Part 25 - Trial by fire
At Shantivan, Nani and mamiji were sitting with Aarushi on the couch even as the younger trio of ladies got dinner ready. The next day was going to be Aarushi's naming ceremony and with all the preparations going on, dinner tonight was necessarily a simple affair of Pooris, aamras, chole ki sabji and fragrant peas pulav. While Khushi was busy in the kitchen and getting stuff ready for the ceremony, Arnav plotted about how he would surprise Khushi with the gifts he had hunted and obtained.
***
Payal was serving dinner as Khushi sat beside Arnav. "Payal bitiya, tum bhi baith jaao ...Hum sab milke khaayenge..", naani said. (Payal, you also sit down to have dinner with us. We can serve ourselves and can eat together). Payal, who was looking a little dull but peaky, responded, "Nahi dadi ji ..Mujhe utna bhook nahi hai..Main baad mein khaa loongi." Finally on Akash's request, Payal was persuaded to sit down and have dinner with the rest...Only naani noticed how little Payal partook as her eyes lingered on her younger grand-daughter-in-law.
Arnav asked Khushi to pass him the sabji that was on her side. She held out the vessel to him and felt a tingle ripple through her as his fingers brushed against hers. Arnav let his fingers work their magic and let them linger a tad longer than necessary. Khushi's eyes darted to him and looked away in confusion as he stared down at her with those smouldering, chocolatey eyes of his. She recognized the familiar look from their days of courtship, of stolen glances and lingering ones. He was trying to attract and make her fall in love all over again and she had no defenses up against him. He gave a smirking smile as he realized his effect on her and wished he could prevent the leap in his heart and elsewhere - Her shy glances were potent aphrodisiacs as well. He wished that the entire Raizada clan had taken a holiday for a while and that there was no one at this table but them.
Dream sequence
Khushi is dressed in a mango yellow plain saree in a golden-colored blouse. She rises from the chair next to Arnav and pushes the dishes away to seat herself on the table with her feet up on her chair. She then languidly reaches out to Arnav's plate, plucks a piece of poori, dips it in the aamras (mango sauce) and feeds it to a bemused Arnav. Not so bemused though, since he catches hold of her hands and proceeds to lick each and every one of the fingers clean of the aamras. Every lick sends shooting rockets in Khushi's core as she closes her eyes to the pleasure of this erotic act. "At this rate, my heart rate is going to skyrocket and I am going to die from feeding you,", Khushi moaned. "Hush ... well, you and me both...you sitting there, looking like this and feeding me, makes me feel I have gone to heaven and obtained my heart's desire.", Arnav responded in a tense voice. "Here, you have some", he said and fed her some of the poori and aamras. Arnav leaned forward "You are messy eater, here let me clean you up" and he proceeded to lick the drops of mango juice sticking out on the side from Khushi's lips, somehow making his way to her soft, pink, irresistible lips. "No,not now. Finish eating first", Khushi scolded pushing him away and continuing to feed him. "Bas Khushi, aur aise nahi khaa sakta..Bas...", Arnav groaned after a short while...
"Arnav bitwa...bitwa..".
<End dream sequence>
Arnav came back down to earth with a thud. What had he blurted out in the throes of his passionate daydream, he wondered as he looked around at everyone at the dining table. An unusual thing happened as everyone stared at the mighty Arnav Singh Raizada...A rare streak of red ran up his face as he shot a glance at a shocked Khushi's face, and went back to eating.
***
It was almost 10 PM by the time Khushi made her way back to their bedroom The room was almost in darkness. The only light was from the soft concealed lighting on the ceiling. Khushi turned around closed the door and then unconsciously pressed her back. She was only around 20 weeks now, half way through her pregnancy. She was not carrying a lot of baby weight...But still, at the end of the day, she had this nagging ache every day. She wished she had jiji sleeping next to her so that she could massage her back, she thought as her eyes adjusted themselves to the pale lighting. Arnav was sitting by the pool-side and was watching Khushi. He noticed how her hand supported her back and filed that point away to ask the doctor next morning.
Khushi sniffed the air, she could smell roses and jasmine. She turned on the table lamp and noticed the gorgeous red roses immediately. There were about two dozen of them in a vase on her side of the bed. The smell of jasmine was from an intricately woven strand of flowers that were laid out by the vase. She touched the delicate petals with a finger and wondered why he had got them..."This is for the Valentine's day I missed. I know you love red roses and jasmine flowers. But I have never got you any and I wanted to apologize for that. It gives me pleasure if you accept these and wear the jasmine flowers in your hair. Please.", Arnav said, correctly reading her thoughts. He walks like a panther, noiseless...Khushi thought.
She removed her hand away from the flowers and non-commitantly went over to change into her night clothes. There was a neatly wrapped present there where her usual night clothes used to be, in her cupboard. She hesitantly touched the cover...her natural curiosity and excitement over a gift warring with the indifference she was planning on displaying. Curiosity won and Khushi shyly unravelled the wrapper to see a beautiful baby-pink nightdress in a style that she had only seen in magazines. It was bolder than the kurtas that she currently wore to bed, but modest enough that she would feel comfortable in it. It was sleeveless, had wide shoulder straps rather than thin, flimsy ones that she would have dismissed as impractical and uncomfortable. There was handmade embroidery work in white and a darker shade of pink over the front and back along with tiny fabric roses. The gown was diaphanous and flowing and also came with a thin robe if she so wanted to cover herself up.
Even she could not have chosen something so pretty, Khushi thought, extremely pleased with her gift. "This is for the time when I thoughtlessly dragged you into my life and home, forcing you to marry me. I never thought about how you would manage without your own clothes and I am very sorry about that. There are other dresses that I have got you here...You are free to get rid of any clothes you dont like.", Arnav said, glad that she was pleased with his choice. Even though she said nothing, he could read the pleasure in her eyes. "Thank you,", Khushi mumbled before rushing in to the bathroom to change for the night. In her haste and absent-mindedness, she didnt realize that she had snatched the new nightdress. Well, its dark, I have the wrap, and he is going to be asleep by the time I come out, Khushi thought as she debated about going outside again to get another nightdress. Forget it, I am too tired for this, she finally decided before wearing the new nightdress. She also put on the robe for good measure before venturing out.
Arnav was lying in bed on his side, evidently fast asleep. Khushi came over to her side, the one closer to the bathroom and felt the roses again. They smell so sweet, she thought dipping her face to draw in their velvetty fragrance. The strand of jasmine flowers were still lying by the bedside ...Why should these dry up, unenjoyed, for no fault of theirs, Khushi thought sneaking a glance at a sleeping Arnav's face. She then tucked in the jasmine strands at the top of her plait, with them hanging by the side of her neck. It felt like she was drugged in the fragrance from the Jasmine, Khushi thought as she lay on her right side facing the restroom, in order to avoid looking at her husband. She felt her back pain settle and start to decrease as she drifted off into sleep.
[Image of jasmine flower strand that I am referring to - the rights are with the owner - I just grabbed from google images]
Arnav smiled a secret smile as he opened his eyes to see the sleeping figure of his wife. She had worn the nightdress he had got her as well as succumbed to the flowers that he had specially ordered from Chennai. 100% success rate with the gifts so far, he thought. He heard her even breathing signaling her departure into dreamland, and reached out to massage her back. He kept the pressure firm and correctly identified her pain points as she relaxed further. After a while, he drew himself forward to support her back as he lay in a spoon position with his hands lightly touching her belly. Khushi settled into his arms, anchoring her back with his front. This was heaven, he thought...feeling glad to be able to literally support and relieve his wife of some of the aches of pregnancy. The smell of jasmine was making his head spin, even though he was lying down and he resolved to get more of these for Khushi in the future.
Hope you all like it. Its been a long while since I posted and I apologize. Things dont always go according to plan.
Edited by vishkhush - 13 years ago
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