Her steps faltered when he curled his fingers into his palm, throwing the anklet back and forth between his hands, making it clear he had no intention of returning it.
“Why did you light a lamp for me?” he asked instead, some dark emotion lighting his eyes. “Back at your trial, seven years ago, you said you couldn’t stand a husband who was fromRajgarh. You gave that as a reason for the murder attempt on me. But then, you do things like this…lighting a lamp and fasting for my welfare.”
Chandra stared at him in surprise, and Veer clarified. “Shota informed me about your pledge to your goddess. But all this concern seems a bit incongruous, going against your claim of hate. Which is the true emotion, I wonder, Princess?”
Her heart thumped. He did care, after all. Afraid he would use his earlier incisiveness to dissect why she did it when she herself didn’t completely understand the impulse, she made her answer curt. “Because you are my husband. It is my duty as your wife to light a lamp for you. That’s all there is to it.”
“Oh? Is it customary for all the wives to do so?” he asked, one eyebrow raised.
She saw the fallacy in her answer but couldn’t bring herself to lie about it.
“Maybe I thought you needed all the help you can get with your penchant for recklessness,” she said with a bite in her voice.
“I appreciate your thoughtfulness, Princess,” he said, his tone sardonic, “misplaced though it is.”
“Give me my anklet back,” she said, extending her palm.
“Come and get it yourself,” he invited, dangling the ornament from his long fingers carelessly.
Chandra tried to grab the ornament, but he jerked his hand away. She tried again, and he skillfully evaded her reach every time. Exasperated, she made one final lunge, but felt her wrist being grabbed. She lost her balance on the wet steps and knew as she went down, eyes shut tight, that she was in for a painful landing on the sharp edges of the stone.
Except the fall never happened. She landed with a soft bump against a warm body. Dimly, she heard the plate she must’ve dropped, banging itself on the stones as it rolled into the lake to disappear with aplopinto the dark waters.
Chandra opened her eyes cautiously and realized she had fallen into his lap.
Heat radiated from the bare skin of his chest, almost scorching in its intensity. Or maybe it was her. She felt too much because of this awareness that had always existed between them. “That was juvenile,” she said suddenly, breathless.
His eyes crinkled with laughter and something else. “But oh so satisfactory, Princess.”
Laughter faded as they stared at each other, the air growing heavy with unsaid yearnings.
“Are you going to let me go?” she asked, her throat gone dry.
“I never held you back, Princess,” he answered.His voice had dropped an octave and his dark gaze roved lazily over her face, stopping at her lips for an inordinate amount of time.
With a start, Chandra realized what he said was true. There was nothing holding her back from getting up and walking away.
She struggled to brace herself from her ungainly position in his lap. Her palm landed on his hard thigh, and she stilled, as if frozen.
They were so close and…she noted that his eyes were the deepest black of soot, with long lashes and high-arching brows. He was handsome as a god and Chandra felt impious for even thinking this way, but there was nothing she could compare his allure to, other thanKrishna, the darkly beautiful god.
She didn’t stop him when his head lowered, and she didn’t call a halt when his lips touched hers not even when he gave her plenty of time to do so, making his intentions clear.
She recognized this feeling as desire; understood that she wanted this to happen. She really ought to stop his presumptuousness, but…she was curious to know if the secrets she heard, spoken in whispers behind cupped hands and closed doors, were true. Wanted to know if the intense feelings hebrought out in her translated into the physical. And then stopped thinking altogether, so immersed in the experience.
The first touch was merely a featherlight brush of his lips against hers, his rough jaw scraping her delicate skin.
This was nice, thought Chandra, feeling a slight disappointment. But was this all? Perhaps it was because she had built up expectations that this felt a little underwhelming. But nice, nonetheless.
As if he knew her thoughts, he smiled against her lips and pressed his mouth more firmly against hers. His tongue peeked out to trace her lips, lingering at the corner of her mouth where a million nerve endings flared to life.
Oh.
Goose bumps freckled her skin and she gasped at the sudden sensations. His tongue swept into her mouth, exploring the inside, dueling with her own. He tasted mint and smelled of pine, and she knew she would forever associate those scents with him. His teeth caught her lower lip and bit gently into the softness, immediately soothing the small hurt with his tongue.
She speared a hand into his hair to hold him to her, and he obliged her demand and deepened their kiss. How was it that he was touching no other part of her body except her mouth, and she felt ready to combust from desire?
A temple bell tolled in the distance, bringing reality rushing back and she pushed at his shoulders, breaking the kiss.
