Page 251 of A King's Oath

“Perfect.”

She hopped up from his lap and pointed at her mother — “Your turn! Sam is an expert!”

“I can do it on my own, thank you,” Ava began to gather her hair up but Brahmi pulled her by her bathrobe. He stapled the lapels at her waist together just as she held the neck closed while tumbling into his lap — “Brahmi!” She yelled.

“I’m an expert,” Samarth chuckled in her ear. She popped her shoulder under his chin.

“Ow!”

“He is really good, see?” Brahmi flicked her ponytail which was slightly wonky. He wasn’t about to point it out and hoped Ava didn’t either.

“Fine.”

Samarth grabbed the brush and ran it down her hair. Then reached for her temple and pressed a kiss.

“I’m not a child,” she pulled her face away. He grabbed it and pulled it back — “This is why I am the expert and you are not.”

He ran the brush through her hair and after a few tugs of resistance, her body relaxed between his legs. He tightened them around her, only marginally, not about to spook her. Her perfume…hisperfume that she had once stolen brought memories of a whole other lifetime to the fore. He inhaled greedily.

“Leave it, she went,” Ava tried to pull away and he snapped out of his thoughts.

“You stole my perfume and never stopped using it,” he whispered to the shell of her ear. Her breath hitched, but she remained a wall. Still steadfast.

“It was a good perfume.”

“But it was mine.”

Silence.

Samarth brushed her hair away from her shoulder and rested his chin there again — “I stopped using it the day I became Rawal.”

“Why?”

“Because it smelled of you now, not me.”

“I kept using it so that she would have a part of her father, even if in his smell.”

He lay his forehead on her shoulder. “Thank you.”

“Fine, let me up now,” she began to push away again but he tightened his legs, this time trapping her.

“Samarth, she went to her room…”

“Shh.” He clawed his fingers through her hair and gathered it all up, trying his best to be neat. “Did I get it all?”

“No,” she rebelled.

“Look here,” he swivelled her face to meet his and pecked her mouth. It dropped open. “She is here!”

“You just said she went to her room.”

“Still…”

He tied her hair up and it looked a little wonky. But if he mentioned it, she would unleash another storm. So he took his time, pushing stray wisps of hair behind her ear, leaving a kiss here and a lingering peck there.

“Are you done?”

“Long back.”

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