Hope you had a memorable Valentine's Day bonding with your valentine! It's late for the Valentine's update, I know😳! But here it is anyway! 😃 Hope you like it!
Chapter 53
Unknowingly Valentine!
He sought her lips hungrily, kissing her deep and hard, saying in that one passionate kiss all that he felt...his emotions running amock...his amazement and joy at seeing her, knowing she had not returned home but had come looking for him...had she sensed he was in danger?
He groaned in pleasure and pain as she clung to him like a creeper and cried on his heart, they were both oblivious to the others staring at them.
... "I was so worried Arnav...Where were you? Why didn't you come?" she sobbed.
He moved back slightly and lifted her chin, meeting her moist hazel eyes, reflecting the red of the setting sun on her soft wet cheeks. He caressed them gently smoothening her tears...
His gaze settled on a fascinating teardrop glistening like a pearl at the edge of her pouting pink lips, balancing itself with grace...He smirked, bending his head to taste the beautiful pearl...
"Khushi..." he moaned gently as he dipped his head.
She suddenly pushed him away with all her strength, dislodging the pearl from its cushion much to Arnav's disappointment.
"Don't you talk to me...you you Laad Governor! You lied to me! You said you would finish your important work and we would leave Darjeeling together, but you never came...you...khadoos, where were you...?!!"
"Khushi..." Arnav spread his hands helplessly, wondering how much he should tell her about Rahim chacha and Shyam's dangerous intentions..
But he need not have bothered for Aman had got down from the jeep and approaching them said in a business-like voice, "ASR, I think we should try to put as much distance between ourselves and Shyam's goons as much as possible!"
Arnav gave Aman a warning look, but Khushi had already caught on!
"Shyam's goons...?" she inquired in a low voice, her eyes on his. "You were in some sort of a danger Arnav?"
"I knew...I felt it...but you did not think it was necessary to tell me? To take me along with you?" her eyes accused him...
"Khushi I could not have endangered your life..." he ran a shaking hand through his thick hair, knowing not how to pacify her. He could not see her in pain.
"And you think I am not hurting now? How difficult is it for you to understand I want to be there with you...but you just keep pushing me away..." she charged him her eyes red and fluffy, her lips quivering.
Arnav looked at her helplessly and stared daggers at Aman as if Aman alone was to blame for the situation he had got into!
NK grinned! "Aman bhai ki to pant baj gayi!" NK nudged Aakash who was watching the couple with his mouth wide open.
"Not pant baj gayi but band baj gayi, NK!" Aakash said in reflex, still staring at the Arnav and Khushi open mouthed.
"Arey yes yes that is what I meant!" NK exclaimed! "But go and save poor Aman first, before Arnav the demon tears Aman up with his eyes and gobbles him up!" NK gave a short laugh.
But Aakash was in a different world altogether! "Hmm..." he said absent mindedly. "I wonder what the two are arguing about...in the middle of this mountaineous track...oblivious to their surrounding...and us..."
NK smiled and put his arm around Aakash's shoulder, "I know what you mean...its strange...the way they behave in each other's presence...like...like ..." NK groped for the right word and snapping his fingers said, "like...like a Valentine's fight..."
"What!" Aakash almost rocketed into space!
"Yes! That is it! Valentine's fight...After all today is Valentine's day!" NK asserted beaming from ear to ear!
Aakash's spectacles fell off his nose! "NK! Have you gone bonkers! Bhai and Valentine! If it was in bhai's power he would banish all Valentines from planet earth! "
"That is why I said Valentine's fight, because your bhai does not believe in Valentine love...!" NK defended himself smartly. But added as an after thought with serious concern, "I hope you don't mention to your Arnav bhai what I just said..."
"Yes of course of course this is between us!" Aakash assured NK!
"But why should Valentines fight in the first place?" Aakash asked scratching his head.
NK smiled and slapping Aakash on his back winked, "How will you know Aakash bhai! Do you have a Valentine?"
Aakash turned beetroot red. "No, no of course not!" However the image of Payal's smiling face rose unbidden to his mind.
"Don't lie Aakash bhai..."NK wagged his index finger at him, "Your face is saying a different story..."
Aakash quickly changed the topic and pointing ahead said, "Look it seems Rahim chacha has stopped their cat and mouse nok jhok..."
"You haven't changed at all Khushi bitiya and neither has your relationship with Arnav! As kids you used to fight always, and both of you are still at it..." Rahim chacha smiled at Khushi.
Khushi stared bemused at the old haggard man who had alighted from Arnav's car and was now standing in front of her, looking at her lovingly, his eyes twinkling. She knew him she thought! And then it came like a flash! "Rahim chacha..." she whispered to herself and joyous tears welled up in her eyes. She approached him slowly, "Is it really you...Rahim chacha...after so many years..."
"Yes bitiya," Rahim chacha said putting a gentle hand on her head.
"Rahim chacha!" Khushi clapped her hands in glee like a child and suddenly hugged him, almost rocking him off his feet. Then suddenly she released him and touched his feet.
Rahim chacha was breathless from her hug but he couldn't stop laughing. "Pagli kahin ki!(Mad girl!)
Arnav watched both of them mesmerized...long lost childhood memories rushed to his mind and filled his heart.
Arnav smiled at Rahim chacha as he snored lightly with his mouth open. It had been a long journey from the safehouse to their hotel in Darjeeling and Rahim chacha was naturally exhausted.
Arnav felt a pang of guilt for hauling the old man all the way for his personal interest...to learn what he knew about his maa's murder in Sheeshmahal...And now that he had sought and found Rahim chacha, he just felt content to have Rahim chacha around him, like old times...
Deep in his heart he wondered if he really wanted to know the truth...would the truth free him from the demons of the past??
Arnav sighed and checked his watch. By this time tomorrow they would be in Nani's house in Kolkata but after that he needed to take Khushi back to her home...her family must be really worried about her...
Through the huge French windows he saw her in the garden in the pale moonlight , holding her phone up to the stars and the moon and then beating it against her palm! What the! ! His lips curled as he realized she was trying to get connectivity
He rolled his eyes! She was unbelievable!
A stream of moonlight was falling directly into Rahim chacha's closed eyes and he stirred uncomfortably. Arnav sprang up immrediately from the couch to draw the curtains.
A weak voice called out,
"Arnav baba..."
Arnav turned to Rahim chacha, his eyes were open and he was looking around the room.
"Rahim chacha...did you want something?" Arnav rushed towards his bedside.
Rahim chacha leaned forward and held Arnav's wrist and said softly " Arnav baba... I know you since you were a little boy and I will not be able to rest completely unless you tell me what is troubling you...and there must be some reason why you wanted to meet me, right?"
Arnav just pursed his lips. He decided to finally confide in Rahim chacha all that he had heard from Nani about maa's death. He cleared his throat and said in a shaky voice,
"Can I ask you something Rahim chacha?" Arnav watched him intently in the flickering light of the lamp.
Rahim chacha was about to reply when a blood curling scream left him open mouthed and frightened!
"Dammit! That is Khushi's scream..." Arnav muttered breaking into sweat and dashed out of the room like a bullet leaving the revolver...his heart pounding against his rib cage...only one thought in his mind...nothing should happen to Khushi...
Where was she! He ran out into the open...pale moonlight was washing the valley in shades of silver sheathing its darkness with playful love...with an abandonment...
He felt her before he saw her...a beautiful white angel, jumping up and down against the grey sheen of the rising cliff...
"What the!" he exclaimed as again he heard her shriek...
"Babuji! Oh it is so wonderful to hear your voice again...there was no dandi (stick) in the mobile...matlab connection...yes yes...don't worry...matlab I know you and Buaji must have been very worried but there was no way to contact you...But I was fine, I seriously was! Arnav was with me...he saved me...yes he did...yes you heard right Babuji...if it hadn't been for him...
She turned suddenly and her heart lurched crazily...there he was standing a few feet away... his hand folded over his chest...his eyebrows cocked to one side... he seemed to be amused about something and that lopsided smile sent electric currents sparling inside her veins...his eyes were glinting in the dark running over every inch of her...
Khushi's throat felt dry...the phone slipped out of her hand and landed on the ground with a soft thud...as he moved towards her purposefully.
"Arnav, " she whispered...
He reached her, caught her wrist and yanked her to him. "What are you doing here alone? Why the hell did you scream?" he growled at her. "For a moment I thought...
Khushi stared at his astonished! She had been trying to get through her Babuji, for a long time but she just could not connect to him!So when she finally heard her Babuji's voice she had shrieked in excitement! But this khaddos laad governor always spoiled her happy moments!!
"I can do what I want to do! I am not answerable to you!" she retorted, her eyes glinting in the dark.
Arnav's eyes clouded at her rough words. "Don't you dare talk to me like that!" he gritted his teeth.
"Yes only you can do all the daring, right Mr. Arnav Singh Raizada? Only you have the right to keep secrets from me and I don't even have the right to get angry with you?"
Her voice choked with emotion and all her pent-up rage and frustration came rushing to the surface..
"I thought... I felt... we shared something special in the lodge...the accident brought us closer...those moments...that night with you...it meant so much to me and I thought you felt the same. But I was wrong...you did not tell me, not even in our closest moments that you had come to Darjeeling in search of Rahim chacha...I feel it is something to do with Ratna aunty's death but why can't you tell me? Past or present, however deep I fathom you still keep moving away from me, pushing me away! This has to stop, samjhe tum? Hey Devi Maiya! I can't take this disdainful treatment any longer, samjhe tum!" Having opened her heart to him Khushi stood there panting, tears stung her luminous eyes and rolled down her cheeks, she stifled a sob.
Arnav was so shocked at her words that he could only stare incredulously at her.
There was a pregnant silence... the air was heavy... the moonlight burned them...
And then he finally found his voice and felt her pain in his heart.
"Shhh! Don't cry Khushi, your tears rip me like shards of glass..." he whispered, reaching out to her, stretching his arms to touch her, soothe her...
But she was too angry with him and wiping the tears with the back of her sleeves she took some hasty steps backwards, staggering back into a thorn bush.
She yelped as a thorn pierced the soft skin of her left foot and lodged itself inside her pink flesh.
"Dammit! Did you hurt your feet Khushi..." he was aghast!
And the next moment he was kneeling in front of her inspecting her white bare feet with his rough fingers. Khushi gasped as he lifted her feet gently and placed it on his thigh.
"It will be okay Khushi," he reassured her. He bent his head and massaged her feet gently in slow circular motions, searching for the wily thorn. Having located it he tried to pry it away with his fingers but it was too small and too deeply embedded in her flesh and he cursed.
Shashi Gupta sat down on the chair with a thud, the phone line had disconnected but not before he had heard his daughter take that devil's name...he closed his eyes in rage as the sound of her voice replayed in his mind..."Arnav" she had said with a whisper that spoke volumes.
"Shashi babua, what happened? What did Khushi bitiya say? She is okay isn't she? Hai re Nand Kisore! Say something babua! Are you feeling unwell?" Buaji
who was standing next to Shashi Gupta rattled off in concern.
Shashi Gupta held his head between his hands and said, "Jiji...why had Subhadra Mallik called you...what was she saying..."
"You know what she had said babua! I told you!" Buaji said throwing her plait over her shoulder angrily, "Subhadraji said that her grandson was a womaniser and we should get Khushi home immediately! Hai re Nand Kisore! But of course you will not believe her! You never liked her! That is why you left your job in Sheeshmahal..."
"Yes, " Shashi Gupta said, his eyes anguished, "and so it waa foolish of me to allow Khushi to take up the job of interior decoration in the Raizada farmhouse...and she would have never met Arnav again..."
"What are you saying babua?...Is there some truth in what Subhadraji said about Arnav's character?" Buaji shrieked, "Kamlesh khabri was also saying the same..." Buaji cried, "Is that why he is delaying getting her back from Darjeeling? "I am going to call Subhadraji without wasting a minute! I I want Payal and Khushi back home immediately! Don't you dare stop me! Hai re nand Kisore!" Buaji snatched the phone from Shashi's hand and dialled Sheeshmahal.
Rahim chacha saw them from a distance, smiled and turned away towards his room. He had always felt in his heart that Arnav baba and Khushi bitiya were made for each other and today he was sure. If Ratna bhabhiji had been alive she would not have been able to contain her joy to see them together. She loved Khushi and had told him once that Khushi would make the best bride for her difficult son!
Suddenly someone ran past him and headed towards the garden. Rahim chacha realized it was that earnest looking chap, Aman. "Hey Aman stop! Stop!" Rahim chacha called after him.
Aman turned about and looked at Rahim chacha with anxious eyes..."I heard someone screaming and..."
"Don't bother dear Aman. Arnav baba is dealing with the situation...you see he and Khushi..." Rahim chacha tried to give Aman a hint.
Aman blinked at him blankly for a moment and blurted, "Oh ASR and Khushi!" And dropped his gaze immediately embarrassed by his own words.
Rahim chacha decided he really liked this young man whom Arnav baba trusted so much. He patted Aman's shoulder and said, "Yes it is really wonderful to see Arnav and Khushi together! I wish Anjali bitiya was here too..."
Aman's head shot up at the mention of Anjali's name...
Aman was remembering how ASR had entrusted him Anjali's responsibility in his absence and smiling at the thought...
Rahim chacha noticed...
Khushi could not decide what was driving her crazy, the pain caused by the thorn or the pleasure caused by his gentle hands caressing her foot!
She tried to pull out her feet but he captured her movement and bending down placed his lips on the thorn...pleasure and pain intermingled inside Khushi as his teeth skillfully dragged the thorn out.
Khushi clutched his shoulder to keep her balance as a buzzing ball of fire rose from her feet and blasted her heart!
"Is it hurting?" his brown eyes fluttered up.
Khushi bit her lower lip nervously, looking at him with moist big hazel eyes and shook her head in the negative when what she really wanted to say was yyyeesss it was hurting, but it was not the foot!
As if he understood what she had left unsaid, he suddenly scooped her up in his arms and laid her on the bench in the garden.
She looked at him expectantly...her heart racing
He looked deeply in her eyes for an infinite moment and covered her with his warm strong lithe body...
"Oh Khushi!" he moaned and took her lips with a passion she had never felt before! It was slow, hesitant at first, testing her anger but he need not have worried for all her pain, her hurt had been washed away by his caring gestures...
His lips said in silence all that Khushi wanted to hear in words...it was a strange magical tune and she was in a trance...
And that music invaded him filling him up to the brim, spilling over yet not fulfilling him enough...
He groaned in frustration and filled his palms with her arching breasts and a cry of pleasure escaped Khushi's trembling body. She hid her face in the crook of his neck, her silken hair tantalizing his torso, arousing him even further against her thighs. The sensation was like a magic potion and her body danced to the rhythm he was building up...
He blended her body to his, running a shaky hand down her curves, his fingers hesitating at the very edge of her secret cove...
Khushi gasped and shut her eyes but kept her body still...she was a part of him and it was high time he gave her that recognition
Her kindness, her generosity, her sensuality entered his bloodstream and he shivered.
"From now on there will be no secrets between us Khushi..." he said in a husky promise, his mouth hovering over her plump lips.
Khushi opened her hazel eyes and stared into the depths of his brown ones, There would be no secrets he had said ...her heart beat crazily under his in tandem to the music they were creating with each other with their hands and hearts...their trust and faith in each other forever...
Neither moved. Neither breathed. They just existed together looking into each other's souls. It was the most honest, the most truthful moment they had ever shared. And they sealed it with their lips again... unknown to them, the beaming Valentine moonlight enveloped them in a silvery haven and the Valentine stars rejoiced...the heavens blessed...
Trust, faith, belief...the true hamesha love...never let it go...never push it away
Do leave your likes and comments as hamesha.
Love you all.
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