Page 37 of Right Where I Belong

Leaning against the frame, casual as ever in a navy denim shirt, its sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and dark jeans, he looked too maddeningly composed, too devastatingly handsome. He looked like he hadn’t just spent the night turning her inside out. A slow, naughty smile tugged at his lips. His warm brown eyes—dark, unreadable, and far too knowing—locked with hers.

“Hello, beautiful,” he said, his voice low, thick. “You ran away without saying goodbye.”

Her mouth parted, but nothing came out at first. Her pulse thundered in her ears.

“I… I didn’t think…” She paused, collecting herself. “How did you find me?”

A small shrug was his only response as he walked further inside the living room. “We’ve got enough friends in common. Didn’t take me too long to find you.”

She straightened, lifting her chin, finally gathering herself. “Why are you here?”

“To talk. About last night.”

She flinched slightly. “There’s nothing to talk about. It was… it was amistake.”

His brow arched slowly. “Mistake?”

“I’d had… too much to drink,” she continued, the words escaping in a rush.

He studied her for a long beat. “Sure, let’s blame it on the alcohol.”

Heat bloomed on her cheeks, and her stomach twisted into a knot.

“You didn’t look drunk last night,” he said, stepping closer to her. “You looked very, very aware of what youwanted.”

Her lips parted. No denial came. No clever retort. Only the sound of her own thundering pulse hammering in her ears. She inhaled. His scent—strong, sharp, undeniably him—hit her nose, making her insides quiver. He stepped closer to her. Her body began to tilt toward his. Holding herself, she backed a step. He continued moving closer, eyes on her, and she kept backing until the edge of the dining table halted her escape. Aditya braced a hand near her waist, not touching her, but it was enough to steal the air from her lungs. The heat from his body surrounded her, flooding her senses, blanketing her in something primal and electric.

“I haven’t stopped thinking about you,” he rasped. “Tell me you’ve been thinking about me too.”

She shook her head, whispering, “No.”

He chuckled, darkly. The sound curled around her spine and settled low in her body. The timbre of it was rough, decadent, like velvet dragged over bare skin. His other hand moved with purpose, bracing on the table beside her. And just like that, she was completely caged in, his arms forming a prison around her. Her heart rumbled; her body ached. It wanted to be close to him and touch him. Fuck. She had to force herself to stay still.

He moved in just enough to let his lips brush the shell of her ear. “Liar.”

She gasped.

“I think you’ve been thinking about me too. About how I touched you. How I moved inside you. How you enjoyed letting me take control. And how you gave in to me so perfectly.”

Her knees nearly buckled. She let out a shaky exhale, her entire body thrumming with the echo of those memories. Because, damn him, he was right. That’s exactly what she’d been thinking about right before he knocked.

She shook her head, clearing her mind from the spell he was weaving around her. “Last night was a...”

He slammed a hand on her mouth. “If you saymistakeagain, I will pin you to this table and remind you of how you felt when you were writhing beneath me.”

Molten heat flushed to her core. Her heart galloped in her chest.

She shoved his hand away, breathless. “Then what should I call it? You and I… Last night shouldn’t have happened. And I blame myself for not stopping it.”

A corner of his lips tipped. “You couldn’t have stopped it even if you wanted to, beautiful. You and I were meant to happen.”

She stared at him, her pulse a riot. “Okay, fine. It happened.” Her voice was low, almost a whisper. “Now what, Aditya?”

“Call me Adi… like you did last night.”

More images from last night flooded her mind. She pushed them all away.

“No…” Sabrina gulped. “You and I can only ever be friends, Aditya.”