One Day At A Time

Chapter Forty Four - In A Heartbeat

"Paas aake dikhaaoon?"

The evocative words had just spilled out of her mouth—wild words, shocking words, yet words that were shamelessly exhilarating. Not having a clear idea of how he felt about her even now didn't seem to put a restraint on her growing reckless abandon. God, what was she doing? There seemed to be no control over her tongue or deeds anymore.

But then, this was what being with Arnav was all about. She could be herself - free, comfortable, reckless and a wild spirit without any inhibitions. He never judged and had always accepted and loved her for who she was, even before she became something more than a friend to him. Instead of taming her, he always encouraged her to think and express herself freely and had been the wind beneath her wings. Instead of trying to control it, he fed into her madness and taught her how to ride on it...enabling her to hope, dream, and fly. And what these four years had taught her was this - she could never be this way with anyone else even if she tried. And god knows, she had tried.

On the growing thickening silence between them, she finally glanced up at him and exhaled a deep, shaky breath. He was staring at her with that incredible magnetism in his eyes, making her realise once again that there was nothing in the world that could protect her against the intimate charm of this beautiful handsome man who stood in front of her —thoroughly drenched, hair damp and tousled, and the glittering swirls of those cinnamon eyes focused on her like laser beams.

Several eternities passed by until she saw a movement on his face. Her heart skipped a beat. It was a smile. The one which made the corners of his mouth nudge the dimples into full bloom. The kind she'd always believed was reserved exclusively for her. And then her heart stopped beating altogether when she saw him lower himself slowly into the pool once again. She stood there, suddenly very still, with only one paramount thought circling in her head while the others skittered away into oblivion. Would he look or smile at her this way if he had feelings for someone else? Her heart flipped inside her chest instantly in answer. Her pulse began to accelerate when the thrill of anticipation began fizzing inside her watching him cover the distance between them in a few lazy strides.

He finally came to a stop a few inches away from her, his eyes dark and probing as they settled over her face. "Witch." He breathed, making her feel as if he'd drawn the word like silk over her skin which now broke into goosebumps. "Casting spells. Provocative spells. How long have you been holding onto this one for?"

She could hear every single beat of her heart in her ear. "Years." She drawled. "And this is one of the many."

"Aah..so there is a collection." His eyes began to darken, the smile turning deeper as he took another step towards her. "Are all of them as provocative?"

His gaze was penetrating, and she was struggling hard to hold onto her senses. "Some of them are dangerous too." The words trembled on her lips. "Can break hearts, bruise egos and unleash hell in people's lives." There. She had put her suffering because of the wretched guilt and pain which had been eating her up all these years in one neat sentence. "Can cause some—"

He stemmed the flow of words by covering her mouth with his palm in one swift move and shook his head. And instantly, all the memories came flying out. Like Pandora's box, they escaped and began circling her, making her feel dizzy. Especially the one where she had stood precisely this way in front of him, his palm covering her mouth, listening to him whispering words which she had never expected to hear from him ever...words which had changed her world overnight. How she craved to hear those words now, he would never know.

A wave of dizziness engulfed her when his hand moved and lifted to push a stray coil of damp hair away from her temple. His eyes didn't leave her's as he gently pulled his hand away from her. "Kahaan thi tum?" His expression was intense, and his husky, gravelly voice scored a shudder right down her spine. But it was the look in his eyes that stilled her completely. The guard had finally slipped, making him look painfully, painfully vulnerable. "What took you so long to get here?"