CHAPTER 17
RAGHAV
What the f*ck! I’m still trying to process what just happened. Did Siya Vardhaan just walk up to me in front of the entire valley and claim me by placing a white lily garland around my neck? For one long second, I just stand there in the middle of the temple grounds.
Everywhere I look, people are staring.
Women stand frozen with widened eyes, and some of them literally have their mouths hanging open in shock. Even the drummers have stopped mid-beat. The entire valley suddenly feels still, as if no one could believe what they’d just witnessed.
But I don’t care about any of it. Because all I can see is Siya who pushes through the crowd and disappears into the secluded, narrow lane behind the temple.
Ignoring the stares of the villagers, I follow her.
Fast. Within seconds, I close the distance between us, grab her wrist, and turn her sharply towards me.
Her wide eyes lock onto mine. She still looks shocked by her own actions, but as for me? I’m well beyond shock now.
Siya’s gaze drops to the garland still resting around my neck, and when she realises I haven’t removed it, her breath catches. Because we both know what that means.
In this valley… in front of this goddess… a man only keeps the garland if he accepts the woman standing before him.
And I’m still wearing it.
“Leave me,” she says quickly, trying to pull away. “Let me go.”
I don’t. Instead, I pull her closer. The movement is so sudden that she crashes into my chest with a soft, breathless sound. Before she can steady herself or create distance again, my other arm slides around her waist and holds her there. Firmly. Almost claiming her.
The way I’m holding her now feels far more personal, and I can tell Siya feels it too.
Her fingers tense lightly against my chest. With her face only inches from mine, and her breath caressing my jaw, I swear I have never seen a woman as beautiful as she is right now.
Have never looked at anyone the way I’m looking at Siya. Not once in my life.
“Why?” I demand. Her lips part slightly as my eyes lock onto hers darkly.
“Just let me go, RK,” she whispers, trying once again to free her hand from my grip.
“No.” I tighten my arm around her waist and lean closer. “Not happening. You put a garland around my neck in front of everyone, knowing exactly what it means here… and then ran away before I could even catch my breath. You think I’m going to let that go without an explanation?”
“Leave my hand.”
“First tell me why you did it.”
She shakes her head immediately, refusing to meet my eyes. “It didn’t mean anything.”
“Then look at me and say it meant nothing.”
My hand slides higher against her waist. Her pulse jumps beneath my touch. Then she looks up.
Big mistake.
Her face gives her away, and I can practically see the battle raging inside her head.
“You’re not going anywhere until you tell me why the hell you did that.”
“If I hadn’t done it… Kriti was about to,” she blurts out at last.
My brows pull together. Kriti? This entire reckless stunt… this madness… this fire in her eyes right now… it all happened because of Kriti?
“What?” My grip loosens. “What exactly does Kriti have to do with this?”
Siya pulls her wrist free and steps back. Then she points angrily at the garland around my neck.
“Kriti was going to put that garland on you. She was literally planning to come to you tonight. Did you want that? Was that okay with you?”
There’s anger in her voice. Possessiveness too.
And jealousy so obvious that even she doesn’t realise it’s written all over her face.
This isn’t the first time Siya has reacted oddly whenever Kriti’s name has come up.
I noticed it at the vineyard and again at the gym.
And now, standing here under this full moon, she’s looking at me as if the mere idea of another woman touching me is unbearable to her.
Why does it bother her this much?
Until this moment, I genuinely had no idea Kriti felt anything for me beyond professional respect. To me, she has always been just another employee at RK Estate. Nothing more. And certainly nothing even remotely close to whatever Siya is implying.
Noticing my silence, Siya rubs her fingers against her forehead in frustration before looking back at me.
“Wait,” she says quickly. “Did you want that to happen? Did you want Kriti to put this garland on you? Do you have any feelings for Kriti?”
Again Kriti? As soon as she says this, I take a step towards her until I’m standing right in front of her, invading her personal space again, my jaw clenched.
“Even if I did,” I murmur darkly, holding her gaze, “why do you care? Even if Kriti was planning to do this tonight, why did it bother you so much, Siya? Why are you so jealous?”
“Really?” she scoffs. “You’re asking me that? Fine! Then why did you act jealous and territorial yesterday after seeing Parag’s messages on my phone? Why did you care?”
I grip her upper arms and pull her closer again. This time, she doesn’t push me away. Her eyes meet mine head-on in challenge as my gaze drops briefly to her parted lips before returning to her eyes.
“Don’t answer a question with another question,” I warn her. “What I did yesterday was between us.” I pause. “And it was the right thing to do. But what you did tonight wasn’t private, Siya. The entire valley saw you walk up to me and put a garland around my neck as though I belonged to you.”
Her lips part faintly.
“And now you expect me to believe jealousy had nothing to do with it?”
A humourless smirk tugs at my mouth.
“I’m not jealous,” she insists, sounding more frustrated with herself than with me. “Why would I be jealous of Kriti? I don’t care if she likes you, or if you like her, or if there’s something going on between you two.”
My brow slowly rises as I see through every lie leaving her mouth.
“I just foiled her plans because I overheard her talking. She was planning to use this ritual to claim you tonight. And even if you’d rejected her, she was still going to use Kailash Uncle to force her way into your life somehow.”
Was she?
“She literally said she’d use Kailash Uncle because of her father’s friendship with him. And also because she thinks you’d never refuse your Baba,” Siya adds.
For a second, I genuinely don’t know what to say. The idea that someone like Kriti has been planning this entire scheme while I was completely unaware of it is unsettling enough. Before I can respond, Siya suddenly grabs the lapels of my jacket tightly.
“If you don’t have feelings for her,” she says, glaring at me, “which I’m assuming is true, then stay the f*ck away from her.”
My brow lifts slightly at her commanding tone. Is she giving orders to me? To Raghav Kundra?
“Don’t entertain her beyond work, RK,” she says, her grip tightens around my jacket. “And don’t let her touch you.”
My entire body goes still at that possessive, jealous, completely unfiltered sentence falling from her lips.
She has no idea what she just said to a man like me.
A man who doesn’t appreciate being told what to do.
Yet, the intent behind her words is so damn hot that something inside me finally snaps.
Without warning, my hand slides around her waist once again.
And before either of us can think it through, I pull her close and kiss her.
Siya freezes against my mouth, clearly stunned that I’m actually kissing her. At first, her lips don’t move, as though her mind can’t quite process what’s happening. As though everything has blacked out.
But my mind? It’s already gone. Nothing has ever felt like this.
The second my mouth touches hers, every ounce of control I’ve been holding onto around this woman goes straight to hell.
Her hands instinctively clutch my jacket tighter as her soft gasp melts into my mouth.
I kiss her deeply, memorising what she tastes like before finally pulling back slowly.
Siya opens her eyes and looks at me, still seeming lost in a haze.
We are both breathing heavily. I stare at her lips, still damp from the kiss and slightly swollen, before lifting my gaze back to her eyes.
Then she moves first. Or maybe I do. I don’t even know anymore.
Because suddenly we’re kissing again. And this time, Siya kisses me back as if she wants more.
F*ck!
The realisation hits me forcefully.
She’s mine.
My hand slides from her waist to the back of her neck, angling her head just right as my mouth hungrily claims hers.
I just can’t stop touching her. And Siya?
The way her body presses against mine, I know she wants this as much as I do.
I kiss her slowly one moment, then more deeply the next, unable to decide whether to savour her or completely lose myself in her.
She’s mine now.
My fingers dig harder into her skin. One of my arms stays locked around her waist, holding her firmly against my body, while my other hand slowly moves upwards along the curve of her waist. My fingertips graze the skin below her breast and linger there for one reckless second too long, I almost weigh one of them, eager to know how perfectly she would fit inside my palm.
Siya moans, shivering at the contact of my fingers on her breast. I pull her flush against me, again. I want no f*cking space between us. My mouth turns greedier. I kiss her like a man starved, wanting to consume every breath she takes.
She’s mine.
My free hand moves possessively over her waist and hips, memorising every curve without permission, while Siya’s fingers slowly slide up from my chest towards the exposed skin beneath my open collar.
One of her hands stays pressed against my chest, her nails lightly dragging over my skin through the half-open collar, scratching just enough to make my lower body harden. The other hand slips behind my neck, her fingers brushing into my hair at the nape.