Only Mine Chapter 29: Frustration and Exploration

The sun shone bright in morning, the golden rays highlighting the pink dupatta Naina had draped on her shoulder today. She checked her watch once more; it was already time for Sameer to arrive. Where was he? She tapped her foot, sighed loudly, clucked her tongue, and also worried a little about the delay.

“You know something”, PB’s voice sounded from behind, “sticking to the door won’t bring him early.”

Naina looked back, “he is late.”

PB rolled her eyes, closing her magazine, “that is obvious… Why are you so worried? It’s not like you mind missing your classes…”

“I bunked once”, Naina justified, “only for first rain…” Then she paused, and rectified, “uh… actually twice… I had bunked one lecture in my second year, before I met Sameer at the café.”

PB queried, “what was the reason for that one?”

Naina shrugged, “I had to find him… After I saw him at the theatre, we talked on phone… but then like an idiot I lost his number.”

“That’s why I always memorized my boyfriends’ number”, PB playfully replied, “but today’s generation is a slave of paper and pen… and there’s that new instrument in market, mobile… How does anything fit into that small contraption is beyond my understanding.”

Naina chuckled, “that’s technology… and just so you know I remember Sameer’s number very well now.”

PB stood up to join her vigil at the door, “just the number? Nothing else…? Like the shape of his lips, or maybe how it felt when he hugged you, or all those numerous things you did in the night but won’t tell me about?”

Naina’s entire face flushed with color immediately, “it has been two weeks now… Will you stop teasing please? And there were no numerous things in the night… it was just the kiss.”

PB pointed out towards the faraway main-gate of their society through which Sameer was entering on his bike, and said, “right… as if I would believe that after looking at him.”

Even though the blush still tinged Naina’s cheek, her eyes lit up on seeing Sameer. She turned once to look at PB, “uh… you have to believe it… it was just that; and nothing more even in the last two weeks. I have to go now…”

PB smiled, “kiss him some more today… bye!”

Naina shook her head at this blatant teasing, and walked out as soon as he stopped his bike. He waved at PB, and then grinned at Naina. As she came closer, he murmured, “sexy… I love pink on you…”

She bit her lip, “that’s why I wore this today…”

He gestured her to sit behind, and she did, holding onto his shoulders after waving at PB. Once they were out of the gates, she hugged him around his waist, like she usually did, and rested her head on his back. It had been two weeks since their first kiss… And since then they had definitely kissed again, but he had kept it light… Somehow, she knew that he was restraining himself because she had said no to venture further. But on days when she was at his place, the way he would kiss her as soon as he returned home and also before she had to leave would make her crave more of him. Still she hadn’t asked for more. The morning after that night they had spent together always bugged her.

In morning she had woken up snuggled in his arms, and felt so happy that she had kissed his lips… And then waited for him to tease her by declaring that he was awake the entire time… But that time he had indeed been sleeping soundly. Taking that perfect opportunity she had peppered kisses on his face, lips, neck and shoulders and then slid off the bed to freshen up. The rain had stopped sometime before dawn, and the gentle rays of sun were shining on the scene outside. She had wanted to step out on the balcony, but had been mindful of the clothes she was wearing. After a quick trip to the bathroom, she had checked her clothes… The panty and bra were fairly dry by then, and so she had pulled them on. But the remaining clothes were still soggy, and so she had carried them out to the kitchen and spread them on a chair near the window from where sunlight was pouring in. Then she had put on some tea and gone to wake him up. The discarded jacket on the floor made her blush and she had picked it up, carefully keeping it back in the cupboard. His t-shirt was also on the floor, and he was sprawled on the bed, on his back, his arms extended on either side. She had shaken him awake with great difficulty, and he had pouted, “that’s not the way to wake up your boyfriend after the first kiss… you should show some more love.”

She had smirked, “I showed all my love on your face, lips… even on your neck and shoulders… but you kept on sleeping… not my fault.”

His eyes had widened, “really?” She had nodded, and he had pulled her down, rolling to set her on bed, and his brows had furrowed, “I see you have put on your essentials…”

She had blushed, “I don’t know how you get to know so soon…”

“I am a man”, he had justified, “and I am not dead… I can feel…”

Biting her lip somehow she had tried to distract him from the topic, “you need to get up… we are late already, and you still need to drop me home… I have to change and only then we can go to college. We will miss the first few lectures…”

He had nuzzled the side of her face, “let’s skip college and stay in bed all day.”

She had gasped when his lips had closed on her earlobe, “as tempting as that sounds, I will have to say no… PB will be worried if I don’t reach home.”

“PB is smarter than you… she will understand”, he had murmured, still busy kissing her face.

For a moment she had forgotten PB, the morning, the college, the tea she had put on the gas, and had arched giving him more access to her throat. But when he had come to her lips, she had stopped him, “no… Sameer… seriously we need to get up. I am worried…”

He had sat up then, and pulled her in his arms, “about what? You think PB won’t like you staying here? We had no choice last night…”

She had shaken her head, “not PB… I know she will understand… I am worried about your neighbors… Last night Sudha Aunty came so late to give dinner, it seemed as if she was checking on what we were up to… And she wouldn’t be the only one who would have known that I am here… People will see us together this morning, and think…”

“Let them think”, he had interrupted, “we did nothing wrong, and we don’t have to justify ourselves to anybody… we are engaged, we will be married soon.”

She had sighed, “I know… but we aren’t married yet… And the society we live in always has very specific ideas about the limits in relationships.”

He had cupped her face, “why are you worrying so much? I promise I won’t let anyone speak nonsense with you…”

She had smiled, knowing he probably didn’t understand the depth of the situation, and had let it go, asking him instead to brush and get ready. After a quick breakfast of sandwich and tea, she had also changed into her slightly damp clothes. Just then there was a knock on the door, and she had glanced at it worried. Sameer had assured her that all was fine, and opened the door to reveal a man who was the secretary of the building. He was there along with his wife, and queried if he had brought a woman at night.

Naina had quivered but stepped up beside Sameer who still looked puzzled at the question. The man’s wife had questioned what she was doing here and who was she. She had stated that this was a society where respectable people stayed and such things were not tolerated. It was then that Sameer had gotten the full grasp of the situation and Naina’s concern… He had looped an arm around Naina’s shoulder and declared, “she is my fiancée… don’t ever speak a thing against her.”

Couple of more neighbors, especially women had come out. The secretary had stated, “she isn’t your wife… We gave you permission to stay here because the owner of this flat asked us to. But this isn’t acceptable behavior. What impression are you leaving on the youngsters in this society by keeping her here whole night?”

Sameer had been livid, and had stepped forward, his voice laced with an undertone of threat, “what did you say?”

Naina grabbed his arm, “Sameer… no…” She gulped and addressed the man, “uncle… we were stuck in rain yesterday. My home is very far from here, and it was impossible to drive till there. This place was nearby, so we came here… I am leaving now…”

“You don’t need to justify…”, Sameer had started today but was interrupted by another voice. Sudha Aunty had just stepped out, “Naina… Sameer… What’s wrong?”

Netra was there along with her, and the little girl immediately grinned toothily, “uncle…” Sameer was so angry that he didn’t even respond to the girl, but then the kid called Naina, “didi… chocolate.”

Naina was surprised, and so was Sameer, but before they could have said anything Sudha Aunty asked, “why are you both not going to college?”

The secretary had asked, “Sudhaji… you knew this girl was here?”

“Of course”, Sudha assured, “Naina is such a good girl… So matured and calm… Everyone here knows she and Sameer are going to get married soon, and she comes here often in afternoon and evening. Last night, the poor kids were stuck in rain… Sameer couldn’t drive the bike to her home; else he would have stayed there with her family… They didn’t have a choice but to come here. Such a bad night…” Then she had turned to Naina, “did you both eat the tiffin? Shall I make some coffee for you?”

Naina had been slightly puzzled, but replied, “no… we just had tea. And thank you for the dinner yesterday; it was so late we couldn’t even think what to cook.”

“I understood”, Sudha replied, and then asked the secretary, “why are you here Govindji? They both need to go to college.”

The secretary stayed mum, but his wife replied, “someone complained that Sameer had brought a woman home for the night.”

“Yes he did”, Sudha replied firmly, “but not just a woman… He brought the woman he is going to be married to, because there was no place else to take her… because that was the only way to protect her. I don’t know who complained, but we all are Sameer’s neighbors and we knew Naina was here… Whenever Sameer is home, my daughter is at his door more than she is at our home. I don’t understand why this has to be a discussion in-front of so many people… If you still have some problem against Sameer maybe you can talk to my husband.”

Sudha Aunty’s husband was a reputed, educated professor, and everyone in their society respected him. The secretary sighed, “no it is okay… there is no need to disturb professorji. Maybe the person who complained didn’t know who this girl was. Even we didn’t know Sameer was engaged.”

Sudha nodded, “it is because you stay in different tower. Here in Tower C, all of us know about the engagement, and we know Naina very well. Right Shruti?”

Another woman, who stayed on the same floor piped up, “yes, yes… In fact I was just coming here to give this to Naina and Sameer… I made dhokla this morning, and since they both have stayed in Ahmedabad I thought they will like it.”

“They can take it to college”, Sudha stated as Naina accepted the box with a thanks. As everyone except his neighbors left, Sameer banged his fist on the wall, “dammit… how dare they…?”

Naina shuddered, leaning back on the door, her eyes closed as suddenly the scene at her own home in Ahmedabad all those years ago flashed in her mind… The accusation, the slap, the continuous taunts… Sudha Aunty had placed a hand over Naina’s shoulder, “come inside for a moment…”

Sameer and Naina had stepped in along with Sudha, Netra and Shruti… Sameer had been still furious, but on seeing Naina’s eyes, he had guessed what was going through her mind, and forgotten his anger. He had hugged her, not caring about the women, and assured, “stop thinking honey… just stop… this isn’t like that… I am here this time…”

Sudha Aunty had spoken, “I wanted to tell you last night that this could happen… but then I thought not to worry you unnecessarily.”

“I don’t understand”, Sameer had murmured trying to keep a check on his anger, “how can they say things like that? How can they imply that I brought Naina here for…”

He had trailed off unable to find any decent words. Sudha Aunty had sighed, “it happens… you are not married yet, and so there will people who will scrutinize your every move. I know last night you brought her here because there was no other way… And we all understood that. But you also need to understand that while your families and we might know you both very well, there will be people who will raise such questions. Don’t let it affect you.”

Shruti Aunty had queried, “Naina… are you alright?”

She pulled back from Sameer’s arms and nodded, “I am fine… thank you for speaking up on our behalf.”

“It’s nothing”, Shruti had assured, “and honestly… do eat the dhoklas… they are tasty.”

Naina had chuckled, “sure… I love dhokla, but don’t know how to cook them yet.”

“I will teach you”, Shruti had generously offered. Naina had smiled, and then asked, “Sudha Aunty… why did Netra call me didi…?”

Sudha laughed, “I told her to call you Aunty in-front of everyone so that they would know that Netra comes here often when you are here… which is not a lie, technically… But I don’t know why she called you didi.”

Both Sameer and Naina had understood that it was just another way of telling those people that even though Naina had stayed here, the couple had been interrupted often by the neighbors, including the kid, thus assuring them that it was indeed a compulsion of the circumstance and not a choice. Sameer had often talked to Netra before, but that day he had knelt to her level, and asked, “so… I am uncle?” The kid had nodded, and then he had prodded, “but she is didi?” Once more the kid had nodded, and he had laughed softly, lifting the cherubic kid in his arms suddenly, and declared, “I am going to buy you a whole box of chocolates today.” That had earned a joyous squeal from the kid.

On the way home on his bike, he had said that it was good that Netra didn’t call him bhaiya, otherwise it would have been so odd. When Naina had queried why, he had said, “how can a bhaiya-didi be couple?” Naina had blinked and laughed, and asked, “so you mean uncle and didi can be a couple?” Unable to find a proper response he had placed his hand on hers that were around his waist, and said, “I am sorry I didn’t understand before why you were worried… In my mind, in my heart, you are mine… So, I couldn’t understand that people might have such objections just because we aren’t married… I am so sorry that it reminded you of your family.”

She had tightened her hold, “it did only for a minute… then you were there and I stopped feeling scared. I love you Sameer.”

“I love you too honey”, he had mumbled, lifting her hand to kiss the back of her palm.

Once they had reached PB’s place, her teasing and cheerful banter had made both of them forget about the morning incident. And not to mention they had been extremely grateful and happy with the trust PB had on them. They had missed the first three lectures that day… But none of them were bothered about it.

Sameer had been worried that Naina might stop coming home after that incident, and also that it would affect the progress they had made in their relationship. But he had been relieved when she had herself stated after a day that she would be home as planned. That evening he had returned to the beautiful sight of Naina playing with Netra. When the girls had seen him there had been simultaneous squeal of “Sameer” and “Uncle”, and he had laughed out. He had also teased Naina later on that it seemed as if his wife and daughter were calling him, and she had blushed profusely. Unable to resist anymore, he had cupped her face, looked into her eyes and asked, “can I kiss you?”

She had frowned, “why are you asking permission? We already had our first kiss… remember?”

He had chuckled, blessing her practicality for once, and dipped to kiss her. However, mindful of the recent incident he had kept it light, just kiss… And it had been the same in the following days… He would kiss her when he came home, and then again before he went to drop her home… But it seemed as if their peace was disturbed by the incident… Even though Naina kissed him whole heartedly, there seemed to be some amount of hesitation and pull back from her side… She had been bold enough to remove his t-shirt on that night, but ever since then she would never seek to touch him… Her hands would remain on his t-shirt, not trying to dip inside and touch… He didn’t like this distance… But he once again wanted to give her enough time. It wouldn’t have been easy to face such accusations, and she had faced all of that alone last time… He wasn’t there… He didn’t even know what she had been going through at that time… All she had told him was of the accusations and that she had held on to the toy tiger trying to protect him. They never had had a proper discussion about that day, and before he had the chance to think about it, the incident at his home had happened. He should talk to her soon… prod her about what she had faced… Once she let it all out, he hoped she would be fine…

He stopped the bike near her college gates, “we are here.”

She descended, “you want to have lunch together? Quick bite before you go to office…”

“Sure”, he happily agreed, “will think of a place. Bye honey…”

She smiled, waving at him and then stood there for some time watching him drive away. Suddenly there was a “woof” near her ear, and she yelped. Turning back she saw her friends laughing, and hit Bikram on his arm. He tried to hide behind Chaaya and Gurdeep, still laughing, “hey, I thought you love pranks…”

Naina scrunched her nose, “yes, I do… but only Sameer can play pranks on me… and this not a prank, it’s just you being annoying… I wonder how Prajakta tolerates you…”

Bikram grinned on hearing his girlfriend’s name, “she loves tolerating me… you can ask her… about last night…”

“Hawww”, Naina and Chaya exclaimed, while Gurdeep tried to hide his expressions. Bikram feigned confusion, “what? Dirty minds… I only meant kiss…”

Naina frowned, “a gentleman doesn’t kiss and tell…”

“That’s why I am telling you to ask Prajakta”, Bikram justified.

Gurdeep teased her, “you seem to know a lot about kissing Naina…”

Chaaya giggled, “naturally… she is way fast that either of you… Lucky Sameer.”

“Shut up”, Naina chided but couldn’t help the blush that tinged her cheeks.

Bikram leaned closer, “oh my God… she is blushing… Naina is blushing… Have you ever seen her do that before?”

Naina pushed him and turned away, “stop fooling around… classes will start.” Her friends laughed and kept teasing her as they went inside. That day in break time when the boys went off to get something to eat, Chaaya asked, “so… was my guess right? Did you kiss him?”

Naina choked on her coffee, “why are you so interested in my and Sameer’s… umm… love life?”

“Well…”, Chaaya’s eyes gleamed, “I haven’t managed to land a boyfriend yet… so I have to satisfy myself with juicy tales of other people’s love life… And yours seems to be the juiciest given how your boyfriend looks.”

Naina laughed, “uhh… well… yes… We have kissed. But don’t tell anyone…”

Chaaya leaned forward on the table, her eyes sparkling with interest, “I won’t tell… give me more details… how was it? When did you do it? Where did it happen?”

Naina wasn’t sure how much to share, so she kept it vague, “it’s recent… and we were at home…”

Chaaya persisted, “how was it?”

Naina mused for a moment, there was no way she could explain the multitude of emotions, and so she stuck to the facts, “umm…wet…”

“Obviously”, Chaaya rolled her eyes, “can’t you be a bit more descriptive?”

“I can’t talk emotions with anyone”, Naina countered, “except for Sameer… But even he says I am way too practical…”

Chaaya sighed, “you are hopeless… at least tell me how long it was?”

“It was just a kiss”, Naina responded, “nothing more.”

Chaaya scowled, “I know… that’s what I am asking… how long was the kiss?”

Naina replied in an agitated tone, “how am I supposed to keep track while kissing? I don’t know how long it was… maybe five minutes… all I know that it was amazing and as soon as we were done I wanted to do it again.”

“Five minutes?” Chaaya muttered weakly, “the kiss was five minutes long? Oh man… I take back my words… I don’t know about Sameer, but you are one lucky girl… Imagine… If he can kiss you for five minutes, how long would he…”

Naina placed her palm on her mouth, “that’s it… stop right there… don’t go imagining such censored stuff about Sameer… He is mine…”

Chaaya swatted her hand away, “I know he is… but think Naina… God… I mean…”

“Enough”, Naina furiously whispered as she saw the boys come back. Ten minutes later when they were walking back to the classroom, Chaaya whispered in her ear, “tell me if it is more than 20 minutes… the actual deed, not the extra stuff before.”

Naina’s face flushed… She couldn’t believe that her friend was talking like this about kissing and sex, and that too about Sameer… And she couldn’t help but lapse into erotic thoughts in between the next lectures… She had herself said that they might make love before wedding, but she hadn’t given much thought to it. It would be such a big step… And how would they proceed? She reminisced how he had kissed her belly that night, and immediately her insides clenched as if she could feel his lips on her flesh. She recalled how he had tried to sneak his hand up to touch her breast… But she had stopped him… How would it have been if he had touched? Would he have just touched, or lifted the t-shirt further to see? Would he have kissed her there…? Her breathing suddenly felt erratic at the thought…

Goodness… Stop thinking Naina…

It was easier said than done… She couldn’t stop her imaginations… Why had he not done anything since that night? She sighed as soon as that question popped in her mind… It was a no-brainer… Naturally he didn’t want to pressurize her after that incident… Sometimes it agitated her that he wasn’t trying anything, but she also knew the fact the she had also needed the time… But now, after Chaaya’s teasing it seemed her mind couldn’t stop forming images and scenarios. Should she try giving him a hint today? Maybe over lunch…

By the time college ended Naina was pretty worked up because of her endless imaginations and mentally kept on scouting ways to let him know that she was okay once more to explore further. She loved the gentle attention and tender care he had been showering on her since the last two weeks, but she was now missing the possessive urgency with which he had kissed her that night. She needed more… She needed him…

Lost in thoughts she stood at the gates of her college, along with her friends when suddenly two beeps of horn startled her. She looked to the side and her face split into a wide grin on seeing Sameer driving up. He stopped near her, flashed a crooked smile and combed his fingers through his hair. The sight distracted her so much that she immediately started to think of his fingers strumming over her body, making her moan while he smiled like that, crookedly at her, proud of the effect he had on her. Sameer asked her to come over and sit, but she was so lost that she didn’t hear. Chaaya poked her, and murmured, “don’t stare as if you want to eat him up right now… you will need time and place.”

She jerked and blushed, “I… I am not…”

“Liar”, Chaaya snickered.

“Naina”, Sameer called out in a deep voice, “are you alright? Where are you lost?”

“I am fine”, she replied, still blushing and came over to him. He smiled, “shall we go?”

She sat on the bike, holding his shoulder, “yes.”

Bikram teased, “you hold on to his shoulder Naina? Better learn from Prajakta how to sit on a bike with your boyfriend…”

Sameer asked, “who’s Prajakta?”

“A poor girl who has chosen this loser to be her boyfriend”, Chaaya supplied, “don’t pay attention to him… we are just teasing your Naina.”

Sameer grinned at this, “teasing about what?”

Naina’s hand clenched on his shoulder, “Sameer… let’s go…”

Before he could respond, Gurdeep replied, “your Naina was blushing a lot today when we asked if she has kissed you or not… It is the first time we have seen her blush… Thanks for that buddy…”

Sameer was surprised for a moment, and then laughed out loud, “really?” He turned his head to look at her, “what did you say?”

Naina blushed even more if possible, “nothing… and you keep your mouth shut…”

He chuckled, “as you wish honey…”

Her friends laughed harder, and Bikram teased, “here we were thinking that Naina is always so confident and courageous… but look at her now…”

Gurdeep added, “I wonder if all her boldness was just influence of movies… now when it is reality she can’t even utter a word… Poor Sameer… looks like he would have to wait until marriage for a kiss… Bad luck…”

Naina’s hand clenched once more and he thought that this was it… She would speak up something… But to his surprise she stayed quiet, hiding her face against his back. He had no idea why she wasn’t saying anything, maybe she didn’t want to divulge that they had kissed, because it was their private thing… But he couldn’t bear the teasing anymore, and so he stated, “I don’t think it’s called bad luck when my girlfriend is bold enough to talk about kiss even in school when we weren’t in a relationship… And none of you have an idea about the courage it took her to come to Mumbai and build this life for herself… I was the only person who would have understood the real reason, and could have supported her, but even I wasn’t there. She did it on her own, and I am proud of her.”

Her friends had stopped laughing now. Naina listened to him in surprise, and gently pacified, “Sameer… they don’t mean anything… yes, they don’t know why I came to Mumbai, but they do know the type of person I am. Don’t be angry on them…”

Bikram softly said, “yes Sameer… we were just teasing… didn’t want to hurt either of you.”

“I am not”, Sameer responded, “I mean… I am not angry or hurt… I just couldn’t see Naina silently tolerating the teasing. She always replies to me promptly…”

Chaaya chuckled, “that’s because it’s you… you are different for her.” She looked at Naina then, and rolled her eyes, “men…”

Naina also laughed then, “yes… men indeed…” Her eyes narrowed, “Bikram… you are ranting about Prajakta since morning… maybe Chaaya and I should meet her, then we would know in detail about your kissing habits…”

Bikram looked horrified, “no… she wouldn’t tell…”

“Shows what you know of girls”, Naina scoffed, “us girls always have… umm… girly talks. Oh and Gurdeep, you saw me blushing and silent today because it’s only Sameer who can have the effect on me. And as for how to sit on a bike with boyfriend, here’s a lesson for you all…” Saying so, she removed her hand from Sameer’s shoulder, instead wrapping her arms around his waist, and inched closer until she was fully plastered to his back. Sameer jerked, his hand coming up to hold hers, and his voice was low as he muttered, “Naina…”

She stuck her tongue out at the boys whose jaws were hanging open, winked at Chaaya, and then said, “let’s go… I am hungry…”

As the couple drove off, Bikram queried in a whisper, “she meant food, right?”

Chaaya laughed, “who knows? I wouldn’t guarantee…”

Sameer drove to a nearby restaurant for lunch, which surprised Naina, and she queried, “restaurant? I thought we are going to get something quick to eat… I mean… a stall or something…”

He grinned, setting his hair once more, “this is Tarun’s recommendation. He said they serve amazing missal-pav and are fairly quick.”

Truly the food was served within ten minutes of ordering, and it was delicious. Sameer kept chattering the entire time, but Naina was lost in thoughts of how to talk about what she wanted. While starting on his third bun, he noticed how she was not responding, and snapped his fingers in-front of her face, “where are you lost?”

She shook her head, “uh… nothing… just… we are meeting tomorrow right? At home? I was thinking maybe we can have something special…”

“Oh ya”, he mumbled, “about that… I need to go to Tarun’s home tomorrow for dinner. He invited me… So we won’t be able to meet.”

She frowned, “you didn’t tell me…”

“He told me last night”, he clarified, “I was going to tell you today as soon as we met, but you were wearing pink, so I forgot… and then in afternoon you suddenly hugged me like that in-front of your friends… so… I forgot again…”

She reluctantly smiled, “looks like I am having too much of an effect on you…”

He flashed a lopsided grin, “you always did honey… but now I have to wait so long to kiss you again.”

That was the perfect opportunity, the perfect opening she needed. She tilted her head, “just a kiss?”

He paused for a moment, as if thinking, and then said, “umm… no… more than one… definitely…” She opened her mind to prod further, but he spoke up before that, “are you done already? Can I finish off your bowl or should I order another?”

She pushed her bowl towards him, “take it… I am done…” As he devoted to food again, she once more tried, “Sameer… I was thinking… uh… what happens… after…”

He stuffed an unusually large piece of bun in his mouth, and mumbled, “after what?”

She frowned, “don’t speak with your mouth full… I meant, after we ki…”

“Sir”, a waiter interrupted this time, “is the food alright? would you like something else?”

Sameer mumbled something, once again with his mouth full, but the waiter looked puzzled. Naina sighed, “he means everything is okay… can you please get the bill?”

“Certainly madam”, the waiter nodded and disappeared.

Sameer swallowed the last morsel, and wiped his mouth, “you were saying…?”

She checked the time, glanced at the waiter who was walking once more to their table, and exhaled, “never mind that… you will be late… we can talk later on phone.”

After lunch, he drove to his office from where Naina took a taxi. She smiled when he blew her a kiss, but mentally she groaned at the loss of a chance of conversation. God… Why can’t she just blurt that she wanted more? Usually she would just speak whatever was in her mind… She had lost count of the number of times she had managed to leave Sameer speechless… But now, when she truly wanted to talk it seemed she was at a loss of words. By the time she reached home she had worked herself up in a nervous mess, and felt that she was a lost case in romance… Her boyfriend was more interested in stuffing himself with food rather than noticing she was trying to open avenues of romance. What did girls do usually to give hints? Should she be clinging to his arm like that Tanvi from school or like Miss. Sparkly Ass? Or should she wear some skimpy clothes like they showed in movies? Or make her voice sultry and sashay her hips in-front of him?

There was no answer from her conscience of inner self. Thinking to relax, she went to the parlor to get her pending session done… After a round of waxing, spa, manicure-pedicure, and head massage, she felt relatively better. But she still had no new ideas on how to make Sameer realize that she was ready for more. She tried to read a book, cleaned her wardrobe, glared at the stuffed tiger, but it was no use…

PB noticed her unusual silence and the way she was mutilating the bread toast during evening tea, and queried, “I hope you are not thinking of that bread to be Sameer…” She glanced down at her plate, blinking on seeing the bread that was almost shredded to bits.

Did I do that?

She sighed aloud, “no that is not Sameer… though it could be in a day or so…”

PB pressed her lips to hide her smile, “what’s wrong?”

Naina tapped her foot, clattered her nails on the table and blurted, “what do you do when your boyfriend is more interested in food than you?”

There was a moment of silence, and then Naina turned red in mortification while PB threw back her head, roaring with laughter. After a minute, PB calmed down, wiped the tears of mirth from the corner of her eyes, and said, “I see… so you are trying to get his attention? I didn’t think that would be a problem, especially after the kiss…”

Naina groaned, covering her face, “never mind… forget I asked that…”

“It’s bit difficult”, PB teased, “I know I am old but my memory is still good. What happened? You kissed… and then? Nothing? Is that why you were saying this morning that nothing happened in two weeks?”

“PB please”, Naina muttered, embarrassed, “I just… I was not paying attention to what I was saying…”

PB grinned, “well… let me see… it has been a long time since I tried any such thing… but in those days we would flutter our dupatta, let it touch his arm lightly… and then walk away little bit, stop and turn back to look at him… That much was enough to give him the signal…”

Naina’s mouth fell open in surprise as she imagined the description is black and white visuals in her mind… Some heroine is tight fitting churidaar playing this trick on the hero… And then in movies the scene would shift to some romantic song… Intrigued she leaned forward on the table, placing her chin on her palm, forgetting her embarrassment, and asked, “what else?”

PB also leaned on the table, “hmmm… write a love letter and kiss it… the red mark used to be as passionate as a real kiss. Imagine… you would give that letter to Sameer and he would kiss that mark… You see, we didn’t have the facility to talk daily on phone, or even meet freely. Such gestures would bring us closer…”

“That sounds so romantic”, Naina murmured dreamily.

PB smiled, “it is… but you missed the chance… you have already kissed him. So, I guess a letter won’t be as effective.”

Naina blushed, “stop teasing me. Did you really use all these tricks?”

“You won’t tell me your experience of kissing”, PB tittered, “so why should I share my romantic tales with you?”

Naina pouted, “that’s not fair… how can I share such things with you? You are my grandmother.”

“And you are my granddaughter, so that means even I can’t tell you my tales”, PB reasoned.

Naina sighed, “why does that have to make sense?”

PB chuckled, “okay listen… I can’t really believe that Sameer is not paying attention to you… I have never seen anyone care for someone else so much. It maybe that the kind of attention he is showering on you is different than from what you want… If that is so, then you have to let him know. And I am sure you are smart enough to figure out a way.”

Naina smiled as PB stood up, patted her head and left. Well… even without a background PB had really understood the crux of the matter. There was no lack of attention and care from Sameer… But all he was doing was keeping her in a protected bubble… It felt good to have someone watch over her, but he didn’t understand that there really was no need to protect her from himself. How should she let him know that? Maybe… rather than waiting she could take the lead… Just like she had done that night… She had removed his t-shirt, and that had given him the freedom to peel off the jacket from her body… That was it then… Next time they met she would somehow take the lead and show him that she needed more…

The rest of the evening was better after she had made this resolution. When Sameer called after dinner, she talked happily with him, asking how his day in office was. He briefly told her about his work, and then added, “I wish you were here now… with me…”

She smiled, “what would you have done?”

“I am so tired”, he muttered, “I would have kissed you and then slept with you in my arms. I miss you Naina.”

Hugging and Kissing… Kissing and hugging… If that’s all he needs why can’t he just sleep with the toy rabbit?

She huffed, irritated, but didn’t reply. He was puzzled by the silence, “what’s wrong honey?”

“Nothing I guess”, she rolled her eyes, “I just didn’t know I was a replacement of soft toy.”

He was even more confused, “huh? What?”

She was frustrated, “that’s it… keep eating, stay confused and don’t pay attention to anything else… It has been two weeks since we kissed… But of course, it doesn’t matter… And tomorrow you are going for dinner… again food…”

He couldn’t comprehend her blabbering, “Naina… what are you saying? Two weeks since we kissed? That was our first kiss… We have kissed after that too… And if you don’t want me to go tomorrow then I won’t… Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I don’t have a problem with you going for dinner”, she retorted, “but you just don’t understand the main point… Do I really have to spell everything out for you?”

He tried to make sense, “I will understand if you at least tell me what’s bothering you…”

“See”, she interrupted, “I have to tell you… literally grab you and demand for a kiss, only then you will kiss… otherwise everything is just prank… pretend to open your jeans… discuss about speed… flirt with double meaning sentences… That’s all… All talk and no show…”

He gaped at the receiver as she kept on ranting, and after few minutes when she paused to drag in a breath, he hesitantly queried, “are you implying that I can’t do anything more than kissing you?”

She was so agitated by then that she responded without thinking, “can you? How would I know?”

There was a prolonged silence, where nothing could be heard except breathing from both end, and then Sameer replied in a clipped tone, “I have to go now… will talk later. Bye…”

Her eyes widened in shock, “Sameer…” But all she was met with was a beeping tone, indicating that he had disconnected.

Dammit Naina…

She dialed his number again… and again… and again… Five times, without any response from his side, even though she let it ring for the entire time. What had she done? Since when did she become so impatient, irritated and crass? She had literally told him that he couldn’t do anything more than talk… Oh God… And now he was angry… Very very angry apparently because he was not even picking up her calls…

She waited for ten minutes, nervously pacing the length of her room, and then called him again, hoping he would think it was someone else and pick up the phone. But he didn’t… She tried couple of times more, and then understood it was of no use now. Somehow she dragged herself in the bathroom, brushed, freshened up and changed into her night dress… The satin shorts and top were one of the first things she had indulged in after gaining her confidence back in Mumbai… she had her old night dresses from Ahmedabad, but each one of them had been selected and bought by Chachiji and Taiji… Loose, full-sleeved, and covered her head to toe. Not that she didn’t like them or they were uncomfortable… But at that time she had wanted to discard everything that would remind her of her life in Ahmedabad. And so she had asked PB for new night dresses… PB had given her money and asked to go shop by herself for a change… She had been extremely scared to do so, but surprisingly had enjoyed roaming around the streets and choosing clothes for herself… The comfort and happiness of buying something that she liked had given her so much peace that time…

She checked her reflection in the mirror, adjusting the pink strap… Pink… Sameer liked to see her in pink. Suddenly her eyes started to fill with tears as she recollected how she had messed things up. How would she ever explain to him about this? PB had told her to find a way… Couldn’t she have been more patient? It wasn’t his fault… When they had met here in Mumbai she was still so cautious of everything… She wasn’t her old self… But Sameer had patiently made her come out of that shell with his love and care… She had started to laugh more… She had started to play pranks again… And she had gained her confident bold personality back… All because of him… It was natural of him to protect her, he had done that since school, and he always gave her the time and space she needed. He had waited for her to say yes for the kiss because he had wanted to ensure that she truly wanted it… Otherwise he would have kissed her back in Ahmedabad at his home when she had been ready to give in… But Sameer had never wanted just her surrender; he had wanted everything from her. She sniffed, hoping that he wouldn’t be so angry that he would stop talking to her… How would she convince him?

She wiped her tears, stepped out of the bathroom, and froze… There was some sound… Like scratching or… scraping… and breathing… Goodness! Was it some burglar? She should close the door… No, she should escape… Go out and tell PB… She will call the police. Yes…

Naina had just taken a step towards the door, when a thumping sound announced the arrival of the intruder… She sped up… Her hand was on the latch, about to open it… but just then she heard her name, spoken in a breathless deep voice, “Naina…”

She gasped, turned slowly and her eyes widened on seeing Sameer at the threshold of the sliding balcony door. He was standing there, his glittering eyes fixed on her, his breath bellowing from his lungs as his chest surged up and down… She couldn’t comprehend the emotions in his eyes, but in that moment she didn’t really care if he was angry or not… She was just extremely relieved on seeing him… And so she whispered, “Sameer…”, and rushed towards him. He blinked, slightly surprised on seeing her move so fast, and splayed his legs, spreading his arms just a second before she went air-borne. Her arms looped around his neck in a tight hold as she jumped on him, and her legs went around his waist, locking at his hip… He quickly held her with one arm, staggering a couple of steps back and grabbed the balcony door with his other hand trying to steady himself. He hadn’t been expecting this…

After about half a minute when he felt he would be able to balance himself, he left the door and wrapped that hand around her as well. After talking to her he had realized that something was bothering her extremely, and he had also understood that she probably needed more than a kiss from him but wasn’t able to spell it out. Her frustration had puzzled him, and his first priority had been to come over and meet her somehow, but a slow hope had spread through him when he had recalled her words while driving. She had been angry about having to explain everything and he had tried to recall if there was ever a time they hadn’t been able to finish the conversation… And then he had remembered the lunch… Was she trying to give him some hints at the restaurant? He had no idea because he had been focused on eating… Mentally smacking himself he had hidden his bike outside her society, jumped the wall and sneaked inside. The climb up to her bedroom on the first floor wasn’t much, but given he only had a pipe as leverage it had taken some time and effort… He had been afraid that she would be still angry and ask him to leave, but quite the contrary had happened. She had jumped in his arms and was now wrapped around him as if she was a vine and he a supporting pillar.

He checked once to ensure that the bedroom door was locked, and walked the few steps to her bed. As he sat down, he thought she would pull back, but it didn’t seem that she wanted to… Rather he felt her lips in his hair, and her breath hitched. He stroked her back, noticing the satin but parked that sensation and thought for later, and instead asked, “honey… are you alright?”

“I am sorry”, she mumbled, and drew back a bit. He saw the tears in her eyes and opened his mouth to ask, but she stalled him by framing his face in her small slim hands and peppering kisses all over. He closed his eyes, letting her have her way as she seemed to need, but that didn’t mean he was unaffected or oblivious. His hand fisted in her hair, he felt his control slipping… He had come here to talk but now he felt the need for more… Somehow he tried to stop his urges, and instead used the hold in her hair to pull her back, “Naina… honey… stop… we need to talk.”

“No”, she stated firlmy, “there is nothing to talk about… I am sorry I shouldn’t have said those things… that’s it.”

She tried to kiss him again, but he drew back and held her arms, “listen to me… I want to kiss you right now…”

“Then do it”, she interrupted.

He smiled, “I will… but you need to tell me why you were so frustrated when we talked. Did I do something wrong? Did I not listen when you wanted to say something?”

She frowned, “is all this necessary? We don’t have to do this… just forget it…”

He stared at her for a moment, and then confessed, “I want it honey… I am scared… When we met here, at that café, you were so closed up… as if you were trying your best to hide your true self and I felt I couldn’t reach you… I couldn’t reach my Naina… The Naina I had fallen madly in love with… That didn’t mean I didn’t love you then, I did… And that’s why I wanted to bring out the part that you had hidden… the craziness, the boldness, the sassy attitude… It happened slowly… I was scared that the incident at home recently affected you and you would withdraw once more…”

She listened to everything and sighed, moving to sit beside him… His honesty was incomparable… How could he put his heart out like that in-front of her? How could he just describe every emotion so perfectly? No wonder he called her practical… She wondered how to explain, she didn’t want to quarrel with him or say something wrong again, and so she carefully chose her words, “I… I appreciate your patience… The way you waited for me to say yes for the kiss… I needed that time… Even after what happened two weeks ago, I needed some time, and you gave it to me. You didn’t do anything more than kiss me… But… I don’t need to be protected always Sameer, especially not from you. When I said yes, I meant it… When I said we will explore more, I meant it…”

He cupped her chin, turning her head so that he could look in her eyes, “I know you meant it… I didn’t doubt it even for a second… but the problem this time was I didn’t know the extent to which you were affected… And that is because we never talked about it.”

She looked puzzled, “I already told you that I only remembered the Ahmedabad incident for a few minutes…”

He nodded, “yes… I am not talking about that. I meant that we haven’t talked about the Ahmedabad incident. I just know that you were accused of an affair, you remained silent, your family hit you and then you were sent to Mumbai. What exactly happened Naina? Let’s talk about it once and get it out of the way… I don’t want to be scared all the time of you withdrawing back into your shell… I cannot promise that I won’t let your family ever hurt you, because honestly, it is impossible to protect someone all the time, but I can promise you that no matter what I will always be there with you…”

She smiled at the promise, and murmured, “I feel all these emotional dialogues should be for the girl in a relationship… but then you will immediately say, perceptions Naina.”

He chuckled, “I am okay with being the emotional one here… I am too much in love with your practical side.”

She was amazed at the way he simply accepted everything about her, never trying to change or even tame any aspect of her personality. In Sameer she had truly found the love she had always dreamt of… He loved her for who she was, everything about her, the complete package… She had always thought that such acceptance could happen only in fairytales… But his love was grounded, real… There were ups and downs in their story, it was based on a pillar of trust, there was a solid inter-dependence, and there was laughter, passion, quarrels, romance, anger, affection… It was everything she had ever wanted and more… This was the reason she didn’t try to evade the question or refuse to divulge… Sameer had right to every bit of her life and soul, even the broken bits.

“I had reached home just then”, she started to narrate in a low voice, “I was sad about the way you left. I wished we hadn’t met that day, because that would have meant that our conversation was left unfinished… But that day gave you a chance to say goodbye, and it felt like a closure I didn’t want to happen. I changed and grabbed the tiger, sitting with it in the balcony amidst the roses I had planted. But after few minutes Chachiji called me… I got up thinking she was calling for tea, but just then Taiji grabbed my arm and pulled me out in the living room… My whole family was there… Tauji, Papa, Chachaji, Arjun bhaiya, Pralay, Chachiji, Preeti… Taiji asked me who was the boy… I couldn’t understand… But then Chachiji said that our neighbor had informed them that I was standing with a boy on the road, chatting… She had suggested that it seemed like I had an affair because the boy and I were pretty cozy. I couldn’t understand what was happening… I thought I would tell it was just some boy from school and nothing special… But then they kept saying how could I commit such a sin, they asked me what kind of relationship it was, and to what extent I had gone… They said that I had embarrassed the family honor, and was a disgrace… When Papa pulled my ear and asked who the boy was, I knew the matter had escalated too much, and I couldn’t take your name, else Nanu and you would have to face embarrassment. That was when Papa hit me… And then Taiji… I don’t remember how many times… I just felt an immense sense of loss on recalling your goodbye, and a sharp pain on knowing that my family didn’t trust me and probably didn’t even love me… I remember Chachaji, Chachiji and Preeti trying to save me from the blows… But it had stopped mattering by then… The physical pain was nothing compared to the ache in my heart… And that’s when it hit me that I had lost everything… My family, their trust, you and any chance in having a life I dreamt of… And I just… blanked out…”

She took a deep breath and continued, “the next thing I remember was lying on the bed in my room, and a doctor was talking to Chachiji telling her that I was weak and had fainted from stress and shock… I was zoned out for a couple of days, living in the same house but oblivious to the conversations… I didn’t speak to anyone except Preeti, and that too only when she talked or asked something… Finally, one day Chachaji told me that it was decided that I would be sent off to Mumbai to live with PB… It hurt… My family was throwing me out of the house… But I didn’t complain… One day before I had to leave for Mumbai, I requested Preeti to take me out… Chachaji helped… And I went to our special place… You had mentioned it gave you peace… It’s true, that place helped me calm down as well, and I sat beneath that tree and cried… After few minutes I realized that maybe this was the chance to live the life I wanted, it didn’t come to me like I had thought of, it had come accompanied with unexplainable pain, but still the chance was here… And rather than crying at the loss of something that probably was never there, I should be strong and try to make the best of it… That’s it really… You already know my bracelet fell off there, and next day I left for Mumbai… After coming here PB helped me settle down and be happy again… She took me shopping, taught me fashion, educated me about parlor and several other stuff… In her I found a guardian who understood me, and a friend who didn’t ask me questions I didn’t want to answer…”

Sameer felt his throat choke up on hearing the way she had lost all semblance of hope on that day… She had fainted… He hadn’t known that… He stood up, walking to the balcony door, glancing out at the sky, and muttered in a dismayed voice, “I don’t know how to heal this wound.”

She went to him and slid her arms around his waist from behind, “you already have Sameer… That’s the only reason I could talk about it. Even PB doesn’t know anything… all this time she gave me so much support but still I couldn’t talk to her about it. But you gave me the courage and confidence to move on. I will never forget the way my family treated me, but you became that person in my life who knows everything about me and understands me even when I don’t say anything…”

He turned to her and hugged her. She leaned on his chest, “I was sad today because you disconnected and I realized I shouldn’t have said such things to you… I was afraid you wouldn’t speak to me for few days… But you know, even then I wasn’t scared of losing you. I knew that you love me and will always be with me… That’s the assurance and courage you have given me. I love you Sameer…”

He sighed, “I love you too Naina…” Knowing that she was okay even after narrating everything about that day, calmed him down… He was still angry on her family for the way they had treated her. They had literally made her feel as if they were throwing her out of her own house. Even though he knew that Chachaji had done it so that Naina could be saved from more dire consequences, it still grated on his nerves that she hadn’t received enough emotional support when she had needed it.

Her voice broke in his thoughts, “will you stop thinking about the past? I am fine… really…”

He smiled, kissing the top of her head, “is PB asleep?”

“She must be”, Naina murmured.

He drew back a bit, “good… because you are looking too hot in this night dress and I will be extremely annoyed if someone interrupted me.”

She looked down at herself, suddenly realizing that she was wearing satin shorts that came just to mid-thigh, and a sleeveless top, without a bra… Dear God… She turned away from him, “uh… I will go and change…”

But she had barely taken a step away when he grabbed her hand and tugged her back. She gasped at the hard pull, and came crashing on his chest, her hand landing just over his heart. Her eyes met his, the glittering in his so piercing that she felt lost… “You are mine”, he rasped possessively, his other hand holding her waist and pulled her up to him. Her forehead touched his, her gaze still captive, and then his lips touched hers. She hummed, her hands clenching on his chest… He pulled her closer, tightening his hold on her, and she parted her lips, allowing him to deepen the kiss. His hand moved over her back, skimming to her bottom and lifted her. She gasped, wrenching her mouth away from him, but her legs automatically wrapped around his hips, just like before. Her eyes were wide in surprise as she stammered, “wh…what are you doing?”

His eyes glittered dangerously, “showing you what I can do… proving that it’s not just all talk…”

“I didn’t mean…”, she started to clarify again. But he smirked and interrupted, “doesn’t matter now… A challenge is a challenge.”

She gulped as he walked to the bed, the position she was in left her open and vulnerable to him, and even though he was wearing jeans she could feel the hard length of him rubbing between her legs with each step he took… Her eyes almost drifted shut and she couldn’t control the moan that escaped her lips…

He carefully tipped her on the bed and came down on top of her, immediately capturing her lips again… Her body tightened with need because this was the kiss she had been missing… The urgency to taste, the way his tongue stroked deep and sure, the way his teeth nipped at her lips… And today there was more… It wasn’t just his lips that were pleasuring her, but his entire body seemed to be devoted to the task… His hips were grinding against her, causing her insides to clench with desire… His hands were roaming over her body, stroking places he could reach… Suddenly he grabbed her legs, unlocking them from around his hips, and his warm big palms slid up and down her thigh.

His lips left her mouth leaving her panting for breath, he trailed tiny bites down her throat, reaching her shoulder. She whimpered and he quickly reached up to her lips again, “shsh… PB will hear.”

Naina dragged in a deep breath, “her bedroom is downstairs… She just comes to this floor once in a day saying it’s good for her knees to get some exercise, but she shifted to ground floor years ago…”

He trailed the back of his fingers up her arm, “so that means the only thing that can stop me is you saying no…”

She looked in his eyes, “that’s right…”

His fingers now toyed with the strap, “are you going to say no?”

“At some point maybe”, she promptly responded, “not now…”

He grinned, “good… because I want to see…”

She thought he would pull down the strap from her shoulder, or lift her top… She thought he meant he wanted to see her breasts, something she had stopped him from doing that other night… But to her surprise, he sat up on his knees, his hands skimming over her legs as he stared without blinking… She couldn’t understand what was it that he was staring at… After a minute or so, she couldn’t stop herself from asking, “what are you looking at? I have waxed today… not like school…”

The information surprised him enough to look up at her face, and his eyebrow lifted in amusement, “not like school? So that means… Tanvi was right? You hadn’t waxed that day?”

She frowned, “you were staring at my legs… at first I thought you were concerned about my wounds but then I realized you were probably horrified at how unkempt I was…”

He laughed softly, “oh honey… if only you knew… I wasn’t staring… I was ogling… For the first time a pair of legs caught my attention and I couldn’t believe there was so much to see beneath those socks you would pull up till knees… Honestly, I had even forgotten your wounds… I just kept feeling dizzy on seeing your legs, especially this…” His finger stroked a spot on her shin, and then he knelt, placing an open-mouthed kiss there, “this mole right here… it’s sexy…”

She queried in shock, “you seriously hadn’t noticed that I hadn’t waxed?”

He shook his head, “nope… I was too much gone to notice that… But then Tanvi was annoying me as usual, and she mentioned unwaxed legs… I thought she was lying out of spite, because I had seen your legs, surely I would have noticed if you hadn’t waxed… Turns out I didn’t notice that, but she did…”

She bit her lip, “what did you tell her?”

He grinned, “I told her to stuff a sock in her mouth and never dare to speak about you in-front of me… And I also tried to reconfirm that day if you had waxed or not… Remember, you were sitting in the courtyard with Swati, eating aloo paratha… I sat beside you and tried to look at your legs… I could only see your knee, but it was hair-free so I concluded that you had waxed and Tanvi was just lying.”

She rolled her eyes, reached out to grab his hand, and pulled him on top of her. He balanced himself over her on his arms, and she stroked a finger down the side of his face, tracing his perfect sharp jawline, and commanded in a low husky voice, “don’t take another woman’s name when you are in bed with me…”

His eyes sparkled and his lips curved in a lopsided smile, “whose name? what name are you talking about? I don’t remember…”

“Good”, she replied, satisfied, and opened a button on his shirt. He kept watching her with admiration as she slowly slipped open each button, and then her hands were stroking his chest. He groaned, she reached up and kissed his lips, causing his brain to shut down. When she pushed him on his back, he realized that somehow she had managed to free one of his arms from his shirt and was now tugging at the other sleeve. He readily cooperated, feeling extremely gratified at the bold sensuousness she was displaying. Her mouth was a warm suction on the side of her neck, his hand dipped inside her top stroking her back, feeling as if he was floating in some other dimension… His muscles clenched and tightened as her hands and lips moved over them, and his jeans felt extremely tight…

Her thumb traced over his left nipple, “I love this mark…”

He gasped, “what mark?”

“The mole”, she mumbled, and dipped. Her tongue traced the circular outline and then her lips closed over the spot softly sucking. He had a fleeting moment of confusion as he wondered how she knew to do that. But soon he once more stopped thinking, instead simply enjoyed her fingers combing through the patch of hair on his chest, her mouth playing havoc on his body.

She lifted up to kiss his lips once more, and whispered, “this was what I was trying to tell you at lunch… that I was ready for more.”

His eyes snapped open, “what? Really?”

She smiled, “yes… but you were more interested in misal-pav.”

“I will ditch that dish forever”, he declared furiously.

She laughed as he tightened his hold on her and flipped their positions so that she was on her back. Her arms lifted to loop around his neck, her eyes roving over his features, fixing on his lips and she chuckled suddenly thinking that Chaaya’s usage of juiciest word wasn’t wrong. He queried, “what?”

She traced his lower lip with her thumb, “nothing… And why are you talking? I thought that was forbidden in bed…”

He smirked, “that’s right honey… so you better shut up.”

“Make me”, she demanded, and he immediately obliged, capturing her lips in a heated kiss. Down below his legs tangled with hers, her body squirmed impatiently and he settled more of his weight on her. His hand stroked down the side of her body, and dipped beneath the hem of her top, two fingers stoking the bare flesh. She stayed busy in the kiss, until the knuckles of his hand gently brushed against the underside of her breast. That’s when she gasped in surprise… He lifted his head, staring at her face, waiting… She kept looking at him, her gaze steady, her lips swollen and wet from their kisses, but didn’t speak… His wet lips curved in a smile as he understood that she wasn’t going to say no, that she also wanted to move further…

Slowly, gently, his broad palm cupped her breast, softly kneading as if he was learning the shape and size… Her breathing accelerated… The tip of his thumb flicked her nipple once and then traced it in circular motions… Her breath broke on a moan and she arched…

He kissed her face, her lips, moving to her shoulder, nuzzling the strap aside to nip at her flesh. Just like last time his brain buzzed at her taste, like a heady potion that shot to the head. Something fizzed in his veins, his movements urgent as he used both hands to cup, trace and rub her breasts. She didn’t stop him when he sat back and lifted her top to bare her belly… She didn’t object when he peppered kisses on the exposed skin… He paused for a moment looking up at her face once more, seeking permission without words, but she was in no condition to speak… The only permission she could give was by sliding her fingers in his hair and arching up so he could lift her top further…

His breath froze as he looked down at her… The pink satin moved away to bare her to him, and he couldn’t think of any sight more beautiful than this… There should be words, he felt… Something to describe what he was seeing, something to tell her how amazing he found her, something to let her know the effect on him… But his brain couldn’t produce anything the least bit elaborate, except a “wow”, which escaped his lips in a shuddering breath.

Her hand lowered to her sides, the movement making him look at her face, and he saw her eyes were squeezed shut. Her cheeks were a shade of scarlet… Her hands moved once more, as if she was going to cover herself… But he couldn’t let her do that… And so he dipped, nuzzling the swells of her breast, gratified on hearing her gasp… His lips trailed a line of short open mouthed kisses and then closed over her right nipple in a gentle warm suction…

“Sameer”, she moaned, arching off the bed, her fingers fisting in his hair once more.

Yes… This is what he wanted… To see her… To taste her… To have his fill of her… But as he moved back and forth between her breasts, he realized that there was no fill that would be enough… He needed her with such desperation that his own body trembled… She bit her lip trying to control her sounds as his teeth nipped urgently as if he wasn’t able to get enough of her skin.

After few minutes, he suddenly swiftly pulled down her top, and buried his face in the crook of her neck, his warm breath whooshing against the pillow. She stroked his back, feeling the muscles, his weight pinning her to the bed. It was such an amazing feeling that she didn’t want to open her eyes and come back to reality. There should have been a sense of dissatisfaction, of being unfulfilled, but all she could feel was the amazement of something new and delightful. He rolled to the side, taking her with him, and she nestled closer, rubbing her face on his chest.

Another five minutes later, he murmured, “I should ask things… but my brain isn’t working…”

She chuckled, kissing over his heart, “it was perfect… nothing to ask…”

He hummed, holding her close; an overwhelming sense of awe in his heart when he felt her even breathing indicating that she had fallen asleep. He should leave, he thought, but the lure of her soft body nestling trustingly in his arms was too much to ignore. And so he tightened his hold, slowly drifting off to sleep…