“Okay. So we need to scale the forbidden peak.” I sighed, for the umpteenth time in one day.

“Look at you saying that as if—oh, we just need to get some groceries from the market.” He mimicked my voice. I mock punched his shoulder. “It’s a goddamn mountain, it is freezing outside and you are just human.”

“Hey, I’m stronger than I look.” I pouted. 

“That’s because you workout everyday?”

“No but—”

“Yeah so like you come from a long line of people immune to the cold.”

“No that too though—”

“Yeah right, you scale this mountain like your backyard every day.”

“Fine! Ugh! You are impossible,” I groaned.

The boyish look of charm on his face was unmissable, almost as if teasing me was his idea of foreplay.

“We don’t have to scale the mountain, thankfully. Because this cave has a tunnel that goes right through the heart of the mountain. I have never scaled the peak myself.” He grinned, holding out his hand. “It’ll be dark in here. But I know the way.”

I looked at the cave beyond where we were standing. It was dark as midnight. The sound of the blizzard blowing through the tunnels and getting lost somewhere inside was creating a weird sort of baleful tune, almost as if the winds were sobbing in there. And suddenly I wasn’t feeling that confident anymore. My feet stayed rooted to my spot. Whether it was the cold or the fear, but as much as I tried, I couldn’t budge them.

“Hey.” Aadi took both my hands in the embrace of his warm palms and rubbed them gently. “You feeling okay?”

“I—this is scary.” I breathed.

“Hey. It’s okay. You don’t need to do this, remember? We could always go back and keep you safely in your house—“

“And you come back here alone. I can’t—” My voice was a half sob, half sigh. Something shifted in his eyes. It was like a curtain of steel closing over the source of warmth that exuded from those deep eyes. 

“This isn’t your battle, Mihika.” His voice sounded distant. Even in the proximity where our breaths were mixing, he appeared to be far away, almost as if a rift had suddenly opened between us and he was blocking me out.

“This isn’t your battle either.” I wailed. “There must be other people out there to do this.”

“They are all trying, aren’t they? Don’t I owe it to them? To the Roohs to at least try?”

I stayed quiet. I wanted to say so many things—to scream ‘Let’s go back Aadi. We will arrange something back at my home. You and me, we can live together comfortably.’ But I swallowed it all back. He wasn’t wrong. I didn’t try to stop the silent tears that rolled down my cheeks.

The sight of me sobbing perhaps snapped him back into the reality of us because he reached out and cupped my face in his big rough palms. His thumbs lightly flicked away the stray tears. 

“I have to do it, Mihika. I’m sorry. You know it as much as I do that I owe my allegiance to my people.” His voice was soft, almost apologetic.

“I know you have you do it. I’m just so scared for you, for me, for us.” His irises liquefied at the last word. “I promise I will come back to you once this is—”

“You don’t need to come back”—I said slowly—“because I am coming with you.”

“But Mihika.” The pain in his eyes said a lot more than his lips could utter. He would’ve wrapped me up in a glass case like a china doll if he could. But I wasn’t a porcelain doll. I was his equal in this and I wasn’t going back. 

I raised my arms and placed my palms on his. “There is no but here. I’m going with you.” I took a step forward, just as a sign. It brought us even closer till our chests were pressed against each other. My heart was pounding so loudly that I wondered why it wasn't echoing in the cave. His lips were so close. I could very easily bridge that little gap between us. I could see it in his eyes that he wanted it at that moment as much as me. And I did. 

I reached up on my toes and pressed my lips to his, sealing the deal. The impact was so sudden that I drew back and blinked. His only response was to look at me as if I had suddenly grown a pair of wings. And then he dived in for another kiss.

Our lips smashed against each other in a fury worthy of all these days of waiting. I closed my eyes, savouring the tiny moment of ethereal bliss as he devoured my mouth with the passion of a devotee. The warmth of his lips engulfing mine, sucking on each of my lips slowly, was steadily sending me off the edge of sanity. He kissed with the determination of tasting me entirely and as much as I wanted to take charge, I was content in going passive and letting him take full control, almost as if claiming my lips as his. When we broke apart, I was flushed and breathless while he looked positively drugged—peering at me from beneath those heavy eyelids. Unmasked lust was playing in his eyes but he was too much of a gentleman to do anything about it. So he hugged me instead.

In that moment as we pressed against each other, I knew I would go to the end of the world with him. I would protect him with everything in my power. Whatever happened from then on, it was us against the world. I hugged him tighter, trying to prolong the moment, but we had tasks to do, places to be. So I reluctantly let go, but not before kissing him a third time.

🍂🍁🍂

Question : Do you like trekking? If yes, where did you go?