Terrorized By Love [ON HOLD]

Chapter 22: Fears and Romance

Mahima couldn't explain the feeling of ecstasy when she held his hand. His fingers were laced around hers with such firmness, that it was like he was telling her that he felt so strongly about her.

"So what do you want to do?" he asked her.

What did couples do? They went on dates. But she supposed that there was nowhere to go here. They were stranded by the lake, hiding from terrorists. Where could they go?

"I don't know," she mumbled.

Aditya rubbed her hand with his thumb gently.

"Want to go swimming?" he asked her.

Swimming? In the lake?

That actually sounded fun.

"But what about fish?" she asked.

"What about them?" he asked her.

"I'm scared," she replied.

"Get up," he ordered, rolling his eyes.

What? Was he going to force her to go in the lake?

She got up, but wouldn't leave his hand. He got up with her and the two of them got off the bed.

"I don't have a swimsuit here," she pointed out, trying to come up with an excuse to not go in the water with the fish.

"Neither do I," he replied and started to walk outside with her.

"You're sick," she urged.

"I'm feeling a lot better," he replied with a smile and glanced at her.

Why was he looking at her like that? It was making her knees feel weak.

"Okay... but still, what if you get more sick?" she asked.

"Then you're here to take care of me," he replied lightly.

She felt her cheeks turn even more crimson. Was this what flirting was? It wasn't really any indication that she was his girlfriend, but he said it in such a playful tone that it made her stomach perform somersaults.

"And... what about sharks?" she asked and gulped.

"Don't worry. I'm here," he told her and squeezed her hand reassuringly.

As soon as they left the cabin, they saw that Laksh was yawning and holding his gun, still keeping watch.

"Take some rest. We're out here. We'll keep watch," Aditya told his partner.

Laksh rubbed his eyes and nodded.

"Stay focused," he teased. "Don't get too carried away."

Aditya lifted his hand to smack him, but Mahima grabbed it, stopping him.

"We will," Mahima said softly.

Laksh went inside and Aditya picked up Mahima in his arms. She gasped and pressed her fingers into his muscular biceps.

"You won't get in unless I do this," he told her, and she pressed her face into his chest, inhaling his scent, and smiling serenely.

When he held her like this, it was like she wasn't even worried about her fears anymore.

Aditya dipped his toes in the water first and made sure the temperature was okay. Then he walked into it with Mahima in his arms. As he held her above water level, she shivered and clutched his shirt tightly.

"Dev," she whispered. "Don't let go of me."

Aditya held her even more tightly against him and smiled.

"I will have to," he murmured.

"No, please?" Mahima begged.

"Just for a little while," he said. "You need to get wet."

"B - but," she spluttered.

Aditya had already placed her inside the water, and he got in with her. Mahima squeezed her eyes shut as she felt him let go of her. Then she reached around frantically, trying to grab him.

Where was he?

Aditya stood straight and lifted his head from the water as Mahima finally grabbed on to his waist. Then her feet found the ground and she stood up straight too, the water reaching her collarbone. She was shivering.

"Why did you let go for so long?" she asked him, sounding hurt.

He reached forward and cupped her face gently in his hands, using his thumb to trace her jawline.

"I had to," he told her, "You have to face your fears. Not run away from them."

Mahima, still shivering, wrapped her drenched body around his and clung onto him like her life depended on it.

"Maybe I can face my fear of swimming with fish, maybe I can face my fear of dying in the hands of terrorists, but Dev... I don't know if I can ever face the thought of leaving you. So please, please, no matter what, don't ever go away from me," she begged.

The desperation in her tone was so strong that Aditya's heart broke into a million tiny pieces.

"Don't say that," he whispered, holding her to him. "You hardly even know me."

"I don't care," she told him stubbornly. "I just know that I can't ever lose you. I've lost too much already... I can't lose you too..."

Then fresh tears fell from the corners of her eyes, onto his already wet shirt. He caressed her hair and whispered, "We may have to lose everything."

"Shut up," she whispered, and hiccuped. "Sorry."

He chuckled. She apologized for saying shut up?

"I'm being serious though," he told her.

"I'm being serious too," she replied, her heart hurting. "If we die, we die together. If we live, we live together. I can't do it anymore, not without you."

"You don't know what you're saying," he said to her, his heart sinking - or whatever remained of it, anyways.

"I may not know, but I feel. It might be the stupidest thing in the world I am saying, but I really don't have it in me to lose someone else. I can't live without you, and that's that," she told him firmly. "So before you put your life in danger, remember that you're putting mine at risk too."

Now he felt helpless. He didn't know what more to tell her. He didn't know how to say that he never wanted to hurt her... but what they were doing right now was putting both of their lives in danger.

They weren't supposed to be in love. Their lives were already at risk. Her life was at risk as it was, and now his was too. For some reason, he didn't care much about his own life... but for hers, he was beginning to care a lot.

He continued to caress her hair as she held on to him, still shivering.

"Do you want to go inside?" he asked her.

"No. I want to be here with you," she replied. "I want to feel the water with you."

"You sound crazy," he murmured.

"I may be crazy," she answered. "You don't have to love me."

He had no choice. He already did. He had already joined this craze with her.

He trailed his hand down her back, along her spine, and she trembled with his touch. She slowly lifted her face from his chest and looked up into his eyes. He brought one hand to her face, the other one resting on her lower back. His fingers caressed her jaw and he leaned towards her.

She closed her eyes, her breathing getting more uneven. He closed his eyes too. Her hands were resting on his arms and her heart was beating erratically.

She had been craving to feel his lips on hers, and now that it finally seemed like it was going to happen, she felt like she was having a heart attack... a sweet one.

Aditya had only one thought as he moved his lips closer to hers: how long could this romance last?