She was familiar with the heat; the kind that sung with a frenzy, just under her skin. She didn't remember the last time, she'd felt so. For all those years the desert heat had made her insensate to fully reckon the maddening hum with which passion could swish in her blood stream.
Sitting by the edge of the bed, she fell back onto the soft plush, distressed by the untoward sensations, sparking inside her. It frustrated her more that she couldn't entirely blame her situation on the weird tasting milk, his aunt had brought in, when it had been long since she had been touched by a man.
He watched her from the sliver of the opening between their bedroom door; her form collapsing sharply onto the bed, that belied her vulnerability more so than annoyance; her loosely spread hair showing for the dark gloom she was under,
The door fell open and he walked in towards her. Not having expected his arrival, she hurried to sit up, leaning against the poster of the bed and adjusted her clothing.
He looked at her, reflecting the same discomfort with which she fumbled turning the tip of her saree around one finger.
Sighing, he came close, and tugged her by her wrist, to rise. "Alright, they have crossed a line now," he said pulling on her arm. "They have no business dictating your sex life."
"Abhi, please!" She resisted and walked away from from him, towards the window corner that faced the back of the house.
"How could you want to let this go?" He stood shaking his head with visible exasperation and closed the distance between them to face her.
"Well," she paused for effect, "now that you have pointed out it's only my sex life that's to be discussed, I suppose its my discretion if it's to be discussed at all."
"I didnt mean it like that." He winced at her veiled blow, one he concurred was much needed, given his slip.
She looked up at him, as he stepped closer; his eyes, now reflecting for the concern that brewed in him.
In light of his sincerity, her tone softened. "Either way, it will not change how I'm feeling now." She looked out the window, towards the faint light within the thicket of the woods that began at a short distance from the backyard.
His gaze was trained at her. "How are you doing?" he asked, folding his arms.
"I don't want to talk about it." She said without looking at him. It wasn't that she felt embarrassed or apologetic about how she felt in the moment, but that she could feel at all, troubled her.
He breathed out loud to break the clouding silence that served to exacerbate the awkwardness that gripped them both.
"Why don't we go for a walk?" He prompted. In that instant, he'd never been more clear that he wouldn't touch her even if it were to serve her. He didn't believe he could make it only about her. What if he ended up wishing to find more in her eyes, than what it held? He couldn't bear to want and not find the wanting in her.
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