Page 6 of Forged By Fate

Viren and Sufi found a nice spot for us, unencumbered by trees, and we settled down to wait for the event to begin. The place started filling up when the DJ began to play, and I held Aisha’s hand firmly to make sure we weren’t separated in the crowd. There was a drone show before the fireworks. Aisha and I gasped in awe at the beautiful display while Tahira glared at us from Viren’s other side.

At one point, Aisha’s view was blocked by a tall couple who squeezed in front of us, so Sufi picked her up and sat her on his shoulders. She was too big for that now, and I was worried his spine would telescope in a few minutes. But I knew Sufi would do anything for Aisha.

“Enjoy, princess,” he said with a laugh.

She kissed the top of his head and settled down to watch the fireworks from her vantage point. They had just started when someone jostled me from behind, and I bumped into the couple in front of me. I turned around to glare at the person who had jostled me, but he gave me an unrepentant wink as he continued shoving his friends around in jest. They were little more than teenagers, and I realised they were already half drunk and weren’t going to stop their fun.

I craned my neck to see if I could find another spot for all of us, but the place was packed. A few enterprising people had even climbed up trees to enjoy an undisturbed view. With a sigh, I resigned myself to an evening of being jostled and tried to focus on the gorgeous display in the sky above me.

Before I realised what was happening, Viren pulled me to stand in front of him and wrapped his big arms around me firmly. I froze in place, wondering what was happening.

“Relax and enjoy the fireworks,” he whispered in my ear. “You’ll be safe now.”

The puff of his breath against the shell of my ear sent a shiver down my spine. I knew he felt it, too, because his arms tightened around me reflexively. But he said nothing. And neither did I.

I knew this was just his way of keeping me safe in the crowd. It meant nothing. But it felt like a big fucking deal!

The man who had taken great pains to avoid touching me for the past two and a half years had his arms around me, and it felt like heaven. I was sure he could feel my heart racing against his forearm, and he could feel the rapid rise and fall of my breathing against his chest, but there was nothing I could do about it.

I tried to hold myself upright, but the music, the atmosphere, the vibes and the glorious display of fireworks in the sky combined with the fact that I was in Viren’s arms melted my resistance away, and slowly, almost against my will, I relaxed against the hard, warm wall of his chest.

I felt Viren’s deep sigh feathering the curls at the back of my neck as he tightened his arms around me even more. Thankfully, I was wearing a light coat over my dress. If I had to feel his touch on my bare skin, I was sure I’d disgrace myself by melting into a puddle at his feet.

I half turned my face to sneak a quick peek at him and found him staring down at me hungrily. There was that big, bad wolf expression again. As if he couldn’t wait to eat me up.

“Thank you,” I whispered, and his gaze dropped to my lips.

I licked them nervously, and I could have sworn his eyes darkened. His throat worked as he swallowed hard, and my eyelids began to droop as I slowly tilted my chin up. He nuzzled the side of my face before he bent his head.

But before his lips could touch mine, we heard a familiar grating whine.

“Viiiireeeen, this place is soooo crowded. When can we leave?” asked Tahira, shattering the moment.

My fingers flexed reflexively and it was only when Viren’s fingers caught mine that I realised I was digging them into his forearms. I let go immediately and turned to face the front, my face flushing with embarrassment. What the hell was I thinking?

Viren was my fake husband and nothing more! I had no business kissing him. And that too in front of thousands of people on top of a hill in London. I tried to pull away from him, but his arms tightened around me to hold me in place, and he grasped my fingers in his.

And I stood like that for the rest of the show, in Viren’s arms, with his fingers entwined around mine, as we both pretended it meant nothing. Even though, to me, it meanteverything!

CHAPTER 4

VIREN

Fuck my life!

What was I thinking?

To be honest, the sight of that dress had rendered me incapable of critical thinking. I had a lovely, lonely evening planned, and I had blown it all because of that bloody dress.

Sunaina was an adult. She had the right to wear whatever she liked. But the thought of other men looking at her in that dress and seeing what I saw…the sheer perfection of her curves that could make a grown man weep…the smooth bare skin that simply begged to be stroked, kissed and licked…made me want to punch a hole in the wall. For her own safety, I wanted to wrap her in layers of cloth and keep her home. Unfortunately for me, we lived in the twenty-first century, and Sunaiana was my fake wife. I had no right to tell her what to wear or where to go. It wasn’t even my job to protect her. But for some strange reason that I refused to analyse, I made it my job.

And what was the thanks I got for it? My lovely wife glared at me all the way to Alexandra Palace and jumped out of the car before it even came to a complete halt. I should have allowed her to stomp all the way to the top of the hill in those teetering heels that made her legs look even sexier, but I couldn’t help following her like a puppy. Luckily for her, I was right on hand to catch her when she tripped. Again, instead of thanking me, she shrugged my hands off coldly and ignored me all the way to the top.

Between Sunaina’s chilly treatment and Tahira clinging to me no matter how much I tried to push her away, I was done with this blasted evening already. But those teenagers behind us began horsing around and jostled her, and I couldn’t help myself. I wrapped my arms around her to keep her safe, and my world blew apart.

Sunaina fit into my arms as if she was made just for me. When she relaxed into my embrace, my arms tightened around her reflexively, and I prayed she couldn’t feel my hardness against her tightly curved ass. I could do this, I told myself. I could hold my wife in a purely platonic way and not lose my head. But then, she turned her head and looked at me. I gazed into her big, brown eyes, and the rest of the world went silent. The sound of the crowd cheering, the fireworks, the loud music all disappeared, and all I could see, hear and feel was Sunaina.

“Thank you,” she said softly, and my gaze zeroed in on her plump, red lips.

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