"Maybe you don't think of me as a gold-digger. But that doesn't mean that I mean anything to you either. If you had even considered me as a good friend, then you would have told me about yourself. Ok forget friends! If you had even an ounce of trust in me, then you would have told me. But you didn't," she said, teary eyed. "And that just shows what place I hold in your life. Thanks for-"
But Khushi couldn't finish her sentence because the very next moment her lips were sealed with Arnav's.
********************************************************
Arnav was only intending to press his lips against hers to shut her up, but the second his lips met hers, all those thoughts flew out of the window.
He pulled her close so that their bodies were plastered together, while he tilted his head slightly, gently sucking her lower lip. And soon he moved on to her upper lip, giving it equal attention.
Khushi was so stunned with his move that she couldn't even get herself to struggle. And by the time she came to her senses, she was too lost in the beautiful sensations to fight it.
His slightest touches had always evoked sparks all over her body. But his kiss felt like there were fireworks everywhere.
But then it also felt like she was slowly burning in a sweet fire... A fire that she never wanted to extinguish... And soon enough she too added fuel to the fire by responding to the kiss - her hurt and argument long forgotten.
Both were lost in the kiss and somewhere in between Arnav's one hand grasped her hip with possession while the other was lost in the tresses of her long silky hair, pulling her head closer.
And Khushi was no different - she was clutching his collar tightly with one hand while she grasped his hair with her other.
Wanting more, Arnav pinched Khushi on her waist, causing her to gasp, letting him enter the cavern of her mouth. And soon their tongues duelled and explored each and every corner of each other's mouths, their moans and groans filling the room.
Both only pulled apart when they both absolutely could not go on without air anymore.
They were both breathing hard as they pulled apart, their bodies still glued together. Their breaths mingled together as they gazed into each other's eyes, both still dazed by the magic of the kiss.
Arnav was the first one to come back to his senses, and without breaking the eye-lock, "Now did you understand what place you hold in my life?" he asked huskily.
And that brought Khushi tumbling back to her senses, a rosy blush making its way onto her cheeks.
Too shy to meet his eyes all of a sudden, she hid her face into his chest while hugging him tight. A smile started to form on her lips as she thought of what had just happened.
Arnav simply pulled her closer and kissed her on the top of her head, smiling contentedly.
For how long they remained like that, neither knew.
"Khushi," Arnav called out of the blue.
"Hmmm?" Khushi answered, her head still laying comfortably on his chest.
"Never ever relate yourself with those cheap words ever again - and I mean NEVER," he said, seriously.
"Hmmm," was her response as she snuggled into him some more.
"Promise?"
"Promise," she said.
"And Khushi?"
"Hmmm?"
"Never think or say that you don't mean anything to me. Because you do..." he said. "... More than you will ever know," he whispered, more to himself than her.
"Hmm," she replied.
"Promise?"
"Promise," she said, placing a kiss on his heart, smiling happily.
Their peace was disturbed by the sound of her stomach growling.
Arnav pulled away slightly. "I guess it's dinner time - after all our alarm clock has rung," joked Arnav, making Khushi look down embarrassed.
"I'll go down and make dinner," she said, starting to turn away.
"No!" he almost shouted.
"What happened?!" she asked, turning back in panic.
"Err... Emm... Voh..." Arnav struggled.
The thing was that Arnav wanted to spend more time with Khushi. They stay together but still, every moment with Khushi was precious to him. And this day just seems like it was made for them - first the morning teasing, the almost kiss, then their mini confession and now... their first kiss! Today was just their day. And Arnav wanted it to remain that way. So he wanted to spend every single moment of the day with Khushi...
"Ummm..." he looked for excuses. "Voh... ummm... yh! You're already hungry and it will take a while for you to make dinner now. So why don't we get a take away?" he finally managed.
"Okay... I don't mind," replied Khushi with a smile.
"What do you want to try? Indian? Chinese? Italian?" he asked, wanting to order her favourite.
That question threw Khushi off a little. After all, she had never had any other cuisines except Indian. And she told Arnav so too, feeling a little embarrassed about it.
"It's ok Khushi," he said softly. He pulled her close, not liking the distance. "You've never tried anything else so far, but from now on I'll make sure you will," he said smiling.
With that Arnav immediately called up the nearest Chinese restaurant and ordered dinner. He thought Khushi would like Chinese food because of the rich flavours in their food, just like Indian. He wanted Khushi's first experience of foreign food to be good.
After that Arnav led Khushi to the couch in the corner of his cabin, telling her to sit down and relax.
Khushi sat down on the far end of the couch, while Arnav sat down leaving quite a bit of distance between them. And then they just started talking about random topics - about each other, the world and whatnot.
As they talked both inched towards the other bit by bit, and within a few minutes the few feet distance between them had turned to none. They were sitting side by side, their shoulders touching. And eventually Khushi rested her head on Arnav's shoulder, while he had his one arm around her shoulders and gently rested the other on one of her arms which were wound round his waist.
From the outside, they looked like a perfect couple deeply in love. But the truth is that they still had quite a journey to go. They both loved each other alright, but they both haven't realised it properly.
Falling in love is easy, but standing by it forever is the hardest part. And for that they need to have a good understanding. But Arnav and Khushi still needed to get to know the ins and outs of each other - their pasts, their pains, their hopes and so much more.
Soon their food arrived and they had their dinner together in Arnav's cabin. Khushi loved the Chinese food and Arnav just enjoyed watching her reactions as she tasted each new dish.
Once they finished up, together they then headed back up to the penthouse.
There on the bed they spent an hour or two just talking and enjoying each other's company. And eventually it was bed time.
Only when they laid down on their appropriate sides in the dark did Khushi remember about the file that Akash had given Arnav.
"Arnavji? What was in that file that Akash bhai gave you?"
"Khushi we'll talk about that tomorrow." Arnav just didn't want any of that to spoil the day - even though the day was pretty much over now.
But Khushi didn't understand his intention. She thought he still wasn't ready to share it with her, so she angrily stated, "If you don't want to tell me then just say it and I will stop asking." And with that she turned so that her back was facing Arnav. Tears were stinging her eyes thinking that Arnav didn't think she was worthy enough to share the matter with her.
She knew that he loved her - she'd seen it in his eyes. But love is never enough is it? With love you need trust and honesty for any relationship to work. They may not share a named relation right now, but it still hurt to see him hiding things from her.
Arnav on the other hand cursed himself for making her upset. He'd just wanted to make this day perfect, but instead he himself spoilt everything.
"Khushi," he called. But there was no response from her.
"Khushi," he called again. But still there was no response from her end.
So he reached out and touched her shoulder, but she just jerked making him take his hand off.
He thought he will give her a few minutes to cool down so he waited a few minutes before touching her shoulder again, but to no avail. She shrugged his hand off again.
And that was it for Arnav. He'd had enough. He'd tried being nice and it wasn't working. So now he was just going to use his style - Take what you want' style.
He slid his hand around her waist and in one pull she was flush against him with her back plastered against his front.
She tried to struggle in his arms and pull his hand off her but his iron grip was just not budging. But still, she being Khushi Kumari Gupta did not give up easily. She thrashed and kicked and pushed and shoved - but none of it worked and after a few minutes of wasting her energy, she gave up.
"Done?" Arnav asked. But Khushi of course did not reply and just pouted angrily.
Feeling her body pressed against his and seeing her cute pout did so many things to his body it was unbelievable.
Arnav lifted himself up a little bit and leaned forward, rubbing his stubbled cheek against her soft one whispering, "Khushi."
Khushi's heart was racing, wanting to give in to his sweet torture while her mind was warning her not to let go of her anger.
This was not done!' her mind thought. He seems to have found a new way to shut me up with his seducing techniques,' she thought berating him. She couldn't just let him get away with it! But she hated to admit ... that his technique was working!
Arnav rained kisses over her upturned cheek, whispering her name from time to time, soothing her cheek after brushing it with his rough stubble.
Khushi's resolve just melted into a puddle as Arnav took over her senses completely.
And at one of these weak moments of hers Arnav spoke, his lips brushing against her cheek as he said, "Khushi I promise that I will tell you about the file along with many other things that I didn't tell you these days. But not today. Tomorrow. Because today..." He moved down to her neck, placing a few kisses there. "Today... is our day. No work. No case. No interruptions. Just us." He placed a quick kiss on the corner of her lips for emphasis, reminding her of their earlier kiss.
That was when Khushi understood his point of view. She felt bad for misunderstanding him so she turned in his arms so that she was facing him. And then without a word she put her arms around him, snuggling into his chest, silently letting him know that she understood now. Arnav responded by holding her closer with possession.
Arnav kissed her head softly and wished, "Good night."
In reply, Khushi kissed his chest whispering, "Good night."
And that night once again the two soulmates slept together peacefully in each other's arms with sweet dreams.
The next day both woke up in each other's arms with a smile on their faces. Neither mentioned yesterday's events but the glow on both their faces said it all.
Yesterday, they had broken another boundary between them and they were another step closer to each other.
They breezed past breakfast when Arnav brought up the file that Akash gave him yesterday.
Arnav hadn't read the contents of the file yet because he thought that he and Khushi could read it together.
So when they were sitting on the sofa comfortably, he passed the file to Khushi and just said, "Open it."