Her eyes widened at his words. She had expected drugs or a bank robbery to come into the equation. Even an assassination. But she had not expected this. However, the revelation failed to shock her. No. What shocked her was something else entirely.
"You went through something like that and yet you still allowed me to treat you the same way?" she asked.
"It wasn’t the same," he corrected her at once. "Yeah, the reminder was unpleasant at first but...you're nothing like her. In fact, you helped me realise that submission isn't an awful thing and that I could actually enjoy it under the right circumstances."
His words made her smile. She knew all about the part where he 'enjoyed' himself. "Alex made it sound really bad," she murmured.
He started to smile at her as well. "So...you don't think I'm disgusting?" he asked hopefully.
She laughed softly. "Not in the slightest," she replied. "I think Alex is disgusting for having shared something so private about you just because he is jealous."
Saying that, she looked away, out the window just as the plane hit a pocket of air and she gripped his hand automatically. She could feel his eyes on her but kept her face averted. Then she became aware of his warmth. He had snuggled up to her again, tucking the blanket under his chin and closing his eyes. "If you feel something poking at you anytime during the night, you know what to do with it, babe," he whispered shamelessly.
Jasmine bit back her laughter. He was nothing like she had imagined him to be when she had first met him. There was a vulnerable side to him which he only seemed to reveal around her and she wasn't sure what to make of that. Armaan started snoring softly after a while and she rolled her eyes but did not push him away.
Right now, he was her only anchor in the world which she was about to re-enter.
****
Reunion (Part I)
15
They landed in Amira two hours later. As they stood there waiting for their luggage, Jasmine felt a strange sense of homecoming. This had been her country for so many years. These people had been a part of her life once. Even the air smelled familiar. She watched absently as Armaan bent to retrieve her luggage from the baggage carousel and dumped it unceremoniously at her feet. That made her throw him a sharp look. He did not seem apologetic. Then he placed his bag nicely beside hers and picked up another one.
"There's no need to do that. I am perfectly capable of getting my own luggage, thank you," Alex hard voice said from behind them. They both turned to look at him. He was frowning at Armaan as he reached out to take his bag from the Muslim guy's hands. "I don't need you to babysit me. This isn't my first time in Amira."
Armaan tried a smile. "So you're talking to me now?"
His brother narrowed his eyes at him but did not reply. Armaan picked up his bag, did not bother with a trolley and hauled it over his shoulder. "I hope they remember the time for our flight," he said absently. "I don't want to catch a taxi."
Alex let out a snort. "As if they would forget. Prince Armaan has landed in Amira. I'm surprised nobody's rolled out the red carpet yet," he muttered.
"Would you let it go already, brother? She doesn't want you. Get over it."
There was a heavy silence, as heavy a silence as it was possible to get in an airport, during which Alex and Armaan glared at each other and Jasmine stared at Armaan in shock. Trust him to just get straight to the point.
Then a sneer formed on Alex's face. "If I had any doubts, the two of you certainly cleared those during the flight. I could hear you all the way to the back. But then, it's not surprising considering how little control you have over your vocal cords."
Incredulous laughter escaped Armaan's mouth at his comments.
"Oh and for the record, I don't ever want you to call me your brother." With those parting words, Alex strolled away from them.
Jasmine took one look at Armaan's stunned expression and decided that she had had enough of becoming caught in the middle of these two. She followed Alex, deciding that he needed to learn a few home truths about the situation.
"You really need to stop treating him like this," she snapped at him. "I've always been aware of how you feel about me. The truth is, I just never felt the same and I never will. I'm sorry if this hurts you but you need to stop punishing Armaan over this. He cares about you, Alex. I know he does. He didn't act on his attraction towards me just to make you feel bad."
Alex was frowning at her. "You've grown quite fond of him in just a few weeks, huh?" he questioned tightly.
Jasmine sighed. "This isn't about me. It's about you and Armaan and how it sucks to see the two of you fighting. You've been best friends for so long. Don't throw it away over a girl. Please."
The smile Alex gave her was bittersweet. "It's not that simple, Jas. This isn't about two best friends fighting over a girl. Hell, there are thousands of such cases all over the world but life goes on. This is betrayal of the worst kind. This is my brother stealing the girl I told him I was in love
