Mriara One Shot: A Night to Remember

Cold fear gripped his heart. He quickly checked her pulse which was very feeble. He turned her head to the side to allow any water to drain from her mouth and nose. He then turned her head back to the centre. He decided to administer mouth-to-mouth resuscitation in a bid to revive his unconscious wife. Pinching her nose and opening her mouth wide, he placed his lips on hers and breathed strongly into her mouth four times to help air get past any water that was clogging the breathing passageways and the lungs. He then put his ear near the mouth and watched her chest for any breathing movement. He checked her pulse again and repeated the cycle. After the third time, she slowly fluttered her eyelids open and looked at him blankly. He heaved a sigh of relief that she was alive. He dragged her up in his arms and hugged her tight.

Although Tara let him hug her, she soon broke free and looked at him incredulously.

"Mritunjay" she whispered as she tentatively caressed his face, wondering if she was meeting him in heaven after her death.

"Yes, Tara. It is me! Your Mrityunjay!"

"Am I dead?" she quizzed him softly.

"No, you are not," he assured her.

"Then how am I able to see you and feel you after I had cremated you?" she asked, unable to comprehend what was happening around her.   

"That is because you did not cremate me.  I am still alive and well, Tara. It wasn't me who was hanged by Kalavathi that fateful day, but one of her own men."

"What?" jumped up Tara as she stood gazing at him incredulously. Slowly he got up and recounted to her everything that had happened since the moment she saw the mask being drawn down his face before his hanging.

She listened with rapt attention and when he elaborated on his plan to keep her in the dark all this while so that she keeps the fire of revenge burning in her heart, she was livid with anger.

"How dare you!" she lashed out at him. "How dare you let me think you are gone forever. How dare you tested my faith in you and repeatedly threatened to leave me to my fate!  How dare you made me believe that I was going crazy because I intuitively felt that you were still alive! How dare you play with my emotions, knowing how much I love you and missed you!" She punched him repeatedly with every sentence she uttered.

Mritunjay was ashamed at his misjudgment of the extent of emotional damage he had done to her by maintaining his silence for so long. He kept apologising to her and hugged her even as she tried to free herself. He absorbed all her anger till she had no energy left to fight him.  As she went limp in his arms he enveloped her into a tight hug, reiterating his love for her.

Pulling herself out of his hug, she asked him, "Mrityunjay, how could you let me think I am a widow when you were still alive?" She was still unable to believe he really could do this.

"I am sorry, Tara, I made a grave mistake.  I'll make it up to you."

He felt a searing pain in his arm and looked down at it.  There was a gash in it which he had sustained from a branch of a tree that had grazed him as he jumped into the lake.  He rubbed his thumb in the blood of the wound and filled her maang with it. 

"Tara, you were, are and will always be my wife. Nothing can happen to me as long as you are there," he proclaimed.

Tara closed her eyes and savoured the moment.  

She thought to herself, 'Why am I fighting with him now? I have got back the man I thought was dead. Nothing matters more than this.'

She heaved a huge sigh of relief and overwhelmed by the moment she passed out. Mrityunjay hurriedly caught her before her body hit the ground and lifting her flaccid body, carried her to a nearby abandoned stable.

As he gently lay her down on a bed of hay, a drop of water from his front lock of hair fell on her eyes. She batted her eyelids to get rid of it, evoking a strong response in him.  Stretching himself next to her, he held her face between his palms and scorched her lips in a searing kiss.  He encircled her tongue in his and sucked on it thirstily like a dying man.  Tara was initially taken aback by the ferocity of his kiss, but she was pliant, unable to react immediately. 

When they were both starved of air, they broke free. He then moved his lips all over her face, kissing her feverishly.  Once her entire face was bathed in his kisses, he pulled her towards him and embraced her tightly, not wanting to let go of her. His hands fervently caressed her back in circular motion. He squeezed his eyes tightly, trying to shut out the scary image of Tara's limp body as he carried her from the lake.  He shuddered at the very thought of any harm befalling her.  She was way too precious and important to him. Tara's close brush with death willed him to celebrate life and she was his life. In his emotionally high strung state, he craved for her like never before. From his embrace, Tara could discern that the desire he had for her went way beyond the physical. She could feel his raw emotional need for her. She set aside her anger at his deception and opened out to him.

Mritunjay buried his face in her neck and nipped at the soft flesh, making her moan.  Not wanting any hindrance between them, his hands moved down to the neck of her kurta top and he vigorously pulled it over and out of her . He impatiently tore at their remaining garments as well and soon both their clothing lay abandoned on the floor.

The chillness of the air hit her exposed body, covering it with goose bumps. He immediately covered her body with his, insulating it from the cold by lending it his own body's warmth. While he recaptured her mouth, his hands roved all over her body, heating it up to a fevered pitch. Image of Tara's flaying arms as she was on the verge of plunging into the lake and his own fear that he could have lost her to his senseless need to keep his identity hidden from her till their joint revenge against Kalavathi was fulfilled kept flashing in his mind, intensifying his need to become one with her in body and soul. The flames of his desire were stoked up rapidly and when he could not contain them any longer, he lowered himself and thrust deep to complete his union with her. Hearing her gasp sharply, he paused briefly, but she dug her fingers into the muscles of his back, urging him on.  She was more than willing to meet his every need and she completely surrendered herself up to him.

The intensity with which he took her showed to her just how deeply he was affected by her near drowning. She was overwhelmed and honoured that Mritunjay considered her so important in his life that the thought of any harm coming to her would have such a profound effect on him. The initial pain caused by his roughness, which she so willingly bore out of unfathomable love for him, was replaced by a sublime pleasure and she soon turned from a passive participant to an active one, trying to keep pace with him. At the height of her passion she dug her finger nails into his back and nipped his neck, although he seemed to be oblivious of her aggression.

Her legs wrapped around his waist, holding him tight as he filled her with his love and propelled her on a brisk but invigorating journey of love. The tingling sound of her anklets was as erratic as the rhythm he set, in keeping with the wild swings in his emotional state - from anguish to exhilaration; from anxiety to relief; and from passion to tranquility. Thrown in this whirlpool of emotions, he felt himself sinking deeper and deeper. The resultant frenzied pace of their union pushed both of them tantalisingly close to the brink several times before finally toppling them over. The sensations that coursed his entire body at the moment he peaked were indescribable, as he held her tightly in his strong arms, pressing every fibre of her being against him. He then slowly released her from his vice-like grip and collapsed by her side, panting to regain his breath.  

Hearing her heavy breathing, he raised himself on his elbow and looked down at her with eyes filled with love.  Her eyes were tightly shut and streams of tears had escaped on either sides of her face. Her face looked flushed and drained. Her soft and supple body bore the tell-tale marks of his recent assault. Seeing her in this state he immediately relented for having taken her forcefully, without a thought to her physical and mental condition or what she wanted.

"I'm sorry," he said contritely.

Hearing his apology, her eyes flew open and she looked at him in alarm. Having exposed her vulnerability by giving herself so completely to him, she could not bear the emotional upheaval caused by his apparent regret of their union. Seeing the alarm and dismay in her eyes he realised what those words would seem to her.

He hastened to add, "No, no. Don't get me wrong. I don't regret making love to you.  There is nothing I want more than to make you mine and become yours, honey. But I am sorry for the manner in which I went about it. I was hasty and rough in expressing my love and need for you, my darling.  This is not what I had dreamt of.  I wanted the night of our first union to be extra special. I wanted to give you as much pleasure as you would be giving me. I wanted to slowly awaken your senses and cherish you at length.  I wanted to make love to you tenderly, savouring every moment of it. Not in this hurried and harsh manner but your close encounter with death terrified me and I couldn't contain all my bottled up emotions. In my eagerness to become one with you, I lost track of all other thoughts. Sorry for manhandling you darling. Sorry for hurting you and causing you pain, especially in your condition when your body must be very delicate. How I wish I could erase this act and redo it more slowly and tenderly all over again."   

Realising that his regret had more to do with the manner in which he expressed himself rather than the act itself, she put his mind at ease.

"Sh...," she said placing a finger on his lips. "I am not made of porcelain that I would break if my husband handles me with a little roughness.  In case you have not noticed, you were not the only impatient and rough one here.  Look at these marks I left on you." She pointed at the nail marks on his back and the teeth marks on his neck, showing him that she was as much a willing participant in the entire coming together.

"These tears, then?" he asked in confusion, collecting the tears from the sides of her face on his index finger and showing them to her.

"They were the automatic outlet for my emotions. I was as emotionally high strung as you were, Mritunjay. I was equally terrified of not being able to see you ever again. You cannot imagine how relieved I am to know that you are still alive. As to erasing such a beautiful act between us, I would never dream of it. I loved every moment of it, for it showed me just how much you needed and desired me. I could feel that you were not merely satisfying your physical urge but were trying to quench your emotional thirst too. Nothing can be more fulfilling for me than to satiate both your emotional and physical needs."

She snuggled up to him, and laying her head on his chest over his heart, she kissed it, before closing her eyes in contentment. He smiled and kissed the top of her head and held her close against his side.

Soon he felt his desire for her rekindled.

"Tara!" he called out to her.

"Mmm..." she replied huskily, opening her eyes and lifting her head up from under his arm, where it was tucked, to see him.

"Would you be too exhausted for a replay, Mrs.Tara Shekawat, this time in the way I imagined it to be?" he asked her. 

She shook her head in the negative and said she was game for another physical display of his love.

What followed was the most beautiful and tender lovemaking she could ever imagine. Mritunjay took his time exploring Tara's sensuous side. This time, he appeared to be more keen to give rather than receive. He trailed gentle kisses from her forehead to her toes.  While doing so he keenly observed her facial and body movements to ascertain what gave her more pleasure and concentrated his attention on those areas where she was more sensitive to his touch.  He cherished her with his lips and fingers, driving her over the edge. 

When she could take it no longer, she pulled him up to her and holding his face between her hands, she kissed him passionately. Realising that she was ready to accept him, he gently merged himself in her. This time the sound of her anklets was more melodious and rhythmic, reflecting the measured pace of their union. After a few minutes, he turned her over so that he took her weight on himself. They prolonged their union with slow yet deep strokes before letting their senses take over them. As they reached the zenith together, he held her by the waist and locked his lips with hers. Later they slept contentedly in each other's arms, her back caved into his chest, his leg slung possessively over hers.

The next morning when Tara awoke, she could not lift herself up because she was tightly encased in Mrityunjay's arms.  As she struggled to set herself free, he woke up lazily and pulled himself up on his elbow.

"Good morning, Tara," he wished her cheerfully and started placing gentle kisses on her face. He soon moved down her body and when he came to her stomach, he kissed and nipped it gently making her squirm as she was tickled by his facial hair.

Staring at her stomach gravely he said, "You know Tara, much as I love this flat terrain, I would be really happy to see it grow into a hillock soon, nurturing my love symbol."  

Tara first stared at him in confusion before she understood the full import of his words.

"Do you think we would have made Gollu last night?" she asked dreamily, holding him by the cheeks.

"I sure hope so.  After all we did double shift last night, didn't we? Should increase the odds."

"I so wish our Gollu looks like you, Mrityunjay"

" Should we try once more?" he asked, dragging her into his arms.

"Mrityunjay!  You are too much. It is already getting late. Nandu will get suspicious if she realises I am missing from Shekawat Villa," she said, wriggling out of his hold and quickly slipping into her salwar kameez.

He reluctantly let her go, a joyful smile playing on his lips. Tara blew him a kiss as she rushed out of the stable.

"We'll meet tomorrow night!" he yelled after her and slowly dressed himself up to return to his base camp.