Chapter 9
9
M ihir stepped out of the pool, pushing his wet hair behind. He picked up his white shirt and wore it again. It clung to his wet skin. From the corner of his eyes, he saw his brothers nearing. Their women were both in the pool now, playing with Rajiv and his kids. To his left, Anna was rummaging through her bag, talking to Sheena. He swore. He didn’t care in the least what she was doing. He had to stop keeping track of her whereabouts. He’d told himself that several times already, but his eyes refused to listen to that dictate from his brain. At every instant, he knew where she was, what she was doing, and who she was with. Bloody fucking hell.
“Navya and Reina told us everything,” Armaan began, the moment he and Vedant were in front of him. “Is it true?”
A loud laugh caught Mihir’s attention. Without thinking, his eyes found her, laughing with Sheena.
Irritated with himself, he faced Armaan. “Is what true?”
“That Ananya and you have decided to call a truce for our sakes,” Armaan said.
Mihir nodded.
Vedant stepped closer to him. “Thank you for this, brother. It makes us all so happy to see you both here enjoying with us. I’m glad you finally understood this.”
“Well, you did make a rather stern point about it,” Mihir said. “And you were sore about it for days. Something had to be done.”
“I’m sorry, brother!” Vedant wrapped his arms around Mihir. “The last week has been so damn tough. I hated being at odds with you. You mean the world to me.”
Mihir held him close. “And you mean the world to me. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for your happiness.” He held a hand out to Armaan. “And yours. So, are you both going to start planning your weddings now?”
Armaan threw himself into their hug, and soon, the three of them were hugging and laughing, all their earlier angst forgotten. Navya and Reina beckoned them, and his brothers jumped into the pool, splashing the girls with water, all of them looking absolutely delighted.
His eyes searched for her. Anna was no longer seated on the lounger. She wasn’t in the pool either. He glanced around, but she wasn’t anywhere to be seen. A movement by the pool-house caught his attention. Good, he anyway needed to talk to her. The sooner they closed everything between them, the better it would be for everyone.
Mihir leaned down to talk to Armaan, who was the closest to the ledge, his arms wrapped around Navya. “I’ll just go to the house and be back in a few minutes. I need to take care of something.”
“Yeah, sure!” Armaan wasn’t even looking at him; he was too distracted by Navya.
Mihir headed toward his villa. When he was sufficiently out of sight, he changed directions and went to the pool house. He smiled, taking it in. Vedant had recently ordered this pool house to be built as Reina and he swam daily. Mihir liked this new addition to their estate compound. Done in all glass and black stone, it even had a Jacuzzi on the patio. Bright sunshine greeted him as he ventured further inside. He looked up, enjoying the view of the clear sky from the retractable overhead roof. A cool breeze ruffled his hair. He looked to the side and found Anna, exiting one of the rooms. His mouth dried. Bloody fucking hell. She looked… Anna looked hot.
She paused as she saw him. A perfectly arched brow rose. “What happened? Why are you here?”
“Last I checked, it was my house.” He sounded annoyed to his own ears.
He couldn’t help it. She shouldn’t have unbuttoned her shirt the way she had. He shouldn’t have cared that he had a full view of Anna’s sinful body wrapped in that neon green bikini. His body shouldn’t be hardening in response to all that golden skin on display. He shouldn’t be appreciating how his ring dangled on a chain in the valley between her breasts. He shouldn’t like seeing it there. He shouldn’t be feeling on edge because of her. But he was, and he hated himself for all his reactions to her.
Time had changed her into a beautiful, sexy woman. There was a time when she’d become a shell of her former self. He knew. He had noticed. Because he always knew everything about her. But now… Fuck. She was more beautiful than ever. Her curves were fuller now, her body lithe and supple. Her skin was the same shade of light gold everywhere. God, she was achingly beautiful, and he had to stop gawking at her. Now.
He forced his eyes on her face.
She moved closer. “Is being rude your default setting or is it just me?”
He inhaled, and her scent washed over him. He remembered it from the last few times they were together. Years ago, her scent used to be more floral. Now it was spicy, intense, more alluring. He liked it. Very much.
“One guess,” he snapped, thoroughly annoyed by the direction of his thoughts.
“Did you forget the rule where we decided that you’d behave civil toward me, henceforth?”
“As I recall, I was to behave civil toward you in front of our siblings. I don’t see them here.”
She rolled her eyes. “What do you want, Oshnov? You sought me out, so stop being rude and talk.”
“You shouldn’t have published what you did about me today.”
“Didn’t you say that ‘nothing I publish about you affects you in the least?’ ’ She air quoted the last line.
“Publishing nonsense about me is one thing, but this was serious. It will impact my reputation if word gets out that it is me you’re talking about.”
“So? Do I look like I care?”
She crossed her arms over her chest. It only brought his attention to her heaving breasts. His breath hitched. Fuck, he was behaving hormonal, as if he’d never seen a woman’s body before.
He focused on her face. “Anna, you cannot link me to the mafia, even as gossip.”
“As if you don’t know the mafia,” she scoffed.
“That’s irrelevant,” he said. “Knowing them and being associated with them in public is different. O-Corp’s board is full of conservative old European men. As of now, no one’s guessed it’s me you’re writing about. But if they ever do, there will be hell to pay because of this one post of yours. As it is, Ivan is trying his damnedest to get me ousted from O-Corp, or to kill me. Don’t make it easy for him.”
“Stop over-processing. No one knows the gossip column is talking about you, and no one will know I’m writing about you, unless you piss me off.”
“You mean I haven’t pissed you off enough yet?” he smirked. “I suppose I ought to try harder then.”
Her expression hardened. “Oh, fuck off.”
“You should never have been there that night, Anna. You should never have seen what you did. The least you could have done is be discreet about it.”
“I did ask you about the events of that night when we met at the café. Since you refused to discuss anything about that night, I was free to use that information however I felt like. If you don’t like it…” She shrugged. “Then it’s your problem, not mine.”
“Stop taking this lightly,” he said. “I’m not joking.”
“Neither am I. Noir will continue publishing what it wants about who it wants.”
His anger rose. “Don’t behave childish, Anna.”
“ You don’t get to order me around ever, husband ,” she retorted, her eyes blazing.
“Write whatever malicious gossip you want about me; I genuinely don’t care. But some things are hard limits, which include linking me to the mob, to the government or officials of any country, or anything that will adversely affect my businesses. Are we clear?”
“No.”
“This can be done the hard way also, Anna.”
“Meaning what?”
“Meaning I can and will destroy Noir. With one phone call, I can ensure that social media goes on a rampage with every second blogger disparaging Noir. What do you think will happen to your precious magazine then?”
She didn’t even blink. Instead, she lifted her bag from the couch and took her phone out. A few taps, and then she turned it around for him to see. His brows shot up when he saw a video of himself talking with the Estonians. She turned up the volume, and he heard his entire conversation with Andres.
When the video finished playing, she put her phone in her bag and gave him a haughty look. “Let me remind you, I am not some hapless female who will run scared by your intimidation. I did an image search on those men you were meeting. Imagine my surprise when I realized their leader is a wanted criminal in most European countries. You touch Noir and I will leak this video. What will your board think then?”
She straightened. “Think very carefully before you ever threaten me, Oshnov.”
She stared at him, bold and fearless as ever. He couldn’t help the flicker of admiration he felt. He tamped it down immediately, and focused on his anger instead. Anna had actually taken a video of him negotiating with Andres, which could prove to be extremely dangerous for his reputation.
Anna moved closer to him. The heat from her body radiated to his. His body hardened a fraction.
“You’re not the only alpha here, Oshnov,” she said.
His jaw literally dropped on hearing her words. Fuck. She was too damn confident and bold.
She’d cleverly guessed that meeting was important, made a video of it, and then waited for the right moment to throw it in his face. But he wasn’t going to leave until he’d got her to agree with him. That video couldn’t come out ever.
She went to move past him. He caught her forearm, halting her. That same energy that always zinged through his body when he was near her, touching her like this, charged through his skin, making him feel whole and alive again.
Anna was staring at his hand on her skin, as if she, too, had felt what had happened and was unable to comprehend why this was still happening, after so many goddamn years, as if it were the first time they’d touched.
Her dark eyes met his. They were filled with confusion and something else… He recognized that emotion. Felt it swirling in his veins; knew she felt the same. He’d always known what she felt around him. Her teeth bit her lower lip. His eyes were drawn to the lush fullness of her mouth. He remembered the many long nights and lazy mornings he’d spent exploring those lips.
His eyes helplessly trailed over her, taking in the round globes of her breasts covered by the green bikini bra, the smooth skin of her stomach, and then lower, over her dimpled navel, her slim waist, and her long legs. When his eyes finally returned to her face, he found her watching him, her gaze arrested on his. They stared at one another for a long moment.
“Mihir.”
His name on her lips was his undoing. Lust slammed into him, hard and fast, wiping out every sane thought. She reached for him just as he took a step closer.
Her arms wrapped around his neck, her breasts crushed to his chest, and her mouth fell on his. Fuck. He was back in heaven.
She sucked on his lower lip, and he was lost. Desire sliced through him like a hot knife. He pulled the clip off her head. Her glorious hair tumbled down her back, just the way he liked it. His hands sank into her hair, and he captured her mouth, staking a claim on it. He licked the seam of her lips again and again until she gave him the entry he sought. His tongue touched hers, and electricity crackled between them. His blood fizzed. God, this felt so right. His heart dipped and rolled. His head swam. Nothing made sense except the press of Anna’s warm body against his, and the feel of her soft mouth moving under his, giving in to all his demands. An urgent craving bubbled through his blood. His tongue tangled with hers, taking, giving, and taking again. He pushed her against the wall closest to them.
She helped him take off her shirt, giving him complete access to her body. His hands skated over her skin, tracing her curves, learning her shape all over again. He lowered his mouth from her lips, tracing a path down her throat, nipping at her neck until she was writhing against him. His erection, hot and heavy, pressed into the vee between her legs, caging her to him. Her hands wrapped around his neck. She scraped her nails against his nape as she pushed against him. His heartbeat picked up. This woman knew exactly how to make him hot and hard. Their mouths melded while his body moved with hers, relearning all the ways only she had ever made him feel.
She moaned, the sound music to his ears. How many times had he dreamt of her just like this? Of the soft sounds spilling from her mouth when he was making love to her. Perhaps he was dreaming again. A dream he never wanted to wake up from.
He pulled the cups of her bikini bra aside, and her breasts spilled into his waiting hands. They were heavier now than he remembered, fuller, more perfect. His mouth claimed one rosy tip, and he swirled his tongue around one nipple. She whimpered, and her hands flew to the back of his head, holding him to her as he sucked the pebbled tip over and over. Her head thrashed from side to side as his hand squeezed her other breast. He then switched his attention to the other breast, enjoying the sounds coming out of her mouth.
Her hands snaked under his shirt, skimming over his back. She tugged at his shirt, but he was too busy feasting on her. He bit her nipple, and she gasped. He swirled his tongue over the bite again and again, making her shudder and shake. His hands trailed lower, caressing her bare belly, moving across her waist, and then lower down her thighs. He pressed a finger to her core over her bikini bottom, and she moved against him, desperate.
“Mihir, please,” she begged. “I want… I need…”
Oh, he knew exactly what she needed. Shifting her bikini bottom to the side, he pushed a long finger inside her core. Fuck, she was so tight, so wet. This woman was his, and nothing was going to stop him from making her his.
He joined a second finger to the first, scissoring them inside her, enjoying her needy moans and her heavy breaths. His fingers curved inside her warmth, and he pressed his thumb to that tight bundle of nerves at her core. Anna gasped, and then she began to buck wildly against him. Her body tightened; her breathing turned ragged. Wrapping her arms around him, she slammed her mouth to his before her whole body convulsed around him.
Need sizzled in his veins. His body hardened to the point of pain. But he continued kissing her softly, long after her breathing had returned to normal. She moved back and gave him a sweet smile. With her hair all over her face, her lips pink and swollen, and her skin tinged with red, she looked deliciously sexy.
Anna kissed his cheek, running her tongue down it, down the… He gasped when he felt her tongue trace his scar.
Reality hit him like a ton of bricks. He stepped back from her. Anna blinked as if she, too, had finally realized what they had done. Noises from the outside finally filtered through his brain. He could hear his brothers laughing; he could hear Rajiv’s kids squealing. Fuck. He was such an idiot.
Anna adjusted her clothes, looking around nervously. Grabbing her shirt from the floor, she quickly wore it and snatched her bag from the couch before running outside.
Mihir leaned against the wall. Fuck. What had he just done? For years, he had hated this woman. And yet, it had not taken much for him to lose control with her. Had he not returned to his senses, he would have taken her against the wall. What was wrong with him? Their families were right outside, and yet he hadn’t cared. He’d been so lost in her.
He raked a hand through his hair. This was a terrible fucking mistake—one he never could repeat again. She was Ananya Mehra, the woman who had destroyed him. And yet, she was the only woman his body responded to. For years, he’d lived like a monk, thanks to her. The idea of touching another woman had never appealed to him. He’d tried. God, he’d tried. But those few experiences had left him bitter and angry with himself for being unable to even enjoy the moment to the fullest. Anna had thoroughly ruined him for other women. It was just one more thing he held against her in the list he had of her wrongdoings.
He’d thought that time would ease the hold Anna had over him. But he’d been so wrong. All those years without her—it was like he’d been holding back a storm. She had to only be near him, to touch him, to say his name, and the storm unleashed. His body had responded to her immediately, taking control of his mind, senses, and his emotions. He pounded his fist against the fall. Ananya Mehra was a fucking witch. She’d jinxed him. She was wrong for him. But then, how could this wrong woman feel so goddamned right?
Bloody hell. He was so fucked.