Serendipity {Complete}

Chapter 15 - Miraya

"We'll get something to eat on the road, okay?" Veer had kept the windows down at the start of the drive, and the cool morning breeze felt wonderful on her warm face.

"Okay." Miraya replies without looking at him. She sits facing the side window, watching the green and brown blur of the scenery whizz by.

They had left as soon as Balraj and Veer had checked the vehicles over, stowed their gear, and calculated the time required to make the journey to Lakhda. It was the only open route to Khora. All other access routes were still closed, but they had heard from other drivers on the road that the curfew might be lifted today. So their chances of making it to Khora before noon were a definite possibility.

Veer was following Balraj's truck. The two men had been on the phone for some time, discussing contingency plans in case Lakdha was inacessible. This early, the traffic on the road was not that bad, as they passed a few commercial vehicles and one odd private car. Most likely, they had rerouted to avoid the rioting and unrest in Khora.

Priya's goodbye had been awkwardly sweet. She'd hugged Miraya tight and told her not to worry so much and to be happy. Miraya had wanted to ask if there was an instructional manual she could refer to instead of relying on herself for not worrying and being happy, but she had nodded along anyway.

As they drove away from Teen Dabba, she could sense Veer looking at her from time to time, but she was trying to ignore him. Sitting with her arms crossed over her breasts was a necessity because, even with the snug support of her bra, every single movement hurt her sore nipples. Her neck and jawline looked like she had taken a cheese grater to them, and the skin around her mouth felt like it had been sandpapered down. The cracked lower lip hurt. Her head throbbed painfully.

Veer had tried to talk to her at the house and then again when they had started on the journey, but she stuck to monosyllabic responses.

She was not upset with him. She was mad at herself. Furious, actually.

You are a right proper twit. A total idiot. What on earth possessed you to straddle him last night?

It was baffling.

Try as she might, she could not figure out what thought process resulted in that being an idea worth carrying out. She ran through the events of the night, from dinner onward, and could not arrive at the point where plonking herself on his lap and proceeding to grind against his hard-on was even a notion she had toyed with.

Sure, she had fantasized about him pulling her into his arms and kissing her. Him, doing the pulling. Not her doing the straddling.

Everything after that she did not want to think about. It was too awful. The humiliation. Ugh. Maybe after a few years, when the embarrassment would not feel so excruciating, she would unwrap their intense necking session. Her knee bounces at a frantic pace as she tries to muffle the memories.

The sun steadily climbs the sky, and the heat rises as well. Veer rolls the windows up and switches on the AC. With the windows closed, the silence in the jeep feels more pronounced.

She jumps with a startled squeak when Veer's hand gently grips her bobbing knee.

"Whoa, Miraya. Are you okay?" He leans over, forcing her to acknowledge his presence.

It's not like she could ignore him; he was too sizeable in every aspect, including the hand engulfing her knee. That same hand had touched her and squeezed her breasts last night, holding her wrists down.

"Y-Yes. I'm okay." Glancing up at him, she quickly turns away from his concerned gaze. The heat from his palm sinks in, melting her muscles and effectively ceasing her nervous tic.