Chapter 13

a s h u

@SlytherInMe

Chapter 5:

Raavi looked up at Shiva who was holding onto the towel he had wrapped around her and mustered up an ounce of courage to ask him the endless list of questions she had. She licked her lips in nervousness and slightly bit the corner, and she watched as his eyes followed her movements. She cleared her throat to refocus his attention and he looked back up into her eyes, his arousal flaring back up in his eyes. She shook her head and placed a hand on his chest to stop him from coming closer. 

“Shiva…,” she had just gotten his name out of her mouth when she heard Dev and her MaasiMa calling her name. The lights had finally turned back on and she hadn’t noticed until now. She sighed in annoyance and Shiva chuckled at the irritation on her face. For the first time, she was the one disturbed by the interruption and he was reveling in her exasperation. He placed a quick kiss on her lips, darting his tongue across her small frown and left the bathroom before anyone found them in such a compromising position. 

She stomped her foot in agitation and wrapped the towel around her tighter. Gadhera. Khud toh chup chup ke chalagaya aur mujhe yaha iss halath main chodiya. Main sabko kya bolungi? She walked out of the bathroom and faced her MaasiMa, who was looking at her drenched figure in horror. “Raavi meri bachi ye kya hua tujhe? Puri tara bheeg kaise gayi?” Prafulla asked, while looking around the room for a possible explanation. 

“Voh…voh…MaasiMa,” Raavi stuttered while trying to think of a reasonable excuse. “Ae gadheri ye voh voh kya karahi hai. Seedhe seedhe bol,” Prafulla said while grabbing her dupatta and shaking it to wring out some water. Raavi glanced at the candles and an idea formed in her head. 

“Voh MaasiMa andhera hogaya tha na toh maine candles jalaliye. Ek candle galthi se ghir gaya mere upar aur uska wax chipak gaya mere lehenga se. Jab mein bathroom gayi toh andhere mein kuch nahi dikh raha tha toh galti se shower on hogaya aur main bheeg gayi. Haan yahi hua tha.” She gasped for air as she had narrated the whole story in a single breath. Prafulla eyed her suspiciously but didn’t question her any further. Raavi sighed in relief and the both of them moved out of the room and towards the setup for the haldi function. 

The rest of the ceremony had gone without a hitch even though Shiva had stared her down the entire time. She had purposely looked everywhere but in his direction, afraid of the desire that would pool in her stomach if she did so. Thankfully the blush that had spread all over her body when he had applied haldi to her in front of her, had been covered by the yellow tint of the haldi. His touch had been completely innocent this time but the sinister gleam in his eyes told a different story. 

After the ceremony was completed, everyone went back to their respective rooms or houses to get ready for the next event: the engagement ceremony. Raavi took a long, hot shower, the scalding water almost blistering her skin, but her mind was too preoccupied to notice. Samaj nahi araha ke Dev se shaadi karne ka mera faisla sahi hai ya nahi. Aur agar sahi hai toh pichle do din so jo horaha hai voh main kyu hone de rahi hoon? 

She walked out of the bathroom, dressed in the blouse and skirt of her sari for the engagement. She quickly covered her chest and screeched in horror, “Shiva! Tum phirse ghus gaye bina knock kiye.” There he was, sitting on her bed as if it were his own, with a lazy smirk sprawled across his face. 

“Mere hone wale biwi ka kamra hai yeh, pura haq hai mera,” he replied while walking towards as a predator does towards a prey. She took a step backwards for each step he took forwards, eventually backing up against a wall. She turned her face to the side as he put his hands on the wall with one on either side of her head. He leaned in closer, leaving just about an inch of space between them. His whole body covered hers yet not a single inch of their skins touched. 

“Dev ki biwi,” she stuttered out while leaning back into the wall as much as she could. He brought his face closer to hers, his lips almost touching her cheeks. She could feel his breath fanning her face and wondered if the anticipation of his touch was even more torturous than his actual touch. The butterflies in her stomach were swirling at the speed of lightening and she took deep breaths in an attempt to control her desire. 

“Biwi bol dene se, koi biwi ban nahi jatha hai. Tum meri thi aur hamesha meri hi rahogi,” he finally said while sliding his arms down from beside her head to beside her waist. It was as if he had been raking them down her arms but not a single finger of his had touched her. Her face was still turned to the side and though she wanted to reply while looking him in the eye, if she turned her head even a little bit, the distance between them would have been eliminated. 

“Bachpan se main sirf aur sirf tumhare liya ek khilona thi. Aaj bhi tumhe sirf apni khilone ki zidd ho rahi hai. Ab bade ho jao aur sudhar jao.” He slid his arms back up the wall and noticed how her breath hitched at his movement. The near proximity between the two was wreaking havoc on their senses yet neither of them wanted to give into the temptation of touching the other. Afraid that she would be the first one to do, Raavi ducked under his arms and ran to the other side of the room. 

He sighed in frustration and ran his fingers through his hair, while following her almost immediately. Bahoth hogaya natak. He grabbed her pallu and a couple of safety pins along the way. Raavi tried to snatch the pallu out of his hands, but he held it out of her reach. He dipped two of his fingers into her skirt and pulled her towards him, her hands immediately grabbing into his shoulders. 

“Shiva chod mujhe, ye sahi nahi hai.” She pushed against him, but he had caged her in his embrace while tucking in the pallu around her waist. He pushed her back as soon as the first layer had been tucked in and said, “Ja chodiya.” She scoffed while taking a step backward, but he hadn’t finished the task at hand. 

He neatly formed pleats with a section of the pallu and safety pinned them in an orderly fashioned. Once he was satisfied with them, he wrapped his hand around her waist and pulled her in once more. He folded the pleats into the front, tracing his fingers along her waist. She closed her eyes while he pulled the last section across her chest and pinned it to her shoulder. With the last section wrapped, he turned her around to face the mirror and put his head on her shoulder. 

“Biwijaan,” he whispered into her ears, and she tilted her head to the other side, her eyes still closed. “Hmm?” she replied, lost in the effect of his touch. Shiva chuckled at her submission, and she snapped out of her daze, her eyes opening in horror. She tried to take a step forward, but he held the back of her arms and slid his hands down to held her own. Before she could register what was happening, she felt him slide something onto her finger. 

She looked down and gasped in horror because she was now wearing a ring on her ring finger. “Abse tu meri mangetar aur thode dino mein tum meri biwi hogi. Sirf meri.” He kissed her ring before walking out of the room with no intention of hearing her protests. She immediately tried to take the ring off, but he had clinched it on too tightly, and it didn’t budge at all. She pulled with all her might, but it remained on her ring finger, the finger she had reserved for Dev’s ring. 

She ran to the bathroom and rubbed a bar of soap around her finger to make it slippery, but her attempt was in vain. No matter what technique she used and no matter how much force she applied, the ring had remained stagnant on her finger. Her finger had started to swell from her constant pulling and what had been difficult before, was now nearly impossible. Her finger was too swollen for the ring to move even a millimeter. She clutched her head in exasperation and wondered what she could possibly do to fix this situation before the engagement. Shiva had managed to ruin yet another function of hers and her heart broke that despite everything, he had emerged victorious yet again. 

With a swollen ring finger, curtesy of another cruel plan of Shiva’s, Raavi broke down into tears and slid down against the wall of her bathroom. She brought her knees closer to her chest and buried her face in her crossed arms. It seemed as if she had cried more than she had breathed these past few days and, in her misery, she couldn’t help but think about that god awful day. The day that had left her heart in pieces and her soul completely destroyed. 

Ever since she was a child, her whole world had revolved around Shiva and his incessant bullying. In fact, her very first prominent memory was Shiva snatching some toy from her and him reveling in her cries. From that point onwards, he had never left her alone nor had he let anyone else come in the bubble he had created around them. He had completely isolated her from the rest of the world, the only spare moments she had from him was during the times his Bhabhi would forbid him from seeing her. 

Everything from what she ate to what she wore to how she spent her days had been controlled by his wants and after a certain point, she had happily obliged. Sure, more than half of the time their interactions consisted of him torturing her in some way but the other few times would be him consoling her or just brooding in some corner, observing her. They had celebrated every milestone together and he had been there for her in any vulnerable moments she had, had over the past years. 

Naturally, her heart had gravitated towards her childhood tormentor, and she had begun to notice the care she thought he had for her. She fell in love with the way he would never go too far in his pranks and if one of them were to go awry, he would instantly save her. She fell in love with the way he would never let anyone else demean or hurt her in anyway. She fell in love with the way he looked at her as if she was his whole world and he knew nothing beyond her. She just fell in love with him – hard, and once she had decided her heart was completely his, she had accepted the bruteness that came with that sliver of care she had seen in him. 

She had resolved to break their endless cycle of fights and take their relationship a step forwards by penning down all her feelings for him in a letter. She had poured in her whole heart and so much more, entirely giving herself to him through that simple letter. It had taken her weeks to find the right words to express how she felt and by the time she was done composing her love letter to him, her courage had dwindled. 

Yet, she had somehow managed to muster up just enough confidence and had left the letter on his desk of his home office. She had waited patiently in the courtyard for his arrival and once he had reached his office, she peeked in through the window to gauge his reaction. He had instantly noticed the envelope as it was bright yellow and had ripped it open within seconds. She rolled her eyes at his rashness but pushed her chagrin aside while bubbling in excitement.

The entire time that he read the letter, Shiva’s face was devoid of any emotion, and she cursed him for his lack of expressions. Even when he had seemingly finished reading the letter, there seemed to be no reaction from his side. Impatiently, she barged into his office and silently demanded an answer from him by placing her hands on her hips and glaring at him. 

A brief moment of silence had passed between them before he had held up the letter in front of her face and had mercilessly ripped it into shreds. He had then proceeded to throw the pieces towards her face and she had turned her face from the impact and in shock. He hadn’t even given her a chance to process what had happened before harshly grabbing her by her arms. 

“Tumne aisi ghatiya baat socha bhi kaise? Thoda attention kya milgaya tumhe, tum toh sar pe chad gayi. How fcuking dare you Raavi?” Shiva roared at her, and she had flinched back in fear. She had prepared for the possibility of rejection but had not expected such an extreme response. 

“Par Shiva main toh bas pyaar…,” she stuttered out before he interrupted her, squeezing her arms even more. 

“Pyaar? Tum jaisi behuda aurath ke muh se pyaar ka shabd bhi gali lagthi hai. Are agar itna hi shauk apni bezatti karne ki toh jau kisi bhi sadak pe aur karo apni pyaar ki nilami,” he yelled, while pushing her away from him. 

She looked at him in disgust and contempt, raising her hand to slap him senseless. But he had caught her hand and twisted it behind her back, slamming her body against his. “Aisi galti karne ki dobara kabhi maath sochna samjhi? Kuch zyada hi garmi chad rahi hai tujhe, aa tujhe teri hi aag mein jala deta hoon.”

He had dragged her out of the house, and she kicked, scratched, and pleaded with him to let her go. Luck was not on her side that day, and nobody had been there in Pandya Niwas to hear her cries. From the house to his car and from his car to the Pandya Store, Shiva had not listened to any of her pleas and maintained a death grip on her. 

He pulled her into the store, and no one had stopped him, she had assumed it was because it probably looked like a daily interaction of theirs. But only she knew just how different the situation had been this time. He only let go of her when they had reached the back storeroom of the store and he pushed her towards the ground. 

“Jab tak ye pyaar ka bhoot tere sar se nahi utar jata, tab tak tu iss storeroom ke bahar nahi nikle gi,” he said while locking the doors on his way out. She screamed for him to let her out, but he had ignored her as she wept endlessly. She had gotten up and banged on the door for what seemed like hours, but no one had come to open the door for her. Exhausted, she slid to the ground and laid there, her whole-body trembling from her sobs. An eternity had passed by for her and soon she begun to question the faint sounds she was hearing. 

Drip. Drip. Drip

She drew her knees closer to her chest, curling into the smallest ball she could possibly manage. Though she was suffocating on her own breath from the claustrophobia, she couldn’t help but enclose as much of her body as she could. She opened her mouth to scream but couldn’t manage to voice a single sound. She settled for biting her arm, sinking her teeth deep into her skin – barely feeling the pain. She leaned forward and lied her head on her ground, rubbing the dust against her forehead in defeat. 

Drip. Drip.

It was then did she realize that the ground was wet, and the dripping sound was a reaction to the constant stream of tears rolling down her face. The floor creaked and a black shoe had become visible in her hindsight. She turned her face the other way, anticipating the touch of her tormentor and dreading the events to presumably follow. She felt his fingers slowly caress her soft skin and she felt as if the breath had been knocked out of her. Her eyes fluttered, barely opening and she finally gave into her exhaustion. She let out a soft gasp that sounded quite similar to Shiva before losing consciousness.

Drip. 

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please read my author's note that is two posts below this one!