“They kept us there for a long time. Hours in the living room, while they talked amongst themselves. I didn’t know what they were saying. They offered me an orange soda.” She still couldn’t stand the smell or taste of orange soda. “They got into an argument and one of them pulled a gun. He pointed it at us. I was so terrified. My dad rushed him, and they tussled, and the gun went off.” She licked her dry lips. Until the day she died, she’d remember the sight of the blood soaking the man’s white suit as he fell to the ground. “The guy got shot, and my dad hustled me out while the others were panicking. We went to the storage unit and waited there.”
His warm hand stroked up and down her back, rubbing her thin rough towel against her skin. She welcomed the touch. “Waited for what?”
“The police, or his friends, I don’t know. Some reprisal. But there was nothing on the police scanner about it. I have no idea if that man survived or if I watched my dad kill someone.” As much as she liked how Naveen’s arms felt around her, she was far too restless. She scooted off him and stood, tucking her towel in closer. Perhaps she should feel shy about being around him in a towel, but he’d seen all of her already. What did it matter?
Mira went to the bathroom to get a glass of water. She came back, chugging it. Not that anything would rid her mouth of the bad taste, but she could try.
Naveen sat in the same position, his hands folded neatly over his lap. His thighs were bigger than they used to be. The man hadn’t skipped leg day in the years since they’d been together.
Someone had rejected him? How?
You rejected him.
She pushed that aside. She was different.
“I can’t imagine how much shock you were in. I could tell you were shaken when you shot our kidnapper. That must have triggered some bad memories for you.”
“Especially because I was aiming at his feet.” She took a sip of her lukewarm water. “I should probably tell you, I may know in theory how to use a gun, but I’m a terrible shot.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Noted.”
“But yes, I was in shock. It was a bloodless game to me, until that night. After it, I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t eat. It bothered me that it had happened, and it bothered me even more that my dad didn’t seem to care that it had happened. The next week he came to me all excited because he had some new scheme.” She tightened her grip around the glass. “I told him I didn’t want to do it anymore. He was so mad at me. I graduated the next week, and I left.”
“And you never came back.”
“No. And he never apologized. He never tried to bridge that distance.” The grief rose, its edge as sharp as a serrated blade. No wonder she’d felt nothing when he’d died. Her grief was like a heavy coat she’d never shed, always on her. “He didn’t care. Or if he did care, if he did love me, like Sunil and Rhea claim, he didn’t show it, and that fucking sucks.” She drained the glass, and with one smooth move, threw it against the plain beige wall. It shattered, and fell to the stained carpet.
She stared at it in surprise, like someone else had thrown it. Her hands shook. Her body, too.
Another glass appeared in front of her. “Break this, too.”
“What?”
Naveen pushed it at her. “Break it.”
She took the glass from him, then threw it, as well. Each shard on the ground was like the shard of one of her mental bottles, her emotions leaking out of her. Her breath came fast, and her hands fisted at her side, but Naveen held her hands, loosening them. “It’s okay to feel mad.” He pressed his lips to her cheeks, and that was when she realized she was crying. He kissed each tear away. “He was wrong.”
“I enjoyed it though,” she tried to explain. “I thought it was fun. The poker games where I fleeced his friends, cheating casinos.”
“There’s nothing wrong with loving the thrill of adventure, but there is something wrong with endangering someone who is under your protection, and that’s what he did. It’s okay to be visibly furious over that.” His gaze was so understanding and kind, and she fell into it. “He may have been a great friend to Sunil, and a good brother to Rhea. But he was a shitty father to you. You can grieve the father he wasn’t, and miss the parts of him you loved, and hate how he took advantage of you. All of those feelings are valid, Mira.”
She shook her head, not because she didn’t believe him, but because the thought of anyone actually seeing her emotions was terrifying.
She shook her hands free of his grip. He started to step back, but she grabbed his head, rose up on her tiptoes, and kissed him.
It was a clumsy kiss, but it gentled almost immediately. His tongue came out to flirt with hers, and that was when need and longing ran through her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss.
He responded for a hot, wet second, then pulled away. “Wait,” he murmured.
“Why?” She made her way over to his ear and worried the lobe between her teeth. When he didn’t respond, she licked him. “Naveen?”
“Huh?”
Mira had to smile. “Why wait?”
“Oh. Right.” He placed his hands on her shoulders and pressed her away. His snug gray boxer briefs outlined the curve of his erection. She missed his leather pants, but these were nice, too. “You’re vulnerable.”
“I am?” She leaned closer and pressed a kiss on his nipple.
He shuddered. “Yes. So we should wait?”
He said it like a question, so she took it as one. “No, I don’t think there’s any need to wait,” she said. “I’d like you to fuck me now.”
He blinked at her polite request. “Oh, uh.”
“Can you do that?” She trailed her fingers up his bare arm, over the surprisingly large curve of his biceps. “Can you fuck me, Naveen?”
“Yeah. We can do that.” He tugged at her towel, easily loosening the knot. It slipped down her body. She’d stayed naked after her shower out of exhaustion, but now she was extremely glad she had, if only to give him easier access.
“I have missed these,” he murmured, and lifted her heavy breasts. With the tip of his nail, he teased one nipple. How did he remember she preferred light touches to rough ones? Had he tucked that information away in his massive brain?
That’s not the only thing that’s massive . . .
Heh.
She slid away and ran her hands down his long torso and perfect chest, until she got to the waistband of his new underwear. She tucked her fingers under it, and touched the velvety soft head of his penis. He groaned. “If you touch me, I’m going to go off.”
“That’s fine with me.” She sank to her knees and pushed the fabric down at the same time, and he stepped out of it. His erection was thick and weighty, and she took a second to admire it and trace the vein that traveled down its length. His hand fisted it and she lowered her head to taste what he offered.
His groan came from his very toes when she sucked him in. She got more comfortable between his legs and rested her hands on his hips, letting her thumbs fall into the dips that framed his groin. His fingers tunneled through her damp hair, guiding her where he wanted her to go.
Mira didn’t think she was great at this particular skill, but he’d never seemed to care about her experience level. Judging from the sounds he made, at least that hadn’t changed.