Love, par sex ke baad (Love, but after sex)

Chapter 21

Salil slid into the shower with me quietly. I gasped in surprise; I hadn't heard him enter the bathroom. "What are you doing?" I asked him. His eyes were full of lust. "Just trying to conserve some water," he said. I smirked and turned around "too late, I am already done," I said, stepping out of the shower. He grabbed my arm, and I stilled. I was anticipating this; I had tormented him while showing his mother whose territory this was. I was about to make payment for the same. I gulped as he turned me around. His eyes were softer now; the lust was replaced with admiration. He moved his hand from my arm to my face and caressed my cheek lovingly. I smiled at him and kissed his palm.

"Does it matter what she thinks?" he asked finally.

"It does to you. I see the shift in you the minute mom enters the room," I replied.

He smiled sadly and shook his head. "I wish it didn't."

"No, you don't! She is your mother, of course, it matters," I said.

"And you think this will change her opinion," he asked, referring to my exhibition.

I laughed. "I highly doubt it. I think it was more of a jab from my end to tell mom if you are a monster, then I am no saint". He smirked, "oh, don't I know that." His hands moved to my ass and grabbed it tightly. I wriggled free from his hold and giggled.

"I think I was just marking my territory," I said, scrunching up my nose. "I don't think mom really understood that she can't decide what we do with our bodies," I added as an afterthought.

"No, I don't think she saw it like that," he mumbled, his hand still caressing my cheek and his thumb moving to my lip. I wanted to ask him what she saw, but I didn't want to push Salil too much.

"Let's go," I said, and we got dressed to join everyone. Salil wore a white kurta pajama, making him look extremely hot. It was my turn to groan internally. He seemed so desirable that I wanted to eat him. Alas, his siblings were taking up his attention, and I kept seeking covert glances at him from behind my laptop.

The night rolled quickly, and after a delicious dinner, we all sat down for a game of dumb charades. For the first time that night, I saw the mother that Salil grew up with. She laughed and joked with no restraint, again making me wonder what she must have seen to change her so drastically. She acted out movie names like Joker, Borat, and Birdman. I saw Salil lighting up like never before. He was the young boy whose mother had taught him to cook, the child whose mother had thrown a fit when he had cut his finger, and the young man whose success was the only thing that mattered to his mother. I could see what having his mother back even for an evening meant to him.

I don't know when I fell asleep, but I woke up with a jerk due to some noise. Everything was dark, and I realized I was still in the room where we had played dumb charades. The noise seemed to be coming from the kitchen. I walked up to the kitchen and saw Salil's broad back "hey," he said over his shoulder. "Hey yourself," I said, hugging him tightly. "Did I wake you up?" he asked. I nodded my head against his back, and he chuckled, "in that case, I am sorry."

"Why are you in the kitchen?" I asked, peeking over the side of his arm. "Just making some sparkling water," he said and turned around and took me in his arms. I rested my chin on his chest and looked up at him. His eyes were full of sleep, his hair was tousled, and his lips were full. I wanted to reach up and lick them. I snaked my hand through his hair and pulled his head down to me. His lips were just as I remembered – soft and yielding against mine. I moaned against them and pushed my tongue in his mouth. He opened up to me and let me explore the depths of him as his hands explored my body. I groaned as his hands met the bare skin of my underboob. I squirmed my body against his trying to fit in, trying to find a comfortable spot, but my second of weakness gave him the control that had been mine.

He pulled my hair back and rained kisses on my neck and shoulders. My leg moved up against his trying to feel him, my nails digging into his arms. I was moaning his name when my eyes fell on slippers and feet. I thought I was seeing things because my head was pulled back and Salil was assaulting my body, but then my gaze traveled up to a pair of blazing eyes. They were just as dark as her sons and held just as much fury as his eyes did, though it was not often he got angry with me. The color drained from my face, and my knees buckled. Salil pulled me up against him and must have seen something in my eyes because he looked confused. "Wha..." but I think he saw what I had seen because his arms tightened around me. He walked out of the kitchen, half carrying me, half dragging me with him.

I did not have the guts to look back to see Niana Khanna stare at us, but I felt the burn of her gaze in my entire body. Salil laid me down on the bed and pulled me close to him "calm down," he murmured. I realized I was shivering. I had no idea how much she had seen, but I could feel that tomorrow morning would be as cold as a January morning. "I am sorry," I kept mumbling against Salil's neck, which was wet from my tears. He kept soothing my hair, telling me it was nothing.

I knew he probably hated our momentary lapse in judgment. His mother had finally started coming around, and I had ruined everything. I was inconsolable; the guilt at degrading Salil's relationship with his mother was killing me. I will never touch him again, I thought and moved away from him, curling into a ball and crying. He hugged me from behind, and I tried to shake him off "don't. I am horrible," I said between sobs. He sat up and pulled me into his lap. "Horrible?" he asked. I howled in response and buried my face in his neck, so much for resolving to not touch him again. He rocked me like I was a child until I fell asleep.