Since there were many speculations around RaghVi's dance sequence in the show, I came across a teaser on a sponsored page of Instagram. I further clicked on it and it led to the story, and I wanted to recreate for RaghVi. The storyline and many actions are similiar---just words and their behaviour are changed by me.
This is MHRW AU realm--a completely different one from the show. Enjoy reading it.
"I give it five years, max." Raghav said, toasting the happy couple.
"You're just jealous that it's never going to be you." Pallavi replied, sipping from her bubbly champagne.
"Me, jealous of them?" Raghav looked incredulous "Just look at them, it's disgusting."
Her eyes tracked the newlyweds across the wooden dance floor, as Mandaar drew his bride, Pooja (or 'you can call me, Pooh'), closer into the beginning of a choreographed dance.
Raghav turned toward Pallavi "As if I'd ever want to be the unlucky man roped into learning an embarrassing dance for his wedding."
Pallavi nodded, conceding his point. The way they were dancing left something to be desired.
"Maybe it wouldn't be so embarrassing if more men learnt to dance properly." She winced as Mandaar did a particularly ungraceful spin.
"You know, I really don't understand men's aversion to dancing.." she continued, as a knowing smile tilted the corner of her lips "There's something so attractive about a man who knows how to move his body."
"What type of dancing are you talking about? This is so stilted and ... upright." Raghav sounded disappointed, as he placed his empty champagne flute onto a tray that one of the waiters was walking by with.
Pallavi laughed, the decadent cadence of her voice sending a rush of warmth through Raghav's body. "Oh Raghav, I know you're only interested in the horizontal tango, but that would hardly be appropriate in the middle of a wedding, would it?"
Her eyes twinkled with mirth, and Raghav couldn't stop his gaze from running down the gentle slope of her neck, to the plunging neckline of her dress, which revealed the rounded globes of her breasts, jiggling before him like some divine offering.
How had Raghav known Pallavi for so long, and never admired the body she had? Raghav didn't know how he'd lost sight of it (Now that he thought about it, he could hazard a guess that it was somewhere between having to play in the bath together with Mandaar and only being attracted to women who were the opposite of Pallavi). Standing with her now, Raghav couldn't deny that she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen and she wasn't even naked.
Not yet, the thought winnowed through Raghav's mind, but she'll be naked and ready for you soon enough.
Raghav blinked, clearing his head. "As a matter of fact, I know more than the horizontal tango." He paused then added in a low whisper into her ear. "And I would be happy to give you a demonstration of all my skills."
Pallavi coughed into her champagne flute. Her elegance disappearing in that one act as some of the champagne she'd been in the middle of swallowing was regurgitated into the fine glass.
Raghav chuckled, and he watched as a fierce blush rose to her cheeks.
"Okay, yes." she said hotly "I would like a demonstration of your skills."
"Which one?" Raghav asked, quirking an eyebrow at her. "Because really, Pallavi, I would have thought you knew better than to do the horizontal tango in the middle of a wedding."
If there was one thing Raghav knew how to do well, it was riling Pallavi up. He enjoyed mincing her words back to her, it always engendered her ire, and an angry Pallavi made for an entertaining night.
"Your dancing" Pallavi said through gritted teeth, looking for a waiter with a new champagne flute.
Raghav grabbed her out-stretched hand, drawing the glass closer to his lips, so he could take a gulp of the champagne.
"Wha-?" Her mouth opened into a little 'o' of surprise.
Raghav grinned devilishly in answer. "Hmm, tastes like Pallavi.." he murmured, enjoying the way her nose wrinkled in disgust as she yanked her hand out of his grip like she'd been scalded.
"You're revolting." Pallavi said, as she turned to put her, now empty, glass onto a serving tray. "I can't believe women actually find you attractive."
She reached for a fresh glass, but Raghav whisked her away, with an arm around her waist. "No more, champagne, Pallavi. You wanted a demonstration, and you're getting one."
What was that saying? You get what you ask for? Pallavi was regretting asking for a demonstration as Raghav pulled her toward the dance floor. Mandaar was now swaying with his new wife, having completed the choreographed dance while they had been talking. When he saw the pace with which Raghav stalked toward the dance floor with Pallavi in tow, he raised his eyebrows in question at Pallavi.
Pallavi had always loved the way she and Mandaar seemed to communicate without words. But right now, it was a nuisance.
Are you alright? He asked. Should I whack him over the head for you?
Pallavi shook her head mutely in answer--No, don't worry.
Mandaar's expression changed to shock--He's not going to dance with you - is he?
Pallavi smiled meekly--I asked for it.
Mandaar's eyebrows rose higher. Pallavi could no longer see them because they were obscured under his hair.
Pallavi snorted--Stop stretching your face like that - your wife may no longer find you attractive if she sees you now.
Or at least, that's what she thought she said, until Mandaar's expression shuttered and he gazed at Pooja with renewed interest, steering his bride clear of their path.
Maybe he saw it--Raghav and Pallavi in close proximity--for what it really was. Mutually Assured Destruction. And he didn't want his wife in the bomb radius.
She moved to step toward him, hoping he hadn't gotten the wrong idea, and needing to set him straight if he had, before Raghav stepped in front of her, obscuring her view of Mandaar. Pallavi sighed, she'd have to find and talk with Mandaar later.
Pallavi was tall, tall enough that her eyes were level with Raghav's luscious lips. She found herself wondering how many women he had kissed with those lips. How many women he had whispered sweet nothings to. Her blood boiled beneath her skin and she reached for his hands in a punishing grip.
"No" Raghav said "like this." He moved one of her hands to his waist and then clasped the other in his hand. The heat of his palm rocked through her, and she could imagine those hands skating over her body, alleviating the tightness of her peaked nipples, then his long fingers buried deep inside her.
What was going on with her? Why was she having such sordid thoughts about Raghav? Raghav who she'd known her whole life. Raghav who'd she'd wingwoman for on occasion. Not that he needed the help now, women practically leapt into his bed, falling over themselves to be another notch on his bedpost.
Pallavi was not one of them. In fact, now she had taken on the role of his overprotective mother, trying to shoo the women away with assurances of his aversion to commitment, and high likelihood of venereal disease, but still they kept coming.
Pallavi's lips twisted at the irony of that thought. Raghav had kept them coming. Literally. Sometimes Pallavi wondered what it was like to be that assured of your prowess in bed. Or what it would be like to have someone take care of your satisfaction immeasurably, who never left you wanting. Pallavi never wanted to admit that she had a grudging respect for Raghav's... horizontal tango... a woman had yet to complain. He always made sure it was a pleasurable experience for both.
However, Pallavi had never been interested in being with Raghav. If anything, she'd found it easier to romanticise being with Mandaar. Raghav was too much like her: too twisted, too sinful and devious and impertinent. And handsome.
"Hey!" Raghav said, jolting her out of her thoughts "You ready for this?"
He smiled warmly at her, and the prickling words of her past faded away with his enigmatic presence. She couldn't resist smiling back "Let's see what you can do."
"What we can do.." Raghav reminded her meaningfully, drawing her closer to his body, until they were practically welded together. She could feel all the hard planes of Raghav through his suit, and by God, if she didn't want to taste each ridge and sinew of his body with her tongue. She couldn't help melting close to him.
Raghav looked down into her brown eyes. "You're just as much a part of this as I am.." he whispered to her, the low rumble of his voice sending a shudder of pleasure through her "And I wouldn't want anyone else in my arms tonight."
Pallavi couldn't tell if it was just her interpretation. But something about those words sounded so wrong. Not only did they allude to...other things. He sounded completely genuine. His words pushed Pallavi off balance, disrupting the careful banter they'd enjoyed over the years, delving into a scandalously sexual nature. Before her mind could over analyse, he swept her along with the music, guiding her to his whims.
He danced salsa, a wicked sway to his hips as they moved around the dance floor together. He led masterfully, all the while responsive to her abilities. Twisting and turning her until she longed to be back at his side. This dance had no place at a wedding.
The way their bodies moved together...Pallavi found it too easy to imagine their bodies moving together in other ways. Ones involving far less clothing, and without the weight of onlookers observing their every movement.
When the song ended, and Raghav pulled away, Pallavi was trembling beside him. She was filled with so much want and a poignant knowledge that Raghav would never return her feelings.
She needed to get away from him, she wouldn't let these primal urges destroy a twenty-five-year friendship.
"Satisfied?" Raghav asked. She could imagine those words on his lips, after they had tangled in the sheets.
Never, Pallavi wanted to answer, I'll never have enough of you.
Pallavi seemed unable to answer his question, and he would have doubted his prowess if her eyes weren't raking up and down his body, lingering on his crotch, as if she wanted to take a ride.
"Do you find me irresistible now that we've danced?" Raghav teased, trying to contain the smile creeping up his lips.
With a huff, Pallavi finally managed to maintain her composure, pushing away from him, and putting a respectable distance between them. He immediately missed her warmth, and the feeling of her soft curves pressing into him.
"What I'd like to know.." Pallavi began, her eyes narrowed in suspicion as they walked off the dance floor, "Is where you learnt to dance like that, and why you never joined me for my salsa dancing nights. I could have used a partner that knew what he was doing." She almost sounded hurt.
"I learnt when my nanna got sick.." Raghav answered quickly, not wanting her to get the wrong idea. "He wanted to spend time with me, and acquire a skill that he'd always wanted to learn. So, he made me join some salsa classes."
Pallavi knew how this story ended, and as if she could sense his pain, she stretched her hand out to grasp his. But this time the touch was platonic, comforting. He swallowed the lump in his throat, drawing on her strength and solidarity, to continue.
"I didn't have it in me to dance again, after... It was too of a painful reminder that he wasn't there."
"I understand." Pallavi said softly, turning to face him. Her gorgeous face tilting up toward his with a solemn expression. She bit her lip, and his attention was drawn to her mouth. Those soft, blush coloured lips looked ripe for the taking. Immediately Raghav's blood started to pound in his body, and he was rushed with another overwhelming desire, he wanted to devour her mouth with his own.
"I mean, I don't understand what it's like to lose a parent, but I understand why you wouldn't want to dance again after your dad passed away. I won't push you to dance again, if you don't want to."
"On the contrary, I think nanna would have enjoyed seeing me dance with you, putting my skills to good use." Raghav was struck by a thought. "He really liked you. She would have wanted us to have fun together--so if you ever want to dance together again, I'm yours."
Pallavi's eyes widened at his proclamation, and Raghav felt the need to explain. "Dancing like that, with you, it made me feel alive."
Raghav glanced away from Pallavi's face, feeling his eyes misting slightly. How embarrassing. Even years after his death, whenever he thought of his nanna, tears came to his eyes.
Pallavi moved closer to press a soft kiss on his cheek. "If you ever want to talk about him, I'm here for you. Anytime. Day or night, just let me know."
Raghav managed to wheeze out a half-hearted laugh.
"I'm serious." Pallavi said, gripping his hand tighter. "Guys have feelings too... Raghav, you don't have to be stoic and impenetrable all the time."
"Are you impenetrable Pallavi?" Raghav asked instead, waiting for her to fall into his trap.
"No" Pallavi answered, blasé and unperturbed. When she saw the suggestive look that he was giving her she laughed. "Oh you pig! Just when I think I've gotten you off the sex train, you jump right back on board."
Raghav drew her closer, tilting her face up with his free hand. "It would be more than sex with you Pallavi."
Her eyes fluttered shut for a moment, her long lashes brushing downwards. When she opened them and looked into his eyes again, her voice was brimming with emotion, like she was spiralling out of control. "Raghav.." she whispered, before finding her voice again "What are we doing?"
Raghav dropped his hold on her hand to trail his fingers up her arm, delighting in the shiver that ran through her body at his touch, over the snow white slope of her shoulder, until he was cupping her face gently in both hands. Cherishing this beautiful woman, who knew his flaws, but was there for him anyway.
"What we should have done years ago.." Raghav murmured in response, seeing her eyes dilate as he bent his head to claim her lips with his own.
"Oh you too are just gorgeous!" A voice pitched to her left, and Pallavi was thrown by the sound, she'd been so absorbed by Raghav she had forgotten they were in a crowded room. Beyond her shock, Pallavi was surprised by the sudden surge of anger that she felt toward the intrusion. They hadn't managed to kiss after all that prelude.
Pallavi tried to move a respectable distance from Raghav, but he wrapped an arm around her waist that had her falling into his wide chest.
"Mrs Deshmukh, lovely to see you again.." Raghav said "What do you think of your son's wedding?"
Sulochna Deshmukh waved her hand. "It's been lovely and predictable, but you two are a dream come true! Your mother and I always guessed that you and Pallavi would end up together. I'm only sad that she isn’t here to witness this lovely moment between you."
"As am I.." Raghav answered smoothly. "Pallavi is the one for me."
"So how long has this been going on?" Sulochna looked gleeful at learning the secrets of their non-existent romantic relationship. "When did you know?"
Raghav smiled at Pallavi, and for the first time Pallavi felt like she was privy to his thoughts. Just go with it, his expression of mischief urged.
Pallavi looked at Raghav in terror. There was no way she would be able to regale Sulochna with any details regarding them. She was a terrible liar. But she also felt wary of telling everyone that they were involved, when tomorrow, after he had had a bit of fun, Raghav would be done with her. What would they say then? What would they think?
"For a while." Raghav said ambiguously. "But we wanted to keep it secret until after Mandaar and Pooja were married." He said confidentially "We didn't want to steal their thunder."
"Oh that's just beautiful. Pallavi, you're so lucky to have such a wonderful man to call your own."
"So lucky.." Pallavi intoned, her voice dry, as she looked into Raghav's eyes, shaking her head disapprovingly. There was no way that Mandaar would not hear about this, and know they were full of shit.
That's it, Pallavi decided, she was ending this ruse "Mrs. Deshmukh, it's not what you think, Raghav and I aren't really -"
"Aren't really sure how Mandaar will take it.." Raghav interjected.
What?
"You know how he had that crush on Pallavi for a few years."
"Yes" Sulochna sighed. "He was completely besotted. But luckily he's happily married now."
Mandaar had been in love with her? She was stunned that this was her first time hearing about it.
"It really wouldn't be in good taste to rub it in his face, but when Pallavi asked me to---"
There was only one way that Pallavi could think of to call Raghav out on his game.
"To marry me!" Pallavi interjected.
Raghav was commitment phobic - there was no way he would even pretend to entertain the illusion. He was a sceptic to the whole conversation of marriage. Pallavi would know, they had spent the whole ride on the way here arguing about whether Mandaar and Pooja would last.
There was a pause in the conversation, then Raghav's grip tightened on her waist, cinching her to his side. Raghav smiled at her, his teeth gleaming "I said yes. How could I not? She is amazing, and I want to be with her for the rest of my life."
Sulochna pressed her hands to her heart. She looked like she was going to faint from the news.
"Pallavi was just carried away by the emotion of Mandaar's wedding, and wanted us to have an everlasting love. Right, gorgeous?"
"Right." Pallavi uttered, feeling rudderless, trying to find her feet beneath her to walk away, before this got even more out of hand.
"Would you give us a moment?" Raghav asked Sulochna. Without waiting for an answer, he led Pallavi away.
Raghav could see that he was losing Pallavi, her face seemed frozen in a cordial smile. He knew that what they were playing at was a ruse, but he was gripped by a sudden urge that he desperately wanted it to be true. He wanted Pallavi and him to be together, for real.
If only she would feel the same. He led her into the entryway, out of sight of the gathered wedding guests. They were partially obscured by the fronds of a large indoor plant.
"I can't do this." Pallavi said, once they'd stopped. Her eyes furtively glanced back toward the gathered guests.
"We can." Raghav said reassuringly, dipping his head to look directly into her brown eyes. Her mouth downturned, and Raghav felt a pang in his chest at her reaction to a relationship with him. Was it really such an unsavoury prospect?
"I want to stop this ruse, now. We can't lie to Mrs.Deshmukh like that, she's Mandaar's mother. She's bound to tell him and then everyone will know that you don't really want me."
"Hey!" Raghav challenged "Who said I didn't want you?" He slid a hand behind the back of her neck, cradling her closer.
Pallavi shook her head, a little crease line forming between her eyebrows.
He whispered precariously above her lips "Don't you remember? You proposed to me, and I accepted."
There she was, Raghav thought, as her frown lines disappeared and a small smile broke across her lips.
"Raghav.." Pallavi said, her voice an agonising mixture of admonishment and anticipation. A sigh escaped her lips, and it made Raghav's head spin at the thought of more of those tender sounds escaping her, when she was sated and languid in his arms; in his bed.
"Pallavi." Raghav parried in response, an edge of teasing in his voice, before letting his voice drop lower, more sensual. "That's it, gorgeous, just like that."
He knew the gravelly edge of his voice would tip her over the dangerous edge she was clinging to, refusing to give into the desire pulsing between them.
Pallavi licked her lips, her tongue flashing out. "Like what?" she asked.
"I want you to say my name like that tonight."
Pallavi melted in his arms, her soft curves pressing into him, as he gathered her in his arms.
"Scratch that." Raghav shook his head ruefully "You'll say my name and make those sounds every day of the rest of our lives."
A gasp escaped Pallavi, as her eyes twinkled "You're ambitious."
Raghav grinned "I aim to please." His gaze dropped lower, at the bosom pressed against his chest. "And to pleasure."
"Stop teasing me Raghav.." Pallavi said after a moment of hesitation "I don't want to be your plaything."
Raghav slackened his arms around her a bit; he didn't want her to feel trapped. "You'll never be a plaything to me Pallavi... you'd be my wife."
Pallavi didn't pull away. While she remained dubious of his words, at least she didn't seem to distrust the way he held her, the pull of their bodies together.
Raghav didn't want to let this opportunity slip away. He was worried that if he released Pallavi without convincing her, she'd never let him in again, never make those surprised gasps, lick her lips in anticipation or say his name in a way that made him instantly aroused.
Now that he had seen how things could be between him and Pallavi, how much more their friendship could become, he didn't want to step back and become 'just friends' again.
But he would do it, if that's what she wanted.
"Give me a chance to convince you?" Raghav asked, stroking her cheek with his thumb.
Pallavi nodded, as a wicked smile curved the corners of her lips. "I've always wondered..."
If that wasn't a flashing sign of her desire for him, her next words obliterated any doubts.
"What your lips would feel like against mine." Her eyes fixated on his lips. "If you are as masterful as everyone has said."
Raghav frowned, as the words stabbed a doubt inside him. Was this just an experiment for her? How would he know if she wanted him for more than this kiss? How could he convince her that he was more than that? Would he even make a good boyfriend for her? A good husband? What had he been suggesting was fulfilling for her? He didn't know how to be anything better than an almost lover.
She wasn't like the others, Raghav determined, steeling himself. Whatever it took, he wouldn't let her trust in him shatter. He would be the best he could be, for her, and selfishly for himself as well - so she wouldn't ever look elsewhere.
"I don't need any more convincing than you right here." Raghav told her. "But if I kiss you now you have to promise me that we will have a honeymoon."
Pallavi's expression crinkled in confusion. "Don't you need to be married before you have a honeymoon?"
"Details, details, besides, you already proposed, remember?" Pallavi's eyes shuttered in doubt, as if she was thinking back to that moment, and trying to determine if that did merit a proposal. "I don't think that counted."
"In that case" Raghav dropped to one knee before her "Marry me, Pallavi?"
"Don't be ridiculous.." Pallavi tugged on his outstretched hand to pull him up. He stayed resolutely stuck to the floor.
"I will walk away." Pallavi said, a steely edge to her voice that had Raghav relenting and standing again.
"That's just it, Pallavi. I don't want you to walk away." Raghav searched her eyes earnestly. "If you can't agree to marrying me, can you at least agree to the honeymoon? I'll arrange the tickets and everything, please just take a week off work to spend with me, as if we were having a real honeymoon."
"I don't know." Pallavi looked uncertainly around the entryway, avoiding his gaze. "Can't you just trust me? That if I want this, I'll tell you?"
Raghav shook his head. "All I've heard is that you want an experiment, not me."
"Of course I want to experiment with you." Pallavi laughed, moving closer to him, her hands spreading up his chest to gather at the nape of his neck, until her fingers tangled in his hair. "But that's not what I'm worried about. I'm worried that you'll treat me as one of your one night stands - leave me desperate to be with you...I don't want to ruin our friendship for that. I don't want you making overly superfluous declarations to marry me - when you don't even believe in marriage. I don't trust what you're saying tonight Raghav, it's-" she looked frustrated, searching for the correct word to use "- not like you. I want you."
She gathered her breath, before launching into her argument. "I want the Raghav who hates the thought of marriage, who argues the merits of drinking protein shake rather than just eating the fruit, who taunts worse than a mother-in-law, who challenges me when I'm complaining about a situation I have no power over, who holds me when I'm crying over someone I can't change."
She pressed her lips to his, a soft touch, there one moment, gone the next. "I want you, Raghav. Everything you are now, and everything you will be."
"Say yes, then." Raghav groaned.
"To marry you?" Pallavi sounded affronted "Didn't we just -"
"To our honeymoon. After I spend a week wooing you, you won't have this ridiculous notion that I only want you as a one-night stand."
"Raghav!" Pallavi said again, her voice that mixture of admonishment and anticipation that left him instantly ready to stake his claim on her.
"Is that a yes?" Raghav asked, feathering a soft kiss on her collarbone, then trailing kisses up her neck.
"Oh" Pallavi murmured in reply, and when he reached her lips to caress them with his own, he couldn't help smiling at the openness in her expression, her eyes shut and her lips pliant and soft.
His lips brushed hers, softly in question, before he began to kiss her with increasing pressure. When he moved away, she pulled him back in with her hands still threaded in his hair, her tongue flashing out to caress the tip of his lip. With a groan, he pressed his advantage, until his tongue danced with hers, and he felt a rush of pleasure flood his body.
His hands skimmed along the length of her body, dipping dangerously into the curves of her hips, to her back, skimming the outline of her ass beneath the silky fabric of her dress. She gave a little mewl of delight.
That sound fuelled his desire, and he wrestled with his control. He wanted to back her into the wall, hoist her up until she wrapped her legs around his waist and allowed him entrance to the heaven between her thighs.
His hands reluctantly retreated to safer waters, one threading into her hair, musing her carefully stylised hairdo, the other brushing the underside of her breast.
She mumbled something incoherent against his lips.
"What was that?" Raghav asked, pulling away, even though everything in him was aching for another taste. At least he could gaze at her this way. Raghav took satisfaction in the reddened quality of her lips, her lazily lidded eyes as if she was still subsumed with pleasure, her hair in an artful disarray that announced loudly to anyone that would see her later tonight that she was his. As he was hers.
He smiled at that thought.
"Yes." Pallavi said.
That one word made him grin showing his pearly white teeth. She'd agreed.
"You're insufferable." she said, when she saw his expression.
"And you want me anyway.." he teased, delighting in the blush that surfaced her cheeks before he put her out of her misery, and kissed her again.
She didn't know what she was getting herself into. But then again, neither did he. He only knew that they would be in it together.
I actually don't know who the author was--it was written under anonymous. I hope you liked this and do give your feedback.
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