About Last Night THREAD 3**Part 27 - 37**

Part 27

"One last time. Leave!" Khushi said, pointing her finger to the shadows from where he had emerged. Her hair stirred in the breeze like a dark veil floating behind her. "You are nothing to me. I was miserable when they forced our rishta, and I was relieved when I could throw that ring back in your face." She forced a harsh laugh, "yes, relieved! And, do you know why? Because in my heart I knew I belonged to Arnavji."

Shyam's face darkened, his mouth twisting, as he snapped, "Yes, belong! Because that's all you are to him--an object to control and possess."

"Acha?" she replied immediately. "Then I hope he never stops. Because I love being possessed by him."

"It will stop!" he sniggered, his lips contorting. "When your usefulness ends in protecting his sister, he will toss you out without a second look."

Khushi leaned into his face, her hands clenched at her sides, and snarled, "I would sooner be discarded by him, than be with you."

At these words, Shyam stumbled back a step as though her words had a physical impact. The malevolence in his eyes terrified her, but she seemed to be drawing from a strength she didn't know she possessed. 

"You can go now. You've done me a tremendous favour. Your secret has weighed on me, but now that you told me Arnavji knows everything, I can relax. He is handling it. And, when he decides to tell Di, all the Guptas will be there to tell her how you tricked us." The words stumbled out of her without any consciousness on her part. It was as though the more she spoke, the more sure she grew of herself, her husband and their future. She wanted to run and search for Arnav, but something told her that she had to remain rooted until Shyam left. He had to be driven out by her. This was a war, this was the battlefield and she could not--she would not!--yield.

And--he did yield. Almost silently, he turned away, and left the way he had come.

Her knees trembled but she remained upright until he was no longer visible.

-----------

Arnav Singh Raizada had never witnessed anything more arresting than this castigation delivered by his wife. He had watched and listened from the shadows of their bedroom--waiting for the precise moment to step in. But, the moment had never arrived. 

She had single-handedly quashed the snake.

He stepped into the lit pool area, and his footsteps must have alarmed her as she immediately pivoted towards the disturbance ready to do battle.

He put up both hands to show he was unarmed. She gasped a sigh of shaky relief, and ran to him. He caught her in his arms.

"Where were you? I needed you!" she demanded.

"No, you didn't," he smiled, gripping her close, cradling her head.

She began to correct him, "you don't know what--"

"I heard everything," he stated.

She pulled back as if in a daze, and stared at him, her mouth forming a perfect 'O'.

He nodded, brushing her hair away from her face, attempting to tuck the wayward locks behind her ears. "Every word."

Khushi appeared to be processing his statement.

"You know everything?" she asked.

"More or less. Though, I do have some questions--" he said.

"--as do I!" she added. 

But before she launched into her questions, he placed his hand over her mouth, and said, "could we discuss this later? Much later..."

Her eyes crinkled, and he felt her smile beneath his hand. He replaced his hand with his mouth, and drew her into a kiss, which escalated from tender to urgent very quickly. His hands caressed her face, her neck and then slipped inside the wide neck of her kameez to cup and caress her unbound breasts.

She moved away and broke contact before he was ready to release her. "Let's go inside," she said, peering into the dark shadows surrounding the pool area.

"There is nothing to fear anymore," he said to her--and repeated the words, this time to himself. He allowed himself to exhale the breath he had held for twenty minutes.

---------

They entered their bedroom, and Arnav closed the sliding doors and drew the curtains. He appeared to remember something, and moved to the bedroom door. 

"I'll be back," he said.

"Where are you going?" she asked, clutching his arm, aware that alarm had crept into her voice.

He halted, and turned. Cupping her face in his hands, he said, "Khushi? Are you afraid to be alone?"

"No," she shook her head. "I'm afraid you'll confront him and fight and Di will be hurt...the family will be upset..." Khushi's imagination made flying leaps where she could only see disaster upon disaster unfolding.

"Shhh," he hushed her. "Nothing of that sort will happen. I have set a plan in motion. There is no need to confront or fight him. He will destroy himself."

"Then where were you going?" she asked, worry drawing her eyebrows together.

"To get your jalebis and milk," he disclosed, dropping a kiss on her nose.

Khushi relaxed and smiled, and said, "I'll go down."

"Sure?" he lifted his eyebrow. When she nodded, he said, "I'll have a quick shower." She was almost through the doors, when he stopped her. "Take this," he said, handing her her dupatta. 

Khushi ran downstairs. Lakshmi was in the hall, and she stopped to give her a cuddle, tighten her choli strings and refresh her water bowl. She then entered the kitchen, poured enough milk for two glasses into a saucepan and ignited the gas burner. As she waited for the milk to come to a boil, she placed a short tower of jalebis on a small plate. Then remembering there was some sugar-free gajjar ka halwa in the fridge, she heated some up, placed it in a bowl for Arnav, and garnished it with slivers of badaam-pista. She was arranging these items on a tray when she saw Anjali--and with her, Shyam--enter the kitchen.

"Oh ho," Anjali smiled, "a late night snack?"

Khushi avoided Shyam's despicable roving eyes, grateful for Arnav having had the presence of mind of handing her the dupatta before she left the bedroom.

"Can I heat some milk for you, Di?" she asked.

"I'll do it, Bhabhi--you go upstairs. Chotte will be waiting."

Khushi poured the hot milk into the two glasses, placed them on a second tray, and insisted, "you take this. I'll heat some more."

Anjali thanked her and reached for the tray, but Shyam reached across and said, "let me, Rani Sahiba." He took the tray from Khushi.

Khushi bristled as he deliberately touched her fingers. She flashed her eyes at him as a warning, but he missed her glare as he was preoccupied with comparing the two trays. He said, "Kya? Nothing sweet for us?" 

He lifted his eyes to sneer at her. 

"Of course," she replied and quickly filled another plate of jalebis and placed it on their tray. 

"And, gajjar ka halwa?" Shyam enquired.

Anjali laughed, and said to her husband, "You don't want that. That's sugarfree. Specially made by Mrs Raizada for Mr Raizada, hai na, Bhabhi?"

"What an ideal wife you are, Khushiji. I hope the international business tycoon Mr Arnav Singh Raizada appreciates you," he said with ill-concealed  hate.

"She is and he does," came Arnav's voice from behind Anjali.

Khushi saw that Arnav's hair was still wet, as though he just stepped out of the shower. Her heart rejoiced that he came to find her--or, had he come to check on her? Did he still not trust her? Is that why he had secretly listened to her conversation with Shyam, to see if he could catch her out on something?

Anjali--who was blissfully unaware of the undercurrents to this conversation--teased her brother, "wah, your wife took longer than ten minutes so you came looking for her."

Arnav replied to his sister, but his eyes were directed to his brother-in-law, "when one has an ideal wife, one should at least try to be an ideal husband."

His sister nodded with approval, but Shyam curled his lip with derision.

The two turned to leave the kitchen but Khushi stopped Anjali. "Di, your tablets," she said, placing the pills on the tray Shyam was carrying. "Have them with the milk. Shubh ratri."

Anjali smiled her thanks.

---------

Arnav and his wife were left alone in the kitchen. Something had shifted within her since she left the bedroom. He sensed it. Had Shyam said something further? Or, was his venom now entering her blood stream?

He watched her move silently to the fridge, remove the milk, pour some into the saucepan, and set it to heat. He poured some water into a tumbler, sipped it and offered her a sip. She declined with a shake of her head.

Her eyes remained on the frothy milk, but he knew her thoughts were far away. When her words came, he had somehow expected them.

"You married me so he would have no reason to leave Di," she said, her voice small. It was not a question.

He set the water tumbler down. "Yes."

"You thought I would go with him?"

"Yes." This time his own voice sounded small.

"So there was a moment--there had to have been," she stated, "when you asked yourself: Is Khushi the kind of girl who would encourage another woman's husband? And, the answer you reached was 'yes'."

Her tone was not piteous; it was not even punitive--it was dispirited.

He was silenced.

He couldn't recall that exact moment, but as Khushi said, there had to have been. The giant boulder that was lodged in his chest moved into his throat.

She turned off the gas, and carefully poured the milk into the two waiting glasses. He took the tray from her hands and they returned to their bedroom.

He bent to place the tray on the low table opposite the recliner, and when he straightened, he felt Khushi's soft weight press against his back. She embraced him from behind. Her arms clasped his waist. His throat constricted against unshed tears as he sensed her pain and disappointment. He covered her hands with his, drawing her closer.

"Can we...?" she began to say but the words faded away.

He turned around, and lifted her face to look into those exquisite eyes. They were dry. She lowered her eyes and tried again, "can we go on the bed?"

She had made the request in the only way she knew how.

But, he felt he should confirm what he clearly understood as her request. "Now?" he asked.

"Ji."

He sat on the edge of the bed, and she crawled to the centre where he joined her.

----------

What followed may seem singular to those unfamiliar with the history of Khushi and Arnav--but to those who had watched them closely these many months knew that these two had their own way of communicating. Sometimes they tore chunks out of each other ready to throw one another out of the nearest window. Sometimes they sat side by side, he in the driver's seat; she in the passenger seat; he buckling her seatbelt, she with her hand on his thigh, and saying absolutely nothing for miles and miles. Sometimes they depended on a dance sequence or a scene in a play to remind each other that theirs was an epic prem kahani. 

And, sometimes, they simply trusted their bodies to speak for them.

Arnav allowed Khushi to lead. She was experiencing a tumult of emotions: anger, disappointment, sorrow--each bringing with it its own physical counterpart. He responded to her needs and gave her what she demanded in each moment. 

Khushi initiated a kiss that asked, 'didn't you realize that it was always you?' Arnav deepened the kiss to convey 'I'm so very sorry.' She pushed him away to scold, 'I hate you.' He pulled her beneath him to beg, 'forgive me.'

She tugged roughly at his shirt; so he removed it. Her fingers clawed at his chest; her lips suddenly taking his mouth, then ending the kiss as abruptly as it began. She turned away from him, and removed her kameez, but wouldn't show herself to him, until he begged her. His mouth and hands caressed her breasts and her abdomen, and she told him by her sighs when she was ready for more. He stripped himself and reached for her salwaar, but she brushed his hands away, removed her salwaar, and sat up on the bed. He sat up also, and she climbed onto his lap. She then pressed her face into his neck, and he held her close and still, stroking her back, stroking her hair. 

It was then that he felt her warm tears touch his neck, and he brought her closer, cradling her slim form.

"Sorry, Khushi," he whispered. "I'm sorry."

His throat locked and unlocked, as she wound her arms tightly around his neck. And, he received the gift of her forgiveness.

They remained this way for a long time. 

In time, Khushi unwound herself from him and laid back on the bed. He remained seated and their eyes were locked. She smiled suggestively and ever-so-slowly she slid her hands down her arms, across her waist, along the curve of her hips and down her thighs. His mesmerized eyes followed her hands, and his body responded to her unspoken invitation. She bit her lower lip, and lowered her eyes--that quick shift from bold to bashful heightened his arousal.

"Is this what you want, Khushi?" he asked, sliding his hands along her thighs. Her knees came up and pressed close. He was not discouraged.

"I understand--you are not ready to let me touch you," he said, with a smile. "But, will you at least allow me to look at you?"

She blushed, and he heard her breath quicken.

His fingers touched her knees lightly, "please, Khushi?"

Her knees softened a fraction.

"Bit more? I promise I won't touch--I'll only look," he said, insincerely.

He saw Khushi smile shyly. Even before they had become lovers, he had always known that she would be ripe for games. 

She had not disappointed him one bit.

-------------

Edited by Inked - 12 years ago

Res! Congrats on the new thread! :)

*edited*

Go Khushi! Loved the way she dealt with Shyam. And all her apprehensions about Arnav knowing and not saying anything, his doubting her was very real. The change in the moods was also not abrupt. They had rhyme and reason. Loved how they conveyed without words her disappointment and his apology! And Arnav taking the backseat but waiting in the sidelines ready to support her was ideal! :) I hope they both come clean with each other.

Thanks for the PM I know you will be sending! :)
Edited by Psychedelic - 12 years ago

res Edited by melovemayur - 12 years ago

Just came looking for an update...😛 and look what I got!!   Love it!  I love her strength...her spunk...and her sheer will to stick it out no matter the consequences!!   I think you have pegged Khushi perfectly!!  And as for their own brand of communication...I totally agree...theirs is a super physical relationship...even when they were not sexually intimate.   He has always been compelled to touch her...and she has never run from his touch...only craved it more!  Looking forward to her BRAND of punishment and and his BRAND of apology!!😳


BTW...Congos on the new thread!!  Keep it up!👏
Edited by --Nargis-- - 12 years ago

RES :D :D :D

*edited*

Yayyy!!! You're so right!!

Arnav and Khushi have the most bizarre love story that I've ever seen or read!!
Fighting cats and dogs one moment, and raining so much love on each other the next. . . .

But then, that is all what makes them. . . . . ArHi!!

Beautifully portrayed!! Especially the way they let their bodies speak for each other. . . .
And I don't mean just the intimacy by that!!

Because it was much, MUCH more than just that. . . . . 👏 👏 👏

Thanks for the PM, sweetie. . . 😊
Edited by -_-harsh42 - 12 years ago

Edited by fanAR - 12 years ago

Congrats for the new thread. I love Khushi . she is so strong. She will deal with it, just home Shyam does not make any mischief with that milk... Thanks for the PM.

Confrats on the new thread! That was not what I was expecting! Great job!

I honestly can't express how brilliant your writing is.



Congratulations on thread 3!Edited by dingle - 12 years ago

Big congratulations on the new thread, good part I loved how you said they had their own way of communication and then you showed us exactly how it was they communicated, great part update soon :)