Page 48 of Ensnared
"Because I have my pride," she shot back.
He flashed her a menacing grin. "I'll see what I can do about breaking that tonight then."
Dominic could see her visibly shiver.
Leaning across the table, Dimitri captured her hands and pulled them to his mouth, placing small kisses on the back of her hand. "You're not a prisoner, my sweet Eve. You can-"
"Ha!" she gave him a mean laugh and even Dominic chuckled at that. "The hell if I'm not your prisoner! Last time I checked I was-"
Dimitri grabbed her and pulled her out of her chair. Dominic's gut tightened just for a fraction as her shocked yelp rang out through his phone's speakers. Settling her onto his lap, Dimitri held her in an iron hold and forced her to lean back until her head rested on his shoulder. He kissed her exposed throat.
"You have no idea what the true meaning of a prisoner really is, and I'll never let you find out," he murmured against her neck. "I want you to be happy, Eve."
Dominic opened a new tab and sent a message to Andrey to get more of these cameras. The speakers were amazing.
Looking back at the screen he watched as his boss's hands began to explore the girl.
For a few moments, she didn't say anything. Turning in his lap she looked at him, her black eyelashes lowering to the curve of her round cheeks before lifting once more to reveal those stormy gray eyes.
"You will let me have anything as long as I'm with you, right?"
Dimitri pushed a curl behind her ear and nodded with a smile.
"Then I want to start my master’s degree," she offered hesitantly.
Unfazed, he shrugged. "Whatever you want, just put it on the card."
"Aren't you afraid that I may get even smarter and find a way out of this beautiful cage?" There was a teasing note to her voice but a serious glint in her eyes.
Dimitri threw back his head in a deep laugh. "Then consider this challenge accepted. I look forward to what you come up with. Just remember that I will catch you and I will punish you accordingly," he promised darkly.
They spent the rest of the dinner making out and Dominic ended the feed.
Little by little they were falling into each other's spell and neither one had a clue.
Chapter 27
Inthemidstofthe raging storm, Eve stood soaked on the back patio staring at the downpour. Tears streamed down her face as she scanned the large back yard for the thousandth time for Mochi. She must have slipped out behind her when Eve had come outside to retrieve her book from the rain. That had been over an hour ago. She just realized the tiny feline was missing.
Guilt and fear swirled inside of her like a cyclone as she imagined her poor munchkin cat alone somewhere. Behind the house was nothing but a desert landscape. What if some sort of cougar got her?! Images of Mochi's scared face encountering a cougar choked another sob out of her. If something happened to her baby, she would not survive it. It would kill her right then and there.
"Eve?" The sound of her name had her whirling around to see Dimitri and Dominic standing in the living room doorway looking at her oddly.
She could just imagine how she looked. She was combing out her hair from her French braids on the living room floor watching anime when she realized she was missing her tiny companion.
She tried to hold back the tears but they burst out. "I lost Mochi," she cried.
Exchanging muttered words with Dominic, Dimitri stripped off his dark blue suit jacket and tossed it on the back of the couch while Dominic walked away checking his phone.
"Go upstairs and dry off," he ordered her gently. "I'll find her."
Not sure what else to do and feeling the urge to cry even more, Eve nodded and went upstairs. Once inside the master bathroom, she broke down crying even harder. Maybe she found a way out to the front of the house, she thought. Even though the back and the front of the house were separated by an eight-foot-high fence the cat could not physically jump due to her stature, maybe she found a gap. Images of Mochi somehow getting past both the back and the front gates assaulted her mind. Just beyond the front gate was a road. No one would be able to see her baby trying to cross the street in this weather.
Frantic, she turned back out of the bathroom and ran to the bedroom door and stopped short at the man standing on the other side—holding her cat.
Dimitri held up Mochi who stared innocently back at her. "Dominic checked the footage. Found her in the pool house."
Wiping at her eyes under her glasses, Eve took the cat into her arms and kissed her face. Tears of relief fell into her fur. Eve should've known. Mochi was obsessed with that damn pool house, a tiny building structure butted upside of the house that held the pool's pumping and filtration station.
