Together For-Ever

Chapter Twenty Four

Adrika

After finishing the call with Aadheera, I called Nishitha to fill her in about the trip and asked her to inform Rudra and Isha.

Once I hung up, I curled into bed. But sleep didn't come easily.

Tomorrow meant being around Arjun's friends. The thought alone made my stomach twist. I wondered if I could ask him to ride with me in the same car, and have his friends take another. Maybe that would help me breathe. Maybe then I wouldn't feel like such an outsider.

Eventually, I drifted off — not into restful sleep, but something shallow and restless.

~

The next time I opened my eyes, I heard a voice.

Loud. Firm. Arjun's.

He was shouting from his office. Not at someone, but clearly frustrated. A sharp contrast to the usual calm of the condo. His tone was clipped, biting, like he was holding too much tension and letting it leak through every word.

I sat up with a jolt, glancing at the clock — well past noon. Damn.

Without thinking, I jumped out of bed and padded barefoot across the cool floor. I didn't even glance down until I reached the doorway of his office.

That's when I felt it.

His eyes on me.

Hot. Focused. Unapologetically intense.

Oh no.

That's when I realized — I was still in my thin white T-shirt and shorts. No bra. And with the sunlight pouring in through the windows, I was practically see-through.

We stared at each other.

His laptop was shut now, his shoulders still stiff from whatever battle he'd just fought with his inbox or phone. But the frustration in his eyes had shifted.

It wasn't anger anymore.

"Adrika," he said, voice low and rough, "come here."

My heart skipped.

I walked toward him slowly, deliberately — like I was daring both of us to see what happened next. When I reached him, he didn't wait. He pulled me down into his lap with ease, like I weighed nothing.

One arm wrapped behind my back, the other slipping beneath my thigh, holding me in place.

"You slept well?" he murmured, brushing my hair back from my face.

I nodded, trying to act unaffected. But then his fingers traced from my ear down the curve of my neck, slow and sure.

And all thoughts vanished.

His hand continued lower, brushing over my chest, then tracing down to my waist. Without hesitation, his hand slid under my T-shirt — palm to skin.

Oh god.

His touch sent heat cascading through me. It was electric — charged, wild, like something in me that had been caged too long suddenly surged free.

He leaned in, lips brushing my earlobe first. Then featherlight kisses trailed along my jaw, the side of my face, and finally landed on my lips — gentle, coaxing.

Then, without a word, he stood — lifting me into his arms with practiced strength.

"Arjun—"

"Shh."

He walked us back to the bedroom. My heartbeat roared in my ears. He laid me down gently, and the motion made my T-shirt ride up, baring the curve of my waist.