And then she said it!

PART 20

A SUDDEN SPEED - BREAKER!
As I sat gawking at her, my eyes
ready to pop out of their sockets, she
returned me a small smile. It was
not one of her sweetest smiles that I
am used to find on her lips but that
of a sultry and mischievous ones.
And for the first time in my life of 27
years, I felt utterly embarrassed -
partly out of my own deed and partly
out of her knowledge of my deed and
most importantly due to the fact that
she revealed it to me. And it was a
wonder that my heart didn't suffer
from any cardiac arrest at that
question of hers because I surely had
no idea that I could stay alive after
knowing what she was capable of
doing. That only left me with one
more question. What else was locked
up in that mysterious heart of hers?
"Tell na!" She whined tugging at my
shirt.
But I was in no way having this
conversation with her and the fact
that she was drunk didn't make it
any good either. "Riddhima, you are
drunk. Its better you go to sleep." I
didn't intend it to come out as a
snap, but she flinched and jerked
away from me at once. I put the
bottle in my hand on the table
beside the bed and turned to her to
find her looking at me warily.
"I am sorry." She said in a small
voice reaching for my hand
cautiously. "You won't leave me, will
you?" She asked, now playing with my
fingers. "I promise I'll never drink
again. I promise I'll never ask you
anything." Her earnest plea made my
chest tighten as I remembered that
way she pleaded me not to ask her
vacate our home when I yelled at her
for the first time. I didn't know what
to do to make her get rid of that fear
that I would leave her and I realized
no matter what she does, she was
just the nave, innocent and slightly
insecure Riddhima she was. All I
could do was assure her of my
presence in her life.
I lay down on the bed and pulled
her down beside me. Letting her
place her head on my shoulder, I
caressed her cheek with my knuckles.
"I won't leave you ever Riddhima." I
doubted whether her drunken mind
would take in what I said, but I just
hoped it would.
"Really?" She asked as if I had given
her a diamond, her eyes full to their
size filled with hope.
"Promise!!" I chuckled at her and
pecked her lips making her giggle.
"Now go to sleep, okay?" I suddenly
felt like a dad!!
She looked as if she was pondering
about it. Then she sat up suddenly
and gave that mischievous smile
again and I knew she was up to
something. I just prayed she doesn't
remember about what I had seen
from the washroom. But she had
some other plans of her own. Within
one swift movement, she lay on top
of me, positioning her body from
head to toe perfectly above mine.
While I stared at her wide eyed, she
propped herself on her elbows and
looked at me, playing with the
buttons on my shirt. I didn't know
how to react; this was totally
unexpected from her.
"Armaan, why didn't we go to
honeymoon?" She asked out of blue
and I choked on my breath. She
surely was drunk.
"Huh?" That was all I could manage.
She was the first woman in my life
who rendered me speechless for the
second time in the last one hour.
"In the orientation your colleagues
were asking me. Why didn't we go?"
She pouted which resulted in my
gaze drifting down from her eyes to
her lips.
"You want to go?" I asked her,
wrapping my hands around her waist
so as to keep her in place.
She nodded her head and rested her
face against my chest and I felt the
warmth of her skin against mine.
That's when I realized that she had
opened first two buttons of my shirt.
And just like that she distracted me.
Ofcourse she might have wanted to
go. I wondered why I hadn't thought
of it before. With Riddhima, I started
enjoying every single minute we were
together that I didn't find the
necessity to go to some place and
enjoy. But then being a girl, she
might have had a share of her
dreams to go somewhere. I realized
that amidst everything, I haven't
even shown her in and around
Hyderabad. I am glad she was drunk
and letting out everything. Else I am
not sure she would have ever told
me about all these small desires of
her.
"Where do you want to go,
Riddhima?" I asked running my
fingers in her hair. Oh! I just love
doing that!
"Me?" she looked up at me. When I
nodded, she seemed to be in a deep
thought. "Anywhere you take me."
She mumbled stifling a yawn and I
knew she wouldn't be awake for long.
"But I like to play in snow." She
drawled, yawning away in glory.
As I caressed her back slowly in sync
with her even breaths, I couldn't
help but smile at the events of the
last couple of hours. I could only
adore her more for her innocence as
well as boldness. But something
changed for sure. I felt as if I have
gained a deeper insight of who the
real Riddhima is. And I closed my
eyes with a goofy smile on my lips. I
just couldn't wait for her to wake up.
I hadn't been able to sleep properly
last night, for whatsoever reason. So
I spent the time in introspecting my
relationship with Riddhima. When I
looked back, I realized that we had
come a long way. Though there
hadn't been any physical relation
between us, I realized I was strangely
happy with the growth of our
relationship. And with yesterday's
behavior of hers, I knew she was
yearning for the same I had been
waiting for, but still, I could sense
her slight hesitation.
I felt her stir in my arms and opened
my eyes instantly. She rubbed her
cold nose against my chest, which
was bare thanks to her, and turned
her head to the other side, her fists
gripping my shirt tighter. Supposing
she was feeling cold, I pulled the
bed sheet closer to her. Slipping my
palm inside her top, I rubbed her
lower waist casually. But as soon as I
did that, she jerked up, pushing me
away. Startled I looked down at her
to find her face pale, displaying
strange fear. As I tried gauging her
reaction, she just stared at me
blankly. After a moment, she closed
her eyes and sighed. While I gazed
at her still confused, she threw
herself in my arms and hugged me
tight.
"You scared me." She said in a
hoarse whisper.
"Oh!" I managed. "I didn't mean to.
Sorry." I wrapped my arms around
her and let her be until she was
calm.
"My head aches." She declared after
a few seconds, parting away and
sitting on the bed.
I chuckled listening to her. Finally,
the time has come. But with that
frown adorning her forehead, she was
uber cute that I decided my tease
could wait. Grinning, I dipped my
head to peck her lips but she
stopped me just as I was about to
place my lips on hers.
"I taste weird." She mumbled. As I
raised my brow, she continued, "I
mean - my mouth- I- its" She
fumbled with words.
"You were drunk." I stated and her
eyes widened as she sat up on the
bed.
She frowned and I supposed she was
trying to recall the events. But it
only resulted in a blank face and I
knew her attempt was futile. She
then turned her attention looking at
me expectantly.
But I just shrugged, "You might want
to brush your teeth." and she got up
from the bed, still in deep thought.
When she disappeared into the
washroom, I laughed silently.
Smiling I got up from the bed after a
few seconds and moved to the
washroom. There I found her, with
the brush in her mouth, looking into
the mirror on the wall lost in herself.
I stood behind her and reached for
my brush and toothpaste from
around her waist. That broke her
trance and she flustered when I
leaned in, deliberately letting my
body brush against hers. She quickly
finished brushing her teeth, washed
her face and slid away from me. But
instead of moving out of the
washroom, she sat on the slab
beside the washbasin and I found
her looking at me. I knew she
wanted me to say something but I
was in a mood to tease her. So I just
smiled at her slightly and continued
with my shaving. She stayed there for
some time and then left. While
shaving, I found her peeping into the
washroom every now and then.
When I stepped out of the washroom,
I found the room empty and heard
some sound from the kitchen. So I
supposed she was preparing
breakfast. I wondered if she was
feeling okay having said that her
head was aching. I heard her come
in when I was searching for my
mobile.
"Armaan, did I do something last
night?" she asked, in a small voice.
I put up a straight face. "Don't you
remember?" I questioned back. She
shook her head negatively lowering
her eyes and I buried my face in my
mobile lest I gave into my urge to
laugh.
"I am sorry." My head shot up when
I heard her broken voice. "I never
drink, but then few of your
colleagues came to meet me. They
were expecting me to have a drink. I
couldn't say no and -" Her voice
trailed off and raised her eyes to
meet mine. That's when I found her
eyes filled with tears. All the fun
abandoned me and I rushed to her
throwing my mobile aside.
"Riddhima, are you crying?" I asked,
standing infront of her after closing
the door.
"Are you angry with me?" She asked,
fidgeting with her fingers. "I swear
I'll never drink again."
I wondered where she had concluded
that from. "Woah Riddhima!! Where
do you get all these ideas from? Who
said I am angry with you?" I
gathered her in my arms.
"You are not talking to me." She
sniffed against my chest, wrapping
her arms around my waist.
At the very moment I realized that
she was a lot more sensitive than I
had understood of her. For some
reason, she always tends to feel the
need to please me in some way or
the other. Else she just freaks out.
"Ohooo Riddhima, I was having some
fun. I am not angry with you." I said,
hugging her.
She raised her head and looked at
me, as if seeking some confirmation.
I smiled and she sniffed again,
resting her head against my chest.
"You said you wanted to go on a
honeymoon." I whispered, squeezing
her little frame. But she went
slightly stiff and drew apart. "You
said that you like snow." I added,
tightening my grip around her to
make her stay put.
"I-" She opened her mouth to say
something, "I-" She stammered and
then lowered her eyes.
When I raised her head, as expected
her cheeks and nose turned red; and
she looked everywhere around the
room avoiding my gaze. "Riddhima,
look at me." I turned her face to me.
"Your drunken state shouldn't be a
medium for you to tell me about your
wishes, Riddhima. If you want
something, you can say it to me - be
it honeymoon or " I stopped short of
words as I remembered one more
question of hers.
"I knew you were busy at office, you
already took 15 days leave during
marriage. So I thought, may be, you-"
she started off and I waited to listen
what she would say. But then she
stopped midsentence and clarified. "I
didn't mean it that way. I mean, I
wanted to go but I mean, we can go
but -" she messed it up and looked
at me flushed.
I laughed out listening to her
ramble. "What am I going to do with
you, Riddhima!" I thought aloud and
she hid her face in my neck. Just as I
was enjoying the moment, she broke
apart, mumbled something like
'cooker whistle' and ran away leaving
me with a wide grin.
I the ring of my mobile, distracted
me and the already wide smile on my
face widened, if that was possible,
looking at the name of the caller.
"Hello mom, how are you?" I asked
cheerfully, sitting on the bed.
"I am good Armaan. How are you,
Riddhima and Rahul?" she asked.
"Fine mom, I miss you." I said.
"Yeah yeah, I know how much you
miss me. So much that you don't
even bother with calling me." She
teased and I chuckled. "Riddhima
was telling that she would be joining
office from next week, is it?" She
asked.
"Yeah, mom. She had her orientation
yesterday." I informed.
"So I was wondering if three of you
could come home for the three or
four days." She said hesitantly.
"I don't think that's possible mom.
With the new hires joining next
week, we had lots of work." I said.
"Oh okay. Then, you can send
Riddhima for few days. She wouldn't
be having any offs once she joins the
office." She said.
The idea didn't appeal to me. I knew
it was completely insensitive of me to
think that way but I didn't want to
send Riddhima there. Or to put it
right, maybe I didn't want to stay
alone without her. But I knew mom
would have been missing her taking
into account the way they had
bonded for the past few months. And
I couldn't say no.
"Okay, mom. I'll send Riddhima for
the evening flight. I'll come over for
the weekend to get her back." I
replied, halfheartedly.
"Perfect." I heard her excitement and
smiled. "Is she busy now?" She
asked.
"In the kitchen." I replied. "Hold on
for a moment, I'll give it to her."
"No, let her do her work. I'll call her
later." She replied.
"Okay. Bye mom." I cut the call and
Riddhima came in with a pile of
ironed clothes. "Mom just called." I
told her and her face brightened
immediately. "She asked us to come
home for few days." She smiled
wider.
"When are we going then?" she
asked, her voice chirpy.
"I am not coming. I'll book you a
flight ticket in the evening today. I'll
come for the weekend to get you." I
told, trying to read her expressions.
"Oh!" Her face fell slightly and I
wished she would say she wanted to
stay here. "Okay then." She said and
left the room.
I hoped she would say something
like the last time if I would be able
to do my laundry or eat takeaways
and I literally prepared my mind to
pick up any hint she would give; but
in vain. She might want to meet
mom, I consoled my disappointed
heart and pulled my laptop to book a
ticket for her.
"Hey Armaan, mail me the document
of new hire's competencies." Archana
greeted me with an intercom call
when I reached office.
"Yeah sure, in a minute." I told her
and searched my bag for the hard
disk. When I didn't find it, I
remembered that I had worked on it
at home in the morning. I might
have left it on the bed, I thought
and dialed Riddhima's number.
She didn't take the call even after
five minutes and I supposed she was
taking a bath. I remembered her
telling me that she takes bath after I
left for office. However I have to go
home to get the disk as it was
important for the mapping to be
done today. So I made up my mind
to go home and get it.
"Archana, I forgot the disk which
contained the competency documents
at home. I'll go and get it. Inform
Ankit if he comes for me." I told her
and left the office.
Reaching the flat, I rang the bell,
but she didn't open it. With a spare
key, I unlocked the door and entered
in. The living room was empty
confirming that she might be taking
a bath. I went to the bed room and
sighed in relief to find the disk still
on the bed.
"Armaan?" I heard Riddhima's voice
and turned around to find her
emerging out of the washroom.
"I forgot the di-" My words trailed off
when I took in her appearance.
My old white shirt hung loosely
around her body ending just below
her mid thighs, with her hair
dripping wet and her skin glowing
from the bath. She didn't bother
with buttoning up the first two
buttons and I could see her swelled
flesh peeking out of the intoxicating
V formed by the shirt below her
neck. I swallowed the lump that
formed at my throat as my eyes
darted down her figure.
She didn't expect me even the
slightest for she stood as still as me
at the washroom door. As if in a
spell, I found myself taking slow
steps towards her while she stood
rooted to the spot. I didn't realize
that the hard disk was no longer in
my hand until I found my hand
reaching for her wet hair, running my
fingers in them smoothening the
damp curls. I watched her eyes
drifting shut slowly and a flicker of a
movement caught my attention.
Something like a pearl. I watched in
fascination as a drop of water slid
gracefully down her forehead, tracing
the path of her temple, jawbone,
side of her neck and finally
disappeared behind the collar of the
shirt. Just like that I grew hard.
With a low groan, I dipped my head
and sucked another droplet that
made its way down her neck. She
quivered. I felt her pulling my shirt
at my waist as I kept myself busy
with clearing all the droplets off her
neck. She leaned onto me with a
throaty moan when I nipped her
neck. Her body sagged against mine
while I held her firmly in place with
one hand around her waist and the
other sprawled against her back. I
left wet kisses that were urgent and
desperate, around her neck and
throat. I felt a fierce adrenaline push
in my head when I heard her tiny
moans slipping out of her lips.
I drew back to look at her face for
just a second. And my control
snapped. With a softly uttered curse,
I pulled her hard against me and
smacked my lips on hers. Oh God!
She tasted sweet and smelled good
like some jasmines. My hand rose to
her nape, and I angled her face the
right way just before deepening the
kiss. I felt like an 18 year old
teenager as she eased her lips open
letting me in. I reminded my mind
that I had to be easy on her but my
body seemed to have a mind of its
own. She pressed against my body
and with the pebbled tips of her
breasts grounding against my shirt, I
forgot about being easy and gently.
All I was aware of was the soft flesh
against my body and that I wanted
more of it.
With a lazy movement, my hand that
cupped her nape slid down and
slowly pushed the collar of the shirt
aside. I felt her caressing my nape
before her fingers fisted my hair just
the right way to add fuel to the
already burning desire in my body. A
moment later my mouth followed the
path traced by my hand and left
lusty kisses on her neck, collar bone
before moving to her shoulder. She
flinched in my hold as my teeth
caught hold of her skin at just below
her collar bone. I sucked the skin
and went back to claim her mouth.
But my hand that held her shoulder
followed the opposite path of my
mouth and slid lower reaching for
the extremely soft flesh of hers that I
had been dreaming to touch for a
long time.
All of a sudden, I felt her warm and
soft body in my arms grow cold and
stiff. My instinct told me to back off
and that something was wrong, but
my heart hadn't got its fill and I
continued probing her lips wildly.
But it didn't take my senses to
realize that she had stopped
responding and when they did, I
drew back and was appalled at the
sight.
Riddhima stared right back into my
eyes with hers full of fear and her
face contorted as if in deep pain.
That's when I realized where one of
my palms was and that I was feeling
her up. "Please, let me go!" I heard
her plead and froze. I whipped my
hand back from her body and
stumbled back, my fogged brain
trying to understand what was
happening. Her entire body began to
shake and she backed away, tears
flowing down her cheeks. As I stared
at her utterly stupefied, she held the
shirt closer to her body and ran into
the washroom and closed the door
before I could stop her.
I ran a shaking hand in my hair and
wondered what on earth had
happened. One moment she was as
willing as I am and the next moment,
she was as rigid as a stick. The way
she groped her shirt and held it
close to her body made me appear
like a bully who was forcing himself
on her. And that fear in her eyes.
What was that for? Wasn't she the
one who was ready to strip when I
was watching? And my confusion
turned into panic when I heard her
sobbing behind the door.
"Riddhima, open the door." I knocked
the door. "Please, talk to me. You
know that I won't hurt you, don't
you? What happened?"
But all I could hear to were her sobs
and sniffs; and I paced infront of the
door trying to find a way. What
should I do? Should I call mom? But
what would I tell her? I racked my
brain and slowly I felt my panic
giving away to frustration.
I knocked the door again. "Riddhima,
open the damn door!!" I yelled in
frustration. She didn't reply and I
felt myself going crazy. "Riddhima, I
will call mom if you don't open the
door. Open the f***ing door!!" I
kicked the door hard. "Riddh-" I
swallowed my words as the door
opened revealing a trembling
Riddhima clutching her shirt tightly.
I rushed to her and was glad when
she didn't leap back. "Riddhima,
what happened?" I asked struggling
to keep my voice in control. "I
thought you wanted it too and-"
"I am sorry." She cut my sentence
and whispered but refused to meet
my eyes.
Sorry? Sorry!!That agitated me more.
"F**k with your sorry!! Just tell me
what's wrong!!" I yelled in mad rage.
She winced and stumbled back
hitting the wall.
My gaze softened and guilt took over
realizing that I was scaring her more.
"Riddhima, what's wrong?" I asked
her holding her shoulder gently.
"Everything was going fine, until you-
I promise I won't do anything that
will ever hurt you."
The thought that she might have
broken down due to what had
transpired between us stabbed my
heart. But I had kissed her before,
didn't I? Never did she behave like
that. Except that today I touched
her. How was I to know what had
happened unless she opened her
mouth and spoke of it? I felt my
mobile vibrating in my pocket but I
chose to ignore it. Everything else
could wait.
"I- I am - sorry." She whispered
again and I lost it.
"To hell with your sorry!!" I barked at
her and stormed out of the room
banging the door shut.
All day, I had been in a very foul
mood. I called Riddhima's mobile as
soon as I reached office but she
didn't take the call. I was so angry
that I yelled at my intern, messed up
the mapping documents, went late
for the conference and snapped at
Rahul when he tried to talk to me.
Not in a mood to face her, I asked
Rahul to drop Riddhima at the
airport. And I was glad when he
didn't question me further.
When he left for home, I held my
head in my hands and closed my
eyes. What the hell had happened?
Just a few hours ago, I was a happy
man so much that I almost forgot
about mom. But then now I was
completely messed up.
My mobile rang as I was buried in
my misery. I looked at the screen to
notice Riddhima calling. Tired and
hurt, I cut her call only to watch her
calling again. Next it was Rahul
calling. I cut the call and then
switched the phone off and threw it
aside. As I closed my eyes, I couldn't
help but wonder about how on earth
did I land up here?
So that's it for today! Sorry for not uploading yesterday. Thank you all so much for 1k reads. It means a lot. Once again thank you so much! Bye. - Isha