11/11//2013 - ARHI FF:MASTERCLASS THREAD10: Chapt89 pg114..note pg131 - Page 56

Akash smiled to himself as watched her fighting to regain her composure. It was time to for both of them to cut the bullshit he thought as he put a finger under her chin and tilted her face up to his. 'Open your eyes,' he ordered calmly. Payal had no choice but to comply. 'Stop fighting me Payal. And stop pretending to be someone I know you are not,' Akash took a deep breath, 'either you relax and stop behaving as if you're being forced to do something you don't want to or we turn back - the choice is yours. What do you want?' he asked softly as his brown eyes burnt into hers. Akash saw some of that fake bravado slip and shatter as he caught a glimpse of the real, slightly shy and perhaps vulnerable woman that was Payal Kumari Gupta.

Payal closed her eyes again.

'Don't take me back yet,' she whispered.

'Are you sure?'

'Yes.'

Akash moved back slowly, 'Ok then, let's go.'

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Payal Kumari Gupta took as deep breath as she tried not to fidget in her seat. Unlike other road trips, there was no conversation in the car today. The silence magnified the crunch of the tyres against the road, the purring of the engine under the hood, the gentle hiss of the cold air from the air con unit.

And the breathing of the man sitting beside her.

What had she gotten herself into? Payal stole a glace at Akash as he concentrated on the road ahead. Neither he nor she had uttered a single word since their battle of wills after which he asked her whether she wished for him to continue the journey. Payal frowned as her gaze ran over his face and she sat up straighter. There was something stern yet more masculine and particularly commanding about him now. She was dying to ask him where he was taking her but she was damned if she was going to be the one to break this Berlin Wall of Silence between them.

Payal quickly averted her gaze and she concentrated on looking ahead at the long straight road. She could see thick, black clouds gathering in the distance. Raising an eyebrow she folded her arms across her chest; was this going to turn into a cliched 'girl and boy get stuck in the rain storm and can't get back home' type of day she thought with a slight snort and half smile.

'Care to share the joke?'

Payal's heart rate jumped up a notch when she heard his honey soaked baritone. Was there something different about his voice now? It was calmer, deeper...more hypnotic? Payal shook her head and tried to gather her wits as she mustered up the courage to look up into his eyes. 'I was just thinking about something,' she muttered as she looked to her left at the landscape whizzing by.

Akash shifted slightly to glance at Payal. The guard was back up. Keeping
his eyes on the road, 'you know now that you've made the decision to continue on this journey, you might actually want to re-think about your decision about being stubborn and not to talking to me,' he said softly.

Payal whipped her head around, 'I haven't done any such thing,' she said. What did he want from her she wondered in amazement. She wasn't being stubborn. She was just being in control of the situation.

'Oh come on Miss Gupta, you had made up your mind even before I asked the question,' Akash said quietly. The smugness that was very evident during their earlier exchange was now gone and had been replaced by simple soft honesty. 'In any case, it doesn't matter because sooner or later you are going to have to talk to me.'

'You can't force me to to do anything I don't want to!'

Payal knew she was being petulant and childish but there was something about him that instantly put her on the back-foot and want to defend herself.

She watched as he slowly slid his sunglasses off, 'Who said anything about force...Payal?' His eyes had darkened dangerously, and despite her best intentions, Payal felt her pulse begin to accelerate in response to to the way her name rolled off his tongue in a husky whisper.

Akash reached for her hand and pulled it towards himself. Spellbound she watched as his intertwined his fingers with hers and both their hands rested on the centre console in the car. Payal tried to pull her back back but Akash held on. One hand had captured hers, while the other continued to keep their car on its course and after a brief struggle Payal conceded her defeat.

Dragging her gaze away from his, Payal stared out of the window, suddenly aware that she had stopped paying attention to her surroundings. The weather outside was getting darker and the landscape had changed dramatically. A forest of tall, heavily canopied trees surrounded both sides of the road and traffic had declined significantly to the point where soon their car was the only vehicle on the road. Payal turned to face Akash, 'I think you need to turn back. The weather is getting worse and I don't think you know where you are going,' she said as she tried provoking him into revealing their destination.

Akash remained silent and kept his eyes on the road.

There was nothing Payal hated more that not being in control and not knowing what lay ahead of her. Try as she might, those horrible surpressed feelings began resurfacing. She gasped quietly for breath as she tried to free herself of those dark tentacles that always seemed to chase her.

'Tell me where we are going... Please,' he heard her say softly. Akash opened his mouth in retort to her provocation.

The words died in his throat. Something had changed and Akash realized that suddenly Payal looked alert and defensive...almost frightened. He felt something twist inside him. He had always thought of Payal Kumari Gupta as strong and vibrant, but now there was something else there. Glancing at her, he was confronted by a set of large brown eyes. His eyes locked with hers and Akash saw a something flash in her eyes and then disappear. Frowning he realized what he had seen was fear. He knew in a heartbeat that Payal Kumari Gupta was hiding something. Akash was puzzled. Maybe he was wrong. Or maybe she was good at hiding her feelings. Too early to tell, he decided, giving her the benefit of the doubt once more. But one thing was certain - there was definitely more to Payal Kumari Gupta than met the eye.

Akash had never been so intrigued by a woman before. Damn the plan he thought to himself as he spun the steering wheel and took the car off the road. Payal gasped loudly as the car swerved. Akash let go of her hand and concentrated on driving. He stepped on the accelerator and the four wheel drive power vehicle practically sailed over the rough terrain. 'What are you doing??? Turn back now!!' he heard her shout but he was in no mood to provide an answer or a justification.

Suddenly the forest of trees cleared and the steep edge of a cliff face appeared. Payal turned to Akash who showed no signs of slowing down. Her heart was thundering in her chest as they approached land's edge at break neck speed and her knuckles whitened as she gripped the seat with both hands. Payal closed her eyes as she braced for some sort of an impact when abruptly Akash hit the breaks and the car spun to a stop only metres from the edge of the cliff face.

Terror rolled through Payal, washed over her in sickening waves. Disgust followed on its heels. She closed her eyes, struggling for composure and control as she pressed a hand to her chest as if she could still the frantic racing of her heart. 'WHAT the bloody hell was that?!!!' she said after a few seconds of silence, her breathing ragged, uneven.

Akash spun around and like heat-seeking missiles his eyes found hers, his gaze searing through the space that separated them. His expression remained absolutely still as his eyes traveled over her, taking in her shaken state. The mask of false bravado slipped away and in its place, for the first time Akash thought he was looking at the real Payal. The one that she kept hidden from everyone else. The one that he wanted to get to know.

'Answer me damn it!! A near death experience was not what I signed up for!!!' Payal didn't care that her distress showed in her voice, that the edge of fear sharpened it.

'And I didn't sign up to date a fake. Which is what you are damn it!' Akash retorted more sharply then he intended to.

Payal looked at him, hurt and pride welling in her wide eyes.

Taking a deep breath, she forced the words out, fighting to control her voice so that she sounded so much braver than she felt. 'I'm not a fake,' she whispered softly as she tried desperately to blink away the uninvited tears beginning to pool in her eyes.

Something hard and dangerous glinted in Akash's black eyes and when he spoke his voice was steady and clinically cold. 'Really? From the moment I've met you, I've known that there's someone else underneath this...this faade that up put up for everyone. You started this chase and I took up the challenge. Not only that, you had a choice and you decided once again that you are interested in pursuing this but not once have you let that faade down. And I'm sick of it.' The vein of savage anger in Akash Singh Raizada's voice made her blood run cold and Payal flinched.

'I'm not... I'm not pretending or faking anything!' The pain that was clawing at her heart made her voice harsh; the fight to hold back tears roughened it at the edges.

That was the final straw for Akash. He yanked off his seat belt and slammed open the door before getting out of the vehicle. Payal watched him walk to her side and thrust open her door. Gasping as the cold wind enveloped her, Payal distractedly noted the storm clouds hanging low and black and the occasionally rumbling thunder.

'Get out of the car Payal,' she heard him say. Glancing up, Akash's eyes were cold and the expression on his face was at best remote. Gone was the lazy, sexy smile that had made him so approachable. Now he just seemed cold and intimidating.

A sound ripped from his throat and he pulled her out of the car. His eyes were like twin diamonds, angry, livid. And now that he was looking down at her, the change in his position made an amazing difference to the way she was feeling. Petrified. Because he towered over her, his big body was imposing and deeply intimidating and she suddenly felt minute infront of him. Payal flinched as a flash of lightning ripped through the black clouds, followed by a roar of thunder. Her hands instinctively tightened on his forearms as the winds lashed her from all directions.

Akash couldn't help but stare at Payal. Her big brown eyes were wide, her skin flushed from cold or their confrontation. Akash couldn't tell which. His eyes narrowed as his gaze trailed a path to her lips. They beckoned. He resisted.

'Tell me the truth Payal. What are you hiding from me?' he asked point-blank.

Payal would never forget the raw masculinity that radiated from him. There was a simmering, almost blazing depth in his brown eyes as he held her captive, the shadow of whiskers that darkened his jaw and the broad shoulders that strained at the confines of his navy T-shirt made him appear even more overpowering. Payal dropped her hand from his arm, all too aware of the heat of his skin and her nearness to him. His scent surrounded her, the smell of the wind and the approaching storm and the underlying hint of maleness that surrounded her. She tried to break free but he tightened his grip on her upper arms even more.

'Answer me!' she heard him growl.

Stunned at the force in his voice, Payal flinched as she tried to pry herself free of him. Gone was the quiet, reserved man she was used to and in his place stood man completely in control of her and intent on getting an answer. Suddenly Payal felt very afraid of the situation and of him and the realisation that she had roused a sleeping lion became very very evident.

Akash immediately detected the change in her posture from strong and confident to afraid and uncertain. 'Stop panicking,' he chided softly. 'I'm not going to hurt you. But I'm not letting this go unanswered this time. Tell me the truth Payal. Why are you like this?' Suddenly a number of possibilities raced through Akash's mind. Did someone hurt you?' he asked softly. Payal gasped and struggled even harder.

Suddently a loud boom of thunder crashed overhead. Akash knew instantly that it was him and not the clap of thunder that had hit a nerve with her. 'Who was it Payal?' he pressed on.

The tears she had struggled against wouldn't be held back any longer and flooded her eyes. A single one spilled out and ran slowly down her cheek mingling with the big, fat drops of rain which had begun to pelt them. Payal begin to struggle even harder to free herself, 'let me go Akash,' she screamed against the howling wind.

Akash Singh Raizada was a man who rarely lost his temper, but when he did, it was catastrophic. His grip tightened on her, his fingers dug into her flesh as his eyes blazed as suddenly all common sense went out the window. His hands loosened.

Payal started to spin away from him but gasped as he reached out and grabbed her by the wrist. He pulled her closer, so close she could see herself in the depths of his brown eyes. Her heart seemed to stop beating as his gaze held hers intently. For a moment she felt the crackle of electricity in the air and with it the knowledge that she'd pushed him too hard.

Abruptly Akash pulled Payal up against him, his mouth mere inches from hers as his arms enfolded her. Her heart raced like the wind and her mind spun in a bizarre panic. Akash stared at Payal for a split second. And then claimed her lips. Payal gulped against him, his lips were almost bruising in their intensity, his hands slid possessively along her slender curves until he found the indentation of her waist, where he gripped and lifted her off the ground. Her mind was spinning as she tried to push him away.

Just as he had kissed her without warning, he pulled away as abruptly. Seizing the moment, Payal laid her hands flat against his chest and pushed him back. She had to get away from him she thought desperately as she turned around.

'Oh no you don't! Thought Akash as he grabbed her slender wrist and pulled her back towards him. 'We aren't done yet Payal - You still haven't given me an answer. What are you hiding from me?' he growled.

Something inside Payal snapped at the thought of his unwelcomed intrusion of her space. Eyes blazing, she met his gaze head on, 'you want the truth?! The truth is that I'm married,' she screamed at him.

The answer hit Akash with all the force of a kick to his solar plexus.


But Payal wasn't done yet.


Rivulets of rain mingled with tears that ran down her face, 'And I killed my husband!' she said almost in a whisper.



helllooo my darlings!!

Thank you all for the awesome comments on the honeymoon chapters. I have finally managed to read them all and wanted to thank you so much for sharing your thoughts - especially you guys who wrote long comments. Its YOU that keeps inspiring me to write.

As for you, yeah YOU looking around guiltily for not posting a comment...SHAME ON YOU. I trust you will rectify your behavior with this chapter.

I think I gave myself diabetes making Arnav so gorgeous inside and outside that I have people threatening to come and steal my brain so that they can print a 3D ASR for themselves! I get it girls - you love him damn it! well so do I!!!

(p.s. vaishiksg... totally get your feedback!!)



So...After all that sweet-lovely dovey mush, I needed a taste of dark... and this chapter is the result.

Did you like it?

Did you hate it?

Overwhelm me... I'm waiting.


Naina😳