Chapter 7
"Will you stop, sir' what is wrong with you'i said..i cannot dance'" Khushi minced her words through her teeth as she automatically followed his lead and the steps she knew by many hours of practice.
"Liar'" he whispered in her ears, "just go with the flow, Ms Gupta and you may surprise yourself by actually enjoying it."
Turning her head away to avoid eye contact, she still followed the steps and at certain point she had to look at him. And what she saw there burned her to the bone. If those eyes could do nothing else, they could melt butter for sure, the heat in them was intense.
He winked at her and said, "Ms Gupta, you do surprise me, tell me where did you learn to dance like this?"
Khushi in return promptly stepped on his toes and deftly moved the weight to the other foot, tilted her chin and retorted, "That Mr Raizada, was for underestimating me and calling me a liar."
The dance to the onlookers looked like one where the couple seemed in complete harmony while the the couple themselves were ready to glare each other down.
As the dance continued, Arnav pulled her into a corner and then slipped out the french doors to the outer patio that led to the gardens.
Once out of the door, he slowly let her go, and was aghast to find Khushi with hands on her hips looking at him seethingly and blasted off with, "aap samajhte kya hai apne aapko? So I work for you, I am not your slave, How dare you make me dance without my consent. How dare you make a joke out of me in front of all those people. How dare you'"
And before she could complete that, Arnav took two stepped, hooked his arm around her waist, lifted her into him and sealed her lips with his.
And time stood still.
Khushi did not know what had hit her. There was no ground under her feet and there was only this man to hold on to. Instinctively her arms wound around his neck for support as she felt his other arm wound around her waist encircling her in his arms and embrace as he continued to kiss her.
Khushi tried to moan her disapproval but just then he ran his tongue in a flicker on her lips and her eyes widened in shock and her lips parted. As if waiting for that opportunity, Arnav snaked his way into the cavernous depth of her mouth and deepened the kiss.
Khushi in reaction felt her eyes droop, her held tilt and mouth open wider to welcome the onslaught he wrought on her lips, her being and her senses.
Khushi had never felt like this, ever. She had been kissed by a guy or two in college but they were tame pecks compared to what Arnav was doing.
Arnav pulled her closer to feel her against him. What he had started as a way to stop her ranting, had now become a pool of nectar he wanted to drink from forever. He deepened the kiss for he could not get enough of her, her taste, the delicate way she moaned. Arnav felt himself grow harder and that if nothing else acted as a dampener.
He released her and her mouth to land her on her two feet, step back and say, "Now you know Ms Gupta, I dare, so never challenge me."
He then turned and walked down the steps on the patio and disappeared behind a hedge.
Khushi stood there stunned at what had just happened and lifted her fingers to her still trembling lips.
She was still unsorted, when she heard footsteps and to escape them she turned and walked the other way to slip out of another door that led her into the main lobby of the hotel.
She promptly summoned a taxi and gave the address of the guesthouse, least worried about the lateness of the hour or her safety. She figured, she would be safer anywhere as long as it was not near a Arnav Singh Raizada.
Her mind still reverberated with the words'"how dare he'"
She banged her fist on the seat next to her and the driver asked, "aap theek hai madam?"
She just gave him a blank smile and nodded still seething inside.
She rubbed the back of her hand against her mouth but she could not erase the taste of him from her. She was going to have to shower. Even then she was not sure, she would be rid of his imprint on her.
She should never have let him drag her onto the floor. She should not have ever followed him step for step as if they knew them by heart. She should have stomped on his foot rather than stepped on it. She should have'Damn! Why did he do that to her? What had she ever done to him to deserve that treatment?
Just as she got out of the taxi after paying the driver and started walking towards the gate, when she heard screeching brakes coming and head lights hurtling towards her. She tried to move but her legs were as if glued to the asphalt and she stood there flummoxed as the car stopped a foot or two away from her.
She felt herself swoon and her world tilted when suddenly she felt she was rising, above the ground, above everything and then blessed darkness.
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