Chapter 2: The Morning After
The light came grey and thin through the curtains, and Sandeep's skin still prickled with that humming residue, like the city's wiring had threaded through his veins. A housefly circled the ceiling lamp; he fixed his gaze on it, thought one word, and watched it drop to the sill, legs twitching before it buzzed back up. He stood in front of the cracked mirror, his own reflection staring back with an intensity that didn't quite end at his pupils. The body was his. The eyes were someone else's.
Then the knock came, hard and impatient.
He opened the door to Priya Sharma, who looked past his shoulder like she owned the place already. "What did you do to Vikram?" she asked. "He won't look at me. He won't say your name without shaking."
Sandeep leaned against the frame, letting her take in the broad shoulders, the shift in his bearing. "Come in," he said, and the words landed like a quiet command.
She stepped past him, and her confidence flickered the moment he closed the door. He saw the tremor in her hands, the way she held herself despite the expensive top, the diamond tattoo low on her breast.
"You think you're clever," she said, turning. "He came home reeking of rain and dirt. Mumbling your name like a prayer."
"Come closer," Sandeep said, and he watched her fight the pull for one stubborn second before her heels clicked forward.
Her bare midriff brushed his chest. "What are you doing?" she whispered, voice caught somewhere between anger and confusion.
"Answering your question."
He reached out, thumb grazing her jaw, tilting her chin up to meet his eyes. Her body tensed when she met his steady stare, the pale morning light falling across her face. Sandeep dropped his own gaze to the diamond inked near her breast, the impossibly low cut of her lace top revealing the full swell of her chest, her nipples faintly visible beneath the sheer fabric.
"I'm going to ask you something," he said softly. "And you're going to tell me the truth. Why did you come here, Priya?"
She blinked, lips parting. Her hostility drained, replaced by a bewildered warmth. "I came to make you pay for hurting Vikram," she breathed, the admission slipping out like water through a crack.
"And now?"
"Now I want to feel what you did to him."
Sandeep reached for his phone, propped it against the stack of books on the nightstand, and angled the camera at the bed. He didn't finish the thought aloud; he just tugged her closer and kissed her, feeling her stiffen, then melt against him. He tore at the thin lace of her top, pulling it down until her breasts spilled free, the diamond tattoo vivid against her rise and fall. She moaned, grinding her hips into his, and he guided her onto the bed, climbing over her while the red camera light blinked steady.
Unzipping his pants, he freed his cock and pressed the tip against her entrance, slick from her arousal. "You want this?" he asked, his thumb circling her clit.
"Fuck yes," she gasped, arching back. "Just do it."
He thrust in deep and hard, feeling her wet heat swallow him whole. Her breasts bounced with each stroke, the diamond tattoo glinting as he drove into her. She cried out, nails raking his back, wrapping her legs around his waist. He kept the rhythm rough and punishing, his body working hers without mercy, her moans turning filthy and desperate.
"There," she begged, gasping. "Right there, don't stop, fucking don't stop."
Sandeep's hips slammed into her, the bed groaning under them. Her eyes rolled back, and she came with a drawn-out wail, her cunt clenching around him. He stayed buried inside her, waiting until her breath steadied, then pulled out and finished on her stomach, white streaks painting her scarred lower abdomen.
He rolled off, reaching for the phone, and watched her blink back to focus. Priya's hand went to her bare chest, eyes widening at the mess on her belly, at the camera in his hand.
"What did you do?" she whispered, and now her voice held genuine fear.
Sandeep held the phone up, its warm screen displaying the still image of her broken plea. "I recorded everything," he said. "Every word. Every sound. From now on, you answer to me too, Priya. Or this becomes Vikram's favorite bedtime story."