Chapter 9: Tangled Desires

The hum of the hospital was deafening in its normalcy. Nurses walked by, doctors discussed cases in the hallway, but to Avni, everything felt muffled. Her mind replayed the moment with Reyaansh over and over—the tension, the pull, the closeness. She was trying to push it all away, to focus on the patients and her work, but his presence lingered in her thoughts like a phantom, ever-present and impossible to escape.

She sat at the nurses' station, scribbling notes into the patient's chart, her hand moving mechanically. She couldn't concentrate. She couldn't think straight. All she could feel was the weight of Reyaansh's touch, his words echoing in her mind: "You don’t want to hate me, Avni."

The thought made her skin flush.

Was he right? Did she want to hate him? Did she want to be pulled into this mess of emotions and desire that she was too afraid to face? She didn't know. She was too lost in the storm he had started.

The door to the nurse's station creaked open again, and Avni didn’t have to look up to know who it was. She could feel him before she saw him, that suffocating intensity that always surrounded Reyaansh.

"Avni," his voice was low, almost a whisper, but it still held that commanding tone she couldn’t ignore.

She lifted her head slowly, meeting his gaze. His eyes were dark, unreadable, as if he knew exactly how much he was affecting her. Her heart skipped a beat, and she hated how vulnerable she felt. She tried to mask it, to stay in control.

"I thought I told you to stay out of my way," she said coolly, trying to regain some semblance of the professional distance they had before. But even as the words left her mouth, she knew they were empty. She couldn’t escape him, not now. Not ever.

Reyaansh stepped closer, the proximity making her pulse race. “You think I care about your rules, Avni?”

She looked up at him, defiance in her eyes, but it didn’t reach her heart. Deep down, she knew she was already caught in his web. She couldn’t deny the attraction, the raw pull between them, even if she wanted to. And she did want to.

“You should,” she replied, her voice trembling slightly despite herself. “You’re my senior. My superior.”

Reyaansh smirked, the arrogance in his eyes impossible to miss. “I’ve never been good at following rules. Especially when they come from someone like you.”

His words were like a challenge, a provocation. She was supposed to resist him, to keep her distance, but the longer they stood there, the harder it became. She was drawn to him—his intensity, his darkness, everything that screamed danger. And she couldn’t look away.

“You think you can control me?” she said, her voice low, dangerous. She wasn’t sure if she wanted him to back off or pull her even closer. “You think you can just walk into my life and take over?”

Reyaansh took another step, his lips barely an inch from hers. “Maybe I can.” His words were rough, laced with a dark promise she wasn’t sure she was ready for. “Maybe you want me to.”

Avni’s breath hitched. She should push him away. She knew she should. But there was something in his gaze, something that made her feel like she was about to be consumed by him. And part of her—maybe the part she didn’t want to admit—wasn't entirely opposed to that idea.

Before she could respond, he leaned in just enough to make her heart race. Their lips almost brushed, and for a split second, Avni could taste the tension, the electric pull between them. It was raw. It was real.

But then, with an almost painful slowness, Reyaansh pulled away. “This isn’t over, Avni,” he said quietly, his voice low and threatening. “Not by a long shot.”

And just like that, he was gone, leaving her breathless, her thoughts a tangled mess.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***