Page 80 of Lawfully Yours

That familiar earthy, fresh, slightly spicy scent hit her instantly. Kushal always smelled like that. Clean and masculine. She shut her eyes and held the jacket close.

In the months since they had separated, this is what she had missed most. Not the arguments. Not even the intimacy. But the comfort. The sensation of being wrapped in his arms from behind, her body curled into his, his breath warm against her neck. In the beginning, after they parted ways, she hadn’t been able to sleep without him. She used to arrange pillows behind her to mimic the feel of his chest pressed against her back. Itwas a ridiculous comfort. But it had worked until the day she accepted that divorce was inevitable.

And yet, tonight, here she was again… needing that closeness, craving that warmth. Needinghim, even if just the scent of him, woven into the threads of his jacket.

She slipped under the covers again and curled into the jacket like it was a shield. Just as sleep began to blur the edges of her consciousness, a knock echoed.

She sat up at once.

Another knock. This time, softer.

Her eyes scanned the room. She realised it wasn’t the main door. The knock came from the connecting door between their rooms.

She flipped on the bedside lamp.

“Aru…” came his voice from the other side with another knock.

She swung her legs over the bed, padded softly across the room, and stood on the other side of the door.

“What?” she asked.

“Open the door,” he said.

She hesitated but only for a moment.

Something in his tone… or maybe something inside her just didn’t want distance anymore.

She unlatched the bolt and slowly opened the connecting door. And there he stood.

Kushal, bare-chested, wearing only his night pants, his hair tousled in a way that made him look devastatingly handsome as usual.

But when he looked at her, he froze.

Her breath caught as she realised the mistake.The nightie.Thin straps, loose neckline, short hem. It barely covered her thighs and clung to her in all the wrong places, the ones he didn’t have a hands-on experience with yet, like he complained before.The nightie clung to her like a second skin, outlining the softness he had once only felt in pieces through silks and accidental touches, never fully allowed to possess.

And now, there she was, standing in front of him in something barely there, looking like a dream designed solely to torment him.

But it was too late to hide. His eyes had already taken in every inch of her. And he didn’t even bother pretending he hadn’t.

Neither of them moved. Neither of them said anything.

Kushal’s jaw tensed slightly as his gaze slowly rose from her legs to the flutter of her chest, and finally, to her flushed face.

God help him.

If she had given him that second chance he desired, if she had looked at him tonight and said yes instead of running away from him, he didn’t think he would’ve had it in him to be patient anymore. Not tonight. Not after this.

If she had said yes...by now, he’d have crossed the threshold, scooped her effortlessly into his arms, and laid her down on that bed behind her. He would have tugged that sinful little thing over her head, or hell, just tore it off her body. He would’ve mapped every curve she tried to hide with his hands, his mouth, and his tongue, slowly and relentlessly, until her anger dissolved into gasps and his name was on her lips. He would’ve devoured her. Worshipped her. Taken back what had been denied to them for too long.

And the way she was looking at him now, breathless, unsure, blushing beneath his gaze, he knew she would’ve let him. But this wasn’t that night.

So he blinked hard and tried to steady himself.

“W… what happened?” Arundhati managed to ask in a hushed voice, as she crossed her arms over her chest, instinctively trying to cover the exposed skin his eyes had already devoured.

He glanced away, breathing out through his nose before speaking.

“Uh… my phone. I left it in the jacket.”