Aarav
I didn't sleep. Not really. We came home late at night and sat down on the sofa and talked about it all until Meera and I lay down on the sofa.
After Meera finally passed out on my chest, curled up so tightly like she was afraid of unraveling, I just lay there. Listening to her breathe. Watching the way the moonlight played over the bare line of her shoulder, the dark waves of her hair spilled across me.
She'd been crying in my arms less than an hour ago. Sobbing, apologizing, trembling like she might shatter all over again. And then she kissed me like she was drowning.
I'd dragged her into the surveillance room of all places—because I couldn't hold it in any longer. Because the thought of her flinching away from me again, walking those halls like a ghost of herself, had broken something in me.
And now she was here. Still. With me.
I didn't deserve her.
I shifted carefully, brushing her hair off her face. She stirred slightly, murmuring something under her breath before nuzzling deeper into my chest. My arm wrapped around her instinctively, holding her closer.
The words played on a loop in my head. I love you, Aarav.
She hadn't said it tonight. Not aloud. But I'd felt it. In every shattered breath, every trembling kiss, every inch of her body pressed against mine.
I closed my eyes.
She was everything. Complicated, resilient, so fucking brave.
And mine.
The morning sunlight poured in through the penthouse windows, golden and warm. Meera stretched slowly beside me, still naked, the sheet slipping off one bare shoulder.
I leaned in and kissed the curve where her neck met her collarbone.
"Hmm… morning," she murmured, blinking at me with that sleep-drunk look that made me want to pull her right back under.
"Morning, baby," I said softly. The endearment felt natural. Right.
Her smile cracked through the fog. "You called me that last night. I thought I imagined it."
I pressed a kiss to her shoulder. "You didn't. Get used to it."
She flushed and buried her face in the pillow.
I grinned and slipped out of bed, grabbing my boxers and heading toward the kitchen. "You hungry?"
Meera sat up, the sheet now barely clinging to her. "Only if you're cooking."
"Oh, I am. Chef Aarav at your service."
Spoiler alert: I was not.
Ten minutes in, I'd nearly set the omelet pan on fire. Meera had to swoop in, wearing my oversized shirt and nothing else, laughing as she took over.
"Step aside, Dr. Burns," she teased.
"Rude," I muttered, watching her hips sway as she stirred.
I came up behind her, wrapping my arms around her waist, mouth pressed to her neck. She giggled, but her breath hitched when I slid my hands under the shirt.
"Behave," she said, stirring with far less precision now.
"Make me."
She turned her head, eyes dark and playful. "We have food in the oven."
"Exactly. We've got at least fifteen minutes."
I kissed her.
She melted into me instantly. My hands roamed, hers gripped the counter. It was all heat and want, the air charged with tension that had never really left.
I spun her gently, lifting her onto the kitchen island.
"Thought you'd never do this," she whispered.
"I'm just getting started."
I kissed down her chest, peeled the shirt off, watched her shiver under my touch.
I used my fingers first, slow and deliberate, watching her fall apart. Her hands fisted in my hair, her thighs trembled around my shoulders as my mouth replaced them.
By the time I was inside her, she was already on fire.
I didn't hold back. Not this time.
Her name was a chant, a promise, a curse.
She came undone with a cry, and I followed, buried deep, swearing into her skin how much I needed her, wanted her, loved her.
When we finally collapsed, tangled and spent, I pulled her into me.
"I'm not letting you go again," I whispered.
"You sure?" she teased.
I tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I'm going to kiss you in front of every camera in this damn city if I have to. You're mine, Meera."
She blinked, lips parting.
"And until this scandal is over, you're moving in here."
"Aarav—"
"No arguments. Let them talk. Let them speculate. We'll fight it together. Just… don't shut me out again."
She nodded slowly. "Okay."
And for the first time in weeks, she looked like she believed it too.