Seize Her And....

Chapter : 27

"Seems like our plan has been compromised, there has to be a mole within us. The Mahipal has been informed about us, he'll come unannounced." Aniruddha adds.

"Are you certain dada? Who will do something like that? All of us are suffering." A man from the second troop asks.

"Not everyone is the same Sukhi. We are human beings, our perspectives differ. But know this and know well, if I get my hands on the one who is betraying us, I won't spare, I hate doing that." He pauses and then adds,

"Now, Bimal, go and bring back the first troop. There is no need keep so many men posted there anymore. Three of the second troop will go keep an eye on our new arrived guest, read his body language, follow his activities, Tashi will do the rest." With that Aniruddha was about to go back to his practice when his eyes fell on the woman standing silently at the secret entrance. Her hair has been tied back into a neat bun, her saree has been well pinned and managed and her face has a weird determination for someone who just came to visit. His entire body relaxes. His legs start moving towards her immediately as if he has been hypnotized. The moment he reaches close enough to her he sees her visibly gulping. A weird rush goes through his entire body as his breathing speeds up and his eyes snap upwards at her eyes. He closes the gap between them within a millisecond as his hand cups her face.

"Ridhu da.." A small whisper leaves her mouth as he keeps looking at her like a curious animal.

"Hmm?" He hums.

"I.... I..." She was about to say something when someone clears his throat from behind her quite loudly breaking the trance. Aniruddha immediately steps back forcefully taming himself and his eyes fall on the culprit. He furrows his eyebrows in irritation.

"What Tashi?" He utters.

"She is here with a demand dada. A very unique demand." He responds. To this Aniruddha turns back at Mrinalini with his arms crossed.

"A demand? I am used to with most of her demands. Is it something new?" He asks tilting his head to one side. She looks at him and takes a deep breath.

"I want to be a part of your team, I want to learn how to fight." She says with every bit of bravery in her and gets an immediate response.

"No. You can't be a part of it." Aniruddha says as rigidly as possible and turns around. Scared if she gets to see how proud he felt the moment she uttered those words.

"Why?! Is it because I am his daughter?" Mrinalini immediately asks.

"That and the fact that we have no female in the entire group. The works we do are risky. They can cost your life. I won't...." Aniruddha was yet to finish when she interrupts.

"You can't fool me Ridhu da. I know you like the back of my hand. I am certain there is no female in this entire team because none approached. If someone would've been courageous enough you would've accepted her proudly. But I know I am an exception. I am not just every other woman, am I? You're scared that I might get hurt and that's why you don't want me to be a part of it. Isn't it?" She asks but gets no response.

"Turn around and face me. I hate to see you like this Ridhu da." When she gets nothing again she slowly moves forward and places her hand on his shoulder feeling him stiffen under her touch.

"Don't make me do this. It's extremely difficult Mrinal. If your father gets to know about your involvement he'll try to kill you, that's different that if he even dares he'll die the most painful death one can imagine, but either way he'll. I don't want to complicate your life any further." He utters.

"And you can't say these words looking at me, why? Because there's something else. Turn around." With that she turns him around and her eyes fall on the pained grey pair. The last ten days have been a roller coaster ride for her. She hardly got to see him. His entire family was busy handling the tragedy that wreaked havoc on them. He has been visiting and managing the things over at the Barman Villa along with someone named Ashok. She has heard him talk to Aswini about this guy. She could do nothing, help him with nothing other than her almost unnecessary presence.

"I know that time is being tough to you. I know you're in immense pain but there is this feeling within me that keeps saying that I need to be ready. I need to be ready to fight against what's to come. Call it my gut feeling but when the time comes I want to protect you, protect these people and protect myself. I don't want to escape and hide like a coward, I don't want to stand at the door like an unnecessary presence, I want to have the courage to confront anything without fear, I want to stand strongly against all odds. I want to stand beside you when you feel broken like the last few days, when you feel down.
You, Aniruddha Dev Barman, have been my idol, my protector, my friend, my guardian and my teacher. Now if I really want to escalate this to something a little more private, a little more personal and truly want to take you as my love, as my man, I would like to become your equal, a true, worthy equal." She says as Aniruddha's eyes widen and his breathing becomes heavy, Tashi's face breaks into a smile as he looks back and forth between the both of them and slowly takes his leave.

"What did you just say?!" He asks, looking at her in shock.

"I..I said what I said and I won't repeat my words" Mrinalini says turning her face to the side. A mischievous smile spreads through Aniruddha's face as he bites his lower lip with his teeth before grabbing her by her ear and pulling her flash against his chest.

"Owww.. Ridhu da!" She shouts as his hand moves from her ear to the back of her head, entangling his fingers into her hairs.

"Look at me." He whispers and brings her closer to him. His intense grey eyes fall on hers obsidian ones, capturing her soul forever in it. She sees the slight hint of tear in his eyes as he brings her even closer placing his lips on her forehead. Their eyelids get shut on their own accord. She has felt many things around this man but never in her life she felt anything close to what she is feeling now. The feeling of his soft lips against him is not only a gesture of his love but a way of acceptance and she knows it. She chose this and she will take the entire responsibility of it.

This has been the perfect man she grew up idolizing, this is the man who fights for people's right without thinking about his own wellbeing, this is the man who chose to fight for her every time someone opposed her and.....
this is the same man who is organizing a revolution against her own father.

But she still can't help but fall for him, because she can't feel this amount of love and safety around anyone else other than this one man.
Her chain of thoughts break with the deep voice uttering,

"I'll train you, train you to be physically capable to defend yourself and others if needed. But truth be told, you are already my hero and Ira's as well. You never needed that to become my equal Mrinal, you were and you are my equal from the day I laid my eyes on you. Your bravery attracted me. You have been my other half from the day I became sensible enough to see you the way you are, without you I don't function well. I depend on you Mrinal. My entire existence depends on you."

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Love, Puja. 💜