~~~~
Jasmine put on her favourite pink nightie after her shower and danced to some passionate music that was emanating from Armaan's Bluetooth sound bar. The walls of this room, she had discovered, were actually soundproof so even if the music was on full blast, if the balcony doors were closed, no one would be able to hear it. After a while, she noticed that her phone was vibrating. It was Hamza.
"Is anyone around in the corridor near your room?" he asked abruptly. "I'm coming to see you."
Her heart started jumping for joy. "I'm in Armaan's room," she told him and peeked out the door. "Maybe Alex is in his room but I'm alone otherwise."
There was a pointed silence and she bit her lip, thinking he had changed his mind about coming.
"I'll be there in five," he said curtly and hung up.
He made her wait a little longer than five minutes. Breathlessly, she watched as the door opened and light from the hallway spilled in through the crack before letting in Hamza's tall figure. He glanced at her sitting there on the bed and then he looked around the room. She ran over to him and threw herself in his arms.
"I can’t believe you came to see me," she whispered, feeling his warmth through his thin cotton shirt and his heart pounding in his chest. Jasmine inhaled his soapy scent and smiled.
"Why are you in Ahmed's room?" he asked her. She realized that his arms were not holding her as tightly as hers were holding him.
Jasmine sighed and drew back. "I liked the balcony. He let me have it," she explained. Hamza just looked at her suspiciously. Jasmine rolled her eyes. "Please don't start getting jealous."
"I'm not jealous," he replied gravely. "I'm sure you have learned how to handle the likes of Armaan during your year abroad."
She tried not to let his words dishearten her. "Dance with me, Hamza," she requested softly. "I missed you a lot."
He laughed shortly. "I don't know how to dance. If you're expecting someone to dance with you, then you should-"
He stopped when she reached up and kissed him. After remaining still for a few seconds, he grabbed her soft, young body and molded it in his hands. "So sexy," he hissed and then bent to graze his teeth against her nipple. "I like what you're wearing, this flimsy little thing. Turns me on." Jasmine stiffened when she felt his hand on her bare breast.
She felt strange. This was not the kind of rendezvous she had in mind. After all this time, she had thought he might want to know how she had been doing. Might want to hold her, sway to the music and bask in the joy of just talking to her, being with her. She clasped his wrist and slowly leaned away from him. "Hamza. Can we please just talk?" she asked uncertainly.
His eyes were dark and hungry and he regarded her stonily for a while, clenching and unclenching his jaw. Then he said, "Sure," very casually.
Jasmine picked up on the undercurrent of tension in his voice. Determined not to feel dismayed, she forced herself to smile and led him out on to the balcony. She understood. His feelings were raw because of being apart from her for so long. On top of that, she had just popped back into his life and he had been caught totally off guard whereas she had at least known that she would be running into him.
He extricated his hand from hers and went to stand at a corner of the balcony, looking away from her.
"We can just lie down in bed if you want," she offered in order to appease him.
He was frowning at the sands that glinted below in the moonlight. "Alisha is expecting me in an hour. She thinks I'm with one of our guests in the library." He was saying that he did not have much time and she should have let him touch her instead of suggesting that they talk.
Jasmine grew worried. She did not want to upset him on their first evening together after all this time. "Come here and kiss me, Hamza. I want to hold you under the moon and the stars so that even they can see how pure and true my love is for you," she invited softly.
He did not move but she waited, knowing that he would not be able to resist her for long.
~~~~
Armaan strolled over to his room and tried the door. It was locked. Why had she locked the door? This was one of the private wings of the mansion and contained only the rooms of family members. No one was going to enter his room without permission. Except for him and he did not imagine that would be a problem for her. When it came to Jasmine, a lot of things just felt natural. Like paying her a visit late at night without even asking if she wanted to see him. Frowning, he retrieved his mobile to call her. No answer. Damn it, where was she? Now, he was starting to become worried about her.
Removing the spare key to his bedroom from his pocket, he turned it in the lock. The lights were off when he entered. From the glow of moonlight, his bed shone, stark and empty except for the sleek black cell phone which was carelessly tossed in the middle. His eyes went to the balcony and sparkled as they fell on Jasmine's skimpily clad figure. Oh, wow. He was definitely not leaving without getting a feel of that tonight. She looked stunning. The cock-stirring sensation he had been waiting for all evening finally came through.
