by M. V. Kasi
“It is love,” she whispered with conviction. “I saw those pictures you have of me and my chain and rubber band.”
There was a dark look on his face indicating he was losing control on his anger. But she still didn’t back away. “Admit you love me,” she said, pushing him further.
The next moment, his lips crashed on top of hers while his hands gripped her hips. He picked her up and walked a few steps before throwing her on top of the bed.
She let out a gasp as her back landed in the middle of the bed. Her heart thumped hard as he watched her while he undressed. Soon, he was naked, hard and angry. She bit her lip as nervousness filled her along with arousal. She had missed him the last ten days. Even though she expected their reunion to be passionate, she didn’t think he would ever be angry.
“I’m going to fuck you. I’m going to prove once and for all that you were right in thinking there is no love. It’s only fucking.”
She knew he wanted her to order him to stop. He wanted to scare her.
Naked and angrily aroused, he stalked towards her like a predator. Instinctively, she scooted back on the bed, trying to escape him. But with a growl, he grabbed her ankle and dragged her to the edge of the bed. His hands pushed her nightdress up before ripping off her underwear.
She was completely naked from the waist down, exposed to his angry yet hungry gaze. He held the nightdress and pushed it further up, but not removing it completely. He wrapped it around her head and hands in such a way that her hands were trapped above her head.
She felt panicked for a few moments, and her breath splintered when his hands gripped the back of her knees and bent them towards her, opening her up and preparing her for his entry.
“Does this feel like love,” he challenged.
The dark look in his eyes and the animalistic feel of his arousal scared her as much as it aroused her.
With her heart pounding, she looked him in the eye. “Yes, this is love,” she whispered.
His eyes flared dangerously, and soon the thick head of his arousal brushed her folds before entering her in a single stroke. Her back arched, and she gasped out at the force of the invasion. He felt too big. She was wet and aroused, but he was angry and determined. He stilled for a moment, and then he leaned towards her and bit her nipple before sucking on it hard.
She cried out in pleasure and pain while her core quivered around him. He raised his head and watched her while he began to take her with harsh strokes that made her cry out in pleasure. She tried to free her hands, to touch him, to soothe him, but she was trapped. He drove into her ruthlessly and relentlessly as though he wanted to drive away the love between them.
Her eyes fell closed at the dark, intense sensations that spread through her like shock waves. The intensity of pleasure was nothing like she had experienced before.
“Open your eyes,” he ordered in a growl. “See me for what I am.”
She opened her eyes with a quivering breath and saw the harsh look on his face. He looked exactly like the person everyone thought he was. He looked like the devil—a ruthless, dominant criminal leader who demanded submission and power.
“You look like the devil,” she panted. “But you love me.”
His eyes flared, and her words made him snap more. He continued to take her harshly, until all she could do was feel. The pleasure intensified with each harsh thrust. The gasping cries that tore out of her mouth turned into a scream when she shattered. She clenched hard as pleasure burst and radiated to all of her body. She heard his harsh exhale and groan, and felt his release deep inside her as he threw his head back and roared out in pleasure.
She tried to catch her breath and keep her eyes open, even though it was hard. “This is love,” she whispered. “I love you.”
***
Shiv carefully pulled away from Naina.
He had just taken her like an animal in angry and pain. He was more than hurt when the woman he loved didn’t trust him. He wanted to hurt her in return by proving their lovemaking was nothing more than fucking.
But he seemed to have failed.
He pulled away the nightdress that was trapping her hands and threw it to the floor. Immediately, her arms curled around his shoulders. “Don’t leave me,” she whispered.
He watched her beautiful face and knew he lost the fight to remain angry with her. Holding her gently in his arms, he pulled her until she lay on the pillows and held her close to his chest.
“I won’t leave,” he promised.
He watched as her eyes fell close and her breaths immediately evened out as she slipped into a deep sleep. He wished he could do the same. But even though his anger had cooled and the pain in his heart had soothed, he was far from relaxed.
He was operating under high stress since his London trip. There was still a threat to Naina from a mad man. Vicktor had escaped from London. After searching for nearly ten days, there was still no information about his whereabouts.
He knew he had to tell Naina the truth.
CHAPTER 48
Naina woke up to an empty space next to her. She sat up in a panic, thinking Shiv had left despite promising not to.
When she saw him standing next to the curtains, she relaxed. He was watching the view outside where the sun was yet to rise. Something about his profile struck her hard. He looked somber, far removed from her devil with an easy wicked smile.
Had she done permanent damage to their relationship by not trusting him?
Not wanting to think too much, she stepped down and went to him. She wanted to hold him and be held by him in return.
He stiffened slightly before relaxing when she wrapped her arms around him and rested her cheek against his back. “Why did you wake up so early,” he asked. “You haven’t slept well for nearly two weeks.”
She hugged him, feeling finally at peace. “I couldn’t sleep those two weeks because I missed you.”
“I missed you too.” He drew her hand up and kissed her palm. “We need to talk.”
The tone of his voice was ominous, and it made her tense.
“Come back to bed, you are freezing,” he said, seeing the goosebumps on her skin.
She went along with him. He got into bed and drew her closer until the heat of his skin warmed her.
“I’m sorry,” she said once again. “I should have trusted you.”
“Maybe you were right in not trusting me.”
Her heart thudded in strange fear. “What do you mean?”
He watched her closely. “I’m a criminal,” he said. “The biggest illegal arms and weapons dealer in the country.”
Guilt filled her because she had deliberately pushed the fact of him being a criminal away from her mind. She had been living in a denial while falling in love with the devil despite his background.
“But, I am doing all of this for a reason.”
She was stunned. “What do you mean for a reason?” she asked.
He continued to watch her closely. “Just like the illegal drugs network was exposed and brought down last year with a plan, my goal is to bring down the network of illegal arms and weapons.”
She was taken aback. “It was planned?” She had seen how big of a bust the drug bust was.
“Yes. Your father escaped arrest, only because I wanted him to draw out a man I am hunting.”
“Who?”
“A man who was responsible for my sister’s death.”
“Your sister, Tara?”
He looked surprised.
“I asked Sitaram about your family and he told me a little about your parents and sister.”
He nodded. “Yes. Tara was my older sister. When my parents were killed in an accident by a rival, Tara was with them. She was taken.”
Her stomach churned.
“Did you find her?” she asked. She had a bad feeling she wouldn’t like the answer.
His jaw tightened. “Yes, I found her. It took me two years to trace her. She was kept hostage and used as a sex slave by a brutal Ru
ssian man.”
Oh God.
The look in his eyes broke her heart. There was helpless rage and grief in his eyes. “But even though I rescued her, she was already gone way before I found her. Her body was alive since she was breathing, but that was it. Her mind, her spirit. They were gone. For the next two years, she begged me to let her die. She tried to kill herself, and one day, she succeeded.”
Her heart clenched, listening to the helplessness in his tone.
“The bastard who held her, broke her mind was a powerful criminal. I hunted him and ruined him before shooting him dead. If only I had waited to see him die…”
Chills ran through her. “He didn’t die?”
“No. Vicktor is still alive. Somehow, the bastard survived a dozen bullet wounds. I’ve been hunting him again for the last three years. He’s been getting bolder lately, taunting me with clues but managing to escape at the last minute. And now…”
Dark fear enveloped her at his pause. “Now what?”
“Now, he knows about you. Two days before I forced you to marry me, I received a message. It was a picture of a woman whose was murdered gruesomely. And the woman had your face. He was letting me know he knows about my weakness.”
Fear enveloped her again, but it was mostly the fear of losing Shiv to a dangerous criminal. But now, knowing that the criminal was using her to get to Shiv, she was angry as well as scared.
“Why didn’t you tell this to me when you married me or during the last three months?”
“Because I didn’t want you to live in constant fear,” he replied. “I wanted you to carry on with your life as normally as possible.”
Her life had barely ever been normal, especially since she married him. But she understood him now. He hadn’t been controlling when he locked her in the penthouse initially or made her remain next to him when they went out to parties. He had been worried about her safety.
She leaned towards him and kissed him softly on his lips. “I’m sorry I misunderstood you.”
A small smile hovered around his lips. “Don’t make me your hero yet. I had every intention of coming for you and carrying you away once I killed Vicktor.”
She smiled. She wanted to continue life normally despite knowing there was a huge threat. She didn’t want to discount his fears, but at the same time, she didn’t want to live life in a bubble.
CHAPTER 49
Things went back to normal. Or as normal as possible being married to a powerful criminal who was on the right side of the law and wanted to protect her from a deranged man.
Shiv was still overprotective, but she didn’t fight him on that anymore. They went to the club and he took her to a few parties, but he remained next to her all the time.
He even joined her during visits to her mother. But her mother was always nervous and self-conscious around him, so he only joined her for a few visits.
“You should move your mother in with us,” Shiv suggested one day. “Ask her current caretaker if she can live with your mother and work for us. I’ll double her salary and give her what she wants. I know it’s going to be a tight fit in the penthouse, and your mother will need time to get adjusted to me and the new place. But we’ll manage until we get something bigger in the city outskirts with a big garden area.”
Naina was stunned by his generous offer. Her eyes prickled because it was like her dream was coming true. She jumped on him, almost knocking him back on the bed and covered him in kisses.
“Thank you, thank you and thank you!”
He groaned and laughed huskily, stopping her from kissing him more. “Sweetheart, thank me later. Or you’ll be late for meeting your mother.”
She laughed. Then giving him one last noisy kiss on his lips, she went to see her mother.
***
“Hi, Naina. You look quite happy today.”
Naina smiled. “Good morning, Miss Kathy. Yes, I’m quite happy. Can we talk for a few moments? I’d like to discuss something important.”
“Sure. I just need to check on a new patient. Why don’t you meet your mother, and I’ll join you there?”
“Yeah. Sure.”
“By the way Sarita is quite happy too. She has a—” Miss Kathy broke off when someone came to call her. “All right. See you in a few minutes, Naina.”
Smiling happily and excitedly, Naina went to meet her mother. Her mind spun with thoughts of how she would ask her mother to move in with her. Shiv had suggested they hire Miss Kathy. It was a great idea because it wouldn’t be that big of a shock or adjustment for her mother to move. Naina only hoped Miss Kathy would agree since she didn’t have a family of her own.
With a happy sigh, she walked to the garden area where her mother usually sat in the mornings. Her mother was in the garden. What surprised Naina was that her mother was laughing and looked extremely happy. She was talking to a man who appeared somewhat familiar from the back. Naina wondered if he was new at the facility.
“Naina!” her mother greeted excitedly.
Naina smiled back, but when the man turned, Naina’s smile froze. It was her father.
***
“Look, Naina. Your father is here to visit me.”
Naina’s heart thudded in anger, but she tried not to show any on her face.
“It’s been a long time,” her father said with a glint in his eye. “How have you been?”
“I’m fine.” No thanks to you. “What are you doing here?”
At her curt question, her mother’s smile dimmed. Naina hated that her father was using her mother to play some sick game.
“Naina, don’t be rude to your papa. Even though he is a busy man, he has come all the way to see me.”
Naina gritted her teeth to remain quiet. She didn’t want to upset her mother.
Her father had a victorious smile. “Your mother is right. You need to respect your father. Especially because you will be seeing me whenever you come to meet my wife.”
Her heart gave a sick thud. “What do you mean?”
Her father smiled. “I have asked Sarita to move in with me, and Sarita has agreed.”
Naina was stunned. “What? That’s impossible. She’s no longer your wife. You married again, and you have a different wife. You can’t—”
“Naina, please,” her mother said in distress. “Please don’t fight with your father. H-he told me his young wife left him, and he realizes his mistake. He wants us to get back together.”
Naina’s heart broke for her mother even as fury consumed her towards the disgusting man who was playing with her mother’s heart for some selfish reason.
“I’m taking Sarita home with me right now. Go and pack your clothes, Sarita.”
Naina felt angry and helpless as her mother gave him a shy smile and hurried to do as he told.
She wanted to shout and rage at her father, but she couldn’t. She knew that even if she asked for Shiv’s help to threaten her father to do Shiv’s bidding, it would be next to impossible to convince her mother to leave her father to come and live with them in the penthouse.
As soon as her mother was out of hearing distance, Naina swung towards her father. “What do you want? I know you are playing with Mamma’s emotions because you want me to do something for you.”
There was an angry, mean smile on her father’s face. “How smart of you to figure that out, my dear daughter. Yes, I want something. I want you to accompany me somewhere… to meet someone.”
A sudden chill passed through her. Without hesitating, she made a move to bring her phone out and call Shiv. But her father was faster. He knocked the phone out of her hands, and it fell at a distance. She desperately tried to reach it, but she felt a heavy blow at the back of her head followed by a cloth placed on her nose and mouth.
She struggled and tried to get away, but the blow and the sickly-sweet smell of the cloth made her dizzy. She desperately tried to fight off the blackness from taking over.
Soon, the world turned dark.
CHAPTER 5 0
“What happened?”
“Shiv…” There was heavy tension in Vasu’s voice. “Naina said she’d be back in two hours. It’s been two hours already, and she’s not answering her phone. I’m going inside to check on her.”
Dread filled him instantly. “Check on her and call me right away.”
He ended the call, hoping it was nothing and that Naina simply couldn’t hear the phone ringing. But he knew deep inside something was wrong. His gut twisted with dread.
He immediately called Tejas on the phone. “Track Naina,” he ordered.
Three months ago, when he bought clothes for Naina, he had placed tracking devices in every item of clothing. He was glad he was paranoid, and he was even gladder that Naina wasn’t the kind to shop and hadn’t bought any new clothes since then.
His phone rang again.
“Did you find her?” he asked Vasu.
“No.”
“How the fuck can she disappear! Didn’t our guards cover all damn exits?”
There was a one second pause, and Shiv immediately knew one of the guards was involved. “Who!” he roared.
“Suresh and Vinay,” Vasu answered grimly. “They are missing as well. And Shiv… Naina’s mother just told me that the Home Minister had come for a visit. He wanted to take Naina’s mother back home. She is waiting for them.”
The dread turned into a full-blown fear and panic. “Tell her Naina and he will be back later. Continue searching. Look at the security footage and find the car in which the Home Minister had come in.”
Ending the call, he called Tejas. “Where is that sick fuck taking my wife!” he asked.
There was a short, grim reply. “To the port.”
