OS: New OS Idea Pg 77 - Page 4

A force pulled Shaantanu towards Khanak again, just minutes after he had sworn he wouldn't come close to her or touch her before she spoke the three magic words. He looked at her lovingly as she stood in the Paathshala excitedly talking to Shaantanu about the "City Dance" (in her words) as the perfect dance to bring his parents closer to each other on their anniversary. Shaantanu did not bother to ignore that force; there was no point, he thought as he moved ever so close to Khanak and realized one of his hands was already on her waist and the other attempting to get hold of her hand and place it on his shoulder. Khanak did not so much as look surprised with shaantanu's advances and in fact obeyed his unspoken wish to place her free hand into his without further ado.

What followed was magical; Khanak spoke of how, when couples danced like that, their souls were one. Shaantanu just stared at Khanak lovingly as he slowly moved in sync with a rhythm his head had already created as and when he had touched her. They were very close now; Shaantanu could smell the strawberry flavoured lip gloss Khanak was wearing and Khanak got lost in that new cologne Shaan had experimented with. She closed her eyes and her partially functional brain made a mental note to tell him his experiment was a success. But Shaantanu's eyes were open and he was looking down at Khanak like he had never seen her before. Before he knew it the 'force' forced him to reach for Khanak's parted lips but his lips' aim, a bit inaccurate, reached tor the edge of her long nose instead. He felt Khanak stifle a gasp and intake her breath. Almost immediately, the 'force' reprimanded him for aiming so inaccurately and pushed his lips towards her lower lip (which alone was very pouty) and kissed it softly.

Shaantanu thought he withdrew extremely quickly but found both his hands had moved around Khanak's waist . Khanak thought she had not moved but (when her eyes flashed open) found her hand caressing the back of Shaan's neck. She immediately stopped but Shaantanu did not let go. He grasped Khanak's shoulders and forced her to look into his eyes. The eyes that she saw in front of her were ones in which she had never seen so many questions, so many answers, so many confessions, so much to say. Shaantanu's eyes had a fierce look in them, a fierce desire to get his own way today no matter what, a fierce desire to get the love of his life' back into his life. The last time Khanak had seen Shaantanu's eyes demonstrating something as close as such aggression was when he had cornered her after proposing to Natasha in the dark. But there was no Natasha between them now, just his vividly expressive eyes which begged so much of her. When he spoke, his voice was desperate.

"Kaho'kaho Khanak,,,tell me'tell me that you love me," he breathed, still holding tight onto her. Khanak's senses had already gone numb after Shaantanu's kiss. It was as though an invisible power had hypnotized her. As if in a trance, the words came out of Khanak's mouth before she could so much as blink.

"I love you", her breathing was heavy, and she almost whispered when she said it, staring into the depths of Shaantanu's eyes the entire time. Shaantanu heard the words that seemed like music to his ears, but his eyes continued to remain fierce. He swooped down upon Khanak and kissed her again, this time not restricting himself to the lower lip. Ofcourse he got no response from her, neither expected one. After what seemed like a few minutes, he let go.

"Zore say bolo," Shaantanu obeyed his own command. He thought he looked much more composed than Khanak after the kiss, but, after all he was the guy from the 'city'. Khanak felt she needed to hold onto something and was thankful that her arm had remained around Shaantanu's neck. It was still there.

"I LOVE YOU", Khanak said, still in a trance, looking into Shaan's eyes but more clearly this time.Shaantanu smiled, which seemed more like a smirk, and wrapped his arms around Khanak's waist again. Khanak stifled a gasp again as Shaantanu moved close and kissed her for the third time that evening. He hard hardly just pulled back, mischief on his mind, when he said, "Ub Hindi main bolo".

Khanak stared at him for a good 30 seconds before her brain registered what he had said. Then without any hesitation, though her heart beat was rising with every word she took, and her throat had gone dry, she said "Main appsay'pyar karti hoon". Shaantanu swooped down her and found her lips yet again. This time the kiss lasted longer. Before he withdrew, he felt a slight hint of a response from Khanak but stopped himself anyway. He wasn't going to make this easy for her, he was sure of that. She had got her way far too many times. This was his day. It was his moment. HE would decide what would happen next.

Khanak felt trapped but she liked feeling trapped. She felt helpless but she liked that too. It felt weird and it felt nice. She couldn't think straight ofcourse and at every little interval during those four kisses she found her knees giving away. But she was scared that if she moved, something bad would happen. Like she'd lose out on something really important. She attempted to smile and she even managed one but as she looked into Shaananu's eyes she figured that he wasn't going to let go so easily. Somehow, that made her feel ecstatic.

"Ub Gujrati main bolo" Shaantanu whispered. Khanak could not believe her ears! "What is wrong with this guy?" she thought. "Kya?" she finally managed. "Mainay kaha Gujrati main bolo", he looked at Khanak, the aggression in his eyes paramount.

"Main'main' thumne ghanu prem karu chu" she said in a rush and blushed deeply. Even with her senses hardly working, she felt proud at being asked by the love of her life, to confess in her mother-toungue.

"Kya?" said Shaantanu teasingly, ever so close and smiling now.

"Main thumne ghanu prem karu chu" she said again, looking directly at him, her heart knowing what would follow. And sure enough, for the fifth time Shaantanu again came down upon Khanak and kissed her pouty lips. Khanak was just a split second prepared though but suddenly felt confident. Both her hands went round Shaantanu's neck as she attempted to respond to his kiss this time but just as she was about to, Shaantanu pulled back once more. He was still looking at her though and Khanak looked back at him with hurtful, questioning eyes. Shaantanu smiled; he felt mean but felt accomplished; he felt selfish but felt satisfied. His hands were still around Khanak's waist and hers around his neck when he broke the silence and said in clear crisp words "Thank you", and immediately let go of Khanak. Holding Khanak's hands, he pulled them down as well and turned around, smiling wickedly.

Khanak felt as dejected as she felt when she'd take sand in her palms as a child and seen it slip through her fingers. But this was no sand. This was her husband who was turning away from her after making her want him so desperately. At no cost would she allow herself, and indeed the man whose back was towards her, to spoil such a precious moment. She wanted him to keep kissing her till the end of time. That was how desperate she was. Deciding immediately what to do, Khanak held Shaanatanu's hand and made him turn around. Shaantanu was taken by surprise as he saw Khanak move closer to him and whisper in his ear, "Aap ko pata hain, mujhay Telegu bhee aati hain?". Shaantanu grinned as her words hit him and before he could say anything Khanak turned to his other ear and whispered in Telegu "Nenu ninnu premisthunanu" . No sooner had the words been uttered that Shaantanu grabbed hold of Khanak and smootched her hard, lifting her off the Paathshaala floor. This time Khanak had the sense as well as the presence of mind to respond. When they broke apart, Khanak was a crimson red and Shaantanu just smacked his lips and said, "I think I need to fine tune your kissing a bit, Khanak", making Khanak turn, if possible, into a deeper shade of crimson. Shaantanu put his arms around her as Khanak buried herself in his chest. The preparations for the Anniversary party could wait, both of them thought at the same time. After all, there were still two days left!