That Same Old Love (A Second Chance Romance) (India) (Match Made in Hell series Book 1)

by MV Kasi

  Rahul cleared his throat noisily, probably trying to diffuse what appeared to be a staring contest. "Hello Srishti. We haven't met before. I'm Rahul, Rana's cousin."

  Srishti involuntarily gasped and snapped her eyes towards Rahul to stare at him for a couple of seconds.

  "Nice to meet you Rahul," she said. And then looking back at Rana, her nostrils flared and she slowly stretched her lips into a fake smile. "Hello Rana," she said coolly.

  Rana smirked at her. "Good to see you again, Sapna. Oops. Sorry, I meant, Srishti," he said, deliberately calling her with the wrong name.

  Her eyes narrowed even more. If she kept at it, soon, she wouldn't be able to see anything.

  "Uh..Srishti, Rana, the birthday celebration has begun, and we have to join them. But I'm sure, you both must have a lot of catching up to do," Srishti's mother told them. "Srishti, why don't you take Rana inside the house? You can catch up there."

  "Oh yes," Rana's mother agreed. "I would have joined you too, but I don't want to miss the party. You two go ahead. There's absolutely no hurry. You can join us later since we'll be here for a while."

  "I think, I'm going to skip the party for a while too, and join Rana and Srishti," said Rahul.

  "No!" both Srishti's and Rana's mothers shouted at him in unison.

  "We meant...uh...that you wouldn't want to miss this part of the celebration, Rahul. It's quite...uh...interesting. There's even going to be fireworks, later on," Mrs. Shah explained.

  Rana's mother quickly chimed in as well. "Oh, I totally forgot. Ashok was looking for you, Rahul. He wanted to discuss an important matter with you. Something about...politics. You should ...uh... go find him now."

  Rana's mother was quite bad at lying. And Rahul didn't buy it for a minute.

  Rana shook his head and then came to his mother's rescue, shocking Rahul.

  "Rahul, I do have a lot of catching up to do with my dear old friend. I'll join you later," he said, not removing his eyes off of Srishti's face.

  Srishti was watching him with a death glare. "Oh yes. Definitely a lot of catching up to do," she replied, in a tone that made his body heat up.

  Shit!

  "Srishti..." her mother said in an odd tone."Please do remember that Rana is our guest. Be polite and attentive to him."

  "I will Ma. I will take really good care of him," Srishti answered, heating his blood even more.

  "See you guys later," he said, holding Srishti's arm to more or less drag her away from the curious eyes.

  Srishti stumbled a couple of times to keep up with him. "Do you mind?" she snapped. "What's the damn hurry? And this is my family home, so I will have to lead you," she said, walking in front of him and tossing her hair to one side.

  He nodded absently; too busy drooling at the nearly naked back. It was almost completely bare with only a few strings holding the top together, looking as though one single blow of air would pull them apart.

  And he was strongly tempted to blow.

  Controlling his urge to blow, he dropped his gaze lower, slowly taking in the elegant indentation of her spine, and then to her long skirt that showcased her butt in a spectacular way.

  By the time they arrived inside her family home, he was semi-hard, which embarrassed him. Getting a hard-on just by looking at a girl's ass hadn't happened to him since...since...

  Shit!

  Since he was thirteen and his teen hormones went crazy while watching Srishti's ass in her short school skirt.

  He forced his eyes upward in time when she stopped abruptly. One of her cousins, Abhijeet was standing by the steps of the second floor, frowning into his phone. He looked up when he heard the loud footsteps approach him.

  "Well, well, well. Look whom I saw slipping away from the party," Abhijeet remarked with a grin.

  "I'm just showing Rahul, I mean Rana around the house," Srishti told her cousin.

  Abhijeet shook his head and grinned good-naturedly. "The last time I saw you both together, she was on top of you, pounding the daylights off you, bro," he reminded Rana.

  Rana smiled slowly, keeping his eyes on Srishti's face. "Oh yeah. I do remember the...pounding, quite well. That pounding while she was on top of me will be forever etched into my memory," he said.

  Luckily, only Srishti seemed to have caught on his innuendo and her cheeks and ears turned a little red, while she gave him another death glare.

  Abhijeet, totally oblivious to the tension, laughed. "Hopefully you have forgiven her, Rana. Anyway, you two lovebirds continue with the house tour. I'll see you both later at the party," he said before leaving them alone.

  As soon as the front door closed, Srishti made a disgusted sound. "You are such an ass!"

  "I was joking. Why do you have to be so serious about a little joke? You still haven't learnt to take a joke after all these years."

  "Of course I can take a joke," she snapped defensively. "But only when it's not made by an immature ass who thinks they are a god's gift to the mankind."

  "I'm not immature. And I don't know about the entire mankind, but god's gift to women..."

  "Ughh. Can you do everyone a favor and please keep your mouth zipped for rest of the evening," Srishti hissed, hurrying up through a landing.

  "Didn't your mother order you to be attentive and polite with me," he reminded her with a smirk, following behind her.

  She snorted inelegantly.

  "Nice house. But where exactly are you taking me to catch up, deal old pal?" he asked.

  He knew he was being immature. But since both of them were behaving like a pair of toddlers, he felt it was okay.

  She didn't reply to his taunt. Raising her long skirt a few inches higher, she hurried until she finally opened a door. Since he was right behind her, he went inside the room before she invited him in.

  "Lights!" she shouted, illuminating a large bedroom room in soft lighting.

  But unfortunately, the lighting and her stance didn't quite suit each other. She stood with both her hands on her waist, tapping her feet impatiently, while glaring at him.

  "We can catch up here, Rana," she declared, spitting out his name like a curse.

  "Hmm your princess bedroom. Interesting," he replied.

  "My childhood bedroom."

  He already knew that. Because no sane twenty eight year old would still have a princess themed bedroom with a canopy and all.

  "Soo...Rana," she taunted, until his gaze moved back to her face. "How have you been these last fifteen years? Heard you are a big shot movie star now. What, with screaming fans and everything. Do you sometimes go incognito to lead a regular guy's life?" she asked in a vicious tone, like she wanted to rip his face off.

  That look got him revved up even more. He wanted to grab her and kiss her until she clung to him and begged him for more. He wanted to spank her too at the same time for what she put him through. He was never into BDSM kind of play with a woman, but he was beginning to see the appeal now.

  "Yeah, I am, Srishti," he drawled. "I heard you are a big shot owner of a gaming company. Your family still thinks the sun rises because of you. Must be nice having your family sing praises about you. And I wonder if you also try to get away from your enchanted life once in a while to go slumming."

  "God! You haven't changed at all. You are still the same obnoxious kid who used to bully me fifteen years ago," she gritted.

  "And you, you are still the same hypersensitive girl who got riled up for every little thing," he said.

  "This is NOT a little thing! How dare you call this a little thing!" she shouted.

  "Whoa, whoa, easy there. We don't want people outside to think we are not getting along, do we," he said with a mock concern.

  "Arrghh! You've always driven me crazy when we were in school," she said, kicking her shoes away and pacing about. She went to the other end of the room and stood before a huge walk-in closet. "I can't believe my parents think we are well-suited." She continued her ranting while adjusting the ties behind her, loosening the top s
he wore, giving him a mouth-watering view.

  "Come here. Let me help you with that top," he offered, huskily.

  Hearing the tone of his voice, and then seeing the look on his face, she got outraged. "How can you think or even look at me like that right now!" Then seeing him conspicuously adjust his obvious arousal, "You are aroused!" she accused.

  "After all this foreplay. Of course I am!"

  "Foreplay? In your dreams!"

  He looked at her chest and then slowly dragged his gaze to her face. "Oh yeah the sweetest and hottest of dreams," he said.

  "You are such a...such a..." she trailed off, with her eyes locked on his.

  "Such a, what?" he asked her softly.

  The atmosphere in the room had changed completely in that instant.

  From bickering and scoring, it now felt heavy with tension.

  Sexual tension.

  She kept staring at him and then took a small tentative step towards him.

  He didn't move, and kept his eyes on her.

  She took another small step towards him. And soon, her steps quickened, and she was running towards him.

  He opened his arms and caught her when she nearly leaped over him.

  The next instant, his lips were on hers, and then he backed her up against a wall, while pulling her long skirt up, all the while kissing the hell out of her.

  He opened her top completely until her magnificent boobs were exposed, and then tore open her panties, before freeing himself, and then slid deep into her.

  He groaned while she gasped out loud into his mouth.

  She wrapped her legs tightly around his waist while his large hands were on her bottom, supporting her as he drove into her. He felt like he had been starving and she was the only one who could satiate him. Meantime, she clawed his back as she tried to pull him even closer, rising to meet his every thrust with a need of her own.

  Soon, their moans and groans got even louder, and he placed a hand over her mouth, and she placed hers on his. He kept pounding into her until they drove each other to completion.

  She came with a loud muffled scream, and then clung to him, until she collapsed against him with her face buried on the crook of his sweaty neck. He shuddered as he leaned his head against the wall, trying to catch his breath as well.

  Slowly, she pulled him closer to her with her arms and legs.

  "God, I missed you," she said, panting softly into his ear.

  He lowered his head and looked at her, and kissed her on her forehead. "I missed you too," he admitted.

  They stared at each other, lost in their own thoughts and memories, until they heard sounds of faint cheering from outside her closed window.

  "We need to get back. We can't stay like this," she said softly.

  He kissed her lips softly and smiled at her. "Why not? We have permission from both our parents."

  She laughed softly and shook her head. "Very funny."

  "No, I mean it. Why don't we try taking this to that bed right there, and once again—"

  Before he could complete that suggestion, she unwrapped her legs from his waist.

  "This can't happen again. What we just did is already a huge mistake," she said, trying to squirm out from his arms.

  "What? Why?" he asked, moving his hands away from her reluctantly, to let her go.

  "What do you mean, why? We can't just screw around, not expecting to face the consequences."

  He was quiet.

  "I'm willing to face whatever those consequences are."

  "What!"

  "You heard it right. I want more of what we had. I never even wanted to end it—"

  "We can't," she said, shaking her head as though she wanted to get rid of what she just heard from him. "You already know why our parents wanted us to meet tonight. I can't risk encouraging them, only to disappoint them."

  He was quiet again. "We don't have to disappoint them, necessarily," he said and saw the shocked look on her face.

  "Srishti, I should have told this to you before—"

  "No. Don't say it!"

  "—I think we should give it a try."

  "Are you crazy? We can't have anything between us!" she whispered, her voice catching.

  "Why?"

  "Because I've already told you that I have plans for my life that can't include you," she said, straightening her dress.

  "I'm not saying I want to interfere in your life, Srishti. We are quite good together—"

  She kept shaking her head. "No Rana. We are not."

  "How do you know we are not? We might be, if we were given a proper chance," he insisted.

  She looked at him desperately. "No Rana. Please stop. We are not good together. The girl you got along and liked was Sapna. Not me. You don't know anything about my life."

  He held her chin gently. "But you are my Sapna."

  SOULLESS – SAMPLE

  DESCRIPTION

  Sia Sampath is on a mission. Her ultimate aim is to search and destroy her enemy. Lying, deceit and manipulation were just some of the tools she had at her disposal. And for someone who was cold and emotionless like her, it wasn't supposed to be hard to achieve her goal. But she had one big problem. And it came in form of a stunningly attractive man, who was distracting her from her chosen path. So she dealt with him by turning him into collateral damage in her elaborate revenge plan. A part of which, required them to do the impossible—to marry and live under the same roof.

  Maintaining distance from her angry, resentful and a very much temporary husband shouldn't have been hard. Especially because all they had between them were hate, mistrust and a healthy dose of lust. But slowly and steadily, her defenses were beginning to crumble, and it was getting very hard to protect her heart or remain SOULLESS.

  Can Sia get past her demons to follow her heart? Or will she realize that sometimes—Love just falls short of retribution...

  CHAPTER ONE

  "YOU ARE PREGNANT, Miss Sampath. Your baby should arrive in about eight and a half months."

  Sia Sampath felt goosebumps breaking out on her skin. And it wasn't entirely due to the cold, sterile room at the hospital.

  "Are you sure, Dr. Rey? Or do I need to go through any other tests for confirmation?" she asked in a quiet monotone.

  "I know it's a little early, but I'm quite positive," the doctor replied. And when Sia didn't show any visible reaction on her face to the news, the doctor looked at her awkwardly. "I'm going to get a re-fill for your prenatal vitamins. Meantime, please wait here. I'll send my nurse to book a follow up appointment."

  "Thank you," said Sia.

  She had been seeing Dr. Rey for almost two months. And during that time, she had made it pretty clear that she didn't indulge in small talk. She didn't want to reveal any intimate details of her life, and neither was she interested in knowing anything about the doctor's life.

  As soon as Dr. Rey left, she locked the door, and removed the hospital gown to change back into her regular clothes. And when she was done, she sat on a chair and bent her head down between her knees, trying to calm down.

  Oh my god, this is really happening. I'm pregnant.

  The pregnancy news brought both dread and relief to her.

  Dread, because she was going to charter into unknown territories. And relief, because the wait was finally over. Things were now moving according to the plan.

  She was one step closer to meeting her dear 'family'. And her baby would give her the best leverage.

  A baby...

  How on earth would someone like me, manage to raise a baby?

  She had been asking herself that question over a hundred times.

  She knew nothing about babies, and hadn't even been around one to even know how they were, or what they needed. All she knew was that she wanted someone she could love and protect unconditionally.

  But was that really enough? What about the things her child needed?

  She had read that most expecting mothers doubted themselves. But her thoughts were vastly
different than the rest of the expecting mothers.

  Because unlike her, no mother would desperately wish for her baby to not inherit any of her genes.

  And no mother would plan the nursery far away from her own room to ensure that the baby wouldn't be disturbed by her terrified screams during the night.

  And no mother would prepare an iron clad will for her unborn child to inherit all of her material possessions, in case something untoward happened to her.

  And most of all, no mother dreaded about breaking the news of her pregnancy to the father of the child—even before she had planned to conceive...

  Taking a deep breath, Sia tried to compose herself, blanking out everything.

  Feelings and self-doubt made one weak. They would overwrite rational thoughts, and cause reckless impulses that would lead to bad decisions. And she couldn't afford to make any bad decisions. Not now.

  A loud knock interrupted her thoughts.

  "Come in," she said quietly.

  An excited looking nurse entered the examination room. "This news must be so thrilling for you and your husband," she beamed. And even though she received no reply, she continued with her excited chattering.

  "I'm a new mother myself. My baby is already eleven months old, but I still can't forget how thrilled my husband and I were when we found out that I was pregnant."

  The smile slipped from the nurse's face when she saw that there was no joy, or any sort of emotion on the soon-to-be mother's face.

  "I'll be free on the second Tuesday of next month. Please book that appointment for me." Sia instructed the nurse evenly.

  The nurse looked confused, and then a little hurt. "Yes, of course. I'm sorry about my chattering. It's just that...I've seen you coming here so often from the past two months, and so I know that you and your husband must have been planning for a baby from a while. Where is he? I want to see his face when you announce it to him. He would be so thrilled. I can never get used to seeing the expectant father's faces after—"

  Losing patience, Sia cut her off. "I don't have a husband. Now, if you can confirm the next appointment for me, I'd really appreciate it."