That madness was nothing compared to the one that made her press close the minute his mouth pressed against hers. That made her wind her arms around his neck and let him tighten the embrace still further till she was shamelessly up against him. His mouth explored hers, met, parted, met again each time more deeply and with an insidious magic that held her whole body in thrall and made her feel as though every nerve ending was slowly waking up.
They broke apart moments later, but Lyna felt sure it had been his instigation. She had been too carried away and that was shocking enough in itself.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Lyna woke up with a smile and lay in her bed, feeling luxuriously sinful, she acknowledged. For all her more than adequate salary, she’d never really indulged herself. The habit of a frugal childhood stayed with her. She looked at the art deco ceiling, the glass scintillating with gentle morning light and let her mind wander through the events of yesterday. Despite a few unpleasantnesses, it had been a good one. The very air here was different. She got up, stretched and walked out to the balcony. Gardens, the green fields beyond and the hills in the distance shadowed by mountainous ranges…the sheer beauty made her want to explore it. She began to do her customary morning stretches, remembering flashes of the day and broke off to laugh...and went into a day dream thinking about kissing Jashith Gayatri Pratap Singh.
Indeed, it had been a kiss to send one into a day dream. Recollecting herself, she resolved she had to have more spine than to give in to a charmer. Though in what way he had attempted to charm her, she would have been hard put to say.
After indulging in a leisurely bath, she dressed and skipped downstairs. She meant to have a look at the buttercups. They didn’t seem to be growing well. The first person she saw was the senior Pratap Singh up and about for a walk. The morning was cool and fresh, both from the verdant foliage and the mountain air. Birds chirped incessantly and there was a blissful lack of motor traffic. She walked around with Dadu, who looked pleased that she was up early. They discussed vegetation, like her, he seemed perturbed that so many eucalyptus trees were being planted around the hills. ‘They take water from the deeper regions.’ ‘And cannot house birds or insects,’ was Lyna’s objection. He promised to tell the gardener to take a look at the buttercups and went inside. Not a minute had passed, but Vinay came out, surprised but pleased to find her there.
‘I came back early,’ he explained. ‘Mummy said, don’t stay after midnight. The party was warming up,’ he said regretfully. ‘I had to finish the project for my class, but I couldn’t concentrate.’
‘Walking does help, doesn’t it?’
‘Actually, I didn’t come out for a walk. I thought I might wake Guy to play tennis, but then I lost the nerve, after what I said to him yesterday,’ he confessed.
‘You might have tried, maybe he would have forgotten.’
‘It’s a long time, I don’t know, maybe he’s changed.’ He looked morose for a moment. ‘I suppose you know the long and short of it?’ From Lyna’s expression, he drew his own conclusion. ‘Guy’s been acting close mouthed, has he? Even we have had to draw our own conclusions about some things. He hasn’t talked about us, has he?’
‘I know you are half-brothers.’ She had gathered that much from Savika, but she’d been too tired last night to tax Guy with not telling her.
He took her to a secluded bench beneath the shade of pink cassias. ‘Well, if you’re going to be around, you’d better be familiar with everything. If you’d seen me with the old man, you’d know I don’t call him Dadu. Mr. Gayatri Pratap Singh, that’s who he is to me. He’s not related to me or Savika. Kalyani and Savika are my sisters. Guy is our half-brother, he’s the real grandson. His father died and Mummy remarried. We used to live in Kanpur. Then my father, who worked near the mines, took ill, and Grandpa who missed Guy, brought us all here so he could have Guy with him. Mummy ought to have gone back. But Mr. Gayatri Pratap Singh gave my father the job of managing estates and here we have remained since.’
She nodded with dawning comprehension.
‘The girls fell into the habit of calling him Dadu,’ he continued, ‘So stupid…and Mummy made me call him that too, when I was too young to know better. But a few years back, I decided I wouldn’t. Why should I?’
‘No reason,’ Lyna agreed.
‘You understand better than the others,’ he said. ‘Do you know, things are so difficult when no one seems to realize just what you want? Or they are least bothered with it! Has Mummy told you she wants me to go to Kota?’
‘No, she didn’t mention it.’
‘Well, she does,’ reported Vinay with a strong sense of injury. ‘Do you know how far away it is? If it was Mumbai, I could understand, though I don’t want to go to any coaching center there either. I can study far better here.’
Lyna murmured something appropriate and he asked suddenly, ‘Am I boring you? No, tell me if I am. You have no idea what a lack of understanding exists here. No one is really bothered what I want to do.’
Since this seemed to be a repetition, Lyna didn’t say anything. Vinay could, obviously, carry on a conversation mostly by himself. She gazed at him, torn between amusement and sympathy because it was also obvious he didn’t have anyone he could unburden himself to. How many teens had so many words locked up inside and no one to share them with!
‘It’s that Guruma’s doing,’ he said with another of his sudden bursts.
‘Guru Ma Prita?’ Lyna guessed. She remembered Tasha saying she was a visitor here.
‘Yes, the same. She was here last month, you know.’ He shook his head. ‘She was just something you had to see to believe. Wouldn’t take milk without fresh saffron –maybe she thought we live in Kashmir! Then she had a fast and said she’d eat only laddoos,’ he said about the sweetened gram flour balls which were a traditional accompaniment to worship and also a favored sweet. ‘Who eats laddoos for lunch and dinner? I used to like them, but I can have just two or maybe three. She took five – can you believe – that’s what Gautum counted – may have been more. She’ll have sugar running in her blood instead of cells! Anyway, Mummy started on with her about my future. And she said I wouldn’t study here. It’s all written in the stars! Must be sent to the north to study. Now Mummy wants me to go to Kota. Next week. I’m a month late already...the courses must be in full swing.’ He paused for breath and gazed at Lyna with resentment in his brown eyes. ‘First, she had me take non medical. Even when she knew I hated Physics. I wanted to take commerce. I know I’ll never qualify the entrance test. I scored well only because I was studying at home, you know. And because Priti helped – she lives near here. She is taken medical stream but her Physics is good. Well, I know I won’t do well at Kota. You know what they say about it? It’s like a jail! Just study study study. No TV, no parties, no bike rides – ‘
‘No Priti,’ Lyna put in.
‘Yeah...no –’ He cut himself off with an exclamation, uttering a swear word that might have made anyone’s ears burn who hadn’t lived in the hostel. Lyna listened with equanimity. He stared at her, then suddenly his face wreathed in smiles and he inched closer to Lyna, grasping her hands. ‘Well, you are a sport. I should have known. I think I knew the moment I saw you. Guy’s not bad – wouldn’t talk much but when you ask him he has a pat reply ready. He used to lend me his bike, you know, I would drive and all the girls thought I was pretty smart.’
He continued, ‘Yeah, he’s great, but when he left without a word – though he left me the keys to his bike – Anyways… So, you get it. About Priti, I mean.’ A smile softened his face, taking away the sulky look. ‘She’s really pretty. She’s got brains, you know, real brains...’
The rest of the morning was in grave danger of being passed in hearing praise about the obviously, not a girl, but an angel named Priti. But Guy made a timely interruption.
He was dressed again in his running gear. He stood and frowned at Vinay. ‘What are you up to now? Do you what it looks like – you holding my
fiancée’s hands?’
‘Well, she’s going to be my bhabhi. Why shouldn’t I monopolize her?’ Vinay shot back.
Guy gave him a speculative look. ‘So, you have sprouted some wings while I have been gone, eh? Do you good, maybe.’
Vinay laughed, looking pleased as Guy gave him a pat on the shoulder. ‘I meant to ask her...Lyna, would you like to go to a bike rally? Do you ride? No? Maybe you’d like to come and ride pillion?’
‘Sure, depending on when it is’ she said warmly.
‘Would you –’ Vinay started to say, but Guy interrupted, ‘Mummy wants you. Better hurry. She’s been calling for you all over the place.’
‘I never heard her.’ But Vinay obeyed Guy and began to walk towards the house. He waved Lyna bye, making a face and then winking in a way that made him look young and impish.
She smiled, watching him go.
‘Don’t encourage him.’ Guy growled near her ear, seating himself in Vinay’s place. ‘Puppy love can be the worst. You’ll have him crushing all over you.’
‘Is it really?’ She was tempted to ask how he knew about puppy love and crushing. ‘And whom have you crushed over?’
‘What does that matter? This place is so secluded, teens get attached to anyone personable enough. What was he talking to you about, anyway?’
If she didn’t know better, she’d think he was jealous of the time she’d shared with Vinay. ‘What does that matter?’ she said, quite in his way. ‘It was quite enlightening in some ways. He’s quite a talker.’
He smiled mockingly. ‘He has time to improve.’
The condescending tone made her bristle. ‘The same isn’t true for you, however. Heaven help the girl you marry. Reticent doesn’t begin to describe you!’
He raised eyebrows. ‘Halfie has been vouchsafing all my secrets?’
‘Only telling me about your family, not the combination to the safe! I hardly knew who’s who. So, they are your half brother and sister. You couldn’t tell me that on the way?’
He looked sheepish. She stared. The look, so unexpected on his face, was oddly endearing. ‘There so much to explain about my family that I didn’t know where to start. I thought once you met them, it would be much easier to understand. You’re doing great. Didn’t I tell you last evening, I was grateful for your understanding?’
She glanced at him suspiciously. ‘That was gratitude?’
The passion, the urgency, the sheer sensuality? A kiss of gratitude? How could she have misunderstood?
‘Of course,’ he said readily. Then he paused and did a double take. ‘Oh no, not the kiss. I meant the thanks I expressed.’
A small ‘oh’ of relief escaped and she found herself the focus of glinting humor in his dark gaze.
To cover her confusion – her uncharacteristic and unwelcome confusion – she said hurriedly, ‘Now I have done you a few favors. Don’t you think it’s your turn?’
‘At your service, ma’am.’
She tilted up her chin. ‘Teach me to ride a bike.’
‘Ohhh!’ He pretended to groan. ‘Is that what you’d like to do?’
She licked dry lips and took the plunge to say boldly. ‘It would be one way to get you alone and away from everyone.’
He became still, his expression arrested, dark eyes inscrutable.
‘I think we should get to know each other more, don’t you?’
There. It was out. He could reject it or accept, showing he was interested in her…more than her body.
Her fingers twisted together. Her eyes moved here and there. She hadn’t known the question was forming on her tongue. Now it was out. She didn’t regret it. But had she sprung it on him too early? She waited, her breathing becoming labored as the instant lengthened into a moment.
Before he could answer, Savika appeared around the corner of the house, walking towards them, as though floating.
‘You do pick your times, sis,’ Guy murmured.
‘What?’ She came near them. Her dress seemed to be some sort of a flowing robe, accounting for the impression of floating. Wide sleeves fell over her wrists. A light red colored sash defined her waist, but otherwise the white dress fell in loose flowing lines and brushed the grass.
‘Nothing. I was just telling Lyna how you conduct your séance.’
‘Conduct my what?’
‘What else do you do in that gear?’
‘Oh!’ She looked down at her dress and smiled. ‘This is something I designed. Don’t you love this material? I’m thinking it’s great for the climate, don’t you? I might open a fashion line, who knows?’
She twirled halfway for Lyna’s benefit. ‘Anyway, I was looking for you two. Mummy wants that the party should be more formal. She’s talked to Dadu and guess what? He said why not have an engagement party? You guys didn’t have a do, did you? I thought it must have been a private affair, no mention in the media… Anyway, isn’t this the most exciting happening! An engagement party! Right here at Somanvar! Oh, I wish Sunil hadn’t left for that damn tour!’
Guy and Lyna looked at each other with blank faces.
Lyna wondered if the same thought was racing in both their minds.
How was he going to get them out of this?
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
The morning was spent taking a traditional breakfast consisting of rava thalipeeth, sabudana khichdi, kande pohe, eggs on side, accompanied by green and coconut chutney, and hot ginger tea. She sighed feeling replete and almost forgot the topic that had been swarming around them. Savika couldn’t stop discussing who to invite and what dress who would wear. She’d stayed quiet, and so had Guy. Their eyes met and he smiled slowly.
‘You look like you enjoyed every bite.’ He casually brushed a crumb from the corner of her mouth.
‘Were you watching me or eating?’ she said with a touch of defiance, embarrassed about the crumb.
‘Don’t worry, it looked sexy,’ he said for her ears alone. His gaze travelled lazily over her face. ‘Nenthi’s air suits you. You have roses in your cheeks as my old aunt used to say to my grandmother.’ His familiar deep voice with the underlying crispness was again laced with languid mockery.
When he was like this, it seemed little use thinking of her small overture in the garden. She should be relieved he wasn’t mentioning it. ‘If I breakfast like this every morning I’m here, I will have apples as well in my cheeks,’ she gibed.
Savika was planning a shopping trip. It had been her intention to ask Guy privately what to do, but a creeping sense that the event was inevitable, had her in its tangled grip. There was no way the preparations already underway could be circumvented.
Savika’s shopping trip was put off, however, when a visitor came up. A short but stout woman, walked up the drive, shifting her weight from one foot to the other.
‘Mrs. Reddy, from the neighborhood estate,’ Savika told Lyna. She looked annoyed. ‘How could she? I expect she wants to see you, Lyna, to see how you compare –’ she cut herself off, then said with comical dismay. ‘I shouldn’t have said anything!’
It didn’t need much persuading for her to blurt out that Mrs. Reddy’s daughter had in fact been on the point of getting engaged to Guy at a certain time, but owing to circumstances, the affair had worn off.
Lyna didn’t really want to delve into Guy’s past and although curiosity stirred, she couldn’t really ask what circumstances had been. She couldn’t help remembering his warning this morning though. Something about the place being so secluded, youngsters got attracted to anyone personable. Had Miss Reddy, as she must have been, been his ‘puppy love’?
He probably had a dozen. Seclusion notwithstanding.
However, despite hers and Savika’s misgivings about her, Mrs. Reddy’s arrival provided quite a diversion.
First, there was the way she fell asleep while waiting for Hina to show up.
‘She used to do that back then too, now I remember,’ Savika said in a low voice to Lyna, directing a glare at Gautum and Sheena, who h
ad their hands cupped up against their mouths, ineffectively smothering the giggles.
Hina came into the morning room and rapped on her arm smartly, not pleased with having to entertain a sleeping visitor.
‘Oh?’ She woke up, startled out of her doze, filling the sofa in which she was seated and looking like a hen whose feathers had been ruffled. ‘You gave me a start, Hina. What took you so long?’
Hina called for tea and the ladies began to exchange news. Lyna was duly introduced and Mrs. Reddy graciously congratulated her and admired her looks, betraying a possession either of good nature or good manners. She had a way of uttering homilies and then as soon as Hina would launch into a counterargument, she’d fall into a doze. The kids enjoyed the sight of her slack mouth and gentle snores hugely, Gautum almost falling off his chair when this happened a third time.
‘Mrs. Reddy, you had better go home then, if you are feeling tired,’ Hina said at last, her patience worn thin.
‘If I paid attention to being tired, I wouldn’t have started from home. And you know women have far more resilience than anyone supposes. Take my poor maid, she’s having to work while her husband drinks it all away. Not only her, it’s the story of many households. You are lucky in your sons. Me, I would say it’s just as well I have daughters than a lazy boy lounging around all day, tapping his phone. Don’t you see many of the kids doing just that? Now Sara has been promoted to manager,’ she said, swelling with pride. ‘I say, she’s worth a dozen of good-for-nothing boys. And she’s a most obedient girl. Not but so is Priti.’
Lyna looked a bit more keenly at her. So, Sara and Priti, both were her daughters. It made sense, she realized, if her estates were the only neighbors the Pratap Singhs had.
Everyone watched Mrs. Reddy for her next spell of somnolence, but Hina invited her to lunch and that spectacle was denied them. Food made Mrs. Reddy alert in a way company could not. She bit into the crisp dosa that the cook had presented, complimented the cheese filling, did justice to saffron rice, which were a done thing for lunch, and made her way through the varieties of curries and dry roasts on offer. She paused only when the help brought in the dessert, seemingly undecided if she should take another helping of the curried crab or opt for the rose scented shrikhand doing the rounds. The curry being placed near her and the shrikhand as yet on the tray near Dadu, her head moved like a bird’s as she glanced from one to the other. When she had done it thrice, Lyna choked. Her glance met Guy’s, then Savika’s and they all erupted in smothered giggles. The kids hunched shoulders and cupped their mouths again.
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