Codename lotus, p.31
Codename Lotus, page 31
She didn’t look at me when she said it.
I knew Naomi better than anyone. It was a conceited statement, but it was true. Under all that bravado was a deep well of tenderness and fear. What she feared most wasn’t failure. It was loss. Because in Naomi’s world, loss meant visceral pain all over again. It was why she kept everyone at arm’s length, including her idiot ex-fiancé.
“I know what you want to hear from me,” she said.
“No, I—”
“This.” Her eyes lifted—bright, almost wet. Her hand slid over my belly, pressing gently. “You…are a beautiful storm that descended on my arid life,” she murmured. “You are water to me, Saanya. You are life. You’ve slowly awakened something I thought had died with them.” She breathed out. “But please…give me time.”
I stared at her, my throat tight.
Time.
It meant there would be more. Not just this moment.
I nodded, sensing she wasn’t done.
“When Ethan first said that word to me, I avoided the topic like the plague. Until I no longer could. And so, I would always placate him by saying, ‘you too.’” Her lips curled in a rueful smile. “I cared for him, but I never meant it. Never. And those before him, well…”
She blushed.
“Wait—you’ve never been—”
Her fingers tightened around mine. “I have not. Until you.” It was barely a whisper. “No one has ever made me feel this way.”
Risking your life for me and my son. Your business and everything you have.
I swallowed, feeling the weight of her words sink in, settling into my bones.
“Naomi…” I cupped her cheek and kissed her, soft, slow, letting her feel it. Letting her know. Because I had never, ever stopped wanting her.
Then, I hesitated. A rejection now would ruin me.
No. I have to ask.
“Are you okay with dating a single mother—with a newborn? Once he arrives, he’ll consume most of my time. I’m a first-time mum, and I don’t know what I’m doing. It will be…challenging.”
“A challenge?” She winked. “Have you met me?”
My eyes watered, and I blinked back my tears while clearing my throat. “Well, would you allow me to, then?” I reached for Naomi’s wrist, glancing at her watch. It was 1:26 a.m.
“Allow?” Naomi echoed, confused.
“To take you out on a proper date.”
“Now?”
“Why not? It’s our last night in Mumbai. We could go to the St. Regis’ rooftop bar. Where else if not here? Because who knows when I will get to have this with you again.” I sighed. “Perhaps it’s too late, isn’t it?”
Naomi shifted slightly, her arms still wrapped high around my neck. “Speaking of that…I’ve been thinking.”
“About?”
She hesitated. “How do you feel about London?”
“London?”
“It’s home. It’s where I broke. Where I shattered before I left all those years ago.” Her voice was quiet. “Perhaps this is why I’ve had such difficulty relating to people on an emotional level. Because instead of facing my parents’ deaths, I ran. And I need to stop running. Who knows, I’m more than likely due for an extensive course of therapy.” She exhaled, lacing our fingers together underwater. “I don’t want to feel fractured anymore.”
“Naomi, what are you saying?” My heart was pounding.
“I have started preparations to sell Vertex Group.”
“What?!”
“It is only fair. Your father might lose his business because of me. It would be self-serving if I kept mine.”
“Naomi, that makes no sense.”
“It does to me.” She cupped my face, impossibly earnest. “I will take a year to reassess what I want to do next. Being with you all those months made me realize just how much of myself I lost. Bits of my culture, the colors, the flavors, the languages that shaped who I am. I’ve been living in between ever since, never fully embracing either. So, I will take this time to piece those parts of me back together.” Her thumb traced circles over my skin. “I’ve been speaking to a broker in the U.K. She has a list of flats and houses for me to look at next week.”
My mouth fell open. “You’re serious?”
“I am.”
“But I heard you talking about flats in New York—I thought you were buying a new place.”
“Well, you heard right. I put my Manhattan home on the market weeks ago. My agent called today—there’s an offer. I’ll buy another immediately. I still need a residence there while we wind down the sale of my company; these things don’t happen overnight. And, frankly, it’s just smart investing. New York real estate is always in high demand and rising.”
Of course, Naomi would choose the business opportunity. It wasn’t love for money that drove her. It was in her veins. She truly was her father’s daughter.
“So,” she said, cheeks blushing. “Could London be our middle ground?” She hesitated. “Of course, I am not asking to live together. You still have your house there, don’t you? I know there are ghosts for both of us in London, but…we could take that year. And—”
“Yes.”
Her eyes flashed open. “Yes?”
“Yes!” I laughed.
Her sudsy hands framed my face and she drank my laughter, capturing my mouth with her own. Oh, that mouth.
Soon, what had started as a celebratory kiss shifted. Deepened. Turned into something hungry. Tongues seeking, teasing. My wet hands threaded into her hair.
We pulled back, panting, still stealing needy kisses. “God,” I moaned, almost a whimper.
Heat pooled between us. It took everything in me not to let my body take over. I wanted her. So badly. But was she ready for sex again? We hadn’t even spoken about our first time.
Be patient. Don’t overwhelm her.
Naomi had been so divine. Opening up, letting her guard down, giving me the most organic, intense orgasm of my life—and yet, she was only just discovering these waters.
Still, her cheeks and neck flushed. I knew what that meant now—and adored it. She was aroused.
I lifted myself, one leg over her thighs, a position my belly allowed. Naomi looked up at me, her breath catching as I straddled her.
“Here,” she murmured, gripping my waist. “Sit on my thigh.”
A straight woman owning lesbian sex? How the hell did she know about the thigh move? This was the second time she’d used it on me.
Her pupils darkened as her hand slid between my legs. I was already wet and throbbing, and the friction from Naomi’s fingers as she started feeling her way against me, stroking, sent me spinning.
“Oh, you’re marvelous,” I gasped.
My overcharged body trembled. I wanted her so much. These pregnancy hormones were stealing every ounce of composure I had left. I barely recognized myself. I would have never imagined consummating a new love affair—with Naomi of all people—while pregnant. In a bathtub. In my friend’s flat!
But nothing had ever felt more natural.
Naomi made me feel so comfortable, wanted, desired—that any inhibition quickly flew out the window. Besides, it was late. Surely Ravi and Sidharth were asleep.
Her breath came hot against my cheek. Almost grunting softly, she hissed, “You’re soaking.”
Oh, I’d felt a floodgate open in me a while ago. And it wasn’t the bath water.
Her hand dipped lower between my thighs, teasing. “Are you still in pain?” Concern edged her voice. “How’s your back?”
“It comes and goes, but I’m fine,” I breathed.
Her fingers glided so easily over my clit as she licked and nibbled at my ear.
“Oh, yes,” I whimpered, gripping her shoulders.
“Yes?” Naomi teased, pressing a finger to my entrance.
“Please,” I moaned, breathless.
Then—
A sharp, arresting pain lanced through me.
“Ah!”
“Mmm?”
Panting, I grabbed her wrist—still between my legs. “Ow!”
Her eyes bulged. “Saanya?” Her voice turned urgent. “What’s wrong? Did I hurt you?”
“No. I—”
Another pain ripped through me. Deeper this time, insistent. The pleasure spiraling inside me twisted into something primal—something far more urgent. “Ah—it’s not you. It’s the baby.”
Her body snapped to attention. “The baby?”
“It’s—” I gritted through it, panic sinking in. “I think it’s a contraction, Naomi. I’ve had this back pain all day—I thought it was just sciatica but this is different.” I squeezed her arm, clutching for support. “A-aaah!” The cry tore out of me. Water sloshed everywhere as Naomi moved, lifting me carefully.
“Saanya, breathe,” she said, gaze locked on me.
I clung to her, our naked bodies slippery.
“Easy.” Her hands steadied me. “One leg out—good—now the other.”
My legs trembled, but Naomi held me securely.
“That’s it. Saanya, look at me.”
I did. Her green eyes searched mine. She exhaled sharply. “Breathe, honey,” she said, gripping my waist, supporting all my weight.
I did. I tried to breathe, nodding.
“You aren’t due until the twentieth.” Her voice was low and measured, but I could hear fear threading through it. “Are you sure?”
“I know. And yes.” Another contraction tore through me. “I’m sure…Ahh!” My knees buckled. “It’s starting, Naomi. The baby’s coming.” I gasped. “I’ve never felt anything like this before. This pain—Ahhhh!”
She caught me, solid as a wall. “Okay, okay, just breathe. There’s nothing to worry about. We’ll get you to the hospital, and they’ll take care of everything. Yes?”
“No.” I grabbed her arms. “Don’t go. Please don’t—” I squeezed my eyes shut as my body tore itself apart from the inside out. “Naomi—” I dropped to my knees, and she stumbled down with me.
I clutched my belly. “I think he’s coming now. I need to push!”
Naomi’s entire body locked up. She had never looked this unsure, this unsteady. Ever. “O-okay.” She nodded, eyes huge. Then she whipped her head toward the closed bedroom door still visible from the bathroom floor, dread blanching her face, and her voice cracked through the flat like a gunshot.
“SIDHARTH!”
NAOMI
By the time Sidharth appeared, I’d already laid a towel on the marble floor, covered Saanya’s breasts, belly, and between her legs, and thrown on a bathrobe.
“What’s happened?” His voice came from the bedroom. He sounded groggy, hair a mess, barefoot and blinking against the light.
“In here!” I called.
He shuffled, rubbing his face like a zombie—then froze.
For three whole seconds, his brain refused to catch up.
Then it clicked.
“Shit! Oh shit!” Panic obliterated his drowsiness. “Naomi—the baby? What do I do?”
“Get a hold of yourself and focus,” I snapped.
His hands flew to his hair, clutching it like it might keep his skull from splitting. “Bollocks! I—should I call an ambulance?”
Before I could answer, Saanya’s scream tore through.
“AHHHH!”
Her nails dug into my arm like a goddamn bear trap. I hissed through my teeth. “Let’s try not to drag any skin next time, yes?” God, she was channeling a wildcat.
I locked my jaw and sucked it up. It couldn’t be hurting me more than it was hurting her, trying to squeeze a small human through her vagina.
“Sorry,” she panted, sweat and bathwater blotching her skin. Then, her breath hitched and her eyes went wide, wild with fear. “Please do something—AAAAH!”
“Ambulance, right!” Sid yelped.
“There’s no time. The baby is coming now.”
“Now as in right now? On Ravi’s bathroom floor?” His hands flailed about.
He sounded like I had just handed him a vagina-shaped bomb he had to deactivate. While it menstruated. God, men are useless.
“Yes. Now. Get it together, Sidharth.” My glare burned from where I sat on the floor up to where he stood. “Snap out of it and do something. Anything!”
He darted around, then brightened like he’d just discovered fire. “Oh! Ravi’s neighbor is a doctor! That could work. Would that work?!”
God.
He bolted out of the room.
Finally.
I turned back. Saanya’s chest heaved, fear drowning her eyes.
“Saanya, just breathe. Focus on me. We’ll get through this.”
She nodded faintly, gripping my hand as another contraction hit. I squeezed back. “Try not to push. Not yet.”
“I don’t want to have him on the floor.” The pleading look in her eyes broke my heart. “Please help me walk to the bed. I can walk.”
“Darling, I don’t think you can move.”
“It hurts so much.” She clutched the towel, bracing for the next wave.
I bent down. “Let me look, just to see how far along you are,” I suggested—not that I knew what how-far-along would look like—but Saanya tightened her grip on my hand, eyes suddenly wide.
“No!”
I froze.
“Please don’t, Naomi. We haven’t even been out—” She soldiered on through a contraction. “—on a proper date—I think we’ve been unconventional enough. This might just tip you over the edge.”
I held back a soft laugh. “Saanya, of course not. How can you think that? You’re in labor.”
She considered it for a second, then relented. I parted her knees, peeking under the towel. Trying to stay clinical.
That’s when Ravi skidded in like a surfer on socked feet, hair a nest, and face bleary. He fought the sudden light just like Sidharth minutes ago.
I shot him a glare sharp enough to cut. “Get. Out.” I hissed, shielding Saanya’s privacy.
Instead, he averted his eyes, using his hand like a flap. “Are you okay, Saanya?” he asked shakily. Well, whined, really. “What can I do?”
“Oh God—another one,” Saanya gasped, then screamed, deafening us both.
“Go boil water or something,” I barked, shooing him out as another scream ripped through her throat.
Her breathing grew ragged. Panic flared in me—but I buried it. I needed to remain steady, now more than ever. She needed exactly that, and I knew I could give it to her.
“You’re doing great. Remember Lamaze? Rita and her ridiculous breathing?”
Saanya winced through the contraction. “It hurts so much, Naomi.”
I dabbed her temple with a washcloth, my thumb tracing her cheek. “I know, darling.”
She caught my hand and brought it against her face.
Before I could speak, Sid barreled back in, breathless. “I found her. Doctor—”
He froze, eyes flicking to our linked hands and Saanya’s fevered lips pressed to my fingers. I could read the unspoken. The thinking wheel spinning above his head.
I didn’t let go of her hand.
“—Dr. Banerjee is here,” he said, at last.
A woman in her late forties followed him in, calm and sure, medical bag in hand. Finally. Someone who knew what to do.
She crouched beside Saanya. “Has she been contracting long?”
“No. Just back and neck pain before. I didn’t realize—” My voice thinned.
Thankfully, Saanya didn’t dwell on it. Instead, she hissed at a pacing Sid. “Stand over there, Sidharth. The—other side of the room.”
He stammered. “O-of course. Of course.” He continued pacing the other side of the bathroom Saanya had just confined him to.
I’d adjusted the towel covering her, making sure she was as protected as possible, but still.
“Saanya, my name is Priyanka, and I will take care of everything, all right?”
Dr. Banerjee’s eyes took in the puddled floor, the tub, the candle, and the wine glass on the tile edge.
“Was she in the tub as well?”
I stiffened. As well? How did she—
Oh.
Of course, Saanya was nine months pregnant. She wasn’t the one drinking wine. And, well…I, too, was wearing a bathrobe. My hair was damp.
I swiftly recounted what we’d been doing moments ago, and heat climbed up my neck. Oh, for God’s sake.
I cleared my throat. “Yes.”
“Warm water?” she prompted.
Sidharth, who had been doing a decent job of keeping himself on the other side of the bathroom, suddenly turned with a confused expression. “What?”
“Other. Side. Of the room!” Saanya snapped.
“Right. Of course,” he muttered and shuffled back.
“Yes,” I said, my eyes flicking briefly toward Sid, whose expression shifted from confusion to suspicion. I could almost see math equations around his head. I turned back to Dr. Banerjee. “Saanya was taking a warm bath when the contractions started. Why would that matter?”
Dr. Banerjee tilted her head. “Hm.”
This woman’s little inquisition had me perspiring. “Hm. What does ‘Hm’ mean?” I forced myself to breathe. Calm down, Naomi. Do not piss off the only person who can help right now. “The baby isn’t due for another week and a half. Could something be wrong?”
“Nothing seems wrong,” she said, pulling on her gloves. “In fact, it’s completely normal for babies to arrive a few days earlier. Especially when the conditions are ideal.”
“Conditions?” I echoed, feeling an odd sense of foreboding.
“The warm bath and any recent…activity could have encouraged labor.”
I blinked. “Activity?”
Her tone remained clinical. “Any sexual intercourse in the last twenty-four hours? That could have induced labor. It’s perfectly natural.”
Oh.
“Uh—” I choked.
Dr. Banerjee continued, “The baby’s already crowning. I’m sure her water broke a while ago, probably while you two were in the bath.”
My face went nuclear.
I heard a wailing noise and looked up in time to see Sidharth covering his mouth, eyes wider, and his face frozen in absolute horror.
I glared at him, willing him to keep his damn mouth shut. We were not in the U.K. or the U.S., and the last thing I needed was some kind of moral reckoning against us when Saanya was in the middle of delivering her baby.
