Haunting Akshara:

Akshara is a mess, no, seriously, she is, and as the days tick by, she just gets messier, no matter how much she tries to clean up the tatters of what's been left behind in her- as her sister so lovingly labels it- trail of destruction.

See, she's tried to walk a different path, took many a leaf out of her sister's book and for once in her goddamn life, be good, be proper, poised, and in all ways, anything but herself, but it seems fate had other plans.

In one drunken stupor, Akshara does the one thing she never does; has sex with a stranger, but the following morning brings two things to light, one, she really is that easy and two, the mysterious, yet albeit, handsome stranger, may not be a stranger at all!

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The heavy beat of the music dropped its bass atop Akshara's skull like it was a drum. The vibrations of other party goers energy buzzed down her spine much like an electric current, and before she knew it, she was in the throng of hot, sweaty bodies, hips swaying hypnotically like her life depended on it.

Damp fingers wound their way around her wrist, tugging her through a slit in the crowd until she reached a sticky bar top and a bartender dressed in a white shirt, black trousers and a grin to match.

Throwing two fingers up, she used her other hand to throw her hair over her shoulder as she spoke; "Pornstar martinis". Swivelling her body around, she pushed her elbows into the ridge of the wall and threw her head back to gain her breath.

"Anyone caught your eye?"

At the question, her head darted up, eyes alight with a ruby red that sent hot ash toward anyone in her view. "You know I'm not here for that". Sighing aloud, she grabbed her drink, sipping it slowly, as if savouring the taste would drag out the opportunity to explain why she wasn't looking, why she was never looking.

"Akshu" Abhinav turned his head sidewards, an all knowing smile playful on his lips. "Then, what are you here for?"

With a smile way wider than it needed to be, she interlinked her fingers with his. "To dance the night away" without giving him a chance to respond, she dragged him back to the dance floor.

Choosing to ignore her blatant effort to avoid his line of questioning, he lifted his arm, allowing her to spin beneath it while he downed the rest of his drink and stored the glass on a nearby table.

He adored her, of course, but every now and then, he'd spot a crack in her facade, the happy go-lucky, bubbly girl faded away into the darkness and all that was left behind was a child with too many burdens of other people's expectations on her shoulders that she just couldn't lift off. More than anything, he wanted her to be happy, and while she pretended to be, anyone could see that drinking your weight in liquor every weekend and waking up the next day with hardly any memories wasn't the way toward that, yet still she tried.

A melodic giggle escaped Akshara's lips as she bashed into her best friend's chest clumsily, knocking him out of his reverie, her hands splayed on his arms in a lousy attempt at keeping herself stood up. It was quickly becoming apparent that she was drunk, too drunk.

Moving his lips to her ear, he held her still, "I'm just stepping outside" then he dissapeared into the darkness, leaving her alone once again.

Putting one foot over the other in a way that could only be explained as a 'drunk woman's waltz', she wandered sidewards, her feet aching and her head splintering from the noise. Through bleary eyes, she blinked through the strobe lighting to focus on the table on the far side of the room, the only table in the whole place that was occupied by just one person, one person who wouldn't stop staring at her.

The man lifted his drink, his head nodding in recognition of her, a sly smirk quickly followed, telling her, he definitely liked what he saw.

Though she'd tried to ignore it, his penetrative gaze had been burning holes through her all night, and while she was used to men looking her way, those men would often find something else to look at as soon as she feigned foolishness, this man, on the other hand, didn't seem to want to look anywhere else but at her.

Dropping her chin, she went to walk the other way when a glimmer of gold caught her eye, halting in her steps, she looked back at him, his ringed index finger up and beckoning her toward him.

Despite everything in her body telling her not to, her feet began to move her closer, closer, closer, until she could see more of his handsome features; a jawline sharp enough to cut herself on and chocolate orbs she wished she could drown in.

The man rose to his feet, washboard abs clear to see through the white shirt he wore that stuck to his muscular crevices in all the right places, almost each and every finger was decorated in rings; black and gold and then black again and his wrist was adorned in a watch that looked like it could match the club for costs.

Gasping at his sudden closeness, Akshara looked up to meet his eyes, "You've been watching me".

He chuckled huskily, leaning closer so his stubble tickled her cheek. "You've been giving me something to watch".

Shuddering, she swallowed harshly. Never had she reacted to a man like this, in fact, she made it her mission not to, she was already the black sheep of her family, the all over fuck-up and she couldn't afford to start having silly hopes about bringing a man home to a place that had always been just a house.

Eyeing his arm as it wound around her waist so she was caught between him and a pillar with nowhere else to go, she cleared her throat, looking through her nose as she pushed her chest out a little and tried her very best to sound unaffected. "Did, did you like what you saw?"

"Hmm" his voice vibrated as a groan in his throat, a groan that he swore elicited a whimper from the younger woman trapped between his arms. Tipping her chin up, he towered over her, his head lowering so his lips were only an inch from hers, "Were you wanting me" his lips ghosted her skin, "To like what I saw?"

Her eyes flew shut, and like a compulsion, her tongue ran over her bottom lip earning her a moan from the handsome stranger who's hands were now travelling down her hips. "Yes" she spoke breathily.

"What's your name?"

As if being awoken abruptly, her eyes shot open. "Akshara".

"Akshara" he repeated, tasting her name on his tongue as he imagined tasting the abundance of flavours she'd have to offer if she was naked between his sheets.

"What's yours?" She asked, head shaking slightly in hopes of snapping herself out of the hold he so clearly had over her, but the scent of his musky aftershave only furthered to intoxicate her as she caught another sniff.

"Abhimanyu" he stared her down, pupils darkening as his eyes maneuvered over her body.

"Abh-" his finger on her lips cut her off.

"Not yet, I want to hear it for the first time when you're screaming it, your body writhing beneath mine".

"Fuck" she gulped again. All reservations be damned, yes, she'd probably regret it in the morning, but some things were worth the risk, and this beautiful man, shaped like an Adonis, with a way of words, was definitely one of them.

Abhimanyu gripped her waist, his fingers digging into the soft skin of her stomach as he knelt before her, his lips hot on her already burning skin as he kissed a trail from her ankle upwards.

"Here?!" She exclaimed, hands on his to pull them away. "We can't!"

"Says who?" His brow hitched up, that smug smile back on his face again. "Just close your eyes, Akshara, let me take" his tongue darted out, licking the inner bend of her knee, "Care of you".

Before she knew it, her leg was over his shoulder and her right hand knotted in his shaggy, black hair. "Goddd" she moaned, her bottom lip tugged between her teeth as his fingers snapped the elastic of her underwear against her skin.

Hooking her other leg over his shoulder too, his hands found her backside, fingers massaging the skin as his lips massaged the front, so lost in how good she tasted and her moans that felt like music to his ears.

Throwing the lace somewhere behind him, he dug in, like a man starved, he feasted on her, tongue so deep inside her that her wetness coated his face like a second skin, his finger quickly joined the mix, moving in and out to a rhythm much faster than the beat of the heady music around them.

"Please" she bucked her hips, gripping his hair harder, the exhilaration of being so scandalous like a livewire through her body, try as she might, she couldn't hold on much more; "I'm going to come".

"No" he warned, tossing her legs down and standing before her in one quick manoeuvre. Admiring the flushed pink on her cheeks and her shocked expression, he cupped her chin then extended his fingers so they were wrapped around her throat, dragging her closer so her chest bounded into his and her lips met his in a kiss that left him wanting more, wanting her closer, wanting her as his own even though he knew, it could never be.

Clawing at his back, she moaned into his mouth, sucking on his tongue, getting drunk on how good it tasted with her all over it.

"Akshara" he steadied her, hands on her face as he eyed her warningly, "I want to be inside you, but, fuck" he threw his hand haphazardly through his hair and shook his head, "But if you, if you don't want that, I need you to tell me now, because I can't hold myself back any longer".

With a brief nod, her hand reached his belt, undoing the buckle in a manner that had her fingers fumbling over the easiest part.

Gripping her hand, Abhimanyu brought it to his face, his lips seared a kiss on her open palm. "Not like this, I need to hear you say you want me".

"I want you" her legs shook with the anticipation.

"Want me where? I need to hear it, Akshara" his eyes were hooded, "Please?"

"I want you inside me" and with those words, he was, so thick, tender and filling as he pushed so deep in her, she couldn't tell where she ended and he started.

Thrusting into her, his teeth found her collarbone, he bit into it, to quieten his groans of her name like a melody he knew would only further this insanity. "Come for me, Akshara, let me feel you, dripping all over me".

Clenching around him, Akshara dragged his face to hers, her eyes so full of a fire he wanted to burn in as she screamed the one thing that he knew would make him hers; "ABHIMANYU".

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At the familiar buzz of her alarm, Akshara awoke, her head pounding and mascara more so on her face than her lashes. Smacking her hand around until it finally silenced her phone, she groaned wearily as she pushed herself to get out of bed and face her sorry self in the mirror.

Pulling her cheeks downwards as she hit her palms against her face, she pouted. "What a great way to start your morning, Akshu, hungover and hungry, could you be anymore of a disaster?" She admonished.

Throwing water over her face, she allowed her thoughts to get away with her, and of course, her thoughts were born from a one track mind, one that led her straight to the handsome stranger she'd met, got dirty with, then who left her the exact opposite of high and dry when he'd ran out on her as soon as she was composed and clothed.

"Urghhh" she sounded out around her toothbrush at her best friend's name popping up on her phone, he was going to ask a lot of questions she honestly didn't have the answers for and worrying herself only a half hour before she met her sister and her soon to be brother in law, just wasn't in her best interests.

How could she tell the one and only person that treated her like family that she'd got naked in the same nightclub they danced in every Saturday night? How could she tell him that while he was only a few feet away, her feet were off the ground and over some man's shoulders like they belonged there? She couldn't, wouldn't, because as tantalising as the experience had been, it was a mistake, one that was clear from the way Abhimanyu had pulled out of her, raised a shaky hand to his mouth, looked away, then turned on his heel and sped away. Truth be told, she'd have questioned if the whole thing wasn't a dream if it wasn't for parts of him still dripping down her thighs- God, she couldn't be more of a mess if she tried.

With an exasperated sigh, she turned to the clock on the wall, decided she still had enough time to grab a shower before hailing a taxi in the oh so busy, New York City, and turned on the hose. She hoped that the filtered water system she'd just had put in would be enough to cleanse her of her sins, but even she knew, that was too much to ask.

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Stumbling out of the yellow car, that was, for all accounts and purposes, far too bright to be in her sight, she pulled her sunglasses down from her hair to cover her eyes. Her sister, though younger than her, often took on the role of the prim, perfect elder who'd always get it right, so Akshara couldn't get it wrong, and bags under her eyes showed a sleepless night that would only earn her dissaproving looks and a hand over hers that squeezed tight enough to say; 'We know you have a drinking problem', which, simply wasn't the case.

With one last glance of her reflection in the glass building, she grabbed the handle, her sweaty palms sticking to the polished silver as she pulled it toward her and slid past it. With each step closer, she saw her sister's curly mane bobbing around her head in anticipation as she watched her near the table, beside her, a man, one she couldn't quite make out, but one she wasn't sure she wanted to as Aarohi jumped up from her chair and ran the length to her.

"Di!" She exclaimed, arms so tight around her as she wiggled them both sidewards, she stepped back, hands cupping her cheeks with a smile so wide, her gums hurt. "I'm so glad you came, how are you? How have you been?"

"I've been great" she smiled slightly. "You look happy, radiant, I'm happy for you" and she was, while this morning would be full of lies from both sisters, one thing would always be true, for Akshara, Aarohi's happiness, made her happy too.

"I am, let me show you who's made me this happy, Di, this", she stepped back, smile somehow wider now, "Is my fiancé".

The man stood from his chair, his hand out straight as he spoke the words she knew he'd say, but didn't want to hear; "I'm Abhimanyu".