AnGini FF - The Calm Before the Storm, updated p12 - Page 9

Tammy and Khushi rushed into the room and threw themselves on the bed, leaping up and down with excited cries of laughter. Ragini was glad of the confusion and distraction the children were creating because she needed time to recover herself. At the same time she felt a strange sense of disappointment and dissatisfaction. She could still feel Anmol's touch lingering on her face, on her lips…the memory of the roughness of his skin on hers and yet the tenderness of his caress made her head swim. She swallowed hard, suddenly feeling parched and thirsty…She felt like she was being swept up in a tidal wave and that she was being carried away…She loved and adored her children, but could they have chosen a worse moment, she thought exasperatedly…What was Anmol thinking? What was he feeling? Finally she worked up the courage to steal a glance in his direction. He looked so happy! So fiercely happy… Anmol had always been most lively around the children, but today he seemed even more full of life than usual…Irritated, she thought, how could he possibly be this happy?! Hadn't he been interrupted just as he was about to…

As if reading her thoughts, Anmol's eyes sought Ragini's. As her eyes met his, she felt herself blushing deeply. He was busy tickling the children but his eyes had a message only for her. His look was so full of meaning and promise that any composure she had managed to gain disappeared entirely…She felt weak and completely and gloriously out of control again.

Seeing Ragini blush so deeply, looking so radiantly expectant, Anmol felt his heart stop.

He felt unbelievably happy, absurdly happy…he had been about to kiss his beautiful wife, he had been about to kiss the love of his life Ragini. He could not believe it! He had hardly allowed himself to think or dream about being that close to Ragini, holding her in his arms, kissing her. He had exercised a grueling and punishing control over himself for so long; not letting himself even imagine the possibility of love or romance let alone passion with Ragini. Each time he came dangerously close to such thoughts, he would reproach himself and remind himself to be satisfied with whatever he had. But this morning, Ragini's unabashed and, dare he say, passionate response to him had been the greatest gift he could have ever hoped for. True, he hadn't actually kissed her…they had been interrupted, but that only made it all the more precious to him. For he now finally felt free to imagine, to hope for the things he thought he could never have. He could say it to himself now, all the things he had blurted out to her that previous night, things he had never before articulated to himself … he wanted her. Heart, body, mind, soul, he wanted all of Ragini…And to see his desires reflected in her beautiful eyes….He had seen grief in those eyes, anger, frustration….but he never thought he would see love and passion…that too for him! He would treasure the memory of the interrupted kiss forever. And he owed it all to his lovely precious little angels…their lovely precious little angels.

Tammy and Khushi, who were certainly not behaving like angels that morning, seemed to catch the happiness that was in the air and all four of them laughed and played together with an abandon that was new….It was a while before the children calmed down enough to remind Ragini about the school outing that had been planned for the day. They reminded her of all the treats she had promised to pack for their picnic and demanded she help them pick out their clothes for the day…As Ragini let herself be dragged away somewhat reluctantly, she turned to look at Anmol. She saw him resting on the pillows with his hands behind his head, looking curiously satisfied, a naughty smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. And Ragini felt that if Tammy and Khushi hadn't been holding on to her, her knees would have given way under her….

When she had finished helping the girls pick out their outfits for the day, she rushed back to her room to find Anmol but he wasn't there….she rushed to the balcony just in time to see him jogging out of the gates. She was disappointed. He was going jogging at a moment like this?! This man would never cease to surprise her! There was so much she needed to learn about him….His obsessive jogging being only one of the many mysteries about Anmol….On the other hand, she decided that it was a good thing he was gone after all…She needed time to freshen up.

That morning Ragini showered and dressed with an eagerness that she hadn't experienced in a long long time. Her hair still wet from her shower, and wearing her beautiful red sari, she sat in front of her mirror. As she combed her wet hair, Ragini felt as though she were sixteen again. Would Anmol like her sari? Would he notice that she was wearing his favorite color? What jewelry should she wear? She took out the pendant and chain that he had helped put around her neck….the day she had first become aware of him, the day she had realized that she was not indifferent to his presence…that he affected her in ways she had not thought possible….She ran her fingers over the pendant and chain and thought to herself, "Anmol touched this, he held it in his long fingers….he thought it was beautiful. He thought…he said, that I was beautiful…" Ragini blushed at the memory…She seemed to be doing that a lot lately. Did he really find her beautiful? Oh God! She was behaving like a teenager!…Like a heroine from one of Guni's novels! She looked up and laughed…

In the mirror, she saw Anmol standing at the door, watching her silently. Suddenly she was confused....As she stood up and turned to face him, she dropped her comb and sent a million other things on the dresser flying…But Ragini was totally unaware of the chaos around her. All she could see was Anmol, shutting the door, locking it. Anmol walking slowly towards her, Anmol unzipping the jacket of his track suit….tossing it carelessly on the bed, his t-shirt dark with his sweat...

"What's so funny Ragini?" He was so close she fancied she could hear his heart beating…Or was that her heart? Beating so loud she had barely heard him speak. "I…uh…nothing…Guni's heroines," Ragini stuttered, hardly knowing what she was saying, "I mean novels…that is, novels in Guni's heroines…I mean Guni in heroine's novels…." Anmol burst out laughing and Ragini, realizing what she had said, felt ridiculous and laughed with him. Here she had been trying to make herself look beautiful for Anmol and all she had succeeded in doing was to make a total and complete fool of herself.

Suddenly Anmol was serious again, looking at her with an intensity that made her go weak…she felt she would have certainly fallen had it not been for Anmol's hand on her waist, steadying her. Suddenly she felt herself being pulled into his arms…her hands rested on his chest and she could feel the wild beating of his heart. She felt his hot breath on her face and breathed in his masculine scent mixed with his sweat…it was as if Anmol had awakened every sense and perception in her. She felt every part of herself drowning in him. She shivered and lowered her eyes… the intensity of her own feelings taking her by surprise, making her nervous. Anmol could feel Ragini shiver….He knew she was nervous and that made his heart soar….Ragini! Nervous of him! He wanted nothing more than to crush her in his arms, make her feel his passion, but he also felt protective.

Keeping one of his arms around Ragini, Anmol pulled her even closer to him, if that was possible…with his other hand, he reached up, tilting her face towards him, stroking her jaw gently. "Look at me Ragini…" he breathed huskily into her ear. "Look at me…" When she finally raised her eyes to his face, he saw what he wanted, he saw his own desires reflected in hers….

"God help me Ragini, you take my breath away..."

"Anmol…" she managed to breathe, but what Ragini had been about to say we will never know as Anmol bent his head and grazed his lips with hers….gently, tenderly, reverently. They broke apart for a second, each stunned by the passion which that lightest of kisses had stirred in them. Ragini gasped…and that only inflamed Anmol further…He pulled her to him roughly and in less than a heartbeat Ragini was back where she was meant to be, in his strong arms. Anmol kept one hand around Ragini's waist, and with the other he gripped the hair at the back of her neck, tilting her face upwards to his. Ragini's arms were around Anmol's neck, her hands buried deep in his hair. This time he was not gentle…nor did she want him to be. This time Anmol kissed Ragini with all the love and passion that he had buried for six long years. And this time Ragini returned his kiss with an intensity that could leave Anmol in no doubt of the happiness that lay ahead of them.

And this time, there was no one to interrupt them…