Madness is like gravity. All it needs is a little push.
Rudra could feel confusion and anger roil within him in equal amounts. Alright, so some idiot had told her about Laila. So what? He was no saint, and she knew it. Did she expect him to apologize for it? If she did, she was in for serious disappointment.
"Do you have nothing to say? You're not even going to bother denying it?"
Carefully holding the leash that restrained his temper, he gritted out, "Why would I? I have nothing to be ashamed of. What I fail to understand is-- why are you bringing this up now?"
"If you have nothing to be ashamed of, why didn't you tell me yourself?"
Her large eyes were swimming with hurt and betrayal. For some obscure reason, he felt like a cad, and that raised his defenses.
"And why exactly would I tell you? I'm not answerable to anyone, Parvati, and definitely not in this case."
Paro had promised herself that she wouldn't cry in front of him. But she couldn't help the tears that gathered on her lashes before reluctantly rolling down her cheeks. She hadn't thought that she had any heart left to break. Clearly, that was untrue. What else could explain the sudden, sharp ache as the implication of his words embedded itself within her?
He didn't belong to her. He was not her Rudra.
She didn't belong anywhere.
She hadn't realized that she'd been holding onto a piece of fragile hope-- that it was all a lie-- until that shard slipped away as well.
And just as suddenly, a white hot fury blazed in the pit of her stomach.
"How dare you, Major Rudra Pratap Ranawat? You stand here in all your arrogance and tell me that you're not answerable to me? Let me tell you that you are! You are answerable to me! You became answerable to me the day you married me. You became answerable to me the day you ensured that I had nowhere else to go. You became answerable to me when you let me stay here and become a part of your family. You became answerable to me when, through your silence, you gave me to understand that you wanted me here. And when I ask you about your mistress, you brazenly tell me that you're not answerable to me? Why do you bother coming home at all, Major Saab? Why not just stay with her? Why this pretense of a happy married life? Since when have you cared about what the family or anyone else thinks?"
As comprehension dawned in Rudra's eyes, the leash snapped. His eyes glowed with a feral light under his furrowed brows, as he roared. "That's enough. I've had enough of your accusations! You have the audacity to accuse me of cheating on you-- keeping a mistress while married, when I've been-- You know what? You're right! I don't know why I even bother. I must be mad. I should have gone to Laila! You know nothing about me! And you don't care! You only see things the way you want to. Why am I even trying to explain this to you?"
Rudra turned away from her, breathing heavily, clenching his eyes shut. His stance warned Paro to stay away, but she'd been seized by a fit of reckless abandon. She strode over to him and grabbed his arm, turning him to face her.
"I'm not done talking to you, Major Saab. Why don't you try explaining? Tell me about yourself! Tell me about what you want, what you like! You never even gave me a chance to be your wife! Or do you not need one, because you have a mis--"
"STOP saying that!" Disregarding the way she had flinched, he pulled his arm out of her grasp and wrapped it around her waist, drawing her up against his torso.
Her eyes widened at the sudden move and she braced her hands against his shoulders. His arm tightened deliberately around her waist, allowing her to feel the way he moulded her body to his.
Rudra had long forsaken any pretense of sanity. All he was conscious of was the woman in his arms-- the one he had fantasized about, desired for weeks. Maybe months.
He noted the accelerated rise and fall of her chest against his, the delicate flush staining her cheeks, and then the pain and accusation in her eyes pushed him further down the abyss.
His voice was deceptively low, but it raised goose bumps at the back of Paro's neck.
"You want to know what I want? What I need? You want to be my wife, Parvati?"
She inclined her head infinitesimally, almost in a daze. The fire in his gaze burned brighter.
"I want you. I want to make love to you, Parvati."
Edited by tattle-tale - 11 years ago
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