Only Mine
Chapter 28: The Trust of Love

Rain drops pattered hard on the window, thunder rumbled, the lightning flashes were not so prominently seen because of the bright lit kitchen light. The aroma of ginger and spices floated in the air from the open saucepan, but the couple standing next to it was oblivious to all of this. Sameer drew back an inch, dragging in much needed breath in his lungs, and slowly opened his eyes to be blessed with the most beautiful sight. His Naina was there in his arms, her eyes closed, her lips wet and slightly swollen, her cheeks flushed, her damp hair tumbled around her face and shoulder messily… A small smile curved his lips, and he repeated, “I love you Naina…”

She opened her eyes, smiling on seeing his smile, “I love you too.”

He grinned, kissing her forehead, and asked, “what next?”

She shrugged, “umm… eat?”

Instant mischief lit up his eyes, “okay honey”, he murmured and dipped, placing open mouthed kisses on the side of her neck. She squealed and then lost her breath when his teeth scraped her flesh. “Sameer…”, she whispered, “I didn’t mean this…”

He pulled back and pouted, “you are bad…”

She laughed, amused at his ways… One moment he had been kissing her so sensuously and then the immediate next he was busy in his mischief. She had no idea how he did it, but he never let her feel uncomfortable with anything… Their first kiss… The first time ever for both of them, and yet there was no awkwardness before or after… She would have thought that she would be blushing, he would be demanding, they would find it difficult to converse, or maybe even feel hesitant to touch… But no… She was still in his arms… They were talking, joking, laughing… There was no unease, it was just…natural. Perfectly normal and yet so remarkable…

Lifting his hand, he pushed aside a strand of her hair, “are you okay?” She nodded, and he queried further, “uh… did you like?”

Amusement lifted her brow, “what do you think?”

He bit his lip, suddenly bit conscious, “I… I haven’t done this before… I didn’t know if it was the best or not…”

She chuckled, lifting to kiss his jaw, “seems like we are in a fix… I also don’t have any comparison points… so let’s consider it best, and we can see what happens in future…”

He looked confused, “what?”

She controlled her laughter, and offered, “haven’t you heard? Practice makes a man perfect…”

He blinked, smiled, and then roared with laughter, “oh honey… I think I need lots of practice…”

As he tried to kiss her again, she pushed lightly at his shoulder, “uhh… it was really good, but I also need some tea… and maybe something to eat… after that we can practice more.”

He chuckled, “yeah… I almost forgot about the tea and snacks… all your fault…”

She pursed her lips, “mine?”

He nodded, turning to the gas and started it once more, letting the tea simmer a bit, “yep… I gave you hair dryer… but neither is your hair totally dry, nor have you dried and used the essentials… If I feel and see so clearly, how can I ignore?”

She tilted her head trying to understand what he meant… What essentials was he talking about? And what did he feel? She had half-dried her panty, but… how could he feel… She trailed off in her thoughts, glancing down suddenly, and her eyes widened in realization… Oh shit… Bra… Dammit… She wasn’t wearing a bra… She had been so tensed about the condom that she come out just like that. Oh God… No wonder he could feel and see… The blue t-shirt didn’t really do a good job in concealing the shape…

Just then his voice broke her thoughts, “are you just going to stare or do something about it?”

She gasped, her head snapping up, her mortified gaze colliding with his glittering ones, and she blushed… He smiled, “relax… I was just teasing… but please, can you maybe take a shawl or a jacket from the cupboard? It’s hard to control…”

Gulping, she fled from the kitchen to the bedroom, leaning her back against the closed door. It took her a few minutes to calm her racing heartbeats, and then she tried to look for something that could conceal her form… She found a white jacket, but kept it back thinking that if she spilled food while eating or cleaning then it would be soiled… There was also a black leather jacket, it looked good, and the dark color would hide her properly. She had hung her clothes on the rod in bathroom, but she didn’t have hopes of them drying… What would she wear while going home? And what would she tell PB?

“Naina”, Sameer hollered from outside, “what’s taking so long? Are you alright?”

She jerked, “I am okay… coming…” Zipping the jacket, she opened the bedroom door, to find him standing outside. His eyes roved over her appreciatively, the glitter intensifying. She almost expected him to say something flirty or tease her again, but instead he just said, “c’mon… let’s have some tea.”

Along with tea, there was a dish of jam toast, and another plate of assorted biscuits. She tilted her head in confusion, “weren’t you chopping something before?”

He smiled, “yes… I thought I would make bhel, but now I don’t want to eat raw onions…”

She blushed, “ah… good idea…”

“It’s still raining too much”, he pointed at the TV, “it’s showing on news that there’s some weather movement… It can continue to rain for full night, and there’s water logging.”

The hot tea felt extremely good, but another worry started to crowd her brain, “I will have to inform PB… She will be worried.”

After a bit of thought, he offered, “do you want me to talk?”

She smiled, “no… it’s alright… let’s finish tea and then I will call.”

He increased the TV volume a bit, the unavoidable requirement of near future hanging in the air… The rain wasn’t going to stop… The streets would be impossible to drive on… No car or bike would be able to face the waterlogging… That meant… She would have to stay the night.

Sameer thought about the situation, repeatedly trying to curb his own excitement… He needed to remember that she was staying here because there wasn’t any option. It was not like they were going to do something… Or that it was a romantic arrangement… They had just kissed… Their first kiss… And God… She truly was fire… The way she had asked him, gave him permission, declared him as only hers, and then demanded a kiss again… He still felt the fine hairs on his body stand up just by recalling the way she had kissed him back. But that was it… That was all for today. He wouldn’t do anything else… He had to take care of her and not take advantage of the situation. So yeah… He would maybe just tease her, but nothing else…

Naina licked off a bit of jam from her finger, her thoughts jumping like a ping-pong ball, from the kiss, to the way he had teased her about not wearing a bra, and then to what could happen tonight. Will they kiss again? Would he want more? Even though she had had jam toast, biscuits and tea, still she felt as if his taste hadn’t gone from her mouth. The memory of the kiss still tingled her body, still made her want to lick her lips in an attempt to savor his taste, still made her hands want to hold onto those incredible hard well-shaped muscles. He had asked if she had liked it, but she hadn’t asked anything… Had he enjoyed? Uh… of course he had… Weren’t his thundering heartbeats proof enough? And what about that hard evidence that had been literally poking at her belly? Given he was wearing tracks there had been no difficulty in feeling the full length of him… And he had definitely been extremely aroused… Her face flushed at her own thoughts… What was she doing? They had just kissed for the first time, and already her mind was racing with imaginations… And if her imagination was like this, then what exactly was he thinking? Would he share…? Could she ask…?

She sighed, thinking that there was no way she could frame such questions… Keeping the cups and dishes inside the kitchen, she dialed PB’s number, “Hello…”

“Naina”, PB exclaimed in relief, “I was so worried… Where are you?”

She bit her lip, “uh… I am at a friend’s house.”

Sameer quirked a brow at her reply, and from the other end PB queried, “friend? I see… Did this friend come to see the movie with you and Sameer on your date?”

Her face flushed, “umm… PB… I… I am with Sameer… at home… It’s raining so hard… And the street won’t be safe to drive… It’s on news as well.”

PB sighed, “I know… I was just concerned thinking that you both are still stuck at the theatre.”

“No no”, Naina replied, “we came back… Sameer… uh… I mean, we thought its best to come here because this was closer to the theatre.”

PB teased, “you do have your lipstick, don’t you? I noticed you hadn’t applied it today…”

She squeezed her eyes shut, biting her lip, “umm… it’s not needed…”

PB laughed, “alright… you have fun… Can you give the phone to Sameer? I want to talk to him a bit…”

Naina didn’t know why she suddenly wanted to talk to Sameer, but nevertheless handed over the phone to him, “PB wants to talk.”

He nodded, accepting the cordless, “hello PB… How are you?”

“I am fine”, PB replied, her voice bit stern, “look Sameer… let me come straight to the point… I know you punched a boy for Naina… But if you misbehave with her then remember, my walking stick is much more effective than a punch.”

Sameer dutifully nodded, even though PB couldn’t see, “yes madam.”

PB relaxed a bit, “I was worried for both of you… Take care of my little girl… And, I just want you to know that I do trust you Sameer.”

He smiled, “and I love Naina… Don’t worry… She is safe with me.”

PB gasped, “you said it… did you… did you tell her?”

He glanced at his side where Naina was standing, wringing her hands in worry. Looping an arm around her shoulder, he pulled her to him, and replied to PB, “yes, I did…”

PB queried, “and what did she say?”

He chuckled, “what do you think PB?”

“Oh my God”, PB almost squealed, her voice suddenly youthful, “this calls for a celebration… no, wait… give her the phone…” Sameer handed over the receiver to Naina, and PB asked, “you said lipstick is not needed… I thought you meant it wasn’t happening… But… it’s the opposite, isn’t it?”

Naina blushed furiously, “PB… please… I… I can’t…”

PB laughed, “okay, okay… I won’t ask now… come home tomorrow and then I will know all the details… Now go… I don’t want to be a mood-dampener in this romantic weather…”

Naina rolled her eyes, still blushing, and instructed PB to take her medicines on time, and rest well without worrying. When she kept the receiver down, Sameer asked, “you can’t…what?”

She chuckled, “PB guessed that we… uh… that we kissed… So she was asking that.”

His eyes widened, “what? How? Do you really share these things with her…?”

“I don’t”, Naina assured, “but she is suave enough to know some things… And the lipstick was a gift from PB… She called it kiss-proof when she gave it to me before our first date.”

He gaped at her, trying to digest the information that PB had planned for their kiss all those months ago, and then murmured, “bless her…”

She chuckled, “yeah… she is… sprightly… I will miss her a lot when we go back to Ahmedabad.”

“There’s still time”, he tugged her to him, “for now… I guess we need to cook dinner, because we can’t go out, and neither will anyone deliver pizza in this weather.”

She glanced out at the downpour, “how about some piping hot vegetable khichdi?”

He shrugged, “sure…” Just then there was a knock on the door. Sameer frowned, and grabbed Naina’s hand as she started to step to the door, “wait… I will open and check… you are wearing my clothes, won’t look good.”

She glanced down at herself, “ah yes… I will be in kitchen then.”

As she disappeared inside the kitchen, he opened the door a bit to reveal his next door neighbor, along with the kid, “Sudha Aunty… Hello…”

“Uncle”, Netra jumped on the spot, “chocolate.”

Sameer quickly opened the door a bit more to prevent her from hitting her head on the handle, and at the same time admonished, “Netra stop… you will be hurt… I will give you chocolate later.”

Sudha Aunty held her daughter with one hand, “Sameer… here take this… I made lemon rice and sambar for dinner. I thought you and Naina will like it.”

He took the two tier tiffin-box extended towards him, and hesitantly informed, “uh… Aunty… it is raining… and we were outside… so…”

“I understand”, Sudha interrupted, “just let me know if you both need anything.”

Sameer locked the door as the mother-daughter duo left, and just then Naina came out of the kitchen, “what happened?”

He held up the tiffin box, “Sudha aunty… she brought food for us.”

She looked worried, “we didn’t think… If I stay here what will your neighbors say…”

“Let them say what they want”, he asserted, “it’s not like we are spending the night together under normal circumstances.”

She nodded, “I know… but people won’t understand…”

He kept the tiffin on the coffee table, and looped his arms around her, “since when do you think about people? You are with me… and no one will dare to say anything about you… If anyone does, then they will have to deal with me…”

Her eyebrow quirked, “aah… my hero… always ready to fight for me…”

He smiled, “care to give some reward to your hero?”

“Yes”, she said, “I think food should be enough…”

He sighed dramatically, “and here I was thinking that I would no longer need butter… But, you are just too cruel… After the first kiss you should be kissing me every 10-15 mins.”

She pondered over the statement and then blurted, “our lips would be chapped and swollen if we kiss so often… It would probably hurt a lot.”

He slapped his forehead, “Oh God… I have no cure for your practicality… Leave it… I should better focus on dinner.”

As he carried the tiffin inside the kitchen, she placed a hand over her mouth to cover her smile. What did he know? If she told him that she wanted to kiss him again right now then he would tease her… The problem wasn’t the lack of wish to kiss; the problem was the chance and opportunity to do more… Even though it was almost 10:30pm, the night seemed to be just starting… The dinner from his neighbor, so late in night… It was an indication that people knew… They were in Mumbai, probably the most modern city in India, a place where a lot of things were common, but even here, there were pockets of areas where eyebrows would raise if a girl and boy held hands. And here she was… Staying at her would-be-husband’s home for the night… It was a bold move. It didn’t matter that PB knew, it didn’t matter that she trusted Sameer… People’s thoughts and perceptions had no limitations. In such a situation she was worried about what could happen if she lost control… Sameer had a strong will-power, evident in the way he had waited for their kiss to happen, but still… He wanted her, she wanted him, and they both knew it… In such a situation, one thing could lead to another, and she didn’t think that she had the ability to control herself from expressing her own desire for him.

When she went in the kitchen, Sameer was still mumbling to himself. She chuckled, stepping behind him, and hugged him. He stiffened for a moment, and then said, “don’t try these techniques… I won’t calm down with just a hug anymore.”

She was silent for a moment, and then pulled back, saying in a dismal tone, “so it is true then…”

He turned, frowning on seeing her downcast expressions, “what’s true?”

She bit her lip, and slowly said, “the things I had heard… that once kiss happens the man loses interest… or they simply want more until everything is done…”

He nearly rolled his eyes, but controlled his expression, and held her shoulders, “no… it is not true… I have not lost interest in you… that’s never going to happen… and yes I want more, but like l have explained it so many times, it is not a compulsion… You and I both know that things will happen… I don’t know how else I can assure you… I love you Naina.”

A slow sly smile lit up her face, she looped her hands around his neck and before he could understand anything, she pulled him down and pecked on his lips… He gasped in surprise, and she kissed him once more, as if teasing him. He held her waist, muttering in confusion, “Naina… what are you…”

“Improving your mood”, she stated before he could ask, “I knew if I say that you lost interest then you will stop grumbling and try to ease my doubts… You wouldn’t stay angry if I am sad.”

Narrowing his eyes, he lifted her up, setting her on the countertop, “aren’t you just a bit more resourceful than needed?”

She scrunched her nose, playing with the hair at his nape, “I have to be… I am in love with a person who is just as smart and mischievous as I am…”

“I see”, he smiled, “so what was your real reason for not kissing before? I am now sure that you weren’t worried about chapped or swollen lips…”

She shrugged, and simply informed, “I don’t want all our firsts to be on the same day… and if we keep kissing I won’t be able to control.”

He opened and closed his mouth a few times, coughed, and then said in a strained voice, “have you ever heard of the word subtlety?”

She flashed a cheeky grin at him, “that’s your department… I am the practical one, remember?”

He shook his head, “sometimes I have no idea what to do with you.”

“It’s simple”, she offered, “feed me, love me, kiss me.”

He chuckled, “I think I can do that… let’s feed you first…”

She saw him gather all the chopped vegetables, and queried, “what are you doing?”

He informed, “I chopped onions and tomatoes for bhel… but we won’t need this for khichdi, so I am throwing them away.”

“No don’t”, she hopped down from the platform, “Aunty gave us rice and sambar, so we don’t need to make khichdi… Let’s use these vegetables and make some cheela. It is already so late…”

He liked the idea, and it was true, it was indeed really late. She was darting around the kitchen, collecting stuff she would need, and he watched with curious interest. On seeing her pour some white flour in a bowl, he asked, “what’s this? That’s not besan…”

She grinned, “no… it is rice flour… I am going to mix some suji with it, so then it will be like uttapam.”

“Innovative”, he commented.

She promptly responded, “not really… Sudha Aunty’s tip.”

He folded his arms, leaning his hips against the countertop, watching her vigorously stir the mixture, “remind me again… when did you talk so much to my neighbor?”

She chuckled, “when I would be home and you in office…”

“Sounds like typical married life”, he observed.

She stuck her tongue out, “don’t get used to it… I will be working after I finish my college.”

He leaned forward, kissing the side of her forehead, “works perfectly honey…”

She smiled, spreading a thin round of the mixture on the tawa, and then sprinkled some oil on top. Fifteen minutes later they were seated on the sofa once more, polishing off the meal while chatting constantly. He insisted on cleaning up, since she had cooked, and so Naina went to freshen up a bit. It was obvious that they would kiss again, so she took some toothpaste on her finger and brushed. When she came out of the bathroom, Sameer was there just outside… He pulled her in his arms, “so… what now? Since you didn’t watch the movie properly, do you want to see another movie? Or…”

Intrigued at the way he trailed off, she asked, “or what?”

He dipped, whispering in her ear, “or you want to use one of the condoms?”

She gasped, pushing him away a bit, “aren’t you a bit too fast?”

“A man can take his chances”, he suggested, “so…?”

She poked at his chest, “so… go brush your teeth… else forget anything else, you won’t even get a kiss.”

He sighed, shaking his head, and went inside the bathroom. By the time he was done, Naina had rolled in the TV table, and was plugging it in. He frowned, “what are you doing?”

“I thought your movie offer was good”, she replied, trying to turn on the DVD player.

He looked disappointed at that, “really?”

She glanced up, chuckling on seeing his expressions, “you don’t want it? I thought we will sit on the bed… you know… me in your arms… while we watch some movie…”

The idea suddenly started to appeal him a lot, “let me turn it on… go on the bed… are you going to wear that jacket?”

She laughed, fluffing up the pillows, “haven’t decided yet… it depends…”

He turned on a random movie, and climbed up on the bed, “on what?”

She sat beside him, smiling at the way he immediately extended his arms, and she scooted closer, “on how much improvement there is in the kiss…”

“I see”, he tightened his hold on her, dropping a quick kiss on her nose, and assured, “I will do my best.”

He had put on ‘Andaaz Apna Apna’ on low volume; it was a good movie, but just like she couldn’t pay attention at the theatre, here too she was unable to focus on the move. The reason though was different; in theatre she had been tensed, but here she started to feel flustered at his actions… The way he was holding her so tight, the way his legs tangled with hers, the way he leaned back so that she was partially lying on his chest, the way he kept nuzzling the side of her face… Slow heat began to creep up inside her, coiling like a live hot wire in her belly, and she felt feverish enough to want to remove the jacket. But…

“Naina…”, he low voice interrupted her thoughts.

She closed her eyes on feeling his lips on her cheek, one of his hands was wrapped around her shoulder, the other one heavy across her stomach… His breath fanned her skin, his long and hard body by her side making her want to cuddle into him… His lips kept moving back and forth from her ear to her cheek, and in a moment… in just another moment, she turned her head and surrendered to his demand, to her need, to the inevitable.

The kiss started soft, it seemed he was teasing her as he kept sipping at her lips one by one. She waited for him to deepen the kiss, but he didn’t seem to be in the mood of entertaining her. “I love you”, he murmured softly, brushing his lips with hers… The feather soft touches made her shudder, her fingers on his arm clenched, trying to tell him without words… She felt as if she was under the effect of some drug, it was highly intoxicating, and her muscles seemed to loosen one by one, until she was completely limp in his arms. Suddenly his hold changed, he turned her more towards him, his hands and legs trapping her completely, the change in angle also affected the way he was kissing her… One moment there was the soft caress of his lips, and the immediate next, the pace of the kiss changed… His lips coaxed hers open, deepening the kiss degree by degree. She welcomed his intrusion with demands of her own, her hand moving to his back, nails digging in.

When he parted for breath, she whispered, “I love you too…”

He gently kissed her forehead, “I know honey…”

They lay there in each other’s arms, her head on his shoulder as they watched the movie in silence. None of them wanted to talk, as if any conversation would disturb the magic of the moment. There was happiness and peace inside them, which lulled them to sleep soon. The movie played till the end, and the screen turned blue, but they didn’t wake up.

Sometime later in the night, Naina’s eyes suddenly popped open, there was a sense of suffocation. She fumbled on her side for the light switch, but couldn’t find anything… And why was it so dark? That was when she realized that something was pinning her to the bed… Something really heavy… A warm gust of air fanned her neck, and she almost screamed… Clapping her hand over her mouth, she tried to get her brain in order… Thunder clapped, lightning tore the sky outside into two, the bright silver light illuminating the room for few seconds… The mere flashes were enough for her to assimilate and recall… She wasn’t in her room… She was at Sameer’s home, on his bed, the weight pinning her to bed was his hand and leg and the warm air on her neck was his breath… And since it was raining so hard the electricity must have been cut causing the suffocating sensation that had woken her up.

Gently, she pried herself away from his hold, sliding off the bed. She went to the window, parting the curtains a bit to look out, but the whole area was drenched in darkness. She slid open the glass an inch or so, to let some air in, and breathed the rain-washed fragrance of wet soil. It was still raining hard, but thankfully the rain wasn’t slashing towards the window, so she could have it open without worrying about water coming inside. Still, she just opened it a couple of inches, and drew the curtain properly. She flicked off the TV switch, wondering how they had fallen asleep while the movie was still going on. The luminous face of his desk clock told her that it was 3am; she kept the fan switch on, but turned off the small night lamp switch, and sat on the bed. It wasn’t so hot now, but the jacket made her feel stuffy, and she could feel some dampness on her arms…

She compromised by opening the zipper a bit, sliding it down from her neck to just above her breasts. It instantly felt good… The thin covering also seemed too much; she pushed it down from his body, thinking that the lack of fan might wake him up as well. He was dressed in a grey tracks and cream colored t-shirt; her vision had adjusted enough to see the light color a bit, and the outline of his face, arms, torso… She threaded her fingers through his hair, and he hummed in sleep, rolling over on his back, inadvertently giving her more access to his body. It lured her for sure, and since they had kissed she felt absolutely alright to touch him, to explore. Her fingers moved like the whisper of a feather over his face, moving to his throat, his chest, down his abdomen, toying with the hem of his t-shirt… He was sleeping so peacefully… Did he always look this innocent in sleep? Yet that didn’t really lessen his hotness quotient… In fact the slight pout on his lips made them look more perfect, if that was possible. Unable to resist she dipped her head, brushing a light kiss on his forehead, on his eyes, skimming on his cheeks and stubbled jaw. Desire glimmered in the depth of her eyes as she watched his lips, but then she smiled and kissed his chin, thinking that she shouldn’t disturb his sleep.

However, as she moved to lie beside him, his voice sounded, laced with amusement, “you forgot my lips honey…”

She gasped, starting to sit up again, but in a swift move he rolled over, grabbing her and pulling her beneath him. Her hands were clasped by his bigger ones, pinning them on the bed on either side of her head, his body hovered over hers, his legs tangling with hers.

“Sameer…”, her voice was breathless, “you were awake?”

He let some of his weight settle on her, stealing her breath even more, “I would be a fool to sleep through that sweet torture… But, I am disappointed…”

She frowned, “why?”

He smirked, “I gave you an open playground and yet you just circled the perimeter…”

“I wanted to play in the center”, she justified, “but I didn’t want to disturb your sleep.”

“I am up now”, he offered.

She gulped, “I can see that…”

He sucked at his own lower lip, watching how her eyes darted to his action, “want to go back to sleep?”

She drew in a deep breath, trying to keep her voice steady, “I think not…”

He smiled; keeping his gaze locked with her, he lowered his head for a kiss. Just before their lips met, she murmured, “leave my hand… I want to hold…”

The remaining statement was drowned as her lips were captured in a heated kiss that made her arch beneath him. She struggled to free her hands, and after a moment he let go… Her fingers immediately clasped in his hair, and her lips moved against him with an intensity that made him tremble with need. “Mmm”, she purred in a way that conveyed to him how much she was enjoying what was happening between them, and that knowledge went straight to his head, hitting him with a punch strong enough to reel him. As the kiss deepened degree by degree they forgot to breathe, it didn’t matter… Her hands tightened around him, trying to pull him closer. His hands wandered down her body, reaching the hem of her jacket… There was a moment of hesitation, but then one hand dipped inside, beneath the layers of clothes touching the soft supple skin of her waist. She moaned, moving her head to the side, away from his lips… Her heartbeat was erratic as she struggled to drag in much needed breath.

He watched her for a minute, and whispered, “you taste wonderful.”

“That’s the toothpaste”, she promptly responded.

Rolling his eyes, he bit gently on the lobe of her ear, “you… honey… are forbidden to speak when we are in bed… otherwise your practicality is going to ruin all my romantic lines…”

“I can’t…”, she started to say… But he admonished, “shut up…”

She shut up… or rather he made her shut up with another kiss, and this time when they parted he didn’t give her time to catch her breath as he trailed to her throat. The hand on her waist was now rubbing slow circles at her waist, as if testing the texture, but even the little gesture made her shiver in anticipation. His jaw brushed against the parted zip of the jacket as he placed open mouthed kisses at the base of her neck. She gasped at the sensations racing across her body… Every inch of her skin was on fire, her belly roiling, her scalp tingling. She needed more… His other hand came up to the zipper of the leather jacket, flicking it, rolling it between this thumb and forefinger. “Naina”, he murmured, his voice deeper than usual.

She opened her eyes, meeting his questioning gaze and smiled. He exhaled in relief, but added, “I want bit more… but… you said you don’t want all of our firsts to be on the same day.”

Her heart thundered as she closed her palm over his hand holding the zipper, “it’s past 3am… not the same day anymore”, she informed, and tugged at his hand, simultaneously pulling the zip down. The metallic rasp was much more prominent than any sound he had ever heard… It was the sound of trust, a right that she was giving only to him, a chance to explore more, one more step forward in their relationship. Suddenly he started to feel a bit nervous… The jacket was open, but he still kept looking at her face.

She used two fingers to move the hair from his forehead, watching how the silky locks fell down once again adamantly, and asked, “what’s wrong? You want to say something…”

“I love you”, he immediately said.

She smiled, “I know… but that’s not what’s stopping you… is it?”

He shook his head, and slowly voiced, “what if… what if I do something that you don’t like?”

Her gaze softened at the nervousness she could hear in his voice. Usually she would have guessed that it was her who should be nervous, but strangely enough she felt confident… Not because she was the most beautiful woman, or that she had any experience in what they were doing… She hadn’t ever touched or felt like this… Objectively she wasn’t even what someone would call beautiful… But she was still confident, because she was confident of his affection and attention. He was doing nothing except touching her waist, and still she could feel the tension that strung his body. If that small touch can put him in this condition, there was no way he wouldn’t like what he saw or touched further. And as for her… She recalled the moment in Ahmedabad when he had been raging at her, his shirt lying open baring his chest to her view… The mole had tempted her, and she would have touched that day if he hadn’t been consumed by his irrational jealousy. Well… if she wished then she should…

She moved her hands down his back, “if you don’t do anything how will I know if I like or not… and I remember someone telling me, or I should say yelling at me… if you want to know, then ask…”

He grinned, but soon gasped on feeling her hand slip beneath his t-shirt, “w…what are you doing?”

“Removing your t-shirt”, she informed calmly, “I want to touch…”

He blinked at her, unsure about her actions, as she lifted up, simultaneously pushing him to sit up… He was still unable to say anything as she bit her lip, contemplating for a moment and then pulled his t-shirt up, instructing him to help her… Numbly he did as she asked, raising his hands so she could divest the cloth, and then sat there watching her as her eyes roved over his body…

“There’s no light”, she mumbled, and he could almost hear the frustrated frown in her voice. Somewhere inside his brain he thought he should laugh at her statement, but his responses were sluggish since the time she had said she wanted to touch… The immediate next moment, he groaned aloud because she placed her palms on his chest…

Oh God…

What was this? She had been in his arms before; she had placed her hands on his chest before… Agreed, all that time he had been wearing a shirt… But still… This was… This was indescribable… Her soft small palms seemed to leave a burning trail as she explored… She said something, but the ringing in his ears made it impossible for him to hear anything… And the next instant she slayed him totally by placing a soft tentative kiss on the center of his chest. His hand fisted in her hair, “Naina… stop…”

She looked up at his face, gently querying, “did I do something wrong?”

He exhaled through his mouth, “no honey… I am afraid you are doing everything right, and I can’t… It’s too much…”

Her voice had a teasing undertone, “so… you want to sleep?”

He chuckled, “not a chance… but I do want to be in my senses…”

She queried, “for?”

He pushed her hair back from her shoulders, and then slid the jacket down her arms, “for this…”

She complied, helping him to remove the jacket, and then looped her arms around his neck, lifting up for a kiss. He obliged immediately, catching her lips, sudden urgency making the kiss turn rough. She moaned at the new sensations as his teeth nipped, his tongue stroked so deep that she felt the effects in her womb… And then he was tilting her back on bed… For the next few minutes, she had no idea in what world she was… Surely it wasn’t the one where she lived daily… It was an alien world, but yet it felt so familiar… There was the pressure of his body, his unyielding hardness, the heady kisses, the lips wandering all over her face… He moved to her throat, and she arched her head back, giving him more access… She felt a small nip on her shoulder and a tug as he tried to push aside the collar of the t-shirt…

He had tasted alcohol once… just a sip from Nanu’s glass… and his throat, his chest everything had burned, and the sharp pungent after taste had shot to his head… He had thought then that nothing could be more potent than that… But he was oh so mistaken! Her taste… everywhere his mouth moved, he realized that she was much more potent than that alcohol… His head spun at the flavor of her flesh… His ears buzzed, no sound except her urging whimpers registering in them… He throbbed, stretching inside his tracks, feeling an incredible need to do more, feel more, feel her… But no… They couldn’t do that tonight… She might have said yes to everything, but they shouldn’t rush into things mindlessly just because they had the opportunity and time… Plus there was that added bonus of her leaving him stumped with her moves… If they did everything now, then what would she do next time? So no, he would just move a bit today, pique her curiosity even more, until the next time when he was sure she would demand more just like she had done today.

But he still needed to taste more… And so he sat up, gingerly rolling the t-shirt up, revealing the several folds she had made on his tracks to make it her size… It was so comically folded on her waist that he had an urge to laugh… But the peek of her bare flesh took his breath away… He shouldn’t find her beautiful in these clothes… It was bizzare that he did… His vision had adjusted enough to the darkness that he was able to see the gentle glow of her fair skin, but it was still dark enough that he didn’t get the full view he wanted… Suddenly, he could totally relate to how she had felt just minutes ago when she had wanted to see him. But darkness didn’t stop him from touching. His knuckles rotated in light circles on her flat belly, and he felt her flesh quiver… Darkness also didn’t stop him from tasting, and so he dipped his head, placing a lingering kiss at her navel… She arched, her fingers clenching on his shoulder as she moaned in delight. Her pleasure made him smile and a sense of pride swelled his heart at the fact that he could make her feel like this…

The t-shirt was just below her breasts now, and he wondered what he should do… Was it too soon? Was it too much? But then… could he leave her like this? He didn’t know what to do… Thinking that maybe he would just touch once, he started to inch his hand up, but just then she called out in a trembling voice, “S…Sameer…”

He stopped, looking up at her eyes shining in the dark, “yeah honey…”

“Can we stop?” She asked with a little bit of uncertainty, and then hastily clarified, “I mean… I do want it… more… but…”

He reached to kiss her lips, silencing her explanation, and gently pulled down the t-shirt covering her body. Drawing back a bit, he said, “there’s no need to explain… I should have understood.”

She hugged him, rubbing her face like a kitten against his bare chest. Her breath tickled him, and he giggled, “Naina… stop it… let me wear my t-shirt.”

She tightened her hold, “no… stay like this…”

He tittered, “very bad… you don’t let me see and touch… but you want to do that…” Even in darkness he could feel her blush, and chuckled, “just joking Naina… I like this… Sleep now…”

She hummed, complying when he turned her to her side, and draped his leg on her. She didn’t object when his hand slipped beneath her t-shirt, his palm flattening on her back. He kissed her forehead, and settled down, quite content at the way she fit in his arms.

He hadn’t been able to touch or see, but getting that jacket out of the way meant that he could feel her clearly against his body… Honestly he would have gone mad if someone had thrown his precious leather jacket on the floor, but tonight he had done that himself and the reason behind didn’t let him regret it one bit. She was quite bold when they had started out, but just like he had been nervous before, he understood that there had to be some nervousness from her side too. She was sensuous, bold, confident, but he liked the slight hesitation she had, the way she could freely ask him to stop… It wasn’t easy for someone, especially a girl to let a man see her, touch her… Heck, even he had been stumped when she had removed his t-shirt… But he understood that her bold moves meant that she trusted him with herself. Otherwise she wouldn’t have kissed him tonight, she wouldn’t have allowed him to remove that jacket, she wouldn’t have let him explore.

“Sameer”, her tentative voice pulled him out of his thoughts. He hummed, and she queried, “did you feel bad that I stopped you?”

He did chide her for asking this, but rather calmly assured, “no honey… there’s nothing to feel bad about. I am happy that you trust me enough to let me touch you like this, I am proud that I could make you feel some amount of pleasure, and I am very satisfied at the fact that you believe in me enough to demand something and also to stop me from doing something…”

She was silent for a moment, and then said, “we will… umm… explore more later…”

“I know we will”, he replied, “now sleep… we have college tomorrow.” He held her close, feeling her softness, her breath on his skin, and elated in her trust. There was a day in school when after a quarrel he had teased her saying that who knew they could be lying in each other’s arms talking in peace, and she had said that it could only happen in his dreams. Even he had considered it as a joke then… But on this long rainy night his words had finally come true.