Page 64 of Lawfully Yours

Her fingers twitched against the counter until Kushal groaned softly against her mouth.

“Kiss me, Aru,” he whispered, voice hoarse with desperate need.

And she finally gave in. She obeyed him.

With a sudden, fierce desperation, she tangled her fingers in his hair, tugging him down to her, kissing him back with a hunger that startled even herself.

A kiss…months in the making.

A kiss…soaked with fury, longing, and everything they had never said.

And for that sliver of time, there was no divorce, no courtroom, no accusations.

Just them.

And the damn chocolate truffle she’d stolen that he tasted off her mouth like a victory reclaimed.

The moment Arundhati kissed him back, Kushal felt everything he had fought so long to suppress shatter inside him. A reckless ache burned through his veins and made him clutch her tighter, like she could vanish if he let go.

He had wanted this.Wanted her.

Not the polished, poised woman who threw sharp words like weapons in courtrooms. Not the distant, angry wife who looked right through him. No. He wanted the woman who trembled against him right now, her lips answering his with the same hunger he’d buried deep for months.

They kissed as if nothing else existed. As if the months of separation, misunderstandings, and bruised egos had never happened. His hands roamed her curves shamelessly, pulling her closer, tasting the truth, she wouldn’t speak out loud. Her fingers slipped beneath the open collar of his shirt, finding the warm, hard plane of his chest, her nails grazing his skin, making him groan low in his throat.

A few more buttons popped open under her restless touch, and he didn’t care. He wanted her to touch him. He wanted todrown in her, in this moment that had been denied to him for far too long.

He slid his fingers along her bare back, tracing the silk-soft skin, and found the thin strap of her blouse. Slowly, deliberately, he slipped it down her shoulder, baring more of her to his greedy gaze.

But just as his knuckles grazed the edge of her shoulder blade, he felt her tense. A sharp hiss of pain escaped her lips as she flinched back.

He recalled her left arm was still aching in between. Kushal instinctively reached to soothe her. “Aru—”

But she had already pulled away, clutching the dishevelled folds of her saree around her body, holding it like armour. Her cheeks were flushed, her breathing ragged, her hair a beautiful, wild mess. She looked stunning. Vulnerable. Untouchable.

And furious. At herself more than at him.

Without a word, she turned and hurried away, tightening her grip on the saree which was now sliding dangerously down her body with each hurried step, and refusing to look back at him even once.

Kushal stood there, his palms braced against the marble kitchen counter.

He had no regret about what had just happened.

That kiss, the way she had melted against him, the way she had kissed him back, was the proof he needed. Proof that it wasn’t over. No matter how much she denied it. No matter how many walls she built between them.

She didn’t want to hear him out? Fine.

But now, Kushal promised himself, he would use every trick, every ounce of strategy he was infamous for…his patience, his persistence, his mastermind mind games if needed, to bring her to him.

He would make her come to him.

This time, he wasn’t just hoping for a chance.

He was going to create it.

And he wasn’t backing down.

Chapter 11