Sanyukta inhaled a deep breath calming herself as she made her way toward the lion's cage...why did it felt like deja vu ???...she sighed, She hated how sometime he made her feel like a little ant in from of him... an helpless and pathetic little ant that he could squish in a fraction of second with the sole movement of his little toe...pathetic, indeed.
Stopping in front of his door, she bit her lower lip in anxiety. There was silence and no visible light coming from under the door... maybe he was asleep ? she wondered. But the gang just left five minutes ago...he couldn't be sleeping that soon, could he ? She remembered reading somewhere that it took approximately 7 minutes for a person to fall asleep once on bed... but then again we were talking about a lambda citizen here, like you and me... not some freshly wounded murderer bathing in his own blood. She sighed.
Running her fingers through her hair she patted down her wild locks... As the sharp observant she was, she knew sometime she acted like a crazed hobo... but that didn't mean she had to look like one now, did she ?
She put her hand on the door knob twisting it, she slowly and carefully peeped in, eyes darting left and right... when no immediate danger came flying in her direction, she decided that it was safe enough to enter.
She frowned at her stupidity... it was not like he could move, much less throw something at her...and why the hell would he do that anyway...she pointed out the absurdity of her wariness. But the past month she had spent in presence of these gangster had taught her one thing : danger didn't knock before showing its scary self... expect it anywhere, anytime... even dead bodies were sources of danger and suspicion until proven otherwise !
Thankfully, the bed side lamp was on, lighting the room a little bit, otherwise, knowing her, she would be tripping every two steps...
Sanyukta approached the king size bed and found his heavy, muscle compacted form wrapped up in bandages, peacefully lying on it... one of his hand carelessly thrown upon his closed eyes, his hair messed up in a controlled chaos. The pose only accentuated his heavenly sculpted built. She eyed him like he was the last slice of chicken in a salad, her fork eyes ready to strike him. She zoned out for a second before coming back on earth, suddenly realizing how creepy it might look to drool over a sleeping person...
She inched closer, her hungry eyes trailing down his entire body, capturing in the godly sight on her mind. She sat down on the bed next to him, her hand hesitantly reached his forearm ,caressing it delicately...just a light feather touch. Sanyukta closed her eyes, feeling under her finger tips, the man that had laid his life for hers. Her hand went up to his his exposed shoulder, she shuddered feeling the thick muscles under her palm... her hand moved up to his jaw as she traced his strong jawline...before sliding her hand back down to his neck... Her heartbeat quickened at the feel of his steady pulse. There had always been this connection between them... be it in anger, be it peace...there was always this hidden magnet bringing them close to each other. Her hand continued its path down his torso, feeling every marks of his pronounced muscles... his hot skin against her rather cold hand... Today's incident had only intensified the invisible bond between them, making it stronger than before...less avoidable than before. ...going downward, her hand landed right on the object of Sanyukta's fascination : his heart.
Because, despite the rude and cold mask he had on, despite everything he had done to her, despite every life he had taken...he had a heart and she had seen it.
She felt his steady heartbeat against her palm and sighed. This heartbeat she had been so afraid for some hours ago... this heartbeat she had cried for... this heartbeat that could have stopped for hers...she slowly bent forward, inching closer to his face and placed a light soft kiss on his lips, before slowly getting up, careful to avoid waking him up.
Her eyes landed on the neatly folded quilt on the bed, she unfolded it and covered Randhir up... caressing his forehead one last time, she sank next to him on the empty side of the bed, lying next to him. ...He had asked her to stay but she had refused, she wanted time...time to think about stuff. She knew where they were both heading, his actions had made clearer than ever before...but she couldn't jump in with her eyes closed. She needed time to sort out things, to think about the consequences before taking any decisions... if was not a fairytale for crying out loud, that they will have an happily ever after, after defeating the bad guys... ! For starters, she was far from a damsel in distress, she was independent, she had standard and expectations from life... not to mention some responsibilities... professionally speaking as well as personally... there was a LOT on the line for her...! ...And he ? ...well let's just say that his charming prince's smile concealed really sharp fangs and his warm eyes could turn as cold as a frozen chicken leg piece freshly pulled out of your freezer. ...Not to mention the antagonists... unki to puri line lagi hui hai...she sighed. Random kidnappers... a lecherous politician snake, wailing his way up destroying everything on his way...an insufferable man using her to settle some scores with the devil... umm scratch that, the last one expired some hours ago...she corrected herself... Whatever ! The point was that she had to think through it before taking any decision, it was not a dolls play, It was her life we were discussing about here ! One had to be practical, it was not a fairytale !
Feeling that her brain had suffered enough for the day, Sanyukta slowly pulled herself over to reach the lamp's switch to shut it off, the moment she moved away, she felt Randhir's free arm snaking her waist.
Sanyukta looked down at him when her hazel ones met his charcoal brown ones, "So you're here" he smirked.
Judging by his widely opened eyes, he had been awake.
Kill me now, thought Sanyukta.
"Shut up and sleep ! " She retorted back in her arrogance while he chuckled remembering the infamous hindi idiom, 'rassi jal jaye par bal na jaye'
"Or you could go back to doing what you were doing...I don't mind you know..." he teased her.
Sanyukta switched off the lamp and moved back to his side, his grip on her waist didn't loosen up, on the contrary he pushed her closer to himself, she protested at the beginning before finally giving in, as she rested her head in the crook of his neck. A contented sigh escaped Randhir's lips.
A few moments rolled in when Randhir felt her winding her arms around his bare stomach, securing him in her embrace, a small smile crossed his face.
"Thanks" she whispered snuggling closer to his chest.
They both knew what for.
Which reminded him...why the hell she had acted so carelessly ?!!!
"Why the hell did you came when Sahil specifically told you not to get involved ?!" he demanded. "It was dangerous" he scolded her.
"Thanks for reminding me !" she retorted " ...you were not the one at gun point" she said without thinking.
"Excuse me ?!...sorry for being busy taking the bullet instead..." he replied with heavy sarcasm.
...Riiight ! Which reminded her...
"You could have died !!!" she scolded him in return.
"YOU could have died !" he threw the comment back at her.
...Riiight, again ! Which reminded her of something else, and before she had time to process what she was going to say, she blurted out "Worse ! ...I could have died a virgin !" she exclaimed.
Her eyes instantly grew wide and she stilled... no she hadn't said that, had she ? no...no..no and nooo! She was feeling like that mini heart attack you have when you think you have sent your text message to the wrong person... Stupid, idiot Sanyukta. Plainly mortifying ! Please please please God I hope he didn't hear...she thought back in mind.
Randhir paused in his own thought. Virgin ?! ...she was a virgin ?!
"You are a virgin ?" he asked her in disbeleif.
She didn't reply...may be if she feigned sleep he was going to leave the topic. Putting her plan into action, she started fake snoring... not very lady like, she admitted, but at this critical level of mortification, she preferred discussing about loud unladylike snoring issues than discussing about her virginity ! Desperate times, desperate measures !
"I know you are not sleeping..." he said " ...drama queen"
"So you are a virgin ?" he repeated his question.
She got up on her elbow and turned to face him. "Yes I am, get over it" she snapped.
"Seriously...?!" he checked again...it was kind of hard to believe.
"No it's a joke !...I usually go around joking about my virginity, it's really funny isn't it ?" she snapped sarcastically. She paused. "It's not like am saying that monkeys can fly and baboon can swim... ! yes am a virgin, period, end of the story, game over !" she argued strongly.
Randhir looked at her in disbelief...again monkeys ?!!!
"Would you please enlighten me why are you talking about monkeys while discussing about your virginity ?" he said in astonishement.
"First of all, WE are not discussing about MY virginity, and second of all It was just an example... why do you always point out when I talk about monkeys ?" Sanyukta tactfully replied, if talking about monkeys could keep him off the topic of her virginity...she was not going to pass on the occasion.
"Ok forget about the monkeys... I can't believe you are a virgin" he said in all honesty.
Sanyukta paused on his word...and frowned.
"Why can't you believe it ?... what does that even mean ?!!" she questioned him eyes throwing daggers, ready to skin him alive if his answer didn't please her.
"Wow easy there... it was just a comment okey...I just didn't take you... you know...for the traditional kind of girl..." he said with precaution.
Her eyes instantly saddened at his words. "You thought I was easy... " she whispered interpreting his words.
Randhir looked at her and her watery eyes. ...Oh god not that.
"That's not what I said" he whispered back, looking away from her.
"Yes you did"
"No I didn't SAY that" he repeated.
"No you didn't, but you implied it" she retorted in an accusing tone.
"No ! You are overreacting over a silly matter!" he said fed. She putting words in his mouth he had not uttered.
"OH" she scoffed. "My virginity is a silly matter to you now?!" she hissed at him.
"...f*ck" muttered Randhir. This was getting ridiculous !
Sanyukta threw the quilt back and was about to get up when Randhir jerked toward himself, landing her on his chest. He closed his in pain under the impact against his injury but quickly opened them, his hand tightly secured her against him, leaving no room for Sanyukta to escape.
"Stop struggling and listen to me, am not done here." he said assertively ,putting a hand on her mouth, stopping her from saying...whatever she was going to say. At this moment he was emitting a very power alpha male vibe that no female body could resist.
"I didn't NOT say that you were a wh**e and neither did I say that you virginity was a silly matter ! You wrongly interpreted my words" he clarified, eyes boring into hers.
"I would never say that !" he simply said before releasing her. ...He had said as much as his character allowed him.
Sanyukta didn't budge, his last words still echoing in her mind. Coming from him, they were precious. They held some deep intensity... like a...like a lifelong promise... she sighed. ...Ok may she had over reacted.
She slowly relaxed, half lying on him.
She felt him peck her hair, spreading a soft smile across her face, as she prepared herself for a peaceful sleep.
Unfortunately for her, Randhir's continual movement made it hard for her to sleep. Why was he moving that much ?! she groaned in her mind.
"Umm..." she started trying to open a channel of communication. "...do you need something ?" she slowly asked trying to understand the reason of his agitation.
"No" simply replied Randhir.
...Okeeey, thought Sanyuka.
More tossing and turning.
"Seriously, you keep on tossing and turning, what is it ?"
"It's nothing" he said again.
Sanyukta was still not convinced he was continuously flipping sides, she held his waist and looked in his eyes, catching him off guard... in the moonlight penetrating from the nearby window, she saw painful unshed tears. He was in pain.
"Is it paining?" she asked in evident concern.
"No" he said, trying to move away from her grip but she doesn't let him budge.
"Tell me !" Sanyukta rested her palm on his cheek...
A smile made her way to her face "Accepting the pain won't hurt your big bad boy's reputation you know..." she told him. ...Oh sweet revenge.
"I won't tell a soul, promise" she winked softly, lightening the mood.
Randhir didn't reply back but only looked away, "Fine..." she heard him say.
He could feel her gaze never left his face. Randhir knew she could read him inside out, a habit she had developed over the days they had spent together... it was almost scary the way she understood him so well...
"Did you take pain killers?" he heard her say, he returned his eyes back on hers.
"They weren't any" he murmured in an innocent confession looking back away.
"WHAT THE..." started Sanyukta, but before she could swear more Randhir placed his palm across her mouth to shut her from waking up others.
"Shhh you are going to wake everyone !" hushed Ranhdir.
Sanyukta glared towards his hand over her mouth till Randhir sensed her eyes balls might just pop out. She then rolled her eyes signaling him not to stop her. He moved his hand away before she chose to turn into piranha and does some permanent damage to his hand... she was rather... wild !
"Where are the pain killers?" Sanyukta asked frowning.
Randhir just shrugged his shoulders in response only to get slapped on his thigh "You guys are gangsters..." she widened her hands as if it's a breaking news, "You get hit, hurt and wounded" she pointed, "You ought to keep painkillers, it's kind of compulsory !" she burst out. "...How can you not have painkiller ?!!! ...seriously !!!" she asked in disbelief.
Randhir rolled his eyes on hearing her bicker, "Finished?"
Sanyukta's jaw almost fell, but it was of no use, was it? lecturing the poor fella whose hurt so badly... was it on his part to fetch them ? absolutely not. It should have been on other's list ! Swearing to take their class in the morning she politely uttered a sorry.
Randhir who till now was enjoying all the expression crossing her face smiled to himself, she was such a package of expressions! His smile evolved into a smirk as she looked up to notice him.
"What?" she wrinkled her brows.
"Well...there is something else that can replace painkillers" he said slowly.
"And what would that be ?" asked Sanyukta raising her eyebrow in curiosity.
"May be I could get one of your kisses that helped me earlier?" he told her shamelessly, eyes darting toward his lips.
"You're enjoying it aren't you?" she crinkled her nose, to which he just responded with his deadliest smirk.
"Shut up!" she slapped his thigh again, "You aren't getting anything", she said, going back to her previous position, next to him her head in the crook of his neck.
Randhir didn't say anything and silently put his hand back on his eyes, trying to sleep. Out of everything, Sanyukta was not expecting this... he obediently slept away like a baby. She felt a guilt rush, time and again she forgot his sacrifice and went back to her ways. She could see him turning the cushion and suffering much.
Sanyukta bit her lip in confusion, he was already in pain and she wasn't helping either way out. She couldn't be that ungrateful... but wait... said like that it sounded a bit weird. How was she going to repay his favor...with her body ?...with kisses ?...technically it was almost... prostitution...sexual favor for a well rendered service... Riiight, Sanyukta scolded herself, as if they only had an employer/employee relationship with no emotions attached...right !
Sighing away Sanyukta moved putting her hand on his upper chest , slowly sliding it down...caressing the soft hard skin on her way. She stopped at the protruding muscles adorning his stomach. Her fingers trailed on the the defined fissure diving his abdomen and stopped above his naval. She heard him suck in a breath.
Randhir didn't open his eyes until he felt her nearing him, upon opening his eyes he found her much closer to him than earlier. He knew she was leaning in for a kiss ...probably just because she was feeling guilty or something after he mocked her.
"Hey!" he looked up to her, stopping her midway
"I was kidding...you don't have to do this...if you don't want to..." his last words trailed away slowly as she pulled his lips into hers closing the distance answering his doubts and calming him up. She wanted to to do it, for him.
Her hands massaged his chest and her lips devoured his taste, she crawled her fingers upon his nape and neck slowly deepening the kiss. Randhir almost felt her suck away his pain, she lingered and worshipped his mouth contours... softly savoring it in pure delight.
Randhir gripped her waist securing her near, she felt him tense up to keep up with her.
Sanyukta broke the kiss only to lean in further sucking his ear lobe between her lips, "Just enjoy" she whispered in her softest tone and then trailed feathery kisses down his ear till his jaw.
Her hands massaged his chest while her kisses numbed his brain, almost making him jittery. She sucked at his Adam's apple earning a soft sigh from him. Sanyukta then trailed her path back to his lips kissing at it in the corner and then taking him in a full open mouth kiss.
She kept on kissing him till she felt him totally relax under her ministrations.
"Good night" she whispered brushing her lips to his, and kept on caressing his until he fell asleep.
***
The morning rays fall straight to her face waking her up, Sanyukta looked up at Randhir who was sleeping deeply next to her with his face buried in the crook of her neck. She closed her eyes remembering last night's events. When had she started being that bold ? she wondered... the answer came almost instantly... from the day she had met this infuriating yet priceless man...she smiled.
She slowly got out of his grip and got up; pulling her hair into a bun. She was about to step out of the room when he called out to her, "Where are you going?"
Sanyukta sighed and stepped back towards the bed, "I need a break for some time" she confessed looking away.
"I need some time to compose myself...to think about...stuff" she spoke her heart out sincerely
Randhir kept looking at her, her eyes held a deeper silence.
"I'll be back tonight, I promise" she uttered softly, leaning in to kiss him good bye.
***
Crazy ! That's was the first word that came to his mind when he had seen her the first time. She had made an impressive impact on Randhir right on their first meeting !
Who the hell jumped in seeing a person killing another...even more when the killer and pray were two scary dude and the intruder was a defenseless woman... Defenseless my ass, thought Randhir. She had induced him in talks, sprayed him and escaped ...making her the first person ever escaping his clutches. He had seethed in anger for hours...being fooled by a mere girl had not settled well with his manly ego.
Then he had learned she was falcon, his curiosity has increased...as well as some kind of respect. She was after all India's best hacker, she was smart, she had been in the center of really controversial cases. ...But then after spending some time with her, all the respect has gone to dust bin, her infuriating character, her rudeness and selfishness had earned her a secured position in his bad books. She had left no stone unturned in riling him up, every encounter of them finished in direct clash or at best in a heated argument...
And then, very slowly something else built up... in between insults and slaps, kisses made their way. Their frustration slowly turned into sexual tension... he was getting physically attracted to her, the way he had never been before with anyone...he knew her strong character and her challenging nature had something to do with it... she always stood up against him and he secretly admired that, he had to admit it...she reminded him of himself somewhere... Day to day, he started craving her touch...every excuse was good to touch her... And if he was totally honest here, he wanted her to want him the he wanted her...he could not bear the fact that she could stay indifferent to him, to his touches... all in all his reaction to her closeness was scary !
But his ego, his work, his mission made it impossible for him to let him fully express himself. He knew his life was at risk every minute of the day, he knew hers will also be put in danger if she was related to him too closely. She had been kidnapped already once...he could not let it happen again. He wanted to stay away...but his selfish side still wanted her to seek him out... he wanted her to show her haq over him...and so she did when she returned to him scolding him after the shootout with Randhir's men. ...And he had loved every bit of it.
Then the one situation where he couldn't help but intervene, occurred. Her life had been at sake !... He didn't thought and jumped in to save the life of the one person that had been able to reach his heart... that had made him feel something...that had shown care toward him...he smiled recalling her sexy attempts at keeping his mind off the pain yesterday.
She was totally insane, she had weird antics and even more crazy ideas... but she had made him smile, he recalled her twisted ideas to retrieve information. ...And he had totally fallen for her, he finally admitted it to himself. She had changed him without even knowing, unlocked door without even wanting... he felt serene in her presence.
When she had said she was a virgin yesterday, it had taken Randhir by surprise, but contentment had almost instantly replaced the surprise. He had guessed, she had not been physical with anyone before him...he felt pride in knowing that he had been the first and only one to touch her intimately, it satisfied his manly ego. ...But he was not ready to admit that to her.
He knew he had issues showing emotions... but he believed his actions had showed enough. He had traded his life today for the safety of her, even a blind could could tell that. He paused his thinking... He had been pretty clear with her, so why did she left him this morning ? ...to think ?...think what ?!!! he sighed in frustration. He couldn't be more clear...his anger slowly climbed, his emotion took a u-turn . ...He took a bullet for her for heaven's sake ! ...and she needed time to think ?!!! the more he thought about it the more his anger rose. What more proof did she need ? he greeted his teeth in frustration.
***
Sanyukta left the den. After a 15min drive she spotted a yummy looking caf. First and foremost, she needed a treat, for what might you ask ? ...for bearing everything that happened without breaking down ! It was an achievement in itself, she had not broken down in the past 48 hours even though she had hundreds reason to.
She ordered an extravagant ice cream as a prize for good behavior. As the waitress put the ice on the table, Sanyukta's eyes hungrily took its sight.
"Oh my little baby, aren't you eager to be ate by this lovely lady here?" she talked to the cup of ice cream in front of her.
She wondered how many calories contained this delicious dessert,...the average for a girl was 2000 calories, but taking into account what she went through, surely double was needed...so 4000...she calculated ...and may be... she needed to make provisions for the future... just in case you know... so 6000 it was... Deal ! Contented with her reasoning, she happily ate her ice cream.
1 hour and a super grand exquisite m&ms adorned chocolate strawberry every-flavor-in-the-world included cup of ice cream later, she was full and concluded that it was high time to pay a visit to Tara and Karan.