by P. G. Van
Nick came onto the bed to lie on his side next to me taking his lips to mine and said in a deep voice, “Best surprise ever.”
I moaned against his lips and put my arms around him as my body continued to tremble from my outburst. Nick’s hands continued to soothe and stroke me. My fingers found his arousal when I dipped them past the waistband of his lounge pants, and I started a slow and sensual rhythm around his hardness with my fingers.
He ran his hands over my cropped blouse that fit snugly over my chest looking for an opening to access my hardened nipples. I sensed the frustration building up as the plain white silk blouse was tightly fit and had no hooks in the front or on the back. Nick let go of my lips as he felt my laughter deep inside and looked at me with a puzzled expression. I continued to laugh lying flat on my back as Nick looked for a way to remove my blouse.
“Sameera, we agreed. No teasing tonight,” Nick said with irritation building up in his voice. I bit my lip and stopped laughing. I reached for his hand guiding his fingers to a well-concealed zipper pull on one side and helped him pull it open. His knife-like fingers found my breasts within seconds to tantalize the hardened nipples.
I moaned as he took his warm lips to my cold buds, and I dug my nails into his well-built biceps. As if that was his cue, Nick lifted himself up to take his t-shirt off and kicked off his lounge pants. I looked at him thorough my lashes as he took in the sight of my body with the shiny waist chain adorning my waist.
“You have an amazing body, Sameera,” he said in a husky voice as he took his lips one last time to the heart above my clit before bringing on his masculinity into my yearning pleasure passage. He gently rocked on as he lay on me with his breath fanning my face. An occasional shove sent shock waves through my body as he slowly increased the pace. He lifted himself away from me to lift up my legs to hug my ankles to his shoulders. I felt the deep penetration in the darkest zone as he thrust in deeper. I held my breath without taking my eyes away from his as he rode himself into my feminine being. He set my body on fire as I drowned in a whirlpool of throbbing pleasure. We both climaxed, and he collapsed on me with enigmatic pride as we consummated our marriage.
Nick and I lay in each other’s arms in utter silence as we steadied our breathing.
Nick broke the silence and said, “I owe you a wedding present love.”
“You don’t Nick,” I said taking my lips to his chest to flick my tongue on his taut nipple.
He took a deep breath and said, “I owe you a return gift for my surprise gift down there.”
I blushed and said, “I am glad you like it, but you don’t need to get me a gift.”
“I want to do something for you that would make you happy. What is it that is burning in your head right now?” Nick asked and surprised me to my core making me wonder if he had mind reading powers.
“There is one thing and this is something we had talked about and it has been haunting me all day,” I said softly.
“What is it, baby?” Nick asked placing his palm on my cheek.
I took a deep breath to steady my heart rate and said, “ I want to find out what happened to RajaRam Vaasi,” I looked into his eyes and added, “I want to find out what could be more compelling and more important for him than his children and his wife to abandon his family.”
“I got distracted, love. We need to get back to our Vaasi search,” Nick said planting a kiss on my cheek.
“Nick, I don’t know why, but I feel like you and I have been tasked to find out why they lost their love, and I am worried that if we don’t do it sooner than later, we…” I trailed off unable to complete my thought.
“Sameera,” Nick said in a soft voice as he rocked me gently in his arms and added in a steady voice, “We will find out what happened to RajaRam and why he did what I can’t even begin to think of doing.”
I wrapped my arms around his as I dozed off into a deep sleep that my body longed for, but my mind laid awake taking in the events of the day.
*****
I woke up to a distant sound in the room. The room still had the dim lighting, and I felt Nick’s warm body right next to me. I tried to shake away the twist that was forming in my stomach and wondered what was making me anxious to the point where I felt dizzy. I slipped out of bed grabbing one of the robes from the bathroom and went towards the main door of the suite. I stood looking at it for a few minutes wondering if someone had knocked on the door and if that’s what roused me from my sleep.
I took a few steps towards the door and looked through the peephole to see if there was someone outside. I put on the dead bolt that held both the door handles together and went back to bed.
I looked at Nick’s relaxed face as he slept on his tummy. I looked around the hotel suite suddenly feeling very insecure. I looked out of the window through the gaps in the heavy drapes and only saw darkness. I took a deep breath trying to shake off the unknown feeling that was building up.
“Nick,” I called out unable to control the growing anxiety. His eyes shot open and he sat up looking at me.
“Sweetheart, what’s the matter?” He asked taking me into his arms.
“I don’t know, Nick. I don’t know why I woke up and I am feeling very insecure,” I said in shaky voice as I buried my face into his chest.
“We had a long day and a long night. You are tired,” Nick said as he lowered me onto him and pulled the sheets over us.
“I want you stop thinking and sleep. I am right here baby,” Nick soothed in a calm voice.
I took a deep breath shutting my eyes and blocked everything except the sound of Nick’s beating heart against my cheek as I slipped back into a peaceful sleep.
Chapter Thirty-One
”Nick, let’s get out of the suite and get something to drink,” I said as he stepped out of the bathroom in his boxers the day after our fun wedding and reception and added, “We made such a mess in this suite.”
“Can I grab a t-shirt from our suite?” Nick asked and added, “or I could just wear a dress shirt to go get coffee,” Nick said teasing me as he put on a slim fit burgundy shirt with tiny gray leaves printed over the luxurious silk fabric.
“With that shirt, people will just assume that you came straight from the club after partying all night,” I giggled.
“I did party last night so I am covered,” Nick said pulling on his dark wash jeans and running his fingers through his damp hair.
“I am definitely underdressed now,” I said looking down at the light blue jersey sleeveless tunic paired with black cropped leggings.
“You look ravishing as usual. Let’s go,” Nick urged as he grabbed his phone and wallet from the dresser and added, “I will have someone bring our bags back to our suite.”
“Nick, No. Let’s drop our stuff back in our suite before we go downstairs,” I objected feeling embarrassed about someone looking at the mess in the wedding suite.
It was barely seven in the morning, and Nick wanted to get coffee before he called Reetu. She had left him a dozen unclear messages, and he wanted to find out what happened.
“Do you think it was Reetu that called me too?” I asked, as I did not have the number displayed on my phone.
“It’s most likely her based on the timing of the calls,” Nick said as we stepped into the elevator.
“What do you think she is going to say, Nick? I don’t know if Sam will take her back, if she wants to?” I asked concerned.
“We’ll find out soon, I guess,” Nick said taking my hand in his and led me to the outdoor patio area.
Nick and I sat down at one end of the patio that overlooked the hills with the fog covering the top of the hills. There was only one other person on the patio and was engrossed in the newspaper.
Nick ordered coffee, and I decided to get orange juice instead of coffee. Nick and I sat on the patio on either side of the table watching the fog descend on the hills as we sipped our drinks. In the middle of our conversation, Nick stopped mid-sentence, and I heard a stranger address Nick in a calm
voice, “Nick Bhatia, do not move. Just do as you are told.”
I turned to find two men in hoodies pinning Nick down to the chair with one of the men holding a knife to his throat while the other one held Nick's wrists together in front of him. I stared at the men unable to react, and the man who was holding Nick's hands leaned towards me and said, “Be quiet and no one will get hurt.”
“Run, baby!!” Nick called out looking at me as the men forced Nick out of his chair. They ushered Nick to move as they held the knife to his throat.
An uncontrollable rage built up inside me when I saw Nick captive, and I saw red. In a brisk movement, I splashed the juice that I was sipping in one of the men’s faces. I saw the large man shriek in shock, and he released Nick’s hands.
I watched in awe as Nick bent forward while pushing his captor’s hand away from his throat. I heard the five-inch-blade knife clamor to the floor. Nick took over his captor and held him with his arm twisted on his back as the other guy tried to pull Nick away from his partner.
I looked in shock as the guy that was reading the newspaper at the table next to us dove into the guy that got splashed in his face and pinned him to the floor. Out of nowhere, two other well-built guys rushed to the scene to our rescue and held the two guys to the floor.
I ran into Nick’s arms sobbing uncontrollably as I saw the three men hand cuff the two men who attempted to rough up Nick.
“Sameera, you do the rescue and you end up crying?” Nick whispered as he stroked my back.
“You will pay for this, Meera,” the man who got the juice splashed on his face said in a gruff voice. His blood-shot eyes popped out at me as he was being taken away from us.
Nick reached out and punched the guy in his gut and said, “How dare you threaten my wife. Get him out of here.”
“Nick, who were those people? What did they want?” I asked my voice shaky.
Mitch came running down to the patio in a t-shirt and lounge pants as the two men were ushered away. He looked at Nick and said in a gruff voice, “I cannot protect you if you sneak out without telling me. I told you I had a bad feeling about this.”
I was surprised to hear Mitch take that tone with Nick and continued, “It’s a good thing she had the sense to throw something at those idiots,” Mitch said in an elevated voice looking at me and added, “and you put her in harm’s way too, Nick.”
“I am sorry, Mitch. I figured it was pretty safe, and we have passive coverage anyways,” Nick said sounding apologetic.
“I am going to fire every single idiot that was on the passive coverage this morning. I can’t believe they let someone slip right past them and let them get to you,” Mitch blasted away on the patio.
“Mitch, I am sorry I did not wake you, and I would not have come down here if I had any inkling of trouble,” Nick said tightening his arm around me. I shivered remembering the feeling I had when I woke up in the middle of the night and wondered if that was my warning about something like this happening.
“Mitch, let’s talk about it in a bit,” Nick said in a firm voice. “ I need to know who those thugs were and what they wanted from me.”
“Sameera, let’s go back upstairs,” Nick whispered as he led me back indoor.
“Nick, who are those guys? They knew your name?” I asked as we headed back to our suite in the elevator with Mitch.
“Sameera, relax,” Nick said putting his arms around me.
I pulled back slightly and asked, “What is passive coverage?”
Nick looked at Mitch and said, “It’s a team that Mitch operates round-the-clock so a security team is always around us keeping an eye out for trouble.”
“What? The guys came that close to you with your fancy security around you?” I snarled and added, “Mitch, that guy who was on the patio reading the newspaper should have seen those thugs coming. Punch him in the face for me.”
“Sameera, please breathe, and Mitch will do no such thing until we have talked about it. Right Mitch?” Nick commanded and Mitch nodded.
“How did they know we were downstairs for coffee at this hour?” I asked still shaky from the experience from a few minutes ago and added in a ragged voice, “Nick, I am scared. Why are you being attacked like this?”
“Sameera, this maybe another random attempt. Don’t worry about it. Mitch will take care of me,” Nick said as we stepped out of the elevator.
I pulled myself away from Nick and said looking at Nick with anger, “Mitch warned you yesterday, and you ignored his warning.”
“Mitch, help me out here buddy,” Nick said throwing his hands up in the air, looking at Mitch.
“She is totally right, Nick. You need to hear it from her,” Mitch declared shaking his head.
Unable to control my anger, I continued to spew out everything that came to my mind. “Those idiots knew your name and they knew my name and they had the guts to warn me even when ….” My voice trailed off as I remembered what the guy said when he threatened me after being handcuffed.
Nick and Mitch looked at me with a shocked expression as I tried to piece the puzzle in my brain.
“Nick, that moron called me Meera. How does he know my name?” I asked in a low gruff voice.
“Sameera, you are freaking out now. Let’s go into the suite and get you something to drink,” Nick said sweeping me off my feet and carrying me towards the suite.
“Nick, she is on to something. You need to hear her out,” Mitch said as Nick walked towards the suite entrance.
“Mitch, Nick always calls me Sameera and even when he asked me to get out of there he did not use my name. Why did the guy call me Meera and how in the world did that guy know the short version of my name,” I said kicking my legs and made Nick put me down on the floor.
“Sameera Vaasi-Swaminath-Bhatia,” Nick said in a stern voice and my voice died in its tracks, and I forgot what I was going to say next.
“Please sit down on the couch,” he said directing me to the couch in the living room of the suite and then looked at Mitch and said, “Sit down, Mitch.”
I sat on the couch looking down at my hands as Nick sat down next to me and said, “I am sorry I raised my voice at you, baby. Mitch is right, you are on to something, but I need you to calm down and focus on what you were trying to get to with your thought process.”
I took a deep breath and said, “I found it odd that the guy called me Meera as if he has known me and his eyes were scary and the scar….”
I lost my voice, as a flash of memory hit me and I looked at Nick and said, “Nick his name is Roy. His name is Roy Shankar, and he is Reetu’s cousin.”
“What?” Mitch and Nick cried out in unison.
“The guy I splashed the juice on is Reetu’s cousin. I am pretty sure about it because I saw his picture on Reetu’s phone,” I said in a calm and confident voice.
Nick and Mitch exchanged looks and Mitch stood up pulling his phone out and said, “I will check it out.”
“Sameera, that is impressive, baby. I thought I married the girl next door, but you are turning out to be a Sherlock Holmes of some sort,” Nick said laughing.
I looked at him in silence as it hit me that Reetu meant to harm Nick for something, and that’s why she wanted to meet him and alone.
“Nick, you will not meet Reetu. She wants to hurt you, and I don’t know why she wants to hurt you,” I said crashing my face into his chest.
Nick took a deep breath and said, “I know love. I will be careful.”
“Nick, do we have security at home? Where is Sam now?” I asked not stopping for a breath.
“The security team that followed Sam and Rhea said they were at the coffee shop until one in the morning, and Rhea stayed at the house last night,” Nick said in a cool voice.
I managed to burst out laughing amidst the crisis and asked, “Sam and Rhea together?”
Nick laughed and said, “We have insider information that she slept in the guest bedroom, and he slept on the sectional in the family room.”
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“Wait, how do you know all this?” I asked and said, “Stop, I know what you are doing here. Do not try to distract me, I am not a child.”
Nick laughed and said, “I am not trying to distract you. You can ask Rhea if you like.”
Mitch came back into the room as I was about to say something and said in an excited voice, “Ms. Nick you are brilliant. The guy is Ms. Reetu’s cousin, and the other guy is his buddy from work. The last time he talked to Reetu was a few minutes before he came to the patio so she is definitely involved.”
“Mitch, I want to talk strategy…hang on,” Nick said and answered his phone, and I saw the blood drain from his face.
‘Sameera, let’s go,” Nick said dragging me off the couch and walking out of the suite with Mitch right behind us.
“What is it Nick?” I asked and he said, “Ma is not feeling well. Your dad is checking her right now.”
“What? On no,” I said as I dashed ahead of them to Nick’s parents’ suite.
I opened the door of the suite to find Paul, Nate, Srini, and my mom on the couch in the living room and Nick’s dad, my stepdad, and Ann in the bedroom next to Nick’s mom who was sitting on the bed looking visibly upset.
“Mom, are you okay?” I asked as I sat on the bed next to her.
“Why didn’t Sam find himself a girl like you, why did he fall for that heartless woman?” Nick’s mom said sobbing as Nick walked into the bedroom.
“Mom, who told you?” I asked looking around the room.
“Meera, I did,” Ann said in a weak voice and added, “I am so sorry. I couldn’t take it that mom was so concerned about her, and I had to tell her what a bitch she was to Sam.”
‘Mom, look at me. Sam deserves a better girl, and I know he will find the right girl very soon,” I said confidently.
“Dad, is mom stable? Can she go home?” I asked looking at my stepdad.
“It’s all in her mind, her heart is functioning perfectly,” my stepdad said in a calm voice.
“Hang on Mom,” I said and got up to go talk to Ann.
“Ann, we need to do something that will get her completely off of Sam’s stuff and only you can do that,” I whispered.