Himalayan Magic Chapter 6

Will you keep me warm tonight?

A hut! He had brought them to a hut! She lay back on the ground, joy seeping slowly and steadily through her.

They stumbled through the doorway together into the darkness of the hut, slamming the door behind them against the howling of the storm. Khushi leaned against the rough walls, too tired even to think, as Arnav groped through the dark, blundering against some heavy piece of furniture with a curse. A match scraped; the little light flickered, grew, turned into the comforting soft glow of an oil lamp. Khushi stared around the shadowy room with tired eyes.

‘What is this place?’ she asked.

‘A shepherd’s hut _____ I think. There should to be firewood around somewhere.’ She stared around the place, infinitely grateful for its shelter. It was sparsely furnished; a table, two or three chairs, a low bed. In one corner was a small area that looked like a kitchen with a small kerosene stove. For all its roughness, the place had some homely touches ___ bright curtains at the windows, some pictures of deities on one wall.

‘Where’s the shepherd?’ she asked sliding into a chair, her body still unfeeling and numb.

‘Ah!’ Arnav had unearthed a large bundle of firewood in one corner, and he dragged it across to one end of the room. ‘I think they use this firewood for their stove. I can use this to make a makeshift fireplace for us. We’ll soon be warm. The shepherd? He is probably stuck somewhere else because of this storm.’  He reached for the matches, and held the little light to the splintered wood. A yellow flame started to flicker tentatively at the pile of wood. A sudden rush of joy burst through Khushi’s heart, she drew a deep breath as sobs threatened to rack her. Arnav looked at her surprized.

‘What’s there to cry about now?’ he wanted to know. ‘I’ve got you out of the storm, haven’t I?’

‘I am so happy,’ she said shakily. ‘You are marvellous, Arnavji ___ I __’

‘That’s a change,’ he said drily, standing up. ‘A few minutes ago I was the biggest swine on earth.’

‘Oh no!’ she said appalled as memory began to return. ‘I didn’t know what I was saying.’ Remorse silenced her as he turned away and began rifling through the little cupboard in one dark corner. Slowly she was becoming conscious of the misery she was in; her clothes were wet, and her skin was burning agonisingly as circulation gradually returned to her body. She began to shiver, lightly and intermittently at first, then uncontrollably. Hearing the chatter of her teeth, Arnav glanced up at her.

‘I have found some treasures here.’ He had an armful of things, ‘We are going to do this step by step,’ he said spilling his prizes on the table. ‘First of all ___’ He unscrewed a bottle, sniffed at it, and nodded approvingly. He knelt next to her, cradling her head in the crook of his arm and touching the neck of the bottle to her lips.

‘Drink,’ he commanded.

‘What is it?’ she asked suspiciously, her teeth rattling against the glass.

‘I think it is brandy’

‘I don’t ___’ khushi opened her mouth, and he poured a generous measure down her throat. Liquid fire seized her tonsils, erupted into molten lava that scalded its way down into her stomach. As she coughed in blind agony, he took a swig himself.

‘Yep. It is locally made brandy.’ Again, the neck of the bottle touched her lips, and before she could protest, more of the molten lava was pouring down her throat. She coughed again. Arnav put away the bottle and rummaged among the things on the table. ‘What’s this?’ He peered into the bag, and realization dawned. ’Ah ___ Fancy some hot maggi?’

Khushi was beginning to feel distinctly better. The fire was filling the cabin with warmth, and the agony in her throat and stomach was turning into a pleasant glow, like bodily central heating. She watched Arnav as he added water in the battered saucepan he had found, and added the contents of the maggi packet.

The maggi was delicious, and infinitely comforting. As she scraped her spoon on the bottom of the pan, she looked up to see Arnav looking at her amused.

‘What’s so funny’?’ she demanded.

‘You are,’ he said. ‘Five minutes ago, you were dying by inches. You should see yourself now!’

‘You are no better yourself,’ she told him, looking at his sodden hair. She sucked the spoon with relish, suddenly feeling a hundred times better.

‘Right,’ he said briskly, standing up. ‘Get your clothes off.’

‘What?’ she looked at him in alarm.

‘You are soaked,’ he said patiently. ‘And the room’s getting just about warm enough. You can’t sit in those wet clothes until we are ready to get out of here ____ so get them off.’

‘But I ___’ he was no longer listening, hauling his shirt over his head. Khushi watched in some trepidation as he unzipped his jeans.

‘Wait,’ she said in alarm. ‘This isn’t decent, Arnavji!’

He looked at her with inscrutable brown eyes, and sighed.

‘After all we have been through, is this all you can think about?’

She stared at him. In the firelight he was magnificent, a living bronze statue, his skin velvety and fine. The hair on his chest tapered down toa dark line below his navel where it disappeared into the waist band of his jeans. She turned away blushing a deep shade of red.

‘You take your clothes off if you want to,’ she said sullenly, ‘I’m quite happy the way I am.’

He did not answer, and she could hear him hanging his clothes over the chair to dry.

Powerful hands seized her arms and hauled her to her feet. She yelped in dismay as he spun her around. He looked annoyed but determined.

‘I had to carry you God knows how far in a storm,’ he said calmly, ‘I won’t be disobeyed now. Look, I have my jeans on, ok?’

‘Arnavji___’ she gasped.

‘Now,’ he said firmly, and his fingers were tugging at the buttons down the front of the leather jacket. Hypnotised, she watched the strong, delicate tracery of muscles across his wide shoulders. His skin was incredibly smooth, but under it, the iron hard muscles pulsed and shifted with masculine power. She had seen him shirtless before, but with the firelight casting a golden glow, he looked out of this world. Her dhak-dhak had accelerated to full throttle and she quickly lowered her eyes. He turned her around as though she were a mannequin, and pulled the heavy wet thing off her shoulders.

‘Arnavji___’ she began nervously as he turned her back again.

‘Shut up,’ he said quietly, and began to unfasten the pearl buttons on her once-beautiful blouse.

‘This is for your own good,’ he told her, his beautiful eyes meeting hers in a glint of mockery in their brown depths.

‘Leave me alone ____I’ll do the rest,’ she tried stopping him, her cheeks flushing hotly.

‘Why?’ he asked coolly. ‘I don’t mind.’ He slipped the wet blouse down over her arms, and dropped it over the back of a chair. The warmth of the fire licked at her naked skin, and she quickly turned away from him.

‘I am warm enough now,’ she said bringing her long hair to her front to cover herself.

Arnav was mesmerized. He had a clear view of her creamy back starting with her slender neck, delicately rounded shoulders with the shoulder blades jutting out, tapering down to the small of her back. Her jeans rode lowon her hips showing off her the curve of her tiny waist. He wanted to span that tiny waist with his hands.Forget it! He wanted to span all of it! There was only one thing that was marring his vision. He swallowed.

‘Isnt that ___ that garment wet?’ he asked her.

‘I…It’s perfectly dry,’ she assured him nervously without turning around.

He walked up right behind her. The naked skins of his chest and her back touched. Khushi started shivering at the contact.

‘Arnavji!’ she gasped in horror. ‘Please ____don’t!’ she pleaded.

Arnav bent down toward her. Khushi’s shivering had doubled and she closed her eyes. ‘Don’t what Khushi?’ he whispered into her right ear. Before she could react, she felt the warmth of blanket being placed on her shoulders.

‘Now, will you please take off your jeans?’ he asked her mockery lacing his voice. He was teasing her ___ the Laad Governor!

Cursing him mentally, she took off her jeans under the cover of the blanket, feeling an inexpressible relief as the wet garment came off. The dry heat of the fire was washing over her skin, easing out the stinging and the aching that was left over from her ordeal. She sat down in front of the fire, a little away from him. She saw that he had taken off his jeans as well, and was relieved to see that he had wrapped a towel around his hips. After some time she was beginning to feel relaxed and drowsy.Suddenly, a thought occurred to her. He liked to tease her, did he?

‘Arnavji? Can I ask you a question?’ she asked trying to sound innocent.

‘What?’ he asked her poking a stick into the fire.

‘Why did you kiss me?’ she asked mischievously.

‘What?!’ he could not believe what he heard.

‘You heard me Arnavji……’ she said trying to appear serious.

What was she trying to do? Damn! It must have been the drink she had earlier. The way he was feeling right now, this was not a good idea.

‘You look very tired,’ he said trying to dissuade her, ‘why don’t you go to sleep?’

‘What do you mean____?’ Khushi stood up suddenly trying to create a dramatic effect. She took a step toward him, but stumbled on the blanket and fell right into him.

Arnav stretched out his arms to catch her, falling back himself in order to cushion her fall. A strange stillness settled over them as their lips met in wholly unintentional contact. For a second they were quite still, lips just touching, then gently, carefully, turningher so that her back was on the floor, his mouth settled fully over hers. He paused, his body rigid, and Khushi knew with instinctive certainty that she only had to move and he would let her go without a struggle.

 The strange thing was she no longer wanted to. Suddenly, all the fear, all the hatred was gone, burning itself up into one great flare of passion which could no longer be denied. She wanted this, wanted it more than she’d wanted anything in her whole of her life.

She leaned into him, meeting his hunger with her own. As she melted into him, he felt the thrust of her breasts beneath the lacy wisp of clothing that separated them. He fought the impulse to reach up and capture their fullness and warmth in his palms. Instead he tangled his hands in her hair, revelling in the silky strands that curled around his fingers. He loved the feel of her hair, the smell of it…. a clean, slightly fruity scent.

He could drown in her, lose himself completely in the moist heat and sweetness of her mouth. He moved his hands from her hair to her shoulders.

Her hands moved across his bare chest, nervously. His body temperature was rising at an alarming rate and he knew if she continued to touch him, he’d be on fire and completely out of control.

They broke apart, their chests heaving, gasping for air. As their heart rate returned to normal , his fingers traced a delicate path down her cheek, as though he couldn’t quite bear to break all contact. Gently he rubbed his thumb over her lips, and Khushi closed her eyes, as she felt a tingling echo of awareness race through her body. Deep down, she knew it was wrong, knew that she should never have allowed the kiss to happen, but there was no way she could ever regret it. How could she regret something which had felt so right and been so devastatingly perfect?

Arnav laid his head on her shoulder and closed his eyes. Think. Even though hehad felt her acquiescence in the depth of her response, in the fluid feel of her body against his, someplace in the back of his mind he knew he had to think about what he was doing. If he continued, things would only get more complicated. Nothing had changed between them.

The entire day’s events played back in his mind. The road trip on the bike. He didn’t remember the last time he had had felt so free. He shuddered at the very thought that he could have lost her in the storm.He knew deep down that his feelings for her were getting stronger by the day. What was it between them? Whatever it was, one thing was certain…….he wanted her more than anything he had ever wanted in his entire life! His mind was too tired to delve further into this. He realized that Khushi had fallen asleep. He lifted her in his arms, wrapped up in the blanket and gently placed her on the bed.She lookedso beautiful and innocent in her sleep.As he was about to get up she clutched his hand. He knew it would not be right, but what the ____! they had been through jaws of death together and his body was screaming for rest. Helaydown next to her on the narrow bed.

Outside the storm raged on in its full glory.