Page 69 of Since the Night We Met
She met Dhruv's narrowed gaze head on. She could practically taste the metallic tang of fury in her mouth as she said, ‘You know what, Dhruv? I’ve tolerated your obnoxious personality, your attitude, and a lot more, but what I will not—what Iwillnever—tolerate is you disrespecting my husband to make up for your own incompetence.’
‘Oh, come on. Now you’re painting me as the villain because I refuse to question whether our father is corrupt? I thought you’d be done with your dirty games.’
‘No, you’re the problem because you treat any question on Dad as a personal attack on you. You can go against your morals but I can assure you it won’t win you his love or acceptance. Besides, if I truly want to play dirty, dear brother, you’d be gone by the end of the day, and we both know Daddy wouldn’t care enough to stop it.’
‘Dad has never cared. I accepted it a long time ago. But do you really truly believe I’d do anything to harm our family?’ Dhruv whispered.
Under the glare of the overhead light, Siya caught the flicker of pain flash across his face, before it was masked quickly by the familiar shadow of rage. And suddenly, she didn’t want to win this fight by wounding him.
She sighed. ‘I think you’re more loyal to Dad than you are to the truth. You’ve known me for a long time, and although you’ve hated me for just as long, you know that I am just as dedicated as you to uphold the integrity of our family name. Just once, trust me, Dhruv.’
He held her gaze for a long minute, and then his shoulder slumped and his harsh features softened. And for a moment, she wondered if he would apologise, but without another word, he turned and walked out of the room.
***
She didn’t even turn halfway before she felt his hand grip her waist as Abhay pulled her into his arms. When her chest collided with his, the impact knocked the air out of her lungs. His eyes searched hers and her pulse thudded in her ears when she felt the flutter of his breath at her temple.
‘Why did you defend me like that?’ he asked in such a raw, vulnerable way it echoed somewhere deep inside her. The heat in his eyes was tempered with awe.
She felt her world tilt off its axis, because suddenly he was so, so close. A heady hint of his aftershave hit her. Caught off guard, she fell back on blissful ignorance. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
There was barely an inch of space between them. She could feel the heat of him through the thin fabric and her breath caught when his gaze dropped to her lips. He rubbed his thumb across her plump lip, smearing the shade of red tinting it.
He gently brushed his thumb on her lower lip, making it tremble. ‘Don’t you hate me, Siya? Wouldn’t you love to see me burn in hell? Why not just let Dhruv insult me?’
She bit the inside of her cheek. ‘Abhay, please—’
‘No, I need to know it. Why did you stand between Dhruv and the man you love to hate like you’d go to war for me?’
He was too close and it was doing something dangerous to her heart. The pulse at his neck beat visibly. Siya had to get away before she gave in to the urge to kiss him silly. She tried to sound nonchalant. ‘I just didn’t like what he said. Sue me.’
‘You can’t even imagine the things I want to do to you, but suing you isn’t one of them. Tell me the truth,jaan.’
He had figured out that one word was her weakness, and he hadn’t stopped using it to get his way ever since.
Finally, the fatigue and exhaustion crashed onto her and she snapped. ‘Because I couldn’t!’ her voice cracked, raw and unfiltered. ‘You’re my husband, and I don’t care how complicated we are, no one gets to talk to you like that.’
His breath left him in a sharp exhale. Abhay angled her head back with one hand fisted around her high ponytail, and in an explosion of longing and passion, his lips crashed onto hers, hard and hungry. Her knees jolted as a rush of pleasure burned through her every nerve.
Her body betrayed every ounce of control she’d fought so hard to build, but she didn’t care. Shutting out every thought that told her not to do it, she let herself sink into the moment and encircled her arms around his neck, responding with just as much fire. Her nails dug into his shoulders and his grip in her hair tightened.
She’d been replaying their last kiss in her mind over and over, but her fantasies didn’t do justice to the real moment. The taste of his lips was a feral addiction, and every time they kissed, she only got more hooked on.
He spun her around until she was pressed against the glass top table, scattering the documents all around them, and she had to grip his collar to anchor herself. His heart pounded in tandem with hers, and she tugged at his hair as he devoured her mouth.
He slid his hand up her side, dragging the tips of his fingers slowly along the curve of her ribcage, igniting a trail of heat that flooded in her lower belly. Every drag of his lips across hers made her lose grip on her sanity.
The fire between them flared hotter with every passing second. Her body softened against him when he pressed every inch of him against her, his hips grinding into hers with a rhythm that made her core tighten with delicious need.
She caught his raspy grunt when she bit his lip, and it sent a thrill through her, pooling in her core. His breath came in heavy gasps and his words were a growl. ‘My wife is such a ferocious woman, always ready to fight with me and for me.’
He nuzzled her, teasing her with his stubble which raised goosebumps along her arms. He sucked hard enough to leave his mark into the hollow curve of her neck. The sharp sting was followed by searing pleasure, and a shudder rattled through her.
‘Someone might come in,’ she reminded him, but every nerve in her body was screaming at him to never stop.
‘If they do, all they’ll see is a starving man feasting to his heart’s desire,’ Abhay said in a grunt, trailing wet kisses along her collarbone.
When his thumb brushed the underside of her breast through the satin thin fabric of her shirt, she made a strangled sound in the back of her throat. She saw Abhay smile when he heard it. She shivered with the need for more, and her eyes rolled back into her head when he finally caressed her hard nipple with his thumb.
