Chapter 45

Gaurav started at the beautifully laid table with his favourite spread. His vision kept blurring every now and then but this time it was because of relief flooding every single cell of his body. He was at ease for the first time in about six years and didn’t have to guard his six anymore… After his crying bout which lasted for about half an hour, he was exhausted and hoarse…God he had bawled like a baby… wasn’t he supposed to be strong…? He always thought he was, after having survived that inferno in Dubai. But it was Ria who made him realise he needed release as well… Till now staying strong was his only option but now he had a choice too… not to hold up the fort or pretense of everything being fine. But most of all he was relieved because… Ria was still there. She hadn’t been loathing or run away… which would have devastated him. Though it made him feel week in the knees where she was concerned, it stopped threatening his sanity now.

 He had people look at his back in the exclusive VIP gym he frequented and give him pitiful or ugly looks. They would comment behind his back… literally, loud enough for him to hear. It was as if it put them off. He had struggled for years and endured great deal of pain to get his muscles to be mobile…. Through workouts and rigorous physiotherapy. Being unable to bear the stares he had a home gym built and had started to workout at home. He had thought at least his extended family, his cousins… at least a couple of them with whom he was close before Dubai, would understand him but they had all blamed him for the disgrace in Dubai and shunned him. His cousins called him a privileged bastard who didn’t value his inheritance. So he had found the easier way out and had severed all ties with his earlier world.

However, Ria’s reaction had surprised him. She had been rock solid as he had vented out. His own upsurge of emotional outrage had stunned him… He didn’t know he had so much emotion pent up inside… he just couldn’t stop. He had thought he had cried enough to sustain a few lifetimes when in jail and often after his nightmares or whenever things would get too overwhelming. Last six years he had controlled everything around him, stayed totally away from his family and old friends. It had helped him retain his sanity to an extent. But it was only when Ria had entered his life that he had actually begun to live.

Though late, she had coaxed him to have dinner with her. He hadn’t even known when Ria had transitioned form being someone he fancied, liked, cared for, loved, married… to someone who took care of him. He knew she had something to do whenever he skipped breakfast and Karuna had already arranged something before he opened his cabin. Her sweet gestures like preparing his favourite dish even though he knew that wasn’t her forte… making him paint with a gusto he didn’t know existed and more than everything else she made him want to get back to being … a surgeon. he hoped someday he would… Now, she was sitting next to him, to his left and he used every opportunity to feel her shoulders, neck and thighs…. More so for making himself believe that she was actually there… She had changed into a simple cotton night gown which was doing things to his manhood he couldn’t even fathom before. but she could be wearing rags and he would be still attracted in the same way. He knew she was his now and he was hers in every sense of the word.

There were still some things left unsaid and he intended to rectify them as well. He was definitely worried his past had followed him here and was getting it investigated thoroughly but so far there had been no evidence of anything and he hadn’t been able to connect the dots… but Ria’s blind faith in him had touched him… overwhelmed him…his eyes welled up as he saw her serving and telling him stories of how she had to coax Keith to help out with the recipe. He blinked the moisture away and smiled as she regaled him with her adventures of cooking Punjabi food.

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Ria knew Gurav was still overwhelmed… in fact she was trying to distract him with her petty chat over dinner but though he smiled she knew he was still a mess inside… God… she was a puddle of emotions brimming up and threatening and overflow anytime. The man had endured so much pain and more than that, he hadn’t been able to tell it all… She was honoured to be with him when he did and she was glad she could now understand him better. Asking him to rest, she had rushed to the kitchen with the pretext of getting something and had been trying to hold back her own tears.

As Ria was winding up in the kitchen, Gaurav walked in. Sensing him she turned around with a smile plastered on her face. He held her hands and slowly pulled her towards him.  “…uh… Ria…Uh…”

Ria held his face and looked at him with love shining in her eyes. “…Gaurav, you can tell me anything. You know that, right…?”

He nodded and looked down at his feet uncertainty etched all over his beautiful face. “Uh…move in with me …I mean, in my bedroom. I… I had always hesitated because of my…. uh…” He looked away and dropped down his hands.

Ria hugged him. He still was looking away sombrely. “Gaurav, come with me.” She took his hand and pulled him to the living room.

She gestured him to sit on the couch as she kneeled before him. She held his hands and looked into his eyes. She softly said, “Gaurav, look at me please…” When he looked at her, she continued with a soft smile. “…. You know why I love you….” He frowned. “…. I love YOU…you as the person with a beautiful heart…. your beautiful soul. Your body may be tainted according to you. But…. but…. if you look at yourself through my eyes, you will see yourself as a man with dignity… A man, who can be trusted with one’s life… A man who would move the sky and earth to protect his loved ones, a man who has given a new lease of life to battered women and children in form of Parijath… not just humans but a defeated horse like Shiva too was nurtured back to his current fitness by your Midas touch…that’s what you are Gaurav…a strong man with an indomitable will… and I believe all your life trials have only polished you to emerge as the gem so precious and rare…your glow lights up so many lives. For what it’s worth…I am a living example of a plant which has bloomed because of you.  So… look beyond your scars. To me you are the most handsome man on earth. As for your body… you know what it does to me isn’t it…?” she smiled with a naughty smile and he smiled back enhancing his dimples even as tears shined in his eyes as he shut them and bent to kiss her head… Oh how much she loved him!

The clock chimed 11PM as she pulled his hands and took him to his bedroom. She undressed him slowly. His night shirt was off his shoulders and he pushed it to the floor. She didn’t allow him to close the lights and he didn’t insist either. His chest had few scars too which she kissed as his breath hitched…she was proud of having the effect on him. She went on her toes and kissed his neck, chin and right ear. As he tried to grab her, she nodded her head and whispered, “…No… Not yet…it’s my turn tonight…” He grunted and dropped his hands down to his sides. He was breathing heavily…his arousal prodding her stomach. She pushed him behind till he reached the cot and made him sit as she climbed the bed. She moved on her knees behind him and kissed his bare back, moved her tongue on his welts…. She licked and kissed every uneven bit of skin that was present. He was stiffening every time she did that, his gasps the only audible sound in the silent room… but relaxed when she pressed his arms and blew where she rode her tongue. She reached up his left shoulder. She took his ear lobe in her mouth and sucked on it. He gripped the edge of the bed tightly on either side. “…Just wait…” she whispered. She moved back and removed her gown. She was now all bare as she reached his back again and rubbed her chest to his back relishing the feel of his body skin on skin. He was trembling now as she got down form the bed and moved before him. She gently pushed him on his back as he lay flat on the bed and climbed on him.

She took his right hand and kept it on her right breast. He pinched her nipple and she moaned in pleasure. She took his left hand and made him prod her apex even as he greedily pushed one eager digit into her wetness. She was dripping her juices and was close to reaching her pinnacle as her breath quickened by what he was doing. But she was determined as she leaned forward and looked into his eyes. She spoke softly with a slight tremor in her voice. “…Did… did you feel that…? The wetness…? That is what your body did to me… But more than that, you …as a whole have claimed me…. every part of me. Gaurav…I am yours… all yours…” she spread her hands indicating the same.

Gaurav immediately flipped her over and he was on top. He shed his remaining clothes and kneeled gloriously naked over her… for the first time. She saw emotion in his eyes and knew what this coupling meant for him. She raised her hands and holding his shoulders, pulled him towards her. He kissed her with such passion that she saw stars behind her eyelids. His tongue was always amazing but today it was different and there was no hesitation of any kind… as if all the barriers between them had been washed away. Barely a few seconds into the kiss, he thrust into her core…. slowly…. till he touched her womb. Her breath stopped. He pulled out and thrust again. Soon his pace increased… as they both climbed the peaks of passion together and crashed down the precipice wrapped in each other’s arms, and mouths fused…

Ria must have fallen asleep… A prodding on her bare ass cheeks woke her up. She groaned as she felt fingers in her softness and she was shivering with arousal. Gaurav, who was spooning her when they slept, thrust his finger in and out of her core from the back. As she wiggled her back his rod thickened its girth threatening to pierce anything that came in its way. He ran his tongue within her ear and sucked and bit her auricle. She hissed as he blew on the quick nip. She was breathing hard and was now desperate as she took left hand behind and grasped him. He swore and raising her left leg… with a single thrust he entered her. Within a minute they both screamed their release and as they slowly made their way down the slopes of ecstasy, they lay beside each other on their backs with their fingers intertwined.

Ria glanced at the bedside clock. It was 4 AM. She wasn’t sleepy at all. She stole a look at Gaurav. He was staring at the ceiling with a frown.

“Penny for your thoughts….” She asked breaking the silence.

He sighed and turned towards her on his right. She turned on her left facing him. He held her face and said, “You know Ria… I would have died that day…”

What…? That made her alert.

“When?” she asked getting up on her elbows.

“…uh…The day you met me in jail…” he trailed off lost in thought. She touched his hands on her face and held then in front close to her chest. He continued, “…. I was in jail …again…for something …I didn’t do….and …and just before you had come there was a fucker in the same cell who tried to …But…I fought him this time… I didn’t give up Ria… He was injured and they took him away… Manek was struggling to move me to another cell before that. I didn’t understand how they could detain me in a cell with such a criminal while I wasn’t even tried…When Manek met me before you came in he said… our lawyer wasn’t able to get the bail….and that we were likely to… uh… face a trial….and I had to be in custody till then…”

Ria rubbed his hands which had turned cold. She gave him the encouragement to continue. He looked past her at the wall and said, “…All those moments from those years ago swam before my eyes then…. I… I got a pa… panic attack which was so bad… I… I couldn’t breathe…. I thought… I would die…really…. I had lost consciousness…. but then…. you arrived. I dint want you to see me at my most vulnerable moment and… though I sent you away, you gave me hope…hope to fight. Someone had stood for me. Knowing the truth alone is not enough. You stood for the truth. You were fearless and all those days leading to the trial in Parijath, I blanked out everything except your presence. In a way Ria…” He looked into her eyes and continued. “…you saved me not just by testifying in my favor but by giving me a chance to believe… a chance to love… I never thanked you sweetheart…. so, thank you for everything…. For coming into my life and for… staying…”  tears fell on the pillow below his head as he tried to look away and she wiped them.

They lay still for a while and then she asked. “…um…Gaurav…?”

“…yea…”

“…What’s the story of that…um Red Room…?”

He frowned as he looked at her. “…Do you… really want to know…Ria…?”

“…Yes Gaurav… it had been a part of you for quite a while… so its fair I try to understand it…”

“…Let it go Ria…” he hugged her to him. “…it doesn’t matter anymore…”

“…Um… I … I wanted to … get my fear… um…” She stuttered not sure how to put her point across.

“…Ria… what did that asshole do to you…?” he held her face as she asked with a soft voice but she could see the sparks of anger shining in his eyes.

“…Um… he… he threatened me… he would tie me up…gag me… if I didn’t surrender myself…I …I  I was scared for days…” He hugged him tight. Though she didn’t cry anymore the memories of the evening still scared her.

“…That bastard…so Ria… was that the reason you were alarmed to see that room the other day…?”

She nodded into his chest.

“Ria… look at me…” when she did he continued. “…BDSM is a lot more than than the regularly projected dominance and submission… it depends on one’s perception and needs…if you consider its deviant then it is…at the end of the day its just a preference… a choice some people make… for me,…it was an outlet to my emotions since I didn’t know any other way…”

“…So…Gaurav… what exactly did you do there…?”

“…I wont be able to actually tell you Ria… but if you give me  a chance someday I will take you back there… to teach you…make you experience a sexual pleasure of a different kind… and I promise you… it will only be fun and exciting… very much unlike what you may have read…”

“…yes Gaurav… I would want that… someday. But… you know what Gaurav…?” he raised an eyebrow smiling and Ria was in tears as she said, “…Gaurav…I wouldn’t trade-in a life with you… for anything else. I love you…”

They kissed like there was no tomorrow. Ria knew she had a lot of work to do and her priority was to clear Gaurav’s name… not just before the court of law if need be but even before the people who had written him off… He deserved a chance to love…

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