Vows of Misfortune

41.

Romir's POV:

"I'm not drunk," she complained. "I can walk on my own."

She was walking in a straight line without swaying. The moment she stretched her arms over her head, they nearly slammed against the doorsill to her room. I pulled her arms down beside her and gently wove my arm around her waist. The curves of her soft body, her breasts pressing against my chest made my jaw tighten.

"I'm sure you're not," I mumbled, trying to keep a straight face.

"I'm really not."

"Be careful going inside."

Instead of taking off her shoes at the door, she had sashayed straight inside. I let go of her so she could sit on the edge of the bed.

She rubbed her hands down her face. "Today was the best night ever. I would literally kill to see that look on Varun's face again."

I bent down on one knee, faintly wincing at the sharp pain of restriction the prosthetic leg gave me.

"Stop moving," I said to her. I pulled off the straps of her heels and put them beside the bed, doing the same with the other.

"Why are you so nice to me now?" she whispered.

I had no answer to that. "You can get changed."

"Fine. Don't respond. I'm going to take a shower." Without warning, she began to take off the straps of her dress from her shoulders.

I turned away. "I'll be outside."

She tugged the bottom of my sweater. I looked down. Her long fingers tightly twisted the fabric.

There was a change in her expression. One I didn't recognise; subtle but firm, as if a decision had been made. "Don't go."

Throat dry, I swallowed. Leave, Romir. Before you do something you regret. I kept my features as solid as I knew how and wrapped my hand around her smaller, petite fingers. I pulled them away from my sweater.

I strode toward the door when there was a pitter-patter of footsteps behind me. I felt her arms wrap around my waist, her head resting against my back.

I inhaled sharply through my nose. I didn't move. This was bad. I ignored the tightness in my chest and reached up to unwrap her arms from me, but she clung tighter.

"Sleep with me, please," came the trembling whisper.

I took a sharp inhalation of breath through my nose. I unwrapped her arms from me, turned, and bent down. "No," I said, stonily. "Go shower."

"I'm not drunk if that's what's stopping you."

"The only thing stopping me is my lack of interest in you."

Those words that left my mouth were an utter lie that even I didn't believe. My entire body wanted her. I was attracted to this woman and I didn't know when or how it even happened.

Seeing her face crumple made me want to take it back. I couldn't. She had asked me to sleep with her out of desperation. She was hurt at seeing that ex of hers again. She was still in love with that man.

Taking advantage of her when she was like this wasn't right.

"You don't have to like me," she whispered, blinking to keep the tears at bay in those gorgeous eyes. The words made my fists clench at my side, shaking. "We don't have to speak about it ever again."

"You're right. Let's not speak about this ever again."

"No, I meant—" She licked her full pink lips drawing my attention to them. At this rate, I was going to go back on my initial decision. "Even if we sleep together, it won't have to mean anything. I don't like you and you don't like me. We can forget it ever happened tomorrow."

I don't like you and you don't like me.

The bubbling of bitter laughter burned in my chest and rose up in my throat. I pushed it down. My hands were still shaking. Something throbbed deep within me.

Something primal.

"Even if we pretend nothing happens," I said, voice low, "if we do this, it'll change everything. Do you understand that?"

"How?"

I brought up a hand to rub at my forehead before pushing that very hand through my hair. The thick silky waves rubbed against the rough palm of my skin and I tugged, letting the pain stabilise my thoughts.

I wasn't being honest. "Entertaining this is wrong. You don't know everything about me."

"I know enough." She clutched the front of my sweater, gazing up at me. "I know, and I don't care. Please."

I reached up to tug her hands off my sweater, needing to get away from her. My hands stilled over hers. I sucked in a breath at the way her warm hands disappeared under my large ones.

The way she trembled at my touch. Deep down, I was twitching, my heart beating in anticipation of having her.

It would be a lie if I didn't admit to myself that I wanted to touch her.

You want this.

My breathing rose. I closed my eyes and took deep, calming breaths. My hands ran along her exposed arms, her skin leaving remnants of my path through goosebumps before my hands crept down along the length of her back to where the zip began.

She shuddered, lower lip quivering.

Kiss her.

Not yet. It took everything within me to control myself. I wasn't that man anymore.

I would be gentle.

I tilted her chin up and back a little, wanting to see those lowered lids looking right at me. I wanted confirmation.

"Is this what you want?" A no would be a no and that would be that. But if it was a yes...

"Yes, 100 percent," she whispered. That was all I needed.

I bent down and brushed my lips against hers before capturing them between my own. It was warm and soft. She opened her mouth for me and I let my tongue slide in, colliding with hers.

I pulled away, making her frown. "You said you wanted to shower," I stated, gently unwrapping her arms from around my neck. "Let's go shower."