Hearing this, they all burst out laughing. Someone called out, “The groom has arrived!” and they all rushed out wanting to see him, leaving Esha alone.
She felt relieved to have a little time to herself. The ladies’ words echoed in her ears, “All will be gone… after all, it is her first night.”
She looked at herself in the mirror and smiled, imagining Siddharth looking at her and trying to remove all her jewellery and…. Her pleasant thoughts stopped and she realized, ‘all will be over in one night.’
She was asked to come and meet her groom. Her cousins accompanied her to the stage. She kept her head down and didn’t look up once. She could feel all eyes were on her. With the help and guidance of one of her cousin, she was seated beside Siddharth.
He took her right hand gently and held onto it. But she didn’t look at him. The Priest started reciting the mantras. Three hours later, the ceremony had ended, they had enjoyed a wonderful wedding feast and the guests had started to leave. She was led to Siddharth’s room. The other young ladies accompanied her saying, “Make him struggle. Don’t do everything very quickly. After all, by the end of the night… you would be his completely...”
She found the room had been decorated with a variety of flowers and the bed was spread with the petals of red roses. White flowers in the shape of a heart decorated the center. She smiled and looked at the glass of milk left for her. She thought about what the girls had said, “Make him struggle. Don’t do everything very quickly.”
She heard him coming towards the door, laughing and wishing his cousins goodnight. He closed the door behind him and moved towards her and kissed her passionately.
She didn’t respond too much, the words of the girls kept ringing in her ears, he paused and looked at her saying, “Esha, you don’t have to be nervous. I will be gentle.”
She looked at him shyly. He looked at her for some time as if waiting for her to say something. He thought for a minute and wondered if he should talk to her about them using protection. But, he knew she would feel awkward. He would have to be patient and go slowly with her. Taking her hand, he said gently, “Let’s go. I need to show you something.”
She started walking behind him. He stopped, turned towards her and said, “Let’s remove all this first,” pointing to the jewellery and her heavy dress.
He waited while she removed her jewellery and her heavy dress and changed into a salwar kameez.
He took her hand and led her to the terrace outside. All his cousins were sitting in a circle with a lamp in the middle. They were talking and laughing.
They sat down with them and joined the discussion about which uncle acted the weirdest and funniest parts of the ceremony. Esha sat listening and smiling. After a while though, she couldn’t help herself and started to yawn.
This caught Siddharth’s attention. “Ok guys, I think it’s time everyone left and gave us some time alone,” he said to those in the circle.
One of his cousin said, “But, where should we go? We had planned to stay on the terrace.”
Siddharth smiled and said, “You can all go to my room. We will stay out here.”
His cousins laughed and a moment later took their cue and left them.
He took Esha’s hands and drew her down on to the thin mattress. “Let’s lie down and look at the stars,” he said softly.
She immediately did as he said and laid down next to him and looked at the glittering sky.
A short while later he said, “Esha, I need to tell you how sorry I am.”
“For what?” she asked.
He turned towards her and said, “For that day… when I accused you of stealing my designs.”
She took his hand in hers and gave it a squeeze. “I have already forgotten about it. It happened so long ago.”
He smiled then said, “Tomorrow, we have a fashion show in Delhi, where we will walk down the ramp together again. But this time you will be by my side as my beautiful bride. Afterwards, we will go to Andaman island.”
Esha looked at him with some concern, and asked, “You want me to walk with you again?”
He smiled at her. “Yes! Don’t worry about it. Let’s look at the stars and dream of other things!" he said, putting his arm around her.
***
The fashion show went off well, rather it was better than the previous one. He held her hand as they walked down the ramp together, holding her close.
When they reached the position in the center, he knelt down on one knee and kissed her gently saying, “I love you.”
This time, she smiled and even though she felt herself, she mouthed the words, “I love you too.”
She felt like a queen walking with her king, full of love and pride for the man beside her.
Claps and cheers echoed for a long time after they left the stage.
He had announced to the world again that he loved her with all his heart.
***
When they reached their hotel on the Andaman Islands, it was already quite late. They had a light meal and being tired after the long day, showered and went straight to bed. Siddharth fell asleep the minute his head touched the pillow.
Esha tossed and turned for a while. She wondered why Siddharth hadn’t kissed her or touched her. She looked at him lying alongside her, but he was sleeping peacefully.
The next morning, she woke up with him stroking her hair. After asking her if she had slept well, he said, “Let’s freshen up, then eat something. I want you to see the dolphins.”
“Ok,” said Esha, “I just need a few minutes in the bathroom.”
When she came out, Siddharth served her tea and they enjoyed a bread omelette and some sweet buns for breakfast.
She got up and wanting to get dressed, opened her bag on the bed to look for a dress to wear.
She started rummaging through all the clothes and eventually tossed everything out on to the bed. He looked at her and asked, “What’s the matter?”
“These clothes are all sleeveless tops and shorts,” she cried.
He frowned and looked at the heap of clothes. “What did you pack?” he asked casually.
“I packed my normal dresses, some jeans and salwars,” she said looking very upset.
He looked grave for a moment. “I think your bag must have got mixed up with someone else’s,” he said. “Wear one of those outfits in the meantime. We will check with the airlines.” She looked at him and said, “But …”
He picked up one from the bag and said, “Here, wear this.”
She reluctantly went to change and wondered how could her bag have got mixed up when it had tags with her name on them. Coming out of the bathroom, she looked around and found him lying on the bed.
She moved closer to him and said, “You know, I’m sure my bag had tags with my name on. I don’t understand how I ended up with the wrong bag.”
He looked at her and raised his eyebrows as if surprised by this information. “Oh, is that so?” he said.
“Yes, that’s why I don’t know how it is possible for me to have the wrong bag.” She looked at him as he stood up.
Coming closer to her, he said with a serious face, “I agree. How can this be possible?”
He hugged her close. “Come, let’s go see the dolphins,” he said excitedly. “Don’t you want to see them?”
“Yes, of course I do,” she smiled at him.
He took her hand and walked her out through the open balcony door. The sunlight was bright and flashed on their faces. She beamed with joy as she looked out over the sea in front of them and saw a group of dolphins jumping through the surf. One of them leapt high up into the air.
She exclaimed, “Oh, how beautiful!”
Siddharth hugged her close from behind and placed his head on her shoulder. “Yes, she is.”
She turned her head and looked at him, “I am talking about that dolphin.”
He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. “Me too,” he said, smiling at her.
She ruffled his hair gently, then looked at him suspiciously. “You placed all those sleeveless top and shorts in my bag, didn’t you? And you took off the name tags?”
He nudged his nose against her collarbone and said, “Yes.”
She blushed and turned to face him.
Her eyes met his and she looked at him with questioning eyes. “Why?” she asked gently.
He didn’t answer her. He swept her up in his arms and gently placed her on the bed and lay down facing her. “Since the day I saw you at Lucky’s house in that sleeveless top and shorts, I wanted to see you like that again. So I packed all of those and removed what you had packed,” he said smiling at her.
She blushed. “You’re crazy!” she gasped.
He wrapped his hands around her waist and brought her close and whispered in her ear, “Yes, for you, and I want to eat you now.”
He started kissing her passionately and slid his hand under her top. She kissed him back, but held his hand to stop it moving further.
He turned and moved over her, the heat and passion from their kisses was intense. He tried to undo the button of her shorts as he trailed kisses down her neck. She immediately grabbed hold of his hand and tried to move it away.
He lifted himself off her and sat up. His body was still touching hers. “Esha?” he asked with concern.
She understood what he was asking. “I am not comfortable like this. There is so much light coming in through the window and I feel a bit strange with you sliding your hands all over my body. This is all new for me,” she said shyly.
She bit on her bottom lip and looked at him to see his reaction. She thought she might have annoyed him as he moved away from her and sat cross-legged at the foot of the bed.
She was still watching him when he held out his hands and took hers in his. “Esha, my love. Marriage is not only about sex. It is about two souls joining together and knowing each other inside and out. If you don’t feel comfortable, I won’t force you.”
She looked at him, surprised and didn’t know what to say. He got up from the bed, slid his hand down her hair gently and said, “Come, let’s go out.”
She was still sitting on the bed thinking about what he had said about marriage, when he turned and said, “I kept a few pairs of your jeans and some t-shirts in my bag if you want to wear them. I’ll wait for you in the lobby. Don’t be long.”
She watched him walk out and gently close the door of their hotel room. She sat there a moment or two longer thinking how different Siddharth was from what she had heard about men for so long and how they jump into marriage just to have sex.
She dressed quickly and went down to the lobby. She smiled when she saw him patiently waiting for her. She walked up to him and held out her hands to take his.
They spent most of the day riding around the island, going for a long walk on the beach and stopping at some interesting little places to sample the many treats they offered. It was quite late that night when they got back to the hotel. They had dinner and went up to their room. As they got to the door, Siddharth opened it for her and said, “You go ahead and go to bed and get some sleep. I’ll be back in about 10 minutes. I have the room key. I’ll let myself in.”
She went inside the room, freshened up and lay down on the bed. She desperately wanted to close her eyes and fall asleep, but she didn’t want to until Siddharth was back.
She was lying awake when he came in after ten minutes. He walked straight into the bathroom and he seemed to take some time in there. When he came out, she pretended she was checking her messages on her phone. She noticed he wore only shorts and was bare-chested.
She tried to keep her eyes on her phone, but when he stepped closer to her, she smiled looking up at him. He gently palmed her face in his hands and kissed her forehead, “Good night, my Esha. I have made arrangements for tomorrow. We will leave early tomorrow morning and go out on a boat to see the dolphins in the middle of the ocean and many other places. Get some sleep.”
He got into bed on the other side of her and pulled the blanket over his body. He turned his back towards her and grabbed a pillow to hold to his chest.
She kept away her phone, turned off the bedside light, and slid under the blanket. Moonlight cast a faint glow of light in the room. She lay there for a long time and realized that Siddharth had fallen asleep almost immediately after getting into bed. Esha turned to face him and looked at his back. In her heart, she wanted to be the one being held in his arms, not the pillow he was holding so close. She wanted to rip it away from him and throw it away.
She lay there wondering what she should do. She moved closer to him and stroked his back gently, then slipped her fingers through his hair. She stopped when she heard Siddharth mumble, “Please, stop disturbing me.”
‘Is he angry with me?’ she thought tearfully. She didn’t want him to be angry with her. She put her hand on his shoulder to call his name. He didn’t turn around or move. She tried again. He moved his shoulder and growled, “Stop disturbing me. I’m making love to my wife.”
She smiled, realizing that he was dreaming about making love to her. This was what she wanted too. She understood what he was doing and why he tried to stay away from her. She moved even closer to him and hugged him tight. He turned around and asked in a sleepy voice, “What’s the matter?”
She smiled and put her arms around his neck. “Make love to me. I am your wife,” she said, looking at him with all the love in her heart.
She hugged him and buried her face in his chest, then kissed him gently.
He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead, “You are so unpredictable.”
She snuggled in a little more into his body. He stroked her hair and lifted her chin up and said, “Now, let me look at your beautiful face. I need to kiss it all over.”
As their kisses became more passionate, Esha took his hands and moved them under her shirt. The touch of his skin against hers caused her to moan with pleasure. The intensity of their lovemaking went beyond anything they had thought possible. Finally, when he was deep inside her, she felt her soul join with his and as they soared together to reach the climax, she knew that she belonged to him with her body and soul.
The continuous ringing of Siddharth’s phone woke them from a deep sleep the next morning. He picked it up and Esha heard him say, “Hi Lucky. How are you? Here talk to Esha” and handed her the phone.
She had just said hello to Lucky and was moving the blankets up to cover her body, when Lucky mockingly shouted, “Oh, my! So you’ve done it!” Esha looked at the phone and saw it was on video call mode.
Angrily, she screamed, “Lucky! Stop talking like that!” She looked at Siddharth, feeling so embarrassed, but he was lying back on the pillow and smiling at his victory.
Lucky didn’t stop there. “So, did he realize you were a virgin?” she asked blatantly.
Esha rolled her eyes at that question being fired at her out of nowhere. Siddharth was laughing and said loudly, “Yes, I knew that on our first night together.”
He turned the phone towards him and said to Lucky, “I wanted to discuss using some protection, but kept quiet knowing she would feel awkward.” They both started laughing.
Esha shouted, “I know about protection.”
He asked, still laughing, “Then why didn’t you ask anything yesterday?”
She didn’t know how to tell him that she didn’t know how to bring up the subject about protection as she really didn’t know much about these things. She had hoped that he would take care of that. She felt awkward and embarrassed not knowing how to express herself. She wanted to crawl under the blankets and hide. They kept on laughing and it annoyed her. She tried to take the phone from him to tell Lucky she would call her back later.
But Lucky could still see her and carried on teasing her. “Oh, look at her. She just glowing and her neck is covered in love bites.”
Esha couldn’t stand it any longer and grabbed the phone and cut off the call. Siddharth was
still laughing at her reaction. She was angry and upset. She slid down under the blankets and hid her face, feeling so ashamed.
Siddharth pulled the blanket back and said with a little smile, “There will be many more love bites on your body tonight. You can’t hide them all.”
She snatched the blankets back and hid her face. He removed it again and carried on teasing her. “I will destroy your good girl image with lots of love bites.”
She turned her head away from him and said, “If that’s what you want. But if you turn me into a bad girl, you won’t be interested in me for very long.”
He turned her head and looked her straight in the eyes. He had stopped laughing and he looked so serious. “I will love you always and will never stop kissing you and making love to you, even when all your hair has turned white and you have no teeth left.”
She smiled and hugged him tight and said, “I love you, Siddharth. I feel truly blessed to have you in my life.” She kissed his chest gently and asked, “Will you love me forever?” He stroked her back and said, “I have always loved you. I love you now and will love you forever, my Esha.”
She looked at him and pulled a face. “But that sounds awful!” she cried.
“What?” he asked. “The kissing with no teeth?”
She nodded and he moved his hand away from her back and cupped her face and said, “Ok then we will have to do lots of kissing before that happens. Let me kiss you right now.”
She smiled and kissed him back, overcome with happiness as he drew her back into his arms.
He loved her and she loved him. Nothing else mattered.
Love is a blessing from God
It is above the judgment of good and bad
It is the rhythm of the heart
Which finds peace when it finds the perfect one
Made for you by God
You may run away from it
But, love will find you in the end.
Note from the Author
Reviews are the lifelines of a book. From the reviews received, an author gets to know how the readers perceived the story. And it also helps in plotting a new one.
Rhythm Of Love Page 9