Submission Moves: An MMA Romance

by Sisco, Camilla

  “So you planned all this?” he said, smiling. “To seduce me in a gym full of people in the middle of the day? That’s so naughty.”

  “No!” Rose exclaimed, laughing. “I was just taking precautions. I figured it was safer in my purse in case you…” She shrugged helplessly. “You go into beast mode and rip it off me when we…” She trailed off again, letting a pointed look fill in the rest. “I have half a dozen meetings today. I can’t go commando.”

  Nick eased her off his lap and got up to lock the door. He sat back down and motioned for her to get on top of him. She straddled him carefully, as best as her slim skirt would allow. Getting impatient, he bunched her skirt up around her waist and pulled her down on his lap.

  He pushed the hem of her top up. “Damn, I missed these,” he said, popping her bra open and letting her breasts tumble into his large palms. Rose did that magic ninja thing that girls did and took her bra off without removing her top. He licked his lips, fully intent on making the most out of his all-access pass. He leaned forward and bit her.

  She let out a shrill scream of surprise.

  He clamped his hand over her mouth, laughing and shaking his head. The room was not designed to keep noise out or in. He could hear muffled conversations and laughter from the outside. He was sure that if Rose started screaming or making all those sexy sounds she made during sex, the whole gym would know what they were up to. “Rosie, you gotta keep it down.” When she nodded in promise, he let her go.

  He reached into a drawer for a box of Monster Condoms. An unopened box, she looked happy to note. They fumbled with his clothes and with the rubber with hands made clumsy with urgency. When their bodies were finally connected, they both groaned and stayed still like that for several seconds. She had her arms around him while his face was buried in the crook of her neck, inhaling her clean scent and revelling at how fucking right they felt together.

  Rose’s arms instinctively tightened when his hands moved to cup her ass. He adjusted her angle and seated her higher. Urged on by his hands, she started to ride him. Slow, at first, then faster once she found her position and rhythm. Her mind went blank. The whole world was reduced to the man she held in her arms and the hard length slipping in and out of her. Nothing else mattered. Not the loud voices or the music coming from the outside or any of the worries she came there with. She was so wound up it didn’t take long for her to feel her release mounting.

  Without warning, Nick flipped her onto her back, brought her legs together, and hooked them over his shoulder. “This way, I can go as hard as I want,” he whispered.

  Her brows shot up. She didn’t know he’d been holding back on her. But the moment he began moving, Rose understood what he meant. With her legs together and her thighs bearing the brunt of his force, he was free to be as aggressive as he wanted to be. Each powerful thrust of his hips reminded Rose of just how much stronger and bigger he was. Nick could really hurt her, do anything he wanted with her, and there wasn’t a damn thing she could or would do about it because she was a girl—a small, stupid girl at that.

  Maybe it was the change in her breathing or the way her eyes glazed over, but Nick seemed to sense that something was not quite right.

  “Rosie, look at me,” he told her. “Look at me, baby.”

  She obeyed, forcing her focus back on him and giving him a shaky smile to let him know she was okay. He continued pumping into her, hitting a spot inside that shot tingles down her legs and made her muscles clench involuntarily.

  Her body tensed and she came with a silent scream and with eyes wide open. It shocked her. It was fierce, violent, unexpected and, with Nick watching her come apart and her looking into his eyes, way more intimate than she was prepared for.

  His climax quickly followed and he came the same way, looking right at her. He collapsed on top of her before turning them on their side and wrapping her in his arms. Slowly, she surfaced, feeling Nick’s stubbly jaw nuzzling the side of her face.

  A flood of embarrassment came with Rose’s sense of awareness. Reeling from what she’d just experienced, she had been clutching him like her life depended on it. What the heck was wrong with her? How the heck did they end up naked and entwined on his couch? She just wasn’t herself when she was around him, that was for certain. Immediately, she loosened her grip on him and tried to turn away, but he held on fast. After a half-hearted show of resistance, she gave up with a loud sigh and buried her face in the crook of his arm. A little cuddling never hurt anybody, right?

  CHAPTER 18

  “What time’s your meeting?” Nick asked as they emerged from the tiny en-suite bathroom.

  “Fifteen minutes ago,” Rose said with a resigned sigh, glancing at the clock on the wall. “And it’s all the way across town. I didn’t mean to stay this long.” She fished out her panties from her purse and slipped it back on. “I guess they just have to get on without me. Anyway, Anna’s there so…” she trailed off.

  “Sorry I made you miss it,” he said with a mischievous smirk that belied just how sorry he was. He picked up her discarded bra off the floor and tossed it to her after lacing up the drawstring of his track pants. “And the meeting after that? What time is it?”

  “In a couple of hours.”

  “We got time then. Why don’t you stay for a bit?” He wiggled his dark brows at her suggestively. “We can hang out.”

  “Hang out?” She shot him a look of pure misgiving.

  As if she hadn’t been riding his dick only moments ago, he thought. This woman sure was weird. She showed more reluctance at such a harmless suggestion. “Rose, I’ve never kicked a woman out right after sex,” he said. “That’s not very…nice.”

  She lifted her chin defiantly. “Please don’t do me any favors. I’m perfectly fine with—”

  “It’s not a favor. I want it, okay?” He sighed and shoved a hand through his hair. They were basking in a post-sex haze, and if there ever was an excusable time to act all corny and shit, this was it. He sat on the couch and beckoned her closer.

  She joined him after much hesitation and shrieked when he pulled her across his lap and tucked her under his chin. He brushed his knuckles along her spine until she let out a soft sigh and cuddled closer to him.

  “You call this hanging out?” she asked with a smile in her voice.

  Nick kissed the crown of her head in response and inwardly congratulated himself at how good he was getting at breaching her defenses.

  Just as he felt her relax completely, her phone rang and she jumped up in surprise and scrambled off his lap. She took her phone out of her purse and swore softly when she got a look at the screen.

  He laughed. Rose hardly ever swore. It was actually cute, as long as he wasn’t on the receiving end of it.

  She signalled for him to keep quiet as she took the call. “Hi, Mom,” she said into the phone, glaring at Nick, who scooted close to eavesdrop and didn’t bother disguising it.

  A shrill, female voice on the other end of the line replied.

  “Rose, the country club ball is tomorrow. I hope you haven’t forgotten. I’ve already picked out your dress and I’ll have it sent over tonight, so don’t you dare try giving me the excuse of not having anything to wear.”

  Rose groaned and slapped her palm to her forehead. “I haven’t forgotten.”

  “Oh, and I saw Rob yesterday. He said he called you several times but you never got back to him.”

  “Knock it off with Rob, Mom. I mean it,” Rose said, shuddering.

  Interesting, Nick thought. There had to be a story there. He quirked a questioning brow at her, which she dismissed with a shake of her head.

  “So who are you taking as a date? You’re still registered with a plus one. Honestly, Rose, it’s very rude to ruin the seating arrangement for everyone else because you’re too lazy to get yourself an escort.”

  Their exchange went on for a while with Rose growing more visibly stressed and irritable by the second. Nick rubbed her back to soothe her, and she
gave him a small, grateful smile.

  “Are your parents divorced?” he asked when Rose finally got her mom off the line.

  “They never married. I have no contact with my biological father,” she replied, voice carefully devoid of emotion.

  “Pat never legally adopted you?”

  She gave a sad shake of her head. “I really wish he had. But my mom wouldn’t let him.”

  “How come?”

  Rose leaned back into his arms and tucked her legs under her. “My mother’s dream was to marry up. She set her sights on this shithead son of some old Chicago family. Daniel Shannon was his name. She says they were madly in love, but that his family threatened to cut him off if he married her. I don’t know why she thought getting herself knocked up could fix everything.” Rose laughed bitterly. “Needless to say, it didn’t work. All I got from him was his name. My mom was adamant that I keep it even though Pat begged her to let him adopt me.”

  “That sucks,” he said. “Must’ve been weird growing up with a different last name from the rest of your family.”

  “When I was young, I used to write ‘Rose Connelly’ over and over again on the back of my notebooks the same way other little girls write the name of their crushes,” she said in a soft, sad tone he’d never heard her use before.

  He quietly played with a lock of her hair as he listened. He didn’t know what to say to that sad scrap of family history. He just pulled her closer, offering belated comfort.

  “When I was young, my mom always used to say ‘remember who you are, you’re a Shannon,'” Rose continued. “I never understood what it meant or why she thought it was so special. I think she’s hoping that I’ll one day take my place and marry into Chicago society. You know, do what she never got to do. I mean, Pat’s rich. But he’s a self-made man from a working-class background. My mom’s a bit of a snob, and she cares about pedigree and all that.”

  “Is that why you’re so prickly with men? You have daddy issues?” Nick said. He looked and sounded sympathetic, even if he didn’t exactly know how to finesse his words. Rose had spent enough time with the Rossi brothers to know that their gruffness often belied good intentions.

  “I don’t have daddy issues. Pat is my dad. We have a great relationship.”

  “This Rob guy your mom mentioned, is he some rich shithead she’s hoping you’ll marry?” he asked, teasing but with no hint of jealousy, nothing she could detect anyway. A wave of desire washed over her.

  Her whole life her mother tried to drill into her that the fragile male ego needed constant stroking and coddling, and if Rose ever wanted to land anyone, she better learn to do it. Before Nick, she’d never come across a man who seemed to be above that. He was so entirely secure and confident. Call it ego, call it confidence, but it was sexy.

  Or maybe he wasn’t jealous because to him she wasn’t worth getting jealous over. That realization soured her mood. “Do I look like trophy wife material to you?” she asked, getting testy.

  Nick took the change of her mood in stride and made a good show of inspecting her. “You look it. But you don’t have the temperament for it.”

  That made her laugh. “Damn right I don’t.” Was it so wrong that she felt flattered that he thought she could be a trophy wife? Not his trophy wife, but someone’s. Rose shuddered inwardly at that thought.

  “I’ve been meaning to ask you something,” he said after taking a deep breath, “but you might get offended and bite my head off.”

  She sighed in resignation. “Go ahead. Ask. I’m too tired to bite anyone’s head off.”

  “What you said before, about how most women will experience some form of sexual violence at some point…” he trailed off.

  Her hand paused at the idle scratches she was making on his chest and she peered up at him. “Yes? What about it?”

  “I was just wondering if you’ve…if something had happened to you, maybe…” He couldn’t finish the question, not just because he couldn’t find the right words but because just thinking about it gave him an ugly twisting sensation in his gut. He couldn’t breathe, much less speak.

  “You mean have I been raped?”

  He tensed, waiting for an answer, offering up a silent prayer.

  “No.”

  The air rushed back into his aching lungs. This woman was making him feel all weird—possessive, protective, tender, and helpless all at once. A big pile of messy emotions he’d never felt before, not all at the same time, anyway. And not all for one person.

  “I just wondered. Because you’re very sensitive about…you know.” He shrugged and moistened his lips. Shit, this is awkward, he thought. But he couldn’t pussy out of having difficult conversations with her, not if he ever wanted her to take him seriously.

  She pulled back so she could look at him. “Don’t you think it’s worth getting sensitive about?”

  “Yeah, I guess. Can’t say I ever really thought about it before though.”

  Rose nodded in acceptance. “I don’t imagine you would. You’re a man and…” she gestured to his body. “You’re huge. So you probably don’t go around worried for your safety or feeling generally intimidated or dismissed. But believe me, all women have experienced varying degrees of sexism and misogyny, some more insidious than outright violent. That’s our reality. So if most times I come off as sensitive or even angry, well, it’s because I am.”

  “Tell me something that’s happened to you.”

  She shook her head, reluctant to continue. “It would feel wrong to complain about my experience when every day I work with women who’ve had it much worse.”

  “It’s not complaining. I just want to hear about it. I wanna understand. Tell me,” he said. Tell me, please. Nick needed for her to confide in him. Not even because he thought he could help. He just needed to know that she trusted him enough.

  “I guess I’ve had assholes yell gross things to me on the street, or tipsy guys at parties who get too touchy, or not-so-accidentally brush up against my chest.” She said it with a shrug meant to appear dismissive. “Weird thing is, I usually won’t think twice about yelling at the guy and shaming him if it’s right in the middle of a busy street.” She leaned back into his arms and cuddled close. She seemed to be able to speak more freely that way. Maybe it was because she didn’t have to look at him or maybe because she found his nearness comforting. Nick wanted to believe it was the latter.

  “But when it’s someone I know, an acquaintance maybe, it’s a lot harder. I end up making excuses for them or telling myself to just let it go. It’s just easier not to make a fuss if it happens with someone I’ll have to see again.”

  Mentally, Nick went through all the times he’d touched a woman casually, wondering if he’d ever made anyone feel that way. Ego aside, girls had always seemed receptive. But he’d heard other guys brag about getting to cop a feel from unsuspecting women. Now he wondered if any of them were ever unsuspecting. They all probably just quietly endured it, and like Rose, decided it was easier not to make a fuss.

  “When I was in seventh grade, I had these C-cups that boys in school tormented me for,” she continued.

  Nick’s hand had been resting on the side of her breast. He pulled it away, feeling guilty.

  Rose chuckled, took his hand, and put it back where it was. She made him squeeze her gently, letting him know that his touch was more than alright.

  “Boys can be pigs. Especially at that age,” Nick said, ashamed for the horny teenager he once was.

  “Yeah, well, this one guy in particular was a bigger pig than all the rest. He would taunt me, whisper lewd things to me, and snap my bra whenever I walked by. He would always stand too close and try to look down my shirt. I thought if I ignored it, it would stop. But it only got worse.”

  “What happened?”

  “When I couldn’t take it any longer, I told Chris about it,” she said. “My mom sent me to this ritzy Catholic school, different from my brothers, because this never would’ve happened if they’d b
een around in the first place. Anyway, the next day, Chris picked me up from school with my four other brothers in tow. Five beefy jocks, all over six feet. Imagine what an intimidating sight that made,” she said with a fond smile in her voice. “They kinda gave the other guy a staredown. And Rob never bothered me again. Not in school, anyway.”

  “Wait, Rob? The same Rob your mom mentioned?”

  “The very one,” she said with derision. “My mom and Rob’s mom belong to all the same charity boards. She’s a sweet lady. They’ve been trying to pair us up for years. I don’t have the heart to tell her her son’s a douchebag.”

  “Didn’t you tell your mom what happened?”

  She shook her head. “No, but one of my brothers did. She said Rob just probably likes me but didn’t know how to show it. Boys will be boys, she said.” Her laugh rang hollow in Nick’s ears. “I think she was actually thrilled her only daughter was being harassed by someone from such a good family.”

  She tried to be droll about it, but he sensed a current of resentment and disappointment in her. With a mother like that, it was little wonder Rose grew up to be a staunch feminist. He knew she was sincere in her beliefs, but he couldn’t help wondering if it had all started out as filial rebellion on her part. “I’m sorry,” he said, feeling inept.

  Suddenly, Rose pushed off him and straightened her clothes. “I have to go.”

  He glanced at the clock. They still had plenty of time. “Don’t just run off after all that,” he said.

  She gave him a withering look. The post-sex vulnerability was definitely gone now, and she was back to wearing that guarded expression that told him he shouldn’t have pushed.

  “Oh, sorry. Did you want more sad stories?” she said dryly. “Were you expecting me to cry in your arms because we’re friends now?”

  Fuck, this woman is stone cold. Nick caught himself mid-thought. He liked to think he knew her a little better now and understood her somehow. Her blustering no longer fooled him. “You don’t have to cry, Rosie. I hear being all nasty and sarcastic works too,” he said with an indulgent smile.