"Jas-"
"Oh and there's no need to keep me as a dirty little secret either now," she continued in a bitter voice. "I won't be telling Alex anything because there's nothing to tell anymore. Have a good life."
"Jasmine, wait."
"Leave me alone," she snapped angrily and walked out of there, vowing to never lay eyes on him again.
First, he did all this back and forth regarding meeting up with her, then he made her feel bad for requiring his submission through bondage even though he had accepted all of her terms, and then he had the audacity to expect her to continue hiding their...whatever it was they were having...because he didn't want to upset Alex.
Well, fuck him. She didn't need guys like him in her life, anyway. She was rich and powerful. Soon, she would find someone else to play with as she wished. Armaan Qureshi was going to get replaced real soon.
~~~~
For the first time in years, enjoying himself while out his friends was difficult for Armaan. The runway in front of him was alive with stunning models whom he could have had a pick of later if he had wanted, Alex was in high spirits next to him as he basked in the limelight of the VIP section they were seated in and the music and atmosphere surrounding them was nothing short of fabulous.
But all Armaan could think of was her. The way she had looked when she'd left his hotel room an hour earlier, the finality of her tone as she told him that they didn't have to do this anymore.
A month. He'd only known her for a month and she'd gotten under his skin so bad. Those phone calls she viewed as a means to have some fun with him had become things he'd started to look forward to every day. He hadn't realised how strongly he felt until he was faced with the possibility of losing it all.
He wanted her in more ways than he was ready to admit to himself. It was crazy and impossible. He'd only just met this girl a handful of times and she was pretty selfish regarding her treatment of him yet...she felt like a part of him he hadn't known was missing all these years. It scared the shit out of him.
"Oh, hey," Alex said in his ear. "Jas invited me clubbing after this so I'm going to miss the after-party."
Armaan shot a sharp look at Alex. "What? She doesn't go clubbing," was his immediate response.
Alex frowned at him and Armaan winced inwardly, realising that as far as Alex was concerned, he wasn't supposed to know that small detail about her.
"I mean...she doesn't look like the type, you know," he amended, looking back towards the runway.
"Yeah, well. People change. I'm happy for her. She takes life way too hard in my opinion. I'm going to join her," Alex said cheerfully. "It’s just the one around the corner. Who knows? Tonight could be my night with her."
Whatever pleasant expression was there on Armaan's face vanished upon hearing that. Over my dead body, he thought. What was Jasmine thinking doing something reckless like that? She was new in this city, had no friends and no experience with clubbing whatsoever and she wanted to invite Alex of all people. His brother.
He wasn't going to let that happen. No matter what, he was not losing her to anyone else. He'd make sure of that.
****
Temptation
12
Jasmine was a little drunk. No...she was more than a little drunk. She was practically swaying, getting swallowed up by the crowd and not even caring where she went or who groped her on the dance floor. This was awesome. Mindless and unnecessary but still, absolutely awesome. Why had she never set foot inside a club before? And why had she never had a drink before? Alcohol wasn't at all bad like she had believed. In fact, it made her feel better than she had in a long time. Also, it made her horny.
Too bad the thing with Armaan had gone to hell. She could have used him right now even though he was an obnoxious ass. She would have let him do a lot of things to her actually. Forget feeling powerful. The four shots she'd had had already rendered her pretty much helpless.
So this was how the other half lived. The not so righteous and rigid. What fun.
"Jasmine!" someone shouted in her ear, annoying the hell out of her.
"What?" She whirled around and bumped into a hard chest. Firm hands gripped her shoulders and steadied her as she stumbled. "Armaan?" She peered up at him, wondering what he was doing here.
"Come on. I'm taking you home," he snapped at her, tugging on her hand and not even waiting for her to reply as he led them through the mass of people dancing around them.
"To have your wicked way with me?" she asked him gleefully.
Armaan paused for a moment, studying her with a scowl on his face. "My God," he said loudly, staring at her. "You're drunk."
She grinned at him, feeling very proud of herself in that moment. "I had four shots," she informed him cheerfully and held up two fingers. He shook his head in amazement and then continued to lead her away. Jasmine halted after a few seconds and pulled on his hand so that he would give her his full attention.
"I don't want to go!" she yelled at him.
"We have to. Alex will be here soon and I can't be seen with you!" he yelled back.
With a
