Arnav grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair.
He walked to the poolside, hoping cold night air would help.
Hurrying, he realized that even his brisk stride couldn't calm his body or his mind.
Khushi's face was all he could see...and that was vivid and clear.
Her frightened eyes as his anger spirralled out of control...
Her mesmerizing smile as she laughed with his family...
And her trembling lips...the night of Diwali...as she waited for his kiss...
The determination in her voice when she'd rescued him from Shyam was like a repetitive soundtrack that wouldn't stop playing.
Her desperate tears, as she tried to convince him of her innocence...
The pain in her eyes as she endured all his taunting...
And her confusion... because he had played havoc with her life...
As he walked to his room, he saw a shadow of movement beside the pool and he started toward it...
Khushi.
Sitting silently surrounded by twinkling lights...
Recognizing her, Arnav took a deep breath of night air cold enough to burn his lungs.
But the pain didn't matter.
Suddenly nothing mattered but Khushi, sitting, looking serious enough to blot out the blink of white stars, the buttery glow of a three-quarter moon.
He took a few steps forward and her head turned swiftly...
"It's Arnav..." he called softly in case she thought Shyam had come to her...
The glow from lights reached her face.
She didn't look happy to see him.
"Khushi, it's cold..." he said.
"I couldn't relax in the house. Everyone kept asking me questions..."
He didn't think twice. "About?"
"Us..."
Arnav had plenty of questions himself...
"Talk to me then..."
She looked over her shoulder at him and saw he was serious.
"Did you know you can own a star?" she asked, gazing at the heavens.
"Seriously?"
She stood, holding the back of the chair with her hand...
"Akash told me about an hour ago...he saw me looking at the stars...There's a celestial governing board that discovers new stars. If you e-mail them, they'll tell you where the star is and, for a fee, they'll give it your name."
"You'd like a star?"
She glanced at him and then looked up at the sky again. "After he told me about it, I thought it was a nice idea. My parents are already up there...and if i had my own star now..." she paused..."at least I could feel closer to them..."
Her words touched his heart in places that only she had been able to reach...
She had such a strong sense of belonging' something he'd never had.
But more important, he knew she realized how precious that sense of belonging was, how lucky she was to have it.
Her beautiful long hair flowed along her cheek and down her back.
With her face lifted to the sky, her profile became the perfect cameo.
He ached to touch her delicate cheeks, her determined chin, her sensually curved lips.
Instead he clasped her shoulder and she looked from the stars to him.
Strands of hair teased his hand.
He'd wanted to run his fingers through it from the first moment he'd laid eyes on it.
Lifting his hand, he took a lock of black silk between his fingers.
He'd never felt anything so soft, so sensual.
One handful wasn't enough.
With both hands, he brushed her hair back from her face.
Khushi let go of the chair and closed her eyes as he ran his fingers through her hair again, and then again.
He turned her to face him, and she rested her hands on his shoulders for balance.
With a gentle touch, he traced the classic lines of her face, memorizing the softness, the texture, the beauty.
He caressed her brows, stroked her cheeks, teasingly grazed the point of her chin.
But he didn't touch her lips; he was saving them for last.
"I regret not kissing you that night of Diwali...I'm not going to have those same regrets tonight," he murmured.
As he leaned toward her, her fingers curled on his shoulders.
He gave her time to back away.
But she didn't move..She only raised her face to meet his...
The first touch of his lips on hers aroused him.
He savored the sensations, as he savored Khushi...
He wasn't about to hurry this; it was already turning into a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Splaying his fingers through her hair, he cradled her head in his hands.
The clear night, the velvet sky, the refreshing cold, suddenly became gifts that made the moment more precious than tomorrow.
She was softness and sweetness and passion...everything he wanted and needed...and loved...
Lightly rubbing his lips across hers, he teased them both.
Khushi's lips parted...
But still Arnav didn't enter.
He took her lower lip between his teeth, laving it with his tongue.
Khushi caught her breath and gave a small erotic moan, fueling Arnav's desire.
He let go of her head and wrapped his arms around her, bringing her body closer.
His jacket, and her salwar, created inhibiting barriers, leaving the kiss to become their only means of contact.
With the tip of his tongue, Arnav touched Khushi's.
She was still for a moment, then shyly stroked against him.
Desire rushed through him and throbbed in his lower body until he almost hurt from the need.
When had he needed so much?
When had passion left him so breathless?
When had a simple kiss brought him to such full, immediate arousal?
Never before...never until Khushi entered his life...
The cold air emphasized the burning heat of their kiss.
She tasted as warm and sweet and natural as honey on a summer afternoon.
His tongue chased hers.
Their desire became tantalizing, quicker, feverish.
Arnav anticipated her breaking away...
The knowing sharpened his control but made the wanting and needing that much more unbearable.
He wanted so much more than a kiss.
He needed more than a padded embrace.
She was innocent.
He had tormented her so unforgivabley...
She never NEEDED to prove anything to him...
She sought Arnav's heat, wanting his warmth under her hands.
His jacket was as cold as the night.
She abandoned it in favor of the warm skin of his neck.
She caressed with her thumbs, ruffling the hair at his nape.
This moment made her forget pain, made her forget she wasn't ready to give her heart to anyone, made her forget Arnav would anull their marriage in a couple of months...
Each time he stroked her tongue, caressed her back, or pulled her even closer, her excitement escalated and she wanted more.
The passion between them became a palpable need.
Her shivering had nothing to do with the winter night, everything to do with being in Arnav's arms...
When he pressed his lower body against hers, his powerful arousal astonished her.
"Is it possible..." his thoughts rang out at him..."That after all I've done, she could...she might...?"
The questions floated away as the kiss created a hurricane of sensations and emotions in his mind, in his body, in his heart.
Kissing Khushi was as exhilarating as flying through the air, as dangerous as the death spiral, as dizzying as a prolonged spin.
Kissing Arnav drew from her all her energy; it gave her excitement and pleasure and a keening need only Arnav could fill.
It was confusing and thrilling, and she wanted it to go on forever.
She also knew it wouldn't.
She knew Arnav was going to break away.
Even as the thought came, he loosened his hold, slowed down the kiss until his lips only whispered against hers, then put a few inches between them' though he still held her.
She opened her eyes to study his face, to see if she could find out what he was thinking and feeling.
Tenderly, he kissed her forehead, then dropped his arms.
"Was that a 'thankyou for finding me' kiss?" Her voice was as shaky as she felt.
"No, I've wanted to do that from the moment you fell into my arms...after all I have done, I never expected you to even think about me, let alone try to find me..." His thoughts mirrored her own.
But said aloud, she wondered why they'd both been so foolish as to think this love would go away with anger or denial...
Arnav's next words confirmed it. "Now that I've kissed you once, I want to do it for the rest of my life..."
"Arnavji..." He put his finger over her lips.
Her knees still felt weak from the kiss.
"I have wanted you, needed you, hated you and despised you...but out of all this, the only feeling that would never leave, was love...I love you Khushi...I know that after what I've done, I may never be able to reach your heart with my love, but you have been the guiding star for my heart..."
He stepped forwards, his lips a breath away...
All the fear, all the worry, all the hate evaporated...
"I thought I'd never find you...My heart could never let you go..."
No more.
No more waiting.
No more wasting time...
He molded his lips to hers and their bodies collided in a soul posessing kiss...
Finally, he was able to hold, His unreachable Star...
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