“I won’t even breathe the same air as you, Samrat. Not now. Not ever,” I hissed.
“Suit yourself, but we’re going to look pretty silly when we ask Ranvijay to send two cars to the same location for just three people. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like to trouble my friends for no reason,” he said calmly.
Damn it! He had a point, even if it killed me to admit it.
“Fine,” I said huffily, and stared into the distance as he called Ranvijay and asked him to send a car to fetch us.
It took twenty minutes, but the car got here at last, and we piled into it in complete silence. Samrat sat ahead, while I sat right behind him so I wouldn’t even have to see his profile. For the life of me, though, I couldn’t understand why my eyes kept going to the side mirror where I could see him clearly. And why the hell was it that every time I looked, I found him looking right back at me?
CHAPTER 7
SAMRAT
We drove up to Mirpur Palace in silence, but when we got out of the car, I put a finger out and touched Meher’s elbow as she was about to walk past me. Her mother had already walked ahead. Meher froze at the touch and turned to look up at me in shock, her eyes wide with surprise, and maybe something else. It was just a casual touch over the silky fabric of her sleeve, but I could swear I felt sparks flying down my hand, and I moved my finger away immediately.
I cleared my throat and tried to remember why I had stopped her, but all I could think about was that I wanted to drown in her scent - a mix of Chanel No. 5 and something that was elusively and exclusively Meher. Oh yes, now I remembered what I wanted to say.
“Let’s not mention the accident to anyone,” I leaned forward to murmur in her ear, and her lips parted a little. I noticed her breath becoming slightly choppy, and my own heart started racing in response. It would be so easy to push her curls awayand drop a kiss on the tender skin of her neck. She used to love that in the past.
Meher took a deep breath and took a step away from me, shooting me a look that said she’d bite my lips off if I tried it.
“Don’t worry, Maj. Deora. I won’t tell anyone about your swan fixation,” she said snidely.
Damn her! I clenched my jaw in frustration and grabbed her elbow angrily.
“It is not a fixation,” I growled. “Nilanjana messed with the other cars, and this was all there was left in the garage.”
Meher snorted in disbelief.
“Why would she do that?” she asked.
“Because…” I stopped suddenly, not wanting to air my family’s dirty linen in front of her. She had lost the right to know any of this when she betrayed me. “That doesn’t matter.”
“Of course, it doesn’t,” she said coldly, her eyes looking like icy bits of caramel. “When it comes to Nilanjana, nothing seems to matter.”
“What the hell does that mean?” I asked furiously.
“I’d say it was obvious to even the dumbest brick on earth,” she said sweetly. “And by that, I mean you, Maj. Deora.”
Damn, but she’d gotten mean in the past eight years. It should have put me off, but it only turned me on. I was a Desert Scorpion, after all. Meher’s venomous jibes made me want to fight back. And fight dirty. Until she begged for mercy.
I pulled her closer, and her breath hitched when the tips of her breasts brushed against my chest. I could feel myself going rock hard and wondered what hold this witch had over me, even after all these years and her treachery.
“Don’t play with fire, princess,” I growled softly.
“I’m not just a princess, army boy. I’m a dragon princess. I don’t play with fire. Iamfire, and if you so much as look at meagain, I will burn the fuck out of you,” she snarled, as she pulled her elbow out of my grasp.
“Samrat,” screeched Nilanjana, from the front door, where she stood with Ranvijay and his wife, Shivina.
I dragged my eyes away from Meher and turned to smile at my hosts. I had already told them not to mention the accident to anyone. I hoped Meher’s mother didn’t talk about it, though.
“Thank you for inviting me to the party, guys,” I said as I walked towards them. I was aware of Meher at my side, and I was aware of Nilanjana’s eyes flitting between us angrily.
“Samrat, what are you doing withher?” she demanded, before Ranvijay or Shivina could speak, and I wondered if she’d been raised in a barn. The woman had absolutely no class. I wondered what my brother had ever seen in her.
I felt Meher stiffen at my side. Before she could deliver the stinging retort that I was sure sprang to her lips, I took her arm and pressed it, signalling her to be silent.
“Meher and I are attending the party together,” I said, for some perverse reason I couldn’t understand.
