Page 240 of Claimed By the Maharaja
Every trace of control was gone.
His hands caught her before she could fall.
“Yamini.”
She had heard him give commands. She had heard him give warnings. She had heard him say her name in the dark in ways that made her forget everything else.
She had never heard him sound like that. Raw and terrified.
The darkness came in at the edges.
Someone was shouting. Security boats surged across the water.
She couldn't focus on any of it.
The last thing she saw was Bharat’s face.
He looked completely undone.
CHAPTER 60
The room was dim when she opened her eyes.
Familiar silk curtains. Snow-capped mountains outside the window. The faint scent of cedar and musk cologne. She was in the Jogra master bedroom suite.
The room felt too quiet.
For a few seconds, she lay still, trying to understand what time it was.
She tried to turn slightly.
Pain came immediately. A deep, dragging ache across her side. A tightness around her ribs when she breathed.
Then memory came back in pieces.
The Dal Lake, the flash of light, the shove, water, his voice raw and breaking
Her fingers twitched.
A chair scraped softly beside the bed.
She turned her head.
Bharat was sitting there. And he looked wrong.
His hair was slightly out of place. His jaw was dark with stubble he hadn't shaved. His white shirt was creased, sleeves rolled up. And his eyes were red. Bloodshot.
She had never seen him look anything but perfect. Until now.
For a moment, neither of them spoke. His gaze moved slowly over her face as if making sure she was real. Awake. Breathing.
“You're awake,” he said.
His voice was calm and controlled.
She swallowed. Her throat was dry. “How long?”
“Seventy-two hours.”
