Though that week at Omkara's private retreat, which later became their favorite vacation spot, had brought a lot of changes, it would be almost another month before the two even came close to doing anything PG-13.
Though once they did, it had been tough to control themselves.
It had all started one nondescript afternoon when she'd been bored out of her mind. She'd started studying again... not only to qualify herself but also to be able to fit better in her new world. English... proper pronunciation included, seemed to be necessary for everyday living with the Oberois. She'd found that on numerous occasions, almost all members of the family except Dadi and Anika Bhabhi lapsed into the language almost unconsciously. Learning the language properly this time, was a necessary step she felt she needed to connect better with some of her family and to gain necessary respect in the eyes of some others in the family.
But that didn't mean Gauri Kumari Sharma would give up any of her own ideas, beliefs or customs by learning some of her husband's. If her husband could tolerate her religious idiosyncrasies and beliefs, she could learn a thing or two to help him understand her better.
Omkara had been quite startled by her request to learn English properly, thinking that she maybe felt somehow sidelined by the family because they lapsed into English quite often. But after she'd explained her motives, he'd been nothing but proud and supportive, quite a drill sergeant at times, quizzing her often and thoroughly.
The unintended but nonetheless very pleasant consequence of her newly learned language and enunciation skills meant no more frustrated voices of Shivaay and Omkara Singh Oberoi correcting her every time she said the soft Sa' instead of the hard Sha'. She still lapsed back sometimes nowadays, just to get a rise out of them, which she did... every single time. The Oberois were nothing if not predictable.
But that day had been a rare free one and finding nothing better to do, she'd found herself mindlessly sketching patterns on one of the ever-present drawing pads in the room. Within an hour, Gauri had surrounded herself with sketches of fabric patters and outfit ideas on various pieces of paper, something she'd never had the time or opportunity to do since her teenage days.
Hearing Choti Maa calling her, she'd left the design sheets lying around on the worktable and promptly forgotten about them till a week later. She'd started to sketch more and more designs after that, maintaining all of her sketches in a portfolio that she left on her nightstand.
Apparently, her attentive husband had found them and been so impressed that he'd converted the room next to his art studio into a sort of studio cum work room for her. It had been fully stocked with every single thing she might need to make her designs come to life when he'd proudly unveiled it to her amazed eyes the following week. The tears that flowed from her eyes disconcerted him for mere seconds before she'd flung herself at him, clutching him in a fierce hug.
By now, they were both pretty used to hugging each other and Omkara was sensible enough to understand the hug meant he'd done something good, even though his little wife was burrowing her face into his chest and bawling her eyes out. She'd been quite overwhelmed at the generosity of his gesture, at his conviction that she was capable of what she'd envisioned for herself, and her gratitude had expressed itself quite freely in the form of a short peck on his cheek. Rather it would have expressed itself that way had her husband not found the exact moment to turn just that much to the right.
Both of them were quite startled when her lips had landed on the corner of his mouth. Springing apart was an unconscious move from both, before Omkara swallowed nervously, gathered all his courage and said Would you... tumhe ek baar aur koshish karni hai?'
Thoughts and emotions flashing through her at the speed of light, she'd nodded yes then shaken her head no and then nodded yes again in confusion. A sigh of relief left her when her husband took a decisive step closer and took the choice out of her hands. All she needed to do was convey her comfort with his decision silently, which her eyes did excellently for her.
Reading the implicit agreement in her eyes along with other emotions he'd known were there before but never displayed to such an extent, Omkara pulled his wife closer gently, wrapping his arms around her and kissed her forehead. Feeling her eyes fall shut at the sensation of his lips on her, he bent down a bit further and kissed her eyelids, the tip of her pointed little nose and her cheeks before rubbing his thumbs along her jawline, marveling at the fact that this woman was his other half. She was his for the rest of their lives, just as he was hers. The overwhelming need to convey to her how much she meant to him made Omkara almost shiver in its intensity.
"Gauri?"
Her eyes opened at the tone she detected in his voice, making her alert to the maelstrom of emotions running through him and was promptly awed by the depth of those same emotions showcased in his brilliant eyes. Those eyes gave her the courage to do something, say something that she never knew she could say first...
"Hum aapse behad pyaar karte hain Omkara... I love you... so much"
A single diamond tear dropped from his eyes before he crushed her closer, his lips slanting onto hers like it was the most natural thing in the universe. That kiss, their first kiss, her first ever kiss was the most beautiful, emotional and soulful thing they had both experienced.
"I love you Gauri... I love you so much ki mein tumhe bata nahin sakta. Ab tum meri zindagi ka sabse important hissa ban gayi ho. Tumhare bina... mein soch bhi nahin sakta ki mein tumhare bina kya karoonga"
"Sshhh... Aapko kabhi sochna bhi nahin padega. Hum aapko chhodke kahan jayenge? Aapke bina ab humara bhi ek din nahin guzrega."
He'd kissed her again then, the emotional moment giving way to something a bit more primal as Omkara let his inner self out to play, exploring and coaxing responses from her she'd never even thought possible. They'd done nothing more than kiss that day, but it had still remained one of the most sensual experiences of their lives.
Confessing their feelings for and to each other seemed to have freed her husband in ways that were both exciting and embarrassing for her. Exciting, because he was so much more openly affectionate, so much happier now and embarrassing, because of the exact same reasons.
As a wife in love with her husband, it was exciting and emotionally fulfilling to witness the happier, freer, lighter Omkara and know it was because of her... But as the daughter-in-law of a joint family, that too a family such as this where no one knocked at any point of time, no one's privacy was respected and family members loved to embarrass each other, it was a nightmare.
It had become a sort of game for him to find out how much he could disconcert her during the day. And if she rose to the occasion, well more fun for him as he just raised the stakes and they went for another round of What flusters Gauri more?
Those were fun days, she grinned, thinking back... Days full of stolen kisses, fleeting touches and under the table hand holding. Of course all of those happened to this day, but back then, the feeling of newly being in love and discovering each new thing about your relationship with the love of your life was an incredible high in itself.
With Omkara constantly testing their boundaries and Gauri's newly discovered inner warrior princess who stood up to every challenge from her husband, it was a wonder they'd kept it together in front of the family. They'd had numerous occasions where the two of them had narrowly escaped discovery and total humiliation at the hands of either his brothers, their sisters-in-law, or his mother and once, even Dadi. Of course, spontaneous kisses and make out sessions with her dreamy husband were totally worth the risk of getting discovered... and sometimes, the risk was half the fun. But that was neither here nor there...
Her love and affection for Omkara had only grown in those days because she knew that he was like her favorite Salman-ji, in that once he committed himself to something or someone, he didn't even listen to his own advice if it said otherwise. Omkara was fully committed to their relationship and to her. But he'd never tried to make her accept or do anything she was even remotely uncomfortable with. Even while testing their boundaries, Omkara was always careful, always respectful of her.
She'd steadily become more physically comfortable with him, their spontaneous hugs, kisses, the snuggling and the frequently straying hands were now a necessary part of their relationship for both of them. But once they reached that plateau of comfort, Omkara had stopped exploring further and whether it was because he was unsure of himself or her, she didn't know. And while she'd been ready to be his wife for a long while now, Omkara was proving to be too much of a gentleman and Gauri had no idea how to approach him about it.
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Jhanak
