*tip tip tip* the water droplet lands gently on his face rolling seamlessly down the scuffed panels of his face and sliding into the column of his throat. It's just stupid water in your dreams. It will go away. he thinks- But it doesn't. In fact, more droplets come down, like playful rain drops. Grumbling about it being too early in the morning for the roof to leak, he turns on the bed, only to hear the musical sound of her bangles.
"Paro" he mummers, only to be greeted by silence. The water continues to drip down in a slow rhythm, sprinkling his face. Senses alert, yet eyes closed and face deceivingly calm he can feel her leaning over him. He can just picture her. Hair wet, fresh from the shower, open and waiting to be dried. Her long locks held in her fist mere inches away from his face in order to drop the water. It was always Paro and her tricks and games- innocent, sweet and beautiful.
She always forgot though, that Colonel Rudra Pratap Ranawat had learned to play these games himself over the years of marriage together. It was the silence of the morning when the women of the house were just getting up for the day that he could hear. Birds, sunlight and now, the glistening droplets of water from Paro's hair. Having her fun of the morning she went to move away from her side of the bed, only to feel his warm palm press into her waist, pull her atop of him and finally roll over pinning her beneath him.
Staring up into his soulful eyes she saw a mischievous smile playing at his lips. He'd known she was there, teasing him with her wet hair. Pressed against her torso to torso, belly to belly she forgot what she was about to do. Forgot about the tea that needed to be made, and flour that should be kneaded by now. Instead this warmth overcame her- she couldn't tell if it was his body or her body, but the heat they both emitted was one.
Now he was playing with her. One hand was caught up in her hair, the heat of his palm cooling down against her wet locks; the other was placed securely at her waist, caressing it slowly. Left...right...left...right.
His fingers went in tandem with her breath, slow and shallow, faint and light.
"Abhi bi paani ke saath khelna hai?" he asked slowly.
She heard his words but couldn't completely process them... after all whenever he came near her she lost her words. Instead she starred into his smiling eyes and shook her head regardless of what he said. Whatever Rudra said or suggested always made her late for something or other...
Chuckling at her loss for words he bent his head down the few inches that separated them and pressed his cheek against her. He didn't know if it was the dust of whiskers on his face or the remnants of the water droplets that made her hold in her breath, but he felt her hands tighten around his shoulders. He moved his face in tandem with his hand. Left..right..Left..right.
"R..r..rudra" she breathed out ash his lips pressed against her neck.
"Hmmm?" he replied as his lips moved to find that spot underneath her ear. There it was. Toes curling and her heart beating fast against his own, he could tell she didn't know whether to press closer or push him away.
Her small, delicate hand moved from his shoulder to caress his face, as he explored her neck.
"R..rudra...baas... hume..." she tried to intervene again.
He lifted his head once again, only to meet her flushed gaze and parted mouth. Leaning in with a smile he decided that he'd let her go. Just one kiss before the day started. That's all he'd need from her, as always.
A moment away from touching heaven, she whispered to him "Baas...ab hume jana hai.."
*tip tip tip*
Gasping he pushes himself up, startled. The darkness around him contrasts the light he had once seen.
There is no morning sunlight streaming through his room. There's only a wet balcony in the middle of the night.
There was no Paro. There was no wet hair. There was no them.
All he had now was the darkness around him and the rain pounding down, reminding him of his loss. All he had now were the memories he wish he could make with her. The moments he could have had.
*tip tip tip*
As the cool rain blended with the warm tears streaming down his face, he looked up at the moonless dark sky and warmed himself with the thought- that one day, someday these droplets would be water from Paro's hair, again.
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