Page 139 of A King's Oath

“When did my star batter become so clumsy?” He laughed in her ear. She huffed, getting her bearings back as she turned in his arms — “You are early.”

“So?”

“So if I knew you were around I wouldn’t be pulling such stunts.”

“Why is that?”

“To act like a princess.”

His eyebrows furrowed. Avantika stepped back. And that’s when she saw it. Him in his Samarth-the-prince-out-of-India avatar. From his appearance, it seemed even he had put some extra effort into his look today. Gone were his plain polos and denims, no more formal shirts and pants. He had on a blue linen shirt tucked loosely into brown pleated pants. His wayfarers hid his eyes from her but she knew they were smiling.

“Ava?”

“What?”

“You look like a princess even when you wash your dishes.”

“This is taareef or tauheen?”

He smirked, slipping his hand to her back, under her hair, touching all that bare skin. Her nerve endings tightened. Samarth’s hand splayed on her back, feeling like it was touching it from end to end. Was his hand that big or was her back extra small suddenly?

“If it’s me saying it,” he pulled her flush against his body. “And if it’s about you,” he pushed the tendrils of hair stuck to her sweaty throat. “Then it is taareef, Ava. Always taareef.”

She swallowed. All her plans of making him work for it were evaporating under the hot Tuscan sun. Her head was bent at a painful angle to try to find his eyes behind his wayfarers and he was enjoying every second of it. Or that’s what the smirk on his mouth said.

“Your massage was nice, I assume,” she changed the topic to collect her thoughts.

“It was.”

“Who was the masseuse?”

“A doctor.”

“Was she pretty?”

“He.”

“Oh.”

“I think Ritu took over after the first few minutes… I don’t know though, I was aslee…” he cowered from her whacks, laughing, pushing away. “Ava! Stop!” She went on hitting him, chasing him around the fountain. Tourists watched on as a 6”1’ man ran scared of a 5”2’ girl.

She caught him by the collar of his shirt and got a few good ones in before he turned and locked her arms, his body rattling. “I was wrong.”

“About what?”

“About my cricketer becoming clumsy. You can still smash balls. And me.”

“Remember that when your balls are in my grip.”

She expected him to pull back scandalised. Instead, he tightened his hold over her, pushing her breasts into his chest.

“They are the only ones you’ll hold so think twice before smashing.”

Shedrew back, scandalised.

“Samarth Sinh Solanki with his virgin’s reputation to protect last night. What happened? Pain gone after that ice bath and your Ritu’s massage?”

“I wasn’t in pain.”

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