“Akshuuu---”

A sharp, insistent knock rattled their bedroom door.

“Lavanya!”

Lavanya jolted, palms pushing weakly against Akshaj’s chest as panic fluttered through her. “Akshaj--stop--” she hissed, trying to wriggle free.

Useless effort.

His arm was locked around her waist like a man who had zero intention of behaving. He only tightened his hold, lips curling in quiet amusement as he felt her squirm. Gods, he loved when she did that - pretending she wanted to escape when her body was already betraying her.

“Akshu, leave me,” she whispered, breath hitching when he dipped his head and brushed his mouth against her neck. “Mummy is calling.”

“She’s calling me too,” he murmured lazily, mouth tracing her pulse. “Do you see me bothered?”

His lips continued their slow wicked assault. His fingers slipped beneath the soft cotton folds of her saree, nudging fabric aside; they never deserved to touch her like his lips did. A smirk tugged at his mouth when her hand fisted in his hair instinctively, pushing his head closer to her body.

He lowered himself just enough to glimpse the swell of her skin at the blouse’s edge. Eyes darkening at the prospect, “She knows better than to shout now,” he added softly. “If she starts calling at this hour, she also knows we won’t be stepping out for at least an hour.”

A sharp gasp left Lavanya when his mouth found her there, teeth grazing, marking just enough to make her knees weak.

“Ah--” Her sound was barely there, breathy and helpless. Pleasing him with her pleasure.

Every cell in his body screamed to lay her down, to take her fast and filthy, to remind her exactly who she belonged to. But the unmistakable irritation in his mother’s voice outside the door was a brutal reminder of reality.

And Akshaj knew one thing very clearly - Lavanya hated interruptions.

“I love you, darling,” he muttered against her skin, tongue soothing the mark he’d just claimed. He was painfully hard, head already clouded with images of her beneath him, pliant and so fucking beautiful.

“Akshaj!”

His mother’s bark cut through the air again, snapping Lavanya out of the haze. This time she shoved him properly, adrenaline lending her strength.

He fell back onto the bed with a soft grunt, sprawled out like a thoroughly satisfied sinner. Lavanya straightened instantly, tugging her saree back into place, fingers moving fast as she twisted her hair into a neat bun.

“You are an absolute monster,” she snapped, throwing him a glare. “Getting me scolded by Mummy first thing in the morning.”

Akshaj laughed, sitting up and casually buttoning his shirt like he hadn’t just been seconds away from ruining them both. “Stop lying,” he said easily. “She doesn’t scold you. Ever.”

“That’s because I’m a good girl,” she shot back, smacking his shoulder. “Unlike you.”

He rose, pinching her hip in retaliation and earning another smack for his trouble. The grin never left his face.

At the vanity, he ran his comb through his hair, slipped on his watch. They’d been ready to leave the room minutes ago - until he’d seen her in that sunny yellow saree, bright and soft and entirely too tempting for a man who lacked self-control around his wife.

Through the mirror, his gaze kept drifting to her as she fussed over the bed, smoothing the sheet again like perfectionism was her coping mechanism. He sprayed his perfume and glanced at her reflection.

“So,” he said lightly, “what did you think about my plan?”

“Hm?” she murmured, folding the blanket and arranging it over the edge of the mattress.

“Going for a walk,” he clarified, slipping his earpods into his pocket. “We hardly get any time alone in this house. Morning air, some peace - it’ll be good for us.”

She shrugged. “Mummy and Bhabhi will probably say no. Too many strays. Half the time it’s unsafe to even step out for groceries.”

“I heard they were cleared out,” he said, opening the cupboard next to the vanity and grabbing his bag. “Through some personal intervention of the current ACP?”

“No idea,” she replied. Then finally looked up. “Better ask Papa.”

He nodded - and crossed the distance to her in two long strides.

Her eyes, rimmed with kohl, met his. So soft, so devoted...so full of quiet love it knocked the breath from his lungs every single time.

“I’ll be back early today,” he said gently. “We’ll go out and have panipuri. Your favourite, huh?”

She nodded, reaching up to fasten his collar button. The fading stain of mehendi on her hands stood out against his sage green shirt. He leaned down and kissed her lips, quick and sweet - until his restraint snapped again and he pulled her closer, mouth claiming hers with far more hunger than intended.

She broke away with a gasp. “Please,” she warned, half-laughing, half-breathless. “Let’s go for breakfast before Mummy breaks the door and drags us out.”

Akshaj chuckled, thoroughly unrepentant.

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