Chapter 14
MEHER
A s soon as I said that, I wondered if I had overstepped. It was one thing to meet his niece on his turf, and completely different to invite them over for the weekend.
“I think she’d love that,” he replied immediately, and I heaved a sigh of relief.
It was getting very difficult to remember that this was just for show. When Samrat pulled me into his arms earlier, I should have pulled away, but I couldn’t resist the warmth of his embrace.
I didn’t know why I had reacted with such fear to Sanjay, but it was as if seeing him suddenly had transported me back to that morning when I woke up with his arms around me.
I had re-lived that fright and confusion all over again.
And when Samrat offered me the solace of a hug, I couldn’t say no because once upon a time, I used to think of being in his arms as the safest space on earth.
And even though my brain still hated him, my traitorous body still craved his touch.
Even now, I had to hold myself upright in my chair, lest I melt into his side in a puddle of need at the slightest touch of his arm against mine. I bolted out of the chair and ran my hands through my hair in agitation.
“If we’re done for the day, I think I’d like to head home. I’ll have my assistant call yours to set up the weekend plans,” I babbled.
“Or…I could call you,” he suggested gently.
Oh God! I managed to nod once as I bit back a scream of pure panic. This fake dating shit was getting far too real, and I needed out. But I had already invited his niece to Matta, and I couldn’t rescind the invite now.
Without another word, I forced myself to walk out of the VIP enclosure slowly.
I realised I needed a strong buffer zone between the two of us, so I invited the whole gang for the weekend as well. The rest of the week was one manic race to get our best rooms ready for the impromptu house party.
They arrived together in one large convoy, and even though I hugged all my friends and their babies, I had eyes only for the man who was helping a little girl jump out of a black armoured Thar.
The past two times, Samrat had been dressed in formals, but today, in faded blue jeans, a white tee that clung lovingly to his lean body, and a black leather jacket, he made me go weak in the knees and wet in the panties.
Damn him, I thought viciously. Why couldn’t he have been a three-eyed troll?
Then I could have fantasised about clubbing him over the head, instead of wanting to run my fingers through his thick, black hair, and nibbling on his hard, muscular chest.
“Close your mouth. Your mother’s watching,” whispered Isha, and I hastily dragged my eyes away from Samrat.
I stood back and allowed the staff to perform the traditional welcome, and waited for Samrat to approach me with Navya in tow. He looked as nervous as I felt, and the only one completely at ease was the curly-haired little girl, who smiled at me from the safety of her uncle’s arms.
“Hi, Navya. I’m very pleased to meet you,” I said, waving at her.
She waved back gaily and even blew me a kiss. My heart melted right then and there, and I wondered how Nilanjana could stay away from her daughter.
“Guys, we have a new fur baby,” I announced. “Hands up, whoever wants to see him!”
All hands went up, including little Jiya’s.
“Great! Once you all settle down in your rooms, I’ll take you around to meet him. It’s almost time for his afternoon feed.”
Seema and the staff led everyone to their rooms, but Samrat sent Navya up with her nanny and lingered for a bit.
“Is the new fur baby a dog or a cat?” he asked curiously.
I stared at him in surprise. Didn’t he know what we did here?
“I’ll let that be a surprise. As long as you’re not disappointed by what you find,” I teased.
An hour later, as they all stood in the sanctuary wearing overalls, masks, and gloves, I got to see the utter amazement on his face as he stared at the newest member of our family - a two-month-old leopard cub.
“Cat,” yelled Kuhu and Navya.
“Leopard,” I corrected them gently. “It’s a baby leopard. Who wants to see me burp a baby leopard?”
“Can I volunteer to do it?” asked Diya.
“Actually, we’re limiting the number of people who touch him because he’s still a baby. And we don’t want him to get too comfortable being touched by humans because that won’t be safe for him once we release him into the wild.”
“How long have you been doing this?” asked Samrat.
“For almost eight years now,” I told him, holding his thoughtful gaze, before I picked up the cub and burped him gently.
Shivina took some pictures of me cuddling the cub and playing with it, and then she took some candid pics of our whole group against the backdrop of Matta Palace.
“Guys, I’ve added Meher and Samrat to our WhatsApp group. Let’s all share these pics from our social media accounts to cement the impression that Samrat and Meher are dating again.”
“I’ll get my PR team to drop some tea on the Rajasthan Royals subreddit,” said Isha. “Their relationship is going to be trending by tomorrow, trust me.”
“Umm, guys…can we get some romantic pics under that grand chhatri-type structure?” asked Diya, pointing to one of the turrets in the palace. “For the ‘Gram.”
Shivina organised the nannies to take the kids over to the pool, and Diya and Isha forced us to pose together.
“Kiss…kiss…kiss,” they chanted, and I shook my head furiously.
“I’ll give you something even better,” said Samrat, forcing the girls to shut up.
He asked me to lean against the pillar, and as I looked up at him in confusion, he came very close to me, leaned forward, and rested his forearm against the pillar over my head.
My heart skipped a beat at the feel of his body so close to me, and I could feel my face flush.
Samrat’s eyes dropped to my lips, and just as he began to lean forward with intent, we heard Isha and Diya giggling.
Samrat pulled away hastily and turned to them with a scowl.
“All done? I hope you got some juicy pics.”
When they nodded, he walked away without a second glance at me.
“That boy so wants you,” chanted Diya, and I glared at her.
“That was all make-believe,” I snarled, my heart still racing from the encounter.
She blew a disbelieving raspberry, and I hurried away to talk to the staff.
Later that afternoon, I took the kids around the sanctuary and showed them the big cats we had rescued. And in the evening, we had a big celebration for Majnu, the leopard we’d found with his foot stuck in a poacher’s trap. He was finally strong enough to be released into the wild.
Our guests watched from the viewing gallery facing the leopard reserve as Baba Sa and I opened the door to Majnu’s cage and let him out into the forest at sunset, and when he disappeared into the bushes, a soft cheer went up in the gallery.
Suddenly, I saw Samrat leap off the edge of the gallery and combat roll down the side of the building, climb over the fence, and run towards me.
“Are you out of your fucking mind?” I demanded, furious that he would interfere with such an important ritual. There was a chance Majnu could be chased out of the jungle by another leopard, and we had to be ready to take him back. I needed my wits about me to do that…
I lost my chain of thought at that point because two things happened at once.
One - Samrat tackled me like a football, and we both went flying to the ground.
Second - Just when we hit the ground, I heard a shot, and Samrat hissed in pain.