“Yes,” he whispered. “I think there is no adult conversation more important than what I want to do to you right now. The children are with Jay and—”
“You said you would give me time,” she said, extracting from his embrace.
Devesh froze. The disappointment in his eyes was nearly heartbreaking.
Chapter 29
Devesh’s lips paused a few inches from hers before pulling away; his erection was straining against his pants. He leaned in to kiss those sensually curved lips he had always found so inviting. He teased them, tasted them, allowing the warmth from her to extend to him.
She responded, opened to him.
Devesh took that to be significant and cupped her hips, pulling her in so they were as close as two people could be.
When he finally looked into her eyes, he said, “Mine. All mine. In every way.”
Reign slowly nodded, but the look she gave him was a blend of slightly fearful and anxious as though she still wasn’t sure this was the route that they should take.
How could she feel that way after all this time? He knew she loved him. He could feel it.
“What keeps you from loving me?” he asked.
She quickly looked away.
Devesh guided her face back toward him so their gazes would be connected again. “Talk to me,” he whispered. “Why are you so afraid of this?”
Reign shook her head.
“Let me know your thoughts, honey,” he whispered, in a husky tone. “I don’t want to make a misstep here.”
Reign swallowed and seemed to lose her ability to speak.
“I know that this marriage was not your choice,” he said. “I know you valued your freedom, being single. You once told me that you were prepared to spend the rest of your life alone. But what if God had something different in mind? What if this is the way you’re supposed to spend your life? With me. My family believes in arranged marriages, but I think God arranged our marriage.”
She fumbled with her hands, clearly uneasy with this turn of the conversation.
“This does not have to be something that frightens you; something that makes you afraid to love me. There’s nothing wrong with loving me.”
“My son is your age,” she said.
This again? Seriously? “And? What difference does that make?” he asked, his tone a little harder than intended. “You might not love me the same way that I love you, but that’s going to be alright, too. We will give it time.” He stroked a hand across the small curve of her back. “I’ve wanted you a long time, Reign. I’ve wanted this for so long.”
She pulled herself up to meet his eyes.
“I love you, honey,” he confessed, fingertips gliding over the graceful lines of her neck. “I’ve loved you from the first day we met. When you bypassed all those other cover models and said, ‘My God, I’ve got to get a picture with this guy,’ and everybody at the banquet table followed you.”
Reign smiled, glancing down at her pink toes.
“Then the next day you came up to me to talk about foods and movies you love, we connected so well.” Devesh lifted her chin so that their eyes locked. “That was my first time at that convention. I was kind of a stranger there, and the other models and some of the executives were giving me a hard time. Especially when they heard my accent and didn’t think I was American. It felt a little lonely. Then you came, and we had those conversations, and I was laughing and enjoying myself. When everyone else saw us having such a good time, that’s when company representatives started coming to check me out, wanting me to be part of their advertising campaigns.”
She crooked her mouth into something that was part smile and part something else.
“We don’t have to make love tonight,” he said, and he was certain that this was the path to take. “When you want me, when you’re ready, you reach for me. Then I’ll know it’s your decision.”
Moments ticked by. This time it was Reign who kissed him passionately, then wrapped her arms around his neck, guiding him to her. They were now so close that he could feel her heart beating out of control.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
Devesh scooped Reign off her feet and carried her past the gazebo, and the game area into the building, slid in the elevator to their condo, and maneuvered to their bedroom she had furnished in warm colors of reds and creams with charcoal accents.
“You’re not settling for second best?” he asked gently laying her on the bed, and there was more in that question than he was willing to put to voice.
She shook her head, realizing he meant the man she’d given up.
“Because I want you to know that you’ve always been my first choice.”
Devesh placed a kiss on her temple. “I’m so glad God saw fit to bring you back to me.” He peeled the form-fitting dress from her shoulders and arms, unveiling, undressing, kissing along the smooth expanse of skin, teasing, letting his tongue do the talking for him. He draped his lips across the stretch marks, recognizing the ones that were there a few years ago.
She quickly drew the bed sheet about her body. “I can’t have you look at me straight-on,” she admitted. “In the past, men wanted me for my personality, but when I took my clothes off, they somehow expected everything to straighten up and fly right.”
“Then that’s their issue if they don’t understand the basic laws of gravity. What comes up, is coming down at some point—they should know that simply from what happens after getting an erection.” He cupped her left breast in his hands, lowering to kiss it.
Reign gasped, and there was something in her eyes that she wasn’t able to shield before averting her gaze.
“Let’s be honest,” he said. “We’re not talking about them. It’s him. He’s still affecting you after all this time?” Devesh whispered, unable to believe this barrier still existed. “You can’t let him be this important to you. What I say—what your husband says—overrules some donkey who didn’t see your value in the first place.” He peered at her a moment. “How long ago were you with him?”
“Jay was maybe six, seven,” she said, frowning.
“And how old is Jay now?”
“Thirty-one.”
Devesh leveled an intense focus on her. “So that man has been holding your self-esteem hostage all this time?”
Reign grimaced but didn’t come up with a reply.
“Will you allow me to set you free, my love?” Then he touched his lips to the few stretch marks that had to come from carrying his children. The battle scars that added to her beauty, that told the story of her life. He moved lower, kissing the place on her knees where she had run from a schoolmate and tripped over a concrete barrier, creating a wound that took a year to heal. Then he pressed his lips to the healed mark where the phone charger had accidentally disconnected from her cell. The open end had seared her skin while she slept.
Devesh kissed the fullness of breasts that had nourished his children and were now so sensitive that a slight bit of cool air would make them aroused. He draped his hands along the width of her hips, which provided a welcome pleasure. He kept his focus on her eyes, watching the emerald orbs as the desire lit a pathway to arousal. Her breathing became labored as though she was struggling for each breath. Then he prepared to join them—body and soul—knowing that this final threshold in their relationship would only serve to bring them even closer.
“I’ll be right back,” Devesh said, sliding from the bed.
“Alright,” she sighed.
“I have to find a condom.”
She sat up, frowned at him. “Do you have something I need to know about?” she asked, stopping him in his tracks. “I mean, it’s a little late to ask but …”
He didn’t turn to her when he answered, “No, but I thought you wouldn’t be too happy if you got pregnant again.”
She laughed, hard. “No worries about that. After the twins were born, I told Dr. Taylor I’d tie those tubes myself if she didn’t do it.”
&nb
sp; Devesh lowered his head and joined in her laughter. He turned, and still completely mesmerized, he slowly undressed. Then he drank in the lusciousness of her curves; raking a slow gaze from the tips of her pedicured toes to those lovely thighs, hips that were made for him to hold onto, and small curve of her belly that held a few small signs of how she had given three people the opportunity to come into this world. Her breasts—so full and ripe, brought an excitement all their own. Her beautiful lips were slightly parted in wanton expectation of the exquisite torture he would put her through.
Completely in all of his naked glory, Devesh crossed the distance between them, took her hand and brought it to his lips. He guided her into his arms and captured the gasp that tried to escape from her mouth.
She closed her eyes when a heated response shook her body the moment Devesh took a nipple into his mouth, curled his tongue around it, and began teasing her to the point that she couldn’t take in a solid breath if she wanted to.
Those well-defined muscles felt hard and firm beneath her trembling fingers, and he guided her forward, pressing her even more tightly against him. His scent, warm and heady, forced her to inhale him, take him in and let it explode in the corners of her mind.
And then splaying his fingers across her buttocks, he opened her up, leaned forward and sank his mouth into her. He teased here, nibbled there, and when she cried out his name he put so much intensity into that never-ending kiss that she nearly lost her hold on reality and him. She moaned in response to the shivers of pleasure that whipped through her like a tornado in search of vulnerable land.
“My woman,” he said in a deep and throaty voice. “Every inch, every curve, every dip, breasts I can barely hold in my hands, thick thighs that are meant to be wrapped around me—all of it belongs to me.”
She watched as he studied her features and figured he was wondering how to give her what she needed most. She didn’t realize until this moment that she already had it.
Unconditional love.
Devesh exhaled deeply as he moved toward her, fully aware that he still had his work cut out for him. More than simple insecurities had a hold of her. The pain that she had harbored ran deep, and it had provided more resistance than she probably knew. But that was alright. For a time, he had loved enough for both of them. Tonight she would realize she could open to him, and his love.
He parted her thighs and eased into that part of her world that had been denied him for what seemed an eternity. He moved with her, entering that classic dance of love which is something they both wanted and needed. Devesh held on to her, dragging in a deep breath when those moist walls clamped him tightly, squeezing and demanding a release that he had prayed for so long.
Five years, and this was his jubilee. To be inside her this way, to be fully aware, connected in all the ways that a man should be when he loved a woman this deeply, was heaven unto itself. She trembled in his arms, gripping him, using his body as a stronghold keeping her tethered to reality. He was inside her again, crushing her to him, unwilling to let her go now or ever.
“I love you, Nareigna Lisa,” he whispered in a breathy moan.
“I love you more, Devesh Ahn—”
Devesh was inside her once again, his mouth swallowing the sound of his name, taking her within, relishing the taste of her, the feel of her soft skin, the sound of her moans trapped and unable to make their presence truly known.
“Main tumse pyaar, karta hun, mera suraj, meri duniya, meri Hukumat,” he whispered.
I love you. My sun. My world. My universe. My Reign.
The orgasm that ripped through her triggered his own. He barely managed to hold it at bay for a few moments longer, watching as her eyelids shuttered to close over emerald orbs that were gleaming with passion.
The moment she went still from the throes of that subsiding orgasm—He. Came. Undone.
Chapter 30
“Mumma, this is for you.”
Anaya smiled at Leena, who left her side carrying a glass of fresh mango juice that she’d helped press with Anaya overseeing the process.
The children were adjusting to life with the Maharaj family extremely well. Reign and Jay had won over even more of the adults because they couldn’t deny the positive impact her twins were having on their children.
Anaya had marveled at how the cousins were shifting their focus from video games to the board games that the twins favored. Reign pointed out that while videos games were great for developing eye-hand coordination and reflexes, the children were thrilled about the confidence they found as they tapped into skills they’d never been encouraged to use before. They were learning, thinking, reasoning, strategizing, and partnering up to win. She knew from experience that when children are taught to observe, think, and communicate, they can learn anything—do anything. She simply offered to share the things that had worked in her experience.
Reign had brought out a system called Sing, Spell, Read & Write that she’d used with her oldest son and then the twins, and it, along with how she approached getting them to see the outside world, was one of the reasons they were so advanced. Even some of the adults who wanted to learn better English were using it. Anaya was happy that some true bonding was taking place and she was certain that Devesh was pleased that Reign was trying to be more open with the family.
Anaya took a glance across the room to see how far her little niece had made it in her trek to deliver the glass of mango juice to Mumma who was sitting in the solarium.
When she passed the gathering table that was closest to the solarium entrance, Tiya’s little hellion son stuck out his foot, causing Leena to lose her balance. Instinct made Anaya reach out to catch her niece, but she was much too far away. The cup went sailing forward, splattering its contents all over Tiya’s brand new dress.
Tiya’s shocked gasp did not last more than three seconds.
Neither did her reaction.
Her hand went back, made a wide arc, then swung wildly forward. That hand cracked against Leena’s face with a loud gunshot sound that sent her sprawling. Leena defensively curled into herself and let her body go limp. The far right wall of the kitchen broke her airborne trip.
Leena’s scream is what forced Mumma and Anaya into action. It also brought Reign sprinting from the master suite all the way into the kitchen.
She scooped Leena up into her arms, comforting the little girl as she fell into hiccupping sobs. Tiya mindlessly rubbed a towel over the lower half of her dress.
Some of the women looked on, unable to decide how to help. Aunt Kavya picked up a spatula and whacked Tiya upside the head three times, causing her to yell, “Ouch. Cut that out.”
Reign’s green eyes zeroed in on the floor.
The orange splatter.
Gaze slid to the mess on Tiya’s dress.
Her focus swept across all the anxious people waiting to see any reaction.
Anaya’s heart broke when Reign examined her child, who had clamped her lips to stop wailing but whose silent tears flowed endlessly.
Reign trembled with a rage so profound that Anaya wasn’t sure she could keep her hold on Leena for much longer.
Leena pointed at Tiya. “Mama. She hurt me.” She looked up at her mother, saying, “I did not hurt her back, Mama. I did not …”
Marital arts. Karate. That child could have taken Tiya on herself if she chose to.
“I know, baby. I know.” When Reign put eyes on the wall, Anaya saw her sister-in-law’s face cloud over as the realization dawned that the dent was caused by the impact of her daughter’s body. Leena had been on a trajectory so fierce that it wasn’t minor damage, either.
“Leena, stay with Anaya for a minute, alright?”
Her little chest heaved and settled twice before saying, “Yes, Mama.”
Reign placed a kiss on her daughter’s temple.
Kamran inched into the room, having left his cousins out on the patio who were well into a game of Cricket. He took in everything at once, and asked, “Mama, is Leena o
kay?”
“She will be.”
Anaya rushed forward to take Leena from Reign’s arms. Kamran marched purposefully into the room, stopping when he made it to his sister’s side. Their cousins looked on, faces solemn as they took in the scene and realized that one of the adults had done something wrong.
All anger seemed to seep out of Reign’s pores. She now seemed to be filled with a calm that was more frightening than her rage could ever be. Tiya had no better sense not to be afraid of this profound change in a woman they were just getting to know.
Reign was on Tiya in a flash, bypassing everyone in the crowded kitchen by taking a giant leap across the center island. She slid across the countertop of the granite island, forcing the meal prep items out of her path and clattering to the floor as she snatched up a butcher’s knife along the way. She landed directly on the other side, a few feet from her intended target. Reign yanked up a handful of Tiya’s hair, snatching off the band that held the thick black strands before twisting it tightly around her fist. The hair that flowed all the way past Tiya’s ankles were now a way for Reign to hold her hostage.
As the women tried—unsuccessfully—to separate them, Reign dragged Tiya by the hair to the stove. A pot of Basmati rice was on full boil. She carefully inched it partway off the burner, exposing the bright orange and flickering blue flame. The shrieks of horror and panic that filled the air brought the men running from the outside patio, the theater, and the den. They were just in time to see Reign lower Tiya’s face until it was several inches above the fire.
“Honey,” Devesh yelled, trying to get around Aunt Kavya who blocked his way, shaking her head so he would stay put.
Reign glanced over at him, face devoid of any expression.
Aunt Kavya whispered a few words to him in Hindi. He finally gave in with a defeated set of his shoulders, fully realizing that there was no reaching his wife at the moment.
Loving Me for Me Page 21
