After the movie had ended, Nikhil unplugged the HDMI cord connecting Esha's laptop to the TV screen while Esha disposed the empty boxes and stored the left overs in a container. When she turned to put it in the fridge, she noticed him watching her.

"What?" She questioned, as she had caught him looking at her throughout the night multiple times.

"Just looking at you," He answered.

"No," She corrected him, "You are staring at me."

"Did you ever play those staring games as kids?" He questioned, diverting the topic. "You know the ones where you see who can go the longest staring at each other without blinking?"

"Staring contest." She understood what he was talking about, "Sure, yeah. Why?"

"How about it?" He asked as she walked over to the coffee table chair.

"Seriously?" She questioned, somewhere thinking he was kidding. He shrugged, and she went along with it. "Um, okay. Sure." The night was still young and they didn't have anything better to do.

He took a seat across the table and then counted down to three to let the game begin. A few seconds in the game, she started to stand. He questioned, weary of her intentions. "What are you doing?"

"Just moving closer to you." She replied with fake innocence. He knew he'd have to be careful around her. He had suggested the game with his own intentions, but he very well couldn't carry through them when she had her own agenda in mind.

He was about to get up, when she put her hands on his shoulders and pushed him back down on the chair. "Relax, Nikhil."

"Where you're concerned, I don't think I can ever relax." He commented. Instead of sitting on the chair, she sat on the table.

"I feel like I should be offended." She remarked, letting her hands travel down his shoulder to his shirt. When she reached for the button of his shirt, he chuckled.

"See what I mean?"

She was proving his point, how he could never 'relax' around her?

"What?" She innocently said, "I'm only trying to help you relax by unbuttoning your top button."

He put his hand on her knee and lightly traveled it up her thigh. "Really now?" They were both playing a game different than 'staring contest'.

"You know what I just realized?" She said, unbuttoning yet another button. "We seem to get distracted very easily."

He smirked, "Oh, you mean you seem to get distracted easily?"

She denied, "Not how I remember. Who started the teasing game last time?" Another button came loose, exposing his chest to her.

"You know you don't play fair, dear wife?" He commented at how they were diverting from the staring contest. Then, just as the last word left his mouth, he felt like beating himself up and worried over her reaction. They had agreed to keep things simple. The last thing he had wanted to do was remind her.

"Wife, huh?." She let the words sink in, "Well, come to think of it, I have yet to see my husband shirtless."

"Husband?" He questioned, and somewhere his muscles started to relax. When she hummed in answer, he stood up. Her eyes followed his, because somewhere she did remember the contest. She wasn't going to look away from his eyes or blink. She'd won the last game, and she was going to win this one as well.

She unbuttoned the fourth and fifth.

"Well, it sucks." He teased, more at ease and starting to forget about his slip up given she wasn't making a deal out of it, "It's not like you can look away to admire at my shirtless body while the game is still on."

She commented, "I'll just have to make you blink first then," standing up as well.

He raised a brow, "And how is that going to happen?"

"You seem to forget." She took a step closer to him, "Remember what happens when I come close to you?"

How could he forget? He seemed to lose control every single time. She had reminded him more times than once just how affected he would get at her touch. He hadn't had as many chances to return the favor.

He took a small step back, "I still have some control left. Remember?"

Oh, she remembered.

If he didn't, they would have done a lot more on New Year's Eve.

She reached for his hand and placed it on the small of her waist. "Not when I'm not stopping you."

The only reason he'd stopped that night was because she had conveyed that. If not for that, he wouldn't have held on to that control. Contrary to that night, tonight, she wasn't stopping him. In fact, she was encouraging it by crossing the distance.

Even though he could feel her body heat radiating to his hand, he forced it to stay there, and not roam. He chanted in his head that he wouldn't lose his control. Only, she was a temptress and he was incapable of escaping her seduction.

Esha continued to stare into his eyes and her finger tips travelled down his torso. His chest. His abs. Tracing the outlines of his defined muscles. She gasped as out of nowhere, his free hand grabbed her wrist, stopping her adventure. His hand on her waist pulled her closer to his body.

Nikhil swallowed as his pupils dilated. Gazing into her eyes for this long was torture enough that she had to tease him as well. He'd already bared his soul out to her. She wasn't helping herself by pushing him to lose control. She had to know how much he wanted her. She had felt the proof of it multiple times. He was fine when her finger tips were on his chest. He could handle them. But, his abs? They were unchartered territories. As soon as her fingers touched the first of his abs and attempted to travel down further, all bets were off. She couldn't touch him intimately, unblinking, looking at him the way she did, and expect no repercussion.

"You're going to be the death of me one day."

She didn't bother to control the ramming of her heart as she whispered, feeling breathless though they had done nothing thus far. "I haven't done anything yet."

His eyes darkened further as his fingers dug into her side, holding her tight. The way he was pressing her closer to him, she had to lean her upper body back to keep looking at his eyes, "Sure about that?" He challenged, and she learnt she had done a lot more. She could feel his hard length against her.

Without meaning to, she blinked and looked away. The moment had been intensifying since she started to unbutton his shirt, but she didn't feel the overpowering effect of it until that second. There was no other reaction left for her but to look away.

He released his grip around her wrist of the hand on his chest to lift her chin so she would look at him again. Her hand dropped to her side. "Fifteen-love." He whispered, speaking in terms of tennis scoring.

She didn't care about losing anymore, though. How could she? They just had a very intense moment she was still trying to recover from.

He gave her a moment to move away, releasing his grip on her waist, and finger under her chin. She looked straight ahead, at his chiseled chest, but didn't move back. She remained in place, her eyes traveling down his torso taking the time to admire now that she wasn't bound to his gaze. Esha lifted her hand again to his chest.

Instantly, his palm caught her wrist, again. "Esha." He said her name in a warning. But, she didn't take it seriously. She believed that if he really wanted her to stop, he would have moved away from her a few seconds ago when he had released her.

She lifted her gaze to his again, and that unnerved him. His hold loosened and he gave her free reins to let her fingers travel down his torso. They trailed over the shape of his abs, causing his breath to hitch and pull his stomach in. At his reaction, she glanced at him again.

He leaned down and placed a kiss on her shoulder, his hands on her hips. She closed her eyes, relishing the feeling of butterflies in her stomach. He moved her hair to one shoulder, kissing up her shoulder to her neck.

Her head fell back giving him more access while her fingers found their way to the back of his head. He pulled back gingerly to capture her lips. Skin against skin, the kiss deepened and so did their breathing. Her hands explored his shirtless body, while his traveled down her side to her legs. Having him touch her body was leaving a heated trail, even though she was fully clothed.

She reluctantly pulled back when she heard a phone ringing. "Ignore it." He murmured, finding her skin again to kiss.  She would have protested, but when he placed a kiss over her pulse on the neck, she moaned. Smiling against her skin, he kissed her there again.

"Don't." She fought her pleasure to warn him on not leaving a love bite. They weren't teenagers, and even though she'd never had one before, she wasn't going to allow him to mark her.

He chuckled, and nibbled on her skin softly once before abiding to her request. He lifted her up and her legs clicked around him. "You're no fun." He commented, for not letting him leave a mark.

He had momentarily stopped as he wasn't aware of her apartment as he would have been of his, and he didn't want to run into things while making way to her room. However, she didn't stop. "That," She spoke in between kissing up his shoulder, "is so – not – true." He groaned when she lightly bit his ear lobe. She grinned, pulling back to look at him, "You were saying?"

He rolled his eyes and used his foot to kick the door close. Walking inside the room, he dropped her on the bed. She squealed as she fell, and then another yelp when he fell with her, bouncing until the mattress accommodated them.

She started to push him off her, feeling the entirety of his weight. "Ugh, you're too heavy. Move."

He sat up with his knees on her either side, trapping her in between. He gathered her hands in one and leaned down to peck her lips. "It's all muscles, babe."

She couldn't help the giggles. "Okay, sure, now leave my hands."

"Hmm. No." He answered as his free hand traveled down her side till they rested at the hem of her shirt.

"Nikhil." Her whine turned into a moan as he lifted a bit of her shirt to expose her navel and placed a wet kiss on her belly button.

"Did that hurt?" He asked, commenting at her belly ring.

"Not much." She attempted to free her hands. "It was barely a pinch."

"I'm surprised your parents let you have one."

"They didn't."

He chuckled, "Ever so rebellious."

"Yes, we've already established that. Please leave my hand?" She asked again, getting frustrated when she couldn't free them. His hold was tighter.

"You really want me to?" He questioned, moving his eyes from her piercing to her eyes.

She nodded, "I didn't get you shirtless so I could just look, you know."

He was learning to not let her answers surprise him anymore. "Touché." He released them. "Touch away, then." She felt victorious, but only for a second. "Wait," He stopped her. Her eyes burrowed. "I don't see a fair situation here."

"I see." She received his hint. "Come here."

He didn't know yet what she was up to, so he obliged. He leaned over, only for her to flip positions. He let out an amused grin, as she now straddled him. "How is this any fairer?"

She admonished him for jumping to a conclusion too quickly, "Oh, hush."

Before he could have blinked, her arms crossed over to gather the hem of her shirt, and in one motion, she'd pulled it over her head. Getting rid of it on the floor, she ruffled her hair back in place while he seemed to be out of breath once again. He might have started to learn to grow comfortable around her bold words, but not yet around her actions. She surprised him at each turn.

"Fair now?" She questioned after leaning down to his ear. He let out a grunt of response, for she didn't know just what affect it had on him, seeing her without a shirt. The only piece on her upper body was her bra. It wasn't anything fancy like lace, but she wasn't going to fuss over it. After all, this wasn't planned.

She kissed him, tasting his lips, and pressing her body to his, skin to skin. Every time they kissed, it sent jolts to her center. This one was no different. If anything, the heat was kicked up a notch as his arms wrapped around her body, touching her everywhere. Her back. Her stomach. Her legs. Her hips. They stopped over the hook of her bra. Her breath hitched slightly, and she eased when she realized he was only attempting to flip her on her back.

Her hand pushed down on his shoulder, denying him that. "Mmm." She objected, breaking the kiss and letting their foreheads touch as they both caught their breaths and came down from the high of their heated make-out session.

She compensated by returning the favor and kissing down his torso.

His fingers ever so lightly gathered her hair curtaining her face and tucked them behind her ear, passing down their lengths while leaving a trail. She jumped slightly as the feather-light touch tickled her. He couldn't let her continue the torture further. She was clenching around him, and it was having a very uncomfortable effect on him.

She would have complained, had he not tried to adjust by having a hand on her side to balance his weight off her and limit their touching. Recalling what had happened a few seconds ago, she apologized. "Sorry."

He simply smiled at her and lifted his free hand to her face. He trailed her hair line from forehead to behind her ear before rubbing back and forth on her jaw. His eyes traveled down to her plump and slightly swollen lips, making them more appealing to him. He kissed them once, and then twice before answering with a sigh. "Don't worry about it."

She lay there waiting for his move. His hand traveled down from her shoulder to her arm, elbow and all the way to her hand. His eyes followed his movement. He intertwined their fingers before bringing it to rest on his shoulder. "You're beautiful, you know that?" He whispered, lifting his gaze to return to hers.

She smiled softly at him with a blink. He turned his head slightly so that his lips would kiss the inside of her palm. It was a very innocent and small gesture. Yet, it sent a shiver and jolt down her spine.

"I always torture you, don't I?" She questioned, closing her eyes. She couldn't imagine how she would feel if it had been the other way around.

She reopened her eyes at his answer, "It's okay. It makes the memories more special."

"Remember the score you mentioned earlier?"

"Fifteen-love?"

She nodded, and chuckled before confessing, "You might as well have won the bigger game."

His eyes narrowed, not understanding her words, "What?"

She let her hand travel to his hair, playing with the style and putting it in place. Taking a deep breath, her gaze flickered back to his eyes, and then she confessed. "You won, in making me fall for you." She let out a chuckle, recalling the moment she'd realized it earlier in the night. "You know, I used to always think that if it ever happened to me, I would try to resist it. At the least, I'd be scared to accept it, or confess my feelings." Her hand rested on his neck.

He questioned, "And were you? Scared?"

She blinked while shaking her head, "No. Not at all. It wasn't scary at all. I think because it's you, and I'm glad it's you."

He said nothing, knowing she didn't need a response, and also somewhere wanting to give her a moment to embrace the fact that she had just confessed to him. She was falling in love with him. Earlier, if one asked the reason behind the staring contest suddenly, it would have been that he wanted her to look at him. Really look at him.

Without millions of thoughts running through her brain.

Without worrying about the reality of the situation.

He just wanted her to look into his eyes, and see the love he had been carrying for her the past few weeks.

It may have started out as a drunken situation. It may have even been about just doing the right thing in the beginning. But the more he had been spending time with her and getting to know her, the more it had been about it feeling right. About the feelings and passion he felt with her over anyone else in his life.

With Esha, even if they hadn't been in a married situation, he wouldn't have an issue committing to her, as he had been having second thoughts with Sonia – the longest relationship he had been involved in.

With Esha, everything was different.

All bets were always off.

She made things happen. She didn't just go with them. She didn't just accept things and dealt with life passively. And that, he loved and admired about her, among other countless things.

With her, there were no insecurities. With her, there were no secrets, or not saying something because of fear of hurting the other person's feelings. He could say whatever he wanted, and knew he wouldn't be judged for it.

He, in turn, gave her the same feeling. With Nikhil, he demanded that. He pushed through her fears and made it happen. He showed her that he was like her in more ways than one, that he was nothing like her father and she didn't have to worry about their relationship ending up like her parents, that he was an own version of her ideal.

The moment after he had released her, after she had blinked away, she had truly realized she wasn't just giving Nikhil a chance anymore. He had earned that chance, and had succeeded. She was falling in love with him, and she could atleast bring herself to say that to him, if not the exact three words. She didn't just like him or respect him anymore, but the fact that she did only gave them a fighting chance.

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