Morning light filtered through the jali screens in thin golden blades, cutting across the tangled silk sheets and the two bodies still entwined within them. Sayoojya woke first to the heavy, possessive weight of Adhiraj’s arm locked around her waist, his chest pressed to her back, the slow rhythm of his breath against the nape of her neck. Every muscle in her body ached in the most intimate places. The memory of the night before—her choice, his claiming, the way he had filled her until she forgot every name but his—lingered like a brand beneath her skin.

She tried to shift, to rise quietly. The arm around her tightened instantly.