‘Hello, Gauri,’ Vikram said in a dangerous tone.
Gauri felt faint. The past had caught up with her. What would she do now? Her most feared nightmare had come true.
She had agonised over coming face to face with her past, especially Vikram, and now that it had happened she didn’t know what to do.
She had been filled with dread ever since the media cameras had filmed her and her fears had been proved right. Her family had found her. Vikram was here.
She continued to stare at him in shocked silence. He was unchanged. Vikram: her half-brother Madhav’s childhood friend. She had last seen him six years ago, and the effortless arrogance and dangerous aura of power that he always exuded hadn’t diminished a bit. He was descended from an illustrious royal line and his genetic heritage was stamped in the authoritative way he carried himself, in the imperious lift of his eyebrow and the disdainful expression on his face. His face remained striking as ever. His eyes bored into hers with an icy intensity that frightened her. Black as night and fathomless, like an ocean, at this moment they were glittering with anger. She stared back, flinching, but unable to wrest herself from the force of his dark, furious gaze.
‘No answer? Oh, I forgot. I should have said, Hello, Mira! That’s your name now, isn’t it?’ Vikram said.
Dear Reader
My editor’s letter of approval had an incendiary effect, and I still have trouble catching my breath at times!
As a child I loved reading, and my imagination was peopled with love stories. When I eventually sat down to write a love story I came up with a clichéd romance with wooden characters. The empathy was missing because as an Indian I found it difficult to identify deeply with a Greek hero and a British heroine.
I decided to write about Indian characters, and by the time I submitted my manuscript to my delight I found that Mills and Boon® had begun publishing Indian writers. Harlequin Presents has always been my favourite series, because the one truth that it holds up is that wealth, riches, lineage and beauty alone cannot ensure happiness. A human being’s quest for happiness is eternal. Everyone wants to be happy and everyone has different ideas of what can make them happy.
I write romances because I feel that love leads us to abiding joy and happiness. Love for one’s soul mate, one’s children, parents, friends, and all those who inhabit one’s immediate world. Love is deep and at the same time detached, because it has zero expectations. The missing piece in life’s puzzle, it is love which gives a spiritual dimension to human life.
I hope, dear reader, you will enjoy reading the story of Vikram and Gauri as much as I enjoyed writing it. I would love your feedback at [email protected]
Tanu
About Tanu Jain
And then he kissed her! is the line that used to run like a litany through TANU JAIN’S mind whenever she sat down to laze and relax. For years handsome hunks haunted her imagination and stunning, strong-willed heroines clamoured to come out. She knew it was the effect of countless Mills & Boons® (she started in Class Eight). She tried scratching the itch and came up with the story of a strong Greek male and a suffering Greek beauty. It was sure to be accepted, she thought naively. It was a disaster! The rejection slip opened her eyes to a few pertinent facts and her next work was written straight from the heart, with familiar local settings. An editor who believed in her voice guided her—and voilà!
Strength, kindness, honesty, optimism and love were drilled into her as a child by her parents, and the first Mills & Boon® she read made her realise that these are exactly what romance novels are about! So writing a romance novel is both emotionally and morally satisfying!
Tanu’s interests are wide-ranging. Too wide-ranging, she feels at times! She has done a doctorate in English Literature, and occasionally teaches English Language and Literature. She currently lives in Gwalior, India, with her businessman husband who, for her, epitomises the qualities of a typical romance hero. Her daughter and son are proud of her, but are embarrassed when she uses their names for the characters in her books!
His Captive Indian Princess
Tanu Jain
To the exceptional men in my life—
Y. c. m., O. p. j., Amit; To the incomparable women in my life— Achla, Santosh, Sapna n’Charu; To the twinkles of my eyes— Urja, Vidyamaan n’Aryaveer. And most of all to the alpha male who is the nucleus, G. J. And a heartfelt thanks to Megan.
Table of Contents
THE TELEVISION CAMERAS planned on the girl’s face and captured her tight-lipped expression for just a second before she turned away, hiding her face. But that one glimpse was enough for Vikram.
He sat up straight with a jolt, the glass of whisky almost slipping from his grasp. It was her. He would have recognised her anywhere. His heart began hammering hard, and blood rushed to his head. Her face was imprinted on his consciousness. High cheekbones and delicate nose, doe eyes, lustrous skin glowing like gold, swan-like neck and those luscious lips … He pulled back his wayward thoughts as his mind was assaulted by memories.
He had found her. That was the crucial thing. Two years of frantic searching and a small fortune spent on detectives were finally at an end. He had found Gauri. Rage which simmered deep inside him whenever he thought of her came to the fore. She had single-handedly destroyed her adoptive family, taking their love and caring and turning on them, betraying and shaming them. And then she had fled, escaping the repercussions of her actions.
Controlling the rage swirling inside him, he tried to get a grip on his thoughts.