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

by Sundari Venkatraman

  MEGHNA SUDDENLY FELT THE MAN ON HER LEFT GET UP. ‘What was wrong with him?’ As she had got into her seat just before the flight took off, she had noticed that he must be in his late forties and extremely fit for his age. Now she was horrified that he was drawing attention to them. Was he trying to commit suicide and get her also killed in the process?

  Meghna pressed her hand on his arm trying to make him sit before one of the hijackers noticed him. But she was too late. The terrorist who had hit her mercilessly moved towards them in a flash. She closed her eyes tightly and bent her head, not wanting to be a part of the skirmish that was bound to follow.

  “Please,” the passenger’s voice was soft and pacifying. “Allow me to go to the toilet. I’m a diabetic, you see. Don’t have a lot of control over my bladder.” He spoke in a gentle tone of voice.

  The terrorist considered him for a couple of seconds, obviously wondering whether to trust him. Meghna’s eyes had popped open the moment the other man had claimed to be a diabetic. The most important thing that had struck her about him was his fit, athletic, well-muscled figure. She mentally shrugged her shoulders. ‘There was no telling anything,’ she thought. Diabetes would have been the last thing she would have associated with this particular gentleman.

  The terrorist said, “Wait,” in a gutteral voice, pressing his rifle against the passenger’s arm. He threatened him with his eyes before walking away to talk to his colleague. He came back after a minute and gave a nod, watching the man get up from his seat.

  “Thank you very much,” said the quiet voice before the man walked towards the toilet at the front of the plane, the terrorist holding the rifle at his back.

  After a few minutes, there was the sound of a scuffle and a gunshot rented the air. Pandemonium broke out as the children and women screamed in fear. The second terrorist rushed to the toilet where the diabetic passenger had been lying in wait for him after having shot the first one. He hit the terrorist hard on the head.

  The diabetic’s associate stepped out of the other toilet where he had successfully outwitted the third and last one of the trio. The two men shook hands before calming down the passengers.

  “Everything’s under control. Please relax. I’m Pratik Vora from the CBI and this is my colleague Jaswant Patel.” Jaswant Patel moved towards the pilot’s cabin to impart the good news to Captain Rathod so that he could announce it to the airports at Mumbai and Dubai. Pratik Vora continued to speak, “We were never in any real danger. We were aware of these men’s activities and had been lying in wait trying to catch them red-handed. You’ll agree with me when I say that ‘what of a few hours of anxiety to the passengers and their relatives when we could crack down on a major terrorist gang?’” The passengers cheered him on, totally relieved after the trauma of the past eight hours. “I’m very sorry for all the inconvenience caused.” He smiled at everyone before walking towards his seat next to Meghna.

  She put her hand out to shake his enthusiastically. “Meghna Srivastav. Extremely pleased to make your acquaintance, Mr. Vora. I never did believe you were a diabetic. You appear too fit, you know.”

  He grinned at her as the seat belt sign came on while Captain Rathod announced take off. They were going back to Mumbai as they were only half an hour away from there.

  “I did realise that I was stretching it a bit, but I couldn’t think of any other alternative,” Pratik Vora replied.

  Meghna chatted with him, non-stop, hiding her nervousness on hearing that they were going back to Mumbai. She was glad that she could get to her brother. But Rahul would also be there. And she didn’t want to set eyes on him.

  Pratik Vora wondered at the sudden fire in her eyes and felt rather sorry for the poor man who would be at the receiving end of this lovely lady’s temper.

  They touched down at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport shortly. Meghna got out of the flight quite fast as women and children were given preference. Sanjay was waiting right outside and caught her in a bear hug.

  At last He kissed his little sister on her head as she buried her face on his shoulder, hugging him tightly in relief. He put his hand under her chin, raising her face to check for any ravages and was shocked to see her blood-streaked temple. “Meghna.”

  Meghna pressed her fingers to his lips, effectively shutting him up. “That was nothing, Sanjay. A little bit of physical pain. I could take it quite easily.” Her grey eyes were dull with bitterness. “It was inflicted by a total stranger, a terrorist. It’s no big deal. But, brother dear, the pain your best friend has inflicted on my heart,” tears coursed down her cheeks as she recalled the events of last night, for the millionth time, it seemed. She shook her head. “I don’t think I’ll ever heal.”

  “You idiot, Meghna. How could you ever think that Rahul of all people—”

  “Thanks, Sanjay, but no, thanks. Let me handle my love affairs. I’m sure at least you’reconvinced that I’m man enough for that.” Rahul stepped forward from where he had been standing a few feet away, giving Sanjay a chance to reunite with his sister. He couldn’t help but overhear their conversation. So She preferred the terrorist’s behaviour to his, did she? A light of battle entered his golden brown eyes.

  “Did you hear that Sanjay?” asked Meghna, triumphant. Sanjay looked down at his sister, wondering what she was gloating about. His brow cleared when she continued, “He said love affairs, in the plural.”

  “Meghna, I’m sure that was just a figure of speech—”

  Rahul interrupted his friend once again. “Please Sanjay. Let me fight my own battles.”

  Sanjay put one arm around Meghna and the other around Rahul. “I’ll let the two of you deal with your difference of opinion. To be fair to Rahul, I don’t think its right for me to interfere, Meghna. Let’s go home. Reema has been tearing her hair out with worry.” They had reached the Fortuner when Sanjay’s mobile rang yet again. “Here, speak to your Bhabhi.”

  “Bhabhi,” squealed Meghna. “I’m perfectly alright. How are you? And Sasha and Rehaan? What? You feel that I’ve made a mistake where Rahul’s concerned?” Meghna deliberately misunderstood Reema’s comment. “Of course I know, Bhabhi. I’ve committed a very grave mistake.” Sanjay saw his friend’s face tightening with temper on hearing this. He gestured for Meghna to give the cell phone to him.

  “Reema, the battery’s running out, love. Get the kids to the babysitters for a few hours. Let’s hit the sack when I get home. I’m sure Rahul can handle his fiancée without any help from either of us.”

  Meghna stamped her foot hard on hearing this. “Sanjay, you’re treating me like an imbecile—”

  “You said it, my dear sister,” said Sanjay as he lifted her bodily on to the passenger side before moving to the driver’s seat. She was glaring at her brother when she felt herself being pushed to the centre of the front seat as Rahul sat on her left. She refused to meet his eyes as he put his arm at the back of the seat, his hard thigh pressed against her own soft one. She refused to acknowledge the sensations the physical contact brought about. And Sanjay What was wrong with her brother today? He was driving the four-wheeler as if the devil was on his tail. He seemed not to miss a single pothole on the way. The car kept jerking and swerving and Meghna felt the imprint of Rahul’s body throughout the ride that lasted for the better part of an hour. She didn’t have any space to move into. The couple of inches that she shifted made no difference. Rahul just moved closer. She refused to even look in his direction. Traitor

  They reached home and Reema opened the door the instant the bell rang and hugged her sister-in-law. “What a fright you gave us, Meghna” She turned towards the men, “Let me get some coffee for all of you.”

  “There’s no need for that, love. I don’t need any just now and I hope you’ve already had some. You’re looking as haggard as I feel. Come along. Let’s go to bed,” said Sanjay, throwing an arm around his wife’s shoulders.

  “Yeah, but what about Meghna and Rahul?”

 
“I’m sure they can manage to get themselves a cup of coffee, eh, Rahul?” he winked at his friend. He just wanted to give Rahul and Meghna the privacy they needed to thrash out their differences. He literally dragged his wife away from the hall.

  “Not so fast,” snarled Rahul as Meghna rushed into her room and closed the door on his face. He stopped her in time, just. He had his shoe-clad foot right between the door and the entrance to her bedroom. He thrust the door open and stepping into the room, closed it and turned the lock behind him.

  “Now tell me; what’s your problem?” he asked his errant fiancée.

  Meghna wouldn’t meet Rahul’s eyes. “Just get out of my room, will you? I don’t want you here. I hate you, do you hear me? I hate you,” she screamed at him as he moved forward towards her. She refused to back away, not wanting to show any fear.

  That suited Rahul just fine. He moved forward and suddenly pulling her into his arms, kissed her full on her lips. Meghna bunched her hands into fists but she couldn’t hit him as her hands were imprisoned between her own body and the hard wall of his chest. She raised her foot and kicked hard, on his shin.

  Rahul swore yet another time. “You little hell cat. I’ll—”

  “How dare you? How dare you? You do have some guts kissing me after just stepping out of that—of that woman’s arms. Just who do you think you are? You two-timing—”

  Rahul shut her up once again the only way he knew best. This time Meghna’s mouth had been open and she didn’t know what hit her. The sensations he created while exploring the secret corners of her mouth, the feelings only he could create in her. Rahul The only man for her. Meghna melted in his arms as she slid hers around his waist.

  The kiss seemed to have lasted a lifetime by the time Rahul finally lifted his head. Meghna had no fight left in her. She buried her face on his broad shoulder.

  She marvelled at herself. This man had betrayed her barely a couple of hours after her engagement. Here she was back in his arms without as much as a protest. Was she so crazy? She realised that that was true. She was that crazy about him.

  Rahul nuzzled her jaw line and moving his lips slowly, reached her ear. He took great joy in tormenting her by exploring every inch of her shell-like ear with the tip of his tongue. Meghna purred in delight.

  “Tell me something, Honey. Do you really believe that I could step directly into someone’s arms after the evening we spent together?” asked Rahul softly.

  Meghna’s head came up swiftly as her grey gaze met his honey brown one. It was hard to say who was more shocked.

  Rahul drew his breath in a hiss as he noticed her face at close quarters for the first time. “That bruise looks bad, my love.” He touched a finger to it gently, his face concerned. “Does it hurt very much?” Her grey eyes were dull with pain. He realised that he must have inadvertently inflicted that on her. “Meghna.” His voice throbbed with the love that gushed forth from the bottom of his heart.

  Meghna was appalled to see his bloodshot eyes. His face looked ragged after the sleepless night of anxiety. He didn’t look like a man who had just stepped out of his lover’s arms after a night full of fun and sex. She felt contrite. “Not now, Rahul. Not after you touched it.”

  Rahul pressed his lips gently to her wound, trying to absorb some of her pain.

  Meghna wrapped her arms around Rahul’s neck and hung on to him as if her life depended on it. “Love me, Rahul, please,” she begged. “It’s my heart that’s hurting, so much.” She looked up at Rahul who was gazing down at her intensely.

  Rahul pushed his hand under Meghna’s t-shirt to press it against her heart. She drew her breath in a long sigh before pressing her body against his hand. Rahul cupped the soft mound of her breast and fondled it gently. Her heart beat faster. He took her lips in a heart breaking kiss before saying, “Does that feel better?”

  “Yeah,” moaned Meghna, nodding her head in a daze. “Much better. Please don’t stop.” His caresses had an analgesic effect on her pain filled senses.

  Meghna pulled open the couple of buttons on Rahul’s t-shirt to press her lips against his throat. But after a minute, she made a frustrated sound as it kept getting in the way of her lips.

  “Just a second,” Rahul gave her a weak grin before yanking the t-shirt over his head.

  Meghna clung to his bare torso, pressing her lips wherever she could reach and for once Rahul didn’t stop her.

  He made to pull Meghna’s top away when she looked at him with panic filled eyes. Rahul raised his eyebrow in enquiry. She buried her face on his chest, not able to quite meet his fiery golden brown gaze.

  “Please, Rahul.”

  “Please what? Take it off or not?” asked Rahul, his voice not quite steady, his feverish hands running over the bare skin of her waist.

  There was not a peep from Meghna.

  “Meghna Honey,” Rahul spoke softly in her ear. “You haven’t answered me.”

  She looked up at Rahul, a hint of fear of the unknown in her passion glazed eyes. “I don’t know.”

  Rahul respected her state of indecision and gave her a weak smile. He sat on her bed, leaning against the headboard and pulled her on to his lap.

  “I love you, Meghna. Please don’t ever forget that. It wasn’t at all necessary for you to run away. I never was interested in Aisha. She and my mother cooked up something between the two of them and she just landed here in Mumbai. You and I had such a wonderful evening. How could you take off after that?” Rahul asked softly as he explored every inch of her face with his lips.

  Meghna gave a sigh of contentment before telling him her tale of woe. “I died a slow death when Aisha kissed you the way she did. And you didn’t seem to object at all.” Meghna’s voice shook as she recollected the painful incident yet again.

  The words flowed continuously, like a river in spate. He let her talk, his hand winnowing through her hair, the continuous caress soothing her agitation by and by.

  “You put your hands on her shoulders and I didn’t want to see any more.” Meghna raised accusing eyes to Rahul’s face.

  “But, Honey, if only you’d waited a few seconds longer, you’d have noticed that I placed my hands on Aisha’s shoulders to push her away. I told Reema Bhabhi to inform you that I’ll drop Aisha at her hotel and get back to you.”

  “She told me that. I thought that Aisha mattered to you more than I did.” Meghna was nothing if not honest.

  Rahul chucked a fist under her chin to look at her eyes and asked, “Would you love or marry a man who’d just dump a female alone on the road in a strange country in the middle of the night?”

  Meghna couldn’t argue with his logic.

  “My first instinct was to rush to you, love. But Aisha’s middle name is ‘trouble’ with a capital T. I wanted her away from us more than anything else. And I thought that since you’d spoken so much to me on trust and faith going hand-in-hand together with love, I could rely on you to have faith in my love for you.” Rahul punctuated every sentence with a kiss.

  Meghna pressed her face into the hollow of his shoulder in shame. She understood that she had been foolish in suspecting Rahul’s motives. She could now comprehend her brother’s anger towards her. He definitely had more trust in his friend than she had had in her fiancé.

  She raised tortured eyes to Rahul’s face. She was astonished at his patience and perseverance. Somehow she had never associated those qualities with him.

  “Rahul,” her voice came out in a croak. “Rahul,” she said loudly. “Can you ever forgive me? I am awfully so—”

  Her lips were taken in the sweetest kiss she had ever tasted. And she should know since she had taken her lessons from an expert. Meghna clung to Rahul, desperately.

  He lifted his head to glance down at her gently, “No please, sorry or thank you between lovers,” he ordered authoritatively. He smiled at the woman who had stolen his heart for good.

  Meghna nodded her head shyly, colour flaring in her cheeks. Rahul removed the ring from
where he had tucked it in his pocket and put it once again on her ring finger. “This time it stays,” he admonished. “Any problem you have, talk it out to me straight. We’re friends first, okay?”

  Meghna nodded her head once again. He removed the other parcel he had placed under her pillow before they had left for their fateful dinner. Meghna looked at him enquiringly. “That’s for you. I’d like you to wear it at our wedding.” He waited for her to open the gift before continuing.

  She opened the parcel slowly, her face quite solemn. She gasped loudly as she saw the necklace, earrings and bracelet of opals and diamonds that Rahul had bought for her specially.

  “And later, only these for our wedding night,” Rahul whispered wickedly in her ear. Meghna felt her face catch fire at the passion in his voice.

  “I was going to give it to you when we reached home last night.” He sighed. “But you know what happened—”

  Meghna raised her head to press her lips against his hair-roughened cheek. “I promise you that I’ll make it up to you, Rahul. I’ll be a good wife to you and I also promise to always trust you,” she said very sweetly.

  “Did I say wedding? That was a mistake.” The golden brown eyes laughed at her startled face.

  “But then who else will make an honest man of you especially now that Aisha’s ditched you?” Rahul’s shoulders shook with silent laughter at her quick comeback. “And I hope you remember that warning I’d given you on becoming too much?”

  “Only too well. Just show me how,” he invited.

  Meghna did, to Rahul’s absolute delight.

  The End

  One

  Chanda turned around when she heard her mother call out to her. “Chandaaaa—” called Meera in her musical voice and the eight-year-old grinned widely as she ran towards her loving parent. Her friends barely paused in their game as Chanda ran into the cavernous kitchen. Meera gathered her daughter into her arms and hugged her in delight. While Chanda was the fifth child and their first daughter, both Meera and Mohan adored their little girl.