'Even Satan in hell isn't as devilishly cruel or alluring as HE is.'

~•~•~•~•~

Gauri blinked her eyes slowly. She passed out the moment.. The moment.. 'Uh!', she groaned. Her head hurt like hell. She slowly shook her head. Some blurry images of men in suit resurfaced her vision. One of them received a call, then the engine started.. And then, and then, ugh!

'My head..', she croaked.

'You're awake!', a man answered.

Just then she felt it. Her whole body aching mortally, her wet, shredded salwar-kameez still clinging to her, and she felt as if she is put in a freezer. Her hands were still cuffed and ankles shackled. She curled up in a ball, teeth clattering in cold and looked around.

It was a dark room with only a dimly lit bulb. There were some trudles of chairs coming in vision. A man with a boyish face bent at her,

'Are you okay my lady?', his voice was filled with concern.

'Who! Who are you?', she crawled away.

'I'm Dandi at your service. Ma'am please let me check your wounds before master meets you.', he stepped towards her.

'No! No! Stay away!! Don't touch me! Stay away! Please...' , she broke down in tears.

'Who dares to scare my little girl?', a deep voice rippled through the thick air of the cellar.

'Master!', Dandi ran towards him hastily, 'Master, you shouldn't see her right now, at least give her a night..'

'I don't pay you to preach your opinion Dandi. And,' he growled through his clenched teeth, 'its I who bought her. So, don't you dare to prevent me from my belongings.'

'As you wish master. But you wouldn't like to see her this way', his voice died at his throat midway as he was shoved aside and his master's heavy footsteps followed a whimper.

'Dandi!', he practically roared, 'who did this to her??', he grabbed him by his collar and shook him violently.

'Call Ajay! Now!', suddenly he became sickeningly calm as a leisure smirk appeared on his lips, 'I guess he owes me an explanation.'

'Ye.. Yes master!', Dandi was afraid for poor Ajay's life.

A man, tall and lean with a very trite physique, soon entered the cellar.

'Would you kindly inform me, who did this to her?', his voice was calm and deadly.

'I.. I don't know Sir! When I saw her, she was already bruised. Her family had beaten her up.. She tried to escape.. I swear, I didn't even laid a finger on her!', Ajay was trembling.

'Why do I feel like you are lying?', His voice was mere a whisper, but it sent chills down Ajay's spine, 'you know na, I hate lies.'

He crouched down at her. Cupping her face gently, he asked, 'Jaan, did he hit you?'

Who had hit me? She bliknked for sometime, she was hit so many times that she couldn't distinguish between the attackers according to their hits. Confused,she shook her head in negative. But the next moment a sharp sting hit her cheek and she felt hot liquid filling her mouth and dripping through the corner of her lips. But to her surprise, he gently wiped the blood with his thumb.

'Sorry Jaan, I just hate lies', he said in a sad tone, 'so, tell me, did he hit you?', he asked again, cradling her face in his hands.

Her memory refreshed due to a jolt of pain.

'He.. Whe.. Pu(ll)ed ma(y) hewer (hair),' she pronounced with great difficulty.

'Oh gosh Jaan! I'm so sorry he did that! I'm so sorry!', he pulled her in his chest, 'I'm so sorry', he mumbled in her hair.

Leaving her, he took predatory steps towards Ajay. A punch landed straight in his jaw, knocking him down on ground. He flipped him face downwards with his foot.

'Dandi! Hold him so tight that his head never leaves the floor.", he ordered. As soon as Dandi held him pinned to the ground, he grabbed a fistful of his hair and yanked off so forcefully that a good bunch of his hair scrapped off his scalp, and a blood curdling scream escaped his throat.

She was horrified. She could see the flesh beneath that man's partially bald head. The impact was so numbing that she only stared, mouth agape, her heart screamed in fear, but not a whisper left her throat.

Leaving Ajay, he wiped his hand and approached her again. She scurried away in fear.

He was mesmerized even at her wounded beauty. Her whole body bruised, face swollen due to the slap, eyes puffy and red from continuous crying, lips partially open, blood dripping from it, her petite body curled up as a beaten animal, her soft, white, bruised skin peeking through her torn clothes, made his fingers itch in an urge to touch her and mould her like a pile of soft clay.

'Jaan, come here, I won't bite.', he extended his hand lovingly.

She curled in more, 'who.. who are you? What do you want?'

'Jaan', he cooed, 'I'm Omkara. Omkara Singh Oberoi. With whom you are going to live the rest of your life, as a queen.', he pulled her again in his embrace.

'O.. Om.. Omkaraji! Please let me go. I.. I did not do anything to harm you. Please, let me go, please. I swear, I'll not tell anyone about this place! Promise, just let me go!!', she sobbed in his chest.

She was supposed to run away from him, but there was something in him that made her get closer. She assumed her buyer to be a sluggish old hag. But when this untamed masculine beauty approached her, her heart beats ran erratically, her eyes feasted his features.. He was a pillar compared to her. He looked strong and he proved the same. But what most attracted and scared her was his shoulder length mane, his bloody red eyes with a pair of livid black orbs, and his dazzling diamond stud. A perfect blend of rebelliousness and majestic grace.

'What is my girl's name?', oh, only if he was a batchmate of hers, his baritone is so deep and drooling worthy sexy, and when he leaned closer, his musky scent intoxicated her senses.

'Gauri', she whispered breathlessly.

'A bit old fashioned, but nice name. Compliments my name too,' he blew air over the sensitive spot behind her ear.

She pressed her nose further in his chest.

'Ahem, ahem..', Dandi butted in, 'what to do with Ajay?'

'Put him to hospital and inform his family. And yes, send some men to beat up Gauri's family. But, make sure they are left on verge of dying, don't kill them. They should live to bear the pain as a remembrance of the pain they inflicted on my belongings',his voice was as composed as if giving dictations.

Gauri shot up her eyes at him. The comfort vanished in thin air, she felt as if a bucket of ice water poured over her head and she flinched.

'Leave! Now!', he gritted his teeth.

Dandi put Ajay over his shoulder and left hastily. Ajay's head hit the lowly hung bulb and it illuminated the most horrifying scene of Gauri's life for a second.

There were chairs in a row at a side of the cellar, and there were skeletons dressed in expensive clothes and jewelry on each chair.

A ear piercing scream rumbled through her throat and there was a blackout of her senses the next moment.

OMG!! Omki is so scary👻👻👻. Is he?? Do let me know.
And do you know when I was writing the chapter, it was raining and hailing. Chunks of ice were clattering on our roofs, sun sheds like popcorns. It helped me to create a scary ambience too.
Happy reading!
With love,
Sarani.