PASSION
She started to scream, as she convinced herself that it was some kind of a ghost trying to rob her out of her remaining sanity. She saw the "ghost" crinkle his forehead in slight anger, and place a hand over her mouth, putting a stop to her protests. He laid her down on the bed, holding her gently, but firmly, and whispered, "Ssshhh…Geet,chillao mat.Maa-Baba jaag jayenge."
Geet widened her eyes as she realized that the "ghost" was indeed Maan in flesh and bone. She stopped screaming as astonishment kicked in. He was almost over her body, and his eyes stared into hers lovingly and with naked passion. Maan moved his hand from her mouth, as he felt her screams die down, and tucked her messy bed ruffled hair behind her ears carefully. He cupped her cheeks again, and kissed her forehead, whispering almost to himself, "Bukhaar toh utar gayaa hain,jaan."
Jaan, why is he calling me jaan? He has never called me jaan. He called me love once. Before, he told me all that…. Her eyes filled with tears again, as she recalled his words. Maan stroked her cheeks with his thumb reassuringly, trying to soothe her pain. But, it was far from being eased. He leaned forward and kissed the tears that trickled down her face, and whispered harshly, close to her lips, "Don't cry anymore, warna phirse sarr mein dard hoga, Geet."
Inhe kaise pata ke mujhe sarr dard tha? she thought in confusion, and stiffened, as he stroked his nose with hers lovingly. His hands held her waist, lightly pinning her body down on the bed, making sure she isn't able to move, but not hurting her. His nose was still on hers, when he whispered, almost painfully, "Mujhe chorke kyun chali aayii, Geet? Ek baar mujhse milna nahin chaha? Bataya bhi nahin mujhe, baas, chali aayii..itni naraz ho mujhse jaan?"
Jaan! He's calling me jaan again.. itne pyaar se kyun baat kar rahe hain mujhse? Aabhi bharak jayenge, Geet…dekhna.. she looked at him with lost eyes,and said simply, "Aap hi toh chahte the."
Her words caused a sharp needle to prick his heart. The way she said it, so calmly, innocently and humbly made Maan want to kiss the soul out of her. He stared at her, until, finally she lowered her eyes down.
"Main gusse mein tha, Geet," he said, quietly, stroking her eyebrow with his finger. He dropped a kiss on her still swollen eyes, and continued, "I didn't know many things then, but, I know them now."
Geet continued staring down when Maan suddenly said, "Tumne bandage karwaya tha?"
She looked up, his words making no sense to her. This morning, her mind was slow, due to the drugs. Maan made an impatient click down his throat, and said, "I burned your hand. Tumne bandage karwaya tha?"
Her eyes reflected the pain again, as soon as he said those words. Maan looked at her in agony, and kissed her cheeks lovingly. Kissing her was the only way he could make sure that she was fine and with him and he could feel her strong presence. He slowly pulled her right hand from under the sheets, and stared at it in dismay.
It was raw, as he had expected it to be, but the skin was peeled off in the burnt area of her wrist. There were a few scratches and cuts near and on the burnt area, discoloring the skin in a dreadful and unhealthy way.
"I knew it," he bit out angrily, holding her hand in an iron grip, making a visible effort to keep his voice down, and not wake Geet's parents, who had no idea that Maan was in her bedroom. "Mujhe pata tha, ke tumne bandage nahin karwaya hoga. Tumhe kabhi farq hi nahin parta… pichli baar bhi…" he trailed off, as Geet's face twisted slightly in pain.
"Kuch nahin hoga jaan. Dekho, main aabhi bandage kar deta hoon. Tumhe aur dard nahin hoga. Main hoon tumhare paas. Tumhe aur dard nahin hone dunga," he moved the sheets, and picked her up in his arms.
Geet gasped loudly, trying to protest, but one look from Maan silenced her completely. He carried her to the bathroom, realizing that she felt a lot lighter than she usually did. Ek din mein isska weight loss ho gayaa kya? Yeh ladki mujhe saach mein pagal kar degi… Maan put her down on the marble floor gently, and pulled the first-aid box from the medicine cabinet.
"Mujhe nahin chahiye…" she started saying, when Maan glared at her. "Chup, Geet…bilkul chup."
She subsided, but her hand trembled in fear of the pain which was about to occur, as she saw the anti-burn cream in Maan's hand. Maan didn't miss the terror in her eyes. He slowly pulled her closer by the waist, and whispered, "I won't hurt you…anymore. Mujhpe bhaarosa karo jaan."
She didn't reply and neither did she look convinced. Maan sighed and pulled her even more closer. He kissed her forehead and said, "Okay, love, let's make a deal. Agar tumhe dard hua, then let me know. I'll stop immediately, okay? I promise."
Geet looked into his eyes, and saw the hint of sincerity and protectiveness. She slowly nodded her head, and closed her eyes tightly, bracing herself for the pain. Maan fixed his eyes on her face, his anger increasing on himself as he saw the pain he had caused her to go through. He looked at her passionately, preparing to move the cotton away if she so much as winced. He applied the cotton on her peeled off skin, as gently as he could. Geet screamed in helpless agony, as the raw skin came into contact with the sharp anti-burn cream. Maan threw the cotton away, and jerked her up in his arms again.
Teras rolled down her cheeks, as he lay her down on the bed, and reached for the glass of water. He held it to her trembling lips, and she looked at him. She was afraid of his anger, afraid that he would lose his patience and shout at her again. What she didn't know was that Maan wouldn't do that to her today. Atleast not today.
She drank the water slowly, and Maan wiped her lips off with his fingers, causing goosebumps to appear on her skin. She lowered her lashes in shame, and said in a soft voice, "Aap…aap jayiye… main kar lungi… it's okay…"
He grabbed her waist and pulled her towards him. Staring into her eyes, he said, "Agar yeh mere saath hota, toh kya tum chali jaati mujhe chorkar?" Geet lowered her teary eyes immediately, feeling his heated gaze on her. After some time, he said quietly, "I'll be the one who does it for you, Geet. And I won't do it till you tell me that you are not getting hurt. I don't care how long it takes, samjhi tum?"
He left her bed, giving her time to steady her heartbeat and came back with the box. He held her shoulders and laid her down on the bed gently, kissing her nose, and said, "Khana khaya tumne?"
Before she could reply, he said, "Nahin khaya hoga. You didn't even have lunch before leaving. Mera gussa khane pe kyun nikal rahi ho, jaan?"
Yeh mujhe jaan kehna baandh nahin karenge toh main pagal ho jaungi. She looked away from him and said, in her soft and calm voice, "Main aapse gussa nahin hoon."
"Liar!" he said, unconsciously putting the cream on another ball of cotton. "Tum mujhse bohut gussa ho. Dekho, maine tumhari kya halat bana di hain." He said, taking her burnt hand in his and holding it gingerly.
"Aap…yahaan kyun mere matlab kaise aaye?" the words finally tumbled out of her mouth, as she looked at Maan with great confusion.
Maan stared at her, his eyes burning holes within her. She recoiled away, giving up hopes for her answer, when he whispered, "I wanted to see you," and pressed the cotton into her hand again.
Before she could scream out, he pulled it away. She looked at him in surprise, as he continued, his eyes gazing deeply into hers.
"Maine uss raat ko jo kiya woh mujhe nahin karna chahiye tha", he said, dabbing the cotton into her wound again. She hissed, but, he started talking again, "You left without telling me, without seeing me. Daadima told me about your hand and your headache. Aur, maine ghar pe phone kiya tha, tab Maa ne bataya about your fever." Deliberately, he left the diary part out. She doesn't need to know, he thought.
He pulled the cotton away, having cleaned the burnt area. She stared down at her hand, realizing that he had done it, and though, it had pained her, she was too busy listening to him to care. He threw the cotton away, and picked up the savlon to clean her cuts and scratches.
"Main piche ke darwaze se aaya tha subha. It was open, and the guards are still sleeping," he added, seeing her open her mouth, "Maa-Baba ne mujhe nahin dekha Geet. Aur dekhenge bhi nahin."
He cut the bandage into a strip, and placed it over her palm and wrist carefully. She shuddered a little, as he draped the white sterilised cloth all over the wrist and palm of her right hand and securely tied it. He moved her hand to his mouth, and kissed the tips of her exposed fingers lovingly. Geet felt a tug of warmth in her heart, as she saw his head bent over her hand, and felt tears coming into her eyes again.
Maan looked up, and saw her teary and swollen eyes. He put his hand on either side of the bed, trapping her in between, and kissed her forehead, eyes, nose, cheeks and the corner of her mouth. Her breath hitched as he paused to look at her, and then, dropped a kiss on the space between her nose and upper lip brushing her lips with his seductively. She parted her lips in anticipation, ready to accept his kiss, but Maan lifted himself off her, and said, "It's almost 8 jaan. Maa-Baba aabhi uth jayenge aur mujhe bhi office jana hain."
He looked at her, as she lay between the sheets, her face white and pale. Leaning down he held her face in his hands, and whispered, "Main raat ko phirse aaunga. Tab tak aapna khayal rakhna jaan."
He added, a litle more sternly, "Don't you dare try to put any kind of pressure on that hand, or on yourself, samjhi? The healing process should start now, so don't mess with it. Or with me, Geet."
She looked at, and nodded her head quickly for a yes. He looks scary yet again, she thought. Maan moved forward and kissed her forhead one last time with an open mouth. He slowly murmured with his lips still on her forehead, "Is your hand still hurting you, jaan?"
Babaji, inhe meri itni chinta hain… she thought, feeling a drop of tear trickle down her cheek. Maan cupped her face immediately, anxiety lining his face and whispered, "Tumhe dard ho raha hain? Ro kyun rahi ho,jaan? Kuch chahiye? Kya hua?"
He held her bandaged hand again, looking at it miserably and murmured, "Meri wajah se tumhe itna dard ho raha hain."
"Aap…yeh…" Geet made an effort to talk, but her strength was fading away fast. It wouldn't have helped whatever she said. Maan was too guilty to take her forgiveness.
He let go of her hand haltingly, tucked the blankets around her carefully, and whispered, "Try and keep the backdoor open for me tonight. I'll be here by about 11:30. Maa-Baba tab tak so jaate hain, haina?"
Geet stared at him too stunned to talk. Babaji, yeh raat ko bhi aise chup ke aayenge mujhe dekhne keliye. Kisine dekhliya toh? She looked at him, and gulped down her saliva, opening her mouth to try to say no when he growled, "I'm coming Geet. Nothing you say can change my mind."
She shut her mouth like a fish, as his eyes glared at her. He turned to leave, but stopped and came back to her. Staring at her intently he said, "Do you want to eat something? Anything special? Ghar se kuch leke aaun tumhare liye when I come tonight?"
Geet stiffened, Maan's words floating into her brain almost immediately. She nodded her head for a no quickly, a little bit too quickly, and lowered her eyes down on the sheets. Maan didn't miss the glint of sadness in her eyes, which made him more ashamed of his behavior to her.
"Tum uss ghar ka kuch nahin khana chahti ho," he said, simply, as if stating a fact.
Before Geet could think of a rational reply, he left, closing the door behind him softly.
Okay, yes, I updated on the promised day. So, now, it's your turn to show me your love.😆
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I know you all should absolutely LOVE this part!😆😳 The besharams you all are...😆
Love
Sarzah