IPKKND: The Bet - 2 ***IMPORTANT - Page 129 - Page 25

Chapter 8: Impressive Instant

For a minute she just stood there, with drops of water seeping down her face, travelling down her neck and disappearing under the towel. Her eyes were wide and her hands were frozen midair, in fact she wasn't even blinking.

He closed the door behind him softly and took a step forward. That seemed to have taken her out of her trance because she stepped back and opened her mouth to scream.

But he was too quick for her.

He strode forward, taking quick steps and pushing her against the shower door while clamping a hand over her mouth. Her eyes were wide and alert as she tried to break free out of his grasp. The look on her face was alike the one she had given him when they had first met, yet it was different at the same time. Then, she had been scared. Fear had been evident in her eyes. Now, she was scared and…embarrassed?

Fire rose to her cheeks, and it was then that he realized the intimate position they were in. Her body was pressed flush against his. She was breathing hard, and he could feel every rise and fall of her chest. She looked down at his hand, then back up at him. Her eyes had taken a fierce determination and two seconds later, he knew why.

She bit him.

She bit his hand.

He let out a small cry and pulled his hand back, glaring at her and then looking down at the small bite mark that had now formed on his hand.

She pushed him back, creating distance between them as she glared up at him with repugnance and anger. "How dare you?!" She pushed him again, this time hard enough for him to come back to his senses. He looked around as if in a daze, his gaze again landing on hers after a spilt second.

She pushed him again while taking a small step forward, and he watched, as the towel that was loosely draped around her creamy skin, fell around her feet the next second. His eyes travelled down her form before he could help it and the next thing he knew, he felt a sharp, stinging pain on his cheek.

His hand went up to touch his burning cheek as he looked at her with shock. She bent down quickly and covered herself. He could feel the heat radiating from her body and it was all he could do not to tear the towel off of her piece by piece and kiss her then and there.

He clenched his fists and berated himself. He'd never had such strong, such lustful urges before for anyone and the fact that this woman in front of him was starting to make him feel things without so much as uttering a word was scaring the sh*t out of him.

"Next time, it won't be your cheek. I'll go straight for the family jewels, or I guess, lack thereof in your case." She snarled fiercely before walking around him and out the door, not once looking back.

He stood there for a few minutes, jaw clenched as he glared at the shower door in front of him. How dare she slap me?! He thought bitterly, wanting to run after her and teach her a lesson. But as much as he hated to admit it, he had actually kind of…liked it, which was crazy, because who the hell liked being slapped?

Her last words were ringing in his ears and making him want to barge into her room and show her just how precious his family jewels actually were. But he controlled the urge, because there was another thing that had caught his attention.

He hadn't failed to notice it. When her towel had dropped, he hadn't failed to notice the wide scar across her ribs. It was there, clear as day. It would have been impossible to miss it. It almost looked like…almost as if she had been…stabbed.

****

She scurried out of her temporary bedroom while stuffing some papers into her bag, only to run smack into something hard.

Or rather, someone hard.

The papers went flying on the floor everywhere and she snapped her head up with a glare.

Aryan looked at her sheepishly while bending down to pick up some of the papers. "Sorry."

She gave him a small smile while muttering a barely coherent "it's okay." She could feel her cheeks heating up though she had no idea why. Why did all the Raizada boys have to stir up such strange sensations inside of her?

Her mind instantly wandered to last night as that thought entered her mind, making her blush deepen even more if that was possible.

He had seen her naked.

She shook her head while picking up last of the papers and made her way downstairs with Aryan. It was best if she didn't think about it. It would be best if she acted like it never happened.

Yeah. That's what she'd do. She'd act like it never happened, and everything would go back to the way it was. They would continue to hate each other.

"Where's Reihana?" She asked curiously while setting her bag down near the stairs and joining everyone at the table for breakfast. She could feel his eyes on her and made an effort to sit as far away from him as possible.

"She went to college early because she said she had some sort of rehearsal." Anjali said with a shrug.

Khushi nodded with a frown, wondering why Reihana had never told her about any rehearsals. Keeping her eyes on her bowl, she poured cereal for herself. No matter how hard she tried to stray away, her mind would always go back to last night. A shudder went down her form as her eyes shot up to meet his on their own consensus.

She watched, chest heaving as he grabbed a jug of water and poured it in his glass, keeping his eyes trained on hers. His eyes narrowed into slits and she glared back at him with equal revulsion.

Nani's voice had her gaze breaking away from his. "Arnav, drop Khushi off at her college while you're on your way to work."

Khushi's eyes widened and she snapped her head in Arnav's direction. "No!"

"I…I mean…," she spluttered over her words, increasingly aware of the seven pairs of eyes on her, "I can take an auto, he doesn't need to bother."

Anjali brushed her statement off with a wave. "Nonsense. Arnav will drop you off."

Her shoulders slumped in defeat and she continued eating in silence after that.

****

He looked at her over his shoulder and gritted his teeth in frustration. "Hurry up!"

"I'm trying!" She snapped back while hoisting her bag over her shoulder. Her eyes were red and puffy and she kept yawning every other minute. It looked like she hadn't slept a wink last night and he wondered if it was because of the same reason he hadn't slept.

She threw her bag in the back seat and perched herself on the passenger seat, keeping her hands on her lap and playing with her fingers.

He started the car and gave her a brief glance. "Put your seat belt on."

He mentally asked himself why he was even bothering being remotely nice to her, she had practically questioned his…manhood last night, and if anything he should just leave her here. After all, she was old enough to fend for herself, she could get an auto. He didn't need to go out of his way to drop her off.

But then he thought back to that scar that he had seen, and just like that, a thousand questions erupted in his head. He gave her a curious look while she strapped her seatbelt, and that's when he realized, he didn't know this woman at all.

****

"I'll come pick you and Reihana up around 3." He said while stopping outside of her college as she unsnapped her seatbelt and reached in the back for her bag.

"No, just Reihana. I've got dance practice till 5." She muttered and hurried out. Her dupatta got stuck to the seat belt latch and she whipped around, looking down at the latch then back up at him. Gulping, she pulled at her dupatta with trembling hands as her cheeks turned a deep pink.

He smirked, unable to help himself as he said, "It's okay." He took the scarf out of the latch gently and handed it back to her. "I've already seen everything. No need to be shy."