me did the trick. His thumb unerringly rubbing around my clit pushed me further. Waves upon waves of relief fled my body, and as I shook and trembled through the bliss that burned so bright, I clung to him. My arms went weak, heavy with fatigue as I kept them draped over his shoulders. Quivering and clumsy, my thighs remained cinched around his waist.
My pulse slowed. My breath came easier. All while he kissed along my jawline, tender, more deliberate presses of his wicked mouth. I leaned against him, limp and drugged with an orgasm I couldn’t have counted on.
In the distance, the roar of the bikes faded. They’d driven off, and belatedly, past the fog of desire, I realized what he’d done. What his game was.
He’d wanted me to play along with this little show of… of…
I shoved at his shoulder, getting his attention. “What the hell was that?” Still, I struggled to catch my breath. The way he grinned, looking at my wet, parted lips, filled me with a dose of smugness that I had no right to feel.
“I was showing them that you were otherwise preoccupied.” He squeezed my ass, guiding me to lower my legs until I shakily stood between him and his car. Once I was on my feet, he moved his hands lower to fix his pants and zip back up. I’d been so blinded and surprised that I hadn’t registered him unzipping and letting his pants hang lower.
From the bikers’ perspective and the shadows blanketing this lot between tall buildings, it probably looked like Dante was fucking me against the car.
“You…” I lowered my gaze, taking in the prominent bulge of his erection tenting his pants. He hadn’t lowered his boxers. He didn’t actually fuck me, but he sure had given them a show.
I raised my hands to cover my face. It wasn’t shame making my cheeks burn. Not only shame, at least. But I was out of my comfort zone, still acclimating to how quickly this had happened.
Playing along. Pretending to be fucked against the car. But also… coming so hard and quickly like that.
“Why…” I exhaled hard, staring up at him. “Why did you?—”
He groaned, leaning in closer to lose his grin against my mouth. With this kiss, he hedged replying, but I couldn’t care. I fisted the front of his shirt, blown away by how much I wanted him, still wanted him, despite just coming.
“To get them to leave you alone,” he replied.
Oh, and the erection in your pants is nothing but a side effect of your heroism? I wasn’t sure if I was more upset that he wouldn’t admit he wanted me just as badly or that he’d done something so stupid and rash like that. While I’d never take it back, I’d never regret coming like that, I was quicker to consider the ramifications of what just happened.
“They drove away, didn’t they?” he taunted as he stepped back and ran his hand over his face, frustrated but triumphant, too.
“For now,” I agreed. “Are you trying to get me killed?”
He shook his head.
“You will!” I swatted at his shoulder as I shoved my skirt back down. My panties were ripped from his hand forced under them. They were useless and wet, hanging loose against my thigh. “You’ll get me killed after they report back to their leader that another man was touching his woman.”
Narrowing his eyes, he stepped closer, forcing me to crane my neck to look up at him in order to maintain direct eye contact. “But you’re not his woman.”
“No, but?—”
“But what?”
“I’m not yours , either.”
His smile was slow and sinister. “Let’s say you are. They wouldn’t know that you’re already taken. They wouldn’t have known that before Ricky lost you in a bet.”
Anger filled me with that reminder. That my idiot brother dared to bet on my life. Confusion came next. I couldn’t make sense of what Dante was suggesting. “I wasn’t… I’m not taken.”
Setting one hand on the car’s roof, he slanted closer. It wasn’t close enough for me to feel trapped and safe under his touch, but I was locked in place under his direct attention. “They wouldn’t mess with me, Nina. Those biker dumb fucks know who I am in this city. They won’t mess with me or my woman.”
I set my teeth on my lower lip. “But I’m not…”
He tugged my lip free, staring at his thumb on my flesh. That smoldering gaze taunted me, and I fought the instinct to suck his digit into my mouth. Dante did something to me, making me react without thought and listening to this need thrumming through my body.
Still, the truth remained clear.
I cleared my throat. “I’m not your woman.”
“Pretend that you are.” He dared me with a serious stare. “Play along.”
I blinked quickly, trying to rationalize his offer. “Dante…” I shook my head. “I appreciate your saving me tonight, but they’ll be back and?—”
“Pretend to be my girlfriend, Nina.”
Searching his face, I waited for a tell of his humor. He had to be teasing. Joking. Because a man like him would not need to fake this sort of thing. He could have any woman he wanted. Handsome, rich, fit, and… dammit, he was the kind of sexy beast of a man anyone would lust for.
“I wish I could, but…” I looked down, confused over what could work as a counter here. I had no fight in me. The sound of being Dante’s woman—even just in pretense—was too tempting to reject.
“But what?”
“But it’s dumb.” I frowned, facing him again. “It wouldn’t work.”
“Of course, it would.”
I admired his confidence. He probably had many reasons to own it. He also seemed too rash, almost impatient for me to agree.
“Why would you want to protect me?”
He sighed, standing straight and putting distance between us. “I have my reasons.”
“Because you knew my father?”
He grunted. “I can’t imagine Henry would approve of this.” He flicked his finger between us.
A hit of shame warmed me. No, I doubted Dad would like knowing his former best friend had his mouth and hands on me.
“Why would you want to do this?”
“I have my reasons.” He adopted that bossy authority again, smoothing down his jacket and lifting his head higher. He oozed dominance and control, and I figured that he expected me to not ask about his reasoning.
I supposed it didn’t matter.
“What do you say?” he asked as he picked up my hand and raised it. Studying the red marks left on my wrist, courtesy of Ricky trying to manhandle me, Dante clenched his jaw.
I had no clue what to say. Hours ago, Tessa and had I joked about this very situation, finding a sugar daddy or having a man to protect us from the bullshit of life. We’d both laughed it off, so cocky that we’d always be better off without men in our lives, but now…
Why not? Dante was exactly the kind of strong man who could be my hero—even if we were only pretending.
He arched one brow at me, something I was quickly recognizing as his way of silently demanding an answer.
My heart raced. My mind felt empty and sluggish. Deep down in my heart, I operated independently of this adrenaline rush or the lingering aftermath of an intense orgasm rendering me limp and lazy, sated.
Why the hell not?
I nodded.
“Yeah?” A grin lifted his lips.
“Yeah. I’ll… um. Let’s do this.” I raked my teeth over my lower lip, unsure whether I could manage playing along like this . “You and me. I’ll pretend to be your girlfriend.”
But not for real, right?
He lifted my hand, staring straight at me as he kissed my knuckles. “You and me,” he agreed.
I swallowed, worried I was already in too deep.