Page 3 of Every Move You Make
Her eyes widened. God, he was being so bold tonight, and why the hell was she even allowing it? She hated him, she reminded herself. Then why was this madness spreading beneath her skin and racing through her blood? Why with him? And why tonight?”
His head lowered, his lips hovering over hers. The air between them crackled with a tension that made her pulse trip.
“Tell me you don’t feel everything happening between us tonight,” Akash said, his voice rough.
She turned her head to the side. “You’re imagining things.”
“Look at me and say that,” he ordered.
She couldn’t. She didn’t want to see his hunger for her sparking in his eyes. She didn’t want to accept whatever this was between them. Giving in to him would be a colossal mistake.
Taking hold of her chin, he lifted her face to meet his eyes. “If you don’t want this, then all you have to do is push me away. All you have to do is say no.”
“I…” she began, but her lips refused to form the words. She lifted her hands to push him away, but her fists curled into his shirt instead. Her eyes met his. The silence between them stretched, thick with everything left unsaid. Her pulse raced, herbody caught between wanting to flee and wanting to see what would happen if she didn’t.
She’d barely been with a man once, a forgettable brush with intimacy that had left her cold. But Akash… The heat in his eyes, the warmth of his touch, all of it promised something entirely different. Something that felt like danger, and also the possibility of something that could undo her. Something that was becoming impossible to resist.
Fuck. She didn’t want to resist it, orhim. Just this once, she wanted to give in. And if she were being honest, it was also something she’d ached for far too long. In her weaker moments, she’d fantasized about this. About standing this close, feeling this pull, this charge between them. And now, with it finally happening, she wanted to let herself sink into it, intohim. She couldn’t walk away without experiencinghimfor one night. Just one Goddamn night.
“Bloody fucking hell,” she cursed. “I’m so doomed.”
And then she slammed her mouth against his.
She tasted his smile against her lips. One second, she was kissing him, her mouth moving against his, and the next, he parted her lips open and invaded her mouth, seizing control. And God, he stole her breath. He pulled her closer to him until her breasts pressed against his chest while he ravaged her with a hunger that made her head spin. His tongue tangled with hers, taking whatever he wanted from her. Her hands slid into his hair, pulling him closer. Her breasts ached, her skin burned, her core turned molten, and her pulse drummed wildly in her ears. Desire beat in her veins like an ache demanding release.
When he finally pulled back, she stood there dazed and breathless, her body still humming with the aftershocks of that one devastating kiss. He didn’t speak right away. He just looked at her, his eyes dark and unreadable, his chest rising and fallingin sync with hers. The silence between them was charged, alive, as if the air itself remembered that kiss.
When he finally moved, it wasn’t with urgency but with certainty. His hand found hers, and his fingers curled around them.
“Come with me,” he said, his voice rough with desire.
She should have said no. It would have been the smart thing to do. But her body wasn’t listening to reason anymore. The pulse that had started in her chest now echoed through every part of her.
Without a word, she let him lead her toward the elevators.Within seconds, she was walking into his room. Akash spun her around, and then his mouth was on hers before the door had even clicked shut. Her body hummed. Need raged through her veins as her arms wrapped around his back and she pressed herself into him. His hands traced the curves of her body through her dress before finally stopping at the zipper at her back. With one quick tug, the dress pooled at her feet, leaving her in nothing but a pair of black satin panties and a matching strapless bra.
He stepped back to study her, his gaze sweeping over her in a slow, deliberate way that made her skin prickle with awareness.
“Shauna, you’re beautiful,” he said quietly, his voice husky with restraint. “Are you sure about this?”
“Yes,” she whispered, the word trembling between them. “This changes nothing between us. I still… hate you.”
A low laugh escaped him. “Good. Remember that when you’re screaming my name in the next few minutes.”
And then he kissed her again—deep, consuming, impossible to resist.
Whatever this was, whatever line she was about to cross, she knew it was too late to turn back. Somewhere inside, a voicewarned her that this moment would change everything. But for once, she didn’t care.
1
Nine Months Later
Sehgal Coral Bay Resort
Maldives
Shauna Sehgal stepped out onto the softly lit pathway and walked across the emerald-green lawns of the resort. Just ahead, the private beachside venue where Kabier and Keya were hosting their fifth anniversary celebration glowed with music, laughter, and warm lights.
From the lively chatter drifting through the night air, it seemed everyone had already arrived. Unlike the others, who’d all come the previous day, she had only just landed in the Maldives a short while ago, and after a quick shower and change, she was heading straight to the celebration.
