Page 51 of Fixation

“I suppose that makes sense.” He smiled. “What about TV? What’s your favourite show?”

She blinked, looking confused.

His eyes widened. “Don’t tell me you don’t watch TV.”

“No time.”

“Are you telling me you haven’t seenGame of ThronesorModern FamilyorSuitsor…? My God, you don’t know what all you’ve missed.”

He clicked on the TV remote and started surfing. “My brothers and I are huge fans ofGame of Thrones. Oh, but that’s too intense to start with. I know, let’s watch Modern Family. Watch one episode, and I promise you will be hooked.”

“Shit, you’re actually serious about this stuff,” she sounded shocked.

“You’ll know once you watch it.”

One episode later, she’d shifted closer to him and asked him to continue to the next one. He put an arm around her, and she snuggled closer to him.

Five more episodes later, he checked the time. It was midnight. He shifted to tell her that they ought to stop now andfound her fast asleep on his shoulder. His heart lurched seeing her like that. She mumbled something in her sleep and draped an arm across his midriff.

A new and unfamiliar emotion stirred within him, flowing to the centre of his heart. His chest began to throb. He could no longer deny that he felt strongly for this woman. There was something about her…

Her fingers curled into his t-shirt, and his heart rumbled in approval. He observed her as she slept. Clear, glowing skin, dark eyelashes, pale pink lips, and that defiant jaw—everything about her was perfect. Her caramel-streaked hair fell in a soft curtain on one side of her face. Her perfume filled the air around him. It was strong, bold, and captivating, just like she was. He inhaled, wanting to seal it into his memory. He pressed a hand to his aching chest. Fuck. What was happening to him?

He ought to wake her up and tell her to leave. But he couldn’t get himself to do that. A few more minutes, he told himself. He only needed a few more minutes to enjoy this beautiful woman who was making him wish for more. In the past, he’d never wanted more from a woman before, but Reina was reshaping his thoughts and changing his perspective. There was something special about Reina Singh. Something he couldn’t point out just yet. Something he couldn’t wait to find out.

17

Reina’s nose tickled. She rubbed it against her pillow. Huh? Why was her pillow hard and scratchy? Her eyes flew open. Her heart dived when she realised where she was and whom she was draped against. She’d been rubbing her nose against Vedant’s hard and scratchy jaw. Her head rested on his one arm, and his other arm was wrapped around her back, his fingers entangled in her hair, keeping her to him. Her arms were curled around his neck, and that beautiful purple throw she’d seen on the corner of his sofa now enveloped both of them. She must have dozed off while watching that TV show, and surprisingly, he, too, had fallen asleep beside her. She inhaled, and her mind swam with his scent. She was surrounded by him.

She tried to move her legs, but they were entangled with his. She looked to the side. Pale moonlight drifted inside the room through a gap in the curtains. On the wall above, the clock showed the time to be four in the morning. She winced. She had to return to her room. Her colleagues couldn’t know she had spent the night with Vedant in his bedroom.

She shifted her leg from between his, and something prodded at her thigh. Her heart tripped when she realised what it was. His eyes opened and latched on hers.

“Hi,” he rasped sleepily.

“Umm…” Why did she always lose her power of speech around him? She cleared her throat. “Hi.”

He grinned, as if he knew exactly how he affected her.

“Why am I here?” she asked. “I mean why didn’t you wake me...”

“You were sleeping so peacefully.”

“Then why are you here?”

“I fell asleep too.” Heat filled his eyes, fanning the flames inside her. She exhaled a deep breath. It only made her realise how close she was to him, how her chest was plastered against his. She studied his face, and saw the desire swirling in his eyes. She stared at him. With his jaw covered in overnight shadow and his hair all dishevelled, he looked sexy. The urge to run her hand through his hair and to feel the scrape of his overnight beard on her skin roared inside her. She had to go. Now.

She wriggled to shift out of his hold. The part of him prodding into her thigh thickened. Her heart pounded. Her body softened against his while his hardened. The air around her charged. Electrified. Bolts of need shot through to her core. Her body melted into his, her core finding his hardness. An ache formed. Without thinking, she moved against him.

He groaned. “You need to leave, Reina.”

She really ought to go. But she couldn’t find it in herself to move away from him and the delicious feelings he was invoking inside her.

“Staying here means you want me to make you mine,” his voice was thick, raspy. “So, choose carefully…”

Thunder echoed in her ears; it was the sound of her heart racing out of control, reacting to the deep intensity of his words.He was asking her to make a choice. The heat in his eyes scalded her skin, making her crave for more. Without thinking, she ran a hand down his face, feeling the scrape of his overnight stubble against her palm.

“You’re killing me here, beautiful…” He shifted to kiss the centre of her hand. “I wantyou, more than I have ever wanted any woman. But this has to be something you want as well, and for that, I need to hear your words.”

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