Rain
Rahul tried very hard not to look at Muskaan. He had known they were in trouble when they arrived at the accident scene on the Mumbai Express Highway with the EMS crew, but she hadn't listened. And, now look at them. This was all her fault but he couldn't even accuse her because to do so might reveal why he wasn't able to look at her. He couldn't stand it, this was torture; he snuck a peek at her. His heart caught in his throat. She was beautiful, but that in itself wasn't news, she was captivating every moment of every day. But, at this moment, in this situation she was so undeniably hot, so overpoweringly sexy that he could barely breathe.
She felt him looking at her and smiled, despite herself. "What?"
He pulled open the passenger side door for her. "Nothing," he replied quickly. That was a lie and she knew it. She stood there trying to decipher what he was really thinking and it gave him a prime opportunity to simply look at her.
She was soaking wet, they both were, that was to be expected after they had walked nearly half a mile in a torrential downpour. And while the water made him soggy and cold its effect on her was overwhelming. Her dark hair lay thick against her head, one longer tress curled silkily against the hollow of her throat making him itch to reach out and coil it around his finger. She was wearing a linen blouse and the fabric clung to her body in a way he feared he never would. The stark white of the shirt highlighted her creamy skin and the contrast with her dark cargo pants seemed to accentuate the perfection of her tiny waist. He had grown accustomed to the everyday torture her presence inflicted on his body; the constant longing, the waves of desire that accompanied her voice, her touch and her laugh; his mind and body had grown not only used to the ache she gave him but dependent on it.
She smiled at him and his heart melted. "Rahul," she said laughingly, "we are getting wetter by the nanosecond. Why don't we get in the car?"
"What?" he started guiltily, "oh, sorry." He realized he was blocking her from sitting down and moved quickly so she could climb into the SUV. He shut her door and talked very firmly to himself about everything he had invested in this partnership as he moved around the car. By the time he got out of the rain and into the driver's seat he thought he had a bit more control over his mutinous body and mind.
The short ride back into the metro area was quiet, the storm still raged outside and Muskaan sat quietly to allow him to concentrate on the road. The quiet helped her. Her thoughts were in turmoil and she used the silence to try and focus on what they had witnessed at the accident scene and not on how sexy Rahul had looked as they walked in the rain.
She tried to think of the patient's condtion, but the patient's minor injuries caused by the hit on car's windshield and influencing environmental factors continually distracted her towards soulful grey eyes and a teasing grin. She found herself absorbed in recalling every moment of their walk back to the car. Rahul had warned her that the rain was approaching, but she had insisted on staying just a little longer to make sure she had given all the possible care to the people injured in the crash. And then it had hit and there was nothing to do but to walk back and be soaked to the bone.
He had laughed at her, enjoying the chance to say I told you so. She had let him, happy that he was happy. He was wearing a t-shirt and jeans, and the fabric when wet had highlighted every muscle in his back and chest. She could name every one of those muscles, but if she was honest with herself she would rather have explored them than name them. She shook her head, trying to clear it of these disastrous thoughts. Rahul was her co-worker, a trauma specialist with the EMS unit just like her, and their relationship was far too important to let her libido cause her to act recklessly and risk everything they had built over the last four years of Internship in Sanjeevani.
Rahul took a left turn and she jerked out of her daydream. "Where are you headed?" she asked. "This isn't going to take us back to Sanjeevani."
"You are soaked through, Muskaan. We are going to go to your place and get you into some dry clothes." He looked at her, anticipating what she was going to say. His voice was soft and full of care and completely irresistible. "Don't argue I'm not going to risk you getting sick because you can't read a weather forecast." She nodded; she wouldn't have objected even if she had spoken, sometimes it was simply nice to know he cared that much about her.
He pulled up in front of her place and as he climbed out he pulled a duffle bag from behind his seat. He came around to her side and laid his hand against her back as he escorted her to the door. He felt the familiar jolt of electricity when he touched her and his fingers, still cold from the rain, immediately warmed. He stayed close, her body was cold from the rain and wind and he could see her shivering. He considered wrapping his arms around her as they stood in the elevator, he could say it was to warm her, but he didn't think he could hide the evidence that it was not.
"It doesn't seem fair that I can change and you can't," Muskaan observed as the elevator opened. Rahul held up his bag, "that's why I keep a change in the car, Muskaan. A good Emergency Doctor is always prepared."
She unlocked the door but didn't open it. Instead she leaned against it and looked him in the eye. He was smiling at her, completely sincere and honest. She felt a sense of pride, he was her partner, her friend and he was Sanjeevani's best trauma doctor she had no doubt. "You are a good Doctor, Rahul; the best."
He couldn't stand it; she was there in front of him so absolutely adorable, so perfectly beautiful, so heartwarmingly sincere in her praise of him; he felt like he was going to burst. He reached for her, not in any way that would violate their rules, but just enough that he could feel her skin on his. He caught the strand of hair that had been teasing him, the one lying thick and damp against her soft throat, and he drug it over to her shoulder, where she liked it. "I'm not the best, Muskaan," he said quietly his voice thick with his desire for her. "We are the best; together, partners. Without you I was just a Doctor, doing his job and making due. I wasn't anything special until I found you."
Her eyes widened as his finger trailed against her neck. If she thought it was biologically possible for toes to curl she would have sworn hers did. Her breath became shallow and her heart rate soared. She felt her hand rise and her fingers entwining themselves with his. It had not been a conscious movement, but she found her smaller hand seemed to fit perfectly against his strong one. She squeezed his hand in a silent thank you and her thumb indulged in a soft caress against his palm.
Rahul groaned, that single stroke against the inside of his hand was almost enough to make him crumble. "Muskaan," he whispered softly as he involuntarily took a step and closed the distance between them. His breath was ragged as he fought to control his desire, to remember the line they had drawn. He was still shivering but his body was reacting now to her rather than his wet clothes. He dropped his duffle and leaned forward, his other arm finding its way around her waist to his favorite spot on the small of her back. "Please, Muskaan," he nearly begged, "we need to be careful here."
The anguish in his voice helped solidify her resolve; she would not allow him to hurt. She could bear her own pain, ignoring it had been her life's work, but she could not endure his. Her soft brown eyes were wide and betrayed her own dampened fear. "I'm tired of careful, Rahul." She let her free hand touch his chest enjoying the quiver that ran through him beneath her fingers. She leaned against him, wanting nothing more than to listen to his beating heart and enjoy what the sound did to her soul. She kissed his neck, a tiny feather touch that made him gasp. "We can't keep denying it Rahul; I don't want to deny it."
He looked down at her, his deep grey eyes warm and amazed. "Deny what, Muskaan?"
She smiled at him, knowing that she was about to give him a gift she had never given any other man. Something she would once have sworn she would not only refuse to say but also to believe. "I love you, Rahul Garewal."
There were unshed tears in his eyes and his smile was glorious, "I've loved you for so long," he whispered as if to say it out loud would ruin it. "I can't take it back, Muskaan. If we cross the line I can't ever let you go."
"Good."
He shoved her door open and in one motion kicked his bag across her living room and swept her into the room. When they were inside and the door closed he pulled her against him. His fingers found hers again and he laced them together. Slowly raising both their hands he kissed her fingers as he looked her in the eye, wanting to see her reaction to his touch. With deliberate yet delicate strokes he drew his own fingers in and out, around hers. The combination of his lips and his caress was more powerful than she would have imagined, she had never until now considered fingers an erogenous zone, but he was proving her wrong. She was breathing heavily as his touch continued to affect her and he smiled a slow happy smile knowing he was responsible.
When he finally pulled his lips from her hand and placed a soft kiss on her mouth she was desperate for more. She offered him a taste of herself and when he returned for more she raised the bar. Their kisses grew long and deep. She teased his tongue and offered hers. She nibbled at his lip and smiled when he responded by wrapping his hand in her still wet hair. No longer satisfied with holding her hand he let himself touch her in ways that most definitely defied any line they had drawn.
She twisted her hand inside his t-shirt and pulled him off balance. Using the shirt as leverage she guided him across the living room and into her bedroom. A silly grin grew across both their faces as they realized the end of their wait had arrived.
When they reached the bed Rahul wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. Leaning down he kissed her, slowly and softly, as if time had changed its constant and now moved with the intent that this moment last forever. Her head swam with conflicting impulses and she ignored them all to better enjoy the simple sensation that came with his kiss.
He slowly pulled his lips from hers and placed tiny butterfly touches with them on her nose, her temple, the nape of her neck. He placed a delicate kiss near her ear and spoke softly, "I love you".
Almost two hours later they lay together, a single sheet thrown across them to reserve some of the body heat they had generated. Muskaan's small frame was snuggled against Rahul and she let herself touch him with no real agenda; she simply wanted to continue to feel the thrill it gave her to caress his bare skin.
Her head was cushioned on his arm and he wrapped the rest of it around her, his hand now stroking that spot on her back with something much more than chivalrous protection. He kissed the top of her head, breathing in the scent of her hair and the lingering effects of the rain shower.
"I can't believe we waited so long for that" she said softly.
He smiled, "You seemed to be determined to make up for lost time, I barely caught my breath before you made me want more".
She rose up on an elbow to look at him. Her grey eyes sparkled. "Are you complaining already?"
He laughed. "No chance," he reached up and let his fingers trail from her neck to her navel, "I've never been so happy".
She shivered with delight and leaned down to kiss him again.
He groaned when her phone rang. "Don't answer it".
She just flashed him a quick grin, "You know I have to, there is no way I can't just let it ring." She leaned across the bed and fished the phone from her pants heaped on the floor. "Hey Anjie," she said as she answered.
"Sweetie, where are you?" her best friend asked with just a hint of worry. "The patients in the crash you were sent to look out for arrived almost two hours ago. Are you ok?"
"Yeah, Anjie I'm fine," Muskaan glanced at Rahul and a naughty smile played across her face. "We just got distracted".
Suddenly Anjali was very interested. "Distracted how, exactly?"
"Uh, nothing we just had to stop. It was raining and we were wet." Muskaan tried to explain. Rahul couldn't wait any longer. He reached for her and pulled her to him. Ignoring Muskaan's attempts to swat away his hands he indulged himself, sending shivers through her body as he touched and explored his favorite parts of her newly revealed form. When he employed his mouth in the exploration Muskaan gasped, "Rahul! Stop!"
Anjali was beside herself. "Muskaan, what is going on?"
Rahul took the phone from Muskaan as he continued to kiss his way from her waist to her shoulder. In between kisses he spoke, his voice husky and impatient "Goodbye Anjali".
Muskaan could clearly hear her friend's squeal of glee as Rahul clicked off the cell.
She was sure she would be tortured for details later, but at the moment she had much more important things on her mind.
*************** The End****************
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