To Love or Not To Love

Chapter 64

As Khushi walked into Arnav's room, once again, new feelings of love, anticipation, and excitement replaced the old ones of fear, helplessness, and dread. Life had come a full circle. She looked around the dimly lit room, decorated with candles and bouquets. It looked ethereal. She glanced at the bed, strings of tulip garlanding the frame, and jasmine buds generously sprinkled on its surface. A fleeting glance around the room, and she spotted Arnav, changed out of his wedding attire, clad in a simple black cotton kurta and pajama furiously typing something on his laptop. She smiled.

Arnav sensed the waft of an orange and ginger flavored perfume. He knew that fragrance. It was Khushi's. He stopped doing his work, got up, and turned to admire his bride. She looked beautiful, every bit the fairy he'd imagined. No. He could've never imagined this. She took a step towards him and her anklets disturbed the peace. By the time she took another step, he was by her side.

She handed him the glass of milk which he placed on the accent table next to the door. He held Khushi by her hand and gently guided her to the bed.

Khushi perched herself at the edge of the bed, the moment charged with anticipation. Both of them refusing to speak, yet conversing through their eyes. His eyes brimming with gratitude for her effort with the wedding dress. She looked right back, with all the love and affection for having spared her parents the stress over the wedding preparations.

Arnav sat down beside her feet on the floor. He took a foot and gently began massaging it. Soft feathery strokes that slowly made their way up to her anklets. He unscrewed then ends and took it off. Khushi's nerves began to tingle at his mere touch. She closed her eyes to savor the feeling of his touch on her bare skin. He continued to massage her feet, switching from one to the other. The same soft feathery touches and the other anklet came off as well.

He trailed his hand a little further upwards on her calf before standing on his knees and reaching behind Khushi to find the hook of her waistband. Another piece of jewelry to come off.

Khushi was a mass of sensations. Sensations she had never felt before and therefore didn't know how to categorize. Was she feeling nervous? Perhaps. Was she feeling excited? Definitely. Was she scared? Was she anxious? She didn't know anymore. All she knew was that a few minutes ago she'd a headache and her feet ached. And when she entered the room, she had every intention of going to sleep.

The aches and pains had now disappeared and were replaced by stirrings that were completely alien to her. While she tried to process her body's reaction to his mere touch, Arnav continued to wreak havoc. He took one of her hands into his and gently massaged her fingers, taking his time to place soft feathery kisses on each one of them as he inched upwards. Every time he kissed, one bangle came off. When the first hand was devoid of all the jewelry, he turned his focus to the other one. More feathery light kisses, gentle strokes, bangles coming off one after another.

"Arnav," Khushi whispered. She wanted to break the spell. She wanted to come back to reality. If only words could... Her mind couldn't even complete that thought. "Arnav," she whispered a little more forcefully.

"Shhh..." he answered, placing a finger on her lips, silencing her protest. Today was their night and he was allowed to worship the woman who'd turned his life around.

His hands slowly made their way up to her ears. One heavy earring at a time, and a lick to heal the wound that piece of heavy jewelry had caused. Khushi fisted the bedsheet and closed her eyes. Her breathing was getting erratic. She felt she would drown. "Arnav," she pleaded again. But he was in no mood to be benevolent. He ignored her pleas, and an insane part of her brain was glad. Arnav was now focussing on the other ear, removing the heavy earring, licking the lobe. Khushi was sure she would combust if she hadn't already. 

With her eyes closed, a thousand sensations drawing her mind in different directions, she didn't realize when and how he came to sit beside her on the bed. All she could hear and feel was the erratic beating of her heart. Surely something was wrong.

Arnav smiled, reading the myriad sensations that flitted through her face. He bent his head forward, breathing hard down her neck, unclasping the heavy necklace that adorned it. As the necklace came away, so did he. She suddenly felt cold and bare. Her body craved his nearness. 

She once again felt him move closer to her.  His hands roamed near her face, to the fabric draped beautifully across her head and the jewelry that was set in her hair and the nose-ring. Devoid of any jewelry except her mangal sutra, dressed in her wedding dress with her hair parting smeared in vermillion, Khushi personified luck.

As she stood up, he went down on one knee to bow in front of her. An unspoken promise. From now on he would cherish the woman he'd married. He would put her needs before his. He would protect her honor and virtue. And he would remain faithful to her and her alone.

Khushi walked forward, urged him up, and guided him back to the bed, where the two sat, side by side fingers entwined.

She slowly moved her hands over his arms in a caressing gesture. The slight fabric of the kurta felt very different from the thick woven fabric of his shirts. She traced her fingers around his arms and then gently splayed them across his chest. She lifted her head and placed it near his heart. She was in heaven.

He continued his ministrations, his one hand drawing concentric circles on her bare midriff, while the other caressing the arm splayed around him. All this while, moving his feet up and down her leg.

"Arnav," she hummed.

"Hmmm..." He was busy relishing the pleasure evident on her face. She turned to hug him completely but instead ended pushing him onto the bed, with her straddling him.

"Even better," he chuckled as he turned her around to lay flat on the bed. He started from the head, kissing every part of her body that had been adorned, moving all the way down to her toes. He then slowly made his way up, retracing his path of worship.

As soon as he reached her face, Khushi pulled him in for a deep searing kiss, a kiss that spoke her language, that conveyed her love for this strong yet vulnerable man. A kiss that had pride, that this man was now hers, forever and ever. A kiss that shared in the victory of the journey that had ultimately brought them there.

When the kiss turned into something more, no one knew. When the clothes came off, no one knew. When the silent words of love became fervent whispers, no one knew. When the two of them slept in each other's arms, exhausted and sated, no one knew.

What they did know was that when they woke up the next day, together, on the same bed, as man and wife, they had begun another journey with the other by their side.