Hello friends, MELT INTO ME is releasing in 2 days. Mark the date: 26th December. Right now the book is available for preorder on Amazon for a discounted price. Read the prologue and decide if you want to grab a copy at a discounted rate this Christmas.
Link: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0C14GBZ1B
PROLOGUE
An upscale party was soaring high from the rooftop bar lounge at Sixth Avenue Hotel, Mumbai. The ambience was ringing with the high-pitched pop music curated by a popular DJ. Myriad flashy lights vibing with the party mood lit up the place. The flow of cocktails and mocktails was unrestrained around the expansive lounge area. The night clouds had nestled on the skyline of Mumbai city, sheathing the illuminated skyscrapers with darkness. That didn’t affect the mood of the party as it scaled higher in the luxurious lounge.
While every corner was thronged by inebriated faces, towards the edge of the pool stood a tall long-legged figure clad in neon colour blazer and trousers. His costume pronounced his wildness but right now, standing aloof from the happening crowd, his slumped shoulders and stoic posture said something deeper about Shaan Goel, the second-born of the Goels.
The Goels were a prominent business group headquartered in Delhi with its footprints firmly printed in media, real estate, construction, and automobiles, among other areas of expertise. Rishi Goel and Indira Goel had two children–Amrita and Shaan. Amrita was married into an influential political family, the Khannas. Shaan, who had just finished his MBA, was now being propped as the legal scion to the mighty empire.
Shaan closed his eyes, willing his heart to block out the brewing visuals in his mind. But the echoes his mind conjured up refused to be silenced. They came about vividly in his mind’s eye, setting his heart ablaze. Visuals played out behind his shut eyes, horrid, painful images of the abuse his mother endured at the hands of his father. Multitudes of disturbing visuals roared for attention in his whirring mind. In one, he saw his mother, Indira Goel, being dragged down the stairs by her hair as she cried for mercy. Another had him plonked on the stairs listening to her plea for help as his father made good use of his belt on her. One time he had tried to interfere in between their fights. it was the day after he had turned thirteen. Him standing up for his mother had enraged his father to such a level that Mr. Rishi Goel had gone ballistic with his violence that day. Shaan shuddered as the barbaric memories began to suck him in deep.
He quickly opened his eyes and his gaze swept across the wide expanse of glittering Mumbai sprawled out before him. The beach on one side provided a picture of calm whereas the bustling roads showed the contrasting vibrancy of the city. In a way, Mumbai was a metaphor for Shaan Goel and his contradicting personality. He was not your regular flamboyant guy nor was he the brooding type. He was a mix of both. With his easy charm and bottled-up angst, he could be pegged as enigmatic.
Shaan had played his part as the party animal for four straight hours, immersing himself in drinks and drugs and tapping the dance floor with a different girl at every change of song . But there was a contrasting side to him. Despite indulging in addictions, Shaan never let the addictions take charge of him, ever. He had them, but with restraint, not allowing the substances to overpower him. With his childhood trauma and lifestyle, he had easily fallen into every ill-habit on earth right through his teen years. But as a determined clap-back to his father, Shaan never let those addictions define his life. He made sure he had an iron-fisted control over them despite the temptations so that he could never use that as an excuse, like his father did.
But in the constant battle to survive, there comes some rare moments when you want to simply let go. Right now, Shaan was going through one such moment of existential crisis. He had a life before him that could go in two directions—either he could fight for what he wanted or allowed himself to be bullied by his father into a life he despised. He was clear about the path he wanted to choose but his father was making it extremely difficult, involving his mother in the war they were waging against each other.
His gaze was haunted as his trauma tried to reign him in. In that moment, emptiness gnawed his insides. In those seconds of vacuum, life seemed meaningless to him. The war he was waging felt like a long haul that might take more from him than give. He was suddenly terrified of living. Standing at the edge of the rail-less tiled platform of the pool situated at the cliff end of the tower, Shaan was literally a step away from his death.
One step and it will all be over. Should I?
And that was the precise moment when he heard that dulcet voice, laced with command, for the first time.
“Don’t even think about it.”
Shaan flipped his head around and his eyes clashed with a pair of determined jet-black eyes that were stationed on one of the most beautiful faces he had ever seen. He experienced an exhilarating synergy as their orbs clashed. Every nerve ending in his body came alive as if a lightning bolt had surged through them. Transfixed, he stared. The air around them thickened with a dark allure. It seemed like the cosmos was waiting for some magic to unfold.
A naturally fetching face that can be rightfully called God’s work. The round contour of it is filled with supernal features, from the pillowy full lips that have been designed for passionate kisses to her large eyes tinged in pitch black hue, resembling a blooming lotus. Even the thick eyebrows scream perfection. She looks like she is out of her teens but she still has some baby fat that adds an extra glow to her face. The rounded chin, chubby cheeks and a slightly prominent double chin adds to her allure.
Her body is wrapped in a powder-blue ruched bodycon dress that speaks of a curvaceous figure with the right measure of dips and rises in the five-feet frame. The sculpted frame is designed for unspeakable sins. Her long straight hair that brush against the tip of her ass is left loose to fall around her like a dark curtain. But what sparks my interest in her is not her entrancing sensuality but the innocence that shines bright on her face. It is rivetingly refreshing for me. It creates a halo around her, making her seem like an angel in human form.
She is different from the sharp-edged beauties that usually pique my interest but then, in this moment, she has all of it. Every ounce of my attention is anchored on her without any effort from her end. So much so that I have nothing to offer to any other heavenly beauties flanking us. She is my sole focus. And it thrills me that her dual dark pools are now focused on me with the same rapture that is probably reflected in my eyes. Good, this is not a one-way road!
But that’s when her words register and I forget to breathe. She did not guess it, did she?
Pushing his hands firmly into his pant pockets he asked with nonchalance, “What do you mean?”
He noticed how her eyes flicked to his abs that was on full display and he felt his pulse take an excited leap at the unadulterated desire in her eyes.
Interesting.
But she was quick to mask it before she locked her eyes with him again.
“You know exactly what I mean.” She folded her arms under her chest, making him redirect his attention there.
Come to think of it, it is not just her eyes that resemble a blooming lotus. The blue fabric curves around her ample bosom like the petals of a blooming lotus. Ethereal indeed, he mused with a lopsided grin.
His grin made her feel indignant, and her milky skin crimsoned as if she could read his thoughts. With confident arrogance, Shaan peeled off his blazer from his shoulders. Levelling her with a teasing glance, he dropped it on the ground and jumping onto a floating light cube in the pool, plonked himself on it. Water droplets splashed on the edges of the pool, making her move back in haste.
“Careful, you are getting me wet,” she sputtered in annoyance.
“Already, sweetheart?” Shaan’s eyes lit with humour.
His pun was not lost on her, but she chose not to take the bait. Instead, she shot him a glare. Shaan dipped his bare feet into the pool and stretched himself out on the two cubes, raising himself on his elbow in a languid pose. The girl recoiled, suddenly feeling conscious of the short length of her dress as she remained on her stilettos that barely let her move freely.
“Well, I was musing about taking a skinny dip in the pool. Want to join?” He slanted a brow, the trace of laughter in his voice unmissable.
She squinted her eyes.
“Are you always one-track minded?” she asked, moving her hands to knot below her chest again.
But she stopped mid-way when she noticed the glint that entered his eyes. Instead, she nervously flanked her hands to the sides. Shaan looked smug at her flustered state. He put on an expression of deliberation before asking her, “Would you like to hear that it is only with you?”
“And why would I believe that lie? ” she challenged him acerbically.
“If you want to hear it, that’ll be my truth, sweet-voice,” he chortled.
She rolled her eyes at his obvious flirting. But she was not as naive as she looked. She understood he was trying to deflect from the actual conversation.
“Never try that again. You might not have someone to draw you out of it every time. Whatever is troubling you is not worth your life.” Her voice radiated compassion.
For a second, Shaan’s mask slipped. Her accurate assessment and the unconditional tenderness in her eyes made him feel naked under her gaze. She had an angelic aura that drew him in with a magnetic pull.
She feels like a heavenly dream that promises miracles and light that could quell the darkness in my soul and make my heart beat with passion. This impromptu moment with her has cocooned me in a sense of peace and calm; it feels like a precious, priceless experience, an unasked-for gift. Just like her!
She was feeling hot under his intense gaze and that sliced through his haze of thoughts.
Fuck. Now I’m turning all poetic. Time for another sniff.
Shaan acknowledged internally that the girl had indeed managed to pull him out of a deathly spiralling moment, and had smoothly lifted his mood with her presence. The sparring conversation they seem to be having had charged him effortlessly. But he did not intend to concede to that before her. In a beat, he regained his composure and continued in a dismissively playful tone to her concern.
“If you do have mind-reading powers, then this is the time for you to tell me what I might be thinking,” he smirked suggestively, scanning her length from that low vantage point, flustering her.
She spun around, muttering an expletive and tried to cautiously walk off the tiled platform, drawing a chuckle from him.
“Hey mind-reader, my room number is 1036. We have a separate party arranged there till the wee hours of morning. Feel free to be my guest,” he yelled after her in an acerbic tone, laughter evident in his voice.
This time she chewed out the expletive loud enough for him to hear, making him break into a bout of laughter at her expense. She walked away from him as soon as she could with her stilettos. Shaan’s gaze remained steadfast on her as she glided across the lounge to a boy of his age, who was apparently glaring down at her. He noticed a heated exchange of words and he could read the embarrassment and fear on the girl’s face as she moved her glance around, trying to hush her boyfriend. Shaan’s friend, Rahul Nanda, son of superstar Nanda Rajpoot, reached him at that precise moment.
“Are you enjoying the party scene of Mumbai, bro? Is it wild enough for you?” Rahul slapped on Shaan’s back in a friendly gesture.
Rahul was gearing up for his grand debut under his father’s production and had invited Shaan to Mumbai promising that he would connect Shaan with his father’s contacts. Shaan was interested in filmmaking and with a few diplomas in film studies on the side, he was now keen to break into the Bollywood circle as an assistant director to gain on-ground experience. Shaan was determined to prove his passion and drive to his mother and was even more determined to throw away the business legacy his father was trying to pin him down with.
“Who is that girl?” Shaan pointed out his mystery girl to Rahul.
“Oh, that’s Thanushree Raichand. The youngest heir of the Raichand group. Also, the sibling of actress Tara Raichand.”
Shaan raised a brow. “Superstar Tara Raichand?”
“Yeah, the same,” Rahul dismissed Tara’s self-made stardom as if it did not matter.
Shaan sat up straight as he noticed that the exchange between Thanushree and her boyfriend had escalated, garnering eyeballs.
“And who is that guy beside her?”
“He is MP Kunal Kapadia’s son. She is seen around him lately. Maybe his latest flavour,” Rahul snickered, rousing Shaan’s irritation.
She did not seem like a girl who would love to be someone’s flavour. His eyes took in her discomfort as she was stealthily adjusting her dress and pushing it down to cover her thighs. From head to toe she screams commitment to her douche boyfriend, packaging herself in his desired designs. Even if it makes her feel uncomfortable.
In the next few minutes, he saw Thanushree being dragged out of the lounge by her boyfriend even as she kept pleading with him. Shaan shrugged.
Nope. Not my headache. She asked for it by choosing a scum like that for a boyfriend.
With that last thought, he dived into the pool to wash off the encounter with Thanushree Raichand from his mind and heart.
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