AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Slowly, she moved her eyes to his face. “I’m not your pet that you can order me around. I’m here as you demanded. You don’t get to dictate what I do.”
He unbuckled his seatbelt and leaned forward, hovering over her. She pushed back into her seat, moving her head to the side, refusing to meet his gaze again.
Her soft scent wafted over him. Lavender and vanilla. She still smelled of fucking lavender and vanilla. It was the scent from his dreams or nightmares, depending on what mood and thoughts he slept with.
He captured her jaw and tipped her head up to face him.
“Don’t fucking touch me,” she said, her voice thick.
Her hand fell on top of his to push him away, and she froze. A spark of electricity shot between them. She sucked in a harsh breath, dropping her hand immediately. Fuck! It had been twelve years, and still, her touch did something to him.
She shifted her jaw away from him, and he let her go but continued to hover over her. She’d felt something when he touched her, and he was going to use everything in his arsenal for these next twelve days to get her to communicate with him.
“Here’s the deal,baby—” he began.
“—I’m not your baby.” She glared at him.
He moved his head closer to hers. Now her lips were mere inches away from his. A quick rush of something flared under his skin. Although he recognized it for what it was—pure, unadulterated desire—it surprised him with its sudden and shocking intensity.
Bloody fucking hell! More than a decade had passed, yet his desire for this one woman hadn’t seemed to have waned, not even the tiniest bit. He’d been numb for too long, and now, suddenly, he felt too much. His feelings for her were so much more than he’d anticipated or expected. They were more…intense. More…everything.
He gathered his thoughts and focused on her pretty face, her down-turned lips, and the anger sparking in her gaze.
“Here’s the deal,baby,” he began again. “If you don’t want me touching you, then you will look at me when I talk to you and answer me when I ask you a fucking question.”
Her eyes dropped, and just when he thought she would acquiesce to him, she slapped his cheek. Hard.
His head twisted to the side, more from the shock that filtered through his pores than the impact of the slap. Fuck! He had not expected her to do that.
“The thing is, Mr. Luthra, like I said earlier, I’m not your fucking pet. Touch me again and see what happens.”
Her defiance warmed his frozen heart. She had so much spunk. He loved it. He welcomed her challenge. He shifted a strand of her hair to the side of her face and caressed her cheek. Her hand flew to his face again, just as he’d expected, but this time he caught it in his.
“Avantika, we’re here together for the next twelve days. Don’t force me to become the villain you already think I am.” He dropped her hand. She immediately put it in her lap. “Iwillrespect your wishes and not touch you, but youwillalso respect mine and talk to me. That’s all I want from you. To talk and for you to look at me when we talk.”
She stared at him for a beat, as if unable to believe his words, before she nodded stiffly. Why did he get the feeling that she’d turned into a spitfire? And why was he so intrigued by that?
He returned to his seat and stared at her. The hostess brought forth a tray that held a flute of pink champagne and a glass of martini. She offered the tray to Avantika first.
Avantika lifted the martini glass and took a long sip from it. The hostess looked between him and her and then back at him.
“Get me another martini, Julia,” Dev instructed the hostess.
He faced Avantika. “I thought you’d appreciate the pink champagne. Most women do.”
“I’m not most women.”
He stared at her again. “You’ve changed, you know…”
“How very insightful of you.”
Her sarcasm wasn’t lost on him. But he ignored it to say, “I meant you’re more confident now than you were earlier.”
“Earlier?” she scoffed. “I’m not that same girl you knew. I’vechanged.Youmade sure of that.”
Circumstances had shaped her into this bold, brave woman, and he wondered whether the sweet innocence she once had was completely destroyed by the past. He hoped not.
The air hostess offered the cocktail glass of martini to him. He cradled it in his hands, watching her.
