She tried for hours to sleep but was unsuccessful. It wasn't like the first time he had gone out for work and didn't come back home. He told her not to stay up and wait for him but somehow, she couldn't sleep knowing that he wasn't by her side in bed. She always loved the heat his body provided. It soothed her to sleep. Now the bed just felt cold.

She felt safe at night when he was around.

Involuntarily, she rolled to his side of the bed and pulled up the comforter close to her body. Shradha curled up, rubbing her cheek against his pillow as she inhaled deeply. She blew out a long sigh, expelling all the air from her lungs that she could before drawing in another greedy breath of the male’s musk.

The tension in her muscles lessened. She twisted her fingers into the pillow case, plucking the fabric up to press it against her nose. After several minutes, her eyelids began to droop. With the comforting smell of the familiar male enveloping her, it didn’t take long for her to surrender to sleep.

It was nearly four in the morning before Aditya finally returned to their room. His mood was bleak, and he was tired. It had been a long day filled with discussions about the best way to handle Mehras without risking a war with them. Mehras and Kapoors were enemies fighting for the top spot in the business.

Already, Karthik Mehra had turned several of his own allies against him, which Aditya had monopolized on the instant he got word that unrest was brewing. Several other organizations had been blackmailed into crossing over to his side of the line as well. It was really all rather cloak and dagger, eroding Mehras' business foundation. The planning and execution alone were tedious and time consuming.

In addition to the mundane daily tasks involved with running his legitimate and illegal businesses, he was now directing the paths of several dozen lieutenants and foot soldiers. They were out on the street gathering intel, threatening bodily harm, and enacting any number of other tasks in the name of the Kapoor Reign. Needless to say, he was more than ready for a hot shower and a few hours of sleep.

She’d left the bathroom light on for him again and this time she didn't stay up late.To his surprise, she had taken up residence in the bed. On his side of the mattress, in fact.He took several silent steps towards the center of the room, tilting his head curiously as he regarded the mess she’d made of his bedding.

The light filtering out from the open bathroom door revealed that  one pillow had already fallen to the floor and the other was currently tucked under the sleeping woman's arm with his comforter wrapped around her. The lower half of her legs extended from beneath fabric that had been bunched up around her thighs, exposing bare skin he certainly hadn’t expected to see. One brow quirked as he took another step closer.

Usually, she wore pajama pants to bed. Tonight, she appeared to be wearing either shorts, or a nightie. He couldn’t be sure which. Either way, it was more skin than he’d expected. Suddenly, sleep held less interest for him.

Reluctantly, Aditya retreated to the bathroom, intent on bathing before he crawled into bed beside her. His shower was brief and perfunctory. He dried himself quickly, slipping on his standard lounge pants before padding quietly towards the place where she slept.

For several moments he stood in silence, studying her. Her hair was tousled, her lower lip plumped out in an adorably familiar pout that accompanied the more obvious signs of restless sleep. The arm that extended from the blanket exposed more bare skin, all the way to the girl’s shoulder where a thin strap of fabric was the only indication that she was wearing any clothes at all.

Careful not to jostle her, Aditya eased onto the bed. He gently pulled the pillow out of her grasp, discarding it on the bed behind him as he edged closer. She grunted, brow knitting unhappily as her lashes fluttered up.

As dark brown pools met him, he couldn't help but be mesmerised in them.

Stifling a yawn with the back of her hand, she spoke, her voice raspy from sleep. "How was your day?"

The question was cautious, as if she were wary of his mood. He allowed the pad of his thumb to trace over the curve of her cheek before settling his hand against the side of her neck.

"Tiresome. The flight was tiring."
For a moment she was quiet, appearing to debate something with herself. She seemed surprised because he knew he usually never responded to that question. Tonight he felt like sharing his worries with her. He didn't know why.

Instead of responding however, she inched towards him until she had tucked herself in against his chest. Above her bowed head, Aditya smiled in secret triumph. Pleased, he closed his arms around her smaller frame and began to stroke her hair.

When he felt her fingers trailing tentatively up over his side in a half-embrace, he pressed her closer to the wall of his chest.
For a while all he could hear was her breathing and he even wondered if she had fallen back asleep but then her fingertips began to wander.

Feather light touches skimmed over the peaks and valleys of his ribcage, raising goosebumps along his skin as the tentative explorations dared to travel so far south as his waist. When her nails skidded along the waistband of his pants where they rode low at his hips, the muscles of his stomach fluttered and clenched beneath her attention. It was all he could do to be still. She paused, the nervous puff of her breath warming his chest as she tried to gather the courage to continue.

"I don't like what is happening with Karan and Mrinal. It's the children who are suffering." Her hands now trailed back to his chest again, as she was playing with his skin.

He hummed in response, too overwhelmed with her touches. She knew how to turn him on instantly.  But tonight, he didn't have it in him to have sex. He was too tired and disturbed for that.

"It's always the children that suffer the sins of their parents." She continued understanding that he wasn't going to reply. Something about what she said hit him hard. Was she referring to their situation?

Aditya sank his fingers into her hair and settled them against the back of her skull. A light, steady tug tilted her head back so that he might see her face. Her lips parted as he angled her chin upwards, those half-lidded eyes widening as her hand froze in place. Despite her encroaching pupils and the slight flush to her cheeks, uncertainty flickered through Shradha's expression as he stared down on her, threatening to ruin her mood.

"Do you regret it?"

Confusion pooled her eyes. "Regret what?"

"Marrying me?" His voice was stern and sharp but low. Her eyes seemed to widen for a moment, shock and surprise all at once but then she composed herself, looking straight up his eyes.

"No."

Aditya knew she was lying. He saw it in her eyes. He tugged at her hair harder, making her chin tilt up higher, so now their lips were inches apart. "Do not lie to me Shradha."

"I didn't want any of this. Neither did you. But this was always bound to happen. I have lost everyone. My family is gone. You are the only one I can hold on to now. I don't regret even a second of this. I sometimes wonder what life will be like if not with you. If I was born in a normal family. I'll fall in love and be married to a normal man, with a bunch of kids already then. But that's not me. This is me. With you. Here."

She placed her hands on his chest, as he breathed ruggedly at her confession. Without waiting for approval or disapproval, he crashed his lips into hers, devouring the taste of her.

His woman.