Everything I Do - RiKara SS

21

Chapter 21

Fire
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Those memories were hazy with the pain she had suffered, both physical and mental – but detailed enough to be recalled. He had returned the moment Shivay left, before she was discharged from the hospital at his insistence. She was pretending to sleep, her eyes closed and sealed with tears – lips pressed together to restrain a scream. Omkara took her hand in his, a warm thumb drawing circles on the back of her palm. Gulping down a sob and keeping her eyes shut, she spoke in a hushed tone.
“Don’t call Papa –“ he stopped soothing patterns on her skin, waiting for her to continue, when she didn’t she heard him sigh.
“Sometimes you have to let other’s in Gauri – especially people who love you.”
She shook her head vehemently, tears escaping the corners of her eyes.
“I don’t want anyone to get hurt – jab unhe patha chalanga toh wo toot jaayenge… Please – please don’t tell anyone.”
He caressed her hair, nodding wordlessly. 
“I won’t – kissi ko nahi bathaunga. Shh – sleep now, sleep…” She had let his words lull her back to an uneasy sleep. The conversation left incomplete. But thinking back – Ri could piece it together. That must have been the moment when Aditya tried to see her. Aditya who did  not know what had happened and Omkara who was under oath not to tell anyone. It was not a scenario she found hard to imagine. He, indeed must have stopped Aditya from seeing her, taking the entire blame over himself to stop the real truth from being relieved – just because she had asked him to, just because he had given his word. 
Ri walked head first into an storm, lost in her own thoughts and conflicting emotions she did not notice the skies changing or the wind hardening. Sharp whips of air cut across her cheeks, brushing her hair roughly against her neck and ears, pushing her two steps back for every step she took in the right direction. In the blur of darkened whites and grays, she could hardly make out the lights of Astha’s home. 
The ground was lost under a blanket of snow – concealing the landmarks that hinted her way. Treading through the winds were turning out to be the hardest thing she had ever done. Pulling her hood more closer to her ears and her hands blocking the winds from cutting her face she moved on – driven by her dire need to reach him – nothing else.
Ri stumbled over a broken bough laying on her path, the impact send her whirling down to the ground. As she scraped the ground trying to regain her balance, the frost bit her like flames leaking her skin, the wind heavy on her shoulders. 
Wiping her eyes, rubbing her clean of sand like particles of ice she caught a sight of something dark and moving – no more than a shadow in the swirling winds. Stretching out an arm, Ri called out – her throat burning from the effort.
“Omkara!”
“Gauri!”
“Here – I’m here!”
The wind tried to delay him as much as possible. Her vision was  blurring, dark spots dancing in front of her eyes. For a moment she was too cold – the next too frozen, too tired to get up Ri curled herself into a ball. That was how he found her in the end.
Omkara had a better sense of direction, Ri thought as her mind spun between consciousness and unconsciousness. He had her covered from the harsh winds, leading them both to a certain direction. Until they had crossed the last step she was under the impression they were heading towards Astha’s house. They weren’t. Stranded in the middle of nowhere he pushed her inside the car and entered himself, shutting the door with a snap to keep the storm away. 
Ri tried to catch her breath, leaning her head against the backseat. He might have been looking for her when the storm hit – both of them far away from shelter. He had turned the heater on – the howling of the wind muted by glass and metal between them and the storm. As her lungs filled with warm, dry air, she turned to look at him just as he lit the ocher lights inside the car. 
“I thought you were a hallucination – “ she said slowly. “I thought I was dying.” He sandwiched one of her palms in his and started to rub warmth into it, without a reply. It was then she realized her lips were trembling, her skin tingling with chill. “I thought I might never see you again – or get a chance to say –“
She wasn’t sure what came over him suddenly as he slammed his lips over hers. It was not a tender kiss, there was nothing slow or gentle about the way his lips tugged at hers. It was urgent, desperate and hard – his warm tongue traced the parting of her icy lips, his teeth lightly sinking into her bottom lip – extracting a startled gasp from her, an opening to fuse the warmth of his mouth with hers. 
Omkara placed her palm that he had been rubbing on his nape, pulling her closer in the process. Her other hand trailed over his toned muscles and rested over his heart, feeling its erratic beat as she kissed him with equal fervor. His hands tugged at her hair, caressed her cheeks, jaw and  throat. Everywhere his skin touched hers – each of her cells had caught fire. The initial passion that blazed them smoothed down into a sensual exploration. His tongue gently smoothed where he had bitten her lower lip and sucked on it – leaving behind a tingling sensation. 
“I thought I lost you,“ he mumbled against her skin, kissing a line down her throat. Ri threw her head back and moaned, her fingers waving through his hair. “I know I said I’d wait a life time – but the thought of a lifetime without you kills me –“ His teeth scraped on her delicate skin, his breath melting her frozen body. “Gauri –“ his tone stirred something deep within her, making her shudder in his arms. “Say something – please…”
He sounded helpless and enticed at the same time. Ri knew all it took was one word from her, a simple “no” would extinguish whatever was burning between them at the moment, bring him back to his senses, put some distance between them. That sudden realization brought with it a bought of strength – this moment was in her hands, in her control. She let her icy fingers trail down his face, cupping his face and rising him to look into her eyes. 
His dark gaze was deep, pitch black and bottomless. She let herself drown in it for a moment, before uttering the words that sealed their fate.
“I love you.”
Her swollen lips sought his once more, trying to taste her words on his lips. Her tender strokes were soon over taken by his passion and she smiled against his mouth.
“I love you.”
**