Submission Under the Mistletoe by Yvette Hines Page B

ears began to ring and she swore she
could hear the blood racing through her veins to her heart speeding
it up. It can’t be.
    “ Ah, here you two are.” The click
of Butterfly’s heels announced she was moving closer.
    Jennifer looked up and smiled. “Hi, Butterfly, we
couldn’t resist your famous cookies any longer.”
    “ Please, enjoy as much as you
want. I wanted to introduce you all to one of my brothers. His twin
is around here somewhere, so just look for a duplicate version,”
Butterfly joked.
    “ Brad, this is Jennifer, she’s
also known as Pepper,” Butterfly introduced.
    “ Nice to meet you. Welcome to
Charlotte.” Jennifer acknowledged him with a smile from the other
side of the island.
    “ And this is China Doll, but I’m
sure she would not mind a vanilla man such as yourself calling her
…”
    Knowing she would not be able to put it off any
longer, Gabriella slowly turned and stared at the man she’d allowed
to make love to her all night, two nights ago.
    “ Gabriella,” Brad finished for
Butterfly, however, Gabriella noted his dark brown eyes, matching
his sister’s, were wide with surprise.
    “ Glad you to know each other.
Brian is my other brother that here. No worries you can’t miss him,
because he looks just like this one.” Smiling, Butterfly patted his
arm. “They’re visiting from Baltimore.”
    Brad hadn’t stopped staring at her through his
sister’s spiel.
    He looked good, too good. He was wearing a winter
white sweater and charcoal slacks. She could smell his fresh and
warm spicy, scent from the three feet that parted them and she
shiver with memories of having his arms around her.
    “ How are you?” His eyes soften as
his gaze caressed her face.
    “ I’m fine. Just fine.” Gulping
down the last of her wine, Gabriella set it on the island. “Um,
Jennifer…I think I need some air.”
    Brad reached for her as she past. “Gabriella…”
    Side stepping him, Gabriella didn’t wait for her
friend to join her, she headed in the opposite direction of the
front door, where people were gathered talking, and prayed she’d
find a back door. Moving through a second living room, that was
decorated in cream and burnt orange colors, with another Christmas
tree in that room, she saw a sliding door.
    With thanks, she exited out onto the back porch and
inhaled several icy breaths.
    “ Wow.” Jennifer stepped up beside
her. “If I knew I’d be racing around a large house behind you I
would have thought twice about wearing these stilettos.”
    Glancing down at the gold four inch heels her friend
had on her feet, Gabriella felt guilty. “Sorry, Jennifer. I just
needed to get out of there for a moment. Too many people.
Stuffy.”
    Raising an eyebrow, Jennifer stared at her.
    Thankfully her friend didn’t call her a liar,
Gabriella looked off into the lit backyard.
    “ How do you know, Mr. Tall and
Sexy? I’m assuming he was the one you were running away
from.”
    “ Figured it out did
you?”
    “ Oblivious much?” Jennifer
joked.
    “ Suppose so. He was the man I told
you about with Reel.” Gabriella wrapped her arms around her upper
body trying to ward off the chill. Her coat would have been nice,
but she didn’t feel like going back in to get it just
yet.
    “ The one you submitted to and used
to get released from Reel the Jerk.”
    Gabriella shot her friend a look and noticed
Jennifer had her hands cupped around her mouth warming them.
    “ Hey, I call them how I see
them.”
    Not seeing a reason to deny the label, Gabriella
stared up at the star filled sky.
    “ There seemed to be a lot of
attraction between you and Mr. Tall and Sexy. Any
chance—”
    “ He’s not Do—…in the lifestyle.”
She was going to say that Brad wasn’t Dom material but her mind
played back the night they had sex. How he held her, commanded her
and took her to a pleasure she’d never experienced
before.
    “ If there’s this much connection
between the two of you maybe you should