GULMOHAR & GUNPOWDER

A five-day wedding.
Two families bound by tradition.
Two women untouched by violence-
And two men born to it.

Arya Kaur, 24, India's rising legal star, arrives at a luxury resort to play bridesmaid at her cousin's wedding-not knowing her own engagement is a blood-stained contract inked in silence. Her fiancé? Advait Ray. Cold. Brilliant. Beautiful. The kind of man who holds boardrooms hostage with a blink-yet watches her like a sinner at prayer.

Nysa Arora, 23, a diplomat raised in silk and steel, has spent her life untouched by desire-except one. Vihaan Ray. Obsessive. Cruel. Untouchable. The most dangerous man in the room-and the only one who's been quietly pulling strings around her for years.

It's threats whispered into necks, hands on waists that don't belong to them, eyes that never blink while watching you sleep.

And when gulmohars bloom red under the weight of secrets,
even fire can't tell who started the burn-
the girl,
or the man obsessed with her.
---

Her moans were muffled into his shoulder, teeth sunk into skin.

Advait thrust harder.

"One night," he groaned,
"Let me have one night before you go back to pretending I don't exist."

The headboard slammed.
Once.
Twice.
Again.

"Look at me when I break you."

Her body arched. His name escaped her lips like sin.

Outside, Vihaan paused-smirking.

Because while one Ray was buried inside Arya,
another was about to ruin her best friend.
---

He had her caged against her bedroom wall-hand inside her blouse, breath hot against her ear.

"Say no, Nysa," he growled.
"I f*cking dare you."

She didn't.
Her thighs parted when his knee slid between them, silk slipping like it was too shy to stay.

He dragged her jaw toward him.
"Mine."

And when he kissed her-it wasn't sweet. It was filthy. It was punishment.

"You should've locked the door harder, sweetheart."

Her silence cracked open into a moan.
---