chapter 2
Zoya was sleeping when Asad came to check on her , her hand lay casually over her stomach and the other beneath her face. Asad watched her almost in a trance, taking in every detail, noting the play of flickering light and shadows across her face that were cast on her by the bedside lamp in an otherwise dark room. He liked the way the small light made her face glow. She had never looked more beautiful than this, she was breathtaking.
Her neck bare save for a few escaped tendrils from the loose plaid she had tied' Asad admired the graceful arc of it. His hands itched with want to tuck the strands away and caress her beautiful face. Running his fingers down to the hollow of her neck. Asad wanted many things, when it came to Zoya, but right now his obsession over that one, that particular patch of skin was probably the most bizarre. Really, it was just one more example of the hold she had over him. A hold that she'd been completely unaware of.
Walking towards her he could not stop thinking about the way she had been so close to him couple of nights before. Nose to nose, eye to eye, chest to chest as she fell on him in the middle of the night. Her weight felt unusually light on him. Her eyes bright with shock, admiration...and something else...affection maybe? He had loved the cute pout when she had realized the position she was in that is upon him. Too close. And finally the embarrassed flush crept in. In her embarrassed demeanour she had pulled away so abruptly that she forgot she was handcuffed with him and fell right back on to his hard chest. Her face buried at the crook of his neck. Her soft Lips slightly touching the pulse on his neck , his skin scorching with heat under her lips igniting a wildfire to course through his veins. Their hearts thudding in a pathetic attempt to beat against their chest. Her hair fallen over his face sending him into an overdrive with the heady mixture of her smell and the faint smell of a fruity shampoo. She had raised herself to look into his eyes and muttering a soft apology, had sat straight back up. That was the last moment of peace after the nightmare had started. Waking up in the morning they found that the village head had caught up with them and was tying them up. The running in to the forest. Her fainting and getting buried in to the earth...he had died a thousand deaths in that very moment'feeling immensely pained by the helplessness of it all. He had cried like a baby, prayed for her to breathe, come back to him. A millions of arrows pierced his soul when she did not respond to his pleas.
Crying because, he again had not trusted her, told her to go away from his life , instead he chose to trust the sick man who wanted nothing other than to pull them into even more danger...he had paid no heed to her warnings. He deserved the punishments for his mistakes, punishment for the hurt he had caused her. Punishment of her leaving him. Knowing about her failing heartbeats, he wished he would die with her too. Yet she came back. Breathing and breathing a life into him. Seeing the "Z" marked upon his hand he remembered holding on to the thorny tree, the thorns knew...they knew of the mark Zoya had left on his heart'And now he was tattooed permanently with it on his hand .
The bittersweet mark, ever present on his palm.
He had kissed her forehead, held her close and cried like a baby.
He was jerked back to the present when he heard her murmur'."bachhaoo...'umm ammi..bachhh'."
She was sweating profusely, the soft smile playing on her lips turning into a frown and then into a nasty scowl, she shuddered. He tried to grab her but she started writhing, wildly thrashing arms swatted at his, one swipe neatly clipping his chin. Ignoring the pain. Asad stilled her in the time honoured tradition by drawing her close and holding her tight. It only took a few seconds...whatever had chased her must have given up because he found her relaxing slowly. He gently pried her hand from his kurta and lowered her quivering form back to her bed. He brushed the damp hair back from her glistening forehead and straightened the neck line of her nightgown which now showed a tantalizing glimpse of her cleavage. He averted his gaze and groaned in frustration mentally cursing himself. Damn! So much for helping her, when he himself could not save her from his gaze. She was shivering a little and he pulled back the covers more securely over her but found they wouldn't budge, Zoya leg had become tangled in the covers and the night gown had shamelessly ridden up her creamy leg. He tried to take her hand and pull them under the covers only to find Zoya grasping his hand in a firm grip and snuggling them under her cheeks using his palm as her pillow. He stared at their hands. Too dumbfounded to do anything. As soon as he tried to tug his hand out the frown on Zoya's face deepened and made Asad relent with his free hand he gently took hold of her head and tried to lift her head up a little for his hand to move. Only to find even more resistance and a pull from Zoya that made him lurch forward just mere inches away from her lips.
He resisted the impulse to kiss her brow, just like the last time she was on top of him. The pull was so strong and yet somehow he unsuccessfully tried to treat his ministrations as if the sleeping beauty was his sister.
As if!!
Who was he kidding??!
He almost did kiss her, realizing there was no real chance of her waking up .If a drum roll wouldn't wake her then his chaste kiss wouldn't.
yet he reminded himself of the danger and stop before he do something stupid, as he felt her impression on his chest, his thin kurta and her filmy gown proving an inadequate barrier.
Prying himself out of her grasp as soundly as he could he exited the room...
Thinking what were they in reality? What relationship did they share?
Friends? Not quite.
Brother and sister? NO!!! Definitely not!
Lovers? He did not know.
Strangers!!!! Yes definitely strangers!!
He couldn't come up with a answer more right than that!!!
Strangers, who lived under the same roof.
Strangers who occasionally comforted each other through coffee and exchanged a little piece of themselves every time they sat on their strange bench.
Strangers who shared a similar pain in their hearts.
And strangers who were steadfastly growing closer.
hi all!! so that was chapter 2. i hope you liked it. plz do leave your comments. they are like precious diamonds an aspiring writer cant get enough !!
and to all those who have liked and commented & encouraged me to write a, BIG THANK YOU!!! 🤗 you'll are the best!
- urja
Edited by zoas91 - 12 years ago
Shiv Shakti
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