Page 15 of Entangled Vows (Destined Diaries #2)

Last night at the club had been Vikram’s undoing.

Watching Mahika dance like that, all happy and carefree with a stranger, had made his blood boil.

He should’ve walked away from there. But no.

Instead, he’d gone after her. And for one reckless moment, he’d almost kissed her, just to silence that sassy mouth of hers.

Then he’d left. Only to find her again, sprawled on a velvet couch at the club, looking like a dangerous temptation.

She was tipsy, vulnerable, and so fucking beautiful that it hurt just to look at her.

Every part of him told him to look away, to let her be.

But he couldn’t. Not with her lying like that, and definitely not while her brother was too busy entertaining someone three couches away.

So he did the only thing he could. He scooped her up in his arms, carried her out, and escorted her home, all the while telling himself it meant nothing.

Except… when she looked up at him with glazed eyes, her lips curved into that silly, drunk smile that always got to him, and mumbled a crazy question.

“Grizz, are you kidnapping me?”

“Mahika, just go to sleep.”

“Just so you know,” she whispered, eyes half-closed, “if I were to be kidnapped, I’d want it to be by you.”

Vikram almost broke into laughter, because sober Mahika would rather swallow glass than say anything that sounded remotely like this.

She hated him, or at least that’s what she claimed.

And maybe he allowed her to keep believing it.

But carrying her to bed and tucking her in as if she were something fragile…

That had been a mistake. The mistake that made him look like a lovesick fool.

Then she did something that took him by surprise. She had giggled. She fucking giggled.

Her laughter had hit him hard, leaving him reeling and breathless.

He tucked the blanket around her carefully, placed the water and anti-hangover pills within easy reach on the side table, and then sat in the corner chair, watching her sleep like some kind of an obsessive psycho.

He waited until he was sure she was settled, and then only he stepped out into the night, and into a decision he knew he could never take back.

He called his contact and moved the registrar appointment up by a day.

Yes, it was impulsive, but the need to keep her close, the burn of watching her dance with another man, had shoved every logic aside.

He told himself it was about her safety, that dancing with strangers was reckless.

But deep down he knew it was bullshit. He hadn’t changed the date because it made sense.

He’d done it because it gave him a sliver of control in a world that suddenly felt like it was tilting beneath his feet.

He shook himself out of it and waited for her to come down so they could get the day started.

He already knew she’d make things difficult for him, and of course, Mahika didn’t disappoint.

That fiery confidence wrapped in a stunning, hot body was achingly sexy.

She didn’t even spare him a glance when she walked past him and dumped that green smoothie into a plant.

At that moment, all he could think about was how immensely hard it was not to pin her to the wall and remind her exactly who he was.

He should’ve been used to her sass by now.

And yet, somehow, it still managed to piss him off.

He was waiting it out while Mahika took her sweet time in the shower.

And just because he had nothing better to do, he started cleaning the chaotic mess she called home.

The place was a disaster…takeout containers, dirty dishes, clothes scattered everywhere.

But he handled it like a pro. He was used to doing things by himself, even though he had help back in Mumbai.

Learning the basic life skills early on had shaped him into the man he was now.

Vikram Khurana committed himself fully to everything he did.

And now that he was tied to Mahika and her life, he intended to see it through.

He turned to see an armchair buried under what looked like a week’s worth of laundry. With a resigned sigh, he just grabbed everything, threw it into the washing machine, and switched it on. The machine groaned and sputtered like an old cart about to collapse.

Why the hell hadn’t she replaced it already? he wondered.

Just as he stepped back, he caught a flicker of movement from the corner of his eye.

Before he could react, something heavy landed on his shoulder, claws digging in hard into his skin.

Vikram froze. His muscles tensed as sharp talons tore into his shirt. His pulse kicked into high gear. What the—?

Slowly, cautiously, he turned his head… only to find himself face-to-face with a pair of beady, red, unblinking eyes.