Her Knight - Draupadi - Page 8

Chapter 6:

Panchali circled her straw in her cocktail. She was sitting in a posh restaurant waiting for Karan. It was a dull morning, the sky was clouded and she felt a little cold. Her mood was also not good because she had been waiting for 40 minutes now. This behavior was not gentlemanly at all. To keep a lady waiting, that too the one you promised to marry was not good behavior. Even so Panchali was relived also that he was not there yet. She actually did not want him to come, if she accepted honesty. Every time she thought of her rugged' attraction, she felt guilty towards Karan. The fact that she was thinking of the unnamed obsession of hers all the time, made her feel always guilty. That was also a burden she was not happy to carry. But what was her way out? She could not explain to her father why she suddenly wanted to back out of the marriage - how could she explain it, when she herself was not sure about it.

She looked towards the door once again, Karan was still not there. Panchali sighed in relief. She scolded herself for being a coward, but frankly enough she really did not want to see Karan right now. How could she want to see him, when every time she closed her eyes, she saw a totally different face - rugged, dirty, bearing a mocking smile and full of temperamental attitude. That untamed face untamed her heart also, it would beat harder and faster like African drum. But she could not control it. Her eyes closed on their own, to see his face again, to imagine things she was too embarrassed to accept.

The raindrops started hitting the glass wall beside her. The chill of weather made her shiver. Her eyes opened as she felt wind pass through her, making her body shiver even more. The two orbs fell on the door out of fear that Karan might have come and brought that chilly wind with opening of door, but instead of Karan, he' was striding fast towards her. This was definitely her hallucination, there was no way a person like him should be in this high class restaurant. It was definitely a phantom, a product of imagination of her demented mind.

But the phantom was walking towards her with such sure strides, she felt her chair shake in vibration, or maybe it was her body; which started humming so forcefully, she felt she would fall from the chair. She would have fell, had he not caught her in time. It was electrifying when she found that she was half way in the air, precariously hanging in his arms, looking up at his smiling face, with a mind that was blank and incapable of making any coherent thought.

Arjun had walked in to meet his brothers' to be wife, but his eyes had landed on the gorgeous female who tormented him in his dreams. All thoughts about meeting Karan's intended forgotten, his body had automatically moved towards her. She had been looking at him intently, checking him from top to bottom; her mouth open and her eyes dreamy. The spoon fell from her hand, he moved quickly to catch her from losing her seating. And now her fragrance was filling his senses. She was in his arms incredulously looking at him with her large black eyes. Her cheeks were red and large mass of her hair was hanging opened bowing with the wind. Arjun felt hot.

The weather outside became immaterial as the heat of her body travelled to his. Panchali did not realize herself, but she was not feeling cold anymore either. In fact the she felt as if she was burning in his vicinity. Their moment must have lasted long because uncomfortable coughs started coming from all directions. Panchali pulled away quickly, Arjun released her but not before he forced one extra moment on her to be with him like that. He was untamed, even in public.

Panchali was red all over out of heat as well as embarrassment. She raised her head to see what Arjun's reaction was, and quickly regretted her action. He was standing there looking heatedly at her, unmindful of the staring eyes. His 6 foot 3 inch body was still uncomfortably close to her, and his eyes were fixated only on her and nowhere else. Panchali looked pat people through corners of her eyes and saw disapproval, but Arjun did not care. He was smiling at her in most intimate and seductive manner. Panchali felt she would faint if she did not distance herself.

With legs made of lead she ran away from him. She hoped he would not follow her. She only stopped when she reached far corner of a deserted corridor. She closed her eyes to control her breathing. This was impossible. Every time he was near, her mental capacities would desert her and today had been no different.

Arjun let her run. He looked around at disapproving people, he did not care for their opinion at all. Still she did, and her comfort was important to him. Still he couldn't care too much, so he looked around, smiled and wined at every upholder of shallow dignity in the room, earning glares from them. His response was few more earth shaking smiles, and then he swiftly followed the path she had ran to.

Karan thought about the girl. What must be she doing? Was she thinking about him? Was he good enough for her? Those thoughts were constantly in his mind, sitting heavily on his heart. No matter how he tried, he could not forsake them. He closed his eyes and imagined her smiling face. She was such a great girl - pure, innocent and guiltless.

Panchali looked into his eyes, and streams of hormones travelled through her. It was such a guilty pleasure to be trapped by him against the wall. When she had ran to this deserted corridor, she had known that he would follow her. She had wanted to run away from him, but she had wanted him to follow her. As she had her eyes closed, he had come to her trapping her against the wall. At first she had not opened her eyes, feeling his presence just through her other senses. He had not asked her to open her eyes either. From what she felt, he had been looking down at her, his eyes boring heated holes through her warm skin. Then he lifted her chin, she opened her eyes, breathing heavily, to look directly into his deep red orbs. His breathing was also heavy. Panchali's mouth opened slightly in anticipation. Her chest rose up a little in invitation. She was not her innocent self, she wanted him to take her away from that purity. For him, with him, she was ready to be ridden with sin.

Arjun felt thirsty looking at her soft, pink parted lips. The aggressive male in him wanted to throw her forcefully against the wall, and act potently over that blatant invitation. He almost followed his instinct, but he could not do that to her. He knew he should not become intimate with her in a hotel corridor. She deserved more than that. Against all his wishes, against the wishes of his body, he controlled himself from latching at those lips. She had closed her eyes, she was looking like a nymph, seductively inviting him, and he was no saint. He was the devil who wanted to ravish the nymph with hunger. He inched closer to her, and her chest raised again, her invitation became bolder. He clinched his fist, he was getting out of control. He inched closer and closer to her, and she raised herself against him more and more. The struggle in his mind was frustrating him. He punched the wall in frustration. Panchali opened her eyes in slight, she didn't understand his furry. She tried to see his hand, but he caged her against the wall more forcefully. Blood oozed out of his hand, he brought it to her lips. With his thumb, he pressed against the contours of her flower like lips. The Blood dropped from his hands, but the redness in his eyes was for something else, and Panchali knew, she knew that he would take her to hell, and she would go with him willingly, with the blood on her lips.