Page 54 of Born in Ruin

“Hold on.”

To what? It was the last coherent thought she had as Ishaan pushed into her, the thick, hard length of him filling her in ways she’d never have imagined. Her arms instinctively went around him as she held him close, his body melding with hers as he pounded into her, his legendary control disappearing like mist in the sunshine.

Mayukhi’s legs wrapped around his hips as he thrust into her, propelling her further up the bed until her head was about to hit the headboard. His hand came up to cover her head, making sure he took the impact of it if she did. At the small, thoughtful gesture in the middle of the most erotic experience of her life, her heart slipped its leash and tumbled all the way into love with this infuriating, irritating, intensely lovable man.

Mayukhi closed her eyes and surrendered to the moment, allowing her body to cradle his in the most intimate way possible even as her heart embraced him silently. This time when she came, he went over the cliff with her. A harsh groan ripped from his throat as he buried his face in her neck, his hips thrusting one last time, hard and deep, before he collapsed in a boneless heap on top of her. She held him tight, her noodle like arms still gripping him with enough strength to keep him right where she wanted him.

“Am I crushing you?” he asked, finally, sounding utterly spent yet happy.

“Yes.”

He went to move but she tightened her arms again.

“Yukhi, I –“

“No.”

The one word was enough for him to lift his head and smile that lazy, arrogant smirk of his. She let go immediately. There was no way in hell she was letting him know what this had meant to her. It would be one more weapon she’d be handing him to use against her if he wanted to.

“I need to clean up,” she mumbled, shoving at his chest. He didn’t move. His hand went to gently smooth her tangled hair off her face.

“Stay here,” he said quietly. “I’ll be right back.”

Ishaan disappeared into the bathroom and she heard sounds of him disposing the condom and cleaning up. He appeared a moment later with a mug of warm water and a hand towel.

“I can-“ she started to protest but he cut her off with a simple shake of his head. She lay back in bed and allowed him to care for her, the gentle tenderness making her eyes sting. Once he was done, he retreated to the bathroom.

Mayukhi sat up in the bed, the minute he disappeared from sight and started hunting for her clothes. Ishaan found her in the living room struggling to hook her bra. Without a word, he walked up and brushed her fingers aside, hooking it for her. She slipped into her tank, averting her eyes from his.

His fingers came to pinch her chin and tilt her face up, so she couldn’t avoid eye contact with him. “Stay?” he asked, the quiet question making her heart hurt.

She shook her head, blinking back tears. “I can’t. I have to get home. I have work tomorrow and my parents will be worried,” she babbled, looking around to see what else she needed tocollect. She spotted her phone on the console table and grabbed it. She had a shit ton of unread messages and three missed calls. She was about to shove the phone into her pocket when the message on top caught her eye. It was from Ashish.

Bring lover boy to the party tomorrow at Naveen’s place. We’re looking forward to initiate him into the group.

Wordlessly, she held the phone out to Ishaan, screen up. His face went blank as he read the message.

“That sounds fishy,” he murmured.

“It’s too soon,” Mayukhi agreed. “What do we do?”

Ishaan’s eyes sharpened. She could almost see that big brain of his working overtime. “We go. The only way we find out what they’re up to is to go.”

“Game time,” Mayukhi said softly, looking at the message that seemed to be sneering at her.

“Game time,” Ishaan repeated. “And I couldn’t have asked for a better partner.”

TWENTY-NINE

Ishaan

Ishaan rang the doorbell and waited, stress building into a migraine at the base of his head. He squeezed his neck hard and wished to hell the door would open so he could get this over with.

The door stayed closed.

Cursing under his breath, he stuck his thumb on the doorbell and leaned into it. Virat yanked the door open and glared at him. Water dripped off his friend’s angry face and body, the towel he clutched around his waist threatening to unravel. Ishaan’s hand itched to give it a hard yank but he wasn’t sure Virat was in the mood for his pranks.

“What are you doing?” Virat demanded. “You have the code. Why aren’t you using it?” He didn’t wait for an answer, turning around and storming off into the interior of his flat leaving Ishaan to follow.

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