A/N: That's the song Nandini was dancing to in order to draw Manik towards her like a magnet ;) Happy reading xx
"According to you - because you come to such places more frequently than I do - which style will get us a good discount?" I ask, flipping my tangled hair over to one side. "Will this work, or..." I trail off, as I jerk my head downwards and then back up. "This?" I look at Manik expectantly, as he guides me past the queue of people and towards the entrance of the club.
"Neither," he snaps. I frown, Manik's tone upsetting me at once. He shuts his eyes and inhales a deep breath. "I just don't want you to use yourself - your body, or flirtation skills - on others. I didn't mean to snap at you like that." Wow, Manik Malhotra is indirectly apologizing for his rude behavior. Impressive indeed.
"So the bouncers are women?" I question, raising my eyebrows. "Which means that you're going to use your flirtation skills to get us in?" I don't wish to entertain the thought at all. We reach the entrance, my eyes landing on the muscular men. Manik embraces one of the male bouncers at once, completely ignoring me. They exchange a few words of greeting, as Manik shakes hands with the other one. It's obvious my husband has been coming here for a long while now.
"And who's this pretty lady?" The bouncer on the right asks, his eyes shamelessly ogling at me. I fold my arms across my chest, uncomfortable at once. Manik steps in front of me without delay, his body shielding mine.
"My wife," he replies sternly. I watch over his shoulder as the bouncer's eyes leave me at once and land on the floor.
"I'm sorry, Sir." He says, genuinely sounding regretful. Oh, so Manik is also infamous for his Devilish nature here.
"You didn't know so it's okay," Manik says. "But since you now do, I hope you'll be more careful in the future." The bouncer nods his head, his gaze still trained towards the floor.
"Sir, please go ahead." The other clad in black man says, as he pushes open the club's entrance door, gesturing for us to enter. Manik steps aside, nodding with his chin towards the door.
"Go ahead," he says, his left palm lightly pressing against the small of my back. I oblige, feeling at ease now that I know Manik has my back. God knows why I worry when I have the Devil beside me?
The second I step foot into the club my entire frame can feel the vibrations of the blaring music. Multi-colored lights are shedding light throughout the club, the dance floor lit up with a silver disco ball. There are two floors to this club; the upper area has U-shaped sofas surrounding silver colored tables, while the lower one has two bars and a huge dance floor. There must be about fifty bodies occupying the space, and yet there's space for a hundred more. My right foot begins to tap itself to the beat of the music, my eyes gazing at the dance floor wistfully.
"Let's go upstairs." Manik says from behind me, his hand still resting against my back. I shake my head stubbornly.
"No," I nod my head towards the dance floor. "I want to go there." Manik's gaze lands on the spot I'm gesturing towards, his lips pursing up.
"No fucking way." He pushes against my back with a little more force. "Upstairs we go." I stamp my foot like an immature child.
"You can go ahead, and act like the grandfather that you are, but I will remain true to my age and make myself comfortable on the floor." Without engaging in any further arguments with Manik, I begin to make my way towards my targeted destination.
"Angel, stop!" He hisses, latching his hand onto my wrist.
"Hey," I say, looking at him over my shoulder. "I'm your wife. Treat me with some respect." I smile, as I feel Manik's hold slackening.
"That's just on paper," he says, as I feel him clamp up once more.
"Oh, and is that why you keep introducing me as your wife everywhere? I mean, if I'm just someone to you on paper, then you didn't have to protect me like that in front of the bouncer."
"Do whatever the fuck you want," Manik says, letting go of my wrist altogether. "Get drugged, get groped, get kidnapped. I don't fucking care." I watch him through the corner of my eyes as he turns towards the left, and bounds up the staircase. Oh, you're going to come running back to me in less than ten minutes, that I can assure you of.
I make my way down a couple of steps and straight towards the center of the dance floor. While I'm heading there, I ensure that my eyes are also discreetly following Manik's movements. It's imperative that my position on the floor is in his perfect line of sight. I don't wish to put on a show for just anyone.
He gets himself a drink from the bar upstairs and then comes near the railing, his eyes casually glancing around the lower floor. Although it seems as if he's finding no one in particular, I can tell that his black orbs have a target - me.
Just as I stop at the perfect spot, the song that was playing ends and another one begins. I grin to myself as the familiar beat enter my ears, my hands snaking their way up the back of my throat and into my hair on their own volition. I flip my hair over to one side, sashaying my hips at the same time. If there's one thing I excel at it's dancing, and tonight I will put on the show of a lifetime for Manik.
I skim the back of my hands along the sides of my figure, turning myself around in a circle, as my hips continue to sway with the beat as well. Laughter erupts from my throat, as my body and mind lose themselves to the beat of the music. Aiyappa, it has been so long since I've danced without any inhibitions. I jerk my head from one side to the other, my hair flipping around in all directions. My arms snake their way above my head, my wrists finding their own moves in the music.
As I'm making another turn, my hips continuing their rhythmic movement, my back hits a hard front. I don't need to turn around to know who it belongs to, for I am well acquainted with this scent by now. I associate this fragrance with my favorite person on the planet.
"You're such a tease," Manik whispers in my ear, his breath blowing against it. "Do you even have the remotest idea how many men here want to eat you up at the moment?"
"I don't care what they want," I say, turning around and pulling Manik closer to me by grabbing hold of his collar. God knows which confident woman's spirit has entered my body, but I suddenly feel ten times bolder. Tonight I wish to push all of my boundaries. I want Manik to question the limitations he has set for himself as far as I'm concerned. "All I want to know is what you think." Manik is watching me with an animalistic desire in his eyes, as if he wishes to devour me whole right at this moment. "Show them who you are, and why you deserve to be with me instead of them."
Manik grabs my hand and twirls me, so that we're face to face - an arm's length away. I grin, his sudden move knocking the breath out of me, but sending a thrill of adrenaline rushing through my veins at the same time. Smirking, he tugs me into his front and I raise my knee, locking it at his hip. Manik moonwalks backwards - not the least bit bothered about who's in the way - causing me to slide across the floor along with him. I can bet the front part of my pump will be scuffed. I drop my other leg from his side, so that now both my legs are being dragged across the floor, back arched.
"You're limitless," Manik says, as he pulls me up firmly into a standing position. Our fronts are pressed together, no space for even oxygen to pass through. His left hand is locked with my right palm, his other hand latched around my waist. My hand is resting against his bicep, as I try to figure out what will Manik's next move be. So far we have had no issues syncing our movements, almost as if we were meant to be dance partners, even though we haven't rehearsed for even a day together.
Manik twists my body towards the right and then the left, his hand pushing me backwards. My back arches once more, as I near the floor. He moves me in an arc before pulling me back up, allowing me access to his eyes once more. According to me, Manik looks the most attractive when his orbs hold the kind of strength and spark that I can see in them right at this moment.
He spins me around again, once more holding me at an arm's length from his body.
"Jump," Manik mouths, as he tugs me towards his body. My hand snakes around the back of his neck just as his arm wraps itself around my waist. My right leg is once again locked at the side of his hip, while my other is extended down towards the floor, glued to his. I press my forehead against his, shutting my eyes as I allow myself to get lost in the moment. I can feel Manik's chest heaving up and down, the boundaries of his stamina clearly being pushed.
A round of applause erupts from all around, causing me to open my eyes and come back to my senses. Manik's eyes are still shut, his hair mused up because of all the swift motions. I lift my forehead off of his and bring my lips to it, pressing a kiss against his skin.
Only Aiyappa knows whether or not Manik is my life partner, but he most definitely is my dance partner.