Part 31
Khushi knew that their lips wouldn't meet till she accepted him as her husband. In that moment her passion weighed down her usual feisty nature. She felt that if they would not kiss, the passion inside her would make her burst.
"Husband," she accepted just as she leaned towards him and captured her husband's lips with her own.Khushi Gupta had experienced her first kiss years ago but she realized that it was the first kiss which made her insides erupt in the woes of intense concupiscence.
Their tongues fought for dominance while Arnav's hands explored the areas covered by her translucent sharara. Khushi raked her long shaky fingers in his luscious locks and pulled him closer, yearning to be as close to him as possible.
The frenzy kiss had to be broken by the need of quintessential oxygen as they panted deeply to fill themselves with the gas which separated them. A bright magenta, matching her dress, adorned her cheeks while Arnav's brown eyes were set ablaze with nympholepsy.
"I guess we should leave. I am sure everyone would have noted our absence by now," said Khushi, leaning back against the wall.
"But not before this," answered Arnav, who held her arms against the wall and kissed her in the most sensuous manner he could manage for the better part of a minute before letting her go.
The realization of separation created a void in their hearts as they looked into each others' eyes for a moment before parting. They knew that after that one moment of passion, it would almost be impossible for them hold themselves away from each other.
"Where had you disappeared? We were worried sick," complained Payal, bringing Khushi out of her reverie of moments.
"She had to complete an important job, Di. I hope you understood what I mean," teased Lavanya, who joined in, much to Khushi's annoyance who rolled her eyes.
A teasing glint appeared in Payal's eyes as she deciphered the meaning of her sister's best friend's words.
"Aye Hayye, Khushi. That explains the brilliant pink hue on your cheeks," she teased while Khushi lightly smacked Payal for her comment and walked away towards the sofa, where she crashed.
"Kya Kya Hua? I am sure nothing less than a kiss," said Lavanya, taking seat beside her friend while Payal took the other side.
"Why don't you tell your bedroom secrets, Jiji? Then I will gladly share what happened between me and Arnav," retorted Khushi with a smirk playing on her lips.
Payal's mouth opened wide listening to Khushi's demand and rolled her eyes. "Fine, don't tell," she said, with fake anger.
Khushi realized that she would never miss out on this fun as she would stay with her sister forever. She decided that her gift to Arnav on his birthday was more like a gift for her than him.
-----------------------------------------------
Night,
Arnav was feeding Khushi her favorite delicacies, living up to the ritual of husband feeding the wife, when her hands were clad in henna.
"I was such a fool, isn't it? To see that you are so amazing, I took so long. I wasted so much of time," she complained about herself, while Arnav smiled to himself about her dialogues.
"Of course. You are crazy, and that's exactly why I love you," he confessed, making Khushi grin as she rested her head against his shoulder.
"You know, I always wanted someone like you in my life. I will not lie, I have dated before, but nothing was serious and they were all casual relationships. I used to loathe my mother's mindset so much that I wondered if someone who thought like me and who encouraged me while accepting me like who I was, even existed. And you happened to me. You fulfilled a dream which I never thought would be fulfilled. I can never thank you enough," she whispered lovingly, losing herself completely in the moment.
"Then don't thank. Honestly Khushi, I am the lucky one to have gained your acceptance. I will always love you, no matter what," he promised, as a thought struck him. Khushi moved closer to him as she wrapped her arm around his and placed a soft kiss on his arm. Arnav suddenly stood up, making Khushi stand up with him, as she stared at him in surprise.
"Will you do something for me, Khushi?" he asked, looking into her eyes with an unmatched intensity as if he was looking at her soul.
Khushi wondered what he would demand of her but she trusted him to place her level of comfort above his wishes and that gave her no reason to worry. "Just say it, Arnav." she said, breathlessly, losing herself in him.
Arnav held her hands in his and moved closer to her. "Take the seven vows with me. Right here, right now. These vows might not be the original seven sacred vows, Khushi but these would mean more than them for me. Will you?"
Khushi looked surprised at his request but chose to agree to his request, knowing that he would never do anything to hurt her. "I will," she answered sincerely.
Arnav took a table kept in the garden and placed the earthen lamps, which were arranged in the pool, on the table to stand as the witness for their vows. Clasping his lover's hands in his, Arnav moved forward to walk ahead, like they would for the first four vows.
"I promise that I will never do anything which would hurt you. I will always try my best to keep you happy," he said, taking his steps ahead.
"I too promise that I will not let momentary tiffs cloud my mind and take them ahead," she vowed, reminiscing the mistakes they had committed in the past.
They had completed one circumambulation. "I promise that I will never hide anything from you," he swore as the sacred fire as the witness.
"And if we do, owing to circumstances, we will make sure that we would not have give explanations for the same later," she continued his vow, while Arnav smiled at her.
"I promise that I will make your dreams as my own and help you pursue them without any hurdles," he pledged, knowing how important her career is to her.
" And I promise that if I would ever have to choose between my job expectations and our love, I would choose our love," she promised, taking Arnav by shock with her vow.
As they began the fourth circumambulation, Arnav began the fourth vow,
"I will never doubt you. No matter whose support you have, whose trust you have, you will always have mine," he plighted solemnly.
"I promise that you would never have sacrifice anything of yours to keep these vows up. In the case of a misunderstanding, we would not wait for the other one to come up, but would initiate ourselves," she said lovingly.
As the fourth circumambulation came to an end, Khushi moved ahead to Arnav to begin her vows.
-----------------------
Bade Achhe Lagte Hain
CID
Book Talk
62