"Ishita, open your eyes"

It was whispered but it was a command and it was not within her control to deny him anything.

She opened her eyes slowly .... to peer into his, then her lashes again dipped downwards, shyness overpowering her at what she saw in his searing gaze.

"Look at me" he whispered again.

Breathlessly, wondering at her inability to deny him, she raised her eyes to his again.

This time, she held his gaze as he brought a hand up to gently caress her cheeks. She shivered at his touch, her lips quivering, as his cold hand ignited fires on her burning cheeks. His fingers moved to her lips, gently tracing, his thumb parting them to softly caress her underlip.

Ishita felt her body coursing with a primal need that only he could satisfy. Her eyes were locked with his, hypnotised, her body smouldering where it touched his.

"Raman" her whisper was a moan, betraying the ache rising inside her. "Please"

It was the signal he had been waiting for, the signal that broke the last vestiges of his self control.

He moaned, a guttural triumphant sound which spoke of surrender and conquest all in one, and slowly lowered his lips on hers. He was gentle at first, his lips caressing hers, delicate and featherlike. Then as she opened up to him, he increased the intensity, deepening the kiss, clutching her tightly to him as her hands snaked about his neck, nestling in his hair.

It was as if time stood still for them. Their lips and tongues duelled with each other as they strived to satisfy their hunger, their bodies straining into each other's, needing to get  closer still. They were both gasping when they broke apart, their breath erratic, their faces flushed. She closed her eyes again, the intensity of his gaze unbearable, the needs he was arousing unfathomable.

He cradled her face in his hands as they knelt in the snow, her arms around him, their bodies pressed together.

His eyes searched her face for long seconds, taking in her closed eyes, the lashes speckled with tears; her flushed cheeks, her swollen lips glistening. No one had never looked more beautiful and he had never been more lost.

She slowly opened her eyes and looked into his.

"Raman" she whispered.

Her voice snapped him out of his reverie. She watched as the passion in his dark eyes was replaced by confusion, and then an inscrutable mask fell over his face. He rose awkwardly, pulling her up with him.

"Ishita" he said, as he pulled away from her, thrusting his hands in his coat pockets. "I...I'm ...I'm sorry, I shouldn't have...aisa nahi karna chahiye tha mujhe... I'm really..."

"Raman, dont" Ishita interrupted him. "Please"

Her own emotions were churning in an unrecognisable whirl, but the one thing Ishita knew she did not feel was regret. She had wanted everything that had happened, had exulted in every moment of his kiss, and she did not want him to apologise for something which had felt so right, so destined.

He stood as if carved by the ice that surrounded them, his gaze fixed on nothingness in the distance, not meeting her eyes, his posture defeated.

Ishita knew his scars of rejection, his feelings of unworthiness went deep, and she knew now was not the time to force him to face his feelings. Besides, she wanted to  savour what had just happened without having to deal with his guilt and rejection.

"I'm going to make some coffee. Aap aa jaana (You come later) " she said to him, before walking off towards the house.

*********************************************************************************************************

Raman watched her walk away; regret, need and fear fighting a battle within his heart.

He had kissed many women, but never before had any act of intimacy affected him in this way - it had felt as if a part of him had been irrevocably lost within her, as if a part of her was now within him forever.

It had gone beyond mere lust or physical need - he felt as if his soul had been touched. It had never happened to him before, and it frightened him beyond reason.

Whatever this was, he did not want it, he could not deal with it. He had finally entered the big leagues professionally - first the CEO award, now this multi million dollar multi year contract.

The culmination of his revenge was nigh, he could not let these treacherous emotions take away his focus. Four days ago, he had thought he detested her. Those feelings could not change so suddenly, when he had not changed and she had not changed. Well, he needed to get back to the old equation with her, to keep her at arms length.

"This is just cabin fever Raman" he told himself, starting to slowly head back to the chalet. "Just the result of being isolated here with her. You will see, when we are back in Delhi, there will be nothing of this left. Nothing."

**********************************************************************************************************
Ishita hummed to herself as she filled water in the electric kettle, then put a saucepan of milk to warm on the stove.

She was still lost in the emotions that he had awakened with his kiss.

It wasn't her first kiss, but it was unlike anything that she had ever experienced with Subbu, unlike anything she had known she could feel.

Her kisses with Subbu had been comfortable and sweet ; not frequent, but welcome when they happened. They had started off as friends, and even as those feelings deepened, and they realised that they were ideally suited, and had so much in common, their relationship had never been one of demanding passion. It had been a courtship carried out within the view and with the approval of their families, and they had felt no compulsion to take things further, knowing as they did that marriage awaited them in the future. At least, Ishita had never felt the need to take things further than the slow hugs and warm kisses that they shared, and Subbu had never tried to change her mind either.

But those kisses, she now realised, those kisses of her first love, had been lukewarm and lacklustre, compared to what had just happened.

What she had felt with Raman was far from comfortable - it challenged her and had shook her to the core of her being. She had not wanted him to stop, had wanted to drown in his lips and his eyes, had wanted to surrender herself to him there and then. The place, the circumstances, the uncertainty of their equation - nothing had mattered to her at that moment. She had wanted him in the most primal way, and if he had continued, she knew she would not have stopped him.....

She blushed and covered her face with her hands. To think that only four days ago, she had imagined that she hated him.

And now, now... what name could you give to the emotion that made her want to be possessed by him for eternity; to hold him close and protect him from the world and his own demons; that made her ache to hold him and be held by him, but also to soothe him and make him smile.

What name could she give to emotions that until a day or so ago, she had not even known existed?

But she did not need experience or acknowledgments to recognise that this was love. This ache; this pain; this bliss; this madness - this was love. This was love and not that comfortable equation she had had with Subbu.

Finally, all that had happened with Subbu, and it's aftermath, made sense. Life had been leading her to this moment - she had been made for him, she was his and this was love.

The hiss of the kettle broke through her thoughts. She made and poured the coffee into two mugs and walked out to the living room, in time to see him walking slowly back towards the chalet.

There was something so defeated, so forlorn in his gait that she knew she had to rein in her feelings.

She had seen the mask settle back on his face after he kissed her, she knew he would fight his heart with all the force and fire he could muster.

She would wait for him to recognise and accept his feelings though. Because before the mask had settled back, she had seen something else in his eyes. Something unbelievably tender and pure. Something even her inexperienced heart could recognise. She had seen in him the same emotion that had just turned her world upside down.

She had seen love.

**********************************************************************************************************

Kya Yehi Pyar Hai?
Haan. Haan yehi pyar hai.
Dil tere bin kahin lagta nahi
Waqt guzarta nahi

Pehle mein samjha
Kuch aur wajaa in batoon ki
Lekin phir jaana
Kahan neend gayi meri ratoon ki
Jagati rehti hoon mein bhi
Chand nikalta nahi
Dil tere bin kahin lagta nahi
Waqt guzarta nahi

Kaise bhoolungi
Tu yaad hamesha aayega
Tere jaane se
Jeena mushkil ho jayega
Ab kuch bhi ho dil pe koi
Zor toh chalta nahi
Dil tere bin kahin lagta nahi
Waqt guzarta nahi

Jaise phoolon ke
Mausam mein yeh dil Khilte hai
Premi aise hi
Kya pathjhad mein bhi milte hai
Ruth badle duniya badle
Pyar badalta nahi
Dil tere bin kahin lagta nahi
Waqt guzarta nahi

Kya yehi pyar hai?
Haan. Haan yehi pyar hai.

From Rocky. Lyrics - Anand Bakshi