Hamraaz- Pt 8

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Rapture was all Darya felt as she remained still, rooted in her place as though under a spell- and she was.

The spell that Zamurad's lips had casted the moment they touched hers made her heart lurch out of her chest. The numbing of her brain as all her thoughts melted into nothingness and left her at

the mercy of the man in whose arms she was in, Darya could do nothing but try to hold onto her sanity.

Her body never felt an ecstasy as the one in that moment. The warmth that spread across her entire being made her surrender herself to Zamurad who gladly became the one she relied on. Her arms gently placed themselves on his shoulders, the action so smooth and subtle that the mere touch made Zamurad shudder.

The air around them shifted. The once sorrow had now turned into a diminished memory while an intense need to have more replaced it with great joy.

Zamurad wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her gingerly as closer as possible to himself. Her toes overlapped his, their chests touched each other in the most pleasant of forces while their eyes just shut themselves from the rest of the world, giving full control to their sense of touch.

Their lips remained intact in the softest of ways, nothing too aggressive nor a desperate need to have more. They relinquished the logical side of their actions. All that was left was them, the tranquillizing silence and the giggling breeze that caressed the two as though trying to sooth the battle between their blood and its veins.

Darya gasped softly as Zamurad detached his lips from hers, the need to breathe kicked in as the two hungrily took as much of the oxygen around and before Darya could open her eyes, her lips were held captive in the most pleasant of ways without any warning or hesitation.

Zamurad tried not to shiver at how pastel her lips felt against his. A touch so tantalizing, brutally closer to that of a dream- a dream that he wasn't ready to wake up from.

The molecules in the air brought themselves undeniably closer, as if to match the intensity behind the two lover's actions. Their holds on each other turned from tender to a vow of never letting go. Their arms tightened around each other, both of them trying to hold on for a little longer. Their lungs begged for air but their hearts begged for more of the sinful touches that they were now tainted in.

Darya finally felt herself slipping. Her palms gave a gentle push to his shoulders, as if wanting to separate just for a little before resuming their not-so-saint of actions.

Zamurad opened his eyes on feeling her need to intake more air, a sound so unfathomably pleasing left the back of her throat as he subtly touched his tongue with hers, indulging them in a play of their own before finally releasing her lips, setting them free only for now.

Darya opened her eyes that suddenly felt drowsy, as if they were given the most potent of drugs. Her vision felt a little hazy before her mind finally set the focus on place. Blinking a few times, she tried not to gawk at the look of fervid need that Zamurad looked at her with.

His once mocha brown eyes that seemed like the newly grown tree now resembled the fertile soil after a heavy rain- dark and filled with a want for more.

"Your thoughts do run a little too wildly in that little brain of yours, don't they?"

His deep voice made her gulp. The sore huskiness in them made her shiver in his hold in response to which Zamurad could only clench his jaw in utter restraint.

One thing that he always admired about himself was his self-control but looks like the thing was slipping from his hold and he was not even remotely apologetic about the fact.

"Kaha tha maine kuch hafte, but things got a little rough. Pata bhi hai dil kitni mannate kar raha tha aap ki sirf awaz sunne ke liye? Should've been better agar aapne is nacheez ko safai dene ka mauka diya hota rather than running that dimaagi train of yours."

His playful tone made Darya huff. The burning heat that resembled the blazing sunlight in the month of the upcoming spring, showering its love on the blossoming buds was what her cheeks looked like.

She tried to wriggle out of his hold, the once fairytale-like magic now broken by just a little when his teasing tone settled in her mind that was slowly coming back to consciousness.

Zamurad smiled seeing her futile attempts to separate herself from him. He was no prince charming but without even the least bit of doubt in his mind, he swept her off her feet, earning a surprised shriek from Darya who looked at him with wide eyes reflecting wonder.

Taking long strides as though he were holding nothing but a feather, he placed her on the bed. Darya could only blink as though stupefied by his sudden actions.

"Jaana, I know my actions are not justified. The fact that I kept you waiting for so long has no one but me to blame. It was never my intention to hurt you or make you feel less important. Wallah! Apart from you, everything else feels unwanted to my heart and soul. Lekin jaha mohabbat hoti hai, waha uske dushman bhi toh hote hai."

He sighed in exaggeration towards the end, not realizing the weight that his words held. Darya's anger had vanished as though it was never there but she refused to give in just yet. Zamurad took her palms in his, his eyes stared deep into her soul, reminding her of the times she had first gazed into-

Darya quickly shook her head. The memory had not once surfaced in all those months when Zamurad was away so why now? She thought she had forgotten all about the fateful encounter that she had with the army man in the snow covered mountains but it felt like she was wrong.

Her panic filled gaze met his. Her heart contracted with the thought of her being a silent betrayer to all of Zamurad's sweet gestures and words.

Why would her mind bring up an incident she had with another man when she was sitting in the embrace of her majazi khuda?

Zamurad observed the pale look that suddenly took over Darya's face, how her cheeks lost the hues of red and how panic settled in her once placid gaze. He felt himself getting alarmed by the sudden hurricane of emotions that passed through her eyes, his mind ran with the possibilities of what wrong he had said.

"Darya, jaana, kya hua? Did I say something wrong? Batao mujhe. I know I can be an utter nuisance at times, hard to handle, a little moody and rough with my words lekin did I actually ramble about something rude? Jaana, stop scaring me. Wait-"

He almost fainted as he saw tears gathering in her eyes. His throat felt too dry as he tried to not pull his hair in frustration. Taking deep breaths, he tightened his hold on her palms and raised one of his to wipe the pearls that streamed down her cheeks.

His eyes resembled a soothing warmth just like the one falling directly on the shores of the beach as the waves of the ocean hit with a rhythm on the surface.

"I-I am s-sorry..."

Her broken whisper made him feel like a failure.

His hands on instinct embraced her in a tight hug. He didn't know what had gone wrong but all he did was remain silent and murmur sweet nothings next to her ears, waiting for her sobs to calm down and give her time to collect her thoughts.

Darya sniffled in his hold. Her palms wrapped themselves tightly around his neck, as if the sole thing that could bring peace to her conflicted thoughts.

"Shush, jaana, kyu ro rahi ho? I'm here, just calm down. Don't waste your tears on thoughts that are not worth it. Take deep breaths."

She did as he instructed. His voice was all she focused on as her negative thoughts finally came to halt. Her breathing came back to normal and Zamurad felt her muscles relaxing considerably in his hold.

He placed soft kisses on the crown of her head, murmuring praises as she finally stopped more tears from falling. Darya took a sharp breath, her heart suddenly felt the intense need to inform him about her encounter with the army man and without thinking about the right words to use, she didn't know when her mouth started rambling on its own.

"Z-Zamurad, m-mujhe aapko kuch b-batana hai. But before that, I swear I just saw him once and that too for only 2 minutes or so. We didn't even talk for Allah's sake. I had gone for a mini adventure with all my siblings to a mountain in the north aur waha I saw this soldier treating a fawn and then we looked at each other aur phir I started thinking about him- Allah, that came out so wrong. Matlab thinking matlab waise wali thinking nahi. It was all sheer curiosity aur-"

She gulped her words, her throat begging for her to stop and breathe and she was about to continue the need to justify herself but her whole form froze on hearing the boisterous laughter of her husband.

Zamurad clutched his stomach as he tried to stop his laughter. His cheeks ached while tears gathered in his eyes. He had been bewildered when Darya started rambling about the reason for her worries but half way through her words he understood her turmoil and tried to remain silent but as she neared the end, his laugh was on the verge of suffocating him and he couldn't control it anymore.

Darya watched with an agape mouth as Zamurad tried to seize his laughs but kept failing miserably. A deep frown made it's on her lips as she replayed her words in her mind in an attempt to find what had she said that was so funny?

Her eyes kept looking at him with an assessing glint and as soon as she registered the merry expression on his face, she froze. Her eyes widened slowly, like that of a comical character upon hearing a huge revelation and little by little all the dots connected in her head.

Same eyes.

Same profession.

Same area of assignment.

And the same look of warmth whenever he gazed at her.

How could she've been so foolish?

Fury like no other surrounded her form. The air around screamed fire in its smokeless form while Zamurad lay unaware of the sudden change in the mood of his jaana.

The stab of being toyed with all this time, even after knowing that the two had met, Zamurad chose to remain silent. The fact that he didn't deem it worthy to be brought to light made Darya clench her fists in annoyance and anger.

"It was you."

Her words were not a question of curiosity but a statement of finality. Her tone was distant and distraught which Zamurad caught onto in an instance. His laughter immediately came to a halt as he straightened up, all signs of amusement left his eyes as he stared at a cold looking Darya.

"Jaana-"

"You thought it was funny to neglect such an important piece of information? But wait, it would've been quite a show for you, wasn't it? Since the moment we first- I mean saw each other the second time in the restaurant? You knew all along yet you chose to entertain yourself by keeping me in the dark. Please do explain Mr. Radwan, how is this all even funny in the slightest of ways to you?"

Zamurad stopped himself from wincing at how cold and curt she sounded. Her voice was sharp and to the point but her assumptions couldn't be anymore wrong.

"Jaana, that's not what-"

"Is it not? I was crying here, thinking that I was betraying you by recalling those memories and yaha aap hai, jise toh koi farq hi nahi pad raha hai? How could you-"

"Darya, shush."

His stern tone made her seal her lips at once but the glare of hers remained intact and Zamurad never knew that the meek fawn could turn into a cub in the blink of an eye.

Either way, he got on his knees beside the bed, near the edge where Darya was seated. An apologetic look swirled in his eyes but not because Darya's accusations were true.

"Yes, I hid the truth but not because I wanted to entertain myself but because I was waiting for the right time to disclose the secret that I had hidden. The day we got married, I was ecstatic to reveal it to you lekin tumhe aur mujhe dono ko pata hai aakhir hua kya. And today is the day I'm seeing you after our wedding, spare the guy some excuses."

Darya just huffed at his playful tone. She knew she said a little too much in her fit of anger but her emotions got the best of her.

"Jaana, our first meeting is special in both of our eyes. Hum dono ke liye woh mulaqaat ek meethi yaad hai jo chah kar bhi bhulana na mumqin hai, not like I would want to forget it in the first place but you get the point. It wasn't that I didn't want to tell you, it was just that we both didn't get the time. Ek toh thaka haara ghar aaya yeh umeed mein ki meri jaana mera swagat apni mishri jaisi baaton se karegi lekin wah bhai, yaha toh hum hi kab se unhe manane mein lage hai."

Darya blushed at his teasing tone, making him sigh in relief. Zamurad groaned as he got up from his position. His knees ached due to the hardness of the ground he had taken refuge in while trying to mend the ties with his wife and he quickly slumped down on the bed.

Before Darya could react, Zamurad placed his head on her lap, a smile of contentment remained permanent on his lips as he gazed up at Darya who was trying hard to not get more flustered than she already was in front of him.

"Z-Zamurad-"

"Hush, I've not forgiven you for your choice of words. Now come on, give me a kiss of apology."

He lightly tapped his lips with his index finger and Darya knew her face was unrecognizable due to the cherry blossom flowers that had taken a permanent refuge on her skin.

"Y-you are getting too bold."

"Am I now?"

She tried to look away, her breaths coming in pants but to no avail. Rough yet gentle fingers gripped her chin in a firm but tender way. Her gaze locked with his, the haya that had diminished along with his departure had now come back by ten folds, surrounding the two in a little bubble of happiness of their own.

"Come on jaana, I was never a man of patience."

His low voice made her gulp. The darkness in the once lightened orbs now seemed like the darkness that was meant to give nothing but endless comfort.

Darya knew he wouldn't let her go, not until she did what he had asked her to or maybe, not even after that.

Mustering up the courage that seemed to be the size of a mustard grain, she leaned in. The tip of her nose brushed his but the man refused to look away or close his eyes just to reduce the shyness that made Darya's heart stutter in her chest.

And what felt like an eternity, their lips met like the last pieces of a jigsaw puzzle; like the moon during the eclipse, hiding the sun's harsh rays by sacrificing it's own comfort to sooth the burns on the earth's surface, even if was just for a little while.

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I am not blushing, you are...

Awe, my babies are shooo cutteee... I swear, just the epilogue is left and I feel the need to finish a box of tissues even before typing their happily ever after, a last part of their story while the rest all would after that be left to your imagination...

Koi please mere aansu ko ruko. They are getting more dheet as days are passing by...

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