ARNAV turned around to see Khushi standing with her hand folded, shooting daggers with her eyes. He walked up to her and took her hand. 'Come on, let's go.'
'No!' She shrugged off his hand.
'Don't create a scene here,' he grated, 'People are staring at us.'
Khushi's eyes widened. 'I am creating a scene?' she shot back. 'What about what you did?' She reminded him of the kiss.
'Come,' He put forth his hand peremptorily. 'Let's talk about this in the room.'
'I don't want to go with you,' she said adamantly. 'I will order another taxi.'
'Khushi,' Arnav's voice dropped down an octave. 'Don't push me.'
'Or else?' She challenged him.
He picked her up in one swift motion, walked into the lobby, past the wide-eyed people and into the open elevator. He put her down and punched the button to their floor. Khushi refused to talk to him, her entire body seething with anger.
When the elevator stopped, Arnav took her hand and dragged her to the room, using his free hand to insert his card and open the door.
'What was all that drama back there?' He said as they stood just inside the door.
'Look who's talking!' Khushi exclaimed.
'Come again?'
'The way you smoothly put Lavanya in that taxi and sent her to Delhi.'
'So?' He looked clueless, squinting his eyes in confusion. 'How else am I supposed to send her to Delhi?'
'You were planning to send her to Delhi,' she stated sardonically. 'And what were you planning to do in this room?'
'I was planning to do --- er..be with you.' He shrugged his shoulders.
'With me? 'Khushi's anger rose up a notch. 'Are you trying to tell me you knew I would come here?'
'I wasn't sure --' He paused, '— I had a hunch –since I told you I was going with Lavanya .' He added sheepishly.
'What?' Khushi raised her eyebrows in astonishment.
'I know you are a little jealous of her.'
Little? Khushi's heart filled with anguish. 'How can you be so casual about it Arnav?'
'Come on Khushi,' Arnav said affably, 'Most of my business associates tell me their wives are jealous of their female colleagues.
'Unbelievable!'
'We work in the business of sales and marketing Khushi. Many of the associates are women – and some of them are quiet attractive. We have to interact with them.'
'Can you define "interact"?' She demanded.
'We work, talk, share a cup of coffee ---'
'Share a bed.' She said tersely.
Arnav went completely still, his brown eyes simmering. 'Look Khushi, I agree that I was no saint.
But they were all "no-strings-attached" relationships and none of them meant anything. It is all in the past now.'
It was probably "no-strings-attached" only from Arnav's side. Was it possible to be with him and not fall in love with him, she wondered.
'Are you telling me that you have never been with Lavanyaji after we got married?' She waited with bated breath.
'His eyebrows snapped together as he came up to her and grasped her arms. 'I have not been with anybody since I saw you again six months ago!'
'Oh!'
'And why do you keep harping about Lavanya ? I was just joking when I said you were jealous of her. But you seriously think I have been having an affair with her? Didn't I tell you downstairs that she is married to a business associate of mine? Do you think I will stoop down so low?
'Whatever gave you that idea Khushi?'
'Lavanyaji.' Khushi shrugged off his hands and looked him square in the eyes.
'What?'
'Since you came back, she has been accusing me of stealing you away from her.'
'Why didn't you tell me this before?' He grated angrily.
'I saw no point at the time.'
He nodded his head. 'I see.'
'After all she was the girl your mother chose for you to marry.'
'But I didn't.' He said quietly, his eyes simmering with a barely controlled temper.
Khushi went on. 'Lavanyaji said you got -- close when you spent time together after your mothers' passing away.'
'And you believed her.' It was more a statement than a question.
'These things are known to happen.' She said defensively.
'We did get close --' Khushi's heart plummeted. Arnav advanced on her backing her into a wall. 'Emotionally -- not physically. I realized that Lavanya was going through a rough patch in her marriage. I was trying to be supportive -- as a friend.'
'But ....but at Narenji's engagement she implied you both were still ---.' She stuttered.
'Khushi I did am not having an affair with Lavanya !' He roared. 'Not when my mother died and not any time before that either. Not ever!
'I have never thought about Lavanya that way. In fact I feel brotherly toward her. She is little bit of an air head.'
Brotherly? Khushi's heart fluttered with joy.
Before he could utter another word Khushi snaked her arms around his neck and hugged him tight.
'Does this mean you believe me?' He seemed surprised.
'Yes.'
'Just like that?'
'Between you and Lavanyaji, I choose to believe you.'
'Why is she doing this?' He hit his hand on the wall in anger.
'Because she was in love with you.' She said simply. 'I feel sorry for her.'
'Oh please!' Arnav mocked. 'You were freakishly jealous of her a little while ago.'
'Not at all.' Khushi defended herself, stepping back from him.
'So you came to Agra to see Mr Sheik?' He said he tone laced with sarcasm.
'Of course!' Khushi said.
Arnav burst out laughing and Khushi turned around and walked up to the door and yanked it open. Arnav was quick when he caught the door and shut it back with a bang. 'No you don't!' He pushed her back against the door and took her lips in a fierce kiss. Though she pushed at him initially, the pressure of his tongue sent an electric jolt, fraying her senses into submission.
After what seemed like an eternity Arnav lifted his head. 'Admit it Khushi Gupta Singh Raizada.' He smirked. 'You were jealous.'
'So what?' She hit back. 'You were jealous of NK even though you claimed I never loved him.'
'I knew you never loved him,' he said, 'I was jealous that he wanted you.'
'You make it sound like I was an object he wanted. He wanted to marry me because I would make him an ideal wife. That is all there is to it.'
'Bull shit! He wanted to have you because you are beautiful.'
'No I am not.'
'What the --!' Arnav couldn't believe what he was hearing. Khushi didn't think she was beautiful?
'I think Lavanyaji is beautiful, sophisticated ---'
'That sophistication comes at a price Khushi. You know she spends a lot of time in the beauty salon to look the way she does.'
'When I was a young girl, Buaji always told me that I was too pale and too thin. She said I didn't have the pretty features that Payal had.'
'F@#$!' Arnav was livid that Buaji would be this mean to a child. 'Who cares what she thinks? Khushi you have worked in a Television show for God's sake!'
'They hired me because of my dancing skills not because of my looks.' She said doggedly.
'Khushi, you are not too thin.' He tried to make her feel better.
'I know that,' she said in dismay, 'because Buaji said I was too thin, I tried to put on weight and as a result of that I ended up gaining weight on the lower part of my body.' She stepped back and pointed to herself. 'See? Don't you think my hips are too wide?'
With a look of complete disbelief on his face Arnav took her hand and led her to the dresser, making her stand in front of the mirror. He walked up to the curtains and drew them. The reflection of Taj Mahal shimmered in the pale moonlight.
Khushi gasped. 'Oh my God Arnav! It is the Taj Mahal,' She remembered the hotel manager who had proudly informed her that all rooms had a view of the ethereal monument. 'It looks beautiful.'
'Not more beautiful that you are Khushi. See what I see.'
Khushi looked at herself standing there in her jeans and kurti. 'This kurti always makes me look good.'
'Is that so?' He whispered looking at her in the mirror. 'Let's take it off then.'
Khushi's heart began its erratic dhak-dhak as Arnav took her long black braid in his hand and unravelled it slowly. He took the thick tresses in his hand and moved it to her front, laying it on her breast. He moved his hand to her back and began unbuttoning her kurti, one button at a time, making her shiver each time his finger touched her skin.
Arnav peeled the garment off her shoulder, brushing her skin as he brought the material down her arms. Khushi gasped looking at her own body –her delicately rounded shoulders, the swell of her left breast above the cup of her bra, while the other remained hidden under her hair, the curve of her long waist and her navel quivering just above the waistband of her low rise jeans.
Arnav moved his right hand to her midriff and moved it downward to dip into the waistband of her jeans unbuttoning the single button, before sliding the zip downward. Khushi realized that she had never ever looked at herself like this in the mirror. She looked --
'Sexy.' He whispered her thought aloud. She felt her body heating up.
Khushi's breath hitched in her throat as Arnav's fingers traced her delicate collar bone moving them under the strap of her bra, sliding them slowly off her shoulder. As Khushi watched the scrap fall, she realized he had already unhooked the clasp on her bra.
He wrapped his hands around her tiny waist. 'I love how I am able to wrap your entire waist with my hands Khushi,' he whispered into her ear. 'I love how the difference in our skin tone looks, don't you?
Khushi was riveted by the sight of his tanned hand on her fair skin, spanning her waist.
Then he moved his hands to rest on her hips. 'I also love that this lower part of your body is wide, compared to –' His hands moved up to cup her breasts. 'Makes you look irresistible in a saree.'
Khushi held both his hands and tried to remove them. 'Arnav, please.'
'Shh we are not done yet.' He hooked his finger inside the waistband of her jeans and peeled the material along with her panties down her long, smooth legs.
She closed her eyes.
'Khushi, open your eyes.' He urged huskily.
The slow revealing of the creamy expanse of skin was beginning to cause an explosion in his gut. It was like unveiling a masterpiece. Khushi looked like one of the statues of the goddesses in the temples.
Exquisite. Beautiful. For him alone.
Khushi opened her eyes and looked at Arnav's caramel brown ones simmering with desire. She understood.
She turned toward him and burrowed into his chest, her entire body shivering, hot, her heart clamouring wildly in her breast.
His head descended to claim her lips in a bruising kiss even as he put his hands on her waist and lifted her up on the dresser moving between her legs. Her fingers slipped into the crisp hair at the back of his head as she deepened the kiss. He discarded his clothes quickly and entered her in one swift motion and heard her gasp and shudder as he urged her to wrap her legs around him. He slid in and out of her, finding himself building to a climax. He moved faster, kissing her mouth, kissing her neck until he felt the entire world explode around him as he dropped off the edge of the precipice.
As he came back to rational consciousness, he realized what he had done. 'Khushi I am sorry, I didn't meant to --'
She touched her lips to his in a gentle kiss. He picked her up in his arms and laid her gently on the bed. 'You have had a long day Khushi. I will draw you a bath.'
A littler later, Khushi stepped out of the bathroom, clad in a white, terry bath robe. She realized that Arnav had stepped out of the room. For the first time since her entry, she observed how beautiful the room was.
A grand arm chair and ottoman in taupe sat in one corner of the room, flanked by a tall and elegant floor lamp. Right next to it was a curtained wall in cream, which probably lead to some sort of balcony. On the other end of the curtain there was a work desk. But what dominated the room was a huge king sized bed occupying the centre. It was decorated with several throw pillows in different shades of blue, maroon and taupe. Two tall lamp shades stood majestically on either side of the bed. Then she saw the dresser and heat suffused her body.
The door opened and Arnav walked in. 'Good, you are done.' There was a box in one hand and a bag in the other and he walked up to the work table. 'Come here.'
Khushi walked up to the table and saw that he had brought her a cake which had the words "sorry". She looked up at him in astonishment.
'I have been meaning to do this since the day we argued but each night I came home, you had already slept. This is for smothering you with my highhandedness.'
His caramel eyes bore into hers. 'Khushi, you can have all the space you want – and more. I will not interfere in the future. In case I forget -- you have every right to slap me.'
Khushi wished the earth would just open up and swallow her as she watched Arnav cut a piece of cake. 'Arnav I --' He stuffed it into her mouth shutting her up.
'Don't you want a piece?' She stopped ' --- Oh! this is probably not sugar free.'
He pulled her close. 'A little taste is not going to kill me.' He bent his head and touched his tongue to the side of her lip and licked off a dab of cream. Just as her heart had begun to flutter, he let go off her disappointing her immensely.
He picked up the bag. 'Here is something for you.'
Khushi looked up in surprise. 'What is this?'
'You can look for yourself when I quickly grab a shower.' He walked toward the bathroom.
A little later Arnav stepped out of the bathroom, wearing only his pajama bottoms. His heart skipped a beat when he didn't find Khushi in the room. But then he saw the gap in the curtain. He went up to the door and found Khushi staring out at the Taj Mahal clad in the night gown he had bought for her at the hotel boutique. She had the matching robe on. Her long and lustrous hair hung down her back.
He switched off the lights in the room and drew the curtains so the moonlight filtered in brightening the room with its luminance. When he opened the door, he was hit by a blast of hot air reminding him it was summer.
'Khushi,' He paused. 'I know you don't wear these kind of --'
He couldn't finish the sentence when he saw Khushi turn around, undo the belt at her waist and slide off the robe and drop it on the floor. The wine coloured satin gown clung to her curves sensuously. The deep V neckline, trimmed with soft french lace in a flower design, showed off the creamy swells of her breasts to perfection. The thigh-length gown revealed the long expanse of her shapely legs. Even though he had seen her with nothing a short while ago, he found himself hardening. He walked up to her.
Khushi placed both herhands on his abs, tracing the cut of the muscles slowly inching upward to brushagainst the hard contours of his chest and shoulders. Arnav felt a fire startin his body at the first touch of her delicate fingers, but he had made up hismind to exercise control unlike before. She went on her tippy toes and wrappedher arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his. The fire turned into aninferno when he felt her soft satin clad breasts crushed against his chest asshe deepened the kiss. He moved his hand down to her pert bottom and lower stilland lifted her up, urging her to wrap her legs around his waist. He walkedtoward the bedroom, one thought reverberating in his mind. Slow. Slow.