Anirudh was stressed out. 

His brother clearly devised this plan to bring Bondita here. What was bothering him more was that Bondita agreed to it. 

Why would she agree?

Anirudh was pacing in his bedroom, back and forth, trying to hide from Bondita - especially after such an embarrassing night last night - and thinking about the next steps forward. 

If Bondita was here, under the same roof as Saudamini... she would definitely be in danger. He didn't trust Saudamini. He couldn't let Saudamini find out about their relationship. 

At the same time, he was keeping Bondita in the dark about what was really happening, for her own good.

Anirudh pressed his hand to his head. 

What was he supposed to do? How could he rectify this situation?

The bedroom door opened, and Saudamini walked in. 

"Anirudh, are you okay?" she asked, as soon as she saw his hand on his head. 

Anirudh removed it and nodded. 

"I know you're stressed out about Batuk," Saudamini said. "He's very young and wants to marry a pregnant lady, whose husband left her." 

Anirudh gulped nervously as he looked at her. 

"She had come here the other day... directly into our bedroom. I should have known then that she was close to this family. You already met her before. Batuk must have introduced you to her," Saudamini said, "And on top of that, the Vaid told me to ask you about Bondita. I guess, it's public - Batuk's relationship with her. So, there is a lot of pressure on this family. This is why people have been looking at us with disapproving gazes. Batuk and Bondita have a controversial relationship. It's making sense now Anirudh." 

Anirudh looked at Saudamini with shock. What a theory she had cooked up!

"I know you must want to help her as a barrister, but you don't want her near Batuk. She's not the right person for him... I know that too. But he asked me for a favour, to help him bring her into this haveli," Mini explained. 

Anirudh furrowed his brows. 

"And you listened?" he hissed. 

"He said only I can help him, and I can't recall him ever asking any favours from me. So I felt like I had to help," Saudamini said. 

"He can't go near her!" Anirudh said, sounding angry. 

"I know you're possessive about your brother!" Saudamini explained. "I will make sure that Bondita won't take advantage of him!"

"No!" Anirudh said right away, causing her to look at him with shock. 

Anirudh felt his throat get dry. How could he explain that he wanted Saudamini to stay away from Bondita at all costs?

He said, "I mean... let it be. The girl already suffered a lot. Don't interact with her much. And as for Batuk, I'll handle him. You don't need to be involved."

Saudamini nodded, and she said, "If you say so."

She then smiled at him. "Anyways," she reached to loosely wrap her arms around his neck, causing Anirudh to gulp and look away, "I had a lot of fun playing tennis with you today. It felt like we were back to normal."

Anirudh reached for her arms to pull them off, and he said, "I'm happy you had fun Mini."

Her hand reached his cheek to caress it, and he said, "I... have to go. I have work to do."

"Anirudh!" Mini said, sounding frustrated now. She took a deep breath and said, "I know you said you need time. But how much time? How much time does a man need?"

Anirudh said to her, looking at her, "Whether it's a man or a woman, husband or wife, boyfriend or girlfriend, just friends, or even strangers Mini, when someone needs time... you have to give them that. In any emotional or physical sense."

Saudamini looked at him, her lips pouting gently, as she tried to draw herself closer to him. 

"I'm going," Anirudh just said, stopping her again. 

Then he turned around and left the room, to go and hide himself in the study. 

But Bondita's open invitation to visit her room haunted his mind... 

How could he refuse his wife?

--

Anirudh waited in the study until he was sure Saudamini would be asleep. And he was also hoping that Bondita would be fast asleep.

As he sat in the chair of his study, he closed his eyes and thought about last night.

What happened last night was embarrassing. 

He had said so much to Bondita... convinced her that he was married to someone else, and that he didn't have those kinds of feelings for her anymore, yet he went and did that?

If Bondita hadn't stopped him last night, he wasn't sure what he would have done. 

He would have surely kissed those soft lips of hers again. Yet, he wasn't that decent. He knew he would touch her. Feel her.

Just the thought of it made heat rise on his cheeks. 

It had been so long. He was feeling his desires. He wanted to make love to her.  

But how could he? 

Anirudh groaned and pressed his hand to his head. 

He was so proud of Bondita for stopping him yesterday. 

Yet, his body still craved her. He still wanted her. 

Anirudh gulped. 

He was going to spend time with Bondita. Only spend time with her. Not... touch her inappropriately. 

Yes, that wasn't the goal tonight. 

"Baby... I'm going for our... baby," Anirudh muttered to himself as if he was convincing himself. 

She had so correctly said that he had a hand. He should use it if he was so turned on. 

"I still prefer you Bondita," Anirudh said out loud, pouting now. 

At the same time though, he was still outraged that she had come all the way here! With complete disregard for why he must have left her in the farmhouse, she decided to come back here! 

He would have to give her an earful for that for sure!

After he was certain that Saudamini would be asleep, Anirudh left the study and snuck downstairs to where Bondita's room was. 

Once he opened the door, Anirudh snuck into the darkness, locking the door behind him. 

Then he went straight to bed in the dark, going under the covers and wrapping his arm around her, feeling her belly. 

"You bad girl," he whispered in the darkness, "You came all the way here first, and you also called me to your bedroom?"

Bondita was in bed - she had spent the night wondering if he would come. Her heart sunk at the idea that he was with Saudamini in their bedroom, and she nearly gave up on her fantasies.

However, when she heard the door creep open, she squeezed her eyes shut, pretending to sleep. She was on her side, so when she felt him get in bed and wrap his arm around her, her heart leaped with excitement. 

Then his voice - his deep, husky voice, made her breath catch in her throat. 

Anirudh caressed her belly, as he spooned her from behind. 

"You're pretending to sleep?" he murmured. 

"N - not pretending," she finally stammered, her cheeks burning and eyes opening.

"I came to visit my baby," Anirudh said firmly. 

"Of... course," Bondita whispered breathlessly, as she felt his hand over her night dress. 

The problem was that, her body was his access to their baby right now.

"Is the baby still hurting you?" Anirudh inquired. 

"What?" Bondita asked, raising her brow now. 

"Kicking?" Anirudh clarified. 

"They're kicking," Bondita said, "But not hurting me." 

"Turn around," Anirudh ordered, making her heart flutter. 

She turned around slightly - half on her back, but not completely, so that he could look at her in the darkness. 

"Why did you come here?" he asked her, his eyes glaring into hers as his eyes adjusted to the dark. She was leaning against his chest, her body at a slanted angle. 

"I came to my own home," Bondita answered firmly. "You can say that I'm not your wife, but I have a relationship with everyone else here too!"

Anirudh furrowed his brows and said, "Batuk did this, didn't he? He brainwashed you?"

"He didn't brainwash me!" she said defensively. "In fact, he showed me that he could be trusted." 

"You two..." Anirudh said, shaking his head. "Do you know what he told Saudamini?"

"What?" Bondita asked curiously. 

Anirudh angrily hissed, "That he's in love with you and wants to marry you." 

"What?" Bondita gasped, "He told her?!"

"What do you mean he told her?" Anirudh snapped. "He shouldn't be telling anyone such nonsense!"

"Why? Are you jealous?" Bondita couldn't help but tease. 

"Jealous? Of my brother? Please." 

Bondita looked at him with a half-smile. "But why do you care?"

"You know the answer to that Bondita!" Anirudh told her, brows furrowed. "You've always been my responsibility -" 

"Please not that phase again!" Bondita said with a sigh. "When I was younger, that word haunted me so much."

"Aren't you my responsibility?" he snapped. 

"I don't need to be anymore," Bondita said firmly. "I am capable of being responsible for myself now."

Anirudh hissed, "Then you shouldn't have come here! You should have been responsible for yourself, and not come back here!"

"Did you come here to argue with me?" Bondita argued. "To yell at me about why I shouldn't have come here?"

Anirudh gulped. 

To be honest, he was just happy being here and spending time with her. And he needed an excuse to be here. This was his excuse. 

"I have to tell you when you're wrong," he said to her firmly.

She was still half leaning against him, looking into his eyes, and his head was lifted, looking down at her. 

"Will you order me to go back?" Bondita questioned. 

"That's a very good idea!"

"I don't want to," Bondita pouted like a little kid. 

"What will you do to stop me?" Anirudh asked, almost like a threat. 

Bondita turned her back fully so that she was lying on her back now, Anirudh fell closer to her, his hand falling on the bedsheet beside her shoulder. 

He was slightly above her, and he continued to glare. 

"I can do anything," Bondita said breathlessly. 

"Like?" 

She moved her gaze to his lips, and she could feel a tingling sensation between her legs. 

She lifted her fingers and gently touched his lips, tracing them with her index finger. Anirudh shivered. 

"Did you leave your wife for me?" she questioned. 

"What?" he raised his brow. 

"You left her in the bedroom to come here," Bondita said with a smile, her finger still feeling his soft lips. 

"I - I came for my baby!"

"I really shouldn't be saying this, but the father of the baby should be responsible for keeping the mother of the baby healthy, right?"

Anirudh looked at her, unsure of where she was heading with this. 

"I mean..." her heart started to hammer. "You said, it's so healthy... in pregnancy."

Anirudh's cheeks burned, as he realized what she meant. 

"B - Bondita," he breathed out, his heart pumping fast. 

"I... I get so horny," she whispered. "I don't know if it's pregnancy hormones or..." 

Anirudh gulped as he stared at her beautiful face. 

"You've said that I am self-dependent, that I can use my hands... but... I want to be held," she whispered. "I want to feel someone else's touch..."

She felt emotional now, and her lips quivered, as her eyes filled with tears. 

"I want to feel your... your touch," she cried, tears rolling down her cheeks. 

"B - Bondita," Anirudh said, sounding alarmed, and he wiped her tears away. "Don't be sad."

How easily she could melt his heart. It was so hard to be stern right now. 

If his touch could make her smile... shouldn't he provide it to her? 

He would probably regret this...

Anirudh leaned closer to her and pressed a kiss to her forehead, making her gasp out loud. 

"What are you doing?"

"Kissing the mother of my baby," he murmured all of a sudden, and his lips went to her cheek, planting a soft kiss there too. 

Bondita's heart was hammering incredibly hard, and her hand immediately reached to grab his shirt, wanting him closer. 

This was wrong. 

So wrong. 

Yet... Bondita felt like she had full rights to him. She felt like what was more wrong was for her rights to be stripped from her. 

He was hers. 

And what was hers could never be taken away. 

"Come closer," she whispered, her legs sliding against his, parting so that he could have access. 

Was the distance between their bodies going to come to a close tonight?

--

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! 

Are you excited for the next one? 

What are you looking forward to the most in future chapters?

Thank you for remaining interested in the book. It's your excitement that keeps me coming here, even if some time has passed. I've been so busy lately, so it's been hard for me to find time to write... but I never want to give up on MDMB or Soham. These books are very close to my heart. 

And what's even closer to my heart is the unconditional love from my readers. No matter how much time it takes, you're waiting here, still eager for more and this touches my heart deeply. 

I am hoping to post more updates this week. If the idea of more chapters excites you, then please, please share your comments and press star. It motivates me a lot. 

Thank you so much. I love you all. 💗