Page 9 of Claiming His Bollywood Cinderella

“If I reveal myself, I can’t be this wild, crazy woman.”

“But I have to call you something.” He swept his gaze over her with a scorching intensity that put paid to any doubts she harbored. “I’ve got it. Dream Girl.”

She laughed. “That name is for beautiful divas like Hema Malini,” she said, naming the star of the seventies who’d taken both the industry and her leading men by storm. There was even a song with that title.

“It suits you just as well it suited her.” He shook his head when she’d have protested. The moment stretched and she finally nodded, taking the compliment with a grace she didn’t usually possess. “You don’t feel it? This thing between us?”

“I do. Absolutely.” She had felt the tension between them even the other day. When they’d been busy lobbing verbal grenades at each other. “But I...” She licked her mouth and his gaze immediately focused there. “I’m not good at reading the signals. I didn’t want to assume that you’d be attracted to someone like me.”

“Ah...who’s stereotyping now?”

“There’s a certain truth to stereotyping,” she protested, feeling flustered.

“In yours but not in mine?” he said gently, calling her out.

“It’s just that... I’m not what you call conventionally beautiful. Please, I’m not asking for compliments. And I’m fully aware that conventional beauty is also an arbitrary standard. It’s just that you’re used to being with incredibly sophisticated, beautiful, accomplished women. Like we established earlier, I’m little more than a novice when it comes to men and their desires.”

“I’ve definitely never met a woman who disagreed with me so much.”

A shaft of joy blew through Naina. She loved how he made her smile. Even when she was mostly attacking him. “I couldn’t bear it if you were laughing at me. Or worse, condescending to me like that arrogant young stud earlier.”

“You think I’m asking you to kiss me out of some sense of pity?”

“If not pity, at least as an experiment.”

“Every kiss is an experiment. Sometimes, the result is that whatever chemistry you had burning between you just fizzled out. Sometimes, you find that flame in the strangest of places with the last person you’d have ever thought of.”

“See? Because I’m not your type.”

“No, because I don’t know you. Not even your name. Should I tell you the risk I’m taking right now?”

Naina snorted inelegantly. “There’s nothing you risk by indulging the silly woman who wants to kiss you senseless. Who wants to muss you up so thoroughly with her hands that she’s shaking. Who wants to...” She trailed off at the unholy glint of wickedness in his eyes, then swallowed and found the courage to continue. “Press her mouth against the hollow at your throat and make you feel as crazy as she does.”

“Kiss me senseless... Ahh...love, now you’re just winding me up.” He smiled, his teeth digging into his lower lip, grooves in his cheeks and a dark twinkle in his eyes. Energy vibrated from his frame. As if he was thoroughly excited at the thought of her kissing him senseless. “If you could see yourself as I see you right now, threatening all kinds of delicious sensual attacks on me...”

Anticipation licked through her body, releasing a restless hunger. “Tell me, what great risk are you taking right now?”

“You know who I am. You know pretty much everything about me. My favorite color, my favorite car, my favorite dish, probably even my favorite position with a partner.” He sounded close to disgusted, and Naina realized he was right. What she was doing was not a risk at all. Not when compared to him. “Tomorrow morning, you could go to any media outlet you want and tell them all about this moment. You could repeat everything I said to you tonight. You could sell this story and probably make enough money to last the rest of your life.”

Naina vibrated with anger and hurt. “I would never do that. Ever. Revealing to anyone what might happen between you and me tonight would be a total betrayal of myself.”

Those long fingers of his slid against hers until they were entwined. His touch sent a jolt of warmth up her arm. “I believe you. You’ve no idea how fantastic that is.”

“How?”

He sighed. “I am Vikram Raawal. From the moment I could understand the world, it meant something. It meant more to other people even before I understood what it meant to me. Privilege and power and pride, yes. But so much more that the world doesn’t see. Everybody wants something from me. My family, my friends, my fans...apparently even my critics. There are so many expectations that they feel like shackles around my ankles.”

He pressed a finger against her mouth when she opened it. “Hear me out before you give me another speech about my civic duties, please. I’m more than happy to lend a word or a hand when I can. But it’s not every day that someone comes to me with no expectations of me. Expect maybe what my mouth can do for her.”

Naina let her gaze fall to study it. “Itisa gorgeous mouth,” she whispered on a long sigh and it came again.

His laughter. Deep and rumbling. Turning his face into a thing of beauty. That need between them shimmered into life again, gaining in intensity, until it was a peal ringing deep inside her body. He tugged and she scooted closer to him on the sofa. The warmth of his body was a tempting caress against her bare arms.

“I want to join you in your fantasy and escape. So for tonight, I’m all yours, Dream Girl.”

“I can muss you up however I want?” Naina asked, stunned by her own daring.

Again, he dug those teeth into his lower lip and nodded.

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