After returning to the hotel room that night and taking a shower Karthik leaned on the sofa, his thoughts taking over again, since the afternoon he hasn’t been himself. The way he treated her, raked an extreme guilt, making his insides twist and hurt. Somewhere between his chest area weighed upon him.

The hurt written all over her face the tears were the only things that stayed with him as her memory. His jaw clenched hard with the effort to forget all that, but he failed and kept thinking more about her. What was she doing now ?!! Was she asleep ?!! Was she restless just like him ?!!

This marraige was just a deal for him. He wanted his father’s dream land from her.Though now, he wanted to get married to her for all the wrong reasons. She has challenged him. Wanting to make him feel cheap. Looping him in the same category as her father.

But, he wanted to change her opinion of him. He didn’t know why he cared or even bothered, but it was becoming a huge hassle, the thought of her hating him. He seem to want to see something else in her eyes for him. A tenderness. Though he wanted to push her away too. To not include her in his life. These one after the other propelling thoughts were making him go crazy.

As he was thinking about her,a new sliver of fear rose up all over Karthik’s skin. If Naira could come to his office with the intention of rejecting him, then she would have very well protested against her vile father, when she got to know about the marraige.

His mind zoomed up an image of her bruised wrists. His blood turned cold. Did he hurt her ?!! His heart thundered loud in his chest. If Mr. Singhania had hurt her then Karthik was going to throw him off the hundreth floor again and again.

He needed to do something !! But what ?!! He didn’t want to come out desperate and completely act out of his character, but he also needed to find out about her well being.

Karthik felt a restless itch come all over his mind and body, he twitched and swung his hands feeling his agitation grow.

“I want to see her.” Karthik declared to himself.He messaged someone on his phone. Waited for about 5 mins. When he got the reply, he brows scrunched up.

“She is not asleep now and she is also not at home.” he spoke aloud looking at the message.

He had her followed. Being the business tycoon he could obviously afford to know about his would be wife’s whereabouts.He had called upon his sources to know where she was right now and what was she doing !!

His blood flowed fast in anticipation. His heart skipping a beat to see her face. To caress her with his hungry eyes. It had been five hours since he last saw her. His guilt of hurting her increased…….

Karthik looked out of the window as his car moved towards Singhania sadan. The trees and dull lit houses moved about fast, fading away in darkness with the travelling of the car on the smooth road.

Fate had always played with his loved ones, killing them all.First his mom and then his dad. Whomever he touched tenderly had burned, turned into ashes, fading away from his life. He worried about the same thing happening again.

Since when she had walked out of his office this morning, Karthik had her followed. What she does. Where she goes. Her every move was reported back to him.

Breaking his thoughts, the car stopped to halt.

Karthik got out of the car. There had been a little drizzle, as the ground was a little wet and so was the forest covered in a mist of rain droplets. It was becoming colder by the minute.

At first when Karthik got to know about Naira going out every night to dance in the lone forest, he was angry that she could risk her life going into such dark place without anyone of her people around. Walking in the lanes carrying a pair of Ghungroos completely dressed in a white chudidar, but when he looked around, it seemed like he had entered into a piece of heaven. All serene and safe. Like as if he had entered into a part of her soul.

This was her world. Well, a little of her world.

And also it was only a ten minute walk to her home. Her father had built a house near a foresty area. Only a few other small houses were swanked around the place. He wondered why did she come out so far to dance her heart out ?!! She could have done it at her home right ?!!

The heavy thick trees disappeared, and clear ground came into view. Where the sky bent down itself, glimmerimg an array of sparkling, blinking, shiny stars.The darkness of the night vanished, with the sky becoming the light source.

Karthik’s heart thudded looking at the lone curvy figure of a woman. His woman. Her back was turned to his face. Her long black hair, all along upto her luscious waist flowed in the night.

She was looking at the sky. After about 5 more mins she tied her ghungroos on her legs. There was no music around. But then suddenly she started dancing slowly and rythemically. Her Ghungroos made a perfect sound and a melody started playing in the lone forest. Watching her like this Karthik was reverted back to the time he had seen her video on facebook.

She was dancing without a care in the world. Watching her from a distance he could see her venting out all her anger and frustration into her dance. She danced continuously for about five to six minutes and then stopped. She was again looking up at the sky and was breathing heavily.

Karthik moved forward,his foot crunched the healthy grass on the ground. His every step taking him forward to her.

He stood behind her, almost feeling every curve of her body, his hands itched to touch her, he leaned in and took in a deep breath. Heaven, he thought.

Just at this audible movement, she spun around, her form jumping in fright, her sweet face came into view of his scrutiny. The midnight black spun too, falling down again all around her shoulders, neck and face.

Her eyes wild and her chest moving up and down. Her cherry red mouth gasped open, as her big brown eyes rounded. Cute. No. God damned, BEAUTIFUL she was.

“You ?!!” She breathed

” How ?!! Where ?!! Here ?!!” She breathed in a whisper still shocked to the core.

Her brows scrunched up prettily. Her skin shined porcelain, pristine, pure and innocent.Her eyes turned cold realizing he was really here.

“What the hell are you doing here ?!!” She hissed.

“Were you following me ?!!” She asked incredulously.

Then her nostrils flared. Her face scrunched up cutely. Her eyes flashed.

“How dare you ?!! How could you ?!! You’re one rude, arrogant, stalking…” She mumbled on fiercely.

Karthik waited for his blood flow to slow down looking at her. He remained silent. His body reacting to her warm heat. He told himself to calm down. Count. He told himself.

One. Two. Three.

With darkening of eyes he saw her pink tongue come out to wet her lips and that’s it. All hell broke lose. His tightly held control splintered apart.

Karthik moved fast. He grabbed her head and hair from behind and planted a hard kiss on her still cursing mouth.

A shocked gasp escaped her lips and Karthik took invite into her mouth. His other hand tightened hard on her waist.

His hold on her hair and his lips on hers, shocked her to the core. Naira gasped. And he put more pressure of his lips on her mouth, his minty breath mixing with hers. Naira stepped back in an immediate response.

His hand in the air, he looked at her taking a step back, his eyes straying up and catching her eyes, his jaw locked.

He loomed over her a good five inches.

His eyes narrowed. He moved real closer to her, she stiffened and tensed up. All the while his intense brown eyes never strayed from hers.

“I frightened you.” He whispered gravelly.

His rumbly deep husky voice travelled from his body to hers, raising goosebumps on her skin. His breath hit on her forehead. Every cell in her body went hyper aware and sensitive to his presence. It made her flustered and breathless.

“No.” She whispered back defiantly, but her tone came out soft and breathy.

His stare moved away finally from her eyes, and she should have felt relieved but she tensed up more when it settled on her lips.

At the speed of the rapid beating of her heart,Naira sure was in grave danger of dying of heart failure. He leaned towards her face, getting closer and closer. His breath hit full force on her lips. Tingles spread across her, low in her belly.

His lips were only an inch away from hers. His hands were on either side of her waist, holding her prisoner by locking her body to his. She leaned back and his head moved right along with her.

Naira was about to push him away but when she glanced up to look into his eyes, she got arrested. His eyes held such intensity, such desire, desire for her.

Early in his office, he humliated her to no extent and now this ?!!

Saying that he bought her with money. Making her feel like whore. Since all day she was hurt thinking of his brutal words.

His eyes travelled leisurely to hers again. Bafflement of earlier turning into bemusement now. He stood there with an odd expression. He seem to sense she was prying deep into his eyes.

But, he didn’t seem to leave, in fact he looked comfortable, as if he had all the time in the world to stare at her. Like she was some kind of a puzzle he wanted to solve.

A second passed and full reality of the situation dawned over her, instantly freezing her heated skin. She had made out with him. In the frigging forest. In the middle nowhere.

Naira stepped back, she saw his gaze snapped back to hers. He moved forward but when she whimpered in fright. His stance got stiff and his eyes turned cold. His hand which had outstretched, now turned into a fist.

He scowled, cursed heavily, looking up and down at her one last time, he spun around and walked away. His back to her face. His strides taking him away from her. His steps on the ground moving forward. A space engulfing. A ground distancing. A place emptying out a huge part of where he stood moments ago.

Her eyebrows furrowed feeling immense heavy silence vibrate her mind and body. The cold starting to grow on her. A strong gush of wind moved her back, Naira gasped as a tear escaped her left eye.

She needed to call him back ?!! To ask what had happened just now ?!!

She walked forward slowly. Her strides moved along the path. A string near her heart had attached a strong thread with him that pulled and propelled her body forward. Towards where he disappeared.

She ran. It didn’t help with the desperation she felt at the separation.

Wait !! Her mind called out.

Her eyes watered more. She ran forward into the thick trees, twigs and branches breaking into her skin, but she didn’t care.

She got out and came onto the road, looking around panicked, but it was empty. Except a black car far at a distance, there was nothing.

Naira slid down on the road, gasping for breath.

Something happened to her tonight ?!! She felt it hit her very soul.

The string which tied it’s invisble string and thread to her heart, hurt her now. Extreme.

She felt a change come over her. Feelings, took her breath away, as her eyes watered more.

Precap : And they meet again…….The baby sitting factor.
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