Flaming Sun Collection 1: Happily Ever Afters from India Box Set (The Malhotra Bride; Meghna; The Runaway Bridegroom)

by Sundari Venkatraman

  It was all easy for Reema to say. Meghna was on pins. She had been sure Rahul was attracted to her, especially after the wonderful afternoon they spent together. But he had been so unimpressed with her looks after she had gone to so much effort. Why the hell was he playing fast and loose? She didn’t reply to Reema, refusing to be pacified. Her temper was too high.

  And who was the first person they met on entering the grounds? None other than Prashant. The expressions on the faces of the four adults were varied. So were their reactions.

  “Prashant Thisis a surprise How’re you?” asked Sanjay, his usual jolly self, greeting with great enthusiasm his sister’s colleague of long standing.

  “Hello.” This was Reema’s low voice, trying hard to hide her chagrin. Meghna didn’t need this puppy dog today of all days, she thought.

  Rahul nodded his head curtly, a scowl drawing his brows together, his golden gaze spitting fire at his adversary. What was this oaf doing here? He needed him just now like he needed a hole in his head.

  Meghna caught the expression on Rahul’s face and turned towards Prashant with a wide grin. “Prashant,” she drawled, “this is a lovely surprise. You never told me that you’re coming here this evening.” She took his hands in both of hers and looked into his startled eyes. She gave him a broad wink. His eyes bulged out from their sockets as he stared in shocked surprise at the transformation in her demeanour.

  “Meghna,” he gasped in a choked voice, “you look wonderful.”

  This was too much for Rahul. He moved forward to put a proprietary arm around Meghna’s waist. He bent down and whispered in her ear, “You’re making an exhibition of yourself, Meghna. We’re blocking the entrance. Let’s go inside.”

  He ignored the flames leaping in her eyes as he moved forward, dragging her along without bothering to find out if the others were following.

  Reema was glad with this turn of events. She had been worried at the way Meghna greeted the puppy dog. Now with Rahul taking over, she looked forward to the evening with more cheer. She gave Rahul the thumbs up when he finally turned to look for them.

  Rahul didn’t need a second bidding. He walked swiftly, dragging an extremely reluctant Meghna along with him. They walked through the crowd and reached an empty table for two. They plonked down heavily as if they had just completed the marathon.

  “Rahul Sinha,” Meghna spoke in an angry undertone, “I hate you. How dare you?” Her slender frame shook with a fine temper, her curls bouncing around her head, her stormy grey eyes accusing. “How dare you treat me like a child? Didn’t you see that I was talking to Prashant?”

  Rahul picked up a couple of glasses of cold drinks from a passing waiter. He turned to look at her, his own eyes blazing golden, ready to let rip.

  But the moment he laid his eyes on her beautiful but stupendously angry face, he felt his own temper evaporating away as dew in the face of sunbeams.

  His eyes cooled down to the shade of molten honey and they crinkled into a smile as he looked at the girl of his dreams with an adoring expression. “Meghna, listen to me—”

  “Aw, shuddup, Rahul! You are a big fat bore,” she declared violently.

  “Big, I agree. Bore, I’ll accept. But fat? Come on, Meghna. By no stretch of imagination can you call me fat,” said Rahul in a pleading voice, an appealing expression on his face, his hand placed beseechingly on her arm, a smile lurking in the depth of his eyes.

  His words drew her attention to his whipcord frame clothed in the traditional Indian wear. He was too attractive for his own good, she thought. She stared at him, the fire in her eyes banked for the moment, wondering what to make of him. She was getting rather tired of this cat and mouse game he was playing. It had obviously angered him that she had spoken gushingly to Prashant. Meghna turned red at the thought. What a foolish thing to do Just that morning, she had warned him off. And a few minutes ago, she had greeted him like a long lost lover. How stupid could she get? Didn’t she have more sense than to awaken a sleeping tiger?

  But then, Rahul had driven her up the wall with his crazy behaviour. What was wrong with the man? She had made such tremendous effort to get all decked up for his sake. She had never taken so much trouble over her looks. And look at him; he behaved like he was blind.

  A sudden thought struck her. Was he otherwise inclined, by any chance? Laughter bubbled in her throat at this notion. Of course not He was as normal as they came; quite a red-blooded male, in fact. Look at the way he reacted when she spoke to Prashant. He had been enraged. She gave Rahul a surreptitious look from under her long lashes to find him studying her intensely. She lowered her lashes in a hurry. If that had made him jealous, then something worthwhile had come out of her meeting with Prashant. She felt a trifle ashamed at the careless fashion in which she had treated the younger man. She must apologise.

  Rahul watched the expressions chasing one after the other across Meghna’s revealing face. He couldn’t remove his gaze away from her animated face. He was a goner all right and he might as well accept it. His heart increased pace. His breathing turned shallow. Not today. Let him enjoy his freedom for another twenty-four hours.

  Tomorrow, he decided, tomorrow he would take her out alone and propose marriage after declaring his love - in private. Not here where there were at least a thousand and five hundred people thronging the grounds waiting for the band to start playing music.

  Rahul felt relieved on reaching that particular decision. He took Meghna’s hand in his and said, “Meghna Honey I’m sorry for being such a heel. Forgive me?” His little-boy expression made Meghna smile despite herself.

  “Thanks, sweetheart.” He blew her a kiss. “Now let’s start at the beginning. You look fabulous. Quite sexy, actually. I’m having a terrible time keeping my hands to myself.” He watched as colour flared in Meghna’s cheeks. “Will you please be my dance partner for the evening?”

  Meghna gave him a small nod, not able to find her voice. She felt as though the carpet had been pulled from beneath her feet. What was with him? She wondered. He blew cold and then he blew hot. She shrugged her shoulders philosophically, deciding to enjoy the evening to the full.

  NEITHER OF THEM NOTICED THAT PRASHANT FUMED IN SILENCE as he drank from his glass, his black eyes following Meghna and Rahul as they walked towards a table. For a minute, when Meghna greeted him at the entrance, he had thought that his life was back to normal. It was obvious that she was happy to see him. But that Rahul had come and spoilt everything. What power did he have over Meghna?

  From his viewpoint, Prashant felt that Meghna would have been content to settle down with him, but for the advent of that villain from London. Why couldn’t he have remained where he was? What was the need for him to come here and spoil their relationship? He had been planning to meet Meghna socially at this Dandiya Raas since many days. He hadn’t expected to be sidelined by another guy. Prashant gritted his teeth as a wave of anger overcame him. How to get Meghna back? Was it even possible? He didn’t want to think otherwise.

  Twelve

  The scene was a classic fusion of the Orient and the Occident. The clothes - Rahul couldn’t remember ever seeing such variety and colour at one venue.

  Guys were dressed in smart casuals, semi-formals as well as Indian formals. Colourful waistcoats vied with the short embroidered kedias. Many sported colourful caps or turbans.

  As for the women’s attire, the choice was mind blowing. Jeans with embroidered hems teamed with short colourful tops, ghaghra choli, salwar kameez, sari—you name it and someone was wearing it.

  They all blended into a kaleidoscope of art and colour and the overall effect was a pleasing eyeful.

  Then there was the music. Indian folk music, music adapted from Bollywood and of course disco music. The crowd went crazy as the band started playing. They separated into groups and formed circles, each holding a pair of sticks or dandiyas.

  They began dancing, holding a wooden dandiya in each hand, clicking the sticks against e
ach other or those held by their partners. The clacking of the dandiyas formed a rhythm and the dancers moved ecstatically in time to the music.

  Sanjay and Reema along with the kids joined a circle in the centre of the ground. This had many children of similar age as Sasha and Rehaan.

  Rahul and Meghna got together with a group of strangers and swirled to the music, clacking their dandiyas away, swinging to the rhythm. They both were excellent dancers, as they naturally enjoyed dancing. They were too absorbed in each other to be aware of the rest of the crowd. They were completely unaware of Prashant watching them avidly, raw hunger in his eyes as he devoured Meghna’s graceful movements. His expression changed to one of hatred every time his eyes fell on Rahul.

  The next hour flew away on wings as Meghna twisted and turned, moving forwards and backwards in the circle, her eyes on Rahul’s animated face. His face was alight with the joy he felt swaying his body to the high-pitched folk music. Then it suddenly changed to a disco number and the crowd swayed at a frantic pace. The two of them gave themselves up to the pace set by the band, now fast, now slow.

  A short break was announced when the crowd rushed towards the stalls set up for food and drinks. Rahul and Meghna stood back to let the others move ahead. Rahul put his hand around Meghna’s waist and gently wiped her perspiring face with a snow-white handkerchief that he removed from his kurta pocket.

  Meghna gave a sigh of contentment as he smiled at her. “So tell me; how do you feel now?” he asked, an eyebrow raised in query.

  “Just great,” she replied in a whisper. He bent down his head close to her mouth to catch the soft words. Meghna placed her left hand on the nape of his neck to hold him in place and further cooed in his ear, “that gold ring of yours looks sexy.” She smiled into his startled gaze.

  He gave her a broad grin saying, “Well thanks, kind lady, you’ve made my day.” He pressed his lips to her hot cheek for just a second before raising his head to look at her face with dancing golden brown eyes.

  Meghna felt her heart overflow with the love she felt for him. She did realise to some extent the struggle he had had to undergo to come to terms with his attraction for her. She knew about his insecure childhood and could well understand his fear of commitment. But he had reached a decision, it seemed. He appeared more peaceful than ever. Her eyes shone with excitement as the band struck again.

  They continued to dance to the music, taking short breaks to quench their thirst and nibble on some snacks. Just before midnight, Sanjay and Reema were ready to leave as the children were sleepy.

  Rahul and Meghna opted to stay back. They were charged with excess energy and danced ceaselessly, oblivious to the thinning crowd around them. They had dinner at two am, totally absorbed in each other, not quite aware of what they ate.

  Finally, they went home by cab half an hour later. Rahul took the key Meghna held out to him and opened the door to the flat. He closed the door quietly and not bothering to switch on the light, pulled Meghna into his arms. He led her to the sofa and settled on it, holding her on his lap.

  He pressed his lips to the curve of her neck in a hot kiss. “I so wanted to do that all evening,” he murmured. His hands moved restlessly on the bare skin of her back, the knot at her neck disturbing his caresses, an invitation to be pulled open.

  Meghna held on to his neck with both arms tightly around him, her face buried on his chest, her left ear pressed against his wildly beating heart.

  “Meghna darling, you’re driving me nuts,” he continued the whispered, one-sided conversation, his lips brushing against the shell-shaped whorl of her ear. He raised his head to look down at her dark head. He touched his forefinger to her earring, swinging it to and fro with the movement of his finger.

  “Will you just get this damned thing off your ear?” He growled. Meghna lifted her head, startled, slumberous eyes searching his face. His eyes appeared more gold than brown in the eerie light coming through the windows. She lifted her hand to pull off the offending piece of jewellery. The next second Rahul swooped down to nip at her soft earlobe with his teeth. He pressed Meghna’s head swiftly into his chest to muffle her startled exclamation. He rubbed his tongue gently against the earlobe making murmuring sounds of apology, his tongue further tracing the shape of her ear as he blew gently into it.

  Meghna’s body shuddered with pleasure. She had been startled at first by the sharp nip she felt on her ear. But now she felt herself drowning in the sensations Rahul created by the attention he was paying that particular part of her anatomy.

  “Witch,” came the low-pitch of his caressing voice. Rahul dragged his lips down her cheek, moving towards the other ear. Meghna accommodated him by promptly removing the other earring.

  She turned this way and that trying to catch his wayward mouth that seemed to settle on every feature other than her lips.

  His left hand moved from her back, stroking her hips and finally settling on her foot. He removed her shoe and slowly rubbed her extremely sensitive instep with the pad of his thumb. She was at the total mercy of the sensations he aroused in her.

  After trying hard to get him to kiss her, Meghna raised her head to kiss his right ear. Her tongue ran in and out of his ear and she felt thrilled when she heard him groan with desire. She gently sunk her pearly white teeth into his earlobe and tugged on it.

  “Meghna,” came the muffled protest as Rahul felt himself losing control. “Honey, stop that.”

  “Why? I like it. Don’t you?” she asked throatily, not quite aware of the power she wielded over him. She gazed at him, her trusting grey eyes brimming with love.

  Rahul looked down at her, his body protesting at the torture it was undergoing. “Time to go to bed, Meghna.”

  “Yours or mine?” she asked, tongue-in-cheek.

  “You shameless hussy You go to yours and let me go to mine.”

  “Not yet,” Meghna pouted, shaking her head.

  “Please darling, it’s past three. Sanjay or Bhabhi could walk in on us any minute.”

  Meghna put her arms around Rahul’s waist and held on tight. “No. Otherwise,” she looked at him, “you come to my room. You can leave whenever you want.” She gave him her permission, like royalty.

  “Meghna,” Rahul tweaked her nose. “Listen to me, Honey. You—”

  “No.” This time the protest was impassioned. Stupid man. Why can’t he just shut up and kiss her? Couldn’t he see that she so wanted him to? Instead of which he wanted her to go to bed, alone.

  Rahul grasped that the matter was slightly outside his comprehension. He stared down at her head, a gentle smile curving on his lips. He bent his head down and asked, “What is it, my love?”

  Meghna raised her head once again to look at him, her eyes pleading, “You should know.”

  “So, I don’t. You tell me.” Rahul’s countenance broke into a smile as he realised that she wanted him to kiss her but didn’t know how to tell him.

  “Rahul, please—” the words stuck in her throat. How does a girl ask a guy to kiss her? Doesn’t he know? All the heroes of the romantic novels she had read seemed to know instinctively when the heroine wanted to be kissed. But, Rahul, she sighed, Rahul was one of a kind, will never confirm to any rule.

  “Please what, Meghna?” He asked patiently, as if he had all the time in the world, when he was the one who had reminded her that it was getting late.

  She frowned at him for a moment wondering how to get the message across. It never even struck her for a minute that she could have left him right then and there and gone to bed. She wanted him to kiss her and she refused to give up.

  Rahul looked on with great absorption, fascinated with the way she was trying to work around her problem, her teeth worrying her lower lip, a fierce frown of concentration on her forehead.

  Suddenly her face brightened as she seemed to strike upon an idea, and she raised her eyes to his, her grey gaze challenging him to get out of this one.

  She lifted her arms to his neck and pulle
d his head down towards her and pressed her lips to the corner of his, her gaze triumphant as it met his.

  He stared back at her and with great difficulty controlled his body from reacting. His lips twitched as they wanted to take over and kiss her senseless. But he waited with an outward calmness that he was far from feeling, wondering how far she would go.

  Meghna was puzzled at his lack of reaction. What was wrong with the man? He was the one who had got her hooked on this kissing business, and now why was he behaving like he couldn’t care less?

  She was not going to give up that easily. In fact, Rahul was banking on that very quality of hers. She moved her lips on his. Her pink tongue darted out to stroke against his lips, tracing their masculine shape. Rahul was hard put to control his rising blood pressure.

  Meghna moved away a couple of inches to look for his reaction. His eyes were closed as hot colour raged in his cheeks. She placed both her palms against his cheeks to hold his face and was thrilled as heat hit her palms. A small, self-satisfied smile stole over her face and before giving herself time to think, she raised her head and bit his sensual lower lip sharply.

  “Sss—” Rahul lost his cool as he took over and kissed her mercilessly, his tongue plunging deeply into her welcoming mouth. Meghna moaned in contentment as she finally got what she wanted.

  With great difficulty Rahul prised his lips from hers, cutting off the kiss despite Meghna’s protest.

  “Bed for you, young lady.” He lifted her in his arms and strode towards her bedroom, kicking the door open with his foot. He stood her on the floor beside her bed and switched on the table lamp.

  He looked at her in the golden glow. Her hair was a tumbled mass of curls. Her grey eyes were sparkling alive with excitement. Her rosy red lips were parted, swollen from his kisses. His arms automatically went around her, his lips finding hers yet again.

  “Please, Meghna.” His lips had traced a path to her ear again. “Wish me Goodnight.”

  “Sleep with me, Rahul, please,” she begged.

  “No.” His protest was sharp.