Naina had known that things would change after marriage. She had known that husband and wife shared room, bed, bathroom. She had known that with new relationship there would be new responsibilities. She had known that as a wife she would have to manage not only the house, but also take care of her husband.
She had known a lot of things except how it would be to have Sameer Maheshwari as her husband.
From the day they have been married, she had started to notice some changes in Sameer. It seemed as if the wedding had given him new wings. He was no longer the sweet, innocent, understanding boyfriend. Well… technically he still had all these traits, but there was something more.
He was still sweet but at the same time there was this edge to him that she hadn’t ever witnessed before.
He was still innocent, almost like a kid sometimes, but there were moments now when he was so much of a man that she felt lost in-front of him.
He was still very much understanding but at the same time he was demanding more and more.
After their wedding, things had started out slow because they were surrounded with family and relatives, and then his anger because of her permed hair. But once they were finally alone in their big home thing had started to change… and change very swiftly.
He would touch her freely, and that didn’t mean just holding hands. He would touch her cheek, hold her by the waist, hug her, place his hand on her back. All this was so new to her, but she liked it… It wasn’t like she hadn’t ever longed to touch him. She had… Even in school she had dreamt of holding his shoulders and waist while sitting on his bike. In college she had progressed to actually touching his shoulders. And how can she forget the big drama goof-up that had led to their first hug. Getting into the flow, and wanting to make him feel cherished she had even kissed him on his cheek. For a moment she had thought that he would do the same to her, but he had instead chosen to seal his promise of togetherness by kissing her hand.
Every incident of intimacy had caused a spur of sensations inside her, but at that time it had been easy to ignore them because; first, she had it strictly imprinted in her mind that all intimacy should be reserved for post-marriage; and second, Sameer was always accommodating of her boundaries. But now it was not at all easy to ignore things.
Since their honeymoon had started he had been on a kissing spree. She had been shocked when he had kissed her hand on flight, but her heart had fluttered when he had closed the eyes of the kid sitting beside them so that he was not privy to their intimate moment. She had told him about the kid thinking it would stop his advances… but… she hadn’t known her husband properly. He had found a way to fulfill his wish. Then way he had suddenly kissed her cheek on the boat had surprised her. And then there had been that explanation of French kiss.
She gulped even now on recalling his description and that low deep voice… She couldn’t understand yet how he could make his voice a few baritones lower than normal yet be completely audible, and make her senses go haywire. Whenever he demanded stuff from her in that voice, she wanted to just ignore everything and give him what he wanted. Even a French kiss for that matter…
As if his voice, his repeated touches, and his frequent demands of kiss were not enough, this morning he had played a game of altogether different level. She had been dressing up in-front of the mirror, when suddenly he had walked out of the bathroom… in nothing but a towel. Her heart had skipped several beats and her eyes had widened. She had shamelessly stared for a minute, before squeezing her eyes shut and turning away from him. Few moments later she had thought that he had gone back inside, and so she had taken a risk to open her eyes. Her hand had lifted to her heart as if trying to contain it from bursting.
Oh God… Sameer shouldn’t come out like that…
Her thoughts or prayers had been in vain, because just then, she had caught his glimpse of him in the mirror…. Still gloriously wet… and still in that damn towel. Her fright and nervousness had no effect whatsoever on him.
Shameless, she thought, but at the same time couldn’t help but steal glances at her husband through the mirror.
Oh… why did he have to walk like that… ambling so slowly as if he had all the time in the world. And why can’t the man use the towel to wipe first and then wrap around him.
Lost in her thoughts, she had not realized that he had almost stepped up behind her. Since he had ignored her nervousness, she had tried nonchalance next. When he had leaned beside her to take the comb, she had looked away from him, trying to pretend that he didn’t affect her. When he had stood in-front of her and sprayed himself with cologne, she had again tried to look away, although by now her mind had happily taken leave. She had actually been eyeing the mole on his pectoral muscle, because to be honest that was extremely distracting, but still she had tried to pretend as if she was not ogling. But, he had not been deterred.
Nonchalance had miserably failed since she couldn’t contain the unknown happenings in her body, and neither had she been able to constrain her wandering eyes. How could she not look when he was right there, gleaming wet and… so handsome… Actually she had fleetingly remembered another word, but she hadn’t been able to voice it even in her thoughts. Well… since nonchalance had failed so she had tried the age old escape and evade… exactly what she had tried to do in school whenever he had tried to hold her hands.
But… she had forgotten that this was not the schoolboy Sameer, but rather a determined husband. As she had tried to move away, he had grabbed her hand and pulled her to him. Unable to control the momentum she had crashed into him, her hand flat on his chest.
Oh. God.
It had taken her brain more than a few minutes to catch up to her body… Her hand on his chest had moved over his pectoral muscle and her fingers had subconsciously dug in. She hadn’t known what she had been doing, but just then his hands on her waist had tightened and pulled her close to his own body with so much urgency that she had come up on her tiptoes, completely pressed to him. She had felt dizzy, short of breath, and her heart was thudding so hard that she had thought the sound might echo in the whole room.
Escape. Escape. Escape.
Her brain had caught on for a moment and again she had tried to pull back. But his he hadn’t let her go… Swallowing hard, her breathing ragged, she had desperately tried to understand what was happening to her. Her eyes had been captivated by his skin… her gaze moving over his chest, throat, and face… The smell of cologne had flooded her senses, but underneath it there was another smell, and that had tempted her, caused some reaction in her body that she couldn’t understand. Was it his smell? How had she not noticed it before then?
Her eyes had lowered halfway and her lips had trembled when he had held her securely, and slowly dipped his head… She had thought she should move, but her body hadn’t cooperated, and his lips had inched closer. His breath had been warm on her cheek, and for a moment she had completely succumbed to him.
He was too primal… too resilient… too charming. But just then a sudden clenching sensation inside her own body had distracted her. Apprehension had intruded the moment, and she had pulled back, half-expecting him to pull her back to him again. However, surprisingly, this time he had let her go.
Not knowing where to go, she had escaped inside the bathroom, shutting the door close, and leaning her back on it, breathing heavily. She hadn’t known whether to be relieved at her escape or frustrated at him for letting her go. Thoughts had clouded her mind – What was he doing? Was it normal? Did he want just a kiss? Would he stop after that?
After ten minutes she had gathered courage and stepped outside, to find him ready and waiting for her, the amiable and gentle smile back on his face. It might have seemed as if the moment hadn’t occurred, but the throbbing and tingling in her body hadn’t let her forget. Sameer had contributed to refreshing the memory soon, when he had leaned down to whisper in her ear as they had stepped outside the room, “kab tak bhagogi Naina.”
Now sitting for breakfast at the hotel restaurant, she thought back to what had transpired in the room, and his words. He was right. Till when she would run. In college she had always told him shaadi ke baad. But now they were married… so, didn’t that mean he had the right to touch her and kiss her? She had set her boundaries, and he had always respected them. But now she should lower those boundaries, shouldn’t she? Besides she couldn’t pretend that she wasn’t curious.
As she watched her husband ravenously stuffing himself across the table, she bit her lip and tried to think how to let him know that she could be okay with what he had in mind. If only she could tell him that she wasn’t averse to kissing, if only she could ask him what was all that that she was feeling in her body… Maybe… Maybe the kiss was the solution to her problem. Even if it was not maybe after the kiss she could gain the courage to ask, to enquire, to… to explore.
Because… who was she kidding… she had enjoyed her private show of her super sexy husband wet from bath draped in a towel. And yes… she had finally spelled the word ‘sexy’ in her thoughts. Yes… that was what he was… and she was no longer going to pretend that she was not interested.
Her eyes narrowed as she feasted on his sight, and wondered if a few kisses on his cheek and hugs would give him the idea that she was okay to proceed further… It was worth a try. Maybe she could do that during the day today. She was sure Sameer was smart and eager enough to catch on. And then her problem might be resolved.
Yes… Naina Sameer Maheshwari had a problem, but she also had a plan in place to resolve it.