Chapter 13: chapter 13

Chapter ThirteenKaram took a deep drag of his cigarette and exhaled, his gaze on the twilight encased picture-perfect scene in front of him. There wasn’t anything as beautiful or as fucked up as this, he thought, his gaze on the empty tables and chairs and stray debris which was all that was left of that evening’s dramatic high tea.“Did you enjoy that show?” he asked his best friend, looking up at the darkening sky. “Were you rubbing your hands together and cackling with glee?” She came to stand beside him, hands resting on the metal railing, eyes on the sky as well. “What are you looking for?” he asked her. “Lightning to come down and fry you for making snide remarks to the dead,” Shikha answered. Amusement slid through him. “If it does, you’ll fry with me,” he pointed out. “You’re standing way too close to the Sinner, Princess.” She didn’t respond. She didn’t even bother to look at him, her exquisite profile all he could see in the dusk light slowly enveloping them. “Why are you here? Any particular reason you decided to slum it?” he drawled, grinding out his cigarette butt with his shoe before lighting another. Now, she turned, tossing that perfectly styled hair over one shoulder. Her cool, aloof gaze held his own sardonic one. “Vikram was more Aakash’s son than brother. He doesn’t need you lot turning up and pouring salt into wounds that still haven’t healed.”Karam exhaled, a stream of smoke right into her face. Shikha coughed, her eyes streaming as she batted at the cigarette smoke ineffectively. She took a step back, her eyes dripping disdain. “God, you’re even worse than he said.”“The worst,” Karam agreed, ignoring the twist of pain in his gut. A strange rumble of thunder in the distance told him what he’d already known. His friend was laughing his guts out at them. Or abusing the shit out of him.“We’re leaving in an hour,” he told the Ice Princess as she turned to storm off. “This warning was unnecessary.”“Good riddance,” she retorted, her eyes snapping at him. Karam stepped closer, unwilling to let her see what her disgust made him truly feel. “You forgot the bad rubbish part,” he murmured. She stood her ground, drawing her thin shoulders back and squaring off against him. “I figured something that obvious didn’t need to be said.” Karam tipped ash casually on the antique, flamed wooden flooring beneath their feet. She hissed, her eyes shooting from the ash back to his face. “Somethings should always be said.” He kept his gaze on hers, the swift flare of arousal in her beautiful toffee-coloured eyes not going unnoticed.  Karam was used to it. What women saw when they looked at him. What women wanted when they saw him. What they wanted from him. It was all old noise now. But this woman…This woman made him want to listen. “God knows what Vikram saw in you to call you a friend,” she spat. “Did you know him?” he asked her. She shook her head. “Aakash and I met a few months ago. I didn’t get to meet Vikram.” “Then how do you know what Vikram wanted or didn’t want in a friend?” The thunder rumbled again. Thunder on a cloudless night. Karam wanted to flash his middle finger at the sky. “Aakash told me-“ “And Aakash’s words are pearls of truth,” Karam mocked, finishing his cigarette and flicking it on to the lawn. Shikha followed its flight with her wide eyes. It landed soundlessly on the grass. He counted down to five before she growled and walked down the stairs to stamp on and retrieve the cigarette stub. She walked back and faced off with him again. “You’re a dick,” she said, calmly. Karam inclined his head in agreement. “A big one,” he said, helpfully. “Coarse and vulgar and…” She floundered to a stop, her chest heaving with outrage.“And?” Karam stepped closer. This time she stepped back.Smart girl. He smiled at her. She took another few steps back. “You should go back to your boyfriend,” he told her. “Let him protect you from the riff raff.” “Fiancé,” she whispered, stumbling to a stop when her back met the wall. “Congratulations,” he whispered back. “He’s a lucky man.” He was towering over her now, his hands braced on the wall on either side of her head, caging her in. She looked up at him, her fragrance of lilies and innocence floating up to mess with his head. Her pristine white salwar kameez was wrinkled and stained from where she leaned against the wall. From where he held her captive. Disgusted with himself and with his idiotic display of intimidation, he pushed back to move away from her. Only to have a slender hand tangle in his t-shirt and haul him forward. Before he could blink, her lips touched his in a sweet, tentative gesture that had sparks flaring in his blood. He tasted her innocence, her sweetness, her ridiculous inexperience…And his control exploded. He kissed her back, soft, nibbling sips of heaven. Her mouth parted on a gasp and he dove in, slipping his tongue in and exploring her. She moaned against him, the sound breaking through the madness engulfing him. He tore himself away from her and stepped back, cursing. He plowed his hands through his hair and tugged hard, hoping the pain would bring sense with it. Behind him, Shikha didn’t move. She seemed to have turned to stone. “You should go,” he rasped. “Before someone comes out and finds you here.” She still didn’t move. The woman had no sense of self preservation. “Leave,” he snarled at her, hoping it would snap her out of her shock. It didn’t. She just looked at him, big, bruised eyes and trembling fingers at her lips.Dammit. Karam exhaled hard and dragged his inner bastard out. “Now I know why you came slumming. Clearly Richie Rich isn’t doing a good job of satisfying you in bed. Under other circumstances, Princess, I would be happy to service you. But I’m leaving in half an hour and even I, good though I am, can’t get repressed, wound up corkscrew like women to come that fast.”His head swung to the side with the force of her slap. It felt like her fingers were permanently imprinted on his face.“There you go,” he told her, forcing his trademark sneer to his lips. “Run along now. Moneybags is waiting for you.” He stayed there on the deck a while longer, cheek stinging, heart aching and conscience crumbling. Thunder rumbled again.“Yeah,” he said to the sky. “Fuck you too.”Â