Page 165 of The Redemption
“I dare you to try,” he challenges me. “There’s only one way to shut my mouth, Princess. And you already know what that is.”
The argument in me dies the moment his gaze drops to my mouth. Almost instinctively, I bite my lower lip.Damn him.I know exactly what he’s talking about.
I shrug off his hold.
“You seem awfully desperate for another kiss,” I shoot back. “I suggest you find someone else. Because you’re never getting one from me again.”
The next instant, he releases my wrist.Before I can react, both his hands come up and cup my face possessively. The warmth of his palms against my skin nearly melts the anger right out of me.
“There has never been anybody else, Siya. You were my first kiss,” he whispers. “I’ve never kissed another woman.”
What?
Everything inside me stops. At first, I’m convinced I heard him wrong. But he looks serious. Even his gaze doesn’t waver. Then he leans closer again, sending a shiver through me.
“I have slept with many women in the past, but I never kissed any of them. You were the first woman I ever wanted to kiss.” His thumb brushes lightly against my cheek. “And you’ll be the last.”
My heart forgets how to beat… because that doesn’t make sense. A man like Raghav? The Dark Prince. The most feared mafia king in the underworld? Never kissed anyone before me?
How is that even possible?
And if it’s true, then why me?Why did he choose me? Why did he kiss me?
I stare at the raw hunger burning in his eyes, the kind that says things his mouth doesn’t. The intensity of it makes it almost impossible to look away, especially when his thumbs continue brushing lightly against my cheeks.
Seconds later,his attention shifts to somewhere behind me. I glance over my shoulder and find Haider watching us from a distance. Raghav’s expression hardens at Haider’s silent signal to speak urgently with him. He drops his hands from my face and takes a step back. Without another word, he turns and walks away.
Haider falls into step beside him as both men head towards the office cabin, leaving me standing there, frozen, confused, and unable to stop thinking about that one impossible sentence.
‘You were my first kiss, Siya.’
How the hell is that even possible?
RAGHAV
An hour later – Villa
After discussing the developments unfolding in Cape Town, Haider and I walk towards the villa. Ever since Siya and her mother moved in, something has changed.The house feels different. My routine feels different. Hell, even I feel different.
This villa, which has always been my territory, my refuge, now carries traces of them in every room. A forgotten shawl over the back of a chair. The scent of freshly made tea wafting through the corridors. The sound of mother-daughter talking and laughing somewhere in the distance. Things I never thought I would notice, yet somehow, I do every single day.
Before they came here, I used to cook my own food. High-protein meals, strict portions, no shortcuts. I never depended on the resort kitchen for anything. Now I don’t even enter the kitchen. For the past week, I’ve been eating alone at the resort. Siya’s mother already hates me enough. She still looks at me like she’d happily throw me off the nearest cliff if given the chance.
But every time I see her with Siya, fussing over her, tucking a loose strand of hair behind Siya’s ear, helping her choose clothes, scolding her, feeding her, pulling her into a hug, taking care of every little thing for her… something twists inside my chest on seeing that warmth. It’s the same warmth I have spent my entire life imagining.
Is this what mothers are supposed to be like?
Because I wouldn’t know.
The bond between a mother and child is something I’ve only heard about. I have Baba, the closest thing to a father I’ve ever had. But a mother’s love is different. And I get to witness it every day under my roof, making me wonder what it would feel like to have that for myself.
But the moment this thought appears, I kill it immediately because some things were never meant for me.
Last week has changed things between Siya and me as well. She still hasn’t accepted this marriage. Still doesn’t want this life. But her anger feels different now. It’s less explosive and more thoughtful. Earlier, she used to fight with me over the smallest things. Now she mostly walks away. And God help me, I think I preferred the fighting. At least then, I knew exactly where I stood with her. Now, I don’t.
Every morning, I wake up before her, and it’s a torture to see her curled into the sheets on my bed, with her face buried halfway into the blanket. She looks like an angel in her sleep. So, every damn morning, I spend my precious minutes just looking at her, studying her, memorising her, and forcing myself not to reach out and touch her.
“Raghav?” Haider’s voice pulls me back to the present.
