by MV Kasi
She frowned at that message from the hacker and forwarded the information of the camera feeds to Varun. And then quickly typed a message back to the hacker.
Sia: That's not enough. I need more. And I'm running out of time.
Then putting her phone away, she tried to mentally switch off from everything except the man in front of her.
Ajay finished serving their food into their plates. And before he sat down on his chair, he leaned forward and held her neck to bring her closer. He locked their lips together in a long, intimate kiss.
The kiss worked like a charm. It wiped away all other thoughts and the tensions from her mind. The kiss went on and on until they were both breathing quite heavily. And much later, when they were both out of breaths, he pushed her gently back into the chair and laughed.
"Okay, I had promised myself that I'll feed you first before I drag you off to my room to do very marital things to you."
Her heart was still thumping crazily. "Sounds like you've been planning this for a while," she said, taking a bite from her plate to calm down and distract her mind from feeling some really crazy emotions.
"Of course. Brilliance like this—" he gestured energetically to the dishes around—"doesn't just happen. You need to be impressed enough to let me take the first lead tonight," he said.
She watched him and then shrugged. "Maybe this was a fluke. You probably just managed to make a few okay tasting mini meatballs of some sort," she said, already devouring half the mound of meatballs he had placed in her plate.
"She can tease," he laughed. "You are definitely not good for my ego. But luckily I have enough fans for my cooking, to be not affected."
She smiled. "I don't doubt it. Who taught you cooking?" she asked.
His eyes had dropped to her mouth, and he kept staring at it, not replying for a while.
"Something stuck in my teeth or around my mouth?" she asked, feeling slightly conscious.
"You should smile more often," he told her softly, and then, a few seconds later, he looked up with a mock leer. "And I was pretty much zoned out imagining your payment for tonight's dinner."
She smiled once again.
He smiled in return. "The Colonel had taught me how to cook, among many other things," he replied. "He made both me and Harsha learn, stating that we were to know all the essential skills in life. And I'm pretty glad that he did that, even though I wasn't very grateful at that time."
"Hmm...So, I should thank The Colonel when I meet him the next time," she said.
"Yup. He wants to meet you again too. Anyway, what about you? What were you forced to learn when you were a child?"
That simple question yanked her away from the fantasy world she lived around him, and threw her back to her messed up reality.
"Let me teach you a new game, Little Princess. It's called the guessing game. You need to close your eyes, and then guess what you touched or tasted. And by the way, one of the rules for this game is that we cannot wear our clothes while we play."
And that's how at the age of eight, she had gotten her first lesson of the human anatomy. Although the filthy words and actions taught to her, weren't what any decent parent or guardian would ever teach or expose their kids to.
Sweat broke out on her skin at the memory. The relaxed and easy atmosphere was completely gone because of the sudden shift in her mood.
"Are you okay, Sia?" she heard Ajay's voice asking her.
She stared at her plate, trying to calm her rage and fear. And for some reason, she couldn't switch off to enter back into the fantasy world.
"I'm fine. Let's get the dinner over with and head to your bedroom for a quick fuck. I have a busy day tomorrow," she told him in a quiet monotone, quite aware of the crude word she had deliberately used.
There was a long silence, but she refused to look up. Her hands shook slightly as she kept cutting the already bite size meatballs into halves. And then she kept staring at the tiny pieces of the vegetables and meat like they were the most fascinating things ever.
She heard the scrape of a chair as Ajay got up and moved towards her. She had expected him to storm out of the room, or call her disgusting. But instead, she felt his warmth behind her as he leaned forward.
"It's okay Sia," he whispered softly in her ear. "I wasn't prying. I was just making conversation." He placed a small tender kiss on her neck. "I would like to spend some time with you, and not just for the sake of our baby or for sex. We already know that we are well-suited in the bedroom. And maybe, if we let ourselves, we'll learn to enjoy each other's company outside it too. Are you willing to try?" he asked.
Her heart felt heavy as she turned to look at him. He was watching her with a small, tender smile. She was almost tempted to fall into his arms and bare her black soul. She wanted to tell him all about her fears and the other deep, dark and twisted secrets.
What madness had he inspired in her? She had never felt this vulnerable before. Nor did she ever have the need to connect so deeply with another.
She wanted to share things with Ajay. Her body, her heart, and maybe even the secrets she kept locked inside her withered soul.
Yeah right. What would it get you? You'd probably get to see the skid marks as he ran the other way.
"Okay. I'm willing to try," she answered him quietly.
She found it hard to remember why she had needed to put some boundaries between them.
He nodded and kissed her cheek to move towards the stove. His kiss tingled on her cheek for a lot longer than it was advisable, and also re-created a warm mushy feel inside, taking her smoothly back to the fantasy world.
They ate spicy goat biryani with delicious gravy Ajay had prepared on the side. She also stuffed her mouth with a refreshing cucumber and carrot raita that he threw together in the last minute.
"Hmm...You can definitely cook," she said as she sat back in her chair when she was finally done.
"Aren't you lucky? I don't even have to be house trained," he replied with a smile.
The mischievous smile did wonderful things to her insides and she kept staring at his mouth. Until his smile slowly dropped and his eyes began to smolder.
"Another thing I'm very good at..." he reminded her huskily, coming around the table towards her.
"What?" she whispered.
"I rather show than tell," he said and picked her up in his arms.
Her mind was consumed by him and by the anticipation for the coming night, but there was still a part of her that needed everything to be clean and in order."The dirty plates and dishes..."
"Leave them. We can get to them tomorrow," he said and hurried them towards his room.
And since he had put the effort to feed her a delicious meal, it was his turn to lead first. Or so he reasoned.
He drove her insane by teasing her slowly. She knew he was bigger, and could easily overpower her if he wished to. But he had become careful around her. And she being the control freak she was took advantage of that fact, and always tried to get an upper hand.
And even though she maybe the one in control, he had the complete power over her, like a wizard with a spell.
A little after midnight after they had laid exhausted on his bed for a while, she slowly stirred, and then got up.
"I have to leave..." she whispered.
He didn't reply. Just watched her as she put back her clothes.
"Thank you. For dinner and tonight," she said.
He didn't speak again, and continued watching her keenly as though he could read what was on her mind.
"Goodnight Ajay," she whispered as she went towards the door.
She kept staring at his perfect form, the muscled abs on his chest, his boyish face relaxed and satisfied. She wanted to stay there and stare at him forever. She didn't want to let go of him. Ever.
And that's why she had to get away. Ajay had managed to get under her skin. She wished she could turn back the time and reduce him to mean nothing more than a warm body that helped her to get off, and
maybe sleep better.
But he had started to mean much more to her.
She almost ran into the door as she kept turning back to stare at him.
"Goodnight Sia," she heard him say with amusement in his voice, as she was about to close the door behind her.
CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN
IT WAS THE third month of their marriage. And somewhere along the way Ajay let himself in too deep, and he was beginning to feel like he was drowning.
He wouldn't call Sia's and his relationship as ideal. Like their first time after the marriage, she still continued to visit him in his bedroom during the nights. Their sex was still like a passionate war. But once they were done, she began to stay in his room for a longer time. They held each other close while he told her about his childhood adventures with Harsha, Jo and other friends.
They even had dinner together. She slowly opened up and she spoke a little about her life. Nothing groundbreaking. It was mostly about her work. But somehow their relationship felt more intimate. More precious to him.
He liked her.
Once he broke through her initial cool reserve, he discovered that she was an extremely intelligent and fascinating woman. And even with her vast amount of money, she was still hungry to learn and grow. When it came to his ambitions he was the same. So they had plenty of topics to discuss and argue about.
Smiling like a besotted fool, he called her on her phone. She answered it after a few rings. It was a huge step-up, compared to their initial days of her not answering his calls and communicating only through text messages.
"Hey," she greeted softly. He could hear the slight smile in her voice and it made him drown even more.
"I would like to propose something radical," he said.
"Hmm. I hope you are not expecting me to cook dinner tonight," she said and laughed softly at her own silly joke.
Another step-up since their marriage. She had eased around him, enough to be able to joke.
"No. More radical than that. Our first date ever. This evening," he said.
There was silence on the other end.
"We always have dinner together at home these days. Even breakfast sometimes," she said.
Ajay smiled at her tone. Lately, he had been making her breakfast each morning. She grumbled about not being able to finish the large portions he insisted she have.
"That's my daughter you are feeding. And what's in your plate, won't do," he told her.
"What's wrong with feeding our son multigrain toast and honey?" she asked.
"It's the most boring breakfast in the world. And you eat the same thing each and every day!" he said, not hiding his laughter.
She glared at him. "Well, I like it. And you are not going to have time to wait on me forever. Once the baby arrives, you'll barely have any sleep tending to him all night."
He grinned widely. "Oh? So, you are not kicking me out once the baby arrives?"
"No."
"Interesting. It appears to me, like you enjoy my company so much that you are willing to use our baby as a cover," he teased.
She didn't disagree. "You are...okay to have around, I guess," she told him with a smile, which was high praise coming from her mouth.
Ajay smiled, recalling that conversation.
"True. But this will be our first official date. It's different and I think you know it too," he said.
She sighed as though she didn't think it was a good idea.
"Ajay, we have been having sex like animals since the past few months. And I'm close to being five months pregnant with our child. I think we are way beyond a first date."
He chuckled. "True. But I don't care if we already had our child too. I would still want to go on our first date," he said. And then, his voice got husky, "Wear something sexy. Something that will allow me easy access to get naughty as the night goes on."
She sighed again. But this sigh sounded like she was amused and also exasperated.
"Okay I will. Any other instructions, Sir?" she asked.
"Yes. Can you call me Sir while we are in bed? But not tonight. Because tonight...it will be like any typical first date, where we get to know each other better. And there will be no talking about each other's work," he said, and hung up before she could protest.
CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT
SIA HAD AN hour or so before Ajay got home to take her out on their first date. She felt so nervous that she had to quickly dial Dr. Patel's number.
"How have you been, Sia?" Dr. Patel asked.
"Pretty good so far."
"That's good to hear. So how can I help you today?"
"I'm a little nervous about something," she said in a slightly anxious tone.
"Why? What is making you nervous?" he asked.
She sighed out loud. "I'm nervous because, in an hour or so, I'm going on a first date with my husband," she replied.
"Hmm. So what is bothering you about going on a date?"
"I don't know. I just think it is a horrible idea," she stated.
"Why?"
She sometimes hated it when Dr. Patel simply asked her questions and didn't soothe her fears. Even though after all these years, she knew that his modus operandi had always been to make her arrive at her own answers and soothe herself.
She breathed through her mouth before answering his question.
"He's breaking me. He's slowly chipping away my defenses one by one. I'm really worried that soon, I won't have a wall between us," she confessed.
"Okay. And what happens when there are no walls between the both of you?"
She was silent.
"Sia?"
"He'll get to see the real me. The weirdo who is scared of her own bloody shadow during the nights. And he'll be disgusted by my past. He'll call me a liar, and a schemer, and many more names that are justified."
"I see. And then, what happens next?" Dr. Patel asked her softly
"He'll leave me," she whispered out her worst fear.
She didn't know when she had begun to acquire a brand new bloody phobia—fear of abandonment.
It was quite ironic that she was supposed to use Ajay, and then get rid of him once his use was done. Now, she wanted to cling to him and beg him not to kick her out from his life.
"Sia, you need to believe in yourself," said Dr. Patel. "Life has no guarantees, but if you give it a chance, you might be pleasantly surprised."
He had always told her that she had to suppress the negative voice in her head that tore through her self-esteem and confidence. She had tried, but the negativity was so deeply rooted that it sometimes overpowered everything that was good in her life. Which was very little.
Thanking Dr. Patel, she ended the call, determined to take chances. Hell, she took huge risks when it came to business opportunities. She even took chances when she went with her instinct, and picked Ajay as the father of her child, and eventually as her husband. So chances of things going wrong tonight in a major way were quite slim.
After that self-pep talk, she moved on to the next stage of getting ready for her date.
She stared at the huge mound of clothes on her bed in slight disgust. It was ridiculous really. Ajay had already seen her naked, and done some extremely dirty, delicious things to each and every part of her body, but for some reason she was trying out several attires in order to look the best for their date that evening.
After rejecting most of the dresses, she finally settled on a simple knee length floral skirt with a black scooped neck top. It wasn't sexy by any means, but it did allow access like he had requested. And besides, all the other dresses were getting slightly snug around her waist, and she didn't want to wear maternity wear until her seventh month began.
Even after she got ready, she realized that she was still anxious about their date.
What can she talk about if she wasn't allowed to discuss about her work? She really didn't have many friends. Except for Anjali. And Anjali was more like a good friend rather than a soul-baring or secrets-telling kind of best frien
d. And even if she were to talk about Anjali, that would contain a total of five minutes of conversation.
Shit. Now she was even more nervous.
CHAPTER TWENTY NINE
AJAY KNOCKED ON Sia's bedroom door and waited for it to be answered.
When she opened up and stood in front of him, he slowly began to scan her from top to bottom. Something was different about her and he couldn't place it yet. She looked radiant as always, but her expression held something.
She looked kind of shy and...nervous?
The cold and aloof woman was gone. At least for that evening. And he felt charmed by her shy persona.
"Hi," he said.
"Hello," she greeted.
"Ready?"
"Yes," she replied softly.
Something strange twisted in his chest as he looked at her with her slightly rounded stomach. "Is that lipstick kiss proof?" he asked her quietly, focusing on her hot pink lips.
She nodded her head, and soon she shaped her lips into a small pout as she waited for his kiss.
"I'm really glad," he said, and leaned in closer to give her a gentle, but a long kiss. When they were nearly breathless, he pressed his forehead to hers.
"What was that for?" she whispered.
"For you...and for me. And as a toast for having many such date nights," he said, pulling away from her.
He led her out of the house.
"You look beautiful," he added as he opened the car door for her.
"Thank you. You look great too."
He smiled and got into his car on the driver's side.
"So...where are we going?" she asked him a little hesitantly.
"A new restaurant. I know the owner rather well."
Some of her tension melted away as she smiled at his statement. "Is there anyone in the city that you don't know?"
He turned to smile at her. "You. But I'm hoping that you give me the opportunity to rectify that soon."
Sia's heart skipped a beat when she heard him say that. But she refused to let the dread overshadow the giddy excitement she felt about their first date.
