Page 26 of Not Your Basic Love Story

“Not ‘ch-eye?’I didn’t know that.Ch-ahtea,” I said, trying out the sound.

Dev looked at me with a smirk. “Chai means tea. You don’t say ‘tea-tea.’ It’s just chai. And do you have a spice cupboard?”

I pointed. “What are you making?”

He pushed a few items around but didn’t seem to find what he was looking for. “I thought I could show you how to make some real chai. This gora bagged chai isn’t anything like the real stuff. Next time I come over, I’ll bring what I need.”

I grinned, excited that he’d already mentioned a next time. “Gora?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

He grinned. “White people.”

I laughed, and he smiled at me from the kitchen. God, I loved how he looked in there. I could already imagine him cooking me breakfast.

We spent hours sitting on the couch, just talking. We talked and talked as if time had stood still and nothing existed outside of my apartment. Though it was obvious both of us wanted more, to bridge the space between us and remove everything in our way, to unite again as we’d done in Mexico, we stayed true to his wishes and managed to resist.

I don’t know who fell asleep first, but I was the first to wake up. My head rested on his chest, listening to his heart beating beneath the soft material of his shirt, feeling the rise and fall of his lungs as he dreamed.

Gently, I raised myself up and gazed at him, once again struck by his gorgeous features. Goddamn, he was perfect. I kissed his cheek lightly, my lips relishing the feel of his beard against my lips.

He awoke, eyes alighting upon my face, and smiled. “Hey beautiful.”

I grinned. “Morning.” He flexed against my thigh, apparently a morning person. I glanced down. “And good morning to you, too!”

He laughed, and then suddenly our lips were together.

An insatiable heat rose within my core. But, he had been adamant about not going any further than tea, and I didn’t want him to do anything he was uncomfortable with. It took all of my willpower, but I managed to pry my lips away.

“Is this... okay? I mean, if we go further than kissing...” I asked,my heart pounding in anticipation.

Dev nodded, his expression equally eager. “We got to know each other, didn’t we?”

All the blood rushed from my brain, leaving me speechless. My lips found his once more, yearning, pent up from the night of proximity. I pulled him to his feet and we maneuvered ourselves into the bedroom, where we began stripping the clothes off one another.

“Wait. Dev.”

He paused mid-way pulling my pants down.

“If the condom back in Mexico was expired, chances are the ones in my drawer are, too.”

“You didn’t buy more?”

“I didn’t want to be presumptuous.” I smirked.

“Funny, I thought that was called ‘being a responsible adult.’”

I slapped his chest. “Ha. Ha. Did you bring one?”

He shook his head. “This was your idea, remember?”

“Right. Well. If you’re not seeing anyone else, and I’m not seeing anyone else, and you’re comfortable with it, I have an IUD.”

“Did you just ask if I wanted to be exclusive?”

My only response was to pull him in for another kiss. The rest of our clothes flew off and landed in disarray around the room. His lips went back to the places he’d found on those hot nights in Mexico, his tongue licking along the curves of my abdomen and further down. My body writhed beneath him until I could no longer take it, needing him, unlike anything I’d ever felt before.

I pulled his face back up to mine,and our bodies tangled up with one another with nothing between us and nothing to hide.

CHAPTER SEVEN

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