The awe in Rajesh eyes was a fragile thing, a sudden, unexpected tremor in the solid bedrock of his possessiveness. Durga stared back, her own breath still coming in soft, shuddering waves, the echo of her climax still a warm, throbbing hum deep within her. His thumb stroked her jaw, a gesture so tender it felt foreign on his calloused skin. She was in for a sliver of a heartbeat, she saw a man, not just a master.

The chamber door crashed open.

The spell shattered. Rajesh’s head snapped up, his body instantly coiling into a defensive wall over hers, shielding her nakedness with his own. Anurag stood in the doorway, his face a mask of pure torment, his eyes burning with a desperation that made Durga’s heart clench.

“Durga! Get up! Get dressed! We’re leaving, now!” Anurag’s voice was a raw, cracked thing, his chest heaving as if he’d run for miles.

Rajesh didn’t move, a low growl rumbling in his chest. “You have a death wish, boy? Get out.”

“No! I won’t!” Anurag took a step forward, his anguished gaze fixed on Durga, pleading, ignoring the looming threat of her husband. “Durga, please! You don’t have to do this. You don’t have to be with him. Look what he’s done to you! This… this farce of a marriage… we can run. Tonight. My father will never find us.”

Durga’s mind swam. The specter of the life she’d dreamed of—of secret glances in the haveli’s gardens, of stolen moments and whispered promises—rose before her, beautiful and agonizing. Her eyes flickered to Rajesh, to the hard line of his shoulder, to the memory of his weight anchoring her to a reality that was terrifying and electrifying in equal measure.

She found her voice, soft but clear, cutting through the thick, sex-heavy air. “Anurag… stop.”

“No, listen to me! He’s my father’s brute, his loyal dog. He doesn’t love you. He was ordered to take you, to break you, to keep you from me!”

“I know,” she whispered, the truth of it a dull ache. But another truth, hotter and more immediate, was pulsing through her veins. The truth of Rajesh’s hands on her skin, the shocking pleasure that had torn through the pain, the way her own body had arched and begged for his. Duty had bound her to him, but something else, something raw and primal, was now tying the knot tighter.

She looked at Anurag, her childhood friend, her first and only love, and she made her choice. “I have married Rajesh now. He is my destiny.” The words felt final, a door slamming shut on a part of her life. “Please, Anurag. Go.”

The devastation on his face was a physical blow. He looked from her resolute eyes to Rajesh’s triumphant sneer, and his shoulders slumped in utter defeat. Without another word, he turned and stumbled from the room, the sound of his retreating footsteps echoing like a funeral march.

The silence he left behind was profound. Rajesh’s intense gaze returned to her, the brief softness gone, replaced by a blazing, possessive fire stoked by her declaration. He is my destiny.

“Say it again,” he commanded, his voice a dark caress.

She swallowed, her pulse quickening. “You are my husband.”

“Mine,” he growled, and his mouth crashed down on hers in a claiming, violent kiss. It was nothing like before. This was a celebration of conquest, a sealing of her vow. His tongue plunged into her mouth, tasting of her, of him, of their shared sin. His hands were everywhere at once, rough and demanding, sliding down her back to grasp her full, enticing breasts, kneading the soft flesh, his thumbs circling her nipples until they were hard, aching pebbles.

She gasped into his mouth, her own resistance melting under the renewed onslaught of sensation. The conflict, the heartbreak for Anurag, was shoved aside, buried under the overwhelming physical reality of the man who owned her now, body and soul. Her back arched, pushing her breasts more firmly into his hands, a silent plea for more. He broke the kiss, his breath hot against her cheek. “You are mine, Durga. Every sigh, every moan, every tremor… they all belong to me now.” He shifted his weight, his hand sliding down the smooth plane of her stomach, through the damp curls, and finding the slick, swollen heart of her. She cried out as his fingers parted her, circling the sensitive nub he’d brought to such devastating life mere moments before.

“You are still wet for me,” he murmured, a dark satisfaction in his tone. “Still hot. Your body knows its master, even if your heart still wanders.”

“It doesn’t,” she breathed, the protest weak as his fingers worked their magic, stoking the embers of her passion back into a roaring flame. “It’s here.”

He pushed one thick finger inside her, then two, stretching her, filling her, and she moaned, her hips lifting off the bed to meet his thrusting hand. The pleasure was sharper this time, more focused, without the blinding shield of pain. She could feel every ridge of his fingers, every deliberate movement that coiled the tension tighter and tighter in her core.

“Then show me,” he rasped, withdrawing his hand and positioning himself at her entrance once more. He was hard again, thick and demanding. He looked into her eyes, holding her gaze captive. “Show me where you belong.”

With a single, powerful thrust, he sheathed himself fully inside her. This time, there was only a fleeting moment of stretching fullness before the pure, unadulterated pleasure took over. She cried out, her nails digging into the hard muscle of his back. He began to move, a relentless, piston-like rhythm that stole the breath from her lungs. Each deep plunge brushed against a spot inside her that made her see stars, a jolt of lightning with every stroke.

Her legs wrapped around his waist, pulling him deeper, deeper. The room filled with the sounds of their coupling: the slap of skin on skin, his guttural grunts, her increasingly desperate whimpers. She was losing herself again, the world narrowing to the point where their bodies joined, to the pounding rhythm that was erasing everything but the feel of him.

“Who do you belong to?” he grunted, his pace becoming punishing.

“You!” she gasped.

“Say my name.”

“Rajesh! I belong to Rajesh!” The admission, screamed into the hot air, shattered the last of her inhibitions. Her climax exploded without warning, a tidal wave of ecstasy that ripped through her with such force that she felt weightless, untethered from the world. Her body convulsed around him, every muscle tightening and releasing in wild, uncontrollable spasms. She could feel his length deep inside her, throbbing in rhythm with her own pulsating core, as if they were one entity, bound together by the raw, primal force of their union.

Rajesh growled low in his chest, his hips driving into her with a ferocity that only heightened the intensity of her release. His hands clamped down on her hips, holding her steady as he thrust deeper, harder, chasing his own pleasure with a single-minded determination. “That’s it, Durga,” he rasped, his voice rough with desire. “Take all of me. Let me feel you.”

Her head thrashed back against the pillows, her back arching as the waves of pleasure seemed to crest again and again, each one more overwhelming than the last. Her fingers clawed at his shoulders, desperate for something to anchor her, but even the sting of her nails seemed to spur him on. His pace became relentless, each thrust pushing her higher, deeper into a state of mindless bliss. She could feel his control slipping, the taut muscles of his back and shoulders trembling under her touch as he teetered on the edge of release.

“Say it again,” Rajesh demanded, his voice a harsh whisper against her ear. His breath was hot and ragged, and she could feel the tremors in his body as he fought to hold on.

“I am yours, Rajesh,” Durga moaned, her voice breaking as another surge of pleasure wracked her body. “Only yours.”

Those words were all it took. With a guttural roar, Rajesh buried himself to the hilt, his hips stuttering as his own release overtook him. Durga could feel the heat of him flooding her, the sensation sending one final, searing wave of pleasure through her already trembling body. He collapsed onto her, his weight pressing her into the mattress as they both struggled to catch their breath, their hearts pounding in unison.

For a long moment, neither of them moved. The room was silent except for their labored breathing and the fading echoes of their passion. Slowly, Rajesh lifted his head to look at her, his dark eyes filled with a mixture of triumph and something else—something that made her heart skip a beat. He brushed a strand of sweat-damp hair from her face, his touch surprisingly gentle. “You are mine,” he murmured, his voice low and possessive. “And I will never let you go.”

Durga nodded, her body still humming with the aftershocks of their intense coupling. She knew then, with a clarity that surprised her, that there was no going back. Her old life, her old dreams, were gone. This man, this moment—this was her reality now. And for the first time, she felt no fear. Only acceptance.