Delicate - A Rikara Tale (Completed!)

Six - More than meets the eye.

A/ N: A slightly longer chapter because I may not be able to write an update until Sunday. I have an important college submission that I need to focus on. Wish me luck please and enjoy the chapter.

Also, please remember, commenting and voting is a great way to encourage me. And when I am encouraged, I  am more likely to write longer scenes. Life hack: Comment on the fic!

Enjoy some long-awaited Rikara alone time.

"Gauri" Om felt slightly irritated at her.

She had no problem being hugged by the rest of his family who were all strangers to her. He just spoken to her, he had not even touched her but here she was, acting as if he had just slapped her. Omkara felt it again. He used to dread it so much. That dangerous burn he had pushed down for most of his life. He was old enough to know better. But his temper had always been his weakness. He'd kept it under wraps and suppressed it by coating his hands and his senses with thick paint. The paint kept both the pain and the rage under control but now his hands were clean.

The air did not smell of chemicals and clarity but the heady scent of his wife's fear and sandalwood paste.

Om's fingers curled into angry fists, nails sunk into his skin but not deep enough to draw blood. For at that moment; he could not control his demons any longer He did what a rubber stretched too far is known to do. Despite his best intentions, Omkara Singh Oberoi snapped.

A soft whimper left Gauri's mouth as she found herself slammed into the wall, pressed between her husband and a hard, cold wall.

"Gauri, don't act like you are afraid of me. There's no one around to watch!" Om did not scream, but his voice was angry and his fingers dug into Gauri's small shoulders "This drama will not do around my family, understand?"

His nose was brushing the tip of hers and she swallowed hard.

Yes, he was her husband. But this was too close, too soon. Especially after what Kaali had done.

A flare of panic hit Gauri as painful memories assaulted her mind. Her Uncle and Aunt trying to maim her mother with burning coal so that Gauri agreed to marry Kaali. Kaali's threat of putting a stop to her mother's breaths if Gauri did not play the part he wanted her to play. Overcome by panic and dread, Gauri lowered her eyes and her head in submission. Maybe if she obeyed he would not hurt her mother. Her mother's life was worth more than anything. Even her own self.

"Please, don't hurt my Maa... I...I will do anything you say." Gauri burst into sobs. Deep, heart-shattering ones that shook her tiny body.

Omkara froze and looked at the way she was caged between his body and the wall.

This was not how he had been raised. He had been raised to respect women, not hurt them. Even if there was a possibility that they were less than innocent.

Slowly, but firmly, Omkara loosened his grip on her shoulders and gently pulled her away from the wall so that she would not feel as trapped as before. His hands were still holding her arms, still asserting that he was the one in control. He could not let the emotions take over. Not the pity, not the urge to protect the weak.

And temptress, house wrecker or whatever she could be, Gauri looked so feeble and broken in his grip.

And then, realization hit him like a lightning bolt.

"What kind of man do you think I am Gauri? I would never hurt your Maa. What is between you and me is between you and me. I will never drag your mother into this. I promise. Your mother and you are safe, why are you acting like I am a monster?" Om's tone was gentler than any that he had used with her before. "I promised you I'd take care of your Maa and I promised her I would take care of you. I take my promises very seriously. Stop crying and tell me why you thought I would hurt your Maa. Why are you so scared of me Gauri?"

Gauri could not stop the tears from falling. She trembled and shook her head, terrified of his reaction to her refusal to speak.

Would he force the words out of her mouth? Would he even believe her?

A small part of her wanted to believe that Om had saved her because he believed she was innocent.

The villagers had not. People she had known for most of her life readily believed that she had seduced Kaali, that she was the one that drove the Thakurien to take a drastic and final step – Suicide. The people she had belonged to – Bareilly used to be home once, the entire small city had felt like a family – were ready to stone her to death.

What would Omkaraji – no Om- do if he believed what the villagers did? He would hate her. Hate her and hurt her.

There were women in Bareilly who suffered at the hands of their husbands behind closed doors. Women who blamed their bruises on clumsiness. The pain in their bellies and the blood from their lower bodies on their time of the month.

Gauri shuddered and then froze.

She could not bear the thought of more pain. The cut she'd received from the men before Om had saved her throbbed dully as a reminder of what pain felt like. Agony.

She felt her knees and legs shake and closed her eyes, ready for her body to hit the floor.

She hit something hard, but it was not the floor.

Startled and teary-eyed, Gauri looked up to see Om's face. His arms were wrapped around her, her body held against his to support her.

But what made Gauri hopeful and terrified at the same time was the look on his face.

A frown. His lips closed tight. His eyebrows lowered.

Gauri felt him lift her up into his arms and bit back a scream of protest.

"Wh..Where are you taking me?" the words came out shaky and panicked.

If Om noticed, he did not show it.

"Kitchen. To get you some water. But then we will talk about this behaviour of yours." Om declared, leaving no room for argument. She weighed barely anything and, as much as he hated to admit it, that worried him. But that was a concern for later.

Gauri felt Om's gaze on her as she sipped her glass of water. The coolness of the water from the pot and the sweetness from the khaas made her feel slightly better. She finished her glass, only to have it refilled by her husband.

"Bring it with you. We are just going to sit in the hall, on the sofa and talk. Simple. Nothing more. Do you understand me?" Om spoke slowly, almost as if he was coaxing a scared child. Now that he had a clear mind and did not have to pretend to be content, he had time to think. Her behaviour reminded him of something he had dealt with often.

Prinku's panic attacks.

"Om, aapko kya baat karni thi?" Gauri's eyes were wide and apprehensive.

It definitely would not do to present a wife that was terrified of him. That would make people think that he had forced her into marrying him.

Om remembered how she had wrecked his car with a JCB. How she had stood up to him. What had happened to her between that and when he had seen her in that jeep with Kaali?

As much as he hated to admit it, there was something terribly wrong with Gauri and not just about Gauri. He would have to handle her gently or he feared that she would break in his hands.

Gauri could shatter into pieces if he did not take care of her and let her know what she was to expect in the nightmare that was his world. He remembered Prinku's doll and internally winced. He could not have that. Gauri had to be strong if she was going to face Svetlana. If she was going to face Mr. Oberoi, the monster whose blood ran in Om's veins.

He would not be like Mr. Oberoi. He would not treat his wife as his father had treated his mother.

When the women had been cooing over Gauri, Shivaay had pressed a file into Om's hands that contained Gauri's history. Before Om opened it he knew it was only fair to listen to what Gauri had to say.