Rise of the Devil - Part 39B

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Chapter 39B


Arnav’s POV


After spending hours thinking who could frame me by killing Jaipal and how this is going to change everything in the dark world from now on… I reach home, only to find my wife… my queen… my angel inside the bathtub… Dozing.. Thank God I had a wine in my hand to take in all of this… but its not working.. Everything stops working for me when Khushi opens her eyes and acknowledges my presence so I don’t take long to actually get in there and show her what she does to me… The door shuts behind me as I make my way to Khushi whose pupils dilate as she sees me getting to her.


Her lips part in surprise but when I sit on the edge of that tub, taking another swig of the wine, without dropping my gaze from her face, she swallows hard. Yea!! That’s called tension and I feel it too. This is not what I had in mind when I came back home. I wanted to apologize to her for being so rude this morning. I wanted to ask how her day went.. I am even curious to know why she is in the tub when the other times she takes the shower instead.

When none of us drops the gaze, I offer her my wine. She looks at the glass and then me..


“It’s your favorite.. The one you tried the other night..” I say..

She raises her arm to take the glass from me. It’s covered with half foam.. The moment she is about to take the glass from me, I pull it away from her reach. She groans but not too long as I help her feed that drink.. I don’t want her to use her slippery fingers to hold the wine glass. So, I do it for her. She sips some and licks her lips and my whole body is on fire by that simple gesture. She needs time, I know. She told me she wants to take things slow until she knows all about me and I had accepted it. But seeing her like this… wants me to erase those promises I gave her.


Without a warning, I lean to latch our lips but Khushi surprises me by placing her palms on my chest in an effort to stop me. I dislike her action. Kiss is the least we do so far and she’s stopping me from that too?


“I need to take a shower. Would you mind leaving?”


Her words prick my heart more than my head. My queen is angry on me and I deserve that for behaving so rude to her this morning.

“Sure,” I say, getting up and leaving her alone. I hear Khushi locking the door once I am out. What the hell!!


******************

Khushi’s POV


I take my own leisure time to Shower. Devil with the wine, wanting to kiss me was so tempting that for a second I knew I was going to lose myself in his web but I restrained. I don’t know what I expect from Devil hereon but I don’t want him to treat me like a stranger at one instance and a possessed lover the next. There has to be a balance between the two. I wipe myself dry and wearing the only knee-length white Turkish robe, Buaji had left hanging, I come out.


He’s here!! Arnav is sitting on the recliner, relishing his wine still and his eyes haven’t left checking me out as I head to the dressing table to dry my hair. I connect the drier and turn it on. However cool and unaffected I pretend to be, I am not!! My legs are jelly already and his intense stares are burning my body.


“Kate told me you practiced rigorously.” Arnav mentions as I turn off the drier and apply the lotion on my face and neck.

“Hmm”

He gets up from the recliner and I stiffen. He’s reaching me.


Eyes Down Khushi!! My subconscious scream and I obey. I keep applying the lotion when Arnav grabs me by my elbow and stares at the little bruise I got today during the practice.


“Is it hurting?” he blows air over the sensitive skin but I carefully withdraw myself.

“No. Not anymore.”


I turn around to leave but he’s quick enough to slide his arm around my waist and pull me back to him, such that my back hits his chest. I don’t turn. I wouldn’t!!!


“You are ignoring me, Khushi. You know that’s not an option for you..”


Option!! Huh!! He doesn’t know what I am capable of.

“Who can ignore the Devil King?” Sarcasm drips from my reply but I don’t care if he’s smart enough to pick that up or not.

“My Queen..” He answers turning me around to face him. “You look cute when angry.”

“Is that why you keep me angry all the time? By doing things that’s out of my understanding?”


He knows what I am asking about.

“I apologize for morning scene.”

“Don’t” I snap. “Don’t say something only to keep my heart. I don’t want to act like a nagging wife Arnav but you got to understand, I am a human. I have a heart. I have feelings and it effing hurts when you push me away and don’t let me be a part of your pain…”


He opens his mouth to say something but I silence him again.


“Don’t give me the excuses of your mission. It might be the only reason you live but my sole reason to want stay alive is YOU… To spend the rest of my life with you and it hurts when you…”


Words choke in my throat and I don’t know where these tears come from? They cloud my vision but I see Arnav cupping my jaw and he brings my face closer to his.


“It hurts me when I see you cry..” he accepts. “And it hurts even more knowing I am the reason behind these tears.”


Yea, it better hurt him because I hate him do this to me. I wonder if this is what wives of such agents feel? I remember Sheetal, Akash’s wife. She didn’t look unhappy. Maybe she has learnt to hide her feelings. I should learn somethings from her. To mask this pain from people and keep it to myself.


“I am sorry Angel..” he apologizes. “But you have to understand, situations like these make me behave worse. I had everything in control and suddenly someone has tried to pull me off everything I have ever achieved. You know what that means?”


Yes. I know what all this means to him and his mission so I don’t drag this more. I grip his wrists when he kisses my forehead. Poor Devil.!! He might have thought I would stop him from kissing my lips again so he aimed for my forehead instead.


“Is he really dead?” I ask as he pulls away and stares at my face. “Jaipal?”

“Yes” Arnav swallows. “He’s been brutally killed and thrown in one of my Den!! I had been there with your father today and … it’s mess!!”

“Oh”


Arnav walks to the French doors and looks out.


“Akash wants to believe I didn’t do this but he’s seen my weak side for you.. He knows I would do anything to keep you safe.”


Pride swells in my heart as I hear it from him. Devil really loves me a lot to risk everything else for me. Even his mission. But I don’t like that it’s defaming him before his superiors. I don’t want him to keep explaining people his innocence.


“Whoever has killed Jaipal thinks they are challenging you, Khushi.” He adds.

“Me?” I am even more shocked.


Arnav turns around.

“You remember meeting that cop… Shyam Jha? In Nainital?”


I swallow recalling that bit of my life. Shyam had offered me to work with him and expose Devil and his dark world but I denied. Yet, that one night I assisted him by actually getting inside one of Jaipal’s casinos to get the diary where he had scribbled the location where the women were hidden, whom he was going to smuggle abroad.


I nod absentmindedly, not knowing what connection that has with the present situation?


“We got this from Jaipal’s clothes..”


Devil shows me the pictures of Shyam and me. Damn!! Who clicked this and … how could I never know?


“Since you are with a cop, they think you are a Spy too.” He adds.


This is all too intense to accept but yes, anyone would believe so seeing these pictures.

“Whoever killed Jaipal wanted to prove he is one step ahead of you. It was also an open message for me that they could reach Jaipal and kill him before the Devil King which proves their superiority in the dark world. They are challenging us both by this one act.”


I flop on the bed. This is weird and scary.


“What.. what will do now? How will we sort this Arnav?”


Arnav is quiet for a minute but the next instant he reaches me and kneels before me.

“I can sort this all Khushi, but I can’t think straight if you don’t show your support.”


I exhale knowing what he means. He wants me to put back his silly temper issues so that he can focus on the rest of the thing. He wants me by his side.. Forever!! I can give him that. 


“You are the most complicated piece of puzzle for me Devil.” I say sliding my arms around his neck. “The moment I think of punishing you, you come up with such intense dialogues and I…”

“You wanted to punish me?” Arnav snaps and by his tone I know he isn’t very impressed.

“Well.. I wanted to.. I would have if you had let me..”

“How?”


I giggle.


“I don’t know.. Couldn’t come up with the best way to torture you actually. Maybe I would make you sleep in another room for consecutive three nights until you learn to watch your tone before the Queen..”

His smile is back!!Damn!! I had missed it.. I had missed seeing him smile. Arnav towers over me and I am forced on the bed behind, with him on top. He’s never done this before.. at least not this way…


“Devil???” I hold my giggle and blush, both..

“I have taken an oath Angel.. we will never sleep separate if we happen to be in the same city..”

I giggle.. “Wow.. What an oath..”

“There’s more..” He adds.

“More? And what is that?”

He leans on me, pinning both my wrists together, above my head. This man is seriously devilish today.


“And there wouldn’t be a single night when I wouldn’t devour you.”


My mind has just begun to assess what he just said that his lips locks with mine..


To be Continued.

NEXT PART

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