Page 22 of We Own Each Other

Keeping my distance, I admired him and watched to see what he was going to do when he thought no one was watching.

He touched the leaves with a hesitant tenderness, but as soon as the brown ends were between his fingers, he snapped them off without a second thought. His mouth then curled up into a grin of pure satisfaction, not unlike the joy of a Dom who had thoroughly dominated a Sub.

All Doms had destructive tendencies, some more violent and cruel than others. Some could hide it more easily than others, too. But no matter how much it was contained, it was impossible to bury completely.

I had just witnessed a bit of Corin’s Dom cravings leaking out, and it was happening just before our date.

My entire body bloomed with goosebumps, and a shiver coursed down my spine. Meanwhile, my cock was pulsing to life in my pants. I couldn’t wait to show him how destructive a Dom could really be.

As if he could sense my intent, his intense stare suddenly jerked up to meet mine, and I could feel the familiar burning of a Dom’s glare. But then he recognized me, and those deep crimson eyes softened instantly. He smiled, waving, though I didn’t miss the casual way he tried to drop the remnants of the plant he had broken off behind him.

Chuckling, I finally made my way up to him, slipping my hand into his.

Almost reflexively, he leaned forward, and I followed suit, giving him an oddly familiar kiss. It didn’t feel like we were going on a first date. On the contrary, it was like a couple who had been on a million dates and were just greeting each other for the day.

I had heard of butterflies in your stomach, but this was probably the first time I'd experienced it.

My face burned as I cleared my throat.

“Are you ready to go?”

I wasn’t sure if he was feeling the same way I was, but I had my suspicions as a deep red, not unlike his eyes, began to spread across his cheeks. He nodded, wordless.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t hold back my smile as we walked, hand-in-hand, out the front door together.

THE RESTAURANT WAS, unfortunately, the same one where I’d met with Everett. While going again wasn’t the problem, I hated that the staff had seen me with another man not all that long ago — and a powerful Dom, at that. I wasn’t sure what we’d be discussing over dinner, but I expected topics like my job and living situation to come up, both of which were loaded for me.

Combined, it all just felt like a bad omen.

Unfortunately, my feelings must have been playing across my face as we stood in line at the host stand.

I was staring, maybe even glaring, at the table Everett and I had been sitting at as if it had personally offended me in some way. The poor diners already sitting there were nervously glancing my way, which didn’t deter me in the slightest — what did deter me was Corin’s face suddenly appearing before me.

He was smiling, unbothered, as he leaned into my view.

“Whatcha doing?”

I grabbed at my chest, wincing as my heart suddenly thrummed wildly against my sternum.

His brows suddenly furrowed, his hand hesitantly reaching out to rest on top of mine.

“Are you okay? You feeling sick?”

I shook my head, unable to hold back as I knelt forward and pressed my lips against his bare forehead.

His face flushed immediately, and he tried his best to pull his hand away, but I quickly grasped it and held it firmly to my chest. I was just about to go in for another kiss, a whisper of space between my lips and Corin’s slightly open mouth, only for the host to clear her throat.

“Excuse me. How many?”

I was compelled to ignore her and stick my tongue in his mouth, but Corin turned away to face her.

“Two, please. Sorry.”

Pouting, I squeezed his hand a bit tighter, but when he faced me again, he pressed a delicate kiss against my puffed-out bottom lip.

“Stop that. You’ll get all of the loving you want soon enough.”

With that, he turned away again, pulling me along behind him as we followed the host to our table. I stared at the nape of his neck, admiring the alluring way the curl of his hair bounced across it. I couldn’t help thinking how cool he was.