Chapter 48

Thank you for the warm welcome. I am truly humbled by the love I've received from all of you. I feel on cloud 9. It is very rare that I am at a loss for words. Today is one such occasion. Thank you. Thank you each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart. For liking my story. For sticking around all this time. I owe it to each and every one of you to make this wait truly worthwhile.

Today's chapter, is perhaps the one readers have been waiting for an extremely long time. I don't want to take the surprise away, so without further ado, onto the next

Chapter 44

"Arre Titaliya, did you forget to keep laddoos for your colleagues, yelled Madhumati. She was busy making more sweetmeats for her Titaliya to take - some to New Delhi and many to Milan. "I don't know what kind of food people in Italy eat, " she mumbled as she cooked. "Poor Titaliya, she will starve."

Shashi and Garima simply smiled. Madhumati had always pampered their kids more than them. "Let her," Shashi said when Garima was about to correct Madhumati's notion. "Let her dote on Khushi. Khushi is after all her daughter too!"

It was Khushi's last day in Lucknow and the Gupta household looked like it had been hit by a hurricane. There was a constant stream of visitors coming by - some to wish her good luck, but many to simply gather gossip.

There was all this packing as well. Khushi was busy collecting and curating all her sketchbooks and swatches while at the same time working on the changes for the approved designs. She wanted them sent today, so the finished prototypes would be ready for a final tweak by the time they reached New Delhi tomorrow.

Khushi was going to fly back with Arnav. She didn't think he was well enough to travel alone. Arnav disagreed. Anjali had decided to spend a few more days in Lucknow reminiscing her childhood. Aman would only get back to New Delhi three days before they were scheduled to fly to Milan.

Between all this chaos, Khushi had managed to call Arnav's assistant for an appointment to hand over the changes for Arnav's approval.

She took her time to get dressed, put on her favourite bright red Salwar Kameez and spent a significant amount of time selecting her jewellery, applying sparse makeup and styling her hair. When she told her family that she was off to Sheesh Mahal, they simply assumed that she wanted to spend time with Aman. Apparently, Madhumati's guess was not that far off the mark. Khushi was looking adorable and it was evident that she had taken an effort to dress up.

"I told you both", smirked Madhumati. "Titaliya feels something for Aman. She just doesn't understand it herself. The sooner you both get in touch with Aman's family, the better it will be for everybody."

Shashi hesitantly agreed. Maybe Khushi was feeling shy. But what kind of a father would he be, if he didn't understand his daughter's feelings?

******

It had been two hours since Khushi had arrived at Sheesh Mahal. The assistant had made a mistake with the appointment time. He hoped Khushi didn't mind. He prayed, Arnav didn't find out. Khushi had been nice. She had asked him not to fret, that she was not inconvenienced in any way and had made her way to the wonderful gardens that adorned the palace.

When Arnav came looking for her two hours later, she was busy browsing through the rare varieties of the hibiscus plant that had found a home in these exotic gardens.

Arnav stopped, unwilling to disturb her peaceful tryst with the botanical marvels. She was busy admiring the Tahitian Queen, he could tell from afar. The flower was deep burgundy at the throat. The burgundy faded to red, then pink and was finally outlined by a beautiful yellow.

Khushi had never seen a flower that was so beautiful and spectacular. But it wasn't the Tahitian Queen that had caught her attention. It was the variety of Hibiscus growing right next to it, named the Black Dragon. Arnav could see Khushi gently caressing the pistils and the petals of the exotic flower. Black at the throat, the flower faded to indigo and purple and was finally outlined with a rich red, that spoke of splendour and royalty.

She turned her head to glance once more at the famous gardens of Sheesh Mahal. Blooms of different colours and different varieties caught her eyesight. And so did the lone figure of Arnav Singh Raizada observing her from a distance. The thought that he had been watching her from afar made her blush. She slowly made her way towards him.

When she was nearly there, she turned once more to look at the Black Dragon. His voice startled her. "I didn't know you liked flowers."

She sighed, with yearning and frustration. "I do."

She looked up at Arnav to witness an unusual smirk playing at the corner of his lips.

"What?"

"That should be my question. What are you doing so early for our meeting?"

"I didn't know the time had changed." Seeing a small frown develop on his face she hurriedly added: "But I didn't mind. I have always wanted to spend some time in these splendid gardens at Sheesh Mahal and I did just that."

When he didn't say anything, Khushi felt compelled to continue.

"I was just looking at the Black Dragon when you came along."

"You do know, that variety is actually called the Big Bad Flower," he said.

"What an apt name," she whispered. The flower reminded her of a certain someone who always wore black. A certain someone who was always regal and aloof, reminding everyone of his unique ability to attract attention in a crowd.

Khushi waited for Arnav to say more. When he didn't she felt compelled to continue speaking. "The flower is so majestic. So royal. It perfectly fits the palace." There was a certain longing in her eyes.

"And..?"

"And the person who owns the palace," she whispered. It was then that she then turned and looked into his eyes, with love and longing and Arnav lost all trail of rational thought. He gently leaned in and brushed his lips against hers. It was a gentle brush, instantaneous. But Arnav was not prepared for the havoc it would wreak to his system. He pushed Khushi to respond, pulling her closer, urging her to open her mouth.

He gently rubbed his lips against her, stroking her back with an urgency he couldn't himself understand. He moved his mouth from her lips to her cheeks, planting kisses along her the way, unwilling to break contact with her skin. He dragged his mouth to her ears, nipping at her lobes, his lips tracing the contours of her ears. He planted chaste pecks on her forehead and on top of her eyes, and then he was back again on her lips, tracing their outlines, licking, cajoling, even coaxing her to open to give him access. His ministrations were wrecking havoc on her system.

She didn't understand the sensations she was feeling, she didn't want to try and understand. She strangely felt secure, as if this was what was meant to be. She looked at the strong man who held her securely in his arms, who was possessively caressing her in unknown ways and she reveled in the glory of the moment.

She moaned her pleasure, and he used the moment to his advantage to gain entry, to give her the pleasure that that had been building up inside of him. Her inexperience startled him; she was so naive, so fresh, so innocent. She tried to match his movements, moaning, exhibiting pleasure, she revelled in the strength, at the moment that was theirs, and he marvelled at her ability to do so. They parted, to breathe, only to come together again.

Their tryst was broken by a voice from afar calling out ASR. And they jerked away, short gasps of breath and rosy tinted cheeks giving away two otherwise impeccably dressed individuals.

She turned around, facing away from him. Arnav was the first one to regain his composure. He walked up to her and turned her around. The voice calling ASR was drawing closer. She looked up at Arnav, handed him the envelope with the design changes and walked out of Sheesh Mahal and away from Arnav Singh Raizada as fast as she could.

Chapter 45: https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/topic/4807996?pn=89