Page 14 of Addiction

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Armaan still couldn’t believeshewas standing in front of him. Every inch of him had come alive on seeing her in the camera feed on his iPad. But now, standing in front of her, seeing her this close, his whole body was sighing in pleasure, welcoming her back into his world. His fingers were tingling with the urge to touch her, to hold her, and to keep her close. His eyes wouldn’t stop running over her, taking her in. Fuck. He was behaving poetically, when he was the last person to behave as such. Life had taught him too many hard lessons to have time for frivolities like that. Yet, he couldn’t help but wonder what spell this woman had cast on him that only she could trigger this intense reaction from him.

He’d seen beautiful women aplenty. He’d even bedded many of them. But, Navya, his wild tigress… she was something else. Her creamy skin was the perfect tone of warm gold that he liked. Her dark hair fell in beautiful waves to the middle of her back. Her doe-shaped eyes were the colour of warm cocoa. Her cheeks and nose were red, presumably from the cold, and her lips were painted a pale rose. But what he liked the most was that defiant chin. Tipped up the way it was, she gave off the impression thatshe gave a fuck about the world. How he liked that… so much. Stunning. She was stunning.

Like him, she was dressed fully in black. She’d teamed her short skirt with a shiny roll-neck black sweater, black leggings, and thigh-high black boots. On top of all this, she wore a long, black suede jacket. She was dressed simply, and except for the skin of her face and neck, not a single sliver of skin showed anywhere—even her hands were covered in soft black gloves. And yet, everything about her was undeniably sexy. The way she moved, the way she talked, the way her eyes flared in anger, all of it was too damn sexy.

He liked how unfazed she’d been while she’d watched him deal with that awful man. She hadn’t cowered in fear. She’d observed the whole thing with an air of cold indifference. In his work, men like that had to be dealt with, or else they returned to haunt you at another time. And Navya, it seemed, shared his opinion. She hadn’t batted an eye when he’d instructed his security to break his legs. How very fearless of her. Nice. He liked it.

Her expression hardened as she caught him staring at her. And then her jaw lifted up. This… this defiance in her was what he probably found the most appealing. It called to his own rebellious streak. And her eyes—good God, molten fire was streaking through them. His imagination ran wild as to how he could channel that spirit and anger into passion.

Damn. Navya Mehra was bloody perfect. He still hadn’t forgotten how she’d turned around and slapped him the first time they’d met. No woman had ever done that to him. He’d known then that she was a firebrand. One whose fire he’d desperately wanted to stoke and burn in, but hadn’t been given the chance. And now… Now, a whole new possibility had emerged.

He knew it in his gut that she, too, was attracted to him. Even now, her chest was rising and falling when they stood close. Her eyes kept drifting away from him, and then right back at him as if she was trying hard to stop herself from checking him out but was unable to do so. Yes, Navya Mehra definitely was attracted to him, even though she’d never accept it. Hence, it made him wonder what she was doing at his party in the first place.

“Did you miss me,moya tigritsa? Is that why you gate-crashed my party again?” His words cut into the silence.

Her beautiful eyes narrowed. “Don’t give yourself so much credit. I was invited here.”

“And yet I don’t recall sendingyouan invite.”

“Youdidn’t invite me, one of your staff members did. Until some time ago, I didn’t know it was your party. In fact, I was trying to leave the second I learned that, but then that awful man spiked that girl’s drink, and I couldn’t keep quiet.”

“So, you stayed and saved that girl, knowing that you might run into me. Interesting.”

“It’s really not,” she said flatly. “Had that man not created a scene, I would have been far away from here by now.”

“You thought you had to run away from me,da? I’m flattered to know that I affect you so much.”

“You don’t.” She pursed her lips. “Can I go now?”

“Nyet. No. Not yet.”

“Excuse me,” she said sharply. “What do you meannot yet? Are you holding me hostage again? Is that why you’re not letting me leave?”

“Hostage,nyet. The thought is tempting, however, I have too much on my plate to try and negotiate with your brother?—”

“Keep my brother out of this, whateverthisis,” she snapped. “If I’m not your hostage, then I want to leave.”

“Not so fast. Have you forgotten that you owe me a debt,moya tigritsa.”

“Don’tcall me that. I have a name; use it. And I don’t owe you a damn thing.”

He knew it, and she knew it, that she and he had made a deal. That the only reason he hadn’t collected on it and stayed away from her was because Mihir had given his word to her brother. But here she was, back in his path and pretending as if it was just another happy coincidence that he’d simply let pass. It wasn’t, and he wouldn’t.

“Allow me to remind you that you agreed to spend one night with me if I went easy on your brother in the fighting ring. I fulfilled my end of the bargain; you are yet to fulfil yours.”

A sharp exhale escaped her lips. When she opened her mouth to speak, he held up a hand, cutting her off. “If you’re going to tell me about the deal that Mihir made with your brother, then you ought to know that that deal became null and void the second you stepped onto my property. So, let’s talk about how you’re going to pay my debt.”

“Why?” she asked, her eyes round. “Why me? A man like you, who’s rich, successful, and good looking, can get any woman he wants.”

He grinned. “You think I’m good looking, hmm.”

She rolled her eyes. “Is that the only thing you heard in that sentence?”

“Yes.”

“I really don’t like you.”

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