Kundan Singh cast a sideways glance at the taciturn man at the wheel and queasily wondered yet again about the ferocity of the fight that had left the goon with a half-chewed ear.

Initially, he had been appalled to learn that Vikrant was going to send just three men for carrying out the venture. But the first sight of the giant-sized hoodlums had allayed some of his fears.

Apart from the morose one driving the car, there was a man with a deep slash running diagonally across his face who was continually fiddling with a knife, as though itching to sink the jagged blade into some flesh. But it was the third male who had erased the last of his misgivings. A hoodlum of gargantuan proportions with a shiny bald head and a pockmarked face, he had a perpetually vacant look that was unnatural and spine-chilling.

Vikrant had given a short history of the men. The macabre details had turned Kundan Singh's stomach but they had also increased his confidence. These three would be more than sufficient to subdue the girl's struggles. Even Prithvi wouldn't stand a chance against them.

A few days preparation would have made this whole operation a breeze. They could have sent men to monitor the girl's activities during the day and nabbed her at a pre-decided time and place where there wouldn't be too many witnesses. But Vikrant had behaved like a man possessed ever since he had heard about the girl. He hadn't been willing to wait for a minute more than necessary.

It was left to Kundan Singh to devise some method to find out the girl's current whereabouts, wait until she was relatively alone and helpless and then kidnap her. Drawing on a wealth of past experiences, he had figured out some potential approaches to complete the assignment. They were still a long way from Shamli and there was enough time to decide the best line of attack.

It was true that Indrajit could have helped immensely to plan the abduction, and hopefully, murder. But Kundan Singh also knew it was a huge enough miracle that his own life had been spared. And then again, though he had been serving Indrajit for so many years, he was yet to discern a particular pattern of thinking or behaviour in his master's nature.

Quite evidently, Indrajit had acquired some tiny strain of his mother's illness, Kundan Singh thought contemptuously.

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

At a short distance from the imposing doors that led to the auditorium, a thickset man with greying hair was standing with three girls in silence, mentally processing a multitude of thoughts as he reflected over the unpleasant story he had just heard.

Nandini was finding it more and more difficult to retain the outward guise of composure with every passing minute. Her feet were fidgeting to run back upstairs and confirm that everything was the way she had left it, and her kohl-lined eyes kept flickering towards the staircase with a mystifying compulsion.

She wanted Dhiren punished very soundly, but at the moment, she was finding it difficult to think about anything or anyone beyond Prithvi. It was worrying enough that he had looked so fatigued, but it was the atypical calm with which he had behaved that was disturbing her so much. And to top it all, her instincts were shrieking that the horrific incident with Dhiren was only the beginning. Something worse…..infinitely worse….was going to happen before the end of the day.

"Where is he now?" Principal Kochar asked at last.

"On the first floor," Vrinda answered. "Prit -"

"We've locked him in the room upstairs," Nandini inserted quickly.

Relief cleared the lines on the distinguished man's forehead. "Ok, that's good. You've – errr – You've done the right thing by informing me instead of – Ok, let Dhiren remain in that room until evening.  Once all these festivities are over for the day, I will deal with him. And rest assured, we will take the strictest possible action against him!" he guaranteed, and with some desultory muttering about the necessity to cater to the chief guests, he awkwardly excused himself and made his way back into the hall.

"He didn't seem upset about it at all!" Vrinda said angrily when the doors had closed behind him.

Nishi nodded suspiciously. "I know! He took it so calmly! Almost like he's been hearing such complaints about Dhiren every day!"

She turned to Nandini, whose eyes were fixed nervously on the exit to the first floor. "By the way, why didn't you want him to know that Prithvi was standing guard outside the room?"

Nandini reluctantly turned towards her friend. "I don't know, I just have a bad feeling," she said restlessly, "I need to go upstairs and talk to Prithvi.  You both should go inside and sit in the audience now, and please, don't tell anyone anything!" she begged.

"We cant sit there and enjoy the programmes after  -"

"We're not leaving your side until -"

"I promise, I'll be fine," she averred earnestly over their spontaneous objections. "I just have to make sure Prithvi is okay too," she adjoined in a troubled murmur.

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

She ran up the stairs, two steps at a time, hurtled around the wall and stopped abruptly at the entrance to the corridor.

Prithvi was leaning against the wall near the door of the room from which she had stormed out a short while ago. He was on the phone, talking in a low voice with a hard gaze fixed on the opposite wall, looking completely absorbed.

She enjoyed a second's relief….before realising that the door to the room was no longer closed. With a silent groan of fear, she began hurrying ahead.

Prithvi looked around at the sound of her anklets and instantly cut the call with a last, rather ominous sounding, murmur. He moved away from the wall and stepped into her path.

He cast a sharp look over her head and then looked at her questioningly. "Where is he?"

She sidestepped him and rushed into the room, only to stop short with horror at the nightmarish view of a bloodied human lying on the floor, writhing slightly.

She backed away automatically, feeling nauseous at the gruesome sight, and then twirled around with a white face. "What have you done to him!"

Propped against the destroyed doorframe with crossed arms, Prithvi reflected on the question. "Well, first I broke his hand, then his knee, then I-"

"Don't!" she almost wailed, shivering as the words conjured up nerve-wrecking images. "Why did you - you told me you wouldn't do anything!" she said hopelessly.

"No, I asked you what I could do when he had locked the door from the inside," he corrected seriously. "After you left, I answered myself and broke the freaking door open."

She looked at him with desolation, and then glanced uncertainly at the prone figure. "He needs to be taken to the hospital," she said hesitantly.

Prithvi straightened away from the doorframe and regarded her with incensed disbelief. "He's lucky he doesn't need to be taken to the morgue," he snapped.

"But -"

"Sadly, he's not going to die of these injuries," he said with a finality that barred further discussion on the topic. "Now answer my question - Why did the principal say and why isn't he with you?"

"He's busy right now but he said he'll take strict action against Dhiren," she said distractedly, hastening towards him. "You have to leave the campus before anyone comes,"

With a slight shake of his head, he coolly retorted, "Not really. What I need to do is to drill the seriousness of what could have happened into the principal's head."

And to her utter dismay, he turned and began walking towards the stairway. No…she couldn't let him meet the principal, especially not in his present mood. If the principal were to see Dhiren's condition, all hell would break loose. She could see it happening...the shock, the anger, the call to the police…

She couldn't let that happen. She somehow had to convince Prithvi to leave the campus before anyone came upstairs and saw the bloody mess in the classroom, even if that sickening animal had deserved every blow that had come his way.

Frantic, she darted out of the room and succeeded in blockading his way in the middle of the corridor.

Resolutely disregarding the slight frown on his countenance, she urgently said, "You can't do that! He has promised to take action and I know he will! But if he happens to come up here now and see - he'll get you arrested! All…all because of me," she whispered distraughtly to herself.

"Don't give yourself so much credit," he answered tersely. "I wouldn't have behaved differently if he'd targeted anyone else."

At his words, an unexpected rush of love swarmed her chest, catching her off guard in the tense moment. She knew he was merely being honest. He would have reacted with the same violence if it had been any other female in her place. She remembered with a jolt that his own mother been a victim…..

Prithvi surveyed her suddenly pale features. "He didn't hurt you at all, did he?" he demanded harshly. The still burning wrath in his eyes plainly told her that if he learnt of the details of her brief struggle, he would go back into the room and put an end to Dhiren's life.

She shook her head vigorously in negation. "He caught my hand. That's all," she said quickly. Then as a possible resolution struck her, she appealingly said, "Could you take me home for a while?"

He regarded her with renewed sharpness. "Why? Are you feeling sick again?"

"I'm all fine now. No fever or sore throat," she clarified hastily. "That's not why I want to go home."

Once they were out of this place, she would beg him on her knees if necessary to keep him from getting further involved in this imbroglio. Or perhaps, if she could talk toSumer uncle or Mochi….they would surely help her to convince him….

"You're counting on the wrong people," he said ironically. "Their only regret would be that they didn't get to break a few bones themselves."

A dim colour fleetingly diminished the paleness of her cheeks. She should have known he would recognize the exact reason for the request. Her thoughts always seemed to be running across her forehead in a continued stream for his benefit, she thought ruefully.

"I wasn't going to tell them anything," she mumbled. "I wanted to go home only because the thought of the play is really scaring me and -"

Her voice faltered as an unexpected streak of cold contempt hardened his expression.

"I'm not going to let you back out of the play," Prithvi warned coldly.

"I wasn't intending to!" she snapped, indignant at the accusation. "But even if I was, weren't you the one who had warned me against taking part in it at the start?"

"But you went ahead anyway and made a commitment to the whole f****** team," he reminded her grimly. "And you are going to fulfill that commitment, even if the team does include that a******."

Nandini suddenly felt very tired. "I told you….I am not thinking about getting out of it. I'm just feeling very stressed in this atmosphere and I - I want to sit in some peaceful place for a while. It's okay if you don't want to take me home, I don't mind going to any place of your choice," she assured earnestly.

"As long as you manage to get me out of here," he completed her thought ironically.

Feeling increasingly helpless, she implored, "Please! Just listen to me this once…let's go somewhere outside and -"

"Not until I've spoken to that moron downstairs," he retorted inflexibly.

Reddening, Nandini looked at him with an upsurge of anger and hurt. How could she have forgotten….he had always done as he pleased…..her emotions be damned….

"Fine! Go right ahead. Go and talk to the principal and bring him up here so he can see Dhiren's condition and call the police. Let them arrest you and put you into prison!" she yelled, starling him visibly with the vehement outburst. "But what do you care? You're so sure you can do anything and get away with it! There is just one thing you can't and won't do, and that is to show some respect for my thoughts and feelings!" she denounced bitterly and then turned on her heel to walk away.

A very cautious sounding male voice enquired, "Where are you going?"

Nandini stopped and spun around with a wild flush on her cheeks.

"I don't know! I just want to get away before I kill you," she hissed.

"Could you postpone my assassination until we've reached any place of my choice?" Prithvi asked solemnly, making a considerable effort to conceal his amusement at her mutinous expression.

She stared at him coldly with a sluggishly ebbing temper for some seconds, and then began proceeding towards the stairway herself.

As she swept past him with frosty hauteur, she crossly said, "I can't promise anything until you stop laughing at me in your super-mean mind."

He began to retort scathingly, but a bottle lying on the floor ominously attracted his attention….

And he wisely decided to keep his peace for the moment….

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

Impeded slightly by the voluminous folds of the skirt, she got off from the bike, obstinately resisting the impulse to smile at Prithvi.

She hadn't spoken a word to him since that scene in the college. The walk to the parking lot and the ride to this delightfully familiar spot had taken place in utter silence. Her companion had maintained a very sombre demeanour throughout but she was resentfully aware that he was being quietly entertained by what he must be viewing as her overreaction.

Without looking at him, she walked towards the beckoning greenery of the hill beyond the line of trees. She stepped out of her shoes to savour the sensation of the grass tickling her feet.

"You can kill me now."

At the noble offer, Nandini turned around and glowered up at him as intimidatingly as she could, unaware of the extremely captivating picture she made with the flashing black eyes framed by thick lashes, the faintest hue of livid colour on ivory skin and the tiny, infuriated pout on soft lips that were currently burnished with an artificial shade that they certainly didn't need….

The teasing note in his voice made her eyes flash. "I'm not sure that I don't want to," she said tartly.

If she hadn't lost her temper and yelled, she was certain Prithvi would have spoken to the principal by now, without sparing the details of his own actions, and the police would be on their way to the campus.

Nandini couldn't repress a shudder at the thought. The police was an unknown entity in her protected world, apart from that lone occasion when they had come to the house with the news of her father's demise. They were to be respected and feared, never to be crossed or offended. She could well imagine the nature of Prithvi's interaction with them and the thought of the possible repercussions made her quail.

"Glare at me all you want but I will speak to him sooner or later," Prithvi said dryly.

Distress overtook all other emotions as she looked into the inflexible obstinacy set into his handsome features.

"You can't! There has to be some other way -"

"Don't worry. If I had to get into trouble, it would have happened long ago. Right after the first murder," he consoled.

Exasperated by his irreverent attitude, Nandini despairingly asked, "How can you joke about this! You could get into serious trouble!"

He raised a hand to caress her cheek tenderly. "Stop worrying. I'll take care of everything," he murmured.

There was an unshakable assurance in his gaze and Nandini felt a little bit of the stress easing from her chest.

"You won't land up in prison?" she asked tentatively.

"Not unless it ends up as the only way to escape your cooking," Prithvi guaranteed caringly.

Incensed, she struck his hand away from her cheek. "Some day you'll beg me to cook for you!" she swore vengefully.

"I don't think I'll ever get that sick of life."

She looked daggers at him as he grinned down at her. "I hope you did notice that I really can claw skin off faces?"

"Speaking of which, I've been wondering…."

Nonplussed, she looked at him.

He smiled lazily. "You've never broken any bottles on my head or peeled the skin off my extremely good looking face. So I'm going to assume you rather enjoy my attentions," he murmured as his interest transferred to her lips.

Feeling rather breathless all of a sudden, she blushingly swivelled around to begin strolling down the gentle green slope.

"Hey, we can see the river flowing between those trees!" she said vivaciously, striving to pretend absolute absorption in the rolling landscape.

"Amazing how we never saw that before," he said sardonically.

Stifling laughter, Nandini walked on with light steps, comfortable in the knowledge that he was right behind her.

The sun had travelled to the middle of the sky and its heat seemed all pervasive now. Tiny beads of perspiration were glistening on her fair skin which was flushed with the uncomfortably warm temperature.

"It's so hot, and this dress is so heavy….and all this jewellery is making it worse," she complained dolefully, running her fingers over the sharp edges of the pretty necklace that was encircling her slender neck.

"You should take it off."

She turned to look at Prithvi with a resigned air. "I want to, but I'll have to wait till the play is over to remove this jewellery."

"I was talking about the dress," he murmured, as his dark eyes made a slow, smouldering journey down the svelte curves of her body.

Nandini blushed to the roots of her hair at the leisurely appraisal that had felt like an actual caress. "You're becoming more shameless by the day!" she gasped.

He nonchalantly began strolling ahead again. "Not really. I'm just expressing what's been on my mind all along," Prithvi grinned as he reached her.

Mortified with shyness, she hadn't even begun to think of a response when he clasped her hand and began leading her downhill. Tongue-tied, she obediently followed his lead as he sauntered down the rolling landscape until he reached a particularly verdant spot of land where the slope was steeper and intermittently strewn with large rocks. He stopped in the cooling shade of a huge boulder, and they wordlessly settled down on the luxuriant mattress of grass.

She was seated with her legs folded gracefully to a side, while he sat with his arms resting on drawn up knees.

After a few minutes of restful silence, Nandini looked at his tranquil profile and hesitantly asked, "Did you meet your grandfather?"

"Yeah," he replied briefly, not looking at her.

"You didn't….You didn't say anything too hurtful, did you?" she enquired uneasily.

"No."

She rolled her eyes. How foolish was she to think he would tell her anything of significance. But then a thrilling thought made her scuttle around until she was facing him on her knees.

"Choti maa! Does she still live there? Did you see her?" she asked eagerly.

Prithvi glanced at her, plainly amused by her interest. "I did."

"How is she? How did she react when she met you?"

"She was happy to see me again….so goddamned happy that I felt like the biggest ******** on earth," he said quietly. "She's one of the few reasons I have some good memories about my childhood. She's the one who used to run after me with a plate of food at meal times….scold me if I did or said anything wrong….help me take care of...," he paused, then muttered, "I should have gone back for her years ago,"

She looped an arm around his neck and rested a dainty chin on his shoulder.

"Don't think like that. All that matters is that you've met her and maybe you could…..," Nandini hesitated, "Does she have a big family in - wherever your grandfather lives?"

"No immediate family, just some relatives in another village. She lives all alone."

"Then maybe you could ask her to come live here with you!" she said enthusiastically, her eyes shining with excitement.

There was a sudden tenderness in Prithvi's eyes as he gazed at her. "I'll be going back after a few days to bring her home."

"You're the sweetest!" she laughed, wrapping her other arm also around his neck. "Once she comes here, we'll make it up to her."

"I'm not very sure about the 'we' part," he said ruefully. "Choti maa was very keen to know about the kind of people who lived near me and so I told her about your family. She liked hearing about everyone else, but not you."

"She didn't – but why?" Nandini asked anxiously, reflexively withdrawing her arms from around him.

To her consternation, Prithvi didn't answer but started to rise to his feet.

Indignant at the evasiveness, she grabbed the front of his shirt to prevent him from getting up and regarded him severely. "Tell me!" she insisted.

His brows knit in puzzlement. "To be honest, I didn't understand her reaction myself. All I told her was that you are a stubborn, hot tempered little wild cat who likes to bite and -

Nandini's clutch instantly shifted to his collar and she yanked him down violently to eye level to unleash the full impact of her fierce stare. "If you've told her anything of that sort, I'll tell her worse things about you when she gets here!" she snapped hostilely.

Making no effort to detach the delicate fingers from his collar, he smugly retorted, "She won't believe you. Choti maa rightly believes I'm the eleventh incarnation," he admitted.

Nandini tried to hold on to the sternness on her face, but her lips twitched at the cocky grin on his face, and just like that, she started chuckling. The fingers gripping his shirt suddenly opened and glided around his neck and his hand skimmed down her spine to draw her into a warm embrace. For an instant, she felt absolutely relaxed, but then sensed yet again that there was deep exhaustion in the tough frame that was holding her so snugly.

She was about to request him to go home and rest, when Prithvi casually asked, "You plan to stick around in college after the play?"

She raised her head. "I haven't decided anything. Why?"

"Baba isn't feeling very well. Mochi is at home with him right now but -"

"Sumer uncle is ill? It's not serious, is it?" Nandini asked worriedly.

"No, he's just feeling a little weak. I need to go out in the afternoon, and Mochi may also have some work in the town I. So….if you haven't planned anything else, I was hoping you could sit with baba until I – Mochi and I – return."

"Of course I'll come home and take care of him!" she assured, "unless I die of embarrassment after becoming a laughing stock in front of the whole college because of the play," she adjoined gloomily, lowering her gaze to focus on the second button on his shirt.

Prithvi gripped her chin and pushed up her face. "Nobody is going to laugh at you," he asserted grimly and apologetically added, "Except me, of course."

"What if  - what if I see all those people staring at me…..and just….freeze," she imagined miserably, too strung up to even object to the teasing disclaimer.

"That won't happen," he said calmly, "But if you do freeze, all the lights in the auditorium will be switched off immediately, giving you the chance to run away," he prophesised with a droll seriousness that made her laugh.

Nandini was aware that he was just trying to make her feel better. He surely wasn't going to be in the hall to fiddle with the wires because of his aversion to seeing Suvek within hundred meters of her. But even that mock promise seemed to carry an inexplicable magic that very nearly erased her nervousness.

"The lights will go off?" she giggled.

"The lights will go off," he reiterated confidently. "Now get up, it's time to go back."

She didn't stir immediately but simply gazed at him with her heart in her eyes as he rose to his feet in a fluid movement and started to walk back towards the bike.

I love you, she said silently, and felt a curiously warm glow in her chest.

Confused by the strange sensation, she didn't immediately register that Prithvi was no longer striding ahead. He had gone very still...

And all of a sudden, in the span of a terrified heartbeat, she understood why he had stopped.

She had said the words aloud.

The dreamy smile that had curved her lips wilted, and she waited with a horrified fascination as he turned around slowly. Prithvi gazed at her wordlessly, and the cautious light of hope in his questioning eyes almost melted her.

But alongside that hope, a dark flame of triumph was slowly flickering to full strength and it made her heart quail.

And with painful clarity, she was forced to acknowledge the fear that had stopped her from uttering those three words until now.

The illogical but unshakable fear that if she confessed first, it would forever alter the already turbulent dynamics of their relationship. A relationship in which he was, and would always be, the stronger, dominant half…..

She was too vulnerable as it is because of the overwhelming intensity of her love for him. The confession of that love would herald the fall of the last emotional bastion before he took over her completely, body and soul. For all this time, she had held on to a belief, foolish as it may have been, that as long as she didn't admit her feelings so plainly before he did, she would retain some standing in his eyes. And buried discreetly in her heart, there had been a hope that perhaps he would say those magical words first.

But her own feelings had defeated her yet again…..

"What did you just say?" Prithvi demanded, staring at her with a brooding power that seemed to be probing her features for an affirmation.

.

Her heart was pounding behind the breastbone. Nandini wanted to shake her head in denial but couldn't remember how. But she had to speak up to disperse the swiftly solidifying silence…

"I didn't say anything!" she whispered in a strangled voice and watched with helpless guilt as his expression darkened and his jaw clenched with anger.

But then he clamped down on his temper with visible effort. "Doesn't matter. And anyway, it's not fair of me to expect you to say it when I don't plan to say it myself."

"Why not?" she asked desperately before Prithvi could turn and stride away, remembering too late that she wasn't supposed to have said anything in the first place.

Uncharacteristically, he didn't rag her on the slip-up, but only indifferently said, "I don't say things like that if I don't mean it,"

"Neither do I!" Nandini defended passionately.

"Really? So all those times when you were angry and claimed to hate me….you meant it?" he enquired with a cool derision that scalded her skin.

Cut to the quick by the cold question, she blinked back tears. "No, I didn't mean it. I said that I….I said it only because I was very hurt. If you hurt me like that in the future, I may say those words again," she said honestly, trying to keep her voice steady but failing. "I may even think that I actually hate….but I can't….I can't hate you any more than I can stop living," she whispered shakily, looking up at him with an unspoken entreaty to accept the genuineness of her feelings and desist from any further dissection of her consciousness.

She saw the softening of his expression with almost pathetic gratitude.

But then Prithvi began walking towards her and she tensed again, uneasily sensing she had not been let off the hook yet.

"What if I walk away from here….from you…..and never look back again?" he asked coolly, half kneeling in front of the extraordinarily beautiful girl seated like a fragile doll on the grassy ground.

Painful despair shimmered as moisture in her lovely eyes. The innate vein of ruthlessness in him was demanding complete emotional surrender. Nothing more, nothing less.

She could try and resist the pressure….

But did she want to…

From everything she had learnt so far, it was unbearably evident that he had been through more than enough pain in the past. She couldn't bear to see any more shadows in his eyes or let him experience even an iota of the insecurity that was torturing her at this moment. She wanted to see him smile and laugh with elation…..even if it was at her expense….

As a mysterious peace settled on her, Nandini huskily said, "I won't forgive you, but I'll still wait for you. Because…" she drew a deep, stabilising breath and softly admitted, "because I love you."

With a shy indulgence, she saw triumphant pleasure blaze once again in his eyes. A split-second later, his hands closed around her arms and yanked her forward.

Despite being startled, Nandini managed to place a soft hand over his descending lips. "You'll ruin my makeup," she breathed unsteadily.

Scowling, Prithvi detached the hand from around his mouth, and ignoring her alarmed gasp, smoothly clamped both her arms behind her back. She started to protest but then the thumb of his other hand grazed abrasively against her lips, intentionally igniting a sensual friction that nearly made her heart stop.

When every trace of unnecessary colour had disappeared, he smiled languorously into her rosy, hypnotised face and released her limp hands. He tightened his hold even more, moulding her pliant form to the hard lines of his body with unashamed intent, until it became impossible to determine the source of that galloping pulse.

"What makeup?" Prithvi queried infuriatingly.

The question had barely penetrated her mind when his mouth came down on hers with a savage passion that was intent on branding her as his possession. Tears stung against her closed lids but she bit back a cry of pain and her arms curled tightly around his neck.

The brazenly sexual onslaught was devastating….. it was impossible to decipher if it was exhilaration or fear that was making her heart hammer so furiously….or was that the sound of his heart….

All her nerve-endings acutely attuned only to the harsh, predatory demand on her lips….her fingers sinking into the thick luxuriance of his hair as he continued to ravage her soft mouth…

An eternity had gone past before he raised his head slightly, only to move his lips with tantalising gentleness down the side of her mouth to the creamy throat, pressing maddeningly brief, scorching kisses on every inch of the silken flesh. When the sensual torture unexpectedly ceased, her senses rebelled shamelessly.

Nandini slowly opened lustrous eyes to look up dazedly into his flushed, arresting features and saw an electrifying glimpse of a violent battle as he battled to leash the age-old hunger thundering through his veins. She was trembling and breathless herself, shaken by the dark and disconcerting impulses he had roused in her.

Then with an imperceptible sigh, he leaned forward and buried his face in the soft curve of her neck. Holding him close, she ran her fingers lovingly through his hair. His skin was faintly red and hot, as if the passion he had repressed forcefully was still churning his blood. And just for a fleeting moment, he seemed so vulnerable that her heart ached….

"I love you," she said almost inaudibly.

Prithvi drew back, dangerous desires resolutely back under iron-clad control, and bestowed her with a heart-stopping smile.

"I know," he said modestly, as his fingers rose to remorsefully trace the inflamed contours of her mouth. "But I'm afraid you'll have to say those words every day from hereon, as many times as I demand it," he informed her graciously.

"You mean until you get bored of hearing it?" Nandini asked dryly with the slightest tint of bitterness.

She instantly regretted the question as the fingers on her face stilled and Prithvi's face turned unusually serious.  Then he admiringly said, "I think your IQ has gone up to one in my company."

He grinned as she bristled, and then suddenly pulled back and rose to his feet. "We should go back now."

When she made no attempt to move, he reached down to clasp her arm and hauled her up.  Without releasing the hold on her hand, Prithvi began strolling to the stationary vehicle.

Feeling utterly lost and disoriented, she allowed herself to be tugged along, aware only of the protective grip on her hand. Everything else was in chaos….

They were just a few feet from the road when she drew back. He looked around quizzically to see an unusually disturbed expression on her exquisite face. 

"What if I make that decision?" Nandini asked uncertainly.

"What?" he frowned.

"You asked me what I'll do if you leave me. Now I'm asking you the same thing. I will never stop loving you, but what if for some reason, I'm the one who walks away?" she asked softly, spurred by subconscious fears that were more powerful than the intrinsic wish to maintain harmony.

The elemental anger that surged in Prithvi's gaze at the sheer audacity of her question made her recoil inwardly. Then the displeasure was curbed and he bluntly replied, "I won't put my life on hold for you, and I won't stop you from moving on either…..if it's my decision too."

She had wanted an honest response and he'd given it. And the answer was not unexpected either. So there was no logical reason for the intensely crippling pain that sliced through her…...no logical reason at all…..

"And if it's not?" she asked in a trembling voice.

Prithvi didn't reply but only looked at her silently with some indecipherable emotion in his brilliant eyes. Then he moved closer and his arms wound around her yielding form.

Nandini looked up at through a sparkling veil of tears, confused…afraid….torn….

He bent and captured her bruised lips with indescribable gentleness. Strangely, the melting sweetness in that touch was more overpowering….devastating…..than the fiery violence of the earlier kiss. His hands slid down the length of her back to press her closer, forbidding even the weakest of shadows from seeping in between them.

She clung to him with a nameless distress, wishing the treacherous uncertainties would leave her alone. But a solitary tear rolled down her cheek as something inside her slowly crumbled into innumerable pieces.

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