As the music changed and another song played, Sameer drew her even closer to him, so close that she was almost crushed against his chest. He was surprised that she wasn’t resisting him today like she normally did. She was so soft against him and he had wanted her for so long.
“Raashi,” he whispered.
“Hmm,” she replied, her head still resting on his shoulder.
“You look lovely tonight. Simply stunning!”
She looked up at him. “Thank you. You’re not doing too bad yourself.”
Sameer smiled at her off-hand comment.
“Raashi...we need to talk about this. This, whatever is happening between us. You cannot run from it and you know that.”
“Sameer...No,” she began, shaking her head, but he silenced her by putting a finger on her lips.
“We’ve played cat and mouse with each other for far too long, don’t you think? Aren’t you curious to know how it could be between us?”
Raashi stepped back from him, struck by his question.
“No...” she began again but he cut her off.
“Kiss me. One kiss. I promise I will stop if you don’t want more.”
She bit her lip. She ought to refuse. It would be a mistake to do as he suggested. But she also knew she would regret not giving into him.
“Come on, Raashi! I know you’re tempted. I know that...”
She didn’t let him finish. Raashi rose on tiptoes, angled her head and kissed him smack on his lips. She teased her mouth against his, nipping his lower lip with her teeth. It took him all of a second to recover from the shock that she was actually giving him what he wanted and he kissed her back. He put his arms around her and pulled her closer to him. He took charge of the kiss, and she let him. She gave him what he wanted; let him have his way with her lips and mouth.
She responded to him like the siren she was to him, giving herself completely into this maddening kiss. He pressed her mouth open and entered her soft, wet mouth with his tongue. God! She tasted divine. She was warm and sweet. Her tongue melded with his and it drove him mad. Raashi put her arms around his neck and kissed him so sweetly that he wanted to pick her up and have his way with her right here, right now. He had to control himself.
Raashi felt her world was spinning out of control. Like a forest fire, the flames were spreading through each and every part of her body and slowly every inch of her was aflame. She pressed herself closer to him, wanting to increase the contact with his body. She desired him like no man ever before and there had been none before him to awaken this response in her. This was crazy. No, she was crazy to be doing this. But it felt so right to be in his arms that she wondered why she had been resisting him all along. She opened her mouth wider, giving him all the access he needed, reveling when he kissed her hungrily, his normally tightly reined control so obviously slipping.
He had to get her out of here. He pulled back his lips suddenly from hers.
His heart thundering, he said, “I want you, Raashi. Right now. Right this moment. Come with me.”
She looked at him stunned for a second. Feeling reckless and more carefree than she had ever felt in her life, she looked straight into his eyes and nodded her acceptance.
“Sameer, be there for me in the morning when I wake up, please.”
Jubilant, he kissed her lips passionately, just once, before holding her hand and pulling her along with him.
1
Three months later
Raashi Deewan looked around her restaurant in awe. Happiness and pride surged through her every time she was here. It was her dream and she had fulfilled it. AquaNox was solely her baby. She had planned and designed it from scratch. Compliments were pouring in and the reviews were fantastic. The restaurant was booked fully for the next three weeks and there was a long waiting list even against last minute cancellations. She smiled in delight. The journey had been hard but she had succeeded. Things were looking good now.
Today of all days, she missed her parents and her grandmother. They would have been proud of her and of everything she had accomplished. She looked up at the sky for a second, assured they were smiling at her from the stars. It had been an uphill task taking over their fledgling restaurant business after her grandmother’s death. But she was succeeding, finally.
She went to the hostess desk at the entrance and scanned through the guest list for the rest of the evening. As her eyes ran through the long list of names, pausing over some she recognized, her heart skipped a beat when she read his name. She scanned the rest of the list, but her eyes were drawn back to the name that had caught her attention earlier.
“I have a reservation? A table for two?” A silken voice spoke in front of her.
A tremor ran down her spine.
“Under what name, sir?” she heard the hostess ask.
