Rivan sleeping on Devyanis breasts #6
The unanswered longing.
The countless times I had reached for my phone only to stop myself.
The countless times I had wanted to hear her voice.
The countless times I had failed.
People thought disappearing was easy.
It wasn't.
Not when your entire heart remained with the person you left behind.
A tired laugh escaped me.
"You know what's funny?"
I looked at her sleeping face.
"I thought I'd come back and explain everything."
Another laugh.
Softer this time.
"I had speeches prepared."
Dozens of them.
Maybe hundreds.
Arguments.
Explanations.
Reasons.
Excuses.
I had rehearsed every possible conversation.
Yet now that she was actually here...
I couldn't remember a single word.
Because none of them mattered.
Not really.
What mattered was the hurt in her eyes whenever she looked at me.
What mattered was the fact that she no longer trusted me.
And for the first time in my life...
I couldn't blame anyone else.
The fault was mine.
Entirely mine.
My gaze drifted toward her hand resting on the blanket.
Without thinking, I carefully wrapped my fingers around it.
Just holding it.
Nothing more.
The warmth immediately settled somewhere deep inside me.
A place that had been empty for far too long.
I lowered my head.
Resting my forehead lightly against our joined hands.
And for the first time in years...
I allowed myself to be honest.
Completely honest.
Not as RIVAN Thakur.
Not as the man feared by everyone.
Just as a husband who had missed his wife.
The silence stretched.
Comfortable.
Peaceful.
I lowered myself to the edge of the bed, heart hammering so hard I could feel it in my throat.
My knees touched the floor as I reached for her feet, cradling one with both hands like it was the most precious thing I had ever held.
I pressed my lips to the top of her foot, slow and reverent, letting the warmth of her skin sink into me.
"I'm sorry, Kitten," I whispered against her foot, voice cracking. "I'm sorry I wasn't there. I'm sorry I left you for two whole years. I didn't have a choice, but that doesn't make it right. I should have been here. I should have held you every night."
I rested my forehead against her ankle, eyes closed, just breathing her in. My hands trembled as I held her, the guilt and longing twisting together until I could barely breathe.
Two years without her had been a slow kind of death, and now that she was this close, every nerve in my body screamed at me to stay, to never let go again.
I moved carefully, sliding onto the bed beside her.
The mattress dipped under my weight and her warmth reached me before I even touched her.
I lay down facing her, every breath shaky, every muscle tight with nerves.
My chest felt too small for my heart. I had never been this close to her after so long, and the reality of it made my vision blur.
She stirred.
A soft sound left her lips as she shifted toward me, and then her voice, sleepy and sweet, drifted through the dark.
"Ummm... pati ji... it's cold."
The words hit me like lightning. My breath stopped completely.
She had called me pati ji.
After everything, after all the silence and distance, she still said it.
A helpless smile broke across my face, tears stinging my eyes as I stared at her in disbelief.
"Pati ji," I echoed under my breath, voice thick. "You still call me that. I've waited two years to hear it again."
She pressed closer, her face finding my chest, her arms sliding around me.
She nuzzled in, seeking my heat, and the simple trust in that movement undid me.
I wrapped one arm around her shoulders and slid my other hand beneath her head, pulling her gently against me.
Her breath warmed my skin through my shirt.
Her lips hovered so close to mine that I could feel every exhale. My pulse roared in my ears.
I swallowed hard, staring at her mouth.
I wanted to kiss her more than I wanted air.
The need was so sharp it hurt, but fear tangled with it.
What if she woke and pulled away? What if two years had changed everything for her?
Still, I had to ask. My voice came out low, barely above a whisper.
"Kitten... can I kiss you?"
She didn't answer, of course. She was still lost in sleep. I tried again, softer this time, my lips brushing the shell of her ear.
"Kitten... can I kiss you?"
A tiny hum left her throat, almost like consent, and that was all I needed.
I leaned in slowly, giving her every chance to wake and stop me.
When she didn't, I pressed my mouth to hers with the lightest touch, barely there, a promise more than a claim.
My lips lingered, trembling, savoring the shape of her, the taste of her, the way everything inside me finally settled into place.
I stayed like that, forehead resting against hers, breathing her in, whispering apologies and love against her skin while she slept peacefully in my arms.
Then suddenly she shifted in her sleep.
Moving slightly toward my side of the bed.
A sleepy sigh escaped her lips.
Nothing significant.
A completely unconscious movement.
Yet my entire chest tightened.
Because despite everything...
Some part of her still moved toward me.
Even if she wouldn't admit it while awake.
I sat there for a very long time after that.
Watching over her.
Guarding her sleep.
Not touching.
Not disturbing.
Just staying.
Because for tonight...
That was enough.
Tomorrow she would wake up angry again.
Tomorrow she would remind me that I had lost the right to call her mine.
Tomorrow she would probably threaten me with another gun.
And honestly...
I was looking forward to it.
But tonight?
Tonight I simply lay beside her bed.
Listening to her breathe.
And thanking whatever force existed in this world...
for giving me one more chance to see her.
.
.
.
.
.
Rivan's phone lit up again with Reyansh's name flashing across the screen like a warning flare. He answered with that signature smirk already tugging at his lips, fully aware of the storm he was about to unleash.
"where the hell is Devyani? Don't tell me she is with you I'm gonna kill you, Rivan!"
Rivan leaned back against the headboard, one arm still cradling Devyani's sleeping form. "Yeah, she's sleeping in my arms, Reyansh?"
Reyansh's voice cracked with disbelief. "What?"
"She doesn't even know she's in my arms yet, so relax," Rivan continued, voice dripping with satisfaction as he glanced down at the woman nestled against him.
Reyansh exhaled sharply on the other end, but the calm didn't last.
"Motherfucker, give my sister back! I'm outside your villa and I can't get in move these fucking restrictions!"
Rivan chuckled low. "Honey, it's my fucking empire. Since I can't enter your villa, you can't enter mine. Fair enough. So stop wasting your time standing out there and go find a girl for yourself instead of obsessing over someone else's wife."
"Ex-wife, Mr. Rivan Thakur if you've forgotten," Reyansh snapped.
"Soon-to-be wife," Rivan corrected smoothly, then lowered his head to press a lingering kiss to Devyani's forehead, smiling against her skin.
The gesture was tender, possessive, and deliberate.
Reyansh barked again, "Motherfucker, don't touch her!"
"Wait till morning comes. I'll show you,"
Rivan replied, voice turning darker, more intimate.
"Aww, honey, I know how much length you have," he teased before adding, "Find a girl. Stop keeping eyes on my girl."
Reyansh's next words landed like a grenade. "Okay then, I'll go to your sister. If you take my sister, I'll take your sister. Fair enough, Mr. Thakur."
Rivan's entire body went rigid. The line went dead after Reyansh's parting shot, leaving only silence and the echo of that threat.
Rivan's jaw clenched so hard it hurt. "Fucking dare you," he muttered to the empty room, but Reyansh had already hung up.
"If he fucking touches Jinal, I'll fucking kill him," Rivan growled under his breath, chest heaving. He exhaled slowly, forcing the rage down.
For now, his peace was right here in his arms. He needed to focus on that.
He let his eyes drift shut, the warmth of Devyani's body pulling him under.
Just as sleep began to claim him, she stirred. A soft sigh escaped her lips as she shifted, rolling away from his chest to lie flat on her back. The sudden loss of contact made something inside Rivan twist with quiet longing.
It's okay, he told himself. If she moved away, he would simply follow.