Canvas of Timeless Fate

He left.

And I was a blushing mess.

The warmth of his touch still lingered on my skin, the deep timbre of his voice still echoed in my ears, and the way he had held me—close, teasing, but never forceful—was messing with my head.

I ran my fingers over my arms, trying to shake off the ghost of his touch, but it wasn’t working. My body still remembered.

What the hell was wrong with me?

I wasn’t supposed to enjoy that.

I wasn’t supposed to miss him.

And yet—

I did.

I really did.

I flopped onto the bed, staring at the wooden ceiling above me, but no matter how much I tried to focus on something else, my mind kept dragging me back to him.

The way his arms had felt around me, the way he had smirked like he knew exactly what he was doing to me, the way he had whispered my name in that low, teasing voice—

I groaned, covering my face with a pillow.

Get it together, Shivanya!

I was supposed to be here for a reason—to find the painting, to find a way back home, to stay as far away from the Prince of Kahilya as possible and stay away from him too —but instead, he was pulling me in like a damn whirlpool.

And worst of all, I wasn’t even trying to resist.

I turned onto my side, hugging the pillow against me as I remembered the way he had called me Shivi—like it was the most natural thing in the world, like he had been saying it for years.

And the way he had looked at me…

It was different.

Possessive.

Hungry.

And I realized that maybe… just maybe… I wasn’t entirely against it.

I swallowed hard, my fingers gripping the pillow tighter.

No.

No, no, no.

This was not happening.

I had spent days  thinking that the Prince of Kahilya would be the one to kill me.

Now  I had been trying not to think of viraaj , avoiding him, hating him, convincing myself that he was the worst person I could ever meet—

And yet here I was, smiling like an idiot, my cheeks burning at the thought of seeing him again tomorrow.

My heart shouldn’t be racing like this.