“Raj….” Naina woke up with a start, untangled the blanket from around her and stumbled out of bed.
She remembered waiting up for Varun in the living room, anxious but hopeful that a few hours in a locked cell with Shiv would give the two men a chance to put their egos aside and talk to each other.
Tej had called late in the night informing her of the two being bruised black and blue, but were very much alive, glaring at each other in the prison cell. She had sounded pissed off at both for acting like kindergarten kids fighting over a toy car. With utmost relish she had given her the news of them staying locked up till morning.
Naina wondered what her husband’s reaction was when he came to know that it was on her request that Tej had refused to sign them out before morning. He would have been shocked for sure; she smiled.
“Shit! Ria….” Once again she was late.
On the way out of her bedroom, she caught a glimpse of Varun out on the street and stopped. She rushed to the window, drew the curtains aside and peeked out.
Her husband stood with his hands on his hips, his eyes trained on the house next door. He didn’t look too happy, but she was – he was home fit and fine. The idiot!
She had a few choice words to say to him, but by the way he seemed to have turned to stone in the middle of their lane, it didn’t look like she would meet him anytime soon.
Suddenly, as if he came out of a trance, he jerked forward, walking briskly towards Vansh’s home.
What the…!
She grabbed the rods of the window and strained closer to see what the hell was up with her husband. Had Shiv punched his head? He better not have, she fumed.
About to call out to her husband, her mouth hung open when she saw him stop abruptly at the gate, slap his forehead with his palm, curse profusely, scratch his head, look up at the house, turn and walk away.
Wow! All it took was few punches and a night with Shiv in a prison cell for her husband to turn completely loony!
She shook her head, blinking rapidly. About to turn away, relieved that he wasn’t making a bigger fool of himself by walking into their house like a crazed fellow, she was shocked when she found him again at the gate. What was he trying to do? He didn’t know them from Adam or Eve, in this case. He couldn’t just walk in there; all bandaged up and introduce himself. He must reek of the prison, the sweat and not to mention the bar.
“You bloody idiot!” she screamed through the window and quickly clamped her mouth shut with both her hands.
Oh God! Now she was losing it. What if her MiL had heard her downstairs? Praying that her voice hasn’t carried that far, she shifted her focus to her husband who, she was sure, had no clue what he was doing.
Her bare feet flew over the stairs and in time she was out the door and bumped head first into a vest clad solid chest.
“Oomph!” She grabbed the black vest and steadied herself. A pair of arms wrapped around her waist pulling her up till she raised her eyes and met his brown ones.
“I’ll gladly spend the nights in the prison cell if this is the welcome I get.” He smirked, wound his arms tighter against her waist and carried her to the garage.
Looping her fingers through the straps of his vest, she pulled herself up till her eyes were an inch from his.
“I’ll kill you. Next time you land in prison for anything, even if it’s for stealing a candy for Ria, I’ll tie this vest around your neck and…”
His mouth on hers stole her breath, trapping her words, and demanding retribution. He wasn’t wooing her, luring her with his soft kiss, he was taking what was his. With every angry stroke of his tongue, her toes curled, eyes closed, and her arms wound around his neck and cradled his head closer.
Naina knew what this was about. He was telling her he wouldn’t have ended up in prison if it wasn’t for her. He wouldn’t have had to spend the night with a person he had come to loathe. And it had been her fault.
She would do it again if it helps him open up, if it would drive some sense into his head.
Swirling her tongue in his mouth, she bit him hard. He broke the kiss, jerked his head away and snapped his eyes wide open. Pinning her with a searing gaze, he rested her against the car, grabbed a remote and rolled down the shutter of the garage.
Her heart leapt out of her throat at what that meant. Wanting nothing more than to be with her husband, she cupped his face, careful not to press her palm against the bruise, and dragged his mouth back to hers.
With a guttural groan he kissed her hard, his hands lifting her up so she could wrap her legs around him.
She missed him. Five torturous days and nights without his arms around her had been hell. His mouth slanted over hers, slowing the kiss, but she had missed him too much to play nice. Grabbing the back of his head with one hand, she deepened the kiss and cupped his butt with the other hand, pulling him closer to where she wanted him.
The world stilled around her as she focused on the man in her arms rocking against her as his hands and his mouth worked magic on her. She was being kissed thoroughly with not a moment to take a breath, her body humming under his touch that it came as shock when he entered her and stilled.
Her eyes widened, pleasure shooting through her body and both of them tried to catch their breath. His dark eyes were locked on hers, searching, seeking, she didn’t know what he was looking for, but he needed to move. She tried to, but his hands held her hips tight, stopping her from moving, taking her pleasure.
“Raj…” she groaned, her eyes glazed and pleading with him.
It felt too damn good to have him inside her.
“Will you tell me if you don’t like what I do to you?” he asked, his voice rough and shaking.
“Wha…!” she panted, trying to hold his gaze that was starting to burn her with its intensity.
“Will you tell me if I hurt you?” he pleaded, not moving an inch.
Of all the…! He was killing her!
“When?” she asked, wiggling in his grasp.
“When I make love to you,” he said, sounding like he had a lemon trapped in his throat.
“Huh? Ofcourse you don’t. But, I will hurt you if you don’t start moving now. Please, Raj.”
Locking his eyes with hers, he did and she almost fainted with pleasure. She sought his lips but he wasn’t done looking into her eyes.
“Raj,” she breathed. “What?”
He buried his face into her neck and breathed hard, kept their love making slow and steady. She could feel his shoulders tense under her fingers as he came apart, but she was too distracted to join him.
“Baby…” she whispered into his ears.
She knew there was something wrong and different about the way he held her, his restraint was not something she was used to, neither did she want it.
“Tell me what’s wrong,” she pleaded, kissing his cheek, his neck, his shoulders.
He stilled in her arms for a long moment and pulled his head up from her shoulder to look into her eyes. She was shocked to see his eyes brim with tears. His hands held her thighs tight around him when she tried to unwrap them.
He shook his head. “I’m sorry,” he breathed roughly against her lips. “I’m sorry if I ever treated you like some common…less than a wife.
His eyes were shut and tears streamed down his face leaving her aghast at the words he didn’t actually say.
“You never…”
“I did.”
“You think dragging me to a garage to make love to me is not how you treat a wife?” she asked perplexed.
His lips thinned, and he shook his head.
“Raj…I love it that you did. It shows how much you want me and miss me.”
“I missed you,” he said, pouring his heart into the words. He cupped her cheek and she pressed her lips into his palm.
“And I, you.”
“I’m not talking about now. I’m talking about all the times I left you after,” he clarified, a sense of shame clear in his cloudy eyes.
Naina tensed, and this time when she unwrapped her legs from around him, he let her, his hands falling helplessly to his sides. She shivered as she left the warmth of his body and moved away. Wrapping her arms around her, she turned around and looked at her husband.
His slacks hung low on his hips, his vest falling shapeless over his chest. Her hands had done that, her mind registered unnecessarily. His head hung low, his fist clenched tight by his sides. He looked defeated. Had she done that too?
And it pained her to see him so desolate even with her by his side.
Did he not trust her or trust himself or his love for her? Did he not see how happy he made her?
Did he not know her enough to realize she could never be with someone who treated her like a tramp?
“Naina…please. Say something.”
His eyes were dark pools of fear, doubt, and self recrimination. And she hated that. All she ever wanted to see in those eyes when they looked at her was his love for her.
“Did you ever think of me as a tramp?”
“Never!” He snapped his head up and looked at her aghast, flinching slightly at her use of the word. “Never, Naina. Not even when…” he trailed off, looking away.
“Not even when you hated me,” she finished his sentence, her tone matter-of-fact.
His head jerked up, and he took a hasty step towards her and stopped. “I never hated you. I just wasn’t….” He raked his fingers through this hair, looking annoyed, as if the words he was about to say troubled him.
“…in love with me. I know, Raj.”
“I wanted you. You were like a drug and I craved you,” he said earnestly.
Naina smiled, remembering his passion for her. “I know. I wanted you too,” she whispered, holding his gaze.
He sucked in a breath, and then slowly let his chest puff out. “That doesn’t excuse me using you just for sex.”
“It doesn’t,” she agreed, her gaze unwavering.
“Why didn’t you say something? Anything?” he asked, his brows creased.
“Ours wasn’t exactly a marriage made in heaven, Raj. I wasn’t chosen because we made an ideal match. I was chosen to show you your rightful place in the Rathod Mansion if you went against your father’s wishes. He was punishing you by getting you married to me,” she said, wearing a sardonic smile.
“You knew about that,” he sounded surprised.
“Oh yes, your father made it a point to tell me how it actually was. He didn’t want me to have any illusions of who I was marrying and for what. Why else would he choose a battered, homeless, abused orphan as his only daughter-in-law?”
She looked him straight in the eye and felt the air being sucked out of the garage.
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Eeeps! One chapter out, five more to go before I complete the NaNo challenge by Sunday. Are you ready for a marathon of sorts.
No time for edits. Please bear that in mind when you read the chapters. Your insights will really help me gather my thoughts for the next few chapters, so please post your comments and do vote :)
Thank you for reading...
Neeru <3