CHAPTER 32 #2
Raghav looks far too comfortable. The rear seat is almost fully reclined.
One arm is folded beneath his head while the emergency blanket from his survival kit is draped over him.
Half of it covers his body while the remaining half lies abandoned beside him, as if he’s deliberately left that space for me in case I change my mind.
What annoys me is that he appears to be asleep while I’m sitting here freezing to death. Almost a minute later, another shiver runs through me.
That’s it.
Forget my pride. Forget my annoyance. Forget the fact that sharing a backseat with Raghav sounds like a terrible idea. Right now, I need that blanket. Muttering under my breath, I unbuckle my seatbelt and attempt to climb into the backseat without getting out of the car.
Immediately, I realise this is much harder than it looks.
The gap between the seats is ridiculously narrow. My knee gets stuck halfway through, and my elbow bangs against the centre console. And invariably, I’m wrestling with the interior of a luxury SUV like an idiot.
The commotion wakes Raghav up, or maybe he was just pretending to be asleep. Ignoring him, I stubbornly keep going. I’m already halfway into the back when my foot suddenly slips.
“Oh—”
Before I can tumble face-first into the backseat, his strong arm wraps around my waist. Everything inside me stops.
Literally everything. My breath… my thoughts…
even my ability to function. Raghav steadies me effortlessly and pulls me the rest of the way towards him.
The movement sends me straight into him.
The next second, I realise with horror that I’m sprawled across his lap. My palms press against his chest, while his hand remains firmly locked around my waist. That’s when I become painfully aware of just how close we are.
Everything else disappears. It’s just him. Just us. And the heat of his body beneath mine.
His gaze drops briefly to my lips before lifting again to meet my eyes. It’s the same intense look I saw earlier today when he told me I was his first kiss. A fact I’m still trying to process.
Ever since I was a teenager, I’ve had this silly fantasy of a stolen kiss in the backseat of a car.
I don’t know why the idea always appealed to me.
But tonight, as I find myself in the situation where such a moment feels dangerously possible, my heart races with anticipation.
For the first time, those fantasies have a face.
A visual. Of me and Raghav in the backseat, devouring each other’s lips.
Heat rushes into my cheeks.
For a few moments, neither of us moves. But before the fantasy can turn into a possibility, I come back to my senses.
“Move,” I mutter, pushing myself upright on his lap.
A corner of his mouth twitches. Without saying a word, he lets me go. I immediately shift to the space beside him, grab the abandoned half of the blanket, and wrap it tightly around myself. The warmth hits me almost instantly, and I finally stop shivering.
Seeing this, Raghav turns his face away, settles deeper into the seat, and closes his eyes again.
Sleep is exactly what I need too.
But the problem is that I’m a sound sleeper. The moment I fall asleep, I’m gone. The world could practically collapse around me, and I would still be dreaming peacefully.
At the villa, this isn’t an issue. The bed is large enough for both of us. I can roll from one end to the other without disturbing anyone.
This, however, is an SUV. I have absolutely no idea what might happen once I fall asleep here. For all I know, I might end up leaning against his shoulder. Or worse, cuddling Raghav like he’s my favourite plush toy.
The thought makes me groan internally. Not that I can control it.
Eventually, I stop overthinking and dial Mom to keep her informed of the situation.
She answers the call immediately. I explain that Raghav and I are stuck on the mountain road because of the rains, although she already knows as Haider had informed her too.
“It might take a few hours,” I tell her. “But we’ll return as soon as the road is cleared. How are you feeling now?”
“Much better,” she says. “And you don’t need to worry about me. Esha is here.”
My eyebrows shoot up. “What?”
“Yes,” Mom continues. “She came shortly after you and Raghav left for the market.”
Relief washes over me.
“Raghav had called her and asked her to stay with me until you both returned. And now that Haider said you’re stranded, she said she would be spending the night here with me.”
I go still. It never even occurred to me to call Esha and ask her to be with Mom, and I’m her daughter. I should’ve thought about it first.
I didn’t. But Raghav did.
My gaze instinctively shifts towards him.
His eyes remain closed, but I know he’s listening.
For years, taking care of Mom has been entirely my responsibility.
Now, for the first time, it feels like somebody else is sharing a part of that responsibility too.
The thought makes me feel strangely emotional.
I know that these little things he does now can never make up for what he did. Still, as I settle deeper beneath the blanket, I’m relieved knowing Mom isn’t alone tonight. She has someone looking after her.
All thanks to the man I’m married to.
RAGHAV
Few hours later
I never imagined I’d be trapped inside a vehicle in the middle of a mountain storm with my wife sleeping against me.
I can survive almost anything, but spending a night with Siya curled up next to me is proving to be much more difficult than I anticipated.
Because sleeping Siya is a completely different creature.
Her head rests against my shoulder, and one hand is wrapped around my arm.
The blanket is tangled around both of us.
Every few minutes, she shifts closer without realising it, thanks to her habit of cuddling in her sleep.
Tonight, there are no pillows. Just me. And my rapidly disappearing self-control.
I glance down at a strand of hair that has fallen across her face. Every now and then, it slips against her cheek, and Siya frowns in her sleep. Without thinking, I reach up and tuck it away, and her frown instantly disappears.
My princess.
I know I shouldn’t touch her. But this entire situation slips out of my hand when Siya, seeking more warmth, slips her hand beneath my sweater until her palm meets the bare skin of my chest. She leaves it there, skin against skin, as she burrows deeper against me.
F*ck! I close my eyes, but nothing changes. The next moment, as Siya scoots even closer, her hand still tucked beneath my sweater, her elbow accidentally brushes my arousal. I suck in a slow breath.
Control, Raghav. Just a little control.
My wife, tucked against me, seems determined to test every ounce of my self-control. Every instinct in my body screams for me to pull her even closer. But I stay perfectly still because if I move, I don’t trust myself to stop at simply holding her.
“Hmm...” she murmurs in her sleep, and those sleepy little sounds are my undoing. Suddenly, my mind starts imagining what she would sound like moaning my name.
F*ck! The thought lands like gasoline on an already raging fire.
That’s it. I can’t act saner than this. Before I can stop myself, I carefully slide an arm around her, giving her the support she keeps looking for, and press my lips gently to her forehead.
The moment I kiss her, she settles down.
As if her body recognises the touch of my lips.
Like she has finally found what she was looking for.
I close my eyes too. Tomorrow morning, she’s probably going to kill me for holding her like this. Maybe even accuse me of taking advantage of the situation. But I’ll deal with all of that later. For now, I rest my head against the seat and stare into the darkness beyond the windshield.
“You’re going to be the death of me, Princess,” I murmur, pressing another tender kiss against her forehead.
Sleep is the last thing on my mind. But eventually, somewhere between the sound of the rain and the steady rhythm of her breathing, my eyelids begin to feel heavy, and I allow myself to drift off.
*****************
Morning
I slowly open my eyes to the dim golden light filtering through, but I don’t move.
The relentless drumming of rain against the roof has stopped.
I look down at Siya. My arm is still wrapped around her waist, exactly where it was when sleep finally claimed us.
Her head is still resting against my shoulder, and the hand that she slid under my sweater last night is still there across my chest, as if I’m her safest place.