Page 39 of Tiger's Destiny
“I’m sorry,” I repeated stubbornly, “but I just can’t leave Kishan.”
I took a step back, and Ren leaned over the railing again. A new song began. Quietly Ren quoted Shakespeare’sTwelfth Nightand murmured, “Then, ‘if music be the food of love, play on, give me excess of it; that surfeiting, the appetite may sicken, and so die.’”
Silently, I went back into the house but turned to look at him once more. Standing in the moonlight, Ren really looked the part of Shakespeare’s melancholic Duke Orsino pining for his Lady Olivia. Something wrenched in my heart, and I stifled a sob as I slipped away.
11
pledged
As we waited for Nilima to declare we were ready for our next adventure, Kishan took me on picnics, sightseeing, dancing, and window shopping. He bought every flower in the city and had them delivered to my room in fancy arrangements. He took me night swimming—or night wading, as I was still paranoid of sharks. We talked often of Mr. Kadam. Eventually, it became easier to get past the lump in my throat when I heard his name.
Though I was happy enjoying my time with Kishan and feeling closer to him than I had before, I couldn’t help but notice that Ren was pulling further and further away. Kishan dismissed it and said that Ren needed space. Still, I worried.
One afternoon, Kishan suggested lunch on the beach. There were a couple dozen other people already out on the beach, but Kishan found us a spot away from the sunbathers. He set up a huge beach umbrella, and after slathering me with sunscreen, he set out our picnic lunch.
Kishan bustled about excessively happy. He pressed a flute of sparkling apple juice into my hands, he fed me grapes and crackers smeared with caviar. As I hesitantly took my first bite of the delicacy, I found it tasted like butter with a little pop that burst in my mouth with the faint flavor of the sea. After we’d eaten, he kicked off his shoes and took off his shirt and went for a swim while I read a book.
When Kishan came back and toweled off, he shifted the umbrella so he could lie in the sun but put his head on my lap in the shade. He laughed when I complained about his wet head but I soon got over that and stroked his hair and his warm shoulders absently as I read. He was so still and quiet, I thought he had fallen asleep, so it startled me when Kishan reached for my hand. He pressed it to his bare chest and looked at me tenderly.
“Kells, I feel like my life is starting to make sense. That everything I’ve been through has been for a reason, for a purpose.”
“I think that’s true.”
He sat up and stroked my face. “I believe I was destined for this, to live this long, to experience what I did, so that I could be here, now, in this moment, with you.”
I laughed. “Well, maybe not this exact moment. I think destiny had more in mind than the two of us eating caviar.”
“It’s not about the caviar. It’s about something more important.”
“What do you mean?”
Taking both my hands in his, Kishan continued, “Look, I know that we have another prize to win, and I know that we still have to defeat Lokesh. The timing could, of course, be better . . .”
“The timing for what?”
At that moment, my gaze flitted to the water as two blue eyes broke the surface. Next came a bronze torso, and a handsome man emerged and reached up to smooth back his dripping hair. Water sluiced off his powerful form as he stepped toward the shore. My mouth went dry, and 99 percent of my brain power and attention were riveted on him.
“. . . and you know how I feel about you,” Kishan went on. “You’re the only girl for me. The one I want to spend the rest of my life with. The one I want to wake up with every morning.”
I nodded absently, only half-listening to what he was saying and watching the other girls on the beach take notice of the dark Poseidon walking among them.
“. . . used the ruby we found in the House of Gourds, and also the diamond teardrop Durga gave me. It’s all just a formality anyway. I mean, we already know how we feel about each other.”
“Right . . .” I said woodenly.
The most perfect man on Earth turned his sea-blue eyes on me, and I caught a hidden message in them as he walked toward me. He wantedme. Out of all the beautiful bikini-clad girls, he was heading toward me. Me—with my white skin, golden brown braids, and a floppy hat. Me—the girl cowering from the sun and the heat under my wide beach umbrella, wearing a one-piece and a cover-up.
I swallowed thickly. Time slowed and each long stride he made was imprinted on my brain. I took in everything. The stubbornness of his chin. The set of his sensual mouth. The determination in his brow. I noticed the wideness of his shoulders. The planes of his chest. The thick muscle of his arms.
I remembered how he touched me, how he held me, and how he liked to slide those very nice hands into my hair. I saw every water droplet on his chest and shoulders and, heaven help me, I wanted to kiss away each one.
Kishan interrupted my thoughts. “So what I’m trying to say is—”
“Yes?” I mumbled distractedly. “What are you trying to say?”
Kishan brushed a soft kiss on my bare shoulder where my cover-up had slid off and said tenderly, “What I’m trying to say,Kelsey, is that I want you to be my wife.” He slipped something cool and smooth onto my fourth finger.
I blinked and shifted my focus to Kishan, who was looking at me with love and gentleness. On my left hand, I saw the glint of a diamond ring. Slack-jawed, I glanced up. Ren had frozen and was staring at my hand in shock. Slowly, seconds crawled by and his blue eyes met my brown ones. Trapped in his gaze, I saw a sort of purgatory that blazed behind them.
