by Nisha Sharma
Male laughter.
Mina’s voice followed. Even though her words were muffled, Hem could tell that she was happy.
He’d expected her to be angry or upset, but happy? Not on his radar. It was obvious that her joy was coming from another man, and that was . . . painful to realize. His breath exploded from his body. He’d hurt her, and he’d regretted it the moment his stupidity cleared. Would Mina turn her back on him so quickly? He’d treated Mina poorly because he’d expected her to react like his ex. Was it too late?
No. No way. He couldn’t go there. There had to be an explanation, damn it.
His hands fisted when that male laughter echoed again, and he pounded on the door. The noise inside silenced, and he heard approaching footsteps. He knew the moment Mina looked through the peephole, because he heard her soft gasp. The rattle of the chain and the dead bolt had him gritting his teeth. He fought back the urge to throttle the strange man, until Mina opened the door.
She had a pen sticking out of her messy topknot, and she wore those skimpy yoga pants she preferred when she was working from home. Hem slammed the door behind him, dragged Mina against his chest, and crushed his mouth against hers.
She let out a small yelp and struggled for half a second before her fingers dove into his hair and she melted into the kiss. Her soft body against his, her supple lips, and the smell of passionfruit in her hair helped soften some of his edginess.
He stepped back and tugged Mina to his side before facing the other man. “It’ll piss Mina off if I’m an asshole to you, so I’m going to try to restrain myself. Mina, who is this guy and why is he in your apartment?”
“Hem!” Mina snapped.
Hem ignored her subtle attempt at extracting herself. The man in her living room had taken his suitcoat off, rolled up his sleeves, and loosened his tie. His socks were striped blue. He looked like a soft pretty boy with too much money.
Which was ironic since Hem most definitely had more money than this fool.
The man looked over at Mina and held his hands up in surrender. “So this is the other reason why you wouldn’t marry me,” he said.
“Marry?” Hem repeated. Then he remembered the story that Mina had shared with him weeks ago. Some of his anger eased. “You’re Virat Aulakh.”
“I am, and I’m not here to poach so I’d appreciate it if you’d refrain from hitting me.”
Mina finally wrenched herself away from him and nearly backed into the kitchen counter that separated the compact kitchen and living room. “Shouldn’t you be with your family, Hem?”
“I was with part of them. I came to get the rest. Virat, I’m going to assume you were working on something strictly business.”
She shoved at his shoulder. “Get out! You can’t talk to my guests like that.”
“No, I’ll leave,” Virat said. “And yes, it was business. Yours. I’ll let Mina explain.”
He grabbed his things and slipped into his shoes near the entrance. He looked like he was going to step around Hem and approach Mina for god knows what, but that wasn’t going to happen.
“Thanks for the pizza, Mina. And the advice. Hope you and Josette can work things out for next week.”
“Virat, you really don’t have to go. Ignore Hem.”
Virat laughed. “He doesn’t look like he’s budging. I wish we could meet under better terms, Hem. Good luck.”
With one last salute, he slipped out the door and left Hem and Mina in silence.
Silence that didn’t last long.
“How dare you come barging into my home, Hem!”
“I didn’t barge in. I walked in. What was Virat Aulakh doing in your house?”
“What, not only am I not good enough to be with your family, you think I’m cheating on you, too?”
“No, damn it, that’s not what I mean.”
“You have no right,” Mina said. She stepped forward and jabbed a finger against Hem’s chest. It was hard enough to push him back a full step.
“To want you safe? To want you to myself and protect you from other men? I have every right!”
“So you can tell me again how I’m not welcome or wanted?”
That was when he knew how much he’d hurt her with his sharp words. How could he harm this beautiful woman who bought him so much joy? He should be nut-punched for it. “Mina Kohli, I’ll never stop wanting you.” He reached out, and when she shrugged off his touch, Hem shoved his hands in his pockets. “I pushed my father for answers. You saw that. And then he reacted poorly to you, which only made me angrier. Then the anger was replaced by fear and shock. When he keeled over like that, I didn’t know what to do. I’ve never seen my father weak or vulnerable like that. I panicked, and with you, I—shit, Mina. I’m so, so sorry.”
She rubbed her arms. “Why? Why did you say those things to me? Was it because of Lisa?”
“Partly, yeah. I know that you’re not the same. I know my feelings for you are so different than my feelings for her were, but I didn’t want you to see my family that way, and then chance losing you.”
“You were pushing me away all on your own, Hem.”
“And I regret it. I—I’m not good at this. All I know is that I’m willing to do whatever it takes to make it right again.” He scrubbed his hands over his face, and when he looked back at her, he thought he saw a flicker of acceptance.
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Yeah. Just . . . don’t do that again, Hem. You used my biggest fear of not belonging against me.”
“Oh, hiriye.” He opened his arms, but she held him off, increasing the space between them.
“No. I forgive you. I do. I can see that you’re sorry, but if you treat me like that again, you won’t have a second chance.”
He smiled, and hope bloomed in his chest. “Noted.”
“Good, but we need some space, Hem. If you stay here, we both know what can happen. Sex is going to cloud things.”
“Wait, you’re sending me away because we may have sex?” She was still punishing him, he thought. “I never took you for a coward.”
Her mouth fell open. “Coward? Who the hell are you calling me a coward?”
“Then why are you sending me away?”
“Neither of us got a lot of sleep last night. We can’t have a repeat performance until we get some space from each other. I can meet you in the morning. Like I’ve said from the beginning, focusing on Bharat’s due diligence case is my priority and tonight I’m going to keep my word.”
He stepped forward, radiating tension. “First, you are under no obligation to have sex with me. I want to make that clear. Second, sending me away is cowardly because it means you don’t believe me. You still think that I meant what I said. It’s not true, Mina. You’ve done nothing but help since you started working on this case! I don’t know how else to tell you that.”
“I’m not talking about that anymore. I’m talking about sex, which we’ll most likely have if you stay. I don’t want to be distracted.”
“You know, this wasn’t about sex until you made it about sex. I wasn’t expecting you to let me stay, but now that you’re putting up roadblocks . . .” Hem bent forward and charged like a linebacker. He had Mina slung over one shoulder before she could get out the first yelp. When she swore at him, he slapped her lush bottom and enjoyed her yelp, and the moan she tried to bite off and hide from him.
He rushed into the bedroom that was a few short steps down a narrow hallway and tossed her on the bed. She scrambled up on her knees, and he could see the fire in her eyes thanks to the bright lights from the open windows.
“We are not done with this conversation, Hem,” Mina said.
“Okay, we’ll pick it up in an hour,” he said. And ripped his shirt over his head. He needed to touch her, to claim her as his so that she knew he meant every word of his apology, and that even if she tried to dismiss him, he’d never leave her.
When her eyes drifted down his chest to his unbuckled belt, he knew he had h
er. “Take off your clothes before I tear them off you.”
“You bought me these, you jerk,” she said. “You tear them, you replace them.” She yanked her blouse off and unbuttoned her jeans. It wasn’t fast enough for him. He toppled her back against the bed, gripped her waistband, and pulled. Both jeans and underwear came off in one go.
He needed to taste her, to touch every part of her. He reached for the back of her neck, gripped her hair in one hand, and pulled her up so that he could devour her mouth. Her lips were as angry and rough as his. It was a battle of tongue and teeth as they nipped and sucked at each other until Hem was breathless for more.
“I’m going to fuck you now,” he said when he pulled away. He reached down and plunged two fingers inside her, feeling her soft and wet. He pumped in and out until she squealed and an orgasm gripped her body. She arched against him and he almost roared in triumph.
“What do you want?” he said when she gasped for air. “You want to stop what we have here and send me home?”
“Hem,” she panted.
He gripped her hips and yanked her to the edge of the bed. As if she knew what he wanted, she lifted her legs up straight up in the air, and he rested her ankles on each of his shoulders.
“Tell me you want me to stop.”
“No,” she said, still struggling to breathe. She reached up and pinched her nipples, tugging them into tight peaks.
“I’ll walk away and go home now.”
“Don’t you fucking dare!” she shouted. “Take me, Hem.”
“You’re the only one for me, and no one else will ever compare to you.” Without another word, he plunged into her.
She screamed and the echo reverberated in his head. She was so tight, so soft against him, and all he wanted to do was drown in her.
His Mina. His strong, intelligent, beautiful Mina.
He couldn’t slow down, couldn’t stop himself from fucking hard and fast into her now. Her breasts jiggled, and her hips lifted off the bed with each vicious thrust of body against body. The sound of slapping flesh filled the air, and soon Mina was screaming his name, begging for him to make her come.
Hem leaned forward, bending her in half until her knees touched her breasts, and he felt her clench around his cock. She began to come, and her pussy milked him until his balls tightened and the orgasm shot up his spine. He shoved inside of her one last time and called out her name.
Hem didn’t know how long they lay, wrecked and sweaty, wrapped around each other. Their harsh breathing ripped through the air in tandem, and Hem gloried in the sound.
“I feel your cum on my thighs,” Mina finally said.
“I’m sorry. I know we talked about losing the condoms last night, but our first time without it should’ve been better for you.”
“It was. It . . . Hem, I need to get up.”
Hem hesitated, but when he saw that she’d already withdrawn from him, he slid off of her and let her leave the room. The sound of her footsteps echoed down the hall, and a few minutes later, she returned, beautifully naked and disheveled.
Mina picked up his shirt from the floor and pulled it over her head. The look didn’t detract from her beauty at all. If anything she was even more stunning. Outside the bedroom, she was poised and professional, so this mussed look was only for his eyes.
Her hands were soft as they brushed through his hair. “What happened today hurt, but the reason why I needed some space is because I realized how much you mean to me and how much you can hurt me. This is scary fast, Hem. It’s frightening.”
He knew exactly what she was saying. He was scared out of his mind, too. Nothing in his life had ever felt like this before.
“What if I told you—” His heartbeats were almost painful. He banged a fist against his chest and cleared his throat. “What if I told you that I loved you and time means shit when you’ve found the right woman? I spent years with someone and still wasn’t sure if she was it for me. But with you . . . with you, I knew the minute you crossed your legs in that boardroom.”
Her mouth fell open, and she swayed on her feet. Without preamble, she burst into tears.
“Oh, fuck me. Don’t do that. Don’t cry. I’ll do anything you want. I’ll go.” At that, she started crying harder.
He moved on instinct. After he picked her up and put her on the bed, Hem tucked her against his body and covered her with a blanket. Then he held her close until her sobs softened to gentle hiccups.
“Why is it so hard to hear?” he whispered against her forehead.
“Because I’m so afraid it’s not real.”
“It’s real. Main tuhadi sari zindagi nu pyar karan di udika kara riha hum.”
I have been waiting to love you my whole life.
“Main tenu pyaar kardiyaan,” she whispered against his collarbone.
I love you.
He shuddered from the force of her words. He hadn’t realized how much he’d needed to hear it back, how much it meant for her to feel the same as he felt. It was a beautiful thing.
He never thought he’d ask another woman to be a part of his life again, but with Mina, it felt right. He pressed a hand between her shoulder blades and pulled her impossibly closer.
“Move in with me,” he whispered. The request came from the very depths of his soul, from his need to be with her as often as possible. His hope that he could wake up next to her every morning.
“Hem, you don’t know what you’re asking of me. Asking of us.”
“I love you.”
Mina closed her eyes, and he could see the thick black lashes against her cheek. “I want to,” she whispered.
“My place only feels like home when you’re there. Move in with me. We’ll learn about each other together. We’ll grow together. We’ve started with months and we’ll end with forever.”
She ran her fingertip against his cheek and then tilted her mouth up to his. “I’m not sure yet. This case, my mother’s firm. Give me time. When it’s just you and me, then I’ll give you my decision.”
“Promise?”
“Absolutely. I want to be with you, Hem. That doesn’t change. Even if you are an idiot sometimes.”
Hem kissed her, and his world was right again.
Chapter Twenty
Mina enjoyed the precious quiet with Hem through the night, but when dawn came, she couldn’t hold back the truth. She sat with Hem at her kitchen island with two cups of chai and the paranthas they’d ordered from a private chef. They’d polished off most of their food before Mina shared all the information she’d received through her new contact at the FBI and from Raj’s call the day before.
“How sure are you about Raj’s intel?” Hem asked.
“One hundred percent. She wouldn’t have told me unless she was positive.”
“Okay.”
“You’re not surprised?”
“I’m relieved that we’re getting the answers we need. I knew we’d find them eventually, so I was prepared for the worst. I have to tell Ajay and Zail.”
Mina nodded. “I have to follow up with the FBI with more paperwork. I’ll probably do better if you work here and I leave.”
He pressed his knees harder against her thighs. “Or you could stay. We know we work well together. In the afternoon, I’ll take you for a walk, and we can try out that Italian place you wanted to go to last time for lunch. Maybe you can think about my moving-in offer some more.”
Mina snorted. “You want to play hooky during one of the most critical times in Bharat’s due diligence so you can argue with me about the pros of moving in? No dice, counselor.”
“A man can dream.”
“It’s fast,” Mina said. She reached out and cradled his face between her hands. Her big, strong man had such a soft heart. She had to be careful with it. “I’m not saying no. I’m just going to delay the discussions. Okay?”
One hand curled around her neck and massaged at the tension and stiffness. She closed her eyes and groaned.
“Thank you,�
� he said.
“For what?”
“For speaking up in that first board meeting. For never holding back and sort of asking me to a club so we could drink whiskey. For coming out with me to Dosa Hutt on our first date, and for the few stolen moments we shared after that. And for calling the FBI and turning in the tape on your uncle. I know that couldn’t have been easy.”
“It was actually very easy,” she said. “And maybe that’s why I feel some guilt.”
Hem kissed her then, slow and sweet. When he pulled away, Mina reached up to cup his face, scruffy from a day-old beard. “I love you.”
“I love you,” he replied.
Her phone buzzed on the counter, and Dad flashed across the screen. She debated letting it go to voice mail, but she had to continue acting as if everything was normal. With a sigh, she picked up.
“Hi, Daddy.”
“Mina. I need to see you today.” His voice was the same baritone sound with a slight accent he’d never been able to shake. The only abnormality was his request. He never called her in for a meeting unless it was carefully scheduled in advance.
“Oh. I don’t think that’s possible. I can always make an appointment with you at the office for Monday morning.”
“I won’t be there. I no longer work at the firm.”
“What?”
“We need to meet in New Jersey, away from the house. Other than that restriction, I’m fine with whatever location is convenient for you.”
Mina looked up at Hem, and she saw his eyes narrow. He motioned for her to continue.
“Dad, what do you mean you’re not working at the firm anymore? What happened? Did Sanjeev do something?”
“I’d like to ask you the same question. I need your availability, Mina. This is important.”
Her stomach pitched at the realization that if her father was ousted from the company, Sanjeev was most definitely going to target her next. How could her uncle do that to one of his most loyal and successful friends and employees? Had the news of the merger falling through reached them so quickly? Or was the decision solely based on her argument with Sanjeev in the office?