The birthday celebration of Murtasim Khan was nothing short of a grand spectacle. The entire Haveli was adorned with vibrant decorations, reminiscent of a newlywed bride, and the guest list boasted the presence of every distinguished personality in the region. The Khans were known for their extravagant lifestyle, which Meerab strongly disapproved of.
And now that she was the fiance of Great Khan Murtasim Khan, Maa Beghum wanted her to live up to that standard and dress like a bride. And meerab hated that.
It was his birthday not their walima!
The breakfast was a grand affair where she received Murtasim Khan smirks all the time, for she wanted to bury him alive. Such an asshole he was. But one thing she loved was Haya's hurt and crumpled expressions.
She was glaring at meerab and as soon as her eyes caught sight of a very notable love bite on Murtasim's neck, a gasp emitted from her and she left the table.
Meerab liked the little stunt she pulled out last night, well truth be told, she loved it for other reasons too but meerab would die rather than admit it. Haya deserved it. Especially after what she did last night.
Murtasim was a little too happy at the breakfast. Well, the hickey was too prominent and he was too shameless. She was glad that elders were too busy in discussions about their precious murtasim's birthday celebration but Maryam noticed it and was passing constant smirks.
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The birthday celebration started and so did the arrival of guests. It was tiring. No, it was so irritating to be stood by the most infuriating man whose hand was fixated on her waist.
Maa begum wanted her precious son and meerab to behave as good hosts and receive each one of them. Meerab's social battery was draining with each passing second. Plus his touch was fiery.
Meerab was trying to ignore him and his hand but he was stubborn. The moment she stepped onto the lawn wearing a blue chiffon saree, it seemed like his eyes had been fixated on her, and meerab hated it. Well, she did not know what was going on between them, but surely it felt like a blaze. It seemed like they were burning in a circle of desire.
The evening was going on with meerab sitting with murtasim and plastering a smile as fake as possible when suddenly Maa Beghum approached them with her special guests.
Maa Beghum's nephew Ahmed was a barrister in London and thus she wanted him to meet meerab.
Hypocrisy was no doubt in their blood because she was the same maa begum who had strictly opposed her choice of being a lawyer.
Ahmed was a good guy, in his mid-thirties, and was very soft-spoken. Before she could stop herself, her inquisitive instinct kicked in and she found herself engrossed in deep conversation with him.
Another factor was that murtasim was busy with his business associates, without his lingering gaze and irritating presence, she found herself finally appearing at the otherwise boring party.
"Why don't you think about shifting to London in the future meerab?" Ahmed asked politely taking a bite of chicken appetizer. They were eating starters as Ahmed wanted some company and meerab was hungry so she acquiesced.
She was in the middle of eating meatballs when a veiny hand engulfed her hand which held the fork and took the bite of a half-eaten meatball.
"Hmmm.. It tastes good" murtasim said chewing it. Turning his gaze towards Ahmed, he answered curtly," We prefer to be in our country, Allhamdulilah I am one of the leading businessmen in the nation, Aur meerab bhi yahan rehna hi pasand karti hai, haina meerab?"
Meerab rolled her eyes at his blunt lie. The truth was they had brutally tied her wings. Trying not to scoff, she turned her gaze towards murtasim and replied in the fakest tone," Of course".
She noticed him passing glares to Ahmed and with that, His hold on her waist returned and remained for the whole evening which meerab despised.
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It was late at night when she was sitting in the gazebo, at the terrace. She was rethinking her life decisions because it had been only a few hours since she was with them, but she hated every bit of it.
It was soul-draining. Quite literally.
A gentle breeze was flowing, and it calmed her a little but it was short-lived as the bastard made his appearance at the terrace.
She was already irritated due to the constant orders of his mother so without thinking about any consequence, she asked him, " You can't see me in peace, right murtasim?"
He approached her with his smirk, "No.. after all, Jahan tum wahan main".
What a moron!
She narrowed her eyes and said, " Acha, jahannum me in chaloge mere sath?"
His smirk widened and he closed the distance between them," I like it how you are sure about that, hn?"
Taking her hands into his, he raised his eyebrows and asked," What bad things you are planning to do, my dear finance ?"
Meerab wanted to kick some sense to him. He was insane with a one-track mind.
Trying to free her hand, she tried to move away but that was never possible with murtasim.
She was wiggling under his hold when she heard him say," Where's my birthday gift?"
Meerab scoffed. "Birthday gift hi toh De rahi hoon main tumhe jahannum bhejke, batao kab jana hai?" she replied sassily.
He left her hands and his ever-persistent smirk disappeared and his face contoured into anger.
Bull's eye.
His ego had been hurt.
" Mujhe jahannum bhejogi tum? Fikar mat karo, tumhe bhi sath lekar jaunga". He replied, his gaze boring her soul.
He had almost turned but meerab did not know what clicked in him because he gripped her hands and pinned her to the glass gazebo, hovering over her.
Staring deep in her soul, he said hotly, "Since you didn't give me my gift by yourself, let me take it".
With that, he took her lips in a long deep kiss. His lips were applying firm pressure on her lips, taking her lower lip and then her upper lip one by one and biting the corner of her lips, just a little.
His incisors grazed her lower lip before sucking it and then engulfing it between his lips, Meerab did not know whether to feel irritated or delighted because with his lips meeting her at this pace, her mind had stopped working.
The only thing her brain kept chanting was, to kiss him back.
So she did.
And soon, their tongues mingled and their teeth clashed.
Her hands were in his firm grip above her head, just like their first kiss, and it felt remarkable.
Her body never listened to her in his case, so she kept arching towards him, diminishing the minute space between them.
His lips left hers for a moment and his tongue traced a pattern from the shell of her ear to her neck, gently blowing it afterwards, making her shiver in anticipation with goosebumps erupting all over her neck.
He again kissed her, Their lips never left each other their body in their own rhythm, keeping them coalesced.
The idea of biting and sucking each other's lips continued till their lungs were on fire.
Taking deep breaths, she found his hold loosened on her wrists when she looped her arms around his neck and lowered him, just a little, to take his lips once again.
Her knees were weak and there was a different tingling sensation in her lower abdomen, a very foreign yet reminiscent of each encounter with murtasim.
Murtasim was never to disappoint, so he kissed her again, and again till her lips were red and swollen.
His hands were not idle as they made their way towards her waist, caressing the swell of her hips, and the dip of her waist, and as soon as he reached the underside of her breast, a sharp gasp emitted from her lips, vibrating his name into his mouth.
"Murtasim".
He did not stop there, his thumb caressing the underside of her breast, drawing small circles and emitting a moan from her.
He seemed to be impressed by his work when he told her huskily, " I love how you did not back off from showing your desire to me meerab."
On that note, her eyes shot up at him.
What the hell?
So what if she had kissed him moments ago like a maniac, so what if a weird tingling sensation in her abdomen was getting prominent with each passing minute, she would never let him win, never in this life.
She wanted to break his ego, so she said bitchily, "You wish, Murtasim Khan. Tumhari is ego ki wajah se I despise you".
She knew she was being very stupid but anything to wipe that smirk off his face. And yes, she had succeeded because he had taken some steps backwards to depart from there. He was offended.
Turning his back to face her again, he said proudly, "You don't desire me, right? I challenge you then ki you would be the one to approach me, you would be the one to crave for my touch meerab."
His eyes shone with a different confidence that was borderline scary to her.
He added before turning," Aaj ke baad I won't touch you, Ye Murtasim khan ka waada hai".
He had vanished into the dark of night, leaving her behind.
The next day everyone except murtasim was present to bid her goodbye. Though she yearned to be happy about his absence, his words rang in her head, making her restless.