God of Strength (Light of Obsession #1)

Chapter 5

Vaughn

      My Alicia picked the restaurant for dinner, apparently she has a list of restaurants that she trusts to go to. She's done inspections herself.

      I wait outside of her dorm as she asked, waiting for her to come down. She asked me to keep this secret for now. My sweet Alicia doesn't want anyone worrying about our friendship.

     Well, it'll evolve from friendship fast if I have anything to say about it.

      I hear the clicking of heels and my eyes snap up, landing on her. She's wearing a navy evening dress that ends beneath her knees, the top has thin straps on her shoulders. Her hair is down and curled at the ends with a hint of makeup on her face.

       Fuck, she's beautiful. She's so gorgeous it hurts to look at her.

      "Hi," She says softly when she reaches me, looking upwards.

      "Hello, Kukolka." I reply, grabbing her hand and leading her to the passengers seat. She gets in with no complaint and I then enter the drivers seat.

       "So, this restaurant is approved by you?" I ask, amused.

      "Mhm! It's not just health inspector clean, it's Alicia clean." She nods

      "Alicia clean?"

       "Ah, when my brothers and I watched the show Friends, they compared me to Monica a lot. And there's a scene where she says that a place is 'Monica clean' and Creigh coined it and we have a joke about Alicia clean. Probably would've been funnier if you knew the context."

        There she goes, rambling again when she's nervous. Cute. There's something deeper there about Alicia. Behind all those tight smiles and faked enthusiasm Something I want her to show me.

       I want to fight her demons and shield her from harm, I just need her to let me the fuck in. One day, she will.

       She looks outside, her hand on her chin as she admires the passing view of the city.

      "I just... I wanted to say sorry for asking you to keep this a secret. I'm not ashamed of having you as my friend or anything! It's just- well, my brothers." She says with a shrug as she looks back at me.

       "Don't worry about it, Kukolka." I reply. It doesn't bother me, she can put it off all she wants. I'll claim her as mine soon enough.

      "That word... what does it mean?" She asks, curious as a kitten.

      "Hm, you don't know russian?" No, she doesn't. My Alicia can speak 6 languages but she doesn't know I know that, does she?

      "No, heh. I can speak English, French, Spanish, Italian, Arabic, German and Japanese but not Russian." She says with a bashful smile.

      "That's quite a resume." I note.

      "Ah, well. Eidetic memory so languages come easy to me." She twirls with a strand of her hair.

    "So... what does it mean?" She asks timidly.

     "It means doll."

      "Doll?" She asks, curios.

    "Well, Little Doll. It's a term of endearment in Russian." I reply.

    "You've given me a nickname?" She asks, blushing shyly.

     "Of course." I nod. She looks away, rubbing her thumb and index finger, flustered.

     I pull up to the restaurant, exiting the car and opening the door for her.

     I guide her up as I hold her hand firmly. Her smaller hand is enveloped in mine, looking delicate against my rough, calloused hands.

     I keep my hand clasped on hers as we walk. The valet takes the car and we step inside. I give the receptionist my name and she leads us to our table.

     I reserved the most important table in the place. Right on the railing, overlooking the gorgeous view down. She stares down with a soft smile.

     "You got the best table." She says with a small chuckle.

      I bring her hand to my lips, placing a chaste kiss to them. "Only for you, Kukolka."

      A pretty blush coats her face which brings a sly smile to my lips. She takes a seat facing me and I stare into her eyes. My Alicia is always so cute when she's nervous.

      The waiter comes over and asks what we'd like to drink, she orders a diet coke and I order a water.

     "Y'know, once I came here with my family." She starts. "We were sitting on the table over there and it just started pouring so hard." She begins to chuckle as she speaks. "Mom had gotten all dressed up and she was soaking wet, Eli hates the rain so he was running inside. It was such a mess."

     I look at her with an amused expression. "I hope you were compensated for the food?"

     "Oh, yeah, daddy gave them such an earful that they added the glass on the roof." She says.

     Right. Her father is Aiden King. One of, if not the most, powerful man in the UK. He could probably get this place to have elephants put on a show if he demanded it.

      "So, shall we order?" I ask.

       She nods softly. Even an action as a simple nod coming from her drives me insane. I have no fucking clue how I'll make it through the night.