Priya in Heels (Entangled Embrace)

by Ayesha Patel

  She stood and marched off, finding Vicki and Raj on the dance floor. They exchanged a few words and the couple continued dancing. Pree searched for Tulsi, who was practically having a threesome between two guys. She shook her head and, defeated, returned to her seat.

  “Back so soon?” I asked.

  “I have to get off my feet. I’m so tired.”

  “Didn’t drive here, did you?”

  “Vicki dragged me here, and she’s too busy dancing.”

  “Just ask.”

  “I’ll ask her again later.”

  “No, I mean, just ask me.”

  “For?”

  “To take you home.” I grinned.

  “By taking me home, you mean dropping me off in front of my apartment, where we go our separate ways.”

  “If that’s all you want. Ready?”

  “You done partying?”

  “I just came for you.”

  “So you finally admit to stalking me?”

  I placed a hand on her back as we walked outside. I opened the car door for her and again when we arrived at the complex. I took Pree to her door. She turned to say something, but I planted my hands against the wall on either side of her head and trapped her.

  I could’ve kissed her again, convinced her to go to my place. By the way her gaze lingered on my mouth, the way she chewed on her bottom lip, I suspected she wouldn’t mind so much.

  But I wanted Pree to obsess about me, about our kiss. I wanted to get into her head and stay there. I wanted her to replay tonight over and over until she could no longer take being away from me. I wanted her to need me the way I needed her.

  My body had its own plan. I tilted my head and aligned our mouths. Not kissing Pree was the hardest thing I had ever had to do.

  I exhaled. “Call me when you want me to come over.”

  Her breath hitched.

  Then I walked away.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Priya

  I had found myself in a compromised position when Ty had dropped me off the other night. My mind had wandered toward naughty things, and now I was caressing my phone with the need to call him. It was a bad idea to be alone with Ty, a bad idea to let him touch me. His kiss had been mind boggling, everything I imagined a first kiss to be. His lips were masterful weapons and I had just about lost myself to him.

  Sexual gratification at the hands of Tyler O’Connor suddenly seemed like a stellar idea…until I came to my senses. Unfortunately, I only stayed in my senses when I wasn’t near him. And when Mummie called to inquire about the decision regarding Manuk. In fact, Mummie called almost every other day, and all I could say was that I needed time.

  I managed to stay away from Ty for a couple of weeks with a new, albeit as strenuous, work schedule, although I caved and answered his calls. That voice. Wow, just wow. I loved to hear it when he called first thing in the morning, having just woken up, just to tell me good morning. That ragged and sexy voice gave way to visuals of what he looked like in bed.

  Texting was safer.

  Work was a viable excuse to decline his invitations. I’d been too tired to hit the gym in days. Being cooped up in a gym held no appeal after being locked indoors all week. Even the prospect of watching a movie in the cardio theater didn’t lure me after looking at computer notes and programs all day. My fat cells were probably loving the lack of exercise and conspiring to mound up into fat rolls. It drove me insane and I finally decided to get a run in.

  I walked several blocks to the riverside to jog. Running felt amazing. As the sun set and twilight came quickly, I picked up my pace. The neighborhood was safe, but the population had turned sparse. I ran longer than usual and I’d left my phone at the apartment. I clutched my keys in my fist with the keys sticking out between my knuckles.

  As I hurried home, I worried about the impending decision about Manuk. Mummie wouldn’t take “no” for much longer. Not that she was pushy, but what solid reason did I have to turn Manuk down? The other suitors had been weird, too traditional, and had wanted a wife-servant as opposed to an equal. Mummie had understood. The only negative thing about Manuk was my stubborn belief that he made me uncomfortable. He did not. I chose to be.

  I walked several blocks, consumed by my thoughts, zoning out, as usual.

  No wonder I hadn’t sensed the two guys lurking in the alley to my right, not until they jumped out, grabbed me, and dragged me into the darkness. My heart leapt into my throat. I punched. My keys scraped flesh. I kicked, too. Runner’s legs were strong.

  I remembered to scream and shrieked before one of them clamped his hand on my mouth. My entire life flashed before my eyes. Fear inundated me, but survival fought to maintain control. The thing about being in the medical field—one may not know how to defend or disarm, but one did know what killed. I aimed the keys and fists for superficial and exposed death points: the jugular, the carotid, the trachea.

  “Hey!” A man yelled from the sidewalk. It sounded like Ty!

  I elbowed my attacker and cried, “Help!”

  One attacker dragged me farther back into the alley while the other stepped forward to fight the stranger. As the light from the streetlight moved across him, I saw that the stranger was indeed Ty. My heart raced even faster with spiraling amounts of relief but now, I was also concerned for Ty’s well-being.

  In my struggle, my hair escaped its band. I watched Ty as I fought, more pissed than scared because I didn’t want Ty hurt. I didn’t want the men to touch him, to beat him or worse.

  Ty punched his attacker after taking a hit. The mugger kicked him in his jaw and threw him against the side of the building. I was going to be sick. They scuffled until Ty got the upper hand and pummeled his assailant.

  By now, I had managed to rip out a chunk of hair from the guy who wrestled me. I tried to get to my attacker’s throat. Ramming keys into his eyes helped. He slapped me with the force of a punch, sending me flying backward until I stumbled over something and hit my head against the wall.

  My attacker helped his cohort to ambush Ty and plunged a knife into his shoulder. Dazed, I sank to the ground. My chest almost exploded when Ty howled, yanked out the blade, and swiped the attacker across the face. The assailants fled. I never saw their faces.

  Without wasting time, I ran to Ty and pulled him out to the sidewalk, where streetlights felt like armor. I had to know he was safe.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Tyler

  Blood stained my hand as I clutched the wound in my shoulder. I flashed my eyes to Pree and stumbled to my feet as she pulled me out of the alley. I hurt. I’d never been in a fight, had never gotten tackled, pummeled, kicked, or punched. My body screamed with pain, but my heart raced with another sort of panic. Was she okay?

  “Ty?” Pree’s high-pitched voice flew through the air, muddled with a cough.

  “Are you okay?” I asked, catching my breath. I wrapped one arm around her waist for leverage, and one hand on her cheek to make sure she was alive and well. Part of me, the super-pissed-off part, wanted to run after those assholes and beat the crap out of them. The other part, the relieved-out-of-my-mind-that-nothing-worse-had-happened-to-Pree part, just wanted to hold her as if she’d disappear if I let go.

  “Ty!” Pree repeated, more panicked now. “Oh my God! You’re bleeding.”

  “Hadn’t noticed.” I flinched. “Are you okay?”

  She nodded and helped me into the apartment building and up the steps. “Do you have your phone? I have to call the ambulance.”

  “No.”

  “I can drive you to the ER.”

  “No. Not that bad.”

  “Ty, you’ve been stabbed! You went to the ER when you tripped and sprained your ankle. You have to go now.”

  “Don’t you have stuff from work? Can’t you fix me up?”

  “ER is best. The doctor will know how bad it is.”

  “You’re a doctor.”

  “I’m freaking out.”

  “I have some iodine and Neosporin.�
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  “You’re flipping stubborn.”

  “Watch out.” I pulled back partway. “You’ll get blood on you.”

  “I don’t care.”

  I cracked a smile and turned at my door, but Pree gently pushed me onward to her apartment. “Fine. I’ll fix this, but if it’s bad, I’m taking you to the ER.”

  “Okay.”

  She let go long enough to open the door. She took me to the bathroom. I pulled away and faced her.

  “What are you doing?” she asked, her hand on my forearm.

  “Are you bleeding?”

  “No.”

  “Are you hurt?”

  She nodded and touched her head. “I hit my head.”

  I tamped down my rising anger. They’d hurt her. “Anything else?”

  “No.”

  I ran my hands down her shoulders and arms. “They didn’t try to…touch you?” I spat the words out like foul-tasting venom that made me want to vomit.

  She shook her head.

  I touched her cheek. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes. I have to get you fixed.”

  “Take something for your head first.”

  She opened her mouth to protest, but I shook my head.

  “Fine.” She quickly downed medicine and gave me a few pills and water. “Ty, your face is bruised. Take your T-shirt off. You’re bleeding.”

  I sucked my teeth as I attempted to peel off my T-shirt. She helped, dropped the shirt on the counter, and gasped. She barely looked at me, but when she did, tears sparkled in her eyes.

  Curious as to how bad I was, I glanced down. Dark red blood trickled from a short gash in my shoulder and gleamed under the light.

  “What’s wrong? It’s not that bad, is it?”

  She shook her head.

  “Why are you about to cry?”

  “You could’ve been seriously injured.”

  “But I wasn’t.”

  “They could’ve killed you.”

  I scoffed. “Those idiots didn’t know what they were doing.”

  I tensed as she pressed a washcloth around the bleeding gash. “It only takes one stab in the wrong place.”

  “Guess this makes me your hero, huh?”

  “Yes, it does.”

  Silence surrounded us while she briefly examined the scratches on my chin and the painful bruises on my cheek. “He almost punched you in the eye!”

  “But he didn’t. Which leads us back to my former statement that those guys were idiots who didn’t know what they were doing.”

  “You’re a cocky, arrogant guy, Ty. Despite the human body being a spectacular specimen, you have no idea how easily a life can be taken or destroyed. Had they punched your eye hard enough, they could’ve permanently damaged your sight. Or if they’d punched you in the throat and broken your trachea, you would’ve suffocated. Or if they had cut a few inches to the right and sliced the carotid artery, you’d have bled out before we even got you to the ER.” She shook.

  “Hey,” I said calmly, holding her shoulders. “It’s okay. None of that happened.”

  “But you dismiss the fact that it could’ve happened and by chance it didn’t.”

  “I’m looking at the facts. The fact is, it could’ve been much worse, but it isn’t. Hey, look at me.”

  “What?” she snapped. Meeting my eyes, she exhaled and blinked away tears, which created a glossy sheen over the gorgeous hazel color.

  “Everything’s okay,” I promised in a tone so composed and tranquil that she relaxed in my hands. Good. She couldn’t tell how incredibly pissed I was, and at the same time, unbelievably overwhelmed that she cared about me so much.

  “I know. I’m so sorry this happened to you.”

  “Not your fault.”

  “If I hadn’t been walking—”

  “Wrong place, wrong time. I’m sure you’ve walked that street at that time of night before, and nothing happened.” I studied the deepening bruise on her face and brushed her cheek with my thumb. She flinched. “Does it hurt?”

  She touched my hand and nodded.

  “They hit you hard?”

  She nodded again.

  I growled beneath my breath before kissing her cheek. “I’m sorry, babe.”

  “Thank you for what you did. It was very brave.”

  The corner of my mouth curved up. “I think a hero deserves a kiss.”

  She opened her mouth to maybe question or protest but snapped it shut. I was right. The least she could do was spare a measly kiss, and if all I had to do was risk my life to save hers, then it was well worth it. She swallowed, raised herself on tiptoes, and tilted into me, touching her lips to mine. I didn’t grab her and reel her in for a passionate tongue fight. Now wasn’t the time for that. I stood still and gave her full control of this simple thank-you kiss.

  I thought a thank-you kiss wouldn’t hold the same type of yearning and desire a passionate kiss would have. I was wrong. This kiss grew on the basis of a whole new level of want, a yearning to protect one another, save one another.

  “Are you happy?” she asked.

  I flashed a smile. “I’m getting there.”

  “I’ll be right back.” She ran off, and I eased myself onto the counter, flinching with every move.

  When she returned, I sat hunched over, wetting the washcloth in the sink beside me and dabbing at the wound. As she set up her stuff, I replayed the incident in my head. Anything could have happened to Pree had I not shown up, and that frightened me. Some things much worse, things I couldn’t even consider, could have happened to her, and that created a tight knot in my stomach.

  I sat up straight and watched her, my doctor to the rescue. She gulped and put on gloves.

  Iodine bubbled around the wound from contact with blood. She wiped it clean and swiped an alcohol wipe across it before it bled again. She placed a small vial of clear liquid on the counter beside a packaged syringe and needle before using a short needle holder to pull out a sterile suture.

  “Sting and a burn,” she said, standing between my thighs as she positioned the needle.

  She glanced at me. I watched her hands.

  “Not queasy, are you?” she asked.

  “I’m okay,” I said. It didn’t seem manly to admit watching this done on my own body was a bit sickening, and yet I could not turn away.

  “It’s superficial, not deep at all. I don’t even have to inject lido.”

  “I’ll take the pain med.”

  “You don’t have to look.”

  “I’m fine.”

  She injected the lidocaine. I flinched and pressed my lips together. In a matter of seconds, the intense burn numbed the surrounding area and allowed her to suture without me suffering through every poke.

  “I feel horrible,” she said.

  “We went through this. Not your fault,” I replied, my face close to hers because she would not look at me.

  Her hands were trembling by the time she finished.

  “Hey,” I said in a soft voice.

  Pree licked her lips. She started to clear the counter, but all I could focus on was her mouth. She leaned over to drop the gloves into the wastebasket. I tightened my thighs around her. I lifted her chin and forced her to look at me.

  “What?” she asked.

  “Are you all right?”

  “Yes. Are you okay?”

  “You don’t have to be scared of those idiots, okay? I’ll call the police and file a report.”

  “It’s not that.”

  “Then what?”

  “You could’ve been really hurt. I can’t get over it.”

  I smiled at her words. “You care about me, huh?”

  “You’re a decent neighbor, a good guy. Wrong place, wrong time thing, I know.”

  If she said anything else, her words didn’t register. I couldn’t help it, couldn’t stop myself. Her lips tasted too good, and she cared about me. She cared a lot about me. I leaned down and kissed her. She pulled away at first, and sucked in a breath.r />
  I watched her reaction, my gaze moving from her eyes to her mouth until I was transfixed. Her lips were perfect. Swollen, pink, and glistening when she licked them again. She hesitated but didn’t move, and that was a glaring green light when it came from Pree. She wanted me to kiss her. Our eyes met again, and the need in hers spoke louder than words.

  Placing a hand on the nape of her neck, I pulled her against me, her lips warm and moist on mine. A gentle kiss. Then another that lasted longer than the last. I swiped my tongue over her lower lip, a tease to see how she’d react. She pressed into one side of me, mindful of my wound. Her hands were on my thighs, near my hips.

  I sucked on her lower lip and slowly released. Still close to her mouth, I waited. Pree didn’t back away. Nope. This time, she kissed me. She yielded to my tongue…and…was that a soft moan?

  I slid one hand down to her waist, beneath her sullied shirt as my mouth wandered down her throat. She breathed a little faster, a little harder. Her fingers dug into my hip, her other hand clutched my hair and accidentally scraped the wound.

  I hissed.

  “Sorry!”

  With my hands still firm on Pree, I groaned, “I don’t care, just don’t stop.”

  Don’t ever stop.

  I shook my head and returned to kissing her. Our first kiss had been sensual, but this kiss was filled with emotion so profound that my head spun. This was the kiss I’d waited my entire life for.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Priya

  Though my body succumbed to every passion this man incited, my mind ran through a dozen questions. What was I doing? Where could this possibly lead? And, no, I didn’t want to have sex with him…right? Or did I?

  No! What was I thinking? Sex was a huge leap from what we were doing, had ever done. I couldn’t…could I?

  I wanted more, so much more, but I forced myself to pull away. We both heaved. “I, um, should clean this mess, and can you call the police?”

  “Right.”

  I moved away as he slid off the counter and went into the living room. I cleared the supplies and lifted his shirt to examine it. The bloody tear at the top warranted a one-way trip to the trashcan.