Maneet FF: Finally Found Ya, Epilogue (p102) Mar19,2015 - Page 17

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Chapter 9: Blind

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Maan's hands come up instinctively to push her away. She was too close, her arms wrapped too tightly around his waist.

He had just gotten out of the shower when the lights had gone out. He'd quickly exited the bathroom after pulling on sweatpants, wanting to find out what had happened. The complete darkness had surprised him.

While looking for a flashlight, he'd heard the smothered shriek and muffled whimpers coming from Rahul's room. Without a second thought, he'd raced to his son's room, afraid that he would find his little boy frightened out of his mind. He'd come in expecting to find his son. He'd ended up finding Geet crouched down in a corner of the room. Her figure had been visible by the moonlight shining through the window above her head.

He shuddered slightly as her soft body molded itself to his, and a soft cheek came to settle against his chest, right above his furiously beating heart. He flushed slightly at the close contact, his body stirring at the feel of this woman in his arms.

His lips firmed in resolve. There was nothing that could happen between him and his child's nanny. She was too important to Rahul for him to jeopardize that relationship with something that could only ever end in disappointment and bitterness like all relationships did.

A frown grew on his face, his features hardening with resolution. It was a soft sob that stilled the hands that had already curled around her shoulders in rejection. It was the way her body shook as she silently cried, that made his hands fall away in defeat. It was her wet tears, falling on his skin, which made his arms wrap hesitantly around her slim body, his fingers sliding over the naked skin of her upper back. He stilled, and then his hands quickly fell to her waist, only to encounter more bare skin. He began to pull his fingers from her waist, his fingertips burning at this unexpected contact. Ultimately, it was her soft sigh of relief that compelled him to clutch her close, his fingers now digging into that naked flesh at her lower back.

Geet's arms tightened around him in response. As she snuggled against him, he could still feel that slight tremble of her body and hear the hiccups she couldn't control. She still cried. He knew it because he felt those warm drops falling upon his naked skin. They seared his skin, urging him to find out what had gone wrong and make it all better for her.

Staring at her down bent head, he silently wondered what had caused this panic and fear. What had caused tears to fall from those beautiful eyes?

He shook his head impatiently, closing his eyes in quick rejection of that traitorous thought. Now was not the time to think about her beautiful eyes or her silken skin. Especially, not when the woman was in his arms!

"Geet," he whispered, loosening his hold. "Geet?" he repeated, prompting her to say something.

"No!" Geet protested, clutching at him, her nails biting into his slick, bare back. "Not yet, please."

One of his hands unconsciously came up to smooth the hair away from her face. His fingers gradually sank into the silky locks, reveling in how the strands seductively wound around his fingers. His hand involuntarily clenched into a fist, trapping those locks within his hold.

He stared down at her once more, his eyes trained on the side of her face that was now revealed. He could see the silvery tracks of the tears that had already fallen. This woman seemed so fragile now. She had always seemed so strong and fiery.

She was a mama bear, roaring protectively over her cub. She was the saucy woman who refused to be cowed, even after waking up in her boss' bed and in his arms. She was the young innocent, who blushed whenever he got too close. And she was the compassionate woman that cared for his beloved grandmother.

But now, she was the one who needed care and comfort, and he was reluctant to get too close. He bent his head slightly, placing his lips at the same level as her ear. He opened his lips, but no words escaped. What could he say to her? The words that she needed to hear wouldn't come. He exhaled heavily, feeling her slightly shudder in his arms.

He realized that those words could never come from him. He had become too hard after the betrayals he had lived through. Raising his head, he stared out the window at the moonlit garden below. He didn't have it in him to be gentle anymore. At least not to anyone that wasn't Rahul or his grandmother.

The lights came on suddenly, blinding him with their brightness. He put up a hand, covering his eyes.

She froze, her body beginning to stiffen. Flinching, she let loose a shocked gasp. Her head jerked up to meet his gaze, her eyes wide with horror.

"What? . . . What are you doing?" she demanded shrilly, the color flooding her face.

"What am I doing?" he asked incredulously.

Her fingers came up to her cheeks, and she bit her bottom lip, trying to prevent it from trembling. When she saw the wet drops on his chest . . . his very naked chest, she turned an even brighter shade of red.

"No!" an angry voice cried out from the doorway.

Maan and Geet turned to see Rahul standing in the hallway, outside of the bedroom. He had a stricken look on his face.

"No, Miss Geet!" he shouted again. "You can't have daddy! He's my daddy. You're not going to hug him and make him love you," Rahul shouted, running over to Geet. His hands were clenched into fists, and he raised them suddenly, as if to hit her.

Geet fell back, shocked to the core at the hatred and fear she saw in his face.

"You weren't supposed to be like her! You're not here for daddy. You're my nanny!" he yelled tearfully, lunging at her.

"Rahul, no," Maan said forcefully, pulling the boy away quickly. "You can't be like that," he murmured, running a gentling hand over the little boy's head.

Geet turned away, her heart breaking at the disgust she saw in Rahul's eyes. Her hands shook as she reached for her dupatta, picking it up to cover herself completely. 'What were you thinking?' she thought to herself, half hysterically.

That was the problem, wasn't it? She hadn't been thinking. Her fear had washed away all the reasons why she shouldn't go anywhere near this man. She'd hugged him! She closed her eyes in embarrassment. She'd clutched at him when he'd tried to pull away. 'Do you have no shame?' she berated herself silently. 'And now you've hurt this little boy,' finally understanding a little bit of what Sameera had been trying to do.

She turned to stare at Maan comforting the little boy, and wondered why it had taken her so long to realize that Sameera's ultimate goal had always been Maan Singh Khurana. Knowing the kind of man he was, she wasn't surprised that Sameera could have wanted him that much. But she had overstepped the bounds of decency by hurting an innocent Rahul. Seeing his reaction to this scene revealed that those old wounds were still fresh.

Just because she'd hugged Maan, didn't mean that she'd been trying to seduce him. But, they would understand. They would. They knew that she would never do something so low as to . . . they would understand.

"I heard her, daddy," Rahul said hysterically. "I heard her say that she would come to you and hug you. She said that you would love her and only her. She said that this was why she was here. To make you hers and to steal you away from us." Rahul began to sob, his face turning red from the exertion.

Geet whirled around, her mouth dropping open. Moving forward, she reached out a hand to comfort the badly frightened boy.

Maan jerked his head toward her, his narrowed gaze freezing her in place.

"I . . .," she began, flinching under his hard scrutiny. "I never . . ."

"Not now, Miss Handa," Maan said harshly, turning his attention to the little boy. Picking Rahul up, he strode toward the connecting doors between the two rooms and walked in, slamming the door shut behind him.

"I would never do that," Geet whispered to the empty room. "I would never dare to dream that you both could ever be my family," she said to the two males that had stolen her heart. She sat down on Rahul's bed, the life going out of her.

They had to understand.

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The door opened suddenly, making Geet jump in surprise. She could see that he had taken the time to put on a shirt. If he had done that, he must have also taken the time to calm down, right?

Maan stepped into the room and then turned to close the door. She waited for him to turn around, but he didn't move. She cleared her throat, and she saw him stiffen for a moment.

"Maan Sir," she finally began, impatient to defend herself. "I have never plotted to get close to you. Rahul made a mistake. He's suffered at Sameera's hands, and he is afraid that I might have the same intentions. I don't," she said insistently at his continued silence. "I have never thought to . . .," her voice trailed away. Could she really lie to him, when her heart still wished for so much more? "Please, believe me, there was nothing calculated in what happened here," she beseeched him. Her gazed moved around the brightly lit room. "I'm afraid of the dark, and when you came, I saw you as a refuge. Nothing more . . . Maan Sir? Why aren't you sa'?"

"Chup. Bilkul chup," he ordered, holding up an imperious hand. She flinched when she saw the fury on his face when he turned around and glared at her. "Rahul told me everything," he said heavily.

"Told you what?" she asked suspiciously, wondering why Rahul had said those things. What had he been thinking?

"Have you been planning this from the beginning, Miss Handa?" he finally said through gritted teeth, the anger growing in his face.

"I have nev'," she began hotly.

"All those times that you just 'accidentally' landed in my arms . . . were they really accidents?" he continued, ignoring her interruption. Striding over, he leaned in close. "I have often wondered to myself how a girl could be so clumsy. How could someone have so much trouble walking and moving around, that they could literally trip over air and yet still conveniently land in my arms. How is that possible, Miss Handa?"

Geet's face reddened. "It was never on purpose," she said shortly, getting irritated by his constant insinuations. "I would never have the nerve or courage to do that."

"Nerve? Courage? I'm sure you have more than enough to set this plan in motion. It wasn't an accident was it?" he asked softly, his gaze trained on her.

She bit her lip, and shifted in place. "What wasn't an accident?" she asked warily.

"You. In my bed. In my arms. You planned that whole night in my bed, hoping that I would be so overcome that I would fall at your feet and profess my love for you, didn't you? Rahul was right, wasn't he?"

"I would never," she argued heatedly, her anger beginning to grow at his continued accusations. "He just made a mistake!"

"Sameera was exactly like you," he said after a moment of silence.

Geet's eyes widened in surprise at that revelation.

"She thought that she could seduce me, marry me and have everything she wanted in life. She came into this home with those intentions, and used my son to get closer to me." He gripped her shoulders, bringing her face even closer to his. Glaring at her, her sneered slightly, letting his contempt show for the fake hurt that had appeared in her eyes.

"Well, she wasn't exactly like you," he said contemptuously. "At least she had class. Education. She was from the same world that I live in. And look at you," he said, his gaze moving over her body. "You can't even dress yourself properly. You are an insult to that expensive sari."

Geet flinched at his words; each accusation was like an arrow tearing through her heart. Tears began to fall from her eyes once more, as she realized that he had no faith in her. None what so ever. Why had she expected anything more? Weren't all men like this?

Why had she hoped that Maan Singh Khurana would be different?

"You are nothing but a scheming little virgin, who thought that one night in your arms would lure me into giving you my name and putting my wealth at your disposal," he whispered coldly, his hand coming up to cup her cheek. "You are less than nothing to me," he continued, shaking her once to make his point. "Don't overstep the bounds of our employer-employee relationship, Miss Handa or I'll fire you in a heartbeat." His hand came back to rest on her shoulder.

There was a frozen silence in the room, as the two stared at each other. The words that he had spoken filled the air between them, hanging in the air around them. They made it hard for her to breathe. She forced herself to relax and take that badly needed breath of air. She slowly put up her arms and rested her forearms against his.

His gaze dropped to her hands, now clenched into fists. He shuddered lightly at the contact of skin against skin, but forced his body to freeze in place. He gazed into her hurt eyes once more, waiting for her to speak and defend herself.

She pushed at his forearms silently, until he was forced to let go or risk hurting her. The part of him that had begun to believe in her goodness was crushed. He could admit that to himself privately. But despite all that he had learned about her tonight, he still didn't want to hurt her.

Having succeeded in freeing herself, she finally allowed herself to speak. "The last time I overstepped my bounds, Mr. Maan Singh Khurana," Geet said hoarsely, forcing her voice out past the lump that had grown in her throat, "a man did this to me."

She moved away from him. Putting some much needed space between them, she pulled off her dupatta, revealing the burn scars that she had always taken so much care to hide. They covered her upper arms and part of her chest.

Maan inhaled sharply, his eyes widening in shock.

"You have nothing to worry about, Mr. Maan Singh Khurana." She glared at him defiantly, even as her lower lip trembled. "I would never dare to overstep my bounds."

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Chapter 10: Lost I

A/N: Hey people, sorry for the long wait between updates. I'm glad that you guys are still here and eagerly waiting for the next chapter. I hope you liked it.

Three things that I wanted to let you guys know. First, I got a job, so I might be updating much less, because inspiration is even harder to find when you come home tired from work. Second, while I will still try to update more quickly than this, but my updates will most likely be shorter, as well. Third, I probably won't be PMing anyone anymore, since I'd rather spend that time writing. I'm sorry if that causes problems for you guys, but I hope you'll understand.

Sorry about that, but I hope you will all still be here and leaving me encouraging feedback.

darkice7_12 😊