Arni admitted that he had made a foolish decision to position himself here in the shadows on the pathway where they had met earlier, but he had long known that women appreciated such touches.And he certainly wanted her to relish his touch as much as he intended to relish touching her, he admitted, grimacing wryly at his own mental double entendre.Where was she? The festivities would be starting soon, and he had planned to cajole her away before they did, to somewhere rather more private. The courtyard was already filled with wedding guests, their voices and laughter almost drowning out the sound of the musicians. The smell of food spiced the evening air, and children ran giddily in and out of the groups of adults, giggling with excitement. Orla had almost reached the point on the path where she had heard him say that fateful "excuse me" when she was hailed by Nakul, Dayita’s cousin and the fourth member of their close-knit group of friends."Orla"—there you are. I was just coming to
The rush of sensation pounding through her veins wasn’t just a mixture of anger and fear; Orla knew that. But she still froze into rigid rejection when his mouth covered hers. Angrily, he nipped at her lower lip, shocking the rigidity out of her body and replacing it with a primeval angry heat of her own that came out of nowhere, compelling her to respond to him with equal ferocity.How could such blatant savagery be so erotic? How could she feel as though something inside her was breaking apart and consuming her? How could she be standing on her tiptoes to take as much of his punishing kiss as she could get?He freed one of her wrists to slide his hand into her hair, his fingers splayed against her scalp to hold her head still as he punished her mouth with kisses of such sensual savagery that they were almost a form of torture. a torture she never wanted to end.The raw sound of their increasingly laboured breath broke the calm silence of the gardens with a raw sexuality that demande
Arni was a man who prided himself on his self-control. It was that control that ensured he would never repeat his father’s folly in allowing his desire for an unworthy and avaricious woman to rule and humiliate him. Arni could give in to his physical desires, but he must always be the one in control, not the other way around.No woman had ever been allowed to intrude into his thoughts when he did not want her to, and yet now here he was, wasting his valuable mental energy thinking about a woman he despised. The mere fact that she was there in his thoughts, occupying space that rightly belonged to far more important matters, angered him far more than the unsatisfied ache of the desire she had left him with.Why was he bothering to think about her? She’d probably thought she was being extremely clever, that by offering and then withdrawing she would get far more from him than if she had simply gone to bed with him there and then, but Arni did not allow anyone to manipulate him to their o
She might have been royal, but he might have been a highly qualified interior designer, who had trained with one of the most respected international firms, and whose own work was very highly thought of. She had very high standards and took pride in the excellence of her work, she reminded herself stoutly. She was a professional interior designer, yes. But she was also the daughter of a woman who had sold her body to men for money to feed her drug habit. Where did that place her on the scale of what was and what was not acceptable? Did she really need to ask herself that question? Of course she didn’t. The burn of the shame she had known growing up because of her mother was still as raw now as it had been then.It hadn’t just been her great-aunt who had rammed home to her the message that her mother’s lifestyle made Orla unacceptable and unwanted in more respectable people’s social circles.After her mother had died and her great-aunt had taken her in, Orla had had to change schools. I
The slate-grey gaze flicked over her and rested expressionlessly on her face. He must have recognized her even if he wasn’t showing it.Karan stepped forward to shake the other man’s hand, saying to him jovially, "Arni." I’ve brought you Orla, just as I promised. She’s desperate for you to give her this contract so that she can show you what she can do. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed by what she can offer.’Orla squirmed inwardly over Karan's unfortunate choice of words and all that might be read into them by a cynical, sexually experienced man who had every reason to believe he already knew what she had to offer."I can’t stay," Karan was continuing. I’ve got a meeting I have to attend, so I’m going to have to leave you to discuss things without me. However, as I’ve already told you, I’ve seen Orla’s work, and she has my personal recommendation and endorsement.’He had gone before she could stop him and tell him that she had changed her mind. That she wouldn’t want this contrac
His voice was as cool as steel and just as deadly. Orla could feel it piercing her pride, taking a shimmering bead of its life force as though it were a trophy. Now that he had savored his pleasure in wounding her, no doubt he would close in for the kill and tell her that he wasn’t going to give her the contract.She lifted her chin and told him proudly, 'I don't see the point in prolonging this conversation, since it's obvious that you don't have any intention of commissioning me to work for you as an interior designer.'Arni acknowledged that he certainly didn’t want to do so now that he knew who she was. But there was the delicate matter of losing face—both for Karan and, in a roundabout way, for Arni himself.Karan might be a very junior partner in their current venture, but he would be within his rights to question why Arni had rejected Orla after allowing the negotiations to get this far. Karan would be personally insulted, and while Arni was too rich and too powerful to worry a
After university, Orla moved to London and found a job working for an upmarket interior design company at a very junior level.Through Dayita and Nakul, she’d been familiar with the ethnically diverse Brick Lane area of the city, and she had quickly fallen in love with the creative intensity it had to offer, putting what she’d learned from it into her own work and adapting it to her own personal style.Soon, word had begun to get around that she had a sympathetic understanding of Indian taste, and rich Indians had started to ask specifically if she could be part of the team working on their interiors.With the encouragement of her boss, Orla had eventually struck out on her own, finding for herself a niche market that was fresh and vibrant and matched her own feelings about design and style.She’d met Karan through Nakul, and had let him sweet-talk her into doing some room schemes for the rundown properties he was doing up as buy-to-let. Karan had done well, and an uncle in India had
‘Thank you, but I have visited building sites before.’It wasn’t entirely true, but she wasn’t going to have him think she was totally incapable.She paused, and then said steadily, "I can be ready to meet you in the hotel foyer very quickly. It won’t take me long to get changed.’Arni’s mouth thinned. Was she daring to hint that she believed he had come to her room because he had some personal interest in her? After all that he had said to her yesterday, Was this yet another of her teasing games, designed to excite male interest? If so, she was going to learn that he was not easily excited, and when it came to playing games, he always played to win...He answered, "Any man who believes a woman when she tells him that is a fool." "You’ve got five minutes." And then, before Orla could object, he had settled himself in a chair and, having reached for the TV remote, was checking the stock market reports.It took Orla precisely four minutes to get changed—behind her locked bathroom door—i