Page 34 of Tears of Ruin

“Would you like to help?” I asked, pulling his attention toward me. So maybe I wanted him to look at me, because I damn sure loved gazing at him.

“Me?” Noam’s voice slightly cracked, his brows rising a fraction.

“Yes,chaton,you.” I wanted to share my love of cooking with him, to experience the passion through his eyes.

He slowly rose to his feet, glancing around like someone would tackle him before he could reach me.

Not if they want their breathing privileges revoked.

As soon as he joined me, I placed Noam between myself and the marble counter. I missed my butcher-block countertop, but I’d demolished it the night Kyson had died and I resurrected him.

In the early morning hours, I’d destroyed it, hating myself for not being there for my friend when he’d needed me the most.

“What…” Noam slid his tongue over his bottom lip. The gesture was a sign of nervousness for him.

The gesture just fucking aroused me.

Placing the smoked sausage in front of us, I picked up the paring knife, placed it in his hand, then slid my hand over his to guide him.

“Richard?”

“Yes, kitten?” I glanced at him.

“I know how to cut sausage,” he said dryly, but his lips twitched.

My lips twisted to the side. “Care for a demonstration?”

“But I just said I knew how.” His confused expression was adorable. I kissed his cheek, unable to resist the temptation nestled against my chest.

Ignore how his ass fits perfectly against your groin.

“May I?” My brow arched. I would always give him choices.

“Okay,” he said in an exasperated tone. “Show me how to cut sausage.”

I smirked, positioning his hands for safety. His right one still held the knife, but I made sure I was the one controlling it.

My cuts were precise and lightning fast, scooping the pieces aside, grabbing the next one before my brain caught up. It was muscle memory, a lifetime in Matilda’s kitchen. If you couldn’t keep up, you got out of the way.

Call it pride, call it competitiveness, but I was never told, not once, to move aside.

“How are you doing that?” Noam’s voice mirrored his stunned expression.

I kissed the side of his neck. “Now you see why my fingers bear scars.”

I could’ve concealed the marks like I had the rest of them, but I wore the ones on my fingers like a badge of honor.

In Matilda’s honor.

Noam quickly snatched his own hand away.

“You think I would allow you to get cut?” I gave him a wounded expression, fighting a smile.

Noam glanced at my fingers. “Not on purpose. Your knife skills scare me.”

Then hopefully he never saw Giovanni in action. It was as if the vampire had been born with his daggers in his hands.

“No making out over food.” Kyson gave me a shit-eating grin as he and Dane walked in.

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