Fixation (Fatal Attraction #3)

Chapter 18

18

T hree mornings later, Reina sipped her coffee as she walked to the lounge—the common meeting place for her team. There was a bounce in her step and a smile on her face. Come to think of it, she’d been smiling nonstop.

Ever since their first evening together in his suite, Vedant had insisted on her having dinner with him daily. She had to only step into his room, and he was on her. They’d made love against the wall, on the rug in front of the fireplace, even against the shower stall and on his bed—pretty much on any surface he could find. And she had loved every minute of it. This attraction between them was growing by leaps and bounds, and she wasn’t able to slow it down nor did she want to stop it. The idea of taking it one step at a time had completely failed. She was running headlong into an affair with him, and she didn’t regret it one bit.

Vedant was warm, caring, and so much fun to be with. When they weren’t making love, he told her stories from his childhood, his hopes and dreams, and she listened to him enraptured. At other times, they’d continue their Modern Family marathon. They were nearly at the end of season one now. Every night, he insisted she spend the night with him, but so far, she’d stuck to her resolve and left late in the night or early in the morning. But even that was becoming so difficult, because she truly wanted to spend all her time with him. Vedant was becoming too damn important to her, and it scared her and excited her at the same time.

He was the first man who was affecting her so deeply on an emotional level. Perhaps, it was stupid to feel so much for the first man she’d slept with, but trust didn’t come easily to her, and she trusted him. Prior to him, she’d never allowed any man to get close to her, so much so as to be comfortable around him. But with Vedant, it was so easy, especially when he looked at her like she meant the world to him. So many times, when they’d been watching TV, she’d turn to find him watching her instead. His intense, deep eyes had been on her, making her breath hitch and her heart beat harder.

“Reina, there you are,” Su Min called out as Reina entered the lounge.

Taking a deep breath, Reina walked inside. There was something she wanted to discuss with her colleagues.

“Where are Stefan and Laila?” she asked. “I wanted to talk to you all together.”

“Stefan is still in physio with Vedant, and Laila decided to join him.”

Reina frowned. “Vedant doesn’t need two people in physio with him.”

Su Min chuckled. “Laila is trying to get Vedant to notice her.”

A sharp stab of jealousy stormed through Reina. “What? Why?”

“Because she doesn’t like the way he looks at you.”

Her eyes popped. “What do you mean?”

Su Min splayed a hand out. “He’s always asking about you when you’re not around, and his face lights up when you are in the room. I’ve also seen you smiling each time you return from your shift with him. Clearly, something has changed between you two.”

Reina’s stomach plummeted. Her colleagues could never learn of what was happening between Vedant and her. One complaint about her to Dr. Williams and he’d ensure she was blacklisted from the medical fraternity for consorting inappropriately with a patient, that too a VIP one like Vedant Oshnov. Agreed, she ought to have considered that before she slept with Vedant, but he was her own pleasurable secret, and she didn’t regret it or him. Not one bit. Being with him made her feel vibrant, alive, and so desired. It felt like he was the spark, the colour that had so far been missing from her dull and grey life.

“Nothing has changed, Su Min,” Reina stressed. “He’s recovering and is behaving nicer, that’s all.”

Su Min pursed her lips. “Please don’t lie, Reina. While you may roam the world oblivious to it and everything happening in it, I am very observant. I’ve been there when you come to check on him when he’s sleeping. I’ve seen the way you look at him. And do you want me to remind you that I was there when you two returned from his first water physio session? I saw him touch your hair. Even Stefan and Laila have commented on how Vedant watches you when you’re around. And Laila definitely doesn’t like it. She’s had a crush on him for the longest. Perhaps, she sees you as competition, and that’s why she’s trying harder to get him to notice her.”

“Competition?” Reina scoffed. “This is not an episode of The Bachelor .” Her heart was hammering. “He’s our patient.”

Su Min studied her. “You’ve stopped wearing your glasses, and your hair is no longer tied in that grandmotherly knot. You can’t deny that it is because of him.”

Oh fuck. Vedant still had her glasses. She’d been so busy with him or thinking about him that she’d conveniently forgotten about them. And Su Min, of course, had noticed. The others must have too.

At her silence, Su Min shook her head. “Look, keep your secrets. I don’t begrudge you for whatever you have going on with him. You’re both consenting adults, and what you do with one another is none of my business. Anyway, what did you want to talk to all of us about?”

Reina sipped her coffee, using it as an excuse to regain her bearings. She had to be more careful. Gossip travelled fast in their fraternity, and while she trusted Su Min, she didn’t really know the other two enough to expect them not to spread rumours about her when they returned to the hospital.

Sighing, she began, “Now that our patient is moving about on his own, he only needs support for his physio sessions. That’s why I think we can reduce the team here. Since the others are not here, perhaps you can tell me what you think about this. Would you like to go home?”

“Oh my God, really?” Su Min sounded excited.

“Yes,” Reina said.

It had been more than a month and Vedant was recovering fast. It was best for her team to start getting back to their lives. They’d been living here confined for too long now. Soon, she, too, would have to return, but she had time. Vedant would need at least three more weeks to recover fully, as per her estimation. She’d stay till then… and then… She wasn’t thinking of that right now. Right now, she was only living in the moment… with him.

“Thank you, Reina,” Su Min said. “I’d really like to return. In fact, I wanted to talk to you about Vasily.”

“What about him?” Reina asked, happy to change the subject. “I hope he’s okay.”

“He’s not been taking my calls. I’m worried.”

Reina squeezed her arm. “Hey, I’m sure he’s busy with his bosses. For all you know, they must be travelling. The Oshnovs have a huge business. He must be out somewhere with one of them.”

Su Min looked to the floor and then back at her. “Can you check with Vedant if I can leave right away? I’m quite worried about Vasily, and I’ll feel better once I am out of here and have complete access to my phone.”

“Alright, I’ll talk to him today itself.”

Su Min squeezed her hand. “Thank you, Reina. I appreciate it.”

Reina gave her a smile, her mind still processing everything Su Min had said. She needed to be more careful. She had to control her own emotions around Vedant so they didn’t get caught.

Su Min switched on the news and they watched it, chatting about things in general.

An hour later, Reina fixed herself another coffee and left to speak to Vedant. A large hand caught her arm and whirled her into a corner. She shrieked as the coffee sloshed around her cup, but thankfully it didn’t spill. She looked up and found Vedant towering over her, his arms caging her against the wall.

Before she could utter a word, he planted his mouth on hers. Her heart tripped and then began to run at full speed. Sparks erupted under her skin. His lips were hot, searching, demanding, as if he couldn’t get enough of her. And she… God, she was quickly losing control. She ought to stop this madness, but how could she when all she wanted was to drown in it and him. Fuck. So much for being careful.

He moved into her, deepening the kiss, sucking her lower lip, running his tongue against her teeth. She trembled. Her heart began to pound. He nipped her lower lip, and lust bolted through her.

Her grip on her coffee mug tightened as Vedant crowded into her, kissing her deeper, harder. God, she never wanted to stop kissing him. She never wanted to let him go.

Loud voices neared them. Vedant stepped back out of the corner. Behind him, Laila and Su Min stood, watching them. Her cheeks burned.

“Good morning, Dr. Singh,” he said. “Have you lost your way? What are you doing in that corner?”

She blinked. “I… Um…”

Su Min and Laila were both watching her, and she was behaving stupidly tongue-tied, while Vedant was clearly enjoying this all too much. She scowled at him. He grinned, his eyes dancing with mischief.

She studied her surroundings and realised he’d moved her into a side corridor that led to the gym.

She lifted her jaw. “I was actually looking for you.”

“Me?” He took her coffee mug from her and sipped from it casually. “Thank you for the coffee then.”

“I wanted to talk to you,” she clarified.

He quirked his brows and spread a hand out. “By all means. Let’s talk in my study.”

“Ladies.” He nodded at the two women as he passed them.

While Laila was staring at Vedant, Su Min was smiling broadly at Reina. Her spirits sank. Shit. Had her friend seen them? She hoped not. Vedant had backed away from her in time. He had, hadn’t he? An hour before this fiasco, she’d been telling herself to be careful, and yet, one touch of Vedant’s mouth and her brain had stopped working. All sensible thought had fled, leaving only a craving behind. Fuck. She was behaving like a hormonal teenager. She had to get a grip on herself.

She shut the door behind her as Vedant preceded her into his study. The dark hardwood floors with dark walls surrounded by lamps, a burgundy leather desk, Chesterfield sofas in that same shade, and a fireplace on the side, made the room look warm and inviting. Ignoring it, she focused on the man in the centre of the room.

“What is wrong with you?” she yelled.

“What did I do?” he asked, innocently.

She threw him a glower. “You know exactly what you did.”

“Last I checked, I am allowed to kiss the woman who consumes my thoughts, day and night. And I like kissing her. Besides, no one saw.”

“You don’t know that,” she countered.

“No one saw. Stop getting worked up.” He neared her. “Unless, like me, you too feel that the kiss wasn’t enough and want more.”

Oh, she did want more. So much more. Her body tilted toward him of its own accord now. Her eyes darted to the desk beyond him. Visuals of him and her writhing on that very desk flooded her mind. Fuck. She was losing it. She was getting addicted to him, craving her next fix of him.

“What are you doing to me?” she rasped. “I’m getting fixated on you. It’s crazy.”

He traced a finger down her burning cheek. “I feel it too. This, you and me, it’s gone beyond my understanding. It’s exploding inside my chest, taking me under. I only know I want to be with you… all the time.”

She gulped. So many emotions, need being the topmost, were rising inside her, and she didn’t know what to do with them or how to deal with them. Her need for him was burning through her skin, making her crave. Him. Vedant only had to touch her and her body came alive, demanding attention and fulfilment from him. Stop it , she scolded herself. This was insane. She was behaving insane.

So, she said, “I actually wanted to talk to you about something.”

He reclined on his desk, watching her in that deep, intense way of his. “Tell me.”

“Since you’ve become so independent, I think I’d like to reduce your care team to only two people. What do you think about letting Su Min and Laila leave tonight?”

“Sure, I’m good with whatever you decide,” he smiled. “But are they both okay with this?”

“Su Min is happy to leave, and Laila…” She shrugged.

He smirked. “What about her?”

His naughty smirk said it all. He knew. Fuck. Was she the only one oblivious to things happening around her?

“You’re too smart to not have noticed that she has a thing for you,” Reina said.

“Does she now?” he drawled.

“Yes.”

“So, you’re letting her go because she has a thing for me. Hmm. Interesting.”

Reina glared at him. “It really isn’t.”

“I find the fact that you are jealous over another woman having a thing for me rather interesting.”

“I am not jealous.”

“Then let her stay. Send Stefan.”

The thought of Laila staying and continuing to hit on Vedant was unacceptable. Vedant was hers. Only hers. She stilled.

Vedant and she hadn’t spoken of the future. They were living in the moment. But considering the wave of possessiveness filling her, it seemed that her heart had already decided that it wanted more from him. That it had already claimed him as hers.

Her lungs loosened. Yes, she could do more with him. If she’d trusted him this far, then she could take the plunge and perhaps soar with him. Gaining confidence from that assurance, she moved into him and wrapped her arms around him. His hands settled around her waist. His eyes sparked as they met hers.

“Laila is leaving today,” she said.

“Why?” Vedant’s hands drifted under the hem of her t-shirt, and he caressed her bare skin. And just like that, desire raged inside her. She needed him, right now.

She pushed closer to him, her chest plastering against his. “Because I don’t like her around you. I don’t like the way she looks at you.”

“Why?” His hands drifted lower down the waistband of her tights. A shiver rolled through her. His hand moved closer and closer to her core, exactly where she needed him. Her eyes drifted closed, and then they popped open as he stilled. She found him watching her.

“Tell me why,” he asked.

“Because you are mine ,” she finally said.

“Is that right?”

“Yes, now give me what I want.”

“I know what you want, krasavitsa !” he chuckled, removing his hands from her body. “But I have a meeting right now. Raincheck?”

Fuck, her body was aflame, and he was leaving her unfulfilled? She put her nose on the side of his throat, inhaling his strong scent.

He groaned. “Reina, I can’t. I really have a meeting.”

She bit the side of his neck. He gasped, his hands sinking in her hair exactly as she’d expected. She stayed on his neck for a moment, biting, licking, sucking. Suddenly, she stepped back. “Okay, I’ll see you later.”

He shot to his feet and tugged her to him, fisting his hands in her hair. His hard erection pressed into the vee of her legs, making her body ache and her heart thunder.

“You have a meeting, remember?” She patted his cheek. “Raincheck?”

He growled, the sound from low in his chest. “Fuck the meeting. You’re mine . Never forget that.”

She laughed as he laid her down on the desk. Leaning over her, he covered her body with his. Their mouths met, and she lost herself in him as he gave her everything she’d been craving for.