Love Thy Enemy (Red Stone Security #13)(34)

She blinked, those gorgeous dark eyes genuinely confused. “Me, hurt you?” Then she laughed, the sweet sound rolling over him like a warm wave.

He realized she thought he meant physically, but he didn’t correct her. Viktor half-smiled and lifted a shoulder. “He can be paranoid.”

“He’s your brother. It’s good he worries about you. My cousin, Quinn, is like an older brother to me. Now more than when I was younger.”

“Why now?” He’d seen the name Quinn in the file his brother had compiled on her, knew the guy had been a cop and now worked for Red Stone.

“Ah…this might be veering into more heavy stuff than first date conversation.”

“This is our second date.” There would be a lot more, as far as he was concerned. He reached for her hand again, was glad when she instantly linked her fingers through his. Even her hands were beautiful. She had long, elegant fingers he could easily imagine wrapped around his cock, stroking him until he came.

She laughed lightly and squeezed his hand. “Yeah, you’re right. But this is probably oversharing.”

“I think we’re past that point.” His voice was dry.

“True… Okay, fine. After what happened with my mom, Quinn is the first person I called. He, uh, he’d just started working for Red Stone but he’d been a cop before so he swooped in and just took over everything.” The adoration on her face was clear. “Even though I was eighteen he refused to let me live on my own. My mom had…cut out that side of the family, her side, because, well, whatever.”

“You don’t have to tell me any more.” The distress that had started to trickle into her expression sliced at him. He didn’t want her uncomfortable or in pain. Ever. Which was a stupid thing, considering he couldn’t protect her all the time. But he didn’t want to be the cause of her distress.

“It’s okay, really. I kinda want you to know this about me.” She faltered for a moment, but continued. “I moved in with his parents for the first few years I was in college. I, uh, didn’t realize it then but I was dealing with depression over everything and they really kept me afloat. They—Quinn and the rest of my family too—were like anchors. I was too caught up in my own bullshit then to be grateful but I know now how lucky I am that they were there for me.”

“You are lucky.” With the exception of his mother, he’d never had anyone he loved or trusted until Abram. He was glad she’d had family to support her. Her life could have turned out very differently otherwise. He’d seen it happen too.

“This brings me to something I’ve wanted to tell you.” Her cheeks flushed pink, but she trailed off as their server quietly brought their desserts.

Dominique’s eyes widened slightly in pure pleasure as the man placed the plate in front of her. Viktor didn’t look at his own. He didn’t care about the damn food. Hers was a chocolate cup filled with some sort of cream and fresh fruit. There were also fresh strawberries fanned out around it. The entire display was drizzled with chocolate.

“I’ve always wondered how they make these,” she murmured. “The cups are so delicate.”

“Balloons,” the man said before darting his gaze to Viktor, just a touch of fear in his gaze.

As if Viktor would be angry he’d talked. Jesus, he wasn’t that f*cking scary. He tried smiling at the man but was pretty sure he failed when the guy flinched. “Balloons?”

The man nodded and looked back at Dominique, his expression quickly morphing to one of appreciation as he talked to her. “The chef dips small balloons into the melted chocolate halfway and they dry in this shape. Once they’re done he carefully lets the air out and removes the balloon.”

“That’s so interesting. I’m going to have to try it,” she said.

The man beamed at her before disappearing back to the kitchen.

“You cook?” Viktor asked once they were alone again. He didn’t reach for his fork, just watched the expression of pure joy flicker across her features as she took that first bite.

She let out a little moan of appreciation as she nodded. “You want a bite?”

He shook his head, his dick going ridiculously hard. If she took this much pleasure in dessert… He could just imagine what she’d look like when he brought her to orgasm. He’d thought about how he’d do it too, way too many times. He’d never brought a woman to his house but he was obsessed with the idea of her stretched out on his bed, all his for the taking. He wanted to take his time with her, to have her begging for him to fill her.

“You’re missing out. And yes, I do like to cook—baking, mostly—though I don’t get to as much as I’d like because of work.”

His gaze strayed to her mouth as her tongue darted out to swipe cream off her bottom lip. He had to actually bite back a groan at the sight. He’d been with women who knew how to seduce, how to do everything right—because it was all choreographed and fake. With Dominique, he knew there was no artifice.

Even if she was driving him crazy.

He had the irrational urge to shove everything off the table and take her right here. Which was beyond insane. But she made him want to lose control, something he didn’t like. He rubbed the back of his neck and glanced around the restaurant.

The extra security was in place and very discreet. After that mugging he didn’t care if he was being paranoid. He wanted to make sure Dominique was safe. He just hated that he had no control over what happened to her when she was at home. He couldn’t very well insist she keep a security guard with her. Even he knew that was insane and would push her away from him.