by Swati MH
His mouth crashes down on mine, softly licking away the tears on my lips. His tongue unseals my lips as it makes its way relentlessly into my mouth, claiming what’s his. I lift onto my toes as my arms encircle his neck and his wrap around my waist, pulling me in to deepen our kiss. We barely take a breath, not wanting to disconnect from this moment.
Is this really happening?
Not the sounds of the busy street, nor the hundreds of city dwellers walking around us, regarding us as a mere nuisance in their path, could distract us from being entangled with each other. We’re making up for days--akin to years--of not tasting each other. Like reformed addicts falling off the wagon, we’re ravenous for the sight, smell, and taste of one another.
After a few minutes, I lift out of the kiss and soak up his tender gaze. “I didn’t want to ask you to stay because I didn’t think I was eno--”
“Ask me, sweetheart,” he cuts in. “Ask me to come back, and I’ll move heaven and earth to do it. All I’ve wanted was for you to ask.”
“Come back.”
We’ve been reacquainting ourselves through our bodies for the past hour, and I’m so deliciously spent that I could lay here for the rest of the week. I only took the weekend off and need to catch my flight Monday morning, but that’s the last thing I want to think about.
Vik is lying next to me, and a sheen, similar to my own, covers his body. His fingers dance over the skin of my stomach as he lowers his head to find my lips again. “I’m crazy about you, Cass. You unravel me and then string me back together again.”
“I infuriate you, too . . . a little bit.” I giggle.
“Oh, not just a little bit, sweetheart. You drive me to the brink of insanity, only to pull me back right when I’m going to topple over. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He taps my nose gently. “I can’t believe you’re here.”
“Yeah, it feels surreal,” I whisper. We barely made it through his apartment door before we were ripping off each other’s clothes like they were on fire. I don’t recall what I saw of his apartment besides a sleek row of modern maple cabinets in the kitchen and a long hallway leading to his bedroom. I think some of my clothes are still lying in said hallway.
“I mean, I can’t say I’m that surprised. I’m pretty damn irresistible, so I knew you’d find your way back to me one way or another.”
I roll my eyes, playing our little game where he pretends to be arrogant and I pretend to hate it. “I only came here for the orgasms.”
“And have I delivered?”
“Not quite enough, but I’ll give you a little break since you’re clearly exhausted.” I smirk at him.
He tickles me, making me jump and giggle louder. “I’m pretty sure you’re going to be the one begging me for a break by the time I’m done with you.”
We end up kissing again before I steel myself to ask him what’s been weighing on me since I arrived. Hell, it’s been weighing on me since the moment I knew I wanted him and him only. “Vik, how do we do this?”
He sprinkles kisses on my neck. “Well, it’s pretty simple when I already have a job waiting on me there.”
Huh?
I still in his arms, my heart skipping a beat. Maybe my ears are still blocked from the flight over here. “What?”
He’s still nestled in my neck, floating kisses from my ear to the middle of my breasts, as if he hasn’t just caused me heart arrhythmia. “Dr. Hammonds called me into her office on my last day and told me she had decided to retire. She wanted to offer me the job first.”
I push his shoulders, panicked, irritated, and excited all at once. Every emotion flashes on my face in the matter of five seconds, making him chuckle. “So, you had a job there this whole time . . . and you still moved here?”
“Yeah, but--”
“I literally cried myself to sleep every night because of you, and you’ve had the ability to be working there all this time?”
The bastard laughs again, as if there is something amusing about my words. “Cass, listen to--”
“It’s been eleven days since you left. What if she found someone else? What if you’re too late?” My stomach twists, thinking about being away from him again. I swear, I want to hurt him right now for being so nonchalant about this. How could he have not told me?
He lays a finger on my mouth, effectively shutting me up. “What am I going to do with this raging beast of a girlfriend?”
My heart skips at the sound of being called his girlfriend, but the control freak planner in me still needs to understand how this is all going to work.
“I already accepted it yesterday.”
I’m sure he’s trying to kill me via heart attack. “What do you mean you already accepted it?”
He laughs again. “I mean, I am moving to San Diego. Even if you hadn’t shown up here--and believe me, I’m so happy that you did--I would have gone back and convinced you to be with me. And since you’ve shown no restraint when it comes to me, I know I would have won you over eventually.”
A mixture of thrill and sheer happiness zips through me like a current. I wrap my arms around his neck and bring him back down to my lips. “I love you.” I kiss him desperately, thankful that things were all aligning--like a perfect arrangement of stars. Thinking about how much I love this man, who is willing to not only climb mountains but to move them for me.
His love may have caught me off-guard and happened serendipitously, but it’s the only love that was ever meant for me. Underneath that deliciously devilish smile and arrogant facade, lay the biggest heart I’d ever seen.
And now, it is all mine.
Epilogue
Vik - One Year Later
“Oh my gosh, the picture you sent me of her trying her cereal is the cutest! It was more like the cereal was eating her rather than the other way around. You have to keep sending those because Aunty Cassie misses her so much!” Cassie gushes into the phone with Avni as we drive to go see my mom and brother.
I tap my fingers on the steering wheel to release some of the energy swirling inside me. Usually a long run helps loosen my nerves but even that didn’t help this morning. I mentally run through my plan, trying to stay focused on the road but can’t help being distracted with conversations about my new niece. She’s pretty ridiculously cute.
Cassie hangs up with Avni a few minutes later and updates me on the conversation, though I’m pretty sure I heard most of it, along with parts I could have done without hearing, like how my cousin’s breasts are engorged. “Mind if we take a little detour over here? I want to show you a really pretty beach.” I secretly pray there aren’t too many people on the beach at this time in the morning.
Cassie smiles over at me. “Sure. You know I’ll never say no to a beach.”
Once we’ve parked, I open the trunk to take out the small picnic basket and blanket I’d discreetly packed after she had already gotten into the car. There’s no way to hide it now, and I see the surprise in her eyes.
“We’re having a picnic? Won’t your mom be expecting us for lunch?” She collects her hair in a ponytail but a few strands slip out around her face.
“I only packed a light snack so we won’t ruin our appetite. Especially not when Ma is making masala dosas.” I laugh, hoping it will uncurl some of the tension coiled in my stomach.
Truth be told, Ma has been eagerly waiting for this day since I took Cassie to meet her in Santa Monica. I’m positive I’ll be getting turned away without dosas if I don’t give her some good news today. Vinnie and Priya are waiting at the house for the same thing.
It’s been a year since I moved back to San Diego and took the job Dr. Hammonds had offered me, yet it all still feels like yesterday. Moving here to be with the love of my life was the best decision I ever made. And even though both our jobs are demanding and our hours are still erratic, Cassie and I have spent almost every free moment together. And no amount of time with her is enough.
Walking over to a spot on the secluded beach along the Pacific Co
ast Highway, I tamp down the bubbles churning my stomach. Confidence has never been an issue for me but when it comes to this woman, it often seems to evade me. She keeps me on my toes and leaves me breathless. I crave her witty comebacks and mouthy banter just as much as I crave her laughs and moans. And speaking of moans, there’s nothing I like eliciting more than when she’s bucking and writhing under my touch. I love seeing the flush on her skin and the heat in her eyes, knowing that I’m the one doing that to her.
After laying out the blanket and placing the picnic basket on one corner, I grab Cassie’s hand and pull her down between my legs, wrapping her in my arms from behind. We both breathe in the crisp morning air under the sunlight breaking in through the clouds, listening to the sounds of the waves rushing to the beach.
“This is such a pretty view.” She exhales, taking in the large hills and palm trees flanking both sides of the beach.
I squeeze her a little tighter and run my nose along the side of her neck, smelling her skin like I always do. She stretches it to give me a little more access before turning her head toward me. Her tongue flicks out to lick her lips as her gaze lands on mine and I’m sure she can feel me hardening at the base of her spine. It’s all the permission I need to kiss her petal pink lips and swallow the whimper that escapes her.
Within moments, we’re completely engrossed in each other. She’s turned around between my legs so she’s facing me, her hands scraping my scalp while my tongue battles with hers. As if she’s just woken up from a spell, she pulls back suddenly, out of breath. “Vik, we have to stop. There are other people here.”
Growling and adjusting my straining hard-on, I relent, extracting a promise from her to finish what she started later. “Check out what I brought in the basket.”
She lifts an eyebrow before reaching for the basket, excitement gleaming in her eyes. Opening it to examine the contents, she smirks back at me. “Fruits and stuff to make mimosas! Are we celebrating something or did you bring it just because?”
“Well . . . we never did celebrate when you finally agreed to move in with me.” She’s been reluctant to say yes for the past year because of her dad, but I convinced her to help me find a house close enough to her dad that we could go see him any time, so she’ll be moving in with me next week.
“That’s true.” She slides the basket over to me and my heart pounds as her eyes land on the other little surprise. “Fortune cookies?”
“I figured we could start this morning by reading our fortunes.” My voice doesn’t give away the frenzy brewing inside of me.
She lifts each wrapped cookie and examines the inscription on the wrapper. “This says V and this says C.” Her face brims with anticipation, and I can’t help but smile at how perfectly this is working out.
Handing me the one with the V on it, she opens her wrapper, breaking the cookie in half to pull out the written fortune, along with something that sparkles in the sunlight. Her mouth hangs open as she pulls out a one-and-a-half-carat oval solitaire on a thin silver band. Her hand trembles and I reach to calm it while she squints to read the tiny words on the paper. “A dark, handsome Gemini awaits for your hand to spend forever with you.” She looks up from the paper, bewildered, to see me on one knee.
I gently take the ring from her and grab her left hand, my heart ready to jump out of my chest and fall into the sand, before I take a large inhale. “They say that if you ask for something with sincere intention, the universe will conspire to help you receive it. Some people wish by blowing on dandelions and some wish on shooting stars. Cassie Renee Livingston, there aren’t enough stars in the sky for me to have been granted my wish of being with you, but somehow, the universe heard my plea.”
I watch her other hand move to cover her mouth while her eyes glisten with pools of happiness as I continue, “I’ve called you my little firecracker since the moment we met, but I realized long ago that you’re not a firecracker at all, sweetheart. You’re not something that burns momentarily, only to disappear after a few sparks. You’re the goddamn sun. You light up my entire sky, Cass, and I love you more than I can say in a few words. All I ask is that you let me brighten up your days as you do mine for the rest of our lives. Please grant me my wish and marry me, sweetheart.”
Before I even finish the last words to my proposal, she’s nodding her head, the wind blowing some of the loose strands of her hair in all directions. A few onlookers watch with smiles on their faces, but the only one I see is the one on her face. “Yes!” she sobs through the word. “Yes, I’ll marry you!”
After I put the ring on her finger, she hurries me to get up so she can jump into my arms. She wraps her entire body around me, squealing, kissing, and showering me with I love yous. “Wait, wait, what about your fortune cookie? What does it say?”
I put her down and unwrap my cookie. Breaking it, I pull out the little paper to read it out loud. “You will soon be married to a beautiful, albeit stubborn, Taurus of your dreams.”
She scowls at me playfully before smacking my shoulder and laughs. “You’re the dark, handsome Gemini while I’m the stubborn Taurus?”
I shrug. “You can’t question the stars.”
The End.
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Also by Swati M.H.
Kismet in the Sky
(A Slightly Forbidden, Second Chance Romance)
After sitting next to him on a flight to Delhi eight years ago, I didn’t think I’d ever see the tall, green-eyed gorgeous stranger again.
Except in my dreams.
But now, Clark Cooper is the COO of my company and I’m going to have a lot more to lose than just my job if we act on our undeniable attraction.
We’ve traveled very different roads over the past eight years and carry a lot of baggage.
We’re both fueled by guilt. My guilt adheres me to marry the man my orthodox Indian parents choose. His guilt has him running from relationships, let alone marriage.
But you know what they say about the things we can’t have.
We always want them.
About the Author
Swati M.H. prefers to call herself a storyteller rather than an author. She lives in the Bay Area with her incredibly patient husband, two beautiful daughters, and her pitbull named Sadie Sapphire. Her days start with caffeine and sometimes end with a glass (or three) of wine.
Swati’s goal as a storyteller is to distract her readers from their daily grind with stories about everyday couples finding and fighting for incredible love with the help of a little luck. This is part of Swati’s debut duet.
Find her at www.swatimh.com
Acknowledgments
I never thought I’d write more than one book. So, imagine my surprise when the words for Surrender to the Stars started flowing on paper and Vik and Cassie came to life! That doesn’t mean they were easy to write by any means. No, they truly pushed me, challenging me to capture their banter and intense chemistry.
Vik is unlike any character I’ve written—charming, hilarious, pushy, flirty, and all sorts of swoony. On top of it all, he’s a successful surgeon! And Cassie. Ah, my sweet, tormented, and stubborn Cassie. There were so many times I just wanted to grab her shoulders and shake her into seeing this beautiful man in front of her. But, she insisted on taking things slow when it came to her fragile heart.
I hope you loved Vik and Cassie as much as I did and that I did a good job of conveying their incredible, fated love.
There’s no way I would know anything about the medical/NICU world without my two besties, Anita Arora and Bindu Naren. Thank you for being so patient with the million questions and texts I sent you and for being my alpha-readers. You cheering me on made me feel invincible. Also, a special thanks to my sis Julie Phelps for being an early pair of eyes and for coming up with such a perfect title!
My beta-readers Melissa Schmid
t, Amy Crull, and Anita Medeiros- thank you for your immense support. You helped make this story more beautiful and I truly appreciate all your feedback.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I am the luckiest gal to have the world’s most supportive husband and parents. There were so many times I doubted myself but they were alway in my corner, lifting me up.
Thank you also to my editor, Silvia Curry and my PA, Stephanie Rash. You make work fun and easy.
A huge thank you to Swati’s Street Team and to all the bloggers and Instagrammers who’ve so generously helped me. You guys are the best cheerleaders a girl could ask for!
And more than anything, THANK YOU, my readers! I am so incredibly humbled and grateful for your support and encouragement. So many of you messaged me to say you needed me to write Cassie’s story, after reading Kismet in the Sky, and it made me feel so welcomed and loved. Thank you for that. It’s always scary to put a piece of your heart and soul out there and I hope I didn’t disappoint you.
Never miss a thing!
Thank you so much for reading Cassie and Vik’s story! I hope you had as much fun getting to know them as I did while writing them.
My website would be the best way to keep in touch with me and I would love to get to know you too!
www.swatimh.com
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