The dusty green jeep bounced over the rutted track, the late afternoon sun filtering through the dense canopy in sharp, golden shafts. Akshara clung to the roll bar, the humid jungle air thick in her lungs. In the driver’s seat, Neil navigated the path with a confident ease that was at odds with the coiled tension humming between them. The memory of the previous night—the unfamiliar feel of his hands on her, the possessive thrusts in the dark—was a live wire, its current still buzzing just beneath her skin.

The safari had been his idea, a way to extend the thrilling, illicit game they’d all agreed to play this holiday. Her husband’s younger brother. The thought sent a fresh, forbidden shiver down akshara spine. Neil’s hand left the gearshift to settle on her thigh, his thumb making slow, deliberate circles on the denim. A promise. A reminder.