FF: Marriage on the Rebound-Entire FF P.111-3 10/4 - Page 82

CHAPTER 10

The suite had around the clock butler and maid service and Prachi found that all their shopping had already been delivered to their rooms and had been unpacked and hung up in the wardrobe by the maids. She had a quick shower and wrapped herself in a freshly laundered bathrobe, then lay down on the bed, closed her eyes and tried to blank her mind. Within a few minutes she was fast asleep.

'Oh, damn you to hell, Milind Mishra,' she muttered as she fought with her hair that did not want to stay up in the neat bun she had pinned it into. It was 7.30pm and Milind hadn't returned back from the office. Did the man never need to relax himself? She wondered crossly. And who was this Su Ling character anyway. Was she just an employee or something more? As if she hadn't been through enough today to make her want to sit down and weep at the stress of it all, they were going out to dinner with people she didn't even know!

The dress she was wearing was a black, strapless, silk cocktail dress, which ended a couple of inches above and knee and tightly moulded her slender figure. Milind had chosen it himself - of course - only this afternoon. He'd forced her to try it on for him, then further discomfited her by allowing his eyes to linger on her much longer than they should have done before he'd said, 'Wear that for me tonight,' in a roughened tone that had set her muscles tensing and spine tingling.

She looked at herself in the mirror again biting pensively on her full bottom lip. Despite the length, she felt that the dress showed too much of her black-stockinged legs. She gave an experimental swing of her hips and watched in the mirror as the dress clung to her backside.

'Very nice,' a deep voice murmured huskily from behind her, and she almost cried out in alarm because she hadn't heard him come into the room. Now, her wary gaze flickered upwards to clash with his in the mirror.

She was suddenly struck breathless by the tough, aggressively handsome face looking back at her in the mirror.

'It's too short,' she complained huskily. 'And too tight.'

'Rubbish,' he dismissed. 'It's perfect.' Then in a dusky voice that set her nerve-ends tingling, 'You're perfect. Or you will be when we've added this.....'

'Here,' he said, opening a small box he had in his hand.

Sitting in the center of a black velvet cushion sat a beautiful big oval ruby nestling in a circle of bright, sparkling diamonds.

'Give me your left hand, Prachi,' Milind requested quietly.

No, she begged silently. Please no.

As things stood between them now, they merely had a bargain, drawn up on practical grounds based on saving both their reputations. But this beautiful ring suggested so much more! It suggested love, romance, a hot, sparkling passion. It made an unmistakable statement of ownership.

'Please Milind, she whispered, 'don't make me wear it.'

'Why not?' he demanded in frowning surprise. 'You're my wife. It is expected that you wear my ring. You wore my brother's ring. Surely, it is only right that you wear mine, since you are now, my wife'

A heavy sigh shivered from her. He was so immovable, so damned intractable!

'Prachi,' he barked insistently.

Her hand lifted reluctantly and he slid the ring on to her engagement finger.

He stepped around her. It was then that she realized that he was already dressed in a black dinner suit and a slender black bow-tie.

'I showered and changed at the office since I keep a spare set of clothes there. Besides I had to pick up the ring,' he replied at her puzzled look.

They stood staring at each other and the air around them sizzled with awareness. Suddenly, he bent his head and placed his mouth on hers in a gentle kiss. She was left feeling troubled and confused by the brief burst of pleasure she experienced.

'Let's go,' he said with a roughened note in his voice taking her arm possessively and guiding her through the door.

The whole evening was just a waking nightmare. A long, exhausting round of warm congratulations and smiling thanks and, worse, the curious looks which made it clear that everyone present knew that Milind has married his brother's bride. Prachi knew right from the moment they all met that she was way out of her depth with these people.

There were four couples, including themselves all of whom had made their homes in Hong Kong. All of them were of Milind's kind, sharp and quick-witted, with the sophisticated conversation flashing from one to the other, leaving her feeling like a bemused spectator.

The men were slick, smooth operators, with an air of power and success about them that was clearly stamped into their female counterparts too. They were beautiful women, expensive women, with undisputable class and style, sleek smiles, and a sharp eye for what was going on around them.

It was no wonder Milind had wanted her to look good. Next to these women she must appear very young and out of place, but she had to acknowledge that they went out of their way to make her feel like one of them, their smiles warm and genuine, like the questions they put to her in an effort to draw her into their circle.

But she felt too awkward and self-conscious and shy to respond with any ease. And it didn't help that she found no consolation in Milind's solid presence, because it just brought home to her that she was completely unsuitable for him.

Yet the way he kept her clamped to his side, with a supportive arm across her back and fingers resting in the curve of her waist, as they stood in a group sipping pre-dinner drinks, made a statement to the contrary.

As did the warm smiles he kept sending her - and what he did when their first drink arrived and everyone raised their glasses to congratulate them on their marriage with a toast. He stood right in front of her, held her shy gaze with a dark intimacy that set her senses skittering, touched his glass to hers, watched while she sipped self-consciously at her champagne - then bent his head and kissed her.

The feel of his mouth, warm and smooth against her lips made her quiver in surprise. It was just an act; she knew that as she struggled not to show how the kiss affected her. Milind was simply acting out his role as a loving bridegroom while she - she was left feeling totally confused as she again recognized the same brief feeling of pleasure she had experienced when he had kissed her in the bedroom.

Jet lag: she blamed her unexpected response to jet lag. It was simply jet lag that was making her legs feel unsteady and her insides curl up with some unfamiliar tension.

But no, she had experienced this odd feeling before, she recalled. On the day when she'd been presented to him as his brother's future wife. It had felt as though she'd received a high-voltage electric shock, a feeling which had sent her shifting closer to the protection of Neev's comforting presence.

Yet Neev had not been the protector she'd believed him to be, she reminded herself. And the flash of angry contempt she had seen in Milind's eyes then had not been aimed at her personally, she now knew. It had been the result of the disastrous situation he must have seen looming up on the horizon because of what his brother was doing.

And Neev had been so triumphant, so - smug in the way he had introduced her to Milind. And it was only now, as she allowed herself to replay that scene knowing what she now knew, that she realized Neev had not been like that because he was proud to present her, but because of some secret battle he'd been having with his brother which had revolved around Ayesha.

'Prachi!'

She glanced up, pain and contempt for Neev showing in her dark eyes. Milind saw it and his fingers flexed against her waist, his eyes flashing murder just before he pulled her angrily against him and his mouth swooped in another brief but punishing kiss that totally silenced their small group of onlookers.

'Forget him,' he muttered as he slid his mouth to the sensitive hollow of her ear. 'Neev is no longer yours to dream about!'

Blushing fiercely, and totally disconcerted by his sudden attack, she gasped. 'But I wasn't....' '

'I think we should feed these two quickly and let them go,' one of their guests murmured teasingly.

Milind managed a laugh, his anger smoothly hidden in a cloak of rueful humour. 'It is, after all, technically our honeymoon,' he drawled.

Everyone laughed with amusement and it was a relief when the waiter came to show them to their table. Prachi felt lost and confused and she battled her way through the dinner. If Milind noticed - as she was sure he must have - he said nothing. But each time she happened to glance at him his eyes were on her, utterly inscrutable, but on her, and she felt even more uncomfortable.

'Come and dance,' Milind ordered.

The light clasp of his hand on her arm as he pulled her to her feet was sheer relief. She was ready to do anything just to get away from the ordeal she was wallowing in.

The music was slow and easy, and Milind drew her into his arms, pulling her close so her chin brushed the lapel of his jacket, his one hand resting lightly on her waist, the other lightly clasping hers close to his heart.

'Now you can relax,' he suggested, making her aware that the tension she was suffering must have been very noticeable.

'I'm sorry,' she said, 'I know I'm not making a very good impression for you with your friends.'

'You're not here to impress my friends,' he responded. 'You're here because it's where I want you to be. And, anyway,' he added softly, 'they are utterly enchanted with you, so stop fishing for compliments.'

'I was not!' she denied, flashing a protesting glance up at him, only to sigh ruefully when she saw his teasing expression. But she still felt compelled to add, 'I still think that they think you've gone a little mad, marrying someone so obviously out of their league as I am.'

'And you think I care what they think?' he asked.

No, she accepted, on another small sigh. This man did not care a jot what anyone thought of him.

'I'm sorry it it's all been too much for you,' he said slowly.

'It hasn't,' she quickly denied, knowing it was a lie even as she said it. 'They all seem very nice people. It's just that I'm so.... tired,' she finished lamely.

'Well, just a few more minutes of this,' he murmured as he drew her even closer to the solid warmth of his body, and I think we can leave without offending anyone.'

It was an assurance that took some of the tension out of her as they continued to sway together like that. It felt strange to be held this close by a man she hardly knew. She was used to dancing with Neev, but Milind was so much bigger than Neev, she added, with a new feeling of breathlessness.

With Neev, she'd used to feel quite equal to him when they had danced like this. But with Milind she felt small and rather delicate - 'female' was the surprising word which flashed into her mind. Neev was no match at all, in fact, for the latent power that Milind exuded.

'Milind,' she thought contentedly, and didn't even know she had sighed his name out loud as she relaxed more heavily against him.

But he heard it. His expression was difficult to define, but the way he gently lifted her hands up and placed them around his neck before he gathered her in even closer was a message in itself - if Prachi had been alert enough to pick up on it.

As it was, she simply lifted her face to smile at him, then found herself drowning in a pair of deep darkened slate eyes which held her utterly transfixed.

It was desire she read there, a desire Milind was doing absolutely nothing to hide from her. It made her lips part on a soft gasp as full awareness shivered through her. Then as if the soft gasp was the answer to some question he'd been asking, Milind lowered his mouth down onto hers.

She stopped moving, his kiss rendering her breathless, while she absorbed with shock how electrifying she found the contact.

His lips began to move gently on her own and she found herself instinctively responding.

In the middle of the dance floor in a restaurant packed full of people, something began to slowly erupt inside her which went quivering through her and her heartbeat started hammering.

It didn't last long, barely a few seconds, but her breathing was fractured by the time he drew away again, and her eyes were glazed by confusion.

'Now you look as a woman should look on her honeymoon,' he murmured. And with that softly spoken sentence, broke the spell completely.

Of course, he was doing this to create the right impression and add a little authenticity to their relationship for his friends, she thought. Milind didn't want her. And she certainly didn't want Milind. Relief swept through her, followed so quickly by a disturbing sense of such acute disappointment that it actually stunned her for the few moments it took her to pull herself together.

'Can we leave now?' she asked a little desperately.

'Of course,' he agreed frowning. 'I would even go as far as to say it is expected of us that we do leave.'

Because he had achieved what he had set out to achieve, she acknowledged suddenly, feeling so heartsore and weary that the tiredness dropped over her like a big black cloud.

CHAPTER 11

Prachi almost succumbed to the cloud by the time they got back to their hotel and Milind had to prop her up in a corner of the lift and hold her there with his hands while they were transported upwards.

The sound of his softly amused laughter was the final straw.

"It isn't funny,' she protested complainingly. 'It's been hell today, I think you did it deliberately.'

He arched an eyebrow in mockery at her, his eyes still laughing.

'People tend to eat late here,' he explained. 'They like to make a night of it. But I only agreed to the dinner if we ate early, otherwise you'd be looking at your second course by now.'

Prachi shuddered. 'Aren't you tired?' she asked him then. After all he had been on the go since early this morning.

'I'm used to it. Besides, the humidity here makes people feel more exhausted than usual,' he answered casually.

Then the lift stopped, and she was having to drag herself upright - with Milind's help again, his arm sliding around her waist to offer support during the walk to their room.

It was sheer bliss to step inside and know that this was it. No more diversions. She could crawl into bed and die.

She didn't even care if they were going to have to share the bed tonight. The way she was feeling right now, Milind could even have his evil way with her - so long as he didn't wake her up while he was doing it.

She felt that done in!

Someone had turned down the bed while they'd been out and the silk nightdress had been artistically arranged on one side of the bed, a pair of black silk pyjamas on the other.

Stubbornly ignoring the pyjamas, she picked up the nightdress and took it to the bathroom. Five minutes later, hair brushed loose, face scrubbed clean of make-up, she crawled into the bed, pulled the sheets over her shoulders and dropped off into a deep sleep.

She drifted awake once during the night. And she awoke frowning, aware of the alien presence of a weight lying across her body. Her eyes fluttered open then just stared, and a tingling sensation shivered through her when she found herself staring directly into Milind's face no more than a foot away from hers.

The room was bathed in a dim light from a small nightlight placed in the room, and she could see that he was asleep, his mouth relaxed, lips slightly parted and his breathing was deep, soft and steady. His arm was lying possessively across her waist.

In the still, quiet glow she could just make out a naked shoulder and the outline of his wide chest, the sheet having been pushed down somewhere between the beginning of his ribcage and his waist.

She could feel his breath on her face, feel the warmth coming from his body and the weight of his arm on her waist. As her eyes traveled further down - her mind took a quick double-take.

No pyjamas, she realized with a sudden widening of her eyes in shocked consternation. He had dared to climb into bed wearing nothing!

Or at least nothing on his top half. But.... no, she told herself. Surely he wouldn't be so insensitive as to have left off his pyjama bottoms too?

Well, one thing was for sure - she wasn't going to check!

But her eyes drifted lower to the part hidden by the covers, blushing and wondering. She had never once thought of Neev in this way all during the short time they were engaged. Yet here she was, on the second day of her marriage to Milind and her mind had started conjuring all kinds of disturbing sense tingling thoughts. Neev had never allowed things to get very far between them... not even kissing. His excuses were full of words like 'love' and 'respect', telling her that what they had was 'too special to rush.'

But now, with hindsight, she had to wonder if it had merely been indifference on his part. If there had been no light of passion to make him want to even kiss her.

A small shaft of pain went through her heart. She realized that Neev's rejection had left her with the legacy of a feeling of her own inadequacy.

'Prachi?'

As always, when thoughts of Neev tormented her mind, Milind's voice, deep and husky, broke through her thoughts, catching her exposed and vulnerable, as she lifted tear-washed eyes up to his face to find him awake and studying her somberly.

'Forget him,' he said gruffly. 'He isn't worth the heartache.'

'He didn't even want me,' she whispered bleakly.

His sigh was heavy, his eyes darkening. Then that arm moved, tightening across her waist and drawing her closer to his warm body. His mouth found hers, gently searching, and she didn't pull away, didn't stiffen in rejection, didn't do anything but let herself sink into the comfort he seemed to be offering.

It went on and on, with pleasure overlaying the sadness and instinctively she had drawn even closer to him.

Milind lifted his head - only enough so he could look deeply into her dark, eyes, and one hand cupped her cheek. 'I want you, Prachi,' he murmured. 'I want you so badly, I am prepared to take anything you want to give me. I can wipe Neev's memories from your mind, Prachi' he said unsteadily breathing hard and shallow. 'The point is, do you want me to?'

Did she? Prachi gazed into those eyes that had gone almost as dark as her own and was overwhelmed by a desire to simply dive into them. He was telling the truth when he said he wanted her; she could feel it in the pounding beat of his heart where she had laid her hand, see it burning in those eyes and the way his fingers were trembling slightly where they rested against her cheek.

Milind wanted her, and her own senses responded by pumping and answering desire through her body.

'Yes,' she heard herself say in a soft, breathless murmur. She wanted him to kiss her again and feel the same rush of pleasure, lose herself in it. 'Yes, I want you too.'

He didn't pause, didn't give her time to have second thoughts about her decision. He kissed her again, claiming her mouth with a hunger that took her breath away, and she did not try to fight him but offered herself in full surrender.

Milind desired her. And for her there was no stronger aphrodisiac than to know she was desirable to someone.

Though not just anyone; she made that fine but important distinction for the sake of her own self-respect.

This was Milind. The man she was married to. The only man she should give herself to, she thought as she gave herself up to Milinds' kisses and the sense-searing passion and pleasure he had begun to arouse in her.

Afterwards, Milind pulled her to him, curved her into the possessive hook of his body and held her.

'Try not to think,' he murmured with a husky, low note in his voice. 'Just lie still and let me hold you.'

But as she cuddled into his arms, she knew that this had been necessary. Necessary to the very substance that was driving her - a need to be wanted and desired. A need to know she had the power to drive a man out of this mind. In a sudden blinding, bright burst of insight, she knew that Neevs' rejection had been his own misfortune, not hers!

With a satisfied smile, she fell asleep in Milind's arms, lost in the shock of her own discovery.

CHAPTER 12

The next time Prachi woke up, it was to sunlight pressing at the closed curtains, casting a golden glow over the whole room. She stretched lazily, and lay there thinking about the events of last night and smiled. Milind had been so passionate, yet gentle at the same time.

She felt her cheeks grow hot, hardly able to believe the person she had become last night. She felt wonderful. Warm and heady and alive with the feelings that he aroused in her.

And Neev? She thought suddenly. What happened to your feelings for Neev within all this new self-awareness?

Gone, she realized with a shock that filled her with a new sense of horror. She could barely manage to conjure up Neevs' face now.

So, what did that make her? she then wondered bleakly. Fickle - or in love?

No.... not fickle, she mused. She had an uncomfortable suspicion that 'love' would win over 'fickle.'

And if she really had to describe the emotion of love, then she would have to now call it - Milind, as an image of him automatically came into her mind and she held her breath as her eyes widened in shock again.

Suddenly, a voice, sounding harsh and angry, coming from a small gap left open in the door to the other room, penetrated her thoughts.

'No, Ali....just do it!' It was Milind, sounding slightly muffled by walls and distance, but it was most definitely his voice, tight with impatience talking to his second in command.

Still half-asleep, she sat up and slid her feet to the floor before she was even aware she had done it and got out of bed.

She grabbed her wrap from across her bed and slid her arms into it as Milind's voice came again, deep and angry.

'I don't care if it causes problems!' he snapped. 'Yes, I know,' he answered to whatever had been said to him. 'But it will just have to stay on the backburner until I get back - I don't know when,' he sighed. 'When I'm ready - When she's ready....'

And Prachi straightened, as she realized he was talking about her.

'Neev?' Milind's hard voice gave a crack of deriding laughter. 'Since when did he give a damn about anyone but himself?'

Oh, damn. Feeling the dull thud as her heart dropped at the mere mention of Neevs' name as she stood there, swaying dizzily.

'Of course he saw it,' he muttered. 'Hell - didn't they all see it?' he growled in a rough tone. 'What do you think it was all about?' He wanted to take revenge on me for Ayesha.....What? Yes, of course I still love her,' he sighed. 'You can't turn love on and off like a bloody tap just because she happens to love someone else, you know...'

Ayesha? Eyes hot and burning, Prachi stared out at nothing and saw the cruel, bitter truth staring back at her.

Milind was in love with Ayesha.

'My mistake was in not realizing that he would sink that low,' Milind's voice continued bitterly, while, as if she had been pulled through a bad dream, Prachi found herself walking over to the bedroom door.

She reached out to grasp the edge of the door pulling it towards her so she could step silently into the next room.

He was standing at the desk wearing only his bathrobe. He had his back towards her and a telephone clamped to his ear.

Angry tension pulsed from every muscle in his body. 'You think I don't already know that?' he muttered. 'But he gave me no time, no space - nothing to work with! Prachi's feelings certainly didn't matter to him. As far as he was concerned they were expendable....'

Expendable, she thought painfully. Was that all she was to Neev - just an expendable pawn in a fight he had been having with his brother over Ayesha?

'Yes, well...' Milind sighed. 'He got what he wanted out of this bloody mess. Which means I can do what the hell I like with the leftovers....'

Leftovers? Her? Prachi couldn't hold back the choked gasp of distress that particular cruel word had dealt her.

He heard it and spun around, eyes flashing sparks of anger her way - until he realized just who he was looking at, then the look changed to one of utter jaw-locking consternation.

Prachi couldn't speak. Her voice felt trapped in her throat, and neither, it seemed, could he say a word.

He dropped the phone on its rest breaking the connection and then he made a gesture with one hand - a short, angry, half-helpless gesture.

'Don't even begin to think you understood what that was all about,' he said gruffly. 'Because you couldn't possibly have done.'

She'd understood enough. More than enough. 'You're in love with Ayesha,' she told him in a broken whisper.

If anything, he looked even more disconcerted. Color shot across his cheekbones, his eyes turned darker with shock. She'd clearly hit accurately on the truth.

And while she stood there, staring at him through a haze of humiliation, the whole thing slotted together like the end of a whodunnit movie.

He hadn't urged Ayesha back to Mumbai to bring Neev to his senses, but because he must have believed it was safe to bring her back for himself, with Neev effectively committed to another woman!

And he hadn't suggested this marriage between the two of them simply out of a sense of family honour and guilt - but because his own pride had been slighted!

Milind was speechless and continued to stand there staring at her, his quick-thinking clever mind seemingly gone perfectly blank.

'My God,'.' Prachi choked. 'What a mess - what a damned mess.'

'You don't know what you're talking about,' he muttered.

'No?' Her dark eyes flashed at him.

She always thought Milind as a man who stood apart from the rest, protected by an impenetrable ring of strength he wore around himself. Now she realized that, far from being protected, he was as vulnerable as the rest of them!

And who to? Ayesha. His younger brother's sweetheart and now wife. A small sweet, gentle woman with light brown hair and hazel eyes. The kind of woman who incited a man's primitive need to love and protect.

The kind of woman, men like Milind and Neev, for all their character differences, preferred.

In fact, except for the size, the woman was the absolute opposite to herself.

Did Ayesha know how Milind felt about her? Had Neev known? From what she'd overheard of that recent conversation, then, yes, the whole world except Prachi seemed to know! Which must hit right at the very heart of Milind Mishra's ego.

It was no wonder he had jumped in with this marriage thing. It was a simple case of damage control - not for her sake, particularly, but for his own damned sake!

So what about last night, she thought starkly. Had she just been a substitute for Ayesha?

My God; she closed her eyes, her body swaying slightly. Everything about the Mishra brothers was a cleverly erected lie. Neev with his warm smiles and open expressions of love. Milind with his you-can-depend-on-me facade.

Lies, all lies

'I want no more part in this,' she whispered.

She turned around and stumbled back into the bedroom.

'No part in what?' Milind growled as he followed her into the bedroom, looking more in control of himself now, by the way he had his hands resting casually in the pockets of his white bathrobe.

'I won't play substitute for yet another Mishra man' she declared.

'No one is expecting you to' he said quietly.

'No?' her chin came up.

His shocked look had gone. But he was wary - very wary - she could see that in the way he was looking at her, as though he wasn't quite sure what was going to come out of this.

'Are you in love with Ayesha?' she demanded outright.

He didn't answer for a moment, the expression in his eyes shaded by some deep thinking of his own he seemed to be doing.

'I don't see what that has to do with this situation,' he replied carefully at last.

'Yes, you do,' she argued. 'Because if you're in love with her then it makes you no better than your brother.'

'Because I married you in his place?'

'Don't make this a bigger farce than it already is, Milind.' She said sarcastically. 'You had no intention of revealing your real reason for marrying me, did you?'

'I didn't see it as relevant,' he replied.

'Well, I do!' she cried.

'Why?'

'Because of Ayesha,' she almost shouted.

It seemed everything revolved around Ayesha. Milind loved Ayesha. Neev loved Ayesha. Neither loved Prachi, but both were prepared to use her for their own purposes...

'Jealous of her, Prachi?' Milind taunted silkily.

'Yes!' she cried. 'Don't you think that its humiliating enough to know that both of you are in love with her, without knowing she was haunting every moment we shared together last night.'

'And Neev wasn't haunting every moment along with her?' he threw right back at her and watched the shock which rocked through Prachi's body, wiping the colour off her face, leaving her totally exposed and painfully vulnerable.

For some reason her reaction infuriated him. He strode forward, his hands cruel as they fixed on her shoulders. 'Well, let's get one thing straight,' he gritted. 'No other man haunts my bed, Prachi. And if you have a modicum of pride, you won't allow another woman to haunt yours!'

'No.....never again!' she agreed.

His eyes narrowed. 'What's that supposed to mean?' he demanded.

'Since it won't be happening again,' she informed him stiffly, 'it renders this discussion redundant!'

'There is nothing redundant about this discussion,' he went on grimly. His darkened eyes threw her a look that was almost primitively possessive. 'We are husband and wife now. We owe it to ourselves to try and make this marriage work. And, if you've any sense you'll try to build on that instead of pining for the unattainable. The point at issue here is that we both tried love once,' he stated brutally. 'And what did it bring us but a load of pain and heartache?'

'And you think trying to make our marriage work without love is a less painful option?' she flashed back.

His mouth stretched into a glimmer of a satisfied smile and pulled her into his arms.

'It seems to me,' he murmured huskily,' to be the perfect option and the right time to start building our lives together, considering our situation. I also think what we shared last night was very special. Can you honestly look into your heart and say that it wasn't the same for you?'

Prachi blushed and looked at him searchingly, and in the end all she could do was bend her head and nod in agreement.

Before she could think to stop him, Milind picked her up with a triumphant growl and carried her back to the bed.

'Milind... ' she managed to gasp out in a last-ditch plea, before his mouth covered hers.

'No,' he muttered. 'You want this as much as I do.'

'But it feels wrong!' she groaned.

'Where is the wrong in you and I helping each other through a bad time in our lives?' he questioned.

Her eyes glazed over with tears of pain - his pain, her pain; the two were beginning to blur into one now.

'Was she there instead of me last night?' she heard herself ask him thickly.

'No.' he said unequivocally. 'I can honestly say that Ayesha never so much as entered my head last night.'

'But ....'

'No,' he said again. 'No more soul-searching.' And he crushed whatever she had been trying to say to him with the urgent pressure of his lips that put the seal on her fate.

CHAPTER 13

Three days later, showered, hair pulled into a simple ponytail, and wearing a plain white sleeveless sundress, Prachi was sitting at the dining table nibbling at the last slice of toast while she waited for Milind to shower and get dressed himself.

Breakfast, Milind called it. Sustenance more like, she thought as she swallowed.

They had hardly moved out of their rooms for the last three days and nights. The man, she had discovered, was virtually insatiable, and she had been a surprise to herself too, she thought.

She stood up restlessly and walked to the huge window that took up a large portion of one wall of the room, and gazed sightlessly out across the glittering waters of the bay, towards the Kowloon skyline.

She hardly recognized herself, she thought. This is what Milind had done to her. She had now fully acknowledged that she was hopelessly in love with Milind and, he had become an essential part to her life. Her thoughts turned to Milind's feelings for her. Did he feel anything for her at all? Surely, he cannot be so passionate and loving and not even care for her, even if it was a little bit.

After she had found out about Ayesha, they had agreed that neither of them would allow thoughts of Neev or Ayesha to come between them for the sake of their marriage. It seemed the only solution if they were to make any success of their life together. She herself, had not thought about Neev since that day, but could the same be said of Milind.

As if on cue, his hands slid around her slender waist and closed across the flat of her stomach. 'What have you seen that's so fascinating out there?' he enquired lazily.

She blinked herself quickly back into focus. 'A sampan - look.' She pointed a finger towards the boat making its slow way through the water. 'For the first time I feel as if I'm near China.'

'It's a junk,' he corrected humorously. 'And Hong Kong belongs to China now, in case you've missed the world news for the last fourteen years while Britain wrangled with them over the takeover.'

'That's right.' She sighed huffily, lifting her mood to match his. 'Make me feel like a thick-headed bimbo. I am only a very poorly paid junior secretary you know' she said teasingly as she turned in his arms to face him. I don't have your - Oh,' she finished on a small gasp.

'What?' He was smiling, puzzled - so different from the man who had out gone from this room a mere fifteen minutes ago that he rendered her breathless.

He had showered, shaved and smelled deliciously of something fresh and tangy. His hair was still damp and combed right back from his face. He was wearing a pair of lightweight linen trousers and a white collarless shirt that was both casual and classy.

'You look....nice.' She murmured shyly.

'So do you,' he returned. 'Nice enough to eat.'

She blushed shyly and he bent down and kissed her. It felt different, this kiss. Warm and slow and tender. More like the kiss they had shared the other night on the dance floor.

He broke the kiss - reluctantly - his mouth returning almost immediately to touch hers again in a strangely poignant gesture.

'You're.... special,' he said gruffly. 'Do you know that?'

So are you, she wanted to say, but didn't have the courage. So instead she reached up and returned the small touch of lips as well, then drew back shyly afterwards.

The rest of the day went like that - soft, easy, almost romantically perfect - as Milind took her out to show her Hong Kong, and seemed quite content to play tourist with her, enjoying her fascination with all the new sights and sounds and smells.

They ended up on the Kowloon side by taking the Star Ferry, which looked so old she was worried it might sink halfway across the bay but in actual fact sped them over the water with an exhilarating efficiency.

They ate an early dinner in a small Chinese restaurant in a backsteet Milind knew about but which looked rather dubious to her, yet it served the best Chinese food she had ever tasted. Afterwards he decided to show her the Temple Street night market.

'Keep close to me,' he warned as they turned a corner into sea of market stalls and people. 'And watch your pockets.'

'I haven't got any,' she informed him laughingly.

They hadn't been back to the hotel all day so she was still wearing the simple white sundress, her only accessory a tiny white leather bag strung from her shoulders, the strap lying at an angle across her body. All that held was a lipstick and a handkerchief, so any thief stealing that would be disappointed.

But she held on tightly to Milind's hand as they plunged into the market.

They wandered down through long rows of stalls hung with top designer ladies' and mens' wear - most of which were illegal copies of the most exclusive brand names. There were camera stalls, electrical stalls - all state of the art goods. Jewellery stalls sold products that, to her untrained eyes looked exquisite. And her eyes sparkled with excitement at the whole mad atmosphere of shapes and sounds and colours.

She paused at a one stall, spying something that caught her eye. 'Milind, have you got some cash you can lend me?' she asked him impulsively. 'Only, I want one of these.'

'What.... a watch?' he quizzed indulgently.

'Mmm,' she nodded. 'I left mine behind at your house in Mumbai, you see,' she explained.

He stared down at her for a moment, his expression a little bit dubious to say the least. 'You are joking, of course?' he murmured eventually. 'You don't seriously want to buy one of these cheap copies?'

'I am not joking!' she declared. 'And I do want one. They're not expensive,' she added quickly when he started shaking his head. 'I just heard someone pay only five Hong Kong dollars for one - that's hardly anything, is it?'

'If you want a watch, Prachi,' he said dryly, then we'll go and find a proper jewelers and I'll buy you one. A real one,' he added, with a glance of derision at the stall stacked with cheap copies.

Her eyes widened at this derision, then snapped with impatience. 'Oh, don't be so stuffy,' she said. 'I'll pay you back when we get back to Mumbai.'

She turned her head to catch the vendor's eye, having no idea how her 'stuffy' quip had caught Milind on the raw. It turned him to stone for the few moments it took him to come to terms with the unhappy fact that, she was right and that he was being stuffy.

By then she was deep into bargaining with the vendor, knocking his price down as she had watched others doing. And with a mocking smile aimed entirely at himself, Milind took a step to one side to enjoy watching his wife play the vendor at his own game.

She enjoyed it too. It showed in the sparkle of her eyes when she eventually turned to him and said "Right! We've struck a deal.'

He had his arms folded across his chest, one ankle resting on the other, and his eyes were alight with irony.

'How much?' Milind said with an amused smile

'Two dollars fifty,' she declared triumphantly.

He pulled a wry face. 'Well done,' he complimented her, and slowly unfolded his arms to dig a hand into his pockets. Then, as if it went against his masculinity to let her close the deal, he turned to the vendor and handed him the money.

The vendor handed Milind something that had him struggling to keep the horror off his face.

It was a watch, all right, he conceded ruefully. A watch with a wide bright pink plastic strap, a black face - and Minnie Mouse hands.

She hadn't even gone for a classy fake - she'd chosen this - a fake toy!

'I don't believe this,' he muttered.

'It's cute,' Prachi said, holding her arm out so he could fasten the watch on her wrist with a fatalistic twist to his mouth.

Extending the arm out in front of her, she made quite a drama out of studying her brand new purchase. 'For the first time since I arrived in Hong Kong, I will actually know what the time is!' she declared in clear satisfaction.

Milind frowned. 'Is that why you wanted it?'

'Mmm,' she confirmed. 'And because I liked it,' she added, her white teeth pressing into her full bottom lip as she lifted gravely innocent eyes to his, because she knew exactly what he was thinking and enjoying teasing him about it.

For a moment he took the bait - but it was only for a moment. 'You provoking little madam,' he accused.

'Mmm,' she said again with a wide grin.

And then it happened - just like that. The playful mood flipped over into something else entirely. In one of the busiest, most crowded places in the world, their eyes locked and they suddenly stood alone, lost in the grip of stunning mutual awareness.

Someone accidentally jostled her from behind. It pushed her forward a step toward Milind. His arm came around her in instinctive protection.

'Lets get out of here.' He said huskily.

Then with his arm around her waist, he guided her towards the market exit, where the limo, which had followed them throughout the day, was already waiting for them to take them back to their hotel.

CHAPTER 14

It was at the end of their second week in Hong Kong and they were at a party hosted by Saran and Shreya. They had met the couple at the business dinner they had attended on their second day in Hong Kong. Saran and Milind had both met at boarding school where they had formed a firm friendship, and Saran was now a partner in several of Milind's business ventures.

Prachi had taken to Shreya straight away, so she had been looking forward to this party being held at the couples' residence on the outskirts of Hong Kong Island. Their house was surrounded by a good-sized garden and that in itself was very unusual, because land was scarce on the island and fetched a hefty premium in the real estate market.

Milind looked dark and sophisticated, dressed in a conventional black dinner suit, white dress shirt and black bow-tie. Prachi was wearing a classical black saree with a hint of silver embroidery. They made a striking couple and there were a number of eyes that were pointed in their direction while they stood next to their hosts.

'Stop worrying,' he scolded levelly beside her. 'I won't let them eat you.'

But they did - or almost did - with their curious looks and hushed whispers.

Though, to be fair, no one was openly rude or questioning. The older guests said teasing things to Milind about his marriage to which he replied with his dry wit. The younger guests - especially the men - ogled Prachi in a way that made her blush and Milind scowl, and making him put an arm around her waist and hold her to him.

All very protective and very possessive of him, she acknowledged.

'See, it was not so bad in the end, was it?' he drawled.

Where were your eyes? She wanted to counter. But 'No,' was what she actually said.

At some point in the party, Milind had been separated from Prachi by one of his business associates and they were standing at the other side of the room in deep conversation. Suddenly, the room became hushed and every single person had their eyes glued to the entrance door.

A man of medium height and around 50 years old, with a grey receding hairline had walked into the room. But it was the woman by his side that held everyone's attention.

She glided in through the door looking absolutely stunning in the kind of dramatically simple black sheath gown that made Prachi aware of her own complete lack of sophistication.

Not by a flicker of her golden brown eyes did she reveal any response to the small silence that fell on her entrance.

'Damn!' Prachi heard Shreya hiss a sharp breath next to her. 'It looks like she is here as Karan's date,' she said under her breath.

'Who is she?' Prachi asked quietly, as she watched the woman scan the room and head straight for Milind.

The woman kissed a surprised Milind on the cheek and exchanged softly spoken words with him that had him scowling as he answered. Then she turned and looked directly at Prachi with narrowed eyes and carried on talking to Milind who was looking angrier by the minute.

'Her name is Mallika Raichand. She and Milind were an item at one point. I was under the impression she was out of town,' Shreya said biting her lip.

Prachi jerked and looked towards Mallika again.

'She's a very classy lady, don't you think? Shreya remarked dryly.

'I feel sorry for her,' Prachi confessed, watching the other woman join a group of people and begin talking lightly as if this was just any old social party.

'Then don't,' was Shreya's rather quick reply. 'For she is a sleeping panther in our midst whose teeth are none the less still sharp even though she is not baring them at present.'

As a clear warning to beware - though of what Prachi wasn't sure - it certainly sent a cold shiver chasing down her spine.

She found that out later when Mallika decided to sink those teeth into Prachi's shaky self-confidence.

Su Ling had just arrived at the party and had walked straight towards Milind. Just the presence of the woman made Prachi's eyes narrow, her ears perk up and her spine straighten.

Milind and Su Ling were deep in conversation when a smooth-as-silk voice drawled lightly beside her, 'Have you worked out yet which one is his current mistress?'

'Mistress?' Prachi struggled to keep her expression from altering, but the sickening squirm that suddenly hit her stomach sent some of the warmth draining from her cheeks.

Mallika saw it happen. 'You didn't know,' she sighed. 'Oh, how tragic for you - and on your honeymoon too. I am so sorry...'

No, you're not, you're enjoying yourself, Prachi silently gritted her teeth, aware she was being baited by a woman who - as Shreya had warned her - was out for her blood.

'He doesn't have a mistress.' She coldly dismissed the suggestion.

'Well, with Milind's reputation - I wouldn't expect anything less from him,' Mallika said deridingly. You could almost say it is expected of him. So, which one do you think?' she prompted. 'The lovely thing standing by the window who keeps giving him coveted glances, or the one near the fireplace who can't take her eyes off him, or the one talking to him, what's her name now? Oh, Yes! Su Ling...she looks besotted with him.'

Without wanting them to, Prachi's eyes flicked from woman to woman as Mallika pointed them out to her.

'I would go with the besotted one if I were you,' Mallika advised. 'For the way she is clinging to your husband smacks of desperation to me...'

'I think you are lying,' Prachi responded, refusing to let the other woman get to her.

'Then you are a fool,' Mallika replied. 'And maybe you deserve all you are about to receive from Milind Mishra. For he may have a good reason to marry you, but I cannot believe that he truly wants you - though he is cold-blooded and ruthless enough to use you for his own ends. There!' she concluded. 'I have said what I needed to say. So now I will leave you to enjoy the rest of your honeymoon. Good luck, Mrs Mishra' she smiled with malice as she turned away. 'I think you may well need it very soon...'

Why had Mallika said what she did? Prachi wondered as she watched her walk smoothly away. To hurt her - or to hurt Milind because he had rejected her?

In the end it didn't matter, because now the seed had been planted, Prachi could feel herself looking at every female face with new suspicious eyes.

Was Su Ling one of his other girlfriends?

She watched as Su Ling rested her hand on Milind's arm and was talking to him earnestly. Milind glanced around them before giving a grim nod of his head. Then turning, they moved off into one of the other rooms.

Even with that quick glance around to check that their withdrawal would not be observed, he didn't even notice me, Prachi noted painfully. Then she saw Mallika's gaze fixed mockingly on her, and humiliation swept over her in a sickening wave.

Prachi thought someone had grabbed a hold of her heart and squeezed it so hard that she almost stopped breathing for a second. She felt a sharp pain lance right through her and she hurt so badly that she didn't know what to do with herself as she stood there feeling utterly unable to pretend it hadn't happened.

She excused herself from her group of party guests, and walked out of the room into another large room where some of the guests were dancing to the soft music being played by a live band. She didn't stop but headed for the open french doors leading to the terrace and silently glided out, away from the noise and music.

She steadied herself and took a deep breath and then noticed that a young man had followed her out. He was holding a couple of glasses of champagne and handed her one of the glasses.

'I noticed you coming out here,' he said smilingly. 'I hope you don't mind'?

'No...of course not,' she replied, trying to keep her voice steady and taking the glass.

'It's beautiful here, isn't it?' he said, trying to make small conversation.

'Yes, Saran and Shreya have a beautiful home.' She replied gulping at the champagne.

'Steady - you've finished the whole glass already. Here, take mine.' He offered.

Prachi grabbed his glass and knocked back his entire glass in one go too.

'Whoaa! You must like champagne a lot,' he said smiling.

'Actually, I don't drink much. But you are right...I'm developing a taste for the stuff.' She said unsteadily.

She was starting to feel light-headed and happy now, and as the intoxicating bubbles entered her bloodstream, Prachi began to let go of her inhibitions. The slow music was gently wafting from the other room and she stood and listened to it for a couple of seconds.

'Would you like to dance?' he asked her suddenly.

'Uhh...sure' she said uncertainly.

The young man moved in front of her and slid one hand around her waist, pulled her closer, and held her other hand that was still holding her empty glass, to his chest. Prachi laughed and didn't push him away but started gently swaying with him to the music.

'You are wasted on Milind,' he whispered against her ear. 'He is too cold and stuffy for a wonderful creature like you.'

'I adore him,' Prachi said glibly, when really at that moment she hated him so badly that she could barely cope with it. 'He's absolute dynamite.'

Not such big a lie, she acknowledged bleakly. She turned her fuzzy head against her shoulder and smiled a stunning smile into her companion's captivated face.

That was how Milind came upon her. He stopped dead in his tracks. 'Enjoying yourselves?' his deep voice harshly intruded.

Prachi and her dancing partner simply froze to stare at him like guilty thieves caught red-handed.

He was standing in a circle of light being thrown from the open french doors that led to the terrace. And even with his face cast in shadows it was obvious that he was furiously angry.

The music stopped and the silence that followed was truly stunning as he began striding forward.

His hard eyes were on Prachi - and specifically fixed on the place where her companion's hand was splayed across her waist.

Milind didn't so much as glance at him, but with a sharp click of his fingers, he had the young man snatching his hand away from her waist then stepping right back as if he was letting go of some stolen hot property.

Coming to an abrupt halt in front of Prachi, Milind reached out to take the champagne glass she hadn't even been aware she was still holding. Then he stood there, impressively daunting, as he held the glass out to the side in a grimly silent command for the young man to take it from him.

The young man bravely took the glass, for the angry vibrations Milind was giving off were frighteningly awesome.

'Now you may return to the party,' he said flatly. And not once - not once had he so much as acknowledged the young man by eye contact!

The young man obeyed his command without a single murmur, disappearing through the french doors, leaving her to face her angry husband alone.

Thanks a bunch, she thought ruefully as she listened to his retreating footsteps fade away.

'Well, that was very sociable of you,' she drawled in an effort to mock her own tingling sense of trepidation at his continuing grim silence.

He didn't even bother to retaliate. All he did do was reach down to snatch her wrist then turned, and began pulling her across the terrace and towards the front entrance of the house.

'What do you think you are doing?' Prachi demanded, trying to tug free of a grip that wouldn't budge.

'You are drunk,' he answered scathingly. 'I have no tolerance with that, so if you value your life you will be silent.'

'I am not drunk!' she hotly denied the charge - though she had a vague feeling he could well be right. 'Where are we going?' she then queried frowningly when they reached the front of the house.

He didn't answer, but his body language did, as he pulled her behind him down the front steps towards their limo that was waiting for them. He was blisteringly, furiously angry.

He opened the door and shoved her into the back of the car, then followed her in.

'Now,' he said menacingly, sitting back in the seat. 'You are going to pull yourself together and make yourself fit to talk to me rationally. We will discuss this once we are back in the hotel,' he told her scathingly.

Two-timer, she thought contemptuously. And flashed the man sitting beside her a lethal glance then turned and glared outside the car window with a mutinous expression on her face as the car moved away.

CHAPTER 15

Milind grabbed Prachi's wrist as soon as she swung out of the limo and proceeded to pull her into the lift as soon as they reached the hotel. There was pin drop silence but the air was filled with static energy, as the lift glided up their floor. Milind strode out of the lift, down the corridor and into their suite still dragging Prachi behind him. He opened their bedroom door and swung Prachi inside the room, still holding her by the wrist.

'Now,' he said, shutting the door, 'I want to know what the hell was going on,' he said grimly.

'Nothing was going on,' she said mutinously. 'I was dancing with one of the guests and we were enjoying ourselves until you came and spoiled it!' she threw back.

'You mean you enjoyed having that boy paw you?'

A sudden vision of Su Ling and her proprietary hand on Milind's arm had her chin coming up in hot defiance. 'What's it to you if I enjoyed it?' she challenged insolently. 'You seem to enjoy other women pawing you.'

His eyes narrowed dangerously. 'Explain that remark.'

Go to hell, she wanted to say, but those narrowed eyes stopped her. 'Let go of me,' she said instead, and tried to pull her wrist away.

He wouldn't let go. 'I said explain,' he repeated.

'What do you think I meant?' she flashed with insolence. 'If you think I am going to sit here through this marriage like the quiet little wife while you go off doing your own thing with Mallika, Su Ling and god knows how many others - then you can think again! I too have a right to enjoy myself too,' she said defiantly.

The atmosphere between them was suddenly electric. He wasn't a fool; he knew exactly what she was saying here. If it were possible his eyes narrowed even more. Her heart began to pound, the muscles in her stomach coiling tensely as she gave a hard yank at her imprisoned wrist and managed at last to break herself free then began edging backwards, attempting to put some distance between them.

But he followed - 'You are not taking a lover, not while I'm alive,' he warned in the kind of deadly voice that put goose bumps on her flesh.

'Why not? You have all these other women - not to mention Ayesha,' she threw at him.

His eyes flashed deadly sparks. 'Leave Ayesha out of this,' he said gritting his teeth.

'You can't dictate to me like that,' Prachi protested. 'I can do whatever I want to do' she said tossing her head.

He moved so fast, she hardly knew what had happened. The first thing she realized was that he had grabbed her by the arms and hauled her up to his face. Her head was pushed back as his mouth came down on hers with deadly force. Prachi didn't know how long it went on for. All she knew was that her mouth had started hurting and she could taste a hint of blood. The blood must have impinged on Milind's mind because the force suddenly ceased and he raised his head. He stared at her with eyes devoid of any emotion until he saw the trickle of blood coming from a small cut in her lip.

There was a pause as he continued to stare blankly at her. She saw his eyes blink and awareness of what he had done penetrated his mind and his face went white with shock. He let her go and shoved his hands through his hair in complete bewilderment.

'I'm sorry,' he said gruffly, after another strained pause. 'There is no excuse for behaving like a .....' he stopped, lost for words, his jaw clenching on a snap of self-contempt. 'I apologize,' he clipped out. Then he walked into the bathroom and shut himself inside.

He had reacted like a guilty man. And a guilty man was usually a man who set out to punish. Was that what Milind had been doing when he had kissed her so brutally. He was punishing her. Punishing her for what? Her behavior at the party or was it something else entirely?

Ayesha! She had mentioned Ayesha! He couldn't even bear to hear her name mentioned.

The words sunk like the icy draft across her skin, and she shivered.

'Go away!' she whispered to the other woman's ghostly presence in her thoughts.

The sound of movement from the bathroom had her quickly strip off her saree and replace it with her silk wrap. Her fingers shook as she belted it around her, teeth gritted behind tightened lips as anger again began to bubble up inside her.

I've kicked Neev out of this marriage, she thought bitterly to herself. Milind can damned well kick Ayesha out!

The bathroom door opened and she walked towards it, with her chin up and eyes flashing bright with blinding, bitter fury. 'Don't ever - do that - to me again!' she spat into his tense pale face, and stepped past him into the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind her.

Her chest was heaving, her fingers clenching and unclenching at her sides.

He was the one who'd insisted that Neev and Ayesha were to stay out of their marriage.

She railed furiously as she stripped off what was left of her clothes, stuffed her hair in a shower cap and stepped beneath the shower.

He was the one who....

'Oh.' A huge sob broke from her; she couldn't seem to stop it. Then another - and another. It was like being on an emotional roller-coaster and she didn't think she could take much more of it.

And suddenly she was doing what she hadn't done even when Neev had jilted her. She was sobbing her heart out beneath the warm hiss of water.

And once again he was there. A hand switching off the shower. A hand closing around her arm, drawing her out of the cubicle and against his chest. Next thing the shower cap came off her head and a bathrobe settled over her with his arms closing around her.

He didn't say a word, as she leant there against him and just let it all come pouring out of her.

She felt limp afterwards, limp and lifeless. And still he didn't say anything in the ensuing silence that followed her emotional storm. He lifted her into his arms and carried her to bed.

She fell asleep wrapped in the bathrobe, wrapped in his arms, gaining a peculiar kind of comfort from the fact that Milind did not remove his own robe so they lay in a snug bundle of soft white toweling.

She woke to see Milind beside her propped up on his elbow with his head resting on his hand watching her with an almost tender look on his face.

'Look - I'm sorry about last night, all right?' he said quietly. 'I didn't mean to upset you. In case you didn't notice it, I also upset myself.'

She now found herself feeling wretched with remorse. "I didn't understand why.... why you were so angry,' she explained a little unsteadily.

'I know.' Something flashed across his eyes - more remorse, she suspected, but couldn't be sure, and he lifted his hand to touch her cut lip with a gentle finger. 'But I wasn't angry with you,' he said, moving the finger to stoke down her cheek. 'I was angry with myself for losing control like that.'

'I thought it was because I reminded you of Ayesha.'

However she'd expected him to react to that honest little confession, it was not how he did react. His eyes closed, his mouth clenched, his big chest moving up and down as he took a deep breath.

'Oh, hell,' he muttered, and looked at her again. 'Prachi... we need to talk about Ayesha...'

'No!' Her fingers jerked up to cover his mouth. 'Please don't,' she whispered, sudden tears shining in her eyes. She didn't want him to talk about his love for Ayesha. She couldn't bear it. 'Can't we forget it ever happened and move on?'

He continued to stare grimly at her for a few moments longer, taking in the ready tears, her quivering lips, and lifted a hand to clasp her fingers that still covered his mouth.

He said huskily, 'You beautiful fool.' And bent his head to kiss her.

'Forget Ayesha,' he murmured gruffly as he drew away again. 'I have.' He was gently stroking her heated cheek with the back of his finger again. It was a nice, soothing and tender gesture.

Prachi felt a new warmth suffuse her as hope began to blossom. Hope for what? She didn't know. She didn't even want to bother searching for the answer.

'Prachi -' he murmured. 'I want you to know that I'm not playing games with you here. I want this marriage to work. I want us to work.'

'Can it work?' She asked hesitatingly.

'You mean because we started from nothing?' he asked. 'Well...' A powerfully muscled shoulder moved in shrug. 'I have told you before, we can build on nothing. In fact, I would go so far as to say, that it's probably a darn sight easier to build on nothing.' He paused. Then, on a small sigh, he concluded, 'I suppose the point I am trying to make is - can you forget my past? Do you want to try?'

'You mean I'm being given a choice here?' she tried mocking the seriousness out of the moment.

It didn't work, though he did allow himself a grimace at the justice of the taunt, because they both knew that up until now, Milind had not really given her any choices about anything that had happened between them.

But, 'Yes,' he replied, and his eyes remained serious - deadly serious.

'Is it what you want?' she asked.

'Yes.' His reply was gruff and sincere.

'Neev and Ayesha -'

'No.' He stated firmly. 'This is between you and me, and what we have discovered we can have if we just try to work at it.'

'Are you a faithful man, Milind Mishra?' she asked him quietly looking straight into his eyes.

'Yes,' he replied.

And she found she believed him. There was something about this conversation, which insisted on honesty. But still she wanted clarification on that point. 'No other women on the side? No little stop-overs in brief ports of call?'

'You are talking about Mallika?'

'Not just Mallika. I am also talking about Su Ling as well as the rest of them.' She grimaced.

'There has never been anything between Su Ling and myself and rumors about my love life have been greatly exaggerated,' he informed her satirically. 'But, no - no other women.' His eyes caught hers again. 'Just you, me and a chance at something special.'

Something special.

'Well?' he prompted when she took too long to answer.

'OK, we'll work on it,' she heard herself surrender. He had given her a life-line and she was desperate to take it.

His eyes flashed, and in the next moment he was pushing her back into the bed and coming to lie across her, his mouth hot and urgent as it covered hers.

'Do we really have to meet these people today?' she murmured huskily as he raised his head to look at her again. 'I could plead a headache and you could tuck me in bed. You are very good at doing that...'

He let out a soft laugh, his hands splaying over her slender hips. 'And to think,' he murmured ruefully. I thought you were such a shy little thing.'

'Disappointed?' she asked throatily.

'No - enchanted,' he replied. 'You are a witch. You've cast a damned spell on me,' he muttered unsteadily and captured her mouth again in another passionate kiss.

'What about your meeting? She managed to recall in the middle of their heated passion as his kisses glided from her mouth down to her throat.

'I'll ring them,' he muttered. 'Later.' He shuddered at the sensual rake of her nails down his satin smooth back. 'Much later,' he added, and moved back up to her mouth with longer, stronger and deeper kisses.

After that there was no need for any more words as they both entered a world in which only they existed.

So they worked at their marriage - both of them. Worked at it through the rest of their two-week stay in Hong Kong and the weeks that followed when they returned to Mumbai.

And it went well - aided and abetted by the fact they kept themselves very much to themselves for most of the time, which meant that no outside influences could put a spanner in the works.

Prachi had firmly locked away, in a mental box, somewhere inside her head, all the reasons why she was still unsettled about their relationship. Locked away the fact that even though Milind had assured her that he would be a faithful husband, he still loved another woman. She didn't realize that the relationship was just begging for something or someone to come along and smash the blinkers from her eyes.

CHAPTER 16

Prachi and Milind returned back to Mumbai after six weeks in Hong Kong. During their absence, a lot of changes had taken place back in Mumbai.

The press and tabloids had moved on to report on another sensational story regarding two famous bollywood actors. Neev had moved out of Mishra Mansion, and Jaya had become engaged to an NRI from Canada and was in a frantic rush to prepare for her wedding.

With Mamaji's permission, Milind had given authority to Ali to sort out his business. By injecting more cash into the business and some clever reorganization and restructuring, the business was on its way to making a healthy profit at the end of the year. With business worries out of the way, Prachi's aunt and uncle had decided to extend their pilgrimage to other holy destinations and were not due back for another two months.

Prachi and Jaya were sitting in the elegant Lotus Cafe inside the JW Marriott hotel in Juhu. This was the first time they had been able to meet after Prachi's return from Hong Kong.

'Well -?' Jaya demanded. 'Are you in love with him or aren't you?'

Dressed in a beautiful light pink saree, Parchi sat watching the busy turnover of lunchtime customers milling around while she decided how best to answer that.

It was odd, she mused idly, just how quickly she had abandoned her old life and adjusted to her new lifestyle. In fact, she would go so far as to say that she didn't even know who Prachi Shah was any more, because Mrs Milind Mishra was an entirely different being altogether.

They had been back in Mumbai two weeks, but it was during their first two weeks in Hong Kong that Parchi Mishra had been created - moulded by clever hands to suit the man she was now married to.

In every sense of the word.

Her clothes, the way she carried herself, the way she looked at life and even the way she perceived herself had all completely altered.

But, perhaps most significantly of all, gone was the strained-faced, empty-eyed, lost-looking creature Jaya had worried about so much the last time they had met, and in her place sat this alluringly beautiful, confident woman.

She seemed to glow with fulfillment. It was sexy and enticing. In short, she looked like she was someone special and important, and that was confirmed by the waiters knowing her instantly and directing them to their table as soon as they had entered the cafe. When Jaya inquired about the staff's deference, Prachi confirmed that she and Milind met here quite often now for lunch since the offices of Mishra Corporation were just around the corner in Bandra.

'Is the answer that difficult?' Jaya mocked dryly when the silence between them went on for too long.

'Yes, actually,' Prachi murmured, bringing her eyes back into focus with a smile so enigmatic that it almost made Jaya gasp. 'It is that difficult.'

Jaya wasn't blind. She could see the new sensual awareness glowing in those luxurious eyes - could feel it too, almost pulsing in the very space Prachi occupied.

Prachi answered simply, 'Milind and I...understand each other.' She decided this said it best. 'We're happy.' In our own little world so long as no one else tries to infiltrate it, she added silently.

'Happy with a lot of things, by the look of you,' Jaya grunted, not comfortable with any of this - not the new Prachi she was being offered here, or the answers Prachi was giving her.

But then she hadn't been comfortable with it from the beginning, she recalled. And that discomfort had included Prachi's association with Neev Mishra, never mind his older, tougher, and far more formidable brother.

'What's the matter, Jaya?' Prachi questioned lightly. 'Don't you think I should be happy? Is that it?'

'How would I know when you won't tell me anything?' Her best friend sighed in exasperation.

I've told you more than I've told anyone else, Prachi thought. 'I refuse to tempt fate by dissecting what we have,' was all she actually said, and then carefully changed the subject. 'Tell me how the wedding plans are going.'

It was a brush-off in anyone's books, and Jaya noted it as such, but was determined to have her final say anyway. 'Well, I think you're heading for a mighty fall if you don't watch out,' she predicted. But, having merely received one of those annoyingly enigmatic smiles back in return, she allowed the conversation to be turned to the subject of her own wedding which was due to take place in a couple of months.

And maybe, Prachi should have listened to that final warning. But as it was she was happy, and when you were happy you didn't go and spoil it all by thinking unhappy thoughts, did you?

So she and Milind continued to enjoy what they seemed to have found in each other, and for the next few weeks everything drifted along beautifully.

Prachi did not return to work for him. It was her own decision, because she felt it wouldn't look good for Milind if his new wife still worked in his typing pool while he lorded it - as she teasingly called it - up there in the uppermost floor.

And she wasn't a fool; she knew the people she used to work with would not feel comfortable having her around them now that she was the chairman's wife.

Funny, really, because she hadn't suffered the same qualms about continuing working there as Neevs' new wife. But then, Neev as not the big boss - only a little boss. He headed the company sales team, which put him in daily contact with the lower minions, which in turn made him more accessible.

Never in a million years could Prachi see Milind strolling down to his own typing pool to blithely settle himself on the corner of her desk for a light chat the way Neev had used to do without anyone else so much as batting an eyelid.

In other words, Milind was a man to be in awe of - not to be comfortable with. So it therefore followed that no one was going to feel comfortable with Prachi working with them anymore, knowing that she would be listening in on all their conversations, hearing their gripes and groans and perhaps reporting them to Milind.

Like a spy in their midst.

And even though Prachi knew she wouldn't dream of telling tales on any of them, she in turn would feel like a spy.

Nor did she fancy having to face the kind of curious speculation that must be running rife around the building about the bizarre events leading up to her marriage. So, in the end, the decision not to go back to work there was easy. And the fact that Milind didn't try to change her mind had to mean that he, too, didn't fancy the idea of having his wife working for him anymore.

But neither was she prepared to sit in the house like some pampered doll, with nothing more to do than fill her days making herself desirable for her husband when he got home every night. So when an opportunity to become a fund raiser for a children's charity came up, she took it up with great enthusiasm. It required her to work part-time for 3-4 days a week, and she found she rather enjoyed it. It gave her an interest and a sense of independence, as well as, a satisfying feeling that she was doing it for a worthy cause.

Everything jogged along perfectly for those few more blissful weeks. And if Jaya's caution did pop into her head once or twice, to try to warn her that this extended honeymoon could not go on forever, she ignored it. Because to face it meant threatening the precarious boat of contentment she was happily sailing in.

CHAPTER 18

Prachi was sitting in Shah House when the doorbell started ringing around eight o'clock that night.

She was expecting it, but still found it a concerted effort to make herself get out of the chair she had been sitting in. But she had been waiting for this.

A showdown with Milind.

Dry-mouthed, her face composed but very pale, she made herself walk to the front door, running her shaky hands down the sides of her saree.

She had left with nothing, leaving all the clothes that Milind had bought her still hanging in the wardrobes back at Mishra Mansion. In fact, she had not been able to bear the thought of walking into the bedroom they'd always shared to go and pack them.

So all she had done was go into the study so she could write him a note and, along with her beautiful engagement ring, she had sealed it in an envelope. Not her wedding ring - she felt her official status as his wife compelled her to continue wearing that.

She had left the envelope on the hall table so he would see it the moment he came home.

The note was short and to the point - by necessity - because she needed to finish this with at least some semblance of pride left intact, and the only way she could do that was by not telling him that she had decided to leave him only because she had discovered that he had betrayed her first.

So, 'I can't go on living a lie like this. I'm sorry,' was all she had written.

And now here he was, as she had expected, come to make her face him with the whys that she had no real answers to if she wanted to conceal the truth.

Her heart quivered and her hands shook as she opened the door.

He was standing there in the same clothes he had been wearing when she saw him with Ayesha. The same iron-grey suit he had crushed the other woman against when he'd bent down to kiss her.

His face wore a grim, tight mask and his eyes were flat as they searched her pale face for a sign that this was all some kind of a very bad joke.

But it wasn't, and after his scrutiny he seemed to accept that it wasn't.

'May I come in?' he requested quietly.

She took a small step aside in silent permission for him to enter.

He did so, moving off towards the living room, leaving her standing near the door trembling and shaken, needing to take a few more moments to pull herself together again before she found the courage to go and join him.

Milind was standing in the middle of the living room, jacket pushed back, clenched hands resting on his hips in a posture that could only be read as aggressive.

'Now you'd better explain to me what this is all about,' he said. 'And it had better be good, Prachi,' he tagged on warningly. 'Because I am tired and I'm jet lagged and I'm in no mood for any of this.'

She could see that. She wasn't a fool. She could see that he was angry - pulsing with it, actually.

'I told you - in my note,' she said.

'Something about living a lie? Is that what you think we've been doing, living one big lie?'

'Yes.' It was that honest, that simple. She didn't even need to expand on it.

There was a new kind of ominous silence, which began throbbing in the laden atmosphere.

'So you leave me, just like that,' Milind pressed into the silence. 'No discussion. Without even the slightest hint that you may feel like this. You just wake up this morning deciding that we have been living a lie and calmly walk out on me?'

His anger and contempt and derision cut into her like a knife, and she responded instinctively. 'What would you have preferred me to do?' she turned to flash back at him. 'Continue pretending until you'd had enough?'

This shocked him, the real bitterness in her tone hitting him on a raw spot that expanded his chest in a sharp intake of air.

But it also made him look at her - really look at her - and he was now seeing the strain in her face, the pallor, the eyes that reflected her pain that reminded him of another time when he had witnessed her hurting as badly as this.

Sure enough, his eyes narrowed shrewdly. 'There's something else going on here,' he decided. 'I've done something, haven't I?' His perception stunned her. 'I've unwittingly done something that has offended you so badly that you just walked out on me!'

'I don't want to talk about it.' She said defiantly.

'There is a thing called sharing in a marriage - the good and the bad things. And another called talking.' Milind stepped forward snaked his arm around her waist to pull her against the solid wall of his body while his other hand came up, cupping her pale cheek. 'As in discussing our problems and trying to resolve them.' He said grimly.

'I've already resolved mine,' she snapped. 'By leaving.'

'Why?'

'Because what we have is not enough for me,' she tried to tug free of his grip.

He refused to let her go. "OK,' he murmured. 'Then tell me what you do want and I'll do my best to give it you!'

And his voice was tense - dark and tense - roughened by a bone-melting urgency that almost had her believing that he must care more than she thought he did.

Then she saw images of him with Ayesha flash through her mind and it all fell apart.

'You can't give me what I want,' she whispered bleakly.

There was silence while he absorbed the full brutal meaning of that, while she stood against him and burned with the agony of her own unrequited love for him.

'My God,' he breathed then as a sudden thought hit him. 'It's Neev, isn't it?'

'What?' Prachi frowned in confusion. 'I don't ...'

'Shut up,' he cut in, and suddenly let go of her, spinning away, a hand going up to rake through his hair before it clamped around his nape and stayed there while he glared down at the floor. His whole body was locked in a rigid pose of tension that held her breathless and silent.

Then he let out a soft, angry huff of laughter. 'I should have guessed straight away,' he muttered, more to himself than to her. 'The bas***d arrives back in Mumbai on Monday and you've left me by Wednesday!'

'But I haven't even seen Neev,' she denied.

It didn't matter, because he didn't believe her. 'Liar,' he said scathingly, unclipping the hand from this nape so he could clench it into a fist which he pushed to his brow. 'Of course you've damned well seen him,' he said grimly.

'What did he do?' he flashed sourly at her. 'Shoot hotfoot round to see you at the first opportunity he had, knowing I was out of the country which therefore made the weasel feel safe enough to bare his soul to you and beg forgiveness?'

Well, that's rich, Prachi thought, coming from the man she had seen with her own eyes begging something from Ayesha. And in an act of sheer defiance she lifted her chin, her mouth flattening into a tight little line in an outright refusal to answer him.

So he made up his own answer. 'The bloody worm,' he gritted. 'How long did it take him to slither his way back into your heart, Prachi?' he taunted jeeringly. 'A couple of minutes? An hour, playing the poor, confused lover?'

'You are beginning to sound jealous, Milind,' she hit back tightly.

It had the most unbelievable effect on him.

His eyes changed, turning to almost jet black and his hand suddenly shot out towards her, curling around the back of her neck and tightening as he yanked her up against him. Then his mouth landed on hers, hot, hard and merciless.

By the time he let her go she was actually sobbing, her tear-filled eyes almost filling her whitened face.

'Get your things out of my house,' he gritted as he spun away from her. 'I don't want to find a single sign that you've ever been there by the time I get home tomorrow night - got that?'

Got it? Oh, She'd got it, all right, Prachi acknowledged with a blistering fury of her own as she watched him stride angrily for the door.

What was OK for him - was unacceptable for her!

'And just for the record,' he added tightly as he reached for the door, 'you can warn Neev from me that if he hurts Ayesha with all this then I'll personally sort him out.'

Ah, thought Prachi sarcastically, with a strange little smile flitting across the fullness of her kiss-swollen lips. So we come to the nitty-gritty of all this aggression. Poor Ayesha. We must not upset Ayesha.

'You utter hypocrite,' she derided.

It stopped him in mid-stride, turned the full blast of his fury back on her as he spun to face her. 'What was that supposed to mean?' he demanded.

'I saw you with Ayesha!' she flung at him accusingly.

'What?' It was his turn to frown in confusion. 'When?'

'Today.' Why, she wondered jealously, have there been other occasions why you have met up with her? 'Coming out of the lifts inside the Marriott Hotel today.' On a flash of shaking contempt she continued, ' So don't you dare stand there taking the high moral ground over Neev and me when you are no better yourself!'

Then instantly she wished she had held her stupid tongue when she saw his expression take on a sudden radical change as all that dark, angry violence was replaced by sharp, shrewd intelligence.

Angrily she turned her back to him. 'You were about to leave, I think,' she prompted into the new stunned silence, in the vague hope that her dismissal would throw him off the scent.

No chance.

'That's it, isn't it?' he breathed, putting all that sharp intelligence he was so renowned for into words. 'That's what all of this is really all about ' not you and Neev, but me and Ayesha.

Ayesha! God - she physically shuddered at the damned blasted name. 'Will you just get out of here?'

'Not until I get the truth out of you!' He was suddenly standing right behind her, making her nerves jangle.

He took a hold of her, turned her and drew her into the tight confines of his arms and held her there while she tried desperately to struggle free.

'Let go of me!' she choked out wretchedly.

'No,' he grunted, tightening his grip. 'I want the truth!' he insisted. 'Have you seen anything of Neev since you married me?'

She didn't have the strength to lie, not any more; she'd had enough of all the lying! 'I did tell you I hadn't seen him!' she snapped out in derision of the quick way he had jumped to all the wrong conclusions.

'But you saw me with Ayesha today,' he persisted. 'And on that one sighting you decided to leave me without even bothering to demand an explanation! Is that it?'

"I did warn you, Milind, that I would not live with Ayesha's ghost hanging over me.'

'And you think I could live any easier with Neevs' ghost hanging over me?'

'You have no reason to see his ghost!' she flashed at him bitterly. 'Since I haven't so much as mentioned him - never mind been secretly meeting him!'

'It was no secret meeting.' He denied, referring to his meeting with Ayesha earlier on.

Prachi just shrugged within his grasp. 'It doesn't matter. You met her, I saw you, and now I can't live with you any more. It really is as simple as that.' She tried to get away from him.

'The hell it is,' he muttered. 'Get you coat,' he added arrogantly turning his back on her. 'We're going home.'

'No!' Prachi protested in horror. 'I'm not coming back to you Milind!'

She would not live under Ayesha's shadow anymore!

'You're coming,' he insisted.

'But why?' she cried. 'When you know you don't really want me there?'

'You don't know what I want,' he derided. 'Well, it's time - damned well past time - you found out what it is I do want,' he added grimly. 'So you've got ten minutes to close this house up. Then we go home - if I have to tie you up and gag you to get you there,' he said threateningly.

And she believed he would do it, too. There was something about the hard resolve written in his tight expression that warned her he would. She could see an image of herself being carried kicking and screaming from the house by him, with the neighbors standing around gaping with their mouths open. Her aunt and uncle would never be able to hold their heads up in their society after that and suddenly her shoulders hunched with the inevitability of it all.

'Ten minutes,' he repeated when she continued to stand there, trying to work out what he had in store for her when he did eventually get her home.

Prachi hunched her shoulders in defeat and left the room to do as he had ordered, because she knew Milind was determined to take her back to the Mansion whether she agreed to it, or not.

'I'm ready,' she said stiffly, coming to stand at the living room doorway a few minutes later, just in time to catch him pocketing his mobile phone.

The action made her frown and wonder just who he had been talking to. But it was clear from his closed expression that he was not going to enlighten her as he sent a swift glance around the room, then switched off the overhead light.