Chapter 18
18
N avya swung a fist out. Quick as lightning, Armaan moved to the side, and her fist met with air. She groaned in dismay. This time, she swung her leg, and he caught it in his hand. They’d been at this for an hour now.
“See, you’re thinking too much before you attack.” He dropped her leg. “I can predict your moves almost every time; you’re that slow. Try again.”
“That’s because you’ve been training me,” she grumbled. “You know every move I’m going to make.”
“Navya, you’re not paying attention today,” he scolded.
She grabbed a napkin from the side and wiped her sweaty brow. She looked out the window at her side, at the water lapping around the yacht. The yacht had become their personal space since the last few weeks. Armaan was even using the gym on the boat for training her.
She tossed the napkin to the side, staring at him. Dressed in black gym shorts and a short-sleeved blue t-shirt, Armaan looked hot. And so sexy.
“Come on,” he bounced on his feet, “We have so much to do.”
Oh, she had a hundred different things she wanted to do right now, and all of them involved her hands on his gorgeous body, sliding down his skin.
He clicked his fingers in front of her face.
“Eyes up,” he ordered. “And stop thinking of sex.”
She squinted. “It’s your fault. You’ve made me addicted… to you.”
He grinned.
“I’ll let you do whatever you want with me, my tigress,” he said, his voice husky. “But first, you will fight me and win.”
She clucked her tongue. “As if I can win against you.”
He dropped his arms and stepped back. “You won’t if you never try. Now take your stance.”
Armaan took her training lessons too damn seriously. Sighing, she stepped on the mat, taking position as he had taught her. She had to accept that these lessons with him made her feel stronger, sharper, and more alert.
She swung an arm out, missing his face, and then she swung another, and he stepped away. She alternated her punches with kicks, but Armaan deflected it all easily.
“Not bad,” he said. “But not too good either. Focus.”
She groaned in frustration. Hearing him laugh annoyed her. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. He wanted her to win. Well, she was going to show him.
Stepping back, she pulled her t-shirt off and tossed it aside. Armaan’s jaw dropped. His hungry gaze ran down her sports bra to her bare stomach and then down her long legs.
Seeing him distracted, she swung an arm out and punched his jaw. He jolted back. She moved in half a circle and threw her leg in the air. It hit him in the center of his stomach, pushing him back a few steps.
“Eyes up, mister,” she chided.
“You really are trouble.” His naughty eyes met hers. “Well, if that’s how you’re going to play, then let’s level the playing field.”
He shrugged out of his t-shirt and dropped it to the side.
Now, she was the one who stared. Her gaze helplessly ran down all his sharp edges and angles. She barely had a moment to shift as his hand whisked by her ear. She turned to the side and elbowed him in the chest, followed by a soft, deliberate graze across his abdomen. His growl was music to her ears. When he came at her again, she ducked under his arm, twisted at his back and bit his right pec.
“Fuck,” Armaan swore. She laughed, enjoying seeing him flushed and on the edge because of her.
In a quick move, Armaan grabbed her hand and twisted her until she was trapped, her back against his chest, her hand still captured by him. He arched a brow. He’d locked her easily, and she was unable to move even an inch.
He brought his head closer to hers. “Do you concede?”
She inched up on her toes and moved closer to his face. “Never.”
Licking her lips, she sank against him. Shifting her head, she bit the left side of his chest, hard. He growled low in her ear. His erection prodded her bottom, and she continued to bite and lick at his skin. Just when his breathing turned ragged, she wound her leg with his and tugged hard. He fell down on his back, taking her with him. She dropped on his chest with a loud oof.
She leaned over him. “I think this qualifies as a win.”
Armaan flipped her, and now he was lying on top of her, staring at her, his gaze heavy, filled with want and longing.
“You win,” he kissed her lips. “You will always win from me.”
Smiling she wrapped her arms around him, losing herself in him just as she’d wanted.
Several hours later, they sat in his bedroom on the yacht. Freshly showered and having eaten a delicious lunch, they were watching TV, a rerun of Lord of the Rings , a series that both of them enjoyed. Two weeks had gone by in this arrangement that they had going. She met him most days in the mornings at his yacht, after which they trained, had breakfast, made love, and then they went to their respective work. But with each day that went by, leaving him was becoming harder. She looked forward to weekends like today when neither of them had to go to work, and they could spend the whole day, from morning to evening, just being together on his massive boat.
Luckily for her, most of her family was still in India, so it was only Ananya and her at home. Ananya usually worked late into the night and woke up much after Navya had left in the morning, so she naturally assumed that Navya was busy at work.
Armaan put an arm around Navya’s shoulder, pulling her closer. She snuggled into him, feeling completely at ease.
For the first time in her life, she felt like she had something, someone, to look forward to. And it was him, Armaan. His naughty smiles brightened her day, his playful quips kept her on her toes, and his concern for her warmed her heart. He spoke to her a lot; he told her about himself, and he wanted to know everything about her.
She waited every morning to see his face, and she went to sleep every night with his name on her lips. Talking to him at night before bedtime had become a ritual she loved. They spoke about their day at work and everything under the sun.
She was beginning to feel a lot for Armaan, but when she was alone, all by herself, she was scared. So scared of getting invested in him and then ending up hurt. But when she was with him, like now, all her fears vanished, and all her doubts disappeared. What remained was utter contentment and so much joy.
While she had entered this relationship believing it would be temporary and it wouldn’t affect her much, now, she couldn’t bear to even consider putting an end to it. She just knew that she needed more time with him. Maybe a few more weeks would be enough, wouldn’t they?
Sighing, she threaded her fingers with his. His ring glittered against the late afternoon sun filtering in through the windows. Set in on a platinum band, it had a huge yellow stone in the center. She ran the tip of her finger around its periphery, studying it. Armaan wore this ring all the time. Was it special, or had he bought it for himself?
Seeing her attention on it, Armaan paused the TV. “Alexander gave each of us a similar ring when he adopted us.”
“I was just going to ask you about it.”
He smiled. “It’s a yellow diamond, very rare and mined from the O-Corp mines in Tanzania. It signifies love, happiness, and optimism.”
“So, you all wear it?” she asked.
“Vedant and I do,” he replied. “Mihir lost his ring a long time ago. He regrets it till date.”
He pulled the ring off his finger, stared at it for a long moment, and then he offered it to her.
Her eyes rounded and her heart started banging in her chest.
“W… what are you doing?” She struggled to speak. She didn’t want a proposal from him. This between then wasn’t that, right? It couldn’t be that, could it? And it was definitely too soon for that.
“This is not a proposal,” he clarified. “It is, however, a promise to show you that I am totally committed to you and this relationship. That I want to keep going forward. I know you are scared; so am I. But I also want you to know that I have never felt for anybody else what I feel for you.”
Her heart was hammering so hard now that she could hear it pound in her ears. He took her hand and put it on his chest. “My heart is at home with you. Being with you makes me feel whole, like I’ve found the other half of me, which I hadn’t even realized was missing. So, Navya Mehra, I have a new proposition for you, one in which we make this relationship work. We give it our heart and soul and see where it takes us. You got into this with me with a clear end date in mind, right? Perhaps, you’ve extended that by a few weeks. But I want you to wipe all time limits from your head and think of a long-term relationship with me. I want you to commit yourself fully to me, like I am committing to you. Can you do that?”
She breathed in and out, allowing his words to settle in her mind. He wanted a long-term relationship, which meant she’d have to tell her family about him. And while that thought had scared her at one time, it didn’t anymore. And with that knowledge came the realization that perhaps she could make it work with him. For the first time ever, she wanted to believe a man and take a chance on him.
“How do you always read my mind so easily?”
He touched his heart first and then hers. “Our hearts are connected since the beginning, I think.”
Her throat felt so heavy that it took her a moment to speak again. “Just a few minutes ago, I was thinking of how happy you make me, that maybe we need to extend this between us for a few weeks more. And here you are offering me more than a few weeks.”
“I am ready to offer you whatever you want, moya milaya …” This time, he put her hand on his chest, where his own heart was running away. “You only need to say yes.”
Her fingers curled into the fabric of his shirt. “You’ve begun to mean so much to me too. I cannot fathom a day when I cannot see you. In a short span of time, you’ve taken over my life, reshaped my thoughts, and changed my beliefs. When I’m with you, everything feels perfect.”
“Does that mean you agree?” he asked carefully.
The problem occurred when she was not with him. Then, all her doubts resurfaced, and her worries returned. That is what she had to battle with.
She took the ring from his hand and put it back on his pinkie finger. The yellow stone sparkled brightly. Disappointment was clear on his face.
“Hey, I’m not saying no.” She wound her arms around him. “But I need to think about this.”
“Running away again?”
“No, I’m simply asking for some time.”
“Alright. Take all the time you need. Just know, I’ll be right here waiting for you.”
She kissed his lips, showing him what he meant to her and what she couldn’t fully express in words as yet. She needed a little time away from him to clear her mind and think through this before she committed to him.
It wasn’t asking for a lot, was it? After all, they had time. She didn’t need to commit right now.