She didn't know what was happening to her. It was just a matter of few seconds and the whole atmosphere around her was charged up like lightening. That predatory look in his eyes was something she had never witnessed before.
Khushi saw him slowly advancing towards her with careful calculated steps, blocking her path and leaving her with no other alternative except to walk backwards. Those few seconds that she gazed into his eyes, seemed like hours. She felt her heart thumping loudly against her chest, ready to burst out any minute, by the sheer look he was giving her.
And suddenly, Khushi Gupta felt scared of a mere mortal for the first time in her life.
She had heard about Arnav's anger from Nana, but she hadn't really witnessed it at this intensity. He had never been so terrifying to her before. She didn't know what would come next. But somewhere, she anticipated a physical blow from him. Such was the madness in his eyes.
Honestly, she had no idea about the cause of his fury. And she didn't know why she was being targeted for it.
"Arnav?" she whispered, hoping that she could get through to him, her voice completely failing her as panic gripped her body. But he didn't budge an inch from his path.
Frightfully, she shut her eyes tightly, unable to bear to see those eyes anymore. Anticipating a physical attack from him, she felt the blood drain away from her face, her palms and feet freezing over. She heard him whisper something, but she was too scared to comprehend what he was saying.
She mentally began the countdown, her mind going absolutely blank.
And then, she felt it.
But it was nowhere near what she had been expecting.
She felt herself suddenly being pulled by his strong arms, sending her crashing into his body. And then, what followed was absolute sweet torture that was excruciatingly slow, yet blissful.
His warm breath lightly grazed her face while his hungry lips teased her jaw, starting from her ear and ending at her chin, after which they slowly ascended to her luscious lips, gently yet eagerly.
In absolute shock, she snapped open her eyes to find Arnav's eyes merely inches away from hers, all closed and lost in an entire different world. Khushi let out a huge sigh of relief, not knowing what else to do, feeling a bit stupid for thinking so low about him. But then, she couldn't deny. Today, she had seen a dark side in his eyes. A side that was terrifying and ghastly.
This man would one day make her insane. A minute ago, she had really thought he would physically assault her and here, a minute later, he was all over her.
Arnav didn't know what was happening to him. It was like someone else had taken over his entire body and mind. All he knew was he had to have Khushi. And he wasn't going to stop what he had commenced, whatsoever.
Lavender. She smelt Lavender. It must be her moisturiser, he noted as he let his nose graze over her neck, inhaling the sweet fragrance, feeling a bit hazy after being intoxicated by it.
Caramel. Her lips tasted like caramel, he noted next, as his lips ascended onto her parted ones, before he began sucking her lower lip, letting her sweetness blend into his own mouth. He remembered seeing her relishing on a caramel chocolate, a few minutes earlier. Khushi had said it was her favourite one.
He slowly opened his eyes to see a pair of curious ones staring into him.
Khushi gazed into those chocolate brown eyes that still possessed a hungry look in them. But they were warm and inviting now. And she suddenly felt herself relax onto him, letting him take control over her mouth and lips. Gliding her hands over the sides of his face, she let her cold fingers caress his jaw and stroke his light stubble, enjoying the light pricking on her delicate skin, as warmth transferred into her palms.
And then, she felt him move apart from her lips, creating a feeling of sudden emptiness. As much as her thoughts scandalized her, she couldn't deny she wanted more of him. Hence, she tried to pull back his face to hers. But it looked like Arnav had some other plans, for she felt his hands glide over her hands that were caressing his face and being gently pulled down to the sides of her body.
And before she was about to protest it, she felt his hands snake across her waist onto her back and steadily, they began sliding into her salwar, caressing the back of her thighs.
"Arnav!" she whispered in a soft voice, lowering her gaze, instantly feeling shy and mostly tickled at his touch that seemed too intimate yet appropriate at the same time. Gliding her hands over his on top of her salwar, she tried to stop that slow alluring movements. But he was in no mood to stop.
Satin. Her skin felt like satin, he noted to himself. So soft and creamy, dainty and exquisite, a little cool due to the cold temperature of the winter night. He let his fingers explore her, feel every inch of her skin, familiarize with something that was only going to be his from now onwards. And then, when he was finally done teasing her there, he slid up his hands, this time travelling up her back, until they rested at the sides of her hips, after which he began focussing on her delectable creamy neck.
Pulling her hips closer to his, he let his lips traverse down sensually on the side of her neck, just behind her right ear, tracing a path to the hollow of her neck, placing feather light kisses all the way. He felt her whole body stiffen and her neck arched, giving him more access to her, while her hands travelled over his arms and held them tightly.
Khushi had thought that this was a part of his light flirting and that he would withdraw back soon. But she was quite surprised when he didn't stop. And now, somewhere at the back of her mind, a faint alarm rang, alerting her to where this was all leading to. The door was locked, the ambience was set up and he was in full mood for it.
Was she ready for this? Her mind had no answer to this question.
Somewhere, she felt that she wasn't ready yet. Maybe they had discussed about this previously. But she didn't think it would be so soon, that to right now.
Khushi had envisioned all of this in an entirely different manner. She had always thought that she was destined for an arranged marriage with some stranger, in a traditional way, into a traditional family. And this, what she was going to do right now, was something she had planned it to be strictly after marriage. And then maybe one day, she had hoped she would fall in love with that person and lead a happily ever after.
But then, honestly, she wasn't a traditional person. It was just that society expected every girl to be like this.
She had held up this belief until the day Arnav had entered her life and suddenly, everything had changed. Before him, no man had ever made his advances on her. She had never hoped she would fall in love with someone either. She had always felt herself to be invisible to the male species around her. As hilarious as it sounded, but it was the truth.
And then, the impossible had happened. She had fallen in love with Arnav. He had made her feel loved and special like never before. But their love wasn't restricted to it. This man, who was in her arms right now, had stood beside her when she was all alone. He had accepted her into his life without even asking for it. He had taken care of her in every possible manner. She had never at any point in their relationship felt that he was taking any advantage of her. Even when they were intimate like this, she had never squirmed away from his touch because somewhere, deep inside, she knew his intentions were pure.
So was it really wrong to get physically intimate with a man whom she had decided to spend the rest of her life with? Was she only going to stop this just because society shunned this?
And before she could answer her own question, she felt herself being turned around and pinned to the wall behind her. Her whole body was heaving up and down rapidly as the cold smooth surface of the wall brushed her face, while her palms rested on the wall supporting her body. Finding her hair being gently brushed aside towards the front of her shoulder, she felt the zipper of her kameez being slid down, allowing coolness of the air around her, tease her skin, intermingled with his warm breath, as his lips traced the path of his fingers.
This slow sensuous torture was becoming unbearable for her. She tried to turn around so that she could face him. But he always seemed to be a step ahead of her, for she instantly felt his hands on top of hers, locking her into this position so that she lay paralysed in his grip.
"Don't move." He whispered in a husky voice right beside her ear, a voice that oozed out sheer dominance over her, leaving her with no other option other than to accept his command.
She felt the fabric over her shoulder being slid down, as he nuzzled the exposed skin, sending shivers of pleasure all over her body. And before she knew it, her knees went weak and she felt she would collapse down any moment. She waited and waited for the crash which never occurred, coz the very next second, she felt his arm glide over her waist and hold her steady.
He turned her around so that she was facing him. But she couldn't bear to look into those eyes anymore. Everything around her was moving too fast and too slow at the same time leaving her perplexed, but she had to admit it, she was in no mood to stop this either.
She felt her kameez being lifted upwards over her head and the next thing she knew, she lay vulnerable and exposed to those molten eyes. She raised her eyes to meet his and noticed how he was scanning her entire torso, with what seemed to be an awed expression in his eyes. Reflexively, she felt her arms wrapping themselves around her, shielding her half bare torso with it, feeling extremely self conscious about her semi nakedness in front of him.
"Don't..." he whispered, taking a step closer to her, pulling away her arms and resting them on top of his chest. Arnav noticed how her lips were quivering with nervousness and then, he suddenly realised that this was her first time.
The innocence in her eyes was enough to melt away all that he had been feeling for the past few minutes. The possessiveness, the mania, the fury in his eyes was all toned down instantly.
"Are you scared?" he asked, holding her face, ushering her to look into his eyes.
"A little..." she whispered truthfully.
"Don't be. Trust me..." saying so, he took her hands into his and guided her to remove his brown t-shirt off his body, leaving him bare-chested for the first time in front of her.
"I know you like this." He whispered, pulling her closer to him so that their bodies were now moulded perfectly into each other. Entwining his fingers into hers, he guided her fingers over his perfectly chiselled abs, enjoying every bit of her awe and pleasure that slowly flitted across her face.
"Yeah," she replied, suddenly feeling all the tension release from her body, getting at ease with him. She embraced him fiercely, forgetting for a whole minute about the situation that they were in. Arnav never failed to make her feel comfortable, whatever the situation might be and this made her fall in love with him all over again.
Khushi Gupta knew she was ready for this. She was ready to surrender her entire body and soul to him and she would never regret it. Arnav was everything that she had dreamed of, maybe even more than it and he was perfect for her.
And before she knew it, both their bodies were divested of all the clothes that would hinder their union and she felt herself being lifted off her feet and carried in his arms, placing her down on the plush white sheets of his bed.
He placed her on his bed carefully, as if she was a porcelain doll that would break apart if he wasn't careful with her. He gazed into those bashful anticipating eyes that equally reciprocated her need for him. Breaking his gaze, he let his eyes wander down her entire body that lay bare in front of him, exposed, vulnerable, inviting, all his to take.
Nymph. She looked like a nymph in all her naked glory, he noted to himself. So beautiful, ethereal, exquisite and gorgeous. A round black halo surrounded her face as her tresses lay spread out over the pillow underneath her head. Her cheeks were painted with the deepest hue of crimson, a proof to all that she was feeling right now. But there were no signs of any hesitance.
Arnav noticed how her nervous hands were scrunching up the sheets beneath her body. And then, he realised how much courage she must have been summoning right now, lying all exposed in front of a man. Just by her one small gesture, the admiration he had for her and her bravery, increased by thousand folds.
While his heart swelled out with pride for her, he carefully climbed upon her, hovering his body over hers, so that her eyes now stared into his.
Khushi felt her heart galloping like a horse, taking in the sight of his entire body. He looked so confident and assuring and then she realised why she was going ahead with such a big decision of her life. Seeing him all aroused, for the first time, she realised the exact effect she had upon him.
Her breathing became heavier as she suddenly felt lack of oxygen in her system. She had read about all of this in books, even heard the exaggerated version of it from Lavanya many times and gratefully not had the talk with Buaji, for she didn't know how she would have survived the embarrassment. But experiencing it practically was an entirely different thing.
"Just relax okay?" Arnav assured her, crashing down his lips onto hers, trying to ease out her nervousness. When she nodded, he broke apart and slowly let his lips trail downwards to her neck, between the valley of her heaving bosom, descending down her midriff and finally ending up at her navel, intermitted by playful kisses and nibbles. He could hear her moan out in ecstasy, arousing him all the more.
What followed next was loads of tickling, teasing, caressing, fondling and nibbling, intermitted with loud moans and groans, letting her into an entire new world of physical intimacy.
"Will it hurt a lot?" Khushi finally spoke up, pulling his head up, cupping his face.
"No, a little bit. I'll take it very slow for you, okay? But just let me know if you want me to stop. I promise you, I won't do anything against your will." He said placing a light feathery kiss on her forehead. And before she knew it, he nudged open her legs and entered her. He heard her yelp out in pain, and felt himself feeling helpless for the pain she had to go through because of him. He knew her entire body was tensed up with the sudden intrusion, but he had no idea how could get her to relax. He stopped still, afraid of moving lest he hurt her more.
"Khushi, I'm really sorry." He whispered, seeing a drop of tear roll down the side of her eyes into the pillow underneath her head.
"Don't be." She managed to whisper in between the pain shooting through her body, grabbing his shoulders. "I'm fine." She added pulling his face closer to hers, claiming his lips as she let her fingers rummage through his hair, inhaling the faint scent of aftershave from his earlier shave in the morning.
Arnav didn't know what happened to him. But it happened fast, without any warning.
"Khushi, I love you so much... Please forgive me for all the times that I have hurt you and will in the future. I promise to hold your hand and be beside you for the rest of my life. You are my world now and I cannot imagine a life without you in it. " he whispered, kissing away her tear, leaving her completely stunned.
Khushi couldn't believe her ears. Arnav had finally confessed vocally that he loved her, an idea which she had entirely given up on. And before she could react, he began a slow rhythm within her, a beautiful intimate one that took her to heights never imagined possible, promising boundless love all the way, a hope of a loving future for both of them. The ride was passionate yet intense, wild yet controlled and stunning yet ecstatic, leading them to a trance until they reached the zenith.
Waves. Her voice sounded like the waves of the ocean, as she cried out his name in pleasure, he noted to himself. So calm and soothing to his ears, yet powerful and intense underneath. Feeling his arms give way with the strenuous session that they had, he collapsed down on her body, completely resting his weight on top of hers, while she welcomed him with her arms.
Khushi saw him panting out for breath, as he finally felt flat on top of her. But somehow his heavy weight felt welcoming on top of her body that was quivering due to the aftershocks. His head lay cradled on her bosom as he held on to her like a drowning man.
She didn't know what would follow next. What tomorrow held for her but today, she had one of the most beautiful experience of her life and she would never regret it even for a second, sharing it with the man whom she loved the most, her Arnav.
Nobody spoke a word as comfortable silence enveloped both of them, lulling them to sleep with the sheer exhaustion and finally Khushi reached out for the switch beside the bed, turning off the lights and began caressing his back muscles, as his words floated in her mind.
I love you...
o0o
Warm sunshine flitted through the window, bringing in slight relief to the harsh cold winter morning, causing Khushi to wake up from her deep slumber. She moaned out in protest, stretching out her body, still lying down on the bed, as memories of the previous night flashed into her mind. A warm lazy smile spread across her face, remembering Arnav's eyes gazing into hers at the zenith of their previous night's adventures.
She had never felt so loved before. The whole experience was simply magnificent and indescribable, especially the feeling of being physically united with a person whom you loved the most. He had accepted her for who she was, without wanting any changes in her. And that feeling of acceptance was one of the best feelings in the world.
She turned around to her left and was greeted by the sight of Arnav staring at her with an amused smile on his face, while elevating his head with the help of his hand. "Hey, Lazy Bum. Good Morning." He said, before bending forward to place a quick kiss on her lips.
"Hey! Good Morning..." she whispered with sleepy eyes. But suddenly they snapped open wide as she saw his eyes travelling down her body, smirking at her. She then realised that the duvet was only covering her lower body and that her upper body was lying bare to his eyes. Feeling shy, she tried to pull up the duvet to cover herself, but was stopped midway by him.
"There's no need to cover up now. I've seen everything that needs to be seen." He said winking his eye. Not knowing what else to do, she smacked him lightly on his chest, not before she found him pulling her closer to him and cuddling her.
"And in these two hours I was awake, I had nothing to do except to discover your body and surprisingly, I learnt so many new things about you." He said, letting his hand caress her waist.
"And why were lying beside me for two hours? You could have woken up and gone outside." She asked curiously.
"Because I thought that when you wake up, you would want me beside you." He said, placing a light kiss on her temple. And suddenly, Khushi felt a rush of love into her heart for this man lying beside her. He never ceased to amaze her. It was as if he perfectly understood what she needed from him.
"And what did you discover?" she asked, moving away the few strands of hair that covered his forehead.
"This birthmark here." He said suddenly pulling away the duvet covering her lower body, while he slid downwards so that his face was now near her hips. Encircling the light brown spot with his index finger on the left side of her waist, he bent down to place a soft moist kiss on that spot. "It's a pretty little thing you have here." He whispered and he was pretty sure that she was blushing at his comment right now.
"And what else?" she asked coyly, staring into his eyes.
"And you have a scar on your knee which is probably from the time you fell down and injured yourself." He replied back.
"Yeah, I hurt myself badly when I was twelve years old. Fell down from the school stairs and till today, the scar hasn't disappeared." She added. "And what else?"
"And that you burnt your forearm recently while working in the kitchen." He glared at her with wide eyes. "How many times have I told you not to work and let Om Prakash take care of things? Did you apply medicine?"
"No..." she whispered timidly.
"Ah, so then I will have to bear this scar for the next few years huh?" he asked, pulling her arm to re-examine the burn again. "No, you will apply the medicine after the breakfast is done and I want you to take care of yourself, henceforth."
"Is your list of discovery done?" she asked raising her eyebrow.
"Oh no! I discovered a lot more things than this. But I think you would never be able to look into my eyes ever again if I told you what else I discovered about you." He said flashing a mischievous smirk, before he dived down on her midriff and let his mouth explore her over there.
"But there is one thing I can share with you. I discovered that you an obsessive freak of cartoons." He said looking up.
"As if you didn't know that." She shot back.
"No, I didn't know you were crazy to this extent." He said diving to the bedside and from the floor, he picked up what seemed to be her light blue coloured lingerie in his hand. "Cartoons? Seriously? On your lingerie?" he asked tracing the designs of the animated characters on the fabric. "I thought you girls were supposed to wear sexy lingerie. Not this!"
"As if I knew I would get naked with you yesterday. If I had known I would have worn sexy lingerie." She rolled her eyes. "And give it back to me." She tried to snatch it from his hand.
"But I have to say, you looked cute in it." He said climbing on top of her. "And sexy too." He added nuzzling her neck.
And suddenly, he felt himself being overturned and land on his back, while she climbed on top of him. "Don't stare at me like that." She pouted back, laying herself flat on top of him. "I learnt your kickboxing tricks too." She said, smiling mischievously at him.
"Ooh, I like it." He added, caressing her back, letting out a chuckle.
"Can I ask you something?" Khushi asked, stroking the sides of his face. She had been bothered with this question from the time she had woken up. When he nodded, she continued. "Why were you angry yesterday?"
She saw him stiffen up, hearing her question. But he remained silent.
"I'm sorry." He replied back after a long pause. "I didn't mean to burst out at you." He uttered in an apologetic voice.
"It's alright, but you know honestly, I was scared yesterday. I thought you would hit me or something." Khushi replied back. She knew she had to talk to him about this. He may not have done it, but the terror she had seen in his eyes was definitely haunting her. And she never wanted to be physically abused by him at any cost and wanted to drive this point into his mind.
"No Khushi! I would never do that!" he exclaimed out loudly in disbelief. "I'm once again really sorry for making you feel like that. Never be scared of me okay? Please don't."
Arnav may have been a criminal to the world. Maybe nearly everyone out there was terrorised by him. But he could never bear Khushi to feel the same for him. He would never allow terror to reign in her eyes.
She nodded and rested her head in the crook of his neck.
"Khushi, are you alright? You know, after yesterday night." He asked patting her hair, placing a warm kiss on her head.
"Yeah, I'm perfectly alright."
"Can I ask you something now?" Arnav asked, suddenly remembering Akash's words ring in his ears. "Why did you agree for this? I thought you weren't ready for this." He didn't how exactly could he frame his words, but he hoped she would get the gist of it. As he stared at the ceiling, he worried whether he had indeed taken a hasty decision about this. What if she was regretting about it? What if she had not been ready for it? What if she had felt forced to do it?
"I don't know. But it simply felt right. Honestly, I had thought we would get to this after we, you know..." she gulped down feeling apprehensive about how he would react to this. Arnav was a man of unpredictability and she never wanted them to take a step backwards in their relationship because of their marriage talk. Infact, Khushi firmly believed that one should only marry when your heart wanted to, not because you were forced by circumstances and people. And Buaji had just passed away recently. So how could she think about marriage so fast?
No, the present arrangement between them was perfectly fine for them. And life had taught her one thing at a very early age that is to never worry about the future. Hence, she was ready to accept whatever future had in store for her.
"But it's alright. Things rarely go according to our plan right?" she continued rolling to her side, while he turned over so that he now lay on his chest.
Arnav nodded back quietly. "Thanks..." he whispered, holding her hand, feeling instantly relieved by her answer.
"For what?" he heard her ask back.
"Just like that." He replied holding her hand. "I guess we better get out from the bed. Otherwise, Aman would wonder where we have disappeared, that is if he out of his cave today." he chuckled, getting ready to slide out from the bed.
Khushi was about to follow, when suddenly she noticed Arnav's back and then what she saw was enough to make her gasp out loudly in shock. She had never noticed it before. Not even yesterday night. But today, as he stood in a particular angle with the sunlight, it was clearly visible.
On Arnav's back lay a long deep scar that ran all the way from his right shoulder to his left hip, diagonally across his back. It was both scary and hideous. It didn't look like it was a recent one. It looked like it was etched many years ago and it was etched so permanently that it ran deep into the skin of his back. But as she tried to recollect about it, she realised that she hadn't felt it when she had touched his back earlier.
"Arnav, wait!" she called out, as she sat on the bed and moved towards his back, while he remained seated on the edge of the bed. Observing closely, she noticed that not just the big one, but there were tiny scars all over his back. Faded, but still visible on careful observation.
"What is this?" she whispered in a barely audible voice, tracing out the large scar over his back. And then, she suddenly felt him stiffen as if he was a deer caught in the headlights and instantly knew that something was really wrong.
CHAPTER 39
How was it? Bad, good? Not steamy enough? Sorry for that, coz Khushi is a first timer here and I cannot make it go too fast and too happening for her.😆 Otherwise, she will faint with shock.😆
Cricket
Jhanak
Hindi TV Shows
Ye Hai Mohabbatein
Writers Corner: Books, Stories & Poems
193