The shock of the sudden darkness paralyzed her for a moment, before intuitive panic and anger at his obvious intent yanked them back to life.

He actually believed he could stay away all through her birthday, and then saunter into the house at this late hour and do as he pleased!

Was there no limit to his arrogance….

“No – don’t!” she said heatedly, twisting her face away and shoving at his chest.

“Now what?” Prithvi asked impatiently, and the frown in his tone only made her angrier.

“Get out!” she hissed with clenched teeth.

“But I’ve already apologized for not being here all day,” he protested.

She wasn’t sure how much use it would be to glare at him considering they were standing in absolute darkness, but she glowered to her heart’s content nevertheless.

“I was happy you weren't here. I didn’t want to spend my day with you,” she said vehemently.

“I know you didn’t. But I did,” he sighed, then after a tiny pause said, “You didn’t ask me where I was all day.”

“So you can tell me it’s none of my business? I know that already,” Nandini retorted.

He uncomfortably said, “What if I want to tell you?”

“I don’t want to know,” she snapped, “Please leave my house right now!”

“Why should I?” he asked indignantly, and the virtuous resentment in his tone made her want to tousle his hair affectionately despite her fury.

She had to get him out before she weakened.

“Just go - Please!” she said desperately, slamming angry fists against the solid wall of his chest and his imprisoning arms.

The hand under her clenched fists flinched ever so slightly, and she stilled in fear. She had inadvertently hit the flesh under the disquieting stain.

 “You’re hurt! Let me see your hand,” she said, frightened.

“It’s just a scratch,” he dismissed.

“You’re lying!” she accused.

“When have I ever,” he said innocently.

“Tell me honestly…you’re not seriously hurt, are you?” she asked with increasing worry and agitation.

“No, I’m fine,” he murmured, resting his forehead warmly on hers.

The endearing gesture silenced her, but she was still not convinced, and her heart was still stuttering in fright at the possibility that the accident could have been serious. But he was here, and his heart was beating beneath her palm. She stood unresisting in his arms, sending a silent prayer of thanks to the gods for sparing him any grievous injury.

Some moments later, when he tentatively sought her lips again, she didn’t refuse by word or action. With relieved elation, he tugged her closer and deepened the kiss with a fierce hunger that spoke of a feral passion that had been denied for too long.

The new, sensual intimacy was frightening….shocking…..but it made her feel as though her flesh was melting with almost agonizing pleasure. Her head was spinning so hard that she felt certain that her knees were about to give away, and she clutched at his shirt to stay upright.

After a very long time, he lifted his head marginally, and against quivering lips, softly demanded, “Come upstairs for a while.”

As she was wholly out of breath and dazed, it took a few moments for her to even comprehend what he had asked.

““No,” she whispered unsteadily.

His fingers slid up from the imprisoned waist to entwine in her silk-smooth hair. He tugged her head back to the desired angle, and before she could utter a word, he closed the already negligible gap between their lips with a brief but blazingly hot kiss that seemed hell bent on thawing all resistance from her bones.

He raised his head, and breathed, “You’ll come?”

“I can’t…it’s late,” she implored.

He captured her swollen lips again with such devastating tenderness that tears began stinging against her eyelids, and the last bit of rationality evaporated.

Releasing her mouth after many minutes, he murmured, “I’ll wait for you.”

Feeling incapable of speech, she nodded.

His fingers dug into her waist momentarily with unsaid happiness. “Thank you,”

She had barely gotten her breath back, but in the next second, he began showering an intoxicating, heart-stopping series of soft, swift kisses on her throbbing lips, until everything else around her became shadowy, worthless…and he was the only reality….

Then all of a sudden, she realised that he was gone, and she was standing all alone in the room, swaying slightly…. wondering if the whole scene had taken place in her imagination….

But a few reminders were slowly convincing her that it had been for real….

Somewhere during the past hour, he had pinned her against the kitchen platform and her hip had collided with its sharp edge. She had not felt any discomfort then, but now the pain in her hip was taunting her with the disturbing lack of awareness.

Her lips felt very raw and sore, and the skin on her neck was also tingling a little painfully. Now that she thought about it….there had been a mild roughness of stubble on his jaw as he had nuzzled against her throat….but she hadn’t felt it at all at the time.

But she’d have to wait to make a list of her injuries, she thought ruefully and forced her unsteady legs to move towards the fridge. There was some work to be done for now…

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

It was during her second trip to the terrace, when she had just placed the small first aid kit next to the lit candle on top of the low wall that Nandini’s slender body tensed. She turned around sharply in time to place a very firm palm against the very solid wall of a male chest to halt its progress.

With an amused twinge, she looked up at the wounded expression on Prithvi’s features. But she fought back the smile. There was a serious task to be carried out.

“Show me your hand,” she said curtly.

Black eyes that had swiftly turned mutinous stared down at her. “It’s just a scratch,” he insisted stoutly.

“If it is just a scratch why can’t you show it to me?” she asked suspiciously.

“Stop fussing over it,” he said irately. “It will heal by itself,”

Without saying another word, Nandini turned and picked up the small kit, and began walking back towards the house.

Swearing under his breath, he hastened forward with very quick strides. He had just reached for her arm when she turned. And despite the utter lack of light, the icy anger in her gaze seemed to warn him against doing anything foolish.

Prithvi dropped his hand and fidgeted uncomfortably, but then irritably began rolling up the sleeve of his arm.

A scratch…he had called it a scratch…

Nandini gasped in shock at the sight of the half-bloodied bandage carelessly wrapped around a long, vicious red gash which glittered cruelly in the mild light. The horrifying wound extended from the middle of the powerfully muscled upper arm to a few inches below the elbow.

“This – this is terrible! How could you ignore it!” she demanded angrily, keeping the box back on the wall and opening it.

“It’s not as bad as it looks,” he maintained obstinately.

But when she worriedly caught his hand and drew him closer to the light to dress the injury, he followed with unusual obedience, with brilliant eyes fixed only on her fretful features.

Stifling a livid retort with some difficulty, she concentrated on slowly peeling away the bandage to apply salve and antiseptic and tie a fresh bandage.

Thankfully, the gash didn’t seem to be very deep. But nevertheless her hands were shivering slightly as she cleaned it up with a strong antiseptic, every nerve on alert to detect the faintest sign of discomfort in him. 

Wincing unconsciously, she applied the salve, then stopped midway and looked up at him anxiously. “Is it painful?”

 “It’s hurting you a lot more than it’s hurting me,” he said ironically, gazing at her with an intensity that made heart stumble.

Her face turned hot, and she quickly returned her attention to the task, feeling grateful for the shield offered by the lush locks of hair that had fallen over her cheeks.

“Did you have dinner on the way?” she asked hesitantly after a couple of minutes, careful to pretend that her entire attention was focused on his hand.

“I’m not hungry,” he said evasively, as she finished tying the bandage.

“So you haven’t,” she concluded. “I’ve brought some food up….its kept here….please have it before you go to sleep. Good night,” she said quickly, retreating with great haste to put more distance between them. She didn’t want to wait even to replace the articles in the first aid kit….she’d gather it all up first thing tomorrow morning.

She had just spun around towards the door when he testily said, “I didn’t ask you to come here to play my nanny. I wanted to – to give you this.”

Nandini silently looked at the beautifully wrapped parcel that he had seemingly drawn out of nowhere.

“It is very nice of you, but I don’t want it,” she refused mildly.

At the detached courtesy in her tone, the calm, silvery night abruptly became coloured with a coldly hostile hue. And the antagonism was reflected with manifold intensity in the dark eyes that were suddenly piercing her with a dangerous blaze in their depths.

“Why not?” he asked grimly.

“I’d told you before itself.....I won’t accept anything from you,” she returned indifferently, refusing to concede ground despite the instinctive knowledge that she was playing with fire.

“Stop being so damn stubborn and take it!” he retorted irately, and even though he was a few feet away, the growing intensity of his anger was tracing rough fingers on her skin.

“I’m being stubborn??!” she exclaimed with angry astonishment. “What about you? The prince makes a decision and that’s it. You decide to throw me out of your life and I must accept it. Then you change your mind and decide you want me back, and once again, I must give in without protest. But this time…this time, I’m not going to forget and forgive. So for once can’t you accept my decision!” she asked passionately.

“What I can’t accept is that a piece of broken glass means more to you that I do,” he countered harshly.

She stared at him with mingled wrath and helplessness. “You still don’t understand....this isn’t just about....” She swallowed the lump in her throat. “I don’t want to discuss this anymore. I’m tired...”

“Would you at least be kind enough to tell me how much longer will this punishment last?” he bit out roughly.

“I’m not doing it to punish anyone,” she whispered. “I want to forget...I really do...but the memories just won’t go...”

He looked at her mutely, and gave a curt nod.

“If you don’t want it, you can throw it away....because I'm not taking it back,” he said tersely, keeping the package on the wall. “Now turn around,” he commanded, and moved forward a pace.

She had been about to insist that he take back the gift, but distracted by the last three words, she stared at him in confusion. “What?”

 In reply, he closed the distance between them, and turned her around with a restrained but compelling force that spoke volumes about the anger he was trying to control. An impatient hand pushed aside the thick swathe of her hair over one slender shoulder to expose her neck. Bewildered, she began to question him, but then she heard a small clink, and all of a sudden, cold metal was sliding around her neck with sinuous grace.

In disbelief, she looked down at the golden chain he was fastening around her neck. The chain that had belonged to his mother once….

“What  – what are you doing?” she gasped, and tried to turn around to face him.

His hand clamped around her forearm in an agonizing warning to keep her in position, silently telling her that he was not going to budge an inch irrespective of her emotions. Feeling drained and helpless, she shut her eyes and bit down the protests rising on her lips as his fingers brushed against the sensitive skin on the back of her neck as he tightened the clasp.

When the chain had been fastened securely, she sensed him moving back and turned around sharply.

“Why did you do that? I am not wearing it!” she said furiously, tugging the clasp of the gold chain to the front to undo it.

With staggering speed, he gripped her wrists brutally, and in an outrageously smooth move, twisted both the hands behind her back, flattening her against himself. She had cried out in shock rather than pain, but the savage hold on her wrists loosened instantly.

In a voice that was lethally quiet, he said, “You will not remove it unless I ask you to.”

Her eyes spewed sparks of defiance. “You can stop me now, but I will remove this chain the instant I step back into the house, and I’ll send it…and your other gift….back to you the same way I returned the idol.”

“Then choose your messenger carefully, because whoever you send with either or both of them will have to endure a lot of pain,” he said icily.

Knowing that he meant every word, she looked at him with mounting despair. “Why are you doing this?”

Her beautiful face had turned white, and the lovely black eyes were looking increasingly damp with every second, as though she were shattering into a million pieces on the inside.

The ruthlessness in his expression dimmed, and a rare, but poignant, vulnerability shaded his eyes as they gazed into her stricken face. Worsening her disorientation, he slowly released her imprisoned wrists, but his arms warmly curled around her waist, adamantly keeping her unyielding body crushed to himself.

He bent and kissed her creamy eyelids, trapping the tears inside. Then he quietly said, “This is not a gift; I’m just returning what is yours....You’ll keep it, won’t you?”

Astounded, she gazed at him with helpless amazement, as her heart turned over with conflicting, unbearable emotions. He had almost hurt her merely seconds before, and now…

She had learnt to deal coldly with his arrogance and temper…but how was she supposed to hold on to animosity when he said things that made her anger dissolve into the air, albeit temporarily, as though it had never existed…

Her hands had been determinedly kept by her sides so far. Now they automatically came up to rest against his shoulders in an unconscious plea.

“I can’t wear it! Everyone will see it....ma, grandpa…they will know it is not mine. How will I answer their questions,” she said appealingly.

He lightly captured the side of her hot face, and trailed caressing fingers down a flaming cheek

 “Say anything you want, but you will not take it off,” he murmured, his thumb began idly grazing the supple skin near her mouth.

Nandini shut her eyes for a moment to gather her defenses, but it was a mistake. It only made her acutely conscious of the tortuous movement of his fingers, leisurely tracing an unknown pattern on its velvety canvas, wandering dangerously near her lips but not touching their tremulous softness.

She snapped open her eyes and swiftly halted his hand with a light grasp.

Keeping her voice from shaking, she urgently said, “You don’t understand what this could….please, just listen -”

Prithvi raised the delicate fingers she had offered unwisely and kissed them, “No, you need to listen….stop fighting me and stop making us both miserable,” he said calmly.

How easy he made it sound….and how wonderful it would have been if she could do it. Everything could go back to normal. She could smile and laugh with him again without feeling that she was betraying herself. She would be able to show her love without being held back by doubts. Then after a while he could peacefully shunt her to the sidelines of his life again, letting her venture out when it suited him.

She wanted to rebel, but at this moment, his exquisite touch along with the exhaustion from having been on her feet all through the day, not having even eaten a bite properly after pleading a queasy stomach, was playing havoc with her mind and senses.

Out of nowhere, a couple of water drops fell on her forehead, shattering the distressing train of thoughts, and Nandini looked up in amazement at the dark sky. She had been dying to enjoy the first rain of the year. Closing her eyes joyously, she raised her face a little to feel the very light, but beautiful drumming of rain drops on her face.

Then she felt the burning touch of his lips on her cheek, then her forehead, then a fleeting caress on her lips….tenderly kissing away each drop of rain as it fell on her skin….tormenting her senses into chaos….

When he moved his devastating attention to the sweet softness of her throat, her stomach muscles contracted painfully. Why did her skin become so unbearably sensitive at his…and only his….touch, she wondered in despair.

The fiery pleasure ignited by his excruciatingly slow, scorching exploration of her neck weakened her to a pitiful mess. She was pliant in his arms, hypnotised by fatigue, the spell woven by starlight and the brief drizzle, and the intoxicating tenderness of his embrace. Somewhere, in the dim recesses of her mind, a troubled thought arose that marks caused by the stinging, but oddly pleasurable, abrasion of his stubble against her throat might be visible on her skin in the morning.

Morning….

She froze with a sharply indrawn breath. She had to leave right away.

Fighting the protesting clamor in her heart, she unsteadily said, “I – I need to go.”

The arms around her waist tightened rebelliously as he lifted his head unwillingly and met her uneasy gaze.

“You’ve spent all day with everyone else - I know that’s my fault,” he added quickly as she narrowed her eyes. “But there is hardly any time left for midnight….be with me until then….please,” he urged quietly.

The very faint note of desperation in his words caused a sharp ache in her chest, which was worsened by guilt at being forced to refuse.

“I can’t! It’s already too late, and it – it’s just not right!” 

She instantly regretted the choice of words as his body tensed in anger. “What do you mean?”

But she couldn’t give in to his bullying this time if she had to leave anytime soon. An easy departure would be more probable if she annoyed him enough.

“I mean that I don’t trust you,” she lied tartly.

The hands clamped around her waist constricted roughly, making her wince…and livid.

“If that was all I wanted, I’d have made sure you were eating for two by now,” he growled.

Appalled and enraged by that incredibly conceited assumption, she wrathfully snapped, “Then I would be eating in jail because I would have killed you!”

To her astonishment, he smiled lazily. “But I would have died such a happy man,” he murmured earnestly with a heartfelt sigh.

There was so much genuine wistfulness in his voice that she couldn’t help it. She chuckled even as a deep crimson flooded her face.

Delightful vibrancy sparkled on her features, giving a fleeting glimpse of her old self. Trying hard to restrain the sound of her laughter, she didn’t see the expression that flitted across his face for a second.

When she’d finally regained some control, she looked up at him amusedly, having finally thought of a middle way out. “I’ll stay until midnight if you’ll have some food.”

 “Are you on the menu too?” he asked hopefully.

She blushed pathetically, but there was a steely grimness in the slight smile that formed on her lips.

“Not even in your dreams,” she said softly.

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