by Josie Kerr
Nanda giggled. “Bailey was telling me about the big party they had, when Tig and Charlotte got together, kind of.”
“Oh, yeah, I heard about that. I knew I should have hung around.” Junior patted her hand. “Welp, kiddo, I’m going to hit the sack.”
“Okay.” Nanda remained on the couch, not really watching the movie.
“You sure you’re okay?”
“Yep. I’m good. See you in the morning, Junior.”
Nanda sat on the couch until the credits of the movie appeared on the screen, but she didn’t really watch it because she was thinking about Dig and how sweet the annoying fighter had been.
Frustrated, she stomped into the bedroom and got ready for bed. When she was setting her alarm on her phone, she noticed she had a message.
Feeling okay? You were gone when I finished training.
Nanda texted him back, set her alarm, and turned out her light.
And her phone chimed.
Dig: What are you doing?
Nanda: TRYING to go to sleep.
Dig: Oh.
Nanda: What are YOU doing?
She received a photo of Dig’s glorious lower abs and that chain star tattoo and the tiniest glimpse of something else, but she wasn’t quite sure what it was. Her phone chimed with another message.
Dig: Thinking that I should have kissed you this morning.
Nanda: It’s probably good that you didn’t.
Dig: Maybe.
Nanda: Go to sleep.
Dig: I want to see that ink of yours. You’ve seen mine.
Nanda squeezed her eyes shut. She totally could play show-and-tell with Dig, and it would be harmless. They were two adults, and they could send dirty pictures to one another if they wanted. Nanda feared sending the photos would be a slippery slope, and she absolutely did not want any complications that might endanger her job at the fight club, so she texted him back her decision.
I don’t think so.
His lack of response made her sad, but she knew it was for the best.
Chapter Fifteen
“Boy, you sure can tell that Maude’s yours,” Nanda remarked as she watched a little girl with a mop of curly strawberry-blonde hair race through the yard.
“Yep, sure can,” Bailey said with a laugh and a toss of her own curly strawberry-blonde hair.
Nanda sipped on her drink while she gazed over at Colin and Bailey’s crowded backyard. “There sure are a lot of people here. Wow.” She chuckled. The scene reminded her of cookouts with her extended family, and for the first time, Nanda felt a bit homesick.
“You okay, sweetie?” Bailey bumped Nanda’s shoulder with her own. “Missing your family a bit?”
“Yeah, just a bit.” She smiled but then became distracted, and then shocked, by what she saw. “What in the world are those idiots doing?”
Bailey swiveled her head and then began cackling. “Oh, they do that every time we get together.”
The women watched as Colin, Dig, and Tig walked across the lawn on their hands, Colin tumbling down first, then Dig, and Tig making it all the way across the yard. He even jackknifed nicely onto his feet and gave a little bow when he saw that he had an audience.
Nanda shook her head. Junior would most likely be right there in the middle of them if he were here.
“So, how’s things with Nanda?” Bailey bumped Nanda’s shoulder again.
“Things are good. Work’s good.”
Bailey huffed. “You know that all work and no play are not good.”
“Girl, I haven’t had any play in a long-ass time.” Bailey choked on her drink, and Nanda’s face heat when she realized that’s not quite what her friend meant by “play.” “Sorry, that was a little TMI.”
Bailey giggled and waved her off. “You probably need to go out to Foley’s without us sometime, or really, not go to Foley’s at all, or you’ll never meet anyone new.”
“Yeah, probably.”
Nanda didn’t really want to meet anyone new. Her gaze drifted to where Dig and Tig stood next to one of the food-laden tables, Tig with a plate piled high with food, and Dig gesturing broadly with his hands, most likely telling a story.
Dig looked nice tonight, too nice for a backyard party. The other guys had on shorts and DS Fight Club shirts, while Dig wore a pair of dark wash jeans and a fitted T-shirt that showed off the muscles of his back and chest and pulled around his big, tattooed arms.
Damn, he looked good enough to eat.
And of course he caught her staring at him. Dig grinned broadly after catching Nanda’s eye and stalked across the yard to her, and damn if she couldn’t resist grinning back at him.
“Fernanda.” The sound of her name on his lips sent shivers down her spine and heat right to her core.
“Dominic.” Two could play that game.
“Oh boy. I’m gonna make sure that Colin didn’t sprain his butt like he did last time.” Bailey gave Nanda a knowing look and bustled off to see her husband.
“ ‘Sprain his butt’?” Nanda shook her head.
“Apparently there was some sort of a pogo stick injury at the last party,” Dig snickered. “Big Man’s not in quite as good shape as he thought he was.”
“Oh, leave it to Gordo to pull his ass muscle.”
Dig cocked his head at Nanda. “What does that mean, ‘Gordo’? I know that’s what Junior calls C all the time.”
“It’s like ‘Fatso’ but not mean. You know, ‘Big Guy’ but funny.”
“Yeah, that’s appropriate. Man, C used to be big.”
“He had to cut over thirty pounds when he fought you.”
“Heavyweights generally don’t have to cut, especially thirty pounds. Damn.”
“I’m sure you never have to cut.” Nanda poked at Dig’s rock-hard abdomen.
Dig grinned. “Not lately. I’ve been fighting regularly these days. I had to cut quite a bit after I got injured a few years ago.”
Nanda hadn’t removed her hand from his belly. The two of them locked eyes. One side of Dig’s lip quirked up in a small grin. Nanda bit her plump bottom lip and took a step toward him.
Two little girls darted between the two of them, prompting Dig to take a quick step back. Bailey’s curly-haired daughter came to a screeching halt, pulling the other little girl to a stop beside her.
“Scuze me, Unca Dig. Sorry for bumping into you.”
Dig grinned. “Don’t you worry about it, Maude. Just watch where you’re going a little better next time, all right?”
“All right! Bye!” The two girls raced away.
“Those two are going to be complete heartbreakers before you know it,” Nanda remarked with a shake of her head.
Nanda stepped back into Dig’s space, close enough to where she could feel his body heat in the cool spring air.
“Hey.” Dig grinned down at her and touched her, dragging his fingers over the curve of her shoulder.
“Hey, yourself, Dominic.” Nanda inhaled and opened her mouth to ask him a question.
She heard a chime, and Dig pulled out his phone and huffed a small chuckle. He shook his head and said, “Gotta roll, Nanda. See ya.”
“See ya, Dig.”
Nanda lounged in the bathtub, thinking, after returning from the cookout. While she had had a good time holding babies and visiting with everyone and just relaxing, she got antsy toward the end of the night as the single people wandered away and she was left with the couples. She didn’t especially want a boyfriend, but it would have been really nice to end the evening tangled up with someone instead of in the bathtub with a glass of wine, her favorite smutty book, and a waterproof vibrator that was on its last legs.
She felt the thrumming die out, and she knew that even if she replaced the batteries, it wouldn’t come to life to work its magic again.
Dammit.
She grabbed her phone and opened the browser. A few taps and her new Toyfriend was on the way.
; Talk about one-click.
Before she put down the phone, she checked her various social media sites and caught a glimpse of Dig in a few of the photos from earlier in the evening, yet after he left Colin and Bailey’s.
Damn, he was sexy.
And arrogant.
And sweet.
And infuriating.
And she bet he was a great kisser.
She scrolled through his texts until she found the one she was looking for, the one that had inspired the activities that probably wore out her current Toyfriend.
A selfie of his back, with him looking over his shoulder, that high, round ass of his on display. She wanted to bite it. Those two perfect orbs? Oh yeah.
And the subsequent texted conversation wherein, at first, Dig taunted her about not being able to resist him.
She had resisted him, that night.
Tonight? Maybe not so much.
So what if she didn’t date fighters? She wouldn’t be dating Dig, because as far as she could tell, Dig did not date. He was a purely “pump and dump” sort of guy. He wasn’t a jerk about it—at least, she didn’t think so—but Dominic DiGiacomo was definitely a one-night sort of guy.
Nanda thought that she might like a one-night sort of guy, at least until the Toyfriend came in.
The more Nanda thought about it, the more she was convinced that this was what she needed. She picked up her phone, tapped a text out, and leaned back in the tub, waiting.
Chapter Sixteen
Dig walked through the quiet hallway, thinking about the evening and shaking his head. He had just come from his usual hookup’s place, but tonight, there was no actual hooking up because Dig called Amber by the wrong name as she pleasured him with her mouth. He was lucky he still had a dick. He felt bad about it, but not guilty, because the Amber situation was a train wreck waiting to happen, and the drama that she brought into his life wasn’t worth even the best head.
Truthfully, he felt relieved. Well, not exactly relieved, because he was still horny as hell and sporting a semi.
Dig kept thinking about his last interaction with Nanda at the fight club. Nanda seemed to have recovered from her little binge, though she was still behaving oddly. She usually ignored him until he got in her face, and then she usually had a sassy remark—man, he loved those sassy remarks—and then went on her way. Yesterday, though, she had actually sassed him first, and additionally, didn’t flounce off or dismiss him when he wandered by the front desk. Weird.
And then today at C’s? She was actually flirting with him. He thought he was going to have to put her over his shoulder and take her out to the car right then and there when she laid her hand on his belly. And when she bit her lip? Holy.
Dig’s phone buzzed in his pocket and he groaned, guessing it was Amber reconsidering her hasty dismissal of him from her apartment. He was tempted to ignore her, but he pulled out his phone to reply, knowing he was in for a stream of increasingly agitated texts if he didn’t.
Come over.
Bring condoms.
A slow smile spread across Dig’s face, and he turned around without hesitation and headed back out.
Dig gaped at Nanda when she opened the door to Junior’s apartment. Her very small, very thin spaghetti strap tank top barely reached the top of her tiny boy shorts, showing a tantalizing sliver of that tattoo he got a glimpse of that night after karaoke.
Nanda pointed a finger at him. “Rules. You agree to them, or you’re not setting foot in this apartment.”
Dig nodded, still speechless.
“Rule number one—this is a one-time thing. I got an itch that needs to be scratched, and my vibrator is busted. The new one’s not due in for three days.”
“Holy shit, that’s hot.”
Nanda quirked an eyebrow at him. “Do you agree?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Rule number two—no one’s going to know about this. No. One. Do you wanna deal with my brother or any of those other mouthy assholes? ’Cause I don’t.”
Dig huffed a laugh. “That is a rule I can get behind.”
“Okay, rule number three—condoms, always.”
Dig held up the box and tapped his foot impatiently. “How many rules are there?”
“Last one. Rule number four—no kinky shit. No tying up, no trying to go in the back door, no dripping wax or any of that bullshit.”
“Sure.”
Nanda narrowed her eyes at him and then stepped aside to let him into the apartment.
Dig stepped across the threshold with a grin, and Nanda shut the door behind her.
She took a deep breath, and Dig was on her, pushing her up against the closed door and lifting her off her feet so he could nuzzle the crook of her neck.
“Fernanda,” he growled in her ear before nipping the lobe. “God, you smell so good. Your scent drives me completely crazy.”
She wrapped her legs tightly around his waist and looped her arms around his big shoulders. Nanda wriggled her body up against his, pressing her breasts against his chest as she twined her fingers in his hair.
Dig tipped her chin up with his index finger and looked deeply into Nanda’s eyes. She was breathing hard, her pupils dilated, her mouth a tiny bit open. Dig grinned and then pressed his lips to hers, capturing them in a slow, soft, sweet kiss, a kiss full of promise and heat. He kissed his way across her cheek and down her neck, whispering her name between kisses.
“Holy fuck,” Nanda gasped when Dig rocked into her, grinding his erection against her clit. He rocked into her again and moved his hand between them, rubbing her clit through her shorts. Nanda’s breath hitched, and she emitted a little moan.
“Oh yeah. Let me make you come.”
Nanda’s eyes rolled back in her head as Dig continued to roll that sensitive nub. He sealed his mouth with hers again and slowly opened his lips, his tongue dancing with hers, his fingers matching the rhythm of his deep kisses. Nanda arched her back to grind harder against his hand, and he squeezed that nub between his fingers and thumb. She gave a little cry before slumping against him.
“Holy crap.” Nanda squeezed her eyes shut but then opened them and split her focus between Dig’s grinning face and his fingers that were still caressing that soft space between her legs.
“Honey, I haven’t even gotten you naked yet. When I get my mouth on your bare kitty, you’ll see heaven.”
Nanda frowned and unwrapped her legs from around his waist. Confused, Dig set her down.
“What’s wrong?”
“ ‘Bare kitty’? Really?”
“You’d rather me say something about eating your naked pussy?”
Nanda scoffed. “Damn straight. You totally killed my lady boner with that ‘bare kitty’ business. Dios.”
“Jeez, sorry.”
They stood and looked at each other for a minute until Nanda blurted, “So, are we gonna fuck or what?”
Dig cupped his big hand around her cheek and leaned down for a kiss. Nanda exhaled a breathy moan as he trailed his lips over her jawline.
“So, are we?” she whispered.
“Honey, I am going to ruin you.”
She swallowed hard and licked her lips, watching Dig’s eyes as he watched her tongue dart out.
“Well, DiGiacomo, let’s get started.”
Dig lay in Nanda’s double bed, watching her. If this were any other time, any other woman, he would have not even waited for her to fall asleep before he started pulling on his pants.
But after she had ridden him and he had come so hard he almost blacked out, Nanda had collapsed across his chest and fallen immediately asleep. And well, it would be rude to wake her, right? So he lay underneath her, rubbing the soft skin of her back, and felt her quiet breaths on his chest.
Yeah, she wasn’t the one that got ruined.
“What’s wrong?” she mumbled. She pet his chest and rubbed her face against the crook of his neck. “So smooth. I need the name of
your waxer.”
Dig chuckled and kissed her, and she surprised him by deepening the kiss and sitting up and straddling his torso. Her face was serious as she stroked his beard with her fingers, so serious that he couldn’t help but smile. His fingers traced the petals of the bright flowers that adorned the thick lines of ink that wound around her hips, and she dragged her fingertips around the outline of the thorny vines of the tattoo over his heart.
“You’re beautiful, you know?” Dig’s voice was hushed, almost as if he was trying not to wake her. He moved his hands up her body, still with the smallest, lightest of touches, to cradle her breasts in his hands.
She cocked her head to one side and squinted at him. “What are you thinking, hmm? What’s going through that crazy fighter head of yours, chulo?” she asked with a little laugh.
He chuckled, and still smiling, shook his head. “Nothing. Everything.” He lightly pinched her nipples, and she arched her back in pleasure, pressing her breasts into his hands. She leaned down to him and kissed him softly on the mouth, deepening the kiss when he squeezed her breasts a little harder, and he answered her wriggling against him with a needful groan.
Dig wrapped his arms around Nanda and flipped her to where her back was on the mattress and he loomed over her, grinning and wiggling his eyebrows and winking at her. She rolled her eyes but couldn’t help grinning back, especially when he began kissing his way down her body. She gasped with pleasure when he slowly licked her already wet folds, pulling her legs over his shoulders and gripping her hips to burrow his face deeper into her pussy.
When she opened her eyes after going into a near swoon with pleasure and looked down at him, he winked, and after nipping at her one last time, slid her legs from his shoulders and stalked on his hands and knees up to where his face was even with hers.
“Do you want to, again?” he whispered in her ear, and without waiting for an answer, dragged his tongue from behind her ear and down her neck, over her shoulder, and down to her breast. He circled her nipple with his tongue and then sucked, hard, making her gasp and arch her back.