25. Naina
Chapter Twenty-Five
NAINA
After we returned home, Sami went up to her room, still upset about the whole ordeal. I knew I forgave her too easily. I didn’t even have to see the look on Kash’s face to realize that.
He didn’t understand that this was hard. I never expected to have to fulfil the role of a parent. The truth was, Samira needed a parent right now, as did I. Being the older sister, and the oldest child, meant it was my responsibility to keep it together.
I removed my sandals, dropping them by the door. This dress was beautiful, otherwise I would have burnt it, along with the memories of this night.
I couldn’t get Edward Sutherland’s words out of my mind, no matter how much I tried.
My heart clenched until I felt like I couldn’t breathe. How could anyone be that cruel to their own child? Not just cruel, but vicious and venomous.
Was he the reason Kash had chosen to live separate from everyone, why no one knew anything about him?
Kash hadn’t been phased by the words, and it made me think he had heard them before. For how long?
I was afraid to bring it up because I didn’t want him to leave.
Showing him to the guest room, I walked down the hall to my room where I removed my dress, pulled on shorts and a sweater before walking into the bathroom to remove my make-up.
Skincare complete, I softly climbed the stairs down to the first floor. Setting a kettle on the stove and grabbing the jar of cookies, I sat down at the small kitchen table and called my grandmother.
Her face filled the screen of my phone.
“ Bitiya , how are you?”
Talking to my grandmother was one of the only times I ever spoke in Hindi, even though my grandmother spoke English. Mom was adamant that we be taught to speak Hindi fluently.
“We’re good. How are you?”
She shook her head, removing her glasses.
“These news channels are driving me crazy. Every day they are reporting the same thing. I don’t even want to agree to an interview now.”
I laughed at that because I knew my grandmother.
“Nani, I know you’re going to agree for the interview.”
My grandmother was an economist and used to be a professor at a top university. She had published many books on India’s and the world’s economy and was recognized as a leading expert, hence the request for interviews.
I took a cookie out from the jar, and bit into it.
“If they ask, I might say yes,” she agreed.
I got up when the tea kettle started to whistle and poured hot water into the cup with the waiting tea bag.
“I met a very nice young man the other day at a party,” Nani said. “Works for his family’s business. Good family.”
My eyes moved up to the ceiling. I had a very nice young man sleeping upstairs who also worked for his family’s business. His family was atrocious, though.
Not that I could tell her that. My family wasn’t like Kash’s. They wouldn’t worry about the family reputation. They would worry about me and Samira.
I talked to my grandmother a while longer, and then disconnected the call when she told me to go to sleep. Picking up another cookie, I opened my laptop and the spreadsheet that I was preparing of the Inn’s finances.
Hearing a noise, I looked up, finding Kash standing in the middle of the kitchen. It was odd, seeing him in a place that had only belonged to me for so long.
“Hey, did you need anything?”
“I just came down for a glass of water.”
His shirt was untucked, mostly unbuttoned. I caught glimpses of golden skin and a strong, lean body. My train of thought collided against it.
“Naina?”
I blinked, moving my eyes up his body.
“Are you objectifying me right now?” Kash’s mouth tilted up into a smirk.
Some of the dullness in his eyes dissipated.
“Why, yes, Mr. Sutherland. I think this ring earns me the right to do so.”
He shook his head. “Do you need water as well? Because you’re clearly thirsty.”
I stood up, intending to walk past him to get a glass out of the cabinet when he stopped me with his hand on my arm. His eyes dropped down to my thighs.
“That has been under your clothes this whole time?”
I looked down at the tattoo circling my thigh, another floral adornment.
“For about three years now.”
He licked his lips, his eyes not straying from my tattoo. My skin heated, and I shifted restlessly. A temporary marriage shouldn’t feel like this. I shouldn’t care about him this much, I definitely shouldn’t get excited by the heated look in his eyes.
Gently, I pulled my arm out of his grasp, walking over to the cabinet. I grabbed a glass, filling it with water and handed it to him. His fingers brushed mine as he took the glass from my hand.
Raising it to his lips, he drank it down, his eyes never leaving mine.
What was happening?
In the distance, I could hear the sounds of the ocean, the rustling of trees. The fridge whirred to life behind us. But in my mind, we were all alone.
Just the two of us, lost on an island.
I took the empty glass from Kash’s hand.
“Thank you saving us again,” I whispered. “You always seem to be doing that.”
“Saving you is a pleasure I wouldn’t give up in this lifetime,” Kash said. “I have a feeling you don’t trust or rely on many people to do that.”
The words sunk deep into my chest, leaving their imprint behind. How did he see me this easily?
“Am I that obvious?”
“No, I just watch you a lot.”
It was those words that did. Because to be the object of this man’s fascination was a heady sensation.
I arched up on my toes, reaching for him. Kash reacted, his mouth pressing down on mine as he yanked me closer, pressing my body against his.
His mouth was soft and hard, his tongue swiping out to taste mine. I jumped up and Kash grabbed my thighs as I wrapped them around his waist.
Our mouths moved together with desperation, sinking all the frustration from the last six months into the kiss. His hand wrapped around the back of my neck, holding me in place.
Moving backwards, Kash set me on the table, our bodies still pressed together. I arched into him, feeling the evidence of his arousal pressing against me.
“I knew you would be like this,” Kash murmured on my lips. “Hot and fucking desperate.”
His mouth moved down my neck, kissing and sucking as he went. I moaned, my body heated with desire and the feel of his lips on my neck.
Kash slipped a hand under my sweater, his knuckles brushing against the underside of my breast. I shivered against him, my clit throbbing, and my lower body tightening.
I was rubbing myself against his hard cock, the friction from the clothes between us feeling absolutely delicious.
He rolled his thumb over my nipple and I groaned, arching my neck.
“Are you going to come, Goldie?”
Something thumped above us, and I froze.
Shit, Sami.
Realization of what we were about to do sunk over me like ice cold water, taking the warmth away.
Kash was frozen above me, his head resting on my shoulder. His back rose and fell under my hands as he breathed.
“Kash, I have to check up on Sami,” I whispered.
Reluctantly, he nodded, stepping away from me. Cold air rushed in, making me shiver for a different reason.
I slid off the table as he watched, a hand covering his mouth. Adjusting my clothes, I opened my mouth to say something. We almost had sex on the kitchen table, I should have said something. But my mind was blank.
The only thing that came out was, “Good night.”
My face heated with embarrassment as I walked past him, rushing up the stairs, chiding myself for that idiotic response.
One thing was clear, that could never happen again.