At Last (IPKKND Secret Romance #4)

Chapter 12: Distraction

A low sound escaped him as Khushi broke their kiss. She turned and hid herself in the crook of his neck, breathing him in. Arnav-ji took the opportunity to trail kisses from her shoulder to her neck and up to her ear. Khushi's fingers tightened in his hair as he whispered to her, his breath hot on her skin. Her other hand gripped his shoulder, hard, afraid that she might float away if he didn't anchor her. Dazed, she caught the words "Khushi", "want" and "stop", and realised that he was asking if he should stop.

Yes, whispered a small part of her, but it was drowned out by a larger part that screamed its need.

No, no, no, don't stop.

Khushi pulled him closer, and he let out a growl as he repositioned them so he could untie her dori.

It'd been two days since their midnight jalebi making. They were on their bed, sprawled across the clothes they were supposed to be packing into suitcases. They'd come upstairs after dinner to prepare for their honeymoon, making good progress before becoming ... distracted.

Now, with his shirt on the floor, her dori untied and her hair unbound, they were approaching the end of all that was familiar to her. But she wanted, very badly, to know what came next. They spent their nights exploring each other. She was beginning to understand the things he'd told her in the darkness, had learnt to recognise the bewildering response of her body to his as the desire he'd spoken of. She was beginning to crave his touch in ways she'd never imagined.

For a while, her world reduced to him ... just him. She shivered as he unzipped her dress, murmuring assurances in a low voice.

He slowed them down some time later, calming his breathing and gentling their kisses. He slid the dress back up her arms, zipping it up and retying it. They lay together, legs still tangled.

"We're meant to be packing," Arnav-ji said with a grin.

Laughing, Khushi snuggled into him. "We did some of it."

- . - . - . - . - . - . - . - . -

The next day, they sat in the car as Mohan-ji drove them to the airport. Overnight, Khushi had discovered that she was terrified of flying.

"Relax," Arnav-ji soothed, wincing slightly as she tightened her grip on his hand.

"You relax," she snapped, "How does such a huge piece of metal fly? It's unnatural. Oh Devi Maiya, please protect me."

"Do you need a lesson in physics?" her husband asked, "Only ... I seem to remember you didn't enjoy the last time I taught you something."

Blushing, Khushi stared out the window. He chuckled as he ran his thumb over her knuckles before pulling out his phone. He nudged her shoulder, drawing her attention to a cartoonish diagram of a plane's wings with arrows drawn around it.

"The wings of an airplane are shaped so that air moves faster over the top than the bottom. This creates something called lift, because of the difference in pressure between the top and bottom. This lift counteracts gravity, lifting the wings, and the plane, into the air."

Khushi huffed, "I'm pretty sure you made half of those words up. Like your brunch, and your English kissing."

"French."

"Hush!"

He kissed her hair, muttering something about how she was going to drive him insane, and tucked his phone away.

Khushi, why did you watch that show with all the air-plane crashes?

She shivered, her hand finding Arnav-ji's lapel unconsciously as she considered all the flaming infernos she'd seen through her TV.

"Do you need to be distracted, Mrs Raizada?"

Khushi turned to her husband, nodding violently. Her fleeting thoughts about Arnav-ji telling her a story slipped away as he turned to the front of the car.

"Mohan, you'll see and hear nothing until we reach the airport. Understood?"

"Yes, sir," Mohan-ji said, already plugging in a set of earphones.

Arnav-ji waited until his driver shifted the rear-view mirror slightly before turning to her.

"What kind of distraction did you have in mind?" he grinned devilishly.

Khushi blushed crimson, her thoughts threatening to turn into mush, but she fought to hold onto her sanity.

"Arnav-ji! Not here! Not now!"

"Sssshhh, relax."

He held a finger to her lips. Somehow, this whisper of a touch was enough to make her tremble. She closed her eyes as he traced her lips, her cheek, her eyelids. She felt him move, and then his body was against hers, pressing her into the seat. His lips brushed hers gently, and then with a little more pressure. His hands glided down her form, teasing. Having only recently discovered the magic he could create when he touched her, she gasped and deepened the kiss, brazenly seeking more contact.

He pulled away with a muttered curse.

"Sorry. I forgot ..." Arnav-ji kissed her temple in apology.

Khushi reddened as she remembered where they were. In the car, headed to the airport, with Mohan-ji right there.

"Rakshas!" she swatted at her husband, trying to hide her embarrassment.

"Wait until we get to where we're going, Khushi. I'll made good on that."

*****

The End

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Author's Note: I can't believe the Secret Romance AU has come to an end! It's been with me for so long, my own little happy place, but it feels good to have shared it. I've explored what I set out to with this story. For me, the struggle with AT LAST was to balance Khushi's desire for her husband with her lack of knowledge, something I saw her struggle with in the show. I hope I did in such a way that she didn't come across as unintelligent.

MOMENTS is, and probably always will be, my favourite of all the things I've written. Something about it makes me deliriously happy. This entire universe (HAPPY NEW YEAR, MOMENTS, THE REVEAL and AT LAST) has been amazing, but MOMENTS is special to me.

As always, a thousand thank yous to every single person who read it. And a special, heartfelt thanks to those who took the time to vote or a message. It's still wild to me that people become invested in something I wrote.

If you read these stories when they were uploaded by Shreyaa_the_demigod, then I hope you enjoyed them the second time around ;)