hey guys heres chapter 4. enjoy.
recap
No. I thought you were anxious to get back to"' She broke off as he dropped into the chair opposite, his long calves brushing her bare legs under the table, sending a shiver of goose-pimples scooting up her inner thighs. She quickly crossed her legs, swivelling her hips sideways so that she was well away from his unsettling touch, tucking the short, flared skirt neatly under her bottom.
CHAPTER 4
Back to Tanveer?' he completed her question helpfully, heaping sugar into his tea.
zoya's face ached with the strain of not reacting to his casual twist of the knife.
To your writing,' she said. I know you've got deadlines to meet.' She was pleased to see that her hand was rock-steady as she raised her cup to her lips.
Is that what ayan told you?'
Sorry, I don't talk shop while I'm on holiday,' she said coldly. Let him believe that she was here at someone else's behest, if that was the way his mind was tracking. It would take some of the heat off her and, in reality, it was close enough to the truth not to cause her undue guilt.
He blew across his tea, wreathing his dark head in curls of steam: the devil in a domestic setting. Then what shall we talk about?' he invited in the deep voice that haunted her dreams.
Her stomach tightened and she lowered her lashes to hide a violent upsurge of emotion. What do we usually talk about?'
Everything.'
And nothing... They never spoke about the disjointed nature of their affair"the weeks of passionate closeness flowed by months apart, with little or no contact. In a mutual conspiracy of silence they could argue the state of the world, but never the state of their own feelings.
The only place their communications were truly uncensored was in bed, where actions spoke louder than words and their bodies were perfectly attuned to each other's needs. asad was a generous lover, and zoya found a fierce rapture in his arms that helped carry her through the long, lonely periods of empty yearning.
The things that she ached to say to him were suddenly dammed up behind a thick wall of resentment. He didn't really want to talk, he simply wanted zoya to answer his questions...questions that she didn't yet have answers for herself!
Nice weather we're having for the time of year,' she said. It is indeed...and you're obviously taking full advantage of it,' he agreed, taking up the challenge, his eyes stroking across the honey-coloured skin of her shoulders exposed by
the spaghetti straps of her sundress.
zoya was suddenly conscious of the pull of the cotton bodice where it was cut straight across the slope of her breasts, notched in the centre of her cleavage by a V-shaped slit. The flower-splashed, chain-store dress was a comfortable old favourite of hers, despised by her mother for its cheerfully dclass origins. She had never worn overly casual styles in zoya's company, knowing that it was her classic, under stated elegance that appealed to his sophisticated tastes, and set her apart from the trend-setting flamboyance of more beautiful rivals for his attention.
She stopped breathing as Asad's gaze drifted down to the sliver of pale skin revealed by the straining V. Nor did she usually go braless when she was with him, preferring the protection and provocation of a lacy bra to enhance her slender curves. She hadn't worn this sundress since last summer, and was suddenly uncomfortably aware of a slight tugging at the side seams, a tightness pressing up under her arms that crowded her breasts forward against the strict cut of the fabric with an unaccustomed boldness. Thankfully the contrasting double-fold of colour that banded the top of the low bodice masked the crushed outline of her painfully sensitive nipples, and allowed her the semblance of indifference as he contin ued to rudely stare.
Was he making unflattering comparisons...or thinking that she had let herself go? zoya felt faint at the thought. Then she realised that she was still holding her breath and let it out in a little huff of relief, sucking in a fresh supply of oxygen to chase away the dizziness. The sudden reinflation of her lungs caused her breasts to further test their close confinement, and she was mortified to feel a stitch pop.
It wasn't only the dress, it was her own skin she no longer felt comfortable in, she tormented herself. And if he dared to ask if she had gained weight since he had last seen her, he was going to get a faceful of hot tea!
Perhaps he sensed her violent impulse because he rocked back on the hind legs of his chair with a lazy, placating smile, taking a long, leisurely gulp from his mug before resting it on his chest.
Bright, splashy colours suit you rather well in this setting. That dress makes you look very much the part...' he trailed off suggestively and she obligingly snapped at the bait.
What part?'
The young, frivolous holiday-maker out looking for trouble.' I've never been frivolous in my life,' said zoya, offended. He compounded the offence with a mocking grin that creased the sunfolds at the outer corners of his eyes. Sorry,
perhaps I should have said "carefree"...'
A lot he knew! And I'm not "looking for trouble", either,' she added, far less sincerely.
No? What about your handsome young fisherman?' What?' She took a moment. That was a joke.' Was it?'
His cynical response make her rise. You know it was!'
Do I?' He lowered his chair with a thud and leaned forward on the table, the amusement wiped from his face. Because it's not as if there's anything to hold you back from experimenting. We never promised each other total fidelity, did we, zoya?' Her heart stuttered. Experimenting? Was that what he was doing?
We never promised each other anything at all,' she forced out evenly. But I think at the very least we owe each other a certain degree of respect and consideration.'
You mean we should be discreet about our indiscretions?' he commented drily, his dark eyes intent on her still face. I thought I was...' His shrug encompassed their surroundings. A cosy little hideaway "far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife"...how much more careful can a man be?'
Trust asad to frame a paralysing statement in a poetic quotation, but zoya was acquainted to his clever verbal games. She battled the crushing pain in her chest to try and work out what he was playing at, because there had to be an angle. He was brutally honest, but rarely deliberately cruel"and never towards zoya. However, she had never breached the unwrit ten rules of their relationship before...
It was almost as if he wanted her to be furious with him, to rant and rave like a jealous fishwife and insist on being the only woman in his life. Ah, yes...that would give him the perfect excuse to push her away, to end their affair before it threatened to become anything more complicated.
It struck her that a cosy little hideaway was the perfect place to commit a discreet murder!
Well, you could do your"experimenting"offshore,' she advised, visualising him sinking to the bottom of the bay with an anchor slung around his neck. The satisfying mental picture brought a chill smile to her pale lips.
He shoved away his cup and got restlessly to his feet. She could see that her contrived calm was having the desired effect. Aren't you going to finish your tea?'
He looked down at her, his heavy-lidded eyes burning with frustration, his mouth smudged with sullen temper. No, thanks. tanveer's probably waiting for me.'
With or without the robe? zoya nodded understandingly. Right. You'd better hurry home to reassure her, then. You wouldn't want her to think you were over here firing up your Bunsen burner for an alternative study.'
His eyelids flickered.
Of course, I'm sure you've already made it clear to her that she's not unique or in any way important in your life. It's always best to be up front about these things, isn't it, asad?' Tension pulled the skin tight over the bones of his face. We agreed, right at the beginning, that we didn't want any messy
emotional scenes"' he grated.
I'm not the one making a big scene,' zoya cut him off before he said anything irrevocable. She got up and began rinsing out the mugs under the running tap, speaking to him over her cold shoulder. I just asked for some sugar, remember? You were the one who came after me with ridiculous suspicions and flinging out all sorts of dramatic allegations. You should chill out, asad, and stop making such a big deal of it. Instead of wasting all that energy worrying about what I'm doing just go back to living your own life. We'll be neighbours for a month, that's all. I'll be as quiet as a mouse...you'll hardly even know I'm around...
And if you wouldn't mind leaving the rest of that sugar" I think I feel like pancakes for dinner!'
I hope this is up to your expectations.
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