FLAMES: Of Revenge And Love

13. ONLY HUSBAND

Aradhya's POV

" Are you okay? . " I asked him as we sat on the bed. He came home late tonight and he looked more tired than usual.
" Yeah. Why'd you ask? " He turned to before replying. He always does that, whenever he's talking to me he looks at me, not anywhere else, directly at me.

" You look tired. More than usual. "
" Nothing much. I was trying to sum up the work for tomorrow. " I don't understand the reason the for him rushing his work.
" Why? "
" It's the weekend. I have to be with my wife on the weekend. What if she feels neglected. " And there, the current coursing through me was back.

" That means you're free tomorrow? " Don't aru, don't do this. My conscious warned me but I wanted to, " Yeah. "
" Will you go somewhere with me? " And the question was out, even if I wanted now, I couldn't back off.
" I'll go to hell if you want me to much less somewhere you are going with me. "
That means yes, he could've just said so why did he have to exaggerate like this.

I remained silent for a while before something striked me, " Why can't we go to hell together too? "
" You my love, belong to heaven. Hell is for sinners like me. " If only he knew, I wasn't someone who'll go to heaven after death, if that even exists. I'll be going straight to hell but that wasn't a big deal. Hell could deal with me after I'm done dealing with them.
I stopped thinking about it and asked him, " And what sins have you committed? " He came closer and held my cheek in his palm before replying, " Many, but the biggest of them is not finding you sooner. "

I gulped at the intensity with which he was looking at me, as if he was gauging my thoughts just from my face. I sometimes feel like he sees through my soul when he looks me in the eye. That makes me scared, at first it was because I didn't want to reveal much but now it's because I'm worried that the darkness corroding my soul might scare him.

" Let's sleep. " He said and kissed my forehead, I froze this was the first intimate contact he had initiated after his confession. And just like then, I wasn't repulsed by it. On the contrary, I craved it. Before I could make any foolish moves he held my waist and laid us on the bed. I was facing him today, all these days it was my back that faced him but now him before me was too much.

" Sleep love. I just want to see you. " I could hear his fatigue from his voice so I dumped the thought of turning in the back of my head. It's not like I could always sleep with my back to him. And moreover, his face was a feast to eyes. He fell asleep almost instantly, it must be the first time he was out before me and I took time memorizing his face. Etching it to mind so thoroughly that I don't even miss a freckle on his face.

A picture flashed through my mind, too fast for me to catch it but just leaving behind a blur figure of a person. And a headache started as I started to think about it. I didn't have time for this, so I threw it in the back of my mind and for the first time, I hugged him. My hand went around his waist and I buried my face in his chest, his scent lulling me to sleep in an instant.

*

Morning came soon enough and I got up without waking him up. I changed into a maroon colored anarkali suit. It matched with the bangles on my wrist. Tying my hair in a braid, I applied the vermilion in the partition of my hair and after I was satisfied, I went out. I've started to care, care about how I look.

He was awake but still on bed, " Good morning. " I said to him.
" Good morning love. " He got up from the bed and all I could think about was what he called me.
" Are we staying the night or we'll be back? " He asked me standing in front of me.
" We should be back by dinner. "
" Okay then. I'll get ready. "
" Hmm. " I nodded and he went to the bathroom.

I went downstairs to inform aunty about our departure, " When will you guys be back? " She asked me while we placed the plates on the table.
" Probably by the evening. "
" Where are you going exactly? "
" Gurgaon. " Just one word and she wanted to ask more but uncle interrupted her, " Let's have breakfast then, or the children might get late. "
Dadi came too and he was here in a minute.
Rudraksh had ran off to some cricket game with his friends.