by Varsha Dixit
Aisha blushed from head to toe. She focused on picking up her things.
“Asking again, what are you doing here?”
“Kiara.” Aisha cleared her throat. “She sent me up here to shower.”
Kabir walked over to her and stopped right in front of her.
Dammit, he even has perfect feet!
“Shower, with me?” Kabir drawled from somewhere above her head.
Asshole! Aisha cussed on hearing the amusement in his voice. She took a whole thirty seconds gathering her things and composure.
Trying to keep her expression neutral, Aisha got to her feet with as much dignity as she could muster. She could do nothing about the color running riot over her cheeks or her racing pulse. I will be super aloof! “She sent me to one of the spare rooms upstairs. She is getting ready downstairs.”
Kabir put his hands on the side of his lean hips. “For our date?” His tone, like his words, was purposely goading.
Aisha tried not to let her eyes wander anywhere below his neck and above his nostrils.
Very limited options. Forgot the mouth. “I don’t know this place. I’ll just go back the way I came.” Aloof. Super chilled. She turned around.
“Stop.”
Aisha kept walking to the door.
A hand appeared on her elbow. “Did you not hear me?” Kabir’s voice was soft but clipped.
Aisha swung her head, her glance patronizing. “I don’t respond to threats.”
Kabir moved into her personal space. Aisha was forced to look up at him. He was close enough, so she could smell the masculine salt of his skin mixed with the spiced cologne. “What do you respond to?” He stared into Aisha’s eyes, his voice smooth like melted butter.
For a second, Aisha forgot to breathe and then a chuckle escaped her mouth and her shoulders twitched. Another chuckle. Within seconds, Aisha was laughing. Hold-your-side kind of laughing!
In response, Kabir mouth moved side to side and his eyes crinkled at the corner. “What’s so funny?” His dark eyes reflected some of Aisha’s amusement.
“You.” Aisha wiped her eyes sobering. “Standing in shaving foam, acting all seductive.”
“Seductive? Is that what you thought I was doing . . . with you?” Kabir tilted his head to the side and fixed his amused eyes on her.
Aisha lost some of her humor but not all. “Uh!” Her answer was a quick short nod.
Kabir reached out and held Aisha’s arms, holding her in place. Bending down slowly, keeping his eyes locked with hers, he rubbed his cheek slowly against hers. The foam was soft and his stubble prickly.
Aisha was not prepared for the intimate feel of his skin on hers. She inhaled sharply, and her lips trembled. She felt like she had dived into a pool of warm water that smelled heavenly.
“Stop!” Aisha moved back. Her voice was husky.
Kabir straightened. Aisha averted her face from the broad expanse of his smooth light brown skin and dark hair that peppered over his chest. He was so close, Aisha’s hands itched to touch that smooth skin. “I have to go.” Mumbling, she turned blindly for the door.
“Are you a virgin?”
“None of your damn business!” Aisha bit out.
Dropping his hands down, Kabir literally took a step back. “Oh!”
For a few seconds they just stood there, still.
Aisha was the first to speak in a strangled voice. “What is that ‘Oh’ supposed to mean?”
Kabir treaded in the direction of the room he had emerged from. “Nothing. You should get going. There is a spare room with a shower right down the hall. The last door on the right.” he called, disappearing in his room.
#
“She is a virgin! She’s a virgin?” Kabir slid the razor down the sides of his cheek. He stopped and propped his wrist on the porcelain sink. “A virgin at her age?”
He resumed his shaving. As a principle, and in effort to never let things get complicated with the fairer sex, he only sought the company of experienced women who were looking for a ‘no strings attached’ kind of relationship.
Aisha’s laugh had taken room in his ears. Her laugh was the kind that made one want to join in.
I nearly kissed her! Kabir’s mouth hungered at the memory of how close Aisha’s fleshy lips had been to his. He had been trying to tease Aisha as she was mocking him but then he had not bargained for how soft her skin felt under his calloused fingers, how entrancing her eyes were up close, how her smell made his mouth water for a taste of her and how Aisha’s closeness affected him. He had not wanted to let her go. His arousal strained against his jeans.
Kabir wasn’t remotely interested in Kiara. But Aisha was a different story. Attraction, anger, humor, even tenderness!
In two days she has made me feel more than I have in years.
Kabir’s hand stilled. His past broke into the present. His eyes hardened, and his mouth clenched into a thin line. Aisha must go. She has to.
Mindlessly, he pressed the blade deeper in his cheek. A drop of blood emerged, coloring the white foam red. Kabir did not flinch. He was used to blood, but usually it wasn’t his.
Chapter 33
Rushing inside the spare room, Aisha locked the door behind her. She touched her cheek and then brought her fingers down. She saw the white foam on her fingertips. Shuddering, she closed her eyes.
What is happening? Why do I react to him like that? I work with good looking men; so many actors, directors. All powerful men but why does that Kabir affect me so much?
Flinging her things on the bed, she went in the bathroom.
Ten minutes later, Aisha rushed out in a towel, her hair dripping water down her bare back. “Late! Late!” She dried and stuffed herself into the dress.
With one hand she blow-dried her hair and with the other she applied mascara, nearly coating her cornea instead of the lashes. She folded her used clothes in a neat bundle and stuffed them in the empty drawer of the nightstand. Aisha grabbed the bracelet from the make-up bag. Kiara is so thoughtful.
“To a fun evening!” Aisha muttered and tugged the door handle. The door wouldn’t open. “What the hell?” She checked the bolt to make sure it was unlatched. Aisha fiddled with the handle and pulled it with all her strength. The door quivered but stayed shut. Someone has locked me in the room!
“HELLO! HELLOOO!”
Aisha banged with her fists, but she already knew that no one would hear her because of the loud infernal music in the hall outside.
“Dammit!” Aisha thumped her fist one last time and then flopped back on the bed. “Why would anyone lock me in here?” Then her eyes widened and then narrowed. “Oh, that horrible man!” Aisha paced the room. “Kabir must have done this so he can seduce Kiara. I will kill him!” Her steps quick like her thoughts.
Aisha paused, and her gaze shifted to the wide windows.
She ran and unlatched them. They easily swung out. Aisha looked down at the grassy area underneath the windows. I’m only on the second floor. A plan began shaping in her head. Aisha ran back to bed and tugged the duvet to the floor. She pulled the sheets off the bed and twisted them into a rope like form. “The end justifies the means, Kabir Rana!” Running back to the window, she threw the twisted sheets down. The ends dangled a few feet away from the grass.
Aisha tied the other end around the curtain rod above the window. She gave the sheet a hard tug. The rod did not move much. “Good, you shall do long enough for me to slide to the ground.”
Aisha picked up her wedges and tossed them one by one out of the window. She heard them fall in a soft thud.
“Kia, I’m coming!”
Chapter 34
Whistling a song by the Scorpions, his favorite band at one time, Kabir walked back into the house. The slight ocean breeze tossed his front hair and brushed his face. Quite a few parties were going on in the adjoining beach and multiple bonfires bestowed an orange glow on the sky, drowning the silvery points of twinkling stars. On such nights, Kabir would usually hole up in his r
oom, put on Elgar’s Cello Concerto and read a memoir.
But not today! Today he had fallen in a trap of his own planning. His feelings for tonight’s dinner were ambivalent.
A part of him wanted to bait Aisha and woo Kiara with words and wine, and another part of him wanted to yell ‘to hell with everything’ and bed the first woman he could find.
Aisha! Kabir gritted his teeth and smacked a low brush he passed.
Nervous energy was building in him and he did not like that. It was always a sign of a storm on the horizon. And he hated storms since that fateful night twenty-one years ago.
Kabir followed the path around the pool.
After Kriti’s death, what had kept him sane was Shreya’s advice: Don’t let yourself feel too much. And he had followed that advice every single minute of his life. But somehow, Lavina had slipped past his defenses and made him happy. But the love, the happiness had been fleeting. Post Lavina’s suicide, Kabir had reached a point of no return and had nearly taken his life but Shreya had saved him . . . again.
Kabir was jerked out of his thoughts as something soft fell on his face. “What the hell?”
He looked up and saw the twisted sheet fluttering out of the window. Kabir took a few steps back to get a better look. Good thinking! A women’s footwear came sailing out of the window and landed close to him, then came the other.
Kabir continued to look up and in seconds he saw a slim fair leg hook itself over the windowsill followed by the other. Once the feet were planted securely on the window ledge the woman appeared out on the window. Kabir instantly recognized the blue dress.
Aisha! He had seen the blue dress in her hands earlier. She had back crossed the dress between the legs and tucked it in the front.
She is going to jump off the ledge! Kabir felt fear and anger swell in him. His stomach lurched. He ate his shout for he did not want to startle Aisha into falling. The consequence was too fearful to imagine.
Images of Kriti and Lavina lying dead on the ground, their bodies bent grotesquely, flashed in front of his eyes. “What the hell are you doing?” He growled softly.
A sharp intake of breath. Aisha glanced down even as she held the window edge tightly. “What are you doing here?”
“Get the fuck back inside!” Kabir’s hands curled inward and sweat emerged above his lips.
Aisha narrowed her eyes down at him. “Don’t talk-” She slipped. A startled shriek escaped her mouth as she hurtled down to the ground.
Kabir had less than a second to react. He stepped forward, legs wide, his arms outstretched, hoping to catch her. Her legs slammed in his chest as she slipped further onto him. Kabir staggered even as his arms went around Aisha’s body reflexively. They both fell back, she on him. Kabir’s body cushioned Aisha from hitting the ground.
“Oh my God!” Aisha yelped and turned in his arms. She pushed him back on the ground. Her body pressed into his from breast to knee. “You saved me!”
Kabir grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her into him. Their faces were inches apart. “What the hell were you doing? You could have fallen—”
“I did fall.” Aisha poked him in the chest, still sprawled on top of him, her legs straddling his. “And it is all your fault!” She sounded amused.
Kabir let his head fall back on the grass, her body was making him very aware that Aisha had curves that were all too arousing. “Get off me.”
“What?” Aisha wrinkled her brow and then she felt his male body under her. “Oh! Oh!” She slithered to the side and then got to her feet. Self-consciously, she tugged her dress out from the front and glanced around for her shoes.
“You are such an idiot.” Kabir ground out, getting to his feet. The bitter taste of fear he had experienced minutes ago came back to him.
“Why are you overreacting? I’m not that heavy and it was just one floor,” Aisha replied, sliding her feet in her wedges. “Someone locked me in the room and the music was so loud outside. I kept banging but no one opened the door.”
“No one locked you. That latch is faulty. You couldn’t call anyone?”
“My cell phone is in Kiara’s room.” Aisha grumbled.
“Come for the bloody dinner.” Kabir bit out and pivoted.
“You are scared of heights?” Aisha taunted. She was still mad at him for the ‘virgin’ comment.
Kabir paused and slowly turned around to face her. “What did you say?”
“Oh, you poor thing! What if I had been a story above and another story above?” Aisha mocked, raising her hand slowly above her head. “And another story, and another story. High up there and then phhbt!” She teased, throwing her hands downwards and tilting her neck to the side and sticking her tongue out, imitating a death-like pose.
Kabir could not control his rage and he grabbed Aisha, his fingers biting her skin.
A surprised squeak escaped her mouth.
“You fool! You think it is funny plummeting off a building?” He shook her.
Aisha’s surprised expression was covered by loose hair that fell on her face.
“You think death is funny?” He continued to shake her, his fingers tighter than bands around her arms.
“Stop it!” Aisha struggled in his hold. “You are hurting me!”
Kabir could not calm the fury permeating his body and mind. “Should I drag to you to top of a building and push you down? You want to fly?” All he saw was Kriti and Lavina’s body.
Aisha gasped and then before Kabir could understand what happened, Aisha hooked her leg behind his calf and pulled him down, tripping him. Stunned, he lay on his back and stared up at her.
Aisha hastily retreated from him. “Asshole!” Rubbing her arms, she ran away.
Chapter 35
“He assaulted me. I’m calling the police on that mad man!” Walking blindly, Aisha massaged her arms still hurting from the Kabir’s biting grip. He has given me darn bruises. Jerk!
“Boo!”
Aisha swiveled toward the sound. She saw Kiara standing at the back gate, leaning on a crutch. Aisha stomped in her direction.
“You look mad. What happened?”
“I could seriously kill that man!” Aisha stopped near her niece.
“What happened to your dress? And why do you have grass stuck in your hair?”
“I got locked in the room, had to jump off the second story and if that wasn’t enough, your dick of a boss nearly killed me.” Aisha brushed her hair with quick impatient strokes.
“What? You jumped off a floor?” Kiara ran concerned eyes over Aisha.
“Excuse me, Kiara!”
Aisha and Kiara turned at the interruption.
It was one of the assistants. “Kabir sends you his apologies. He won’t be joining you. But he said you should go ahead and eat. The cabana has been set on the beach.”
“Thanks, Mohini!” Kiara nodded at her. Then she raised her eyebrow at Aisha. “Shall we eat?”
“Whatever!” Aisha’s tone was snippy.
She helped her niece to the white collapsible cabana that had been set up on the beach.
“Sexy!” Kiara breathed as Aisha helped her sit on one of the silk ottomans.
Aisha grunted, not the least bit taken by the beautiful interior of the cabana. The floor was a wooden deck laid on the sand. A thick shaggy beige carpet covered most of the deck. Several silk red colored ottomans were grouped around it and on one end was a cream divan with red cushions stacked on each side. Small decorative lights went around the top of structure and the side. In front of them was the opaque dark sea with small white waves foaming and crashing a few feet away.
“I’m famished, Boo,” Kiara removed the covers off the bronze dishes already placed on the table. “Oh my God, look at this spread.”
Usually a glutton, Aisha gave a dull smile to the Chicken cafreal, rava fried fish, hummus and pita chips, tomato and rice pilaf, lamb kabobs and bebinca.
“Okay, I will eat, and you tell me exactly what happened. You rarely get angry but w
hen you do, you have a tough time letting it go. So, tell me what happened between you and Kabir?”
Exhaling, Aisha began.
When Aisha finished, Kiara sighed. “Boo!”
Aisha frowned. “You are feeling sorry for that cad?”
Kiara put down her plate. “His wife committed suicide by jumping from their apartment on the twelfth floor. Broke her neck and shattered her skull.”
“Oh!” Aisha bit the inside of her cheek. She cringed remembering the way she had mimicked a dead person.
“It gets worse.” Kiara swallowed. “His sister fell off the terrace and died nearly two decades ago.”
Robbed of words, Aisha could only stare. Finally, she asked. “You are not conning me?”
“Most of the people that work with Kabir have been with him for ages. Some of us know about the sister because one of the models, she is not here for this shoot, but her family knows Kabir’s family for generations. He is from a royal lineage. The Ranas. He’s a freaking Prince.”
Kiara’s words jogged Aisha’s memory. “Rana. That name sounded familiar. Wait, Sirsa!” Aisha gasped. “That’s why that emblem in the front garden seemed familiar. Last to last year, while hunting for a palace location for a shooting, we discovered the Sirsa palace. We wanted to shoot our serial there, but we were denied permission.”
Aunt and niece became silent for a few minutes. Aisha clutched her stomach. “Shit, Kiara! I gave him an effing LIVE demo of death by jumping.”
Kiara choked a laugh. “Yes, you did.”
Two servers came carrying more trays with food. Aisha kept fiddling with her food even as Kiara indulged her appetite.
“Shucks, Kia! Now, I’m feeling bad.” Aisha closed her eyes. I know what death of loved ones can do to a person!
“It’s okay, Boo. He will get over it.”
“Don’t we all?” Aisha sighed. “Gosh, all I wanted was a simple vacation.”