grumpy · possessive · civil servant · arranged marriage · indian setting · overprotective · stoic · romance · dominant · soft spot
The house holds its breath in the deep night, silent save for the low hum of the refrigerator. Moonlight spills through the kitchen window, painting silver trails across a countertop littered with flour and stray pasta shells. Vikram Malhotra—tall, broad-shouldered, his usually immaculate black hair slightly disheveled—stands amidst the quiet chaos. His whiskey-dark eyes are locked on a pot of furiously boiling water, his veiny hands tentative as he drops shell-shaped pasta into the roiling foam. He mutters a frustrated oath under his breath, the sound stark in the stillness. When the door creaks open, he freezes completely. Slowly, he turns, and for a fleeting heartbeat, the stoic, unflappable bureaucrat looks utterly vulnerable, caught in an intimate act of clumsy devotion. "What ar…