RIVANs nightmare / battameez admi #3
His body trembled occasionally.
His breathing uneven.
His forehead covered in sweat.
And all the while those same broken whispers kept escaping him.
"Don't leave me..."
The words were softer now.
Weaker.
But somehow they hurt even more.
Finally, after what felt like hours, she reached the bed.
Using every ounce of strength she possessed, she pushed him down onto the mattress.
RIVAN collapsed onto it heavily.
His head falling against the pillow.
His chest rising and falling rapidly.
His face was pale.
Far too pale.
Sweat covered his forehead, his neck, even his hairline.
And despite being unconscious, panic was still visible on his face.
Like he was fighting something.
Something only he could see.
Something only he could feel.
Devyani stared at him.
Frozen.
Her own breathing becoming unstable.
She slowly reached forward.
Tapped his cheek lightly.
Nothing.
"Pati ji..."
Another tap.
A little harder.
Still nothing.
Her heartbeat accelerated.
"Wake up."
Silence.
"RIVAN."
Nothing.
His eyes remained closed.
His breathing remained uneven.
His body continued trembling slightly.
And suddenly she felt fear crawl up her spine.
Real fear.
The kind she hated.
The kind she hadn't felt in years.
Blood.
There was too much blood.
Her eyes landed on his injured hand again.
Fresh panic immediately flooded her chest.
She stepped backward.
Then another step.
Her lungs felt tight.
Too tight.
The room suddenly felt smaller.
The walls closer.
Her hands began shaking uncontrollably.
No.
No.
No.
Not now.
Not this.
She pressed both palms against her head.
Trying to think.
Trying to focus.
But the sight of blood had always affected her.
Always.
No matter how much she trained.
No matter how much stronger she became.
Some fears never fully disappeared.
Her breathing became heavier.
Shorter.
Faster.
The room started spinning slightly.
And before she even realized what she was doing
She turned and rushed toward the balcony.
The cold air hit her instantly.
A sharp contrast to the suffocating atmosphere inside.
Devyani grabbed the balcony railing tightly.
Both hands clutching the metal so hard her knuckles turned white.
She bent forward.
Trying to breathe.
Trying to stop shaking.
Trying to calm the panic threatening to swallow her whole.
The cold breeze whipped through her hair.
Cold.
Merciless.
Yet somehow not enough.
Her chest still hurt.
Her hands still trembled.
Her eyes remained fixed on the city stretching below.
"Calm down."
She whispered.
Her voice shaking.
"Calm down, Devyani."
Another breath.
Then another.
Again.
And again.
Slowly.
Very slowly.
Her heartbeat began settling.
The dizziness faded.
The panic loosened its grip.
She closed her eyes.
Allowing herself a few moments.
Just a few.
Because there wasn't time for this.
Not right now.
Not when he needed help.
The thought made her open her eyes immediately.
A frustrated sound escaped her.
Wonderful.
After everything he had done...
After making her life miserable...
After disappearing for two years...
She was still worried about him.
Absolutely wonderful.
She hated herself sometimes.
With one final deep breath, she pushed herself away from the railing.
And returned inside.
The moment she entered the room, her heart clenched.
RIVAN was still lying exactly where she had left him.
Except now his trembling had become worse.
Much worse.
His entire body seemed tense.
Like he was trapped inside a nightmare.
His jaw clenched tightly.
His brows furrowed.
And every few seconds another shiver ran through him.
The sight instantly erased whatever irritation she had been feeling.
Without wasting another second she hurried toward the medical kit.
Years of training finally taking over.
No panic.
No hesitation.
Just action.
She gathered everything she needed.
Antiseptic.
Bandages.
Cotton.
Gauze.
Then carefully settled beside him.
For a moment she simply stared at the injured hand.
The blood had slowed but hadn't completely stopped.
The wound looked deep.
Painful.
Her stomach twisted.
But she forced herself to focus.
"You are not passing out."
She warned herself.
"Not today."
Very carefully she cleaned the blood away.
The cotton quickly turning red.
The sight still made her uncomfortable.
Still made her chest tighten.
But she continued.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Cleaning.
Pressing.
Bandaging.
Her movements growing steadier with every passing minute.
Until finally the wound was wrapped properly.
Only then did she allow herself to relax slightly.
Her shoulders sagged.
Exhaustion washing over her.
But the relief lasted only a second.
Because when her gaze lifted toward his face
She saw tears.
Not many.
Just one.
Sliding slowly from the corner of his closed eye.
And suddenly her heart broke a little.
Because whatever battle RIVAN was fighting...
He was still losing it.
Even in his sleep.
Even now.
And for the first time since seeing him again
Devyani wondered just how much pain a person could hide behind silence.
For a long time, RIVAN continued murmuring the same words.
Over and over.
Like a broken prayer.
Like a wound refusing to heal.
"Don't leave me..."
Each time, Devyani answered.
At first her voice trembled.
Then slowly it became steadier.
Softer.
Calmer.
"I'm here."
A few minutes later
"Don't leave me..."
She gently brushed his damp hair away from his forehead.
"I'm not going anywhere."
Again.
And again.
And again.
The room fell into a strange rhythm.
His broken whispers.
Her quiet reassurances.
Eventually his breathing began changing.
The tension left his shoulders little by little.
The panic faded from his expression.
His jaw unclenched.
The trembling stopped.
And for the first time since she had found him, he seemed at peace.
Finally asleep.
Truly asleep.
Devyani released a long breath she hadn't realized she had been holding.
Exhaustion washed through her immediately.
Her body ached.
Her mind felt overwhelmed.
Yet sleep refused to come.
Too many emotions.
Too many questions.
Too many memories.
She sat beside him quietly.
Watching.
Thinking.
Trying not to think.
Minutes passed.
Maybe more.
The villa remained silent.
Then suddenly RIVAN shifted.
A small movement.
Almost childlike.
Devyani immediately looked toward him.
His eyes remained closed.
Still asleep.
But instinctively he seemed to move toward warmth.
Toward comfort.
Toward the nearest source of safety.
Before she could react, he had turned slightly in his sleep.
His head resting against her shoulder.
His hand lightly gripping the fabric of her shirt.
As though making sure she was still there.
As though even in sleep he feared waking up alone.
The sight made something tighten painfully inside her chest.
This wasn't the RIVAN the world knew.
The feared businessman.
The ruthless strategist.
The man who could silence an entire room with one look.
This was someone else.
Someone tired.
Someone carrying invisible scars.
Someone who, for reasons she still didn't understand, seemed terrified of being abandoned.
A shiver ran through her.
Not from fear.
From the weight of the moment.
Carefully, she adjusted the blanket over him.
Making sure he stayed warm.
Then her hand hesitantly moved toward his hair.
She paused.
For a second.
Then gently ran her fingers through it.
The reaction was immediate.
His expression softened even more.
His breathing deepened.
Like he recognized the comfort without fully waking.
Like some part of him remembered.
Devyani looked away quickly.
Her heart becoming far too aware of his closeness.
This was dangerous.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
Because every wall she had spent two years building seemed determined to crack when she saw him like this.
Weak.
Human.
Real.
Her fingers continued moving absentmindedly through his hair.
Slowly.
Comfortingly.
The way someone might soothe a frightened child after a nightmare.
And somewhere between one heartbeat and the next, she realized something that unsettled her deeply.
She was still angry.
Still hurt.
Still unwilling to forgive him.
But seeing him like this...
Broken and vulnerable in a way nobody else would ever witness...
made it impossible to pretend she felt nothing.
The realization sat heavily inside her chest.
Rivan kept murmuring the same words for a long while.
Devyani answered every time, her voice soft and steady until finally his breathing evened and he drifted into sleep.
Her own rest stayed distant.
Minutes later he stirred, nuzzling deeper into her warmth, seeking comfort.
His face pressed against her breasts he shifted her shirt aside and rested directly on her bare chest.
A rush of shivers raced across Devyani's skin, goosebumps rising everywhere, yet she stayed still, letting him cling.
Her fingers traced soothing circles on his back.
The room grew quiet.
His lips, half-asleep, found her nipple and began to suckle gently, a warm, wet sensation spreading through her.
She bit her lip, heart pounding, but did not pull away.
Instead she held him closer, stroking his hair as the intimate, tender contact lulled them both into deeper sleep, bodies pressed together in the quiet dark.
.
.
.
.
.
.
The morning light filtered through the heavy velvet curtains, casting a dim, amber glow over the disheveled sheets of their massive bed.
The air was thick with the scent of musk, expensive perfume, and the lingering heat of two bodies entwined.
Devyani had finally succumbed to sleep in the early hours of the morning, her restless mind finally quieting.
RIVAN was adrift in a slumber so deep it felt like a sanctuary.
For two years, sleep had been a battlefield for him, a place of ghosts and tension, but in the circle of Devyani's arms, he had found a peace that felt almost dangerous in its intensity.