Dimitri's Forbidden Submissive (Submissive's Wish) (32 page)

Tawny sat on the couch with Rya stuck to her side since last night. She’d also been super pissed that Rya hadn’t told her what was going on, but she understood. Like Rya, Tawny had been raised in a less than law abiding environment and knew how to keep her mouth shut. While Tawny might look like every man’s walking California blonde wet dream, she was a bad ass bitch in her own right and hadn’t been shocked that Rya killed her attacker. In fact, she high-fived Rya when she found out, helping dispel the last of Rya’s guilt. As Tawny put it, Rya did the world a favor and simply took out the trash.

Leaning closer, Tawny’s gaze cut to the side of the room where Maks stood then back at Rya with a definite gleam of desire. “Are all Russian men so fucking hot? I think my panties are soaked.”

“From what I’ve seen, yes.”

“Motherfucker,” Tawny giggled. “I’m so coming to visit you.”

Maks was ridiculously handsome with short reddish blond hair and the sharp bone structure of a supermodel combined with a serious don’t-fuck-with-me vibe. He wore a pair of black cargo pants and a tight black thermal shirt which highlighted his muscular physique. He didn’t bother to put on a jacket to hide his shoulder holster, and Rya wondered what kind of weapons he had hidden elsewhere on his person. Though his English was excellent, he barely had an accent, he hadn’t said much to Rya other than to introduce himself. She liked him immediately, and not just because he was hot. Maks treated her and the rest of the women at the club with the utmost respect while pretty much ignoring all the men glaring at him.

While it wasn’t unusual to see scantily clad women in the club house, Rya had no delusions about the slut butts who hung around the club and serviced the members in any way they wanted, it wasn’t the club sluts that were currently hanging out. Nope. Right now, the old ladies and female relatives of the members tried to casually pretend they weren’t all staring at the mysterious Russian bodyguard. Not that Rya could blame them, even in her mentally and physically fucked up state she had to admit Maks was a fine piece of eye candy.

Dimitri was supposed to be arriving soon, his plane had landed an hour ago, and Rya was beyond nervous. First, because she was about to take a huge step in her life and leave her home and family to go to Russia; second, because said family was waiting to meet Dimitri; third, because she looked like shit. She’d barely had any sleep, her shoulder was bruised from where she connected with the edge of her coat rack, and her throat was discolored from where the man had choked her in addition to her tender ribs. Thankfully, her mom and some other women from the club had gone to her house and packed up her things for her, and Rock was taking care of the cleanup. It hurt her heart to think of her grandmother’s kitchen tainted by the violence and death and she hoped Rock was able to restore it, even if she would probably never live there again.

Sitting next to Rya on one of the big black leather couches on the far side of the room, Tawny leaned in and whispered, “Does that guy even blink? I mean he’s got that whole scary bodyguard thing down pat, and those green eyes, yummy.”

Rya glanced at Maks, then looked away again, unnerved by his unwavering stare. It wasn’t sexual, but it was dominant and predatory, two things she found hot. The fact that she had to keep herself from ogling the eye candy Dimitri sent to guard her made Rya feel an unwelcome pang of guilt. Then she glanced over at Gears watching her with an equally unwavering stare and her guilt deepened. She’d underestimated how much he really liked her and it hurt her to see the look of betrayal in his eyes.

Trying to lighten the mood, Rya whispered back, “What I’m wondering is does he ever pee or is he wearing a catheter?”

Tawny snorted and glanced at Maks, then back to Rya. “If he does he’ll have an audience. I’m about to go drill a peep hole in the wall of the bathroom. Then again, that wall probably already looks like Swiss cheese from the other bitches perving all over him.”

One of the said perving bitches, Karen, sauntered over to Maks with a beer. The woman had pulled down her already low cut shirt even more so the very edges of her nipples were visible. She slid up next to Maks and her pouty red painted lips curved into a smile as she rubbed her tits all over his arm. Maks didn’t even look at her, just said something in a voice too low to be heard that had Karen taking off in a huff with the beer still in her hand.

Shaking her head, Rya fiddled with the edge of her faded, baggy purple Led Zeppelin t-shirt. She’d been tempted to get all dressed up for Dimitri, but no matter what she put on she still looked like the victim of a beat-down and her ribs and throat were still bruised. A memory of the man who’d tried to kidnap her flashed through her mind, and she struggled to take a deep breath, phantom fingers tightening around her neck, cutting off her air. Tawny reached out and gently took Rya’s hand, her cornflower blue eyes searching Rya’s face.

“You okay?”

“Yeah.” She sucked in a deep breath, trying to ignore the pain in her ribs. “Yeah, I’m good. Just…you know.”

Tawny did indeed know. When she was fifteen she’d almost been date raped then punched and kicked repeatedly at a party by her college boyfriend who’d slipped a drug into her beer. Thankfully, a friend managed to put a stop to it and get her out of there, but Tawny looked even worse than Rya afterwards. Said college boyfriend ended up in the hospital two days later after a vicious beating. Rya knew Tawny was the one who put him there with a baseball bat, though he wouldn’t say what happened. While Rya and Tawny received more than their fair share of bullying as kids because of their biker family, it was nice to be surrounded by people who knew the meaning of vengeance and how to make it happen.

Tawny looked down at her platinum Rolex, a gift from another ex-boyfriend, and sighed. “Your man should be here soon. I’m still fucking pissed you didn’t tell me about him.”

“I couldn’t tell you, honey.”

Looking a little guilty, Tawny met Rya’s gaze then looked away. “Well, if I had known about him I wouldn’t have encouraged Gears so much.”

It took a lot to not look at the man in question staring at them from across the room, but Rya managed to keep her eyes on Tawny. “What did you do?”

Tawny fiddled with a strand of her hair, a sure sign she was stressing out, then shrugged. “I thought I was helping. I mean I’ve never seen you get all starry-eyed over anyone and Gears has had a crush on you forever. When your dad gave Gears the okay to try and date you I might’ve told him that you kinda like him.”

“What the fuck, Tawny?” Rya said in a low voice, a flush heating her skin. “I totally don’t feel that way about him.”

“I know, I know.” Tawny wound her hair around her finger and darted a glance over at Gears, then Maks, then Rya. “You always watch out for me so I was trying to watch out for you for once. Gears is a good guy and he’d treat you like gold. You deserve someone who worships you.”

Rya went to rub her face, but stopped before she could touch her bruised cheek. “You need to go set shit straight with Gears.”

“I will, I’m so…Holy fucking shit! Either your man just came in or I’m in instant lust with my future sexy lumberjack husband.”

Men’s voices came from behind them and at the first sound of Dimitri’s voice Rya’s heart raced so hard she was afraid she might stroke out. Her whole body froze and she began to tremble. Tawny was still staring behind Rya’s shoulder and she could only watch her friend as Tawny’s eyes grew bigger, and bigger.

Before he even spoke, Rya could feel Dimitri behind her like a shower of burning sparks falling onto her skin.

“
Zaika moya
,” he said in a low, deep rumble that vibrated through her bones and straight into her heart.

He knelt next to her on the couch and when she turned to look at him the rest of the world vanished. While Maks was handsome in a way that could land him on the cover of magazines, Dimitri had a masculine beauty that stole her heart. She met his gaze and anger mixed with tenderness in his eyes as he looked at the bruises on her neck. Tears rolled down her cheeks as her emotions totally overwhelmed her.

Dimitri wore a black leather jacket over a fitted white dress shirt that showcased his amazing muscles. As he moved she caught a glimpse of a gun holster, but that just made her feel safe rather than scared. If she’d had her gun last night she might have avoided all that bullshit. But it had been too big for her club purse so she’d left it at home. Tension filled her and she trembled as Dimitri examined her with anguish in his eyes. They stared at each other and she was vaguely aware of people talking around them, but it didn’t matter. He had the most beautiful eyes, and when he ran his thumb over her lips the invisible strings holding her in place snapped.

She launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist, clinging to him while she cried. The big muscles of his body shifted against her as he stood and held her to him. His scent filled her and she buried her face against his warm neck, breathing him in while he whispered to her in Russian. This was where she was meant to be, in his arms. The hard, coiled knot of anxiety inside of her slowly loosened and she shivered when he brushed his lips against her ear, still whispering to her in Russian while gently rubbing her back with one hand. She had no idea how long they stood like that, but her mother’s voice penetrated the happy fog enveloping them.

“Rya Marie DeLuca!”

Dimitri started to put her down, but she clamped her legs around his hips and lifted her head to give her mom a defiant look.

Kim, her mom, stood next to Rock looking every inch the biker babe. Rya favored her Italian Mom in her coloring, but where Rya was short and curvy, her mom was tall and lean. Dressed in a tight black t-shirt that showed off her still rocking body, her mom’s full sleeve tattoos were on display and her deep brown eyes were filled with displeasure as she glared at Dimitri. Putting her hands on her hips, she lifted her chin in Rya’s direction.

“Are you responsible for my daughter getting the shit beat out of her?” The traces of Brooklyn in her mom’s accent started to come through and Rya winced. That was not a good sign.

Rock sighed and grabbed Kim by the upper arm. “Let’s take this in the back.”

Dimitri followed Rock and Kim with Rya still in his arms, she whispered into his ear, “I missed you so much.”

“Never again,” he said back in a low, rumbling voice. “I will never leave you again, Rya. You come back to Russia with me?”

“I haven’t changed my mind. I missed you so damn bad. You have no idea.”

“I was pathetic,” he whispered back. “Constantly thinking of you, wondering where you were, stressing over not being able to protect you. And missing you so much. Never again. You wanted me, you have me and I will not let you go. My woman, Rya,
mine
. Believe it.”

They reached Rock’s office and Dimitri turned, giving a trailing Maks a nod while the stoic bodyguard stationed himself at the entrance to the hall leading to the office section of the clubhouse. Gears and a half-dozen other men from the club lingered near the hallway, all in their most badass-dangerous-man mode, but with Dimitri’s arms around her she felt safer than she had in ages. He was so warm, so big, and—thank you, God—he was here.

Once they were in her step-dad’s office Dimitri gently pried Rya from his body and placed her behind him. Rock’s office was cluttered with biker crap, motorcycle parts, and a huge flag with the Ice Demons logo on it over the back wall, blocking out the window. Before she could move Dimitri stepped forward and blocked her view of Rock and her mom.

She tried to step around him, but Dimitri placed a hand on her belly, keeping her behind him. “Kim, we talked on phone yesterday and I understand your anger with me. But believe that I would die to keep your daughter safe. She is most important thing in my world.”

Rya’s heart melted when Dimitri looked back at her and his expressionless mask softened for a moment before returning his attention to her mother. Kim started to take a step forward, but Rock grabbed her and pulled her back to his side. Not wanting Dimitri to face her mother’s wrath alone, she slipped her hand into his and moved to his side. It was nice that he wanted to protect her, but she wasn’t the kind of woman who hid behind her man.

With a sigh Rock wrapped his arms around her mom. “Sweetheart, you know Rya’s mind is already made up on this, and Dimitri is right, he’ll be able to protect her better than we can.”

“Mom,” Rya met her mother’s furious glare and saw the fear beneath it. “I’ll be okay.”

“Fuck. That. Shit. You think I don’t know who Dimitri Novikov is? That I don’t know about all the fucked up shit he’s into? He’s a goddamn criminal.”

Rya took a step forward, pulling against Dimitri’s hand as he tried to keep her in place. “You will not talk about my man like that. I know about all the fucked up shit he’s into, but I also know about all the fucked up shit Rock’s into. And don’t forget, mother, the way you’ve lived your life hasn’t exactly been on the right side of the law. I seem to recall having to live with grandma and grandpa while you spent some time in jail.”

Kim’s chin trembled and Rya felt like a bitch for upsetting her. “All I ever wanted was for you to have a good life, a safe life, honey, to not get caught up in all this bullshit. To have a man that you didn’t have to worry about ending up in prison or shot.”

“I know, mom, I do. You’ve given me a great life, and more importantly, you’ve raised me to think for myself and stand up for what I believe in. Well, I believe in Dimitri.”

“You barely know him,” her mom whispered while Rock ran a soothing hand through Kim’s still-dark hair. “And look what happened to you.”

“And you only knew my dad for a week before you two took off for Vegas on his bike. I’m not going into this blind. Yeah, what happened to me is messed up, but bad shit happens every day. It’s the way of the world.”

Kim started to cry and Rock rubbed her back in a soothing manner. “But Russia? That’s so far away.”

Dimitri spoke up, “You will be able to see Rya whenever you want. I will send my jet for you and arrange travel documents.”