42

-• what's in the name? so much. •-

Rudra

I'm capable of every evil.

And I'm aware of my morals,

they stretch far too long, and blur the lines of morality.

For someone who claimed to have the best sex of her life not an hour ago, Taranya sure is fast enough to put it all behind her and sit down to work on her laptop. I thought couples were supposed to cuddle and fondle each other after sex?

"It's three in the morning, Tara," I remind her.

She glances towards the wall clock and hums.

I sigh and sit down on my desk chair. "You're seriously not working at three in the morning!" I complain.

"I told you, Rudra, we need to take care of her as soon as possible." She eyes me for a fleeting second, her tone reprimanding. "I already have a lot on my plate. I'll be more relaxed if I take care of this problem first."

"She's clean, Tara. Her legal records, her past, her social circle, everything's clean."

"And that doesn't strike you weird?" She looks above her laptop.

"Why would it? Some people do lead a normal life. It's not weird."

"Are you saying she's such a saint she can never do anything wrong?" She twists my words.

"I did not say that!" I snap.

"Then what is it? You did not hack into her phone, because surprise surprise, you suddenly have morals and ethics, and now when I'm trying to tackle her at my end, you're saying stuff like she can never do anything wrong. What? Do you have some sort of soft corner for her? Because she loves you?"

I groan, burying my face in my hands.

"With that reaction, you're making me feel that I'm right."

"For God's sake, Tara!" I look at her astonished. "What's up with you suddenly?"

"What's up with you? I'm trying to help us both! I'm trying to find a solution. But you're making it seem like I'm wasting my time because your Niharika is such a good girl that she can never do anything wrong!" She mocks.

"Stop being jealous of her." I grit out.

She scoffs. "I'm not jealous of her. Maybe you don't want to get rid of her. Maybe you like her attention, you just don't want to accept it!"

I get up from the chair to pace the room because I don't trust myself to not blow this progress up if I'm not distracting myself physically. She did not just say that. Not after I fucked her brains out an hour ago.

I don't give a fuck about Niharika. Heck, she didn't even cross my mind until Taranya mentioned her in our conversation. I could care less what happens to her. All I wanted was my wife's attention. We spent three hours blissfully in each other's embrace, sue me if I wanted to bask in the realisation of it for the rest of the night.

"I'm serious, Rudra, if you like her even a little bit-"

"Shut up." I growl, stopping in the middle of the room to glare at her. "Stop making up shit."

"Then why haven't you taken care of her until now? Why is she still here!? And what's the problem if I dig up some dirt on her?" She retorts.

"I never said that! Stop putting words in my mouth!"

"As if it's rocket science to figure out the underlying meaning beneath your words." She scoffs. "You're clearly worked up about this."

"Oh God, woman, what are you?" I look at her in disbelief. "I don't care what you do to her! In fact, I'll gladly cheer you on." I walk up to her and sit on the edge of the bedside. "I've stopped hacking into random devices. I didn't specifically choose not to hack hers because I care about her or some shit. But yes, I care about Yara, hell lot than I thought I'd ever do. And I'm afraid any traces of him illegally hacking into any system will be traced back to him. If that happens, I'll have to either hand him over to the government or get rid of him forever. And I don't want to do that. Coming back to Niharika, yes she's a nuisance, but she's still a lawyer of Rajawat Corporation. She leads a team of ten that takes care of every legal issue and formalities. I trust her more to take my side than anyone else. Because there's a chance I'll have to take the fall when this all blows up. I'm the CEO now."

Understanding dawns on her face. She finally starts to think rationally as my words sink into her head.

"So you do trust her."

I take my words back.

We're back to square one.

"Taranya, I'm in the same position with Niharika as you're with Shourya. At least I'm not acting to be in love with her as her husband."

"Oh, so we're back to it." She looks at me pointedly. "I don't remember creating this problem for myself. I was pulled into it without my consent!"

"Well, so was I!" I hiss at her. "Niharika was never my choice!"

"You said and I quote, if I don't say yes, you'll marry someone else! Niharika or not. You made the choice! You made the decision! And you practically forced me into this!"

"And look at you, so miserable, aren't you?" I smirk.

She throws the laptop aside before tackling me to the bed, straddling me around the hips. I breathe harshly. "I fucking hate you." She seethes, eyes blazing, fierce and blue, so lethal but so God damn hot.

"You don't." I tell her.

"And I hate that more." With one smooth move, she peels off the loose top and swoops down to crush our lips together. I groan in the back of my throat, catching the next split second to flip us upside-down. She breathes raggedly when I pull away. Our eyes meet. Lust comes alive in her placid blues, darkening as they trail down my face, and stop at my lips. "I wish my body hated you too."

"It doesn't?" I whisper.

She sighs, moaning when I roll my hips forward, grinding our lower bodies together. "No, God no, it loves you. It loves you so fucking much I'm afraid it'll have withdrawal symptoms like most addicts when they don't get their usual fix."

"So I'm a drug?" I drag my open lips down her throat and suck a mark above her left breast.

"Yes," she curls her hands around my neck and brings me back to her lips. "Of a high potent too." Our lips mesh together. I kiss her harder, deeper, in a way that could be seen as vulgar, messy, but feels the most perfect, and just right. "Can you remove those lens?" She pulls away for a moment.

I frown. "Now?"

She nods. "I want to look into your eyes. Your real eyes."

I swallow.

"Give me a minute," pulling away, I rush into the bathroom and skim through the steps like a flight of bird before coming back to her on the bed.

She makes me straddle her thighs. I sit on the fold of my knees as she does a quick work of my black shirt. Then we kiss again, and I slowly travel down her chest, taking a nipple in my mouth and rolling it between my teeth, swirling and swiping my tongue over the stretchy flesh, reducing the woman in my arms to a blubber of incomprehensible words and a string of aching moans.

"Wait! Wait! Wait!" She pats my shoulder.

"What?" I straighten up and find her eyes locked somewhere behind me. I look over my shoulder, frowning in confusion when I fail to figure out the reason why she abruptly stopped me before looking back at her. "What's wrong?"

"Uhm, isn't that your Yara?" She points towards the speaker installed in the corner of the room, above the flat television screen. "Can he see us? See me?" She shields herself with my body.

I chuckle. "He's not a person, Tara. Don't worry, he's not into voyeurism."

"Can he or can he not see us?"

"As soon as I put the glasses in the safe, he activates himself through my personal computer. So yes, he can see us. He has to. This room contains too many secrets. He needs to be on the lookout 24/7."

Her face screws in a mix of incredulity and shock. "Wha- you're - he- oh God, he saw me!" She crosses her arms on her chest.

I laugh.

"Don't laugh, Rudra! It's not funny! He can see me naked!" She screeches and kicks me off her lap, dragging the sheets to cover herself until her neck. I fall on my back at her feet, laughing like a drain, unable to believe the advanced, modernised, educated woman is shy in front of an AI that her husband created. Yes, Yara sometimes act like a human, but he's still, no where close to becoming one himself.

"Is this one of Tara's dumb moments?" I angle the side of my head in the cup of my palm, staring at her teasingly.

She snorts. "Very funny! I'm sorry if I don't like it if a robot watches me naked!"

"He's not a robot, he's a software -"

"Spare me of the technicalities!"

"Let's ask him what he thinks of your opinion." I turn around, facing the opposite wall and feel a light kick on my back, causing me to laugh a little more. "Yara, did you see anything weird in the last one hour? Anything that made you uncomfortable?"

"No, Boss, I don't feel uncomfortable."

"But you made my wife uncomfortable," I tell him.

"Did I? May I know precisely which action of mine caused her discomfort? I'm willing to change and get better."

"Stop!" Tara stabs her toe in my back.

"Why?" I look at her. "Were you not uncomfortable that he was watching us?"

"It's not his fault!" She grunts.

I exaggerated a sigh. "Now I know why men say women are complicated creatures."

"You don't understand! It's the same as getting indecent under security surveillance."

"Yes, my love, but the difference is, only I've access to every recording Yara saves in his memory. No one else." I reassure her.

Strangely, her eyes flare up with heat. She clears her throat as red colors her flushed skin.

I grow serious. "Does that turn you on?" I crawl back on top of her. She lowers her knees and the sheets slip along. My eyes fall to her beautiful, round mounds. I lift a hand to cup one of them. She sucks in a deep breath as soon our skins touch, my palm swallowing her whole breast, and I squeeze it. "It does. The fact that he's watching us, recording us, and that one day, in future, I'll watch us too, remember this moment, remember how you looked while I pleasured you, it turns you on. It does, am I right, Esther?"

She licks her dry lips.

"Say it. Tell me I'm right."

In defeat, she nods slowly.

"Get on your knees and face the camera." I pull back.

She looks at me stunned.

"Don't make me repeat."

She obeys quickly, crawling on her fours until the edge of our bed, and giving me a glorious view of her plump buttocks. I run a hand down her right hip. She shudders, and seconds later gasps, my hand now on her right butt cheek, fondling it tenderly. I slip a middle finger in the crease between her legs and find her soaking the thong. "You're loving this. Look how wet you are." I slowly rub a finger between her folds. She moans softly. "What do you want? Tell me."

"You."

"Me?"

She nods, dazed.

"Which part of me?"

"Whichever you give me." She pants, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, as if stopping herself from salivating.

"But you want it to be mine, don't you?"

"Yes," I push aside the crotch area of her thong and shove a finger inside her hole. She bucks forward, a lewd moan falling off her lips. "Holy shit! Yes! Give me more!"

"More? How much more? Another-"

Her phone rings, stopping us.

"Don't stop!" She begs. "Ignore it, please."

I add the second digit and she fists her mouth. Her phone, having stopped a second ago, starts ringing again. The shrill sound disturbingly loud.

"Fuck whoever it is!" Pulling away, she puts on my discarded shirt and moves towards the nightstand. I grab the wet tissues from my medicine drawer and wipe my fingers clean. Her face grows serious as soon as she reads the caller's name.

"Who's it?"

"Bhai," she clears her throat before answering the call. "Yes, Bhai?"

"Which one? You've six." I whisper.

She gives me a stern look.

I sit quietly as she listens to this Bhai of her. Seriously, she needs to name them sequentially. Like old monarchs used to do. George I, George II, George III. Same for Bhai I, Bhai II, Bhai III. Saves the normal people some obvious confusion.

"Is he okay?"

I grow alert.

"So he just fainted? Must be the drugs. Miss. Farida told me to make sure he immediately goes to sleep after taking them. I'll be there. Is he hurt?"

Shourya. She's talking about him.

"Oh, thank God. Yeah, don't worry. I'll be there. Just give me two hours." Hanging up, she swings her legs to the floor and attempts to get off when I hunch forward to grab her hand. She looks at me impatiently.

"Where are you going?"

"Shourya fainted and fell down the flight of stairs. Luckily, he's not hurt. Just hit his knees. I need to be there with him."

A punch straight to my fucking guts. I know I shouldn't be jealous. I've no reason to. It doesn't matter what my identity is. She wants me for me and not for who I pretend to be. But I can't shake off the flood of insecurities that pour in as I watch her walk into the closet to get ready so she can be with him, tending to his injuries and putting him to sleep.

"What are you doing?" She peeks out of the closet.

I blink at her.

"Get ready. Drop me off!" And disappears back inside.

I rub a hand on my face.

We were about to have sex again, in a position I'd fantasized about for times I've lost count of that it can be easily considered an obsession, and right at that moment my bad luck kicked in.

In less than an hour, we're on the road, in my car, driving to the outskirts of Jaigarh. I tap the right hinge of my glasses, activating Yara and drum my fingers on the steering wheel.

"Rudra," she stops staring outside the window to look at me.

I hum.

"What are you planning to do with him?"

"Shourya?" I glance at her.

She nods. "I understand, it's unfair that he gets everything you deserved, but he's not really at fault, don't you think?"

"For someone who hated the thought of me defending Niharika, you sure are a hypocrite when it comes to that lost cause." I scoff out a chuckle.

"Because those are two different things!" She sneers. "God, it's futile talking to you. Why did I even start?" She looks back outside the window.

"Fine, without sugarcoating, let me tell you what will happen. I'll overtake what I can and bring them under the wings of Esther Industries, and those that I cannot, by the end of this, I plan to destroy them all. So in short, until he gets his memories, he'll be a penniless Prince of Rajgarh. Is that enough?"

"Was that your plan all along?" She furrows her brows at me.

"Yes. I've overtook Rajawat Innovations, thirty percent of Rajawat Construction, and now I'm planning to end it all with Rajawat Motors. It'll come crashing down on them all at once. Embezzlement, tax evasion, unethical human experimentation, child trafficking. He'll have no way out. And it's the way it's supposed to go."

"But you won't abandon Shourya, right? I mean, yeah, he is one of them, but still, we don't know if he'd have grown up to become like them. He had to sacrifice seven years of his life without even consenting to it. It's not fair to him that he gets punished for something he didn't even do."

"I've the right person in my eyes who'll take care of him. But no, personally I'm not planning to extend any kind of brotherhood between us. Once it's all over, I'm cutting all ties with him." My eyes pin hers in place. "And so are you."

She looks down at her lap, wringing her fingers together. I take her silence as yes.

I turn on the radio to fill the void of sound. Taranya doesn't try to strike another conversation between us. I drive in silence and she keeps the windows open to feel the fresh breeze of the midnight on her face. It's cold and she's shivering. It makes my heart stutter.

I manoeuvre the steering with one hand, and using another, shrug off my black leather jacket. She jumps when I drop it in her lap. "Wear it. It's cold."

She obeys wordlessly, and hugs the thick, warm fabric close.

"The Esther Industries you talk off, is it- it named-"

"Yes." I answer the unasked.

"Why do you call me Esther?" She whispers. I feel her eyes staring at me intensely.

"Your father once told me a story. Of a commoner and the prince. They couldn't be together, but they had a child together. The last, living evidence of their love. Their daughter," I look at her, "Esther," her breath hitches. "As a Prince, he asked me to take care of his Princess. I said yes."

She looks away sniffling softly. It's probably the mention of her father.

"Wait," she turns to me. "How are you running a successful business under the disguise of Shourya?"

"As Rudra." I shrug.

"But you said it's not your name. It's the name given to you by Yuvraaj Bhai. Are you telling me you're actually registered as only Rudra in legal records?"

"Not as Rudra," I say, my eyes meeting hers, "But as Rudra Rana Singh Rawal."

So if my love has crossed the same threshold, I'm afraid it's far too gone to consider sane.

HAWT! SO FUCKING HOT!

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