39. Thoda Dard Hoga


Arnav walked into his bedroom and stopped short. Khushi was folding her newly-washed & dried clothes and packing them into her thaili.
"What the...!"
Khushi turned to look at him, standing there, glowering.
"Arnavji! Aaap? Would you like some tea?"
"No!", he bit out. "I would like to know what the hell you are doing packing your clothes."
She sighed, a small smile on her lips.
"I keep doing stupid things, Arnavji. I should have thought about the promise I made to Naniji before I hared off to serve food to Di!" She shook her head at her own folly. "I deserve all that Mamiji and Naniji said just now. And your anger..."
Arnav felt as though someone were strangling him. How to look after Di and protect Khushi from the sharp criticism of his family at the same time? Especially when she kept sticking her neck out...
"So I was thinking that I should keep my bags packed." She smiled at him as though they were co-conspirators. "The next time I do something foolish and the family scolds me, I can just pick up my packed bags and leave for Buaji's house." She turned to the heap of many-hued clothes piled on the bed.
Arnav saw red. Go to Buaji's house? He caught hold of her shoulder and spun her around, breathing fire.
"You are my wife, and this is my house. You will go nowhere, Samjhi Tum?"
She looked at him, her mouth open.
He shook her shoulders, pushing her against the wall. "Samjhi Tum? You wil go nowhere. You will not step out of this house. You are my wife. And you will remain here."
Khushi looked at his stern face, his eyes belying the angry look on his face, his liquid eyes betraying his need for her. But how could she drive a wedge between her husband and his Di? Di would have faced anything, put up with anything, adjusted to any changed circumstance if her Chotey were with her... And Arnavji had gambled on his Di's trust in him... Both had lost. Because, into this set equation had come the unknown and unexpected quantity called Khushi Kumari Gupta S... No, just Khushi Kumari Gupta. To shatter Di's trust in her Chotey. To tie Arnavji's hands in dealing with his family and Di openly and with authority. She swallowed.
So much pain, caused by Shyamji. But he was not here. Only she, his tool, his foolish instrument was here to bear the brunt of everyone's anger and disappointment... She had to leave if this family had to heal, if Di had to get her Chotey back, if Arnavji had to reach his Di...before it was too late. Di's latest stunt of trying to get rid of the child to get back Shyamji...Khushi's heart ached.
It had to be done. The words had to be spoken.
"Wife?" She looked at him, an angry question in her eyes. "You are forgetting the fact that our marriage is not a normal one, Arnavji!", she hissed.  His hands on her shoulders loosened their grip in shock. His eyes peered into hers. "It is a contract marriage. For a limited period of 6 months. The six months will end in a few days. Then I will no longer be your wife, and you will no longer be my husband.", she stated, shrugging away his hands and turning away to leave him.
But he was too fast. Feeling her slipping away through his hands, he grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him, imprisoning her within the walls of his arms. She was going nowhere. She couldn't go, leaving him behind...



(Thank u, Kinma!)

"Khushi Kumari Gupta, Mein Tumhein Hamesha Keliye Mrs. Arnav Singh Raizada bana ke hi rahunga."

His eyes burned into hers, his determination to keep her in his life clear on his visage. Her anger drained out of her, leaving her pale, lips trembling, her eyes caught by his, her weakness, her love for him  obvious to his eagle eyes...
He raised his right hand, and cupped her right cheek. Her eyes fluttered shut and her breath left her in a rush, her face automatically turning towards his hand to enjoy his touch to the fullest as though she were a sunflower and he the only sun in her sky.
His eyes calmed at the evidence of her helpless addiction to his touch, and took on a naughty tinge.
"Khushi...?", he whispered.
"Hmm...?"
"Open your eyes..."
She lifted her eyelids with difficulty and struggled to focus on his face. His amused eyes, the naughty curve of his sinfully delicious lips, the harsh jut of his nose, his stubborn chin... She swallowed hard.
"Khushi...!" Her name said in his husky whisper was enough to melt her heart, weaken her knees, send her into a world where only he and she existed...
She looked at him, lost in his eyes.
"I have been a bad husband, Khushi...", he drawled. How could Arnavji make ordinary words sound so...so naughty? She looked at his lips to find out the secret behind his achievement.
"A very bad husband...", he lamented. Were Arnavji's lips coming closer to hers? She looked at his eyes, startled. Yes, his eyes were coming closer to her too. She panicked, and turned her head away, scrunching her eyes shut.
"Khushi!", he said, loving exasperation coating the word. "What did I tell you?" He turned her face towards him, his fingers lingering on her smooth chin. "It is high time that you stop withdrawing as I move towards you." His curious fingers slid down the sensitive skin of her swan-like neck. He murmured, "You should learn to move forward with me..." She shuddered.
She looked down to escape the allure of his eyes.
"Shall I make you Mrs. Arnav Singh Raizada, my dear Khushi Kumari Gupta?", the devil turned the words into caresses, each touching her heart.
"No!", came her knee-jerk reaction.
"No?", he asked, hidden laughter lending meaning to the word.
"No... I...I don't want to be Mrs. A...arnav Si...iingh Raii...iizadaaa..." She turned her head, trying to dislodge his fingers that were doing interesting things to her ear.
"Why not?", he asked softly.
"You ...you scold me always. If you scold me so much for being married to you for 6 months, how much more will you scold me if I am married to you for life?", she wondered. "Your anger...ufff!"
"Oh!...Yes, my anger... Khushi, If I promise not to get angry with you, will you be my wife?" She looked suspiciously at him. Why did she feel that he was hiding his mirth?
"You will never be able to keep your promise, Laad Governor Kahin Ka!", she muttered.
He cleared his throat to remove all semblance of laughter.
"If I promise not to scold you more than once daily, will you be my wife?"
She frowned at him.
"I promise.", he swore solemnly, laughter bubbling in his chest.
She looked at him, trying to figure out his plan of action.
He cupped her cheeks and swooped down to rub his warm, eager lips against her soft, fuller, shocked curves. He lifted his face away from hers, his eyes on her wide ones. Her eyes slid from his to rest on his parted lips, eager to know more. He swallowed.


(Thanx, Illyria!)

His fingers slid into the luxuriant fall of her silky hair as he positioned her head to receive his lips.
"Thoda Dard Hoga!", he thought it only right to warn her softly as his lips claimed hers.