Chapter 18
Mantra was in a daze as she sat next to him in the car on their way to his place. The air was filled with the smokiness of the spices she added to the Chai.
“Why are you so quiet?” His tone was playful.
“Do you like the Chai?”
“I do… do you mind if we eat at my place instead of going out?” His voice was soft yet steady.
“Are you cooking for me?” She turned to look at him as he kept his eyes on the road.
“I want to make you something nice.”
“Nice?”
“What do you like most?” he asked as a small smile played on his lips.
“Surprise me!” She laughed making him turn to look at her.
“You got it.”
Yash pulled his car into the garage and came around to open the door for her. He took her hand and pulled her up to him.
“Can I help you cook?”
He smiled but did not say anything.
“What?” She held his gaze.
“I’ve never had a dynamic like this with anyone before.”
“Me neither.” She bit her lip.
He brushed his lips against hers forcing her to release her lip from under her teeth. “Your lips are mine to bite.”
She gasped into his mouth opening up for his invasion. Goosebumps resurfaced on her skin as she ran her fingers through his thick, dark hair.
He pressed her body to the side of the car and caressed her lips. “Not like this. I want you between my sheets when I take you.”
She shuddered at the intensity in his tone and held on to him for a bit longer before pulling away to look into his eyes. “Can we go work on our dinner?”
“No… I will work on the dinner. I want you to put on whatever you were going to put on for later tonight.”
“I can help. I don’t need long to get dressed.”
“I want you to take your time… I want you to be my present for tonight, a present I want to unwrap.”
Her cheeks turned red from the rush of blood, and she looked away from him unable to hold his gaze. “I could only imagine how you reacted when I texted you during the week.”
She smiled still not looking at him and wondering why she was feeling like a virgin who has never been kissed or with another man. Yash made all the men she dated seem like teenage boys.
“Yash, I’m hungry… can you make me that meal you promised.” She tried to cut through the sexual tension that was building up causing her to ache between her legs.
“You have no idea how much I’ve been… I’m starving.”
“Yash, which way is your bathroom?” She laughed pushing away from him. She wanted him, wanted him deep inside her but not in the cold garage.
“Let’s go.” He took her hand and led her indoors. He led her past the modern living area she had been in once before and up the stairs.
“I enjoyed your messages,” she blurted out as they made it to the top of the stairs.
He chuckled turning to look at her as he led her into a massive bedroom. “Why didn’t you reply to my messages?”
“I… I’m not the writer here.” She laughed.
He placed her bag next to the bed and walked back to where she stood and cupped her face with his hands. “I don’t intend to be a writer tonight.”
Her lips quivered, and her body longed for him to rip her clothes apart.
“We’ll do it the way you wanted. Meet you downstairs in a bit.
Yash planted a hard kiss on her lips and left without another glance her way.
Almost an hour later, she stepped out of the bedroom in a black lace cocktail dress. The dress hugged her curves, and the bell sleeves gave the dramatic effect she needed for her date with Yash.
She walked toward the top of the staircase with her eyes fixated on an envelope that sat on the railing. She walked closer and saw her name printed on the envelope.
“Don’t just look at it… open it,” Yash’s voice cut through her focus.
She looked up at him, and her breath trapped in her throat. He stood a few feet from her wearing a pastel blue dress shirt paired with dark wash jeans. He looked dapper as usual, and the way his hair lay, partially damp, made her drip deep inside.
“What is this?” she managed to say.
He walked closer to her and stopped a foot away. “Open it… it has your name on it.”
Mantra looked at him for a moment before reaching for the small envelope. She felt his eyes on her as she peeled open the envelope with trembling fingers.
Mantra looked at the familiar logo of the publishing house and looked at him.
“Read on.”
Mantra could not believe her eyes. Her name was listed on the contract summary page as a contributor to Yash’s new book.
“I can’t write.” She shook her head nervously.
Yash moved closer and placed his hands on her hips. “You are a contributor, not the co-author. I can’t wait to work with you.”
She smiled. “I don’t know how I can help.”
“You have helped me quite a bit already, so it’s only fair to give you credit.”
“You don’t need to…” Her words were lost when he brought his index finger to her lips. She swallowed as his eyes bore into hers.
“Beautiful… I love the way you look at me…” His lips grazed over her cherry red lips making them quiver.
“Shall we?” He pulled back and gave her his hand which she took, smiling.
“What’s for dinner?” she asked following him down the stairs.
“I put a spin on the night we met at the bar.” He chuckled.
“Did you make those spicy fireballs?” She was annoyed her favorite bar was overcrowded that night, but she truly enjoyed the food served.
“You’ll see.” He turned to look at her with a mischievous smirk pasted on his face.
“Do you have to keep it such a big secret?”
“I want you to have the drink I tried to buy you that night.”
“You are so weird. Do you have to force a drink down my throat just because I didn’t drink it that night”?”
“I want you to have the right experience.”
“Right, you were busy working on creating an experience for me, and your date felt ignored.”
“She wasn’t my date.” He scrunched his nose.
“She was with you and gave me the stink eye when she caught me.” She laughed.
He placed a drink in her hand. “Caught you? Doing what?”
She knew he was teasing her. “Trying to read the label on your jeans.”
“I’m sure that’s all you were doing?”
“Why else would I look at you?” she teased.
“Pretty little liar!”
She laughed and touched her glass to him. “I’ll drink to that.”
He took a sip of his drink. “Selina… who you thought was my date just showed up. She was going through a phase.”
“Did you have a long-term relationship with her?”
He snorted. “What relationship? We went out a few of times, and she made her people post a million pictures online.”
“Oh…” The burning question was if he was in a relationship ever, but she told herself she shouldn’t care—it was too early. It was their first date, but then again it wasn’t like it was a real first date.
The ding from the oven shook her out of her deep thoughts.
“Perfect timing.” Yash walked over to the oven and pulled out a tray of what looked like deep fried batter balls, but they weren’t deep fried.
She watched as he transferred a few to a plate and reached for the condiments and the sauces set to one side. She watched in amazement at how artistically his fingers moved as he placed the greens and dropped tiny drops of the sauce in a certain pattern on the plate.
She noticed how steady his hand was, and it explained why he was a successful surgeon at such a young age. She kept staring at his hands so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t realize he had stopped moving and was looking at her.
“Why do you look so amused?”
She felt embarrassed because she was caught. “I… your hands look very artistic when you…”
“That’s a first…” he teased.
“No one has told you that?”
“No, but since you think my hands are cool… let me…” He picked up the plate and walked over to where she stood.
He gently cut a bite and brought it to her mouth.
“Open up, baby,” he crooned.
She smiled and parted her lips.
“I want you to take a bite of this and take a sip of the drink after a few chews.
She nodded and let him slip the golden-brown bite past her lips. The crunch hit her first and then the molten warmth at the center. The crust was semi-sweet, and the center was tangy and flavorful. She slowly chewed the small bite, her eyes never leaving his.
She moaned when she realized every chew of the small bite gave her a different experience and on the third chew, her eyes opened wide when the spurt of heat hit her insides. She reached for her drink and took a sip.
“Don’t gulp it down… let it ride the heat.”
She swallowed slowly and felt an ice-cold wave smooth the blow of the heat making her eyes roll to the back of her head like she was having a food orgasm.
“That’s what I wanted to see.” Yash smiled victoriously as he wiped the excess moisture from her lips with his thumb.
“Yash… that was amazing. What is it?”
“It’s something I’ve been working on in the test kitchen especially for you.”
“Pretty little liar,” she teased in the same tone he had done earlier that night.
“Do you like it?”
“Yes, and I want more.”
“I have one more drink I want you to try with this dish. I’ll be right back.”
Yash had not had any woman share his passion. She didn’t realize how much she had influenced his thought process the past few weeks. There was no denying the attraction he had for her, but it was more than the undeniable attraction that made her simply irresistible.
He had never spent the kind of time he did with her. With other women, it was all lust, but with Mantra it had started that way, however, it didn’t take him long to realize she was different. She was smart, bold, and believed in what she did no matter what people told her.
Yash found the risk taker in her attractive. When he found out she was messing around at his restaurant for her research, he was angry, but the anger made him hard and made him want to do dirty things to her.
He smiled as he walked back into the dining area and found Mantra gasping for air.
“Mantra, are you okay?” He dropped the can of beer on the counter and took her into his arms. On instinct, he checked her pulse and noticed she was pale.
“Baby, say your name.”
“Mantra,” she stuttered.
“Yash, I can’t breathe!” She put her arms weakly around him.
“Mantra, stay with me,” he pleaded scooping her into his arms and heading to the garage.