Gauri gasp awake.

Beads of sweat starting to trickle down her forehead from her sudden jolt, her whole body soon overcome by a sticky feeling. Dampness. Her  eyes felt like they were fried off as She blink slowly up at the white ceiling, tears dried and cracked on my cheeks. She had been crying. She had been screaming. The evidence was written all over her face, wild hair, puffy eyes, scratchy throat. There was no doubt that She had just awoken from a nightmare. The same horrible dream often reoccurred for the past few nights, ever since the day I was taken and my family was burned alive. Their screams were like a broken record, playing over and over in her head.
Her amber eyes start to widen as She stiffly sat up and
took in her surroundings. Sadly, reality hit her and
She realised she was not at home. She was back in the way too large bed. In the way too spacious room. With the way too hot man.
When she try to move again, something tightened around her wrists, forcing her to stay where she was. As she glance down at her hands, She see that her wrists are bound
by thick rope. The rope wrapped around her wrist like a serpent wrapping around its prey, though the rope didnʼt stop at her wrists, it led to the two front posts of the bedʼs head board.
Cursing under her breath, She start to yank and pull against the rope, despite knowing it would be no use. The girl in her refused to back down. She had to stay alive.
She needed to.
The only good thing She was relieved to know was that She wasnʼt blindfolded anymore.
It had been a little over two days since the ball and the attack of a drunk werewolf. Instinctively, She wanted to reach up and touch the cuts left there, but remembered her wrists were tied.
And she still didnʼt know how to deal with the beast that trapped her here. The 'oh so possessive and controlling' The Great and Mighty Omkara Singh Oberoi.
She only learned of his threats and of his all too lingering touches that made something in her perk up. A flower in bloom. She learned that Omkara still didn't forgive her for ditching him at that stupid ball. She ,however, also didnʼt know if he even was capable of forgiveness.
No matter how hard she tried to search his deep mysterious eyes for some type of emotion, She was met by chaos. Stormy waves, sudden currents, a deep depth that was so unfamiliar to her. She couldnʼt pin down at all what he was feeling. He seemed to be a big mess, not a little one either. The things that brewed in his eyes, the dark and dangerous aura he gave off, made her think he was a hurricane.
Uncontrollable.
The only way She could stand up to him, was to get in the middle of his storm and face him. She had to force herseld to be brave, when she clearly knew that she wasnʼt. No! She couldnʼt show any weakness, any fear, or else he would envelope her into that storm of his and never let her go.
Letting out a huff, Sbe blow the few strands of her hair out of her face and do a quick scan of the room. She donʼt know why She thought looking around the room would somehow pin if he was there or not. She knew he was. That overwhelming presence of his still hung about like thick smoke along with his powerful gaze. She was surprised that she hadnʼt suffocated from being in the room with him yet. His aura was strong and heavy as ever. It felt like it took up the entire space in the room and hovered over
Her. Making her forget how to breathe sometimes.
Lurking in the shadows, She had found none other
than the mysterious crown Prince, who was leaned against a nearby wall. The only feature Sbe could instantly make out were those piercing deep brown that had caused strange shivers to once again dance up her spine. Her body felt like it was ready to burst into flames and melt intowax at the same time.
She could tell he was smirking, he seems to do it a lot. This frightened her more than anything. Even though she have only known him for a few days, She caught onto the small things he did and what they meant. His signature smirk was a sign of danger. He was going to do something out of the ordinary.
Unlike Ranveer  who was patient and could control his temper, along with Arijit. Omkara  and Rithivik seemed to be the most sadistic, they seemed oddly satisfied with the sight of pain and suffering. Yet, something was different about the man who chose her. He was something so much more than he let on. And She's  not talking about the monster hiding in him.

"Can you just let me go?" She boldly questioned, even when fully aware of what his answer would be.

"Tsk. Tsk....my little Chirraya.." He clicked his tongue and shook his head, then taking a few strides towards the bed. More importantly, his bed. She knew this because the bed shared the same masculine smell that wafted off of him. The smell of the woods with a hint of mint and his aftershave continued to cling to the sheets as if staining them, but the scent was slightly faint to her nose now. She being in his bed wasnʼt the worst part. It was that She actually enjoyed his scent and presence. Maybe his darkness was rubbing off on her, or being kept in the same room without going outside, was making her go kind of insane. Either way, he was affecting her. And to her that wasnʼt a good thing at all.
This was worse than being locked up in some asylum. Just a few days almost a week with him and already She liked him being around her.  Oh god ,What was wrong with me? What did he do to me??? She had to be going pretty nuts to actually think she like something about this murderer.
Her eyes focused on him as he approached the edge of the bed, her gaze not able to tear away the closer he got.

"You know I canʼt do that." He paused, taking in the horrible state I woke in, his hands gripping onto one of the two wooden posts at the end of the bed.

She stared as his knuckles turned white, yet when she looked up, his eyes were unfazed and focused on her.
"Nightmares again? I think I know a few ways to get rid of them and how you can repay me, slave." Then there it was, that slow, teasing, and awfully charming smirk again.

Although her breath hitched in herthroat, She rolled her eyes at him and continued to pull against the rope, which continued to dig and rub harshly against her sensitive skin.
He made no noise, but moved closer, this time coming around the bed to the side She was on.
She could see each muscle bunch on his fit body through the thin fabric of his dress shirt, and got a glimpse of the tanned skin revealed by his few undone top buttons. One hand was stuffed in his pants pocket, while the other then attempted to reach out and caress her cheek. A gesture She came to know he was real fond of. It was simple and surprisingly gentle, giving her confused feelings towards him. At times She got a sneak peek of something soft and sweet about the man, but then it faded almost instantly and he returned to his usual demanding and controlling self.
Before his hand could touch her cheek, She flinched away. And when She was given a low grow in return, She knew that was a mistake. One She shouldʼve known not to make.
Within a blink of an eye, he had freed her from the clutches of the ropes, but more roughly than the night of the ball. An obvious sign that She had made him angry.
"Let me go, Omkara!" A scream tore out of her throat as he suddenly yanked her out of the room and down the hall as if he were running out of time. She writhed and struggled in his rough grasp, only to then be
thrown over his shoulder. Her upper body met his back, forcing her  body to come into contact with his, while she felt a muscular arm wrap around the back of her legs. He treated hee as if she were nothing but a sack of potatoes.

Utterly Rude.

As she swayed a bit and occasionally hit his back, She couldnʼt help but notice how good he felt, how warm he was, how strong he was. She trembled a bit from his touch and then froze when her gaze looked down at the ground. She was at least several feet in the air. The man was a fricken giant.
Swallowing a fearful cry, She squeezed her eyes shut as She hated the thought of falling. It scared her . Even though she knew she wasnʼt that high off the ground, the sight was enough to cause she to go quiet and feel light headed. Her stomach wasnʼt having a good time either as anxiety bubbled up in her gut. Great, just great.
She clutched onto the fabric of his shirt tightly and refused to open her eyes, not until he put her back down on the ground. Her nails dug into his back as she clung to him for dear life, kind of like how a cat would if you tried to give it a bath. Soon his body tensed beneath her hands
and another deeper growl left him. But it sounded different from the first. More like a purr of some sort.
Then before She knew it, she was put back down and opened her eyes, only to see his darker ones staring back at her.
He motioned towards the kitchen with his hand and gave just one demand.
"Cook."
When she glanced up at him with a confused look, he only gave her a light shove in the direction of the kitchen stove.
"Alright, I get it. Iʼll cook." She finally managed to glare at him from inside the kitchen before she got busy and dashed around trying to find out where everything was. It wasnʼt an easy task as he would occasionally try to hurry her up by lightly yanking on the chain, the very chain that was connected to the thick collar around her neck. She debated every time he yanked on the
chain whether to shout at him, or hit him with the pan in her hand. To be honest, She really wanted to do both. But she didnʼt want to die so soon.
It was especially hard to concentrate when She did finally have all the tools and ingredients She needed. He made her tense and jittery whenever She felt his eyes on her . He was basically observing her every movement. She failed miserably at trying to ignore him and the tingles that spread through her constantly, which alerted her of his gaze. That hadnʼt helped her much either. Spider man has his tingly spidey senses. She have tingly Omkara senses.
With the grace She had left in her, I finally forced herself to finish and set the plate of food she had just made, down in front of him.
"There. Toast , scrambled egg and milk."
His eyes shone with surprise for a split second, before he stood and silently grasped the plate.
He then gave her a look, one she wished she could smack right off of his face, before purposefully dropping it on the ground in front of her.
Bloody b@stard!
Holding back her anger, She suck in a deep breath
and glare at him, her body trembling from the rage building up inside of her. Thatʼs just great, all that food was wasted! What an asshole!
He seemed less than pleased with her reaction and gestured towards the bits of glass and food on the floor, "Clean it up."
The man was pushing all the wrong buttons, every word that came out of his damn mouth were just constant demands. Like she owed him anything. But She didnʼt.
She grit my teeth and kneel down, huffing every now and then as she cleaned up the mess. But as soon as she finished, he yanked her back up and shoved her out the kitchen, and lead her to what looked like another door. Sure enough, he pushed open the door and led her by the chain out of the palace.
There was a sudden jolt of pain in her fingertip as we walked out into the garden, her  eyes glancing down at her hand, wincing as She watched the blood trickle down her fingers. A shard of glass had buried itself deep within her finger.
Omkara  seemed to notice almost instantly as the smell of blood wafted towards his nose. His deep brown eyes skimmed along my hand, finding that her finger was indeed bleeding. He then gripped her wrist and looked her in the eyes, the expression he wore was deadly serious and that gaze of his warmed her to do as She was told. "Stay still." His voice was hoarse now as he began to pull out the shard of glass. She wince again and start to fidget, it stung like hell.

"Dammit, little chirraya. Stop being such a crybaby and stand still!" His growl turned into one of annoyance, before finally pulling out the shard of glass.
He then lifted her hand to his mouth and held her finger to his lips, letting his tongue smooth over the small cut on her finger. All the blood that was once oozing out of it was gone along with Omkara's harsh deameanor. His playful smirk returned and he sent her a small glance, his eyes gleaming.

"If you wanted so badly for me to taste you, you should've just asked."

Her heart picked up pace as his flirtatious words took its toll on her and warmth spread through her cheeks. Trying to ignore that She was blushing from his
comment and that he had such a huge affect on her.
She managed to tear her hand out of his grasp and roll her eyes at him.
"Why did you bring me out here anyways, Omkara?"
He smirked pointing towards the fields, "This is where you'll be working half of the time. The rest of your work will be done in my bedroom." There was a weird huskiness to his voice as he mentioned the latter part and she stiffened, 'as if he thought She'd do any sexual favors for him. Besides She wasnʼt experienced in that sort of thing..She bet his plan was to embarrass her to death. Thatʼs it.

Damn!, she think she's  going crazy. It must be from being locked up in a room for several days with this lunatic.ʼ
Snapping out of her thoughts, she huff as he gives her a small tour of the fields of vegetables and the orchards full of ripe fruits. Then with no other directions or at least a heads up, he turned away from her and went on his merry way back to the palace. The only words leaving his mouth were. "Get to work, little Chirraya."
Once he left, She looked down at her injured finger and her cheeks warmed suddenly with both anger and frustration. "Spoiled brattt, rude, perverted crown Prince of assholeʼs." Muttering more colorful words under her breath, She began to pick fruits off several vines nearby and put them into a basket left out for her.
"Gauri?"
Moments later, She heard voices call her name out loud.

Could it be I was hallucinating? She stood up, dusting the dirt off her knees and peeked around the corner of the row. Then my eyes landed on not only Ishani, but Asha and Mrunal too. All coming towards her with baskets full of fruit. We hug as we quickly regroup and laugh, then frown. Each of us more than pissed,

"I hate this!" Asha
scowled, "That jackass treats me like a bloody slave. Iʼm lucky Iʼm still alive, if I die know itʼs because I attempted to strangle him in his sleep. You all got the better bunch. Trust me." She replied with all seriousness in her face and tone.

There was a pit growing in my stomach as I realized my friends were also enduring the harsh, sudden change. Though, Asha was a little right, regarding Mrunaal  and Ishani"s Princes. We seemed to be the only two left with the rotten apples of the family.
I suddenly cringe and shake my head, "Nah , I wouldn't say better, mine was beyond the worst."

After talking and eating some of the fruits that they werenʼt exactly supposed to, we go back inside by the time the sun starts to set and as soon she set foot back in the kitchen, she slam the basket down on the counter and glare at all four Princes who were most likely waiting for them all to finish. The thought of them just sitting on their asses while they worked in the hot sun all day agitated her even more.
They slowly look up from eating, their brows raised and arms crossed as if they were actually interested in what she was about to say. Her throat grows surprisingly dry in that very moment and her legs felt weak, but she straightened up and huffed out. "Weʼre finished, may we go now?" She made sure to say it as confidently and rudely as possible, knowing i she I were to be cooped up in the palace with the people responsible for her familyʼs deaths, She might as well die as well and join them.
Rithvik was the first to react, his eyes boring into her from across the counter. A growl leaving him, "You should teach your little slave some manners."
Feeling exhausted and irritated, She became pretty ballsy and rolled her eyes. She was done with this. Itʼs been only a few days and She was ready to lose it. "Maybe if you guys weren't such asSh0les! Then maybe we'd pay a little more respect!" This time she was the one to raise her voice and glare back, her body leaning forward as she stood on her tiptoes to appear less puny on the other side of the counter, her retort directed instantly towards Rithvik . The angriest one of the squad. Not the brightest idea, She'd admit.
Rithvik wasnʼt wasting any time in responding, he instinctively slammed his fists down on the table and stood angrily, his nostrils flaring as he glared straight at her. Omkara swiftly stood up as well and
growled something to Rithvik  in warning. This simple whisper was enough to make Rithvik storm out of the room, and 'cause the other brothers to stare silently. Those deep intense was definitely not liking one bit of her
new attitude either and grasped her chain, yanking her harshly out of the room and down the hall.

"You should know better not to test a dire
wolf, little Chirraya ." He snarled lowly once they were out of the kitchen and in the safety of a long, dark corridor. With one movement, he pressed her harshly against the wall and glowered down at me, his deep brown eyes turning blue.
Sucking in a breath, She peer up at him, trying not to show any fear before responding.

"Excuse me for speaking the truth, your highness ."

He narrowed his eyes and lowered his head down, growing uncomfortably closer to her face.

"Never disrespect me or my brothers again. This is my one and only warning. I have to say your getting pretty brave. You need some discipline...As your punishment you have to kiss me."
He whispered into her ear, probably hoping to get her flustered again. But this time she was in no mood for games or being toyed with.

"The tables will be turned, your highnesses .ʼ
She looked up without thinking and tiptoed, leaning closer to him, then gently pressed her lips against his.

Oh god what did I just do?!