“Hmm…” he smiled, dipping his nose to her cheek and pressing a kiss there. She vibrated, making sounds that he hoped were pleasure but were actually her desperation to win. Samar chuckled, baring his teeth and pressing them into the line of her jaw. She gasped.
“Can you not go today?” He lapped the spot.
“And what will I do here? Play knife-fight with you?”
“Combat.” He vibrated, pressing his mouth into her hair. “We can… do other things.”
“Like what? Fight? Listen to your taunts? See how well you can…”
“Quiet.” He spun her and caught her waist, feeling her palms slap on his chest. All the playfulness flew out of her and she began to retreat her hands.
“Keep them.”
Amaal’s eyes met his, and the wariness there was so vulnerable. She had kept up a hard shell around her all these days, letting him heal at his pace and showing up like a respectful roommate only.
“Stay.” He nodded at her hands. She pressed them onto his cotton T-shirt. The right side was smooth, clean skin, the left side was burned, uneven — a crater. He knew she could feel it through the cloth. But he had also gained some weight and muscle again, and even though his skin was flaccid, it had begun to feel fuller. He flexed his chest. And Amaal’s fingers curled into his T-shirt.
“Can I…” she brought her eyes down to his chest, then back up to him. He didn’t know what she was asking for but he couldn’t say no.
“Hmm.”
Her brows knitted together, and her head lowered until her face was on his chest, over the left burned pec. And then he felt it, her mouth pressing there. Over the burned skin. Over the flex of muscle. Over his heart. It began to beat wildly.
She nuzzled her nose there, her breath exhaling hot and heavy. “Does it feel like anything?”
“The skin, no. The parts under it, yes.” He covered her hand with his and pressed. “Heartbeat going up.”
Amaal’s face tipped back and it was red, smiling, shy, proud. “Daaxsaab….”
Her mobile rang, taking her out of his arms. Samar held the wall and limped forward, pushing behind her as she pressed her mobile to her ear.
“Hello?”
He pushed the lock of hair behind her ear and away from her mobile, getting elbowed. He smirked.
“Are you serious? When?!”
Samar stilled. He came in front of her and leaned on the platform, raising his eyebrows.
“I’m on my way.” She ended the call and began texting. “The one day I get in after lunch and…”
“What happened?”
She whirled to run. “I have to go, it’s an emergency.”
“Amaal!” He caught her elbow and twirled her. “What emergency?”
“Usama Aziz has been neutralised in an encounter.”
His eyes widened. “Was it planned? You knew an operation was going on?”
“No, I didn’t know about it.”
“Atharva didn’t tell you?”
“Apparently even he didn’t know.”
“But how? He would have had to…”
