Chaahat

Chapter 9: Bodyguard

"You don't have to."

A sudden voice from behind Xavier grabs his attention as he tucks in his daughter. He turns to find Riya leaning against the door frame. Raising an eyebrow at her, he stalls closer to her.

"What don't I have to?" His hush voice making it sound deeper. His loose grey shirt fit snug against his chest, not leaving much to the imagination.

"You don't have to follow me around, bhai can get someone else."

Her words irritate him, "you're brother trusts me enough to be your bodyguard. If he wanted someone else, he would have gotten someone else."

She huffs, stepping closer.

"But I don't want you to be my bodyguard." Her breathe hitches when he steps closer, the only source of light being from the lamp on the side table in his room.

His breath mingles with the air in her proximity, he sets a hand above her on the door frame. His presence consumes her, and she feels helpless about it. His lips fall down to her ear, gently brushing them as he whispers, "sometimes you need to compromise."

His voice runs down her spine in the form of a shiver. She gulps, not understanding what's happening. Gathering her fuzzy thought that seem to get lost in the dark, she huffs. "I'm sorry but, compromise isn't something I know how to do."

Her words come out clear, yet her body is shaking with anticipation. A smirk makes its way on Xavier's face as he feels her move closer into him, her eyes gently shut and face tilts up. And before she can register, she feels her feet leave her floor, her stomach hits the hard muscles of Xavier's shoulder as he hoists her up.

A squeal leaves her lips as she clings onto him, in utter shock of his actions. She hits his shoulder, trying to get his to put her down. "What are you doing? Put me down or I'll scream!!"

Her words cause another laugh to erupt.

"Keep your mouth shut. No one here is hurting you."

She wriggles and struggles to get out his grip. She hits his back and kicks her legs to try and get down, but his arms secure her in place with an assertive grasp. Her frustration increases when she notices he's only using one arm.

A few minutes later, she finds herself in the garden. Xavier lets go of her and she lands on the couch of the patio.

She glares up at the six foot man as he towers over her.

"See how easy that was? For me to grab you, bring you here."

She huffs at his words, scrunching her face. She pulls her leg in before pushing it towards him as a kick. Her foot hits his abdomen in hope for some sort of affect, it all she gets is another laugh.

"I was distracted. You were so fucking close. You cheat!"

The smirk that forms on lips as Riya speaks, irritate her more. All she wants to do is go back to her room. The way he looks down at her just drills in the idea further of how much he's enjoying her misery.

He sits next to her, enjoying her frustration. "Look, you have some psycho after you. Do you really want to sit here and complain about having some kind of protection?"

Her eyes wonder up his frame. He's tall, broad shoulders, well defined muscles. His aura screams power and it all seems so effortless. As if just his presence is enough to command the attention of everyone around him.

Her eyes twinkle at the sight of him whenever she sees him. Nodding her head, she gets up, ready to leave when his hand grabs hers. Her eyes widen when a sudden pull makes her stumble back onto the couch. She turned to glare at the man responsible having her stumble back.
"What?" Her voice is chillingly cold as she stared at the man she just couldn't stand anymore.
"Look, we may not get along, but can we try to be civil with each other?"

She glared back at him, not wanting to accept that he's right. Is he's going to be her bodyguard, they were going to be together almost all the time. And it would be a complete horror if they were fighting all the time. "So what? You want this to be a little bonding session for us?"
She raises her brow at him as she waits for an answer, it in return only gets an eye roll.

"Not very civil, Miss. Singhania." His tone mocking her, as if imitating her tone.
"Civil doesn't seem to work with you, Mr. Alejandro." His name rolls off her tongue like butter, the way she pronounces each syllable seems to carry a magnet charm causing a thrilling chill down his spine.

He can't stop the chill travelling down his body. Clearing his throat, he forces his eyes away from her lips.
"I saw you, on your date."

Riya's brows furrow, her thoughts run wild as she tries to think of why he's bringing it up. She gets flashbacks of how they couldn't look away from one another when she spotted him outside the restaurant.
"So?"

Xavier's eyes look over her face as if he's trying to work out her thoughts. The fire returning in the pit of his stomach as he remembers the sight he saw.
"He was on his knees." His voice comes out different from what he had intended. He wanted to sound unaffected,  it his quiet whisper came out firm, with a cutting sharp edge.

His gaze adds to the intensity of his words. The dark night, filled with stars twinkling watches the two. It watches how close they are, how just a few inches closer will have them mould together into one.
Riya gulps at his voice, looking up at him with her mouth open. "I like my men in their knees."

Her words come out as a whisper, just as firm as his. She could sense the underlying jealousy but she didn't know why.
She gasps when his hand finds the curve of her waist, holding her in place. His warm hand soothing her cold skin.
"I bet you do."

With those words, she feels herself being pulled flush against him. "I bet you like them on their knees."
She can see his eyes unfocus, yet still zone in on her. It's all so sudden, one second they're trying to be civil and the next she finds his hands in her waist holding her in place. Her uneven heart racing against his chest as she tries her best to create some distance.

His mind thinks back to her date, him on his knees, her smiling down at him. His grip tightens, fueled by an undercurrent of jealousy. The sky seems to shrink, trapping them in their close knit proximity and the atmosphere grew tense. In that embrace, there was an unspoken claim, a possessiveness that spoke of unidentified emotions. Yet, beneath the surface, as he thinks about the possibility of losing her attention to another's gaze, he burns an emotion he doesn't like.

"Xa-Xavier?"

Just as she says his name, she sees something snap in his eyes. He looks up at her face and his hands leave her waist in a split second. He moves away, standing up.
"Send me your schedule for tomorrow, I need to know."
And with those words he walks away, leaving behind a frustrated and visibly angry Riya.