Chapter 10
CHAPTER 10
DHEER
P asha stuck his face between us over Diya’s shoulder, and I pushed him out of the way. He nipped my fingers in response, but I didn’t care.
“Of course, I have a choice,” said Diya, rolling her eyes.
I was silent for a beat until she looked at me.
“You don’t,” I said gently, holding her gaze.
“Hey, not five minutes ago, you were as keen to marry me as I was to marry you. What the hell changed?” she demanded.
“I got a phone call,” I said, recalling my conversation with Kirori Ji with a sigh.
“They aren’t backing down, Hukum. It’s not about what she saw anymore. It’s about their ego. You beat them twice, and they are pissed. They want to call a panchayat of all the bosses in the area,” he announced mournfully.
I snorted in disgust.
“What bosses? There are no bosses left,” I pointed out.
“You’d be surprised, Hukum,” murmured Kirori Ji.
“What do you mean?” I asked sharply. “Are they starting up with that shit all over again?”
“The sons and daughters of the old bosses need a rallying point to come together and set up a new regime, Hukum, and you’ve just handed it to them. The Goels say that you’ve violated the terms of the truce by interfering in their business.”
“Kirori Ji, please remind them that the terms of the truce were very clear. They could not go after anything that belonged to me - land or people.”
“But that’s the whole point, Hukum. If there were talks of a marriage between the princess and the Goel heir, then she does not belong to you,” said Kirori Ji gently.
“I don’t care. If they hurt a single hair on her head, the truce is off. And this time, I will show no mercy,” I warned softly. “I will burn them all.”
“And how do you plan to keep her safe forever?”
“What do you mean?”
“As long as the princess is under your roof, she’s under your protection. But she can’t stay there forever. At some point, she will return home, and once she steps out of Trikhera Palace, she’s free game for the Goels. Sooner or later, they will find a way to get to her. They will do it in such a way that even you won’t realise she’s been killed. It’ll look like an accident or an illness. A snake bite… a scorpion sting. Anything can happen in the desert.”
My gut clenched in fear at his words. I knew what the Goels were capable of doing. How the hell was I going to keep Diya safe for the rest of her life?
“She might be moving out of the country,” I said slowly.
“And that will make it easier on the Goels. I’ve heard hit-and-runs are very common abroad. Also, the princess is young. She might get married at some point. You can’t claim she’s under your protection then.”
“Why not?” I demanded. “The Trikheras and Jadhwals have been allies for centuries, Kirori Ji.”
“Used to be allies. Not anymore,” he corrected. “Everyone knows your families fell out when you did not marry the princess as planned. You can’t have it both ways, Hukum.”
There was a question in his voice, and I knew what he was asking. But I hung up without replying to it because I had no answers for him. Not yet.
I needed the Goels to recognise that Diya was under my protection even if she lived in another country. But there was no way they would accept it if she married someone else. That wasn’t how our world worked. The only way she’d still be under my protection then was if she was my mistress. And I would never disrespect Diya by implying such a thing.
The only way to keep her safe was to make my protection official. And the only way to do that was to marry her. Once she was mine, she was off limits, because to hurt her would be to hurt me, and the Goels knew what I did to people who tried to hurt me.
Mine. All mine.
A thrill went through me at the very thought. But I had spent so many years denying the fact that Diya was mine. Nine years ago, I had a very strong reason for walking away from her and that hadn’t changed. How could I turn around and ask her to marry me now?
I punched the wooden slatted wall in front of me because this wasn’t the life I’d envisioned for her. She was an international model. The world was her oyster. The last thing she needed was for me to drag her down into the darkness that was my life. Well, now she was well and truly ensconced in this life, and it wasn’t my fault at all. Funny how life comes a full circle, I mused.
There was no other choice left. I had to marry Diya. And worst of all, I had to be the one to break the news to her.
I picked up a bucket of water and emptied it over my head, hoping it would cool me off. After all, one of us had to be cool and rational during the conversation, and considering how much Diya hated me, it wasn’t going to be her.
I stepped out of the stables and looked around. She was still standing by the fence, admiring the horses. I’d felt her gaze burning into me when I was exercising Pasha, and it had taken a lot of effort to keep my focus on what I was doing. After all, she wouldn’t be very impressed if I slid out of the saddle and fell on my ass.
To my surprise, Pasha unseated the groom who had been stupid enough to try and ride him, and trotted over to Diya. The bad-tempered horse who terrorised my staff if they so much as looked at him allowed her to pet him like a puppy. I was worried he might try to bite her, but he just tilted his head and allowed her to scratch his neck.
Hmph.
It was absurd to be jealous of a horse, but I’d give anything to have her run those soft fingers over my body. I took a few deep breaths and willed down the erection that sprang up at the thought of her hands on my body before I walked over to her.
I had known that it wasn’t going to be easy to convince her to marry me, but I had underestimated her reaction.
“No. And if that wasn’t clear enough… hell, no! ”
“Diya…”
“I don’t want to hear it. I don’t know why you guys are trying to trick me with all these torturous claims, but I will not marry you.”
Took a deep breath and tried to hold onto my temper.
“What torturous claims?”
“This… whole narrative that you’ve created. We’re in twenty-first-century India, not in tenth-century Marwar. All this talk of war is so weird. I think you’re making it all up.”
“And why would I do that?” I demanded.
“I… I don’t know! For some reason, you’ve suddenly decided to marry me and you’re making up all these stories to get me to agree,” she stammered, flushing deeply.
“I don’t want to marry you any more than you want to marry me, Diya,” I bit out. “But I do want to keep you safe.”
“How kind of you,” she sniped.
I took another step closer and wrapped a hand around her jaw, holding her still so I could stare into her eyes. I needed her to know this was serious.
“Look, princess, you can make like an ostrich and bury your head in the sand all you like, but if you step out of my palace without my protection, you’re not just putting your life at risk. You’re risking the lives of your whole family. Until now, there have been two attempts on your life. There will be a third one very soon if we don’t act fast, and this time, maybe they’ll blow up your whole palace and attribute it to a gas leak. Or maybe your mother might get bitten by a snake in her sleep. That’s how the Goels got rid of the teacher who accused Ayush of sending her dick pics.”
I could feel her chest brushing mine as her breath came out in rapid, shallow puffs.
“Are you serious?” she whispered.
“Dead serious,” I whispered back.
Her eyelashes fluttered as my breath feathered her lips, and her lips parted involuntarily.
She brought her hands up between us and placed them against my chest. But instead of pulling me closer, she shoved hard until I took a step back.
“I still don’t see what marrying you will achieve,” she said, breathing hard. “What’s to stop Ayush from blowing up your palace instead of my father’s?”
“We have an understanding. He leaves me alone and I leave him alone. He won’t dare to come after me or mine because he knows I’ll make him sorry if he does.”
Her gorgeous brown eyes clouded with confusion.
“I don’t understand.”
“You don’t have to understand, Diya. You just have to agree to marry me. I promise you will never have to worry about Ayush again if you do.”
“I still don’t see what you’re getting out of this.”
I blew out a heavy breath and smiled at her bleakly.
“Redemption. I’m getting a chance at redemption, Diya. I know I broke your heart nine years ago, and that nothing I do can ever make up for that. But I also destroyed a lot more that day. I destroyed the alliance between our families, and I destroyed my friendship with Veer. I’d like to build all of that back someday. And this seems like a good place to start.”
“Fine. You save my life and we’re quits for the pain you caused nine years ago. But how long will this charade last?”
“Excuse me?”
“Since you’re as unwilling to go through this as I am, I’m assuming this marriage will come with an expiry date. I’d like to specify the duration of our fake marriage in a contract,” she said firmly.
For the first time in my life, words failed me. I gaped at her in shock.
“Fake?”
“Of course. This will be a marriage in name only. I’ll help you repair your relationship with my family, and you keep me safe until all this blows over. Then we both walk away from the marriage amicably.”
A wave of fury washed over me as the meaning of her words sank in.
She wanted a temporary marriage with no sex. Temporary. Which would leave her free to marry someone else afterwards.
Over my dead body.
I backed her up against the fence and caged her with my arms while I glowered down at her.
“This will be a real marriage, Diya. Real in every way. Once you’re married to me, you will always be mine. Mind, body and soul. Is that clear?” I roared.
“No! I will never be yours, Your Highness. Never . And I don’t know why you’re so grumpy about it because you didn’t want to marry me in the first place. Not now and not nine years ago,” she accused.
I grabbed her chin and raised her face while she glared at me helplessly.
“Let’s leave the past where it belongs. Forget about what I did nine years ago. I will marry you now, and you will stay married to me until I die in your arms at a ripe old age,” I whispered.
I moved my hands to her waist and held her in place as I bent and captured her lush lips in a bruising, punishing kiss.