He : "Keep that in mind, Aahana. You are mine. You cannot look at any man the way you looked at him. You cannot flirt with any man other than me."

His hand moved from my waist to my hip, sliding lower to rest near the curve of my ass, gripping possessively.

He : "And you cannot show these curves to anyone but me. Understand?"

Me : "Yesss."

He : "Yes what, Miss Aahana? I am your what?"

Me : "Yes... sir."

He : "That's right, Miss Aahana. And don't be late tomorrow at work."

Sleep didn't come to me again. All I could think about was the kiss—the heat of it, the bite, his hand on my neck. Had it all been my imagination?

The next morning, I deliberately chose something tight. A fitted dress that hugged my waist and flared at the hips, showing off every curve. I wanted to see what he would do. How far his control would stretch before it snapped.

As usual, I went to my desk. He was already in his office, behind glass, talking on a call. I went up to serve him his coffee, but a colleague was inside, so I simply placed the cup down, updated him on the meetings, and left.

I could feel Vedansh's eyes burning into me the entire time.

After finishing all my work, during the lunch break, my phone buzzed.

Come to my office. — V

I went up to him, adjusting my face into an innocent expression. This time, I would be in control.

Me : "Sir, you called me?"

My voice was silk and professionalism.

He : "There are some urgent changes in the proposal."

He swiveled his chair and called me near him. I bent down, leaning over his shoulder as he explained everything on his laptop. I kept my face so close that we could exchange breaths, my lips barely an inch from his jaw. My fingers lightly touched his shoulder, then drifted to the back of his neck, teasing the hair there.

And before getting up, I gave him a small, fleeting peck on his lips.

He froze. He didn't expect that.

Before he could recover, I needed to leave. I knew if I didn't leave on time, I would face consequences.

I rushed to the door, reached for the handle, but it didn't open.

Locked.