“Adhoora karya poorn karlein?”
“Can I complete the incomplete task?”
Katha smiled lightly and lowered her gaze. He leaned forward, tilted his head a little, and cupped her cheek with his hand, adjusting hers with his. He slowly came forward and pressed his lips to hers.
His lips were soft, he deepened the kiss a bit more, and pressed his lips harder against hers. His hand reached her neck slightly with his thumb still on her cheek.
He pulled her closer by snaking his arm around her waist. He slowly took her lower lip between his and nibbled on it, sending warmth to her entire being. He kept doing it until they both felt out of breath and parted, panting with lack of oxygen.
She lowered her gaze, and he rubbed his thumb on her lips. She moved up her gaze to look at him, and he looked into her eyes and joined their heads together. He slowly whispered, “Iss kshan mein, humein samajh mein aa gaya hai ki humara vachan aapke saath hi sahi tarah se poorn hua hai”
“At this moment, I’ve come to understand that my promise finds its true fulfillment with you.”
He saw that her lower lip was swollen from the kiss, and there was a look in her eyes that he couldn’t understand. He wanted to ask her, as they were both lost in each other’s eyes. Katha again lowered her gaze, feeling shy.
Mrityunjay moved a little closer to her and hugged her, keeping his head in the crook of her neck. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him back. The couple stayed like that for a few moments before parting and lying down together on the bed.
On Mrityunjay’s insistence, Katha kept her head on his arm and wrapped her arm around his torso while he turned toward her. Both looked into each other’s eyes, and then Mrityunjay caressed her head, helping her sleep, while sleep took over him after a few moments.
The next morning, Katha was the first one to wake up. The moment she opened her eyes, she saw Mrityunjay beside her, his face peaceful, and a small pout on his lip, making her giggle.
She sat up on the bed, adjusting strands of her hair behind her ears, and shifted her gaze to the window, It was still dark with slight rays of sun peeping, which meant it was early morning. She stood up from the bed, keeping the comforter aside, and made her way to the bathing area, She had to prepare the bath herself as with Mrityunjay present, she didn’t want the attendees inside their chamber.
Katha stepped into the water after taking off her clothes, and the warmth of it soothed her to the core. It was the perfect temperature to relax. I put the water on her arms and started applying the turmeric paste on them, It was cold, but again, soothing.
After she was done, she washed the turmeric paste and came out of the water, wrapped a thin cotton cloth around herself, and walked towards the dressing area. She had chosen a dark red attire with golden floral pattern embroidery around it, which she had done herself, a few weeks before the wedding.
As a new bride, Katha was supposed to be getting ready with every piece of jewelry that adorns a woman. She chose matching jewelry, a necklace, earrings, a headpiece, and a nose ring, all of which were made of gold with dark rubies attached, giving the entire look a look of elegance.
Katha wore her gold waist chain at last. She completed the look with it, finally braiding her hair and keeping the dupatta over her head, she walked out to the bedroom where Mrityunjay was still sleeping.
This time, on his stomach and pouting just like a baby.
Katha looked out of the window, and there was a brightness in the sky now, with chirping birds indicating it was now the time for him to wake up if he didn’t want to miss his morning meetings.
She stepped closer to the bed on his side and tried to wake him up, “Hukum, uth jaiye subah ho gayi hai.”
“Hukum, wake up, it’s morning,” but he wasn’t in the mood to wake up.
After trying to make him get up multiple times, it went in vain so she decided to move him a little by shaking his biceps which were so strong and tight that even his kurta was not doing anything to hide it, and suddenly the thought about what being in his embrace felt like came into her mind making her blush and turn red at the thought, she quickly shoved it off when saw him moving a little and trying to open his eyes adjusting to the sunlight that was coming from the window and lighting up the room.
Finally…
He sat up straight, moving his fingers through his hair, giving them an even messier look. But even with those messy hairs and a few strands falling on his face, he was looking extremely hot.
He stood up from the bed and in front of her, his eyes never leaving hers. Mrityunjay took a few steps towards her, towering over her with his height, making her feel so small. He took her hand in his and slightly brushed his lips over her knuckles.
Katha lowered her gaze, not even attempting to say a word. He said, “Pratidin yuhin taiyaar hongi to ek din hamari jaan avashya nikaal dengi aap, Katha.“
“Dressing like this every morning, someday you will definitely take my life, Katha.“
Katha blushed at his statement while he leaned in to peck her cheek and lips quickly, he then went to the bathing area to freshen up for the day.
Meanwhile, Katha asked the attendees to bring the food and clean the chamber, as they did it, Mrityunjay came out of the dressing area wearing a maroon kurta and bottom along with a heavily embroidered overcoat.
Katha smiled at him and signalled the attendees to bring breakfast. The couple ate in silence, and then Mrityunjay asked Katha,
“Aaj aapka kya vichaar hai? Mahal ghoomengi ya kuch aur?”
“What are your thoughts for today? You will see the Mahal properly or anything else?”
“Woh hamein Maa-sa se milna tha, unhone humein pratah milne ke liye bulaya tha, hum abhi unhi ke paas jayenge“,
“Actually, I had to go meet Maa-sa, she had told me to meet her in the morning, I will go to meet her now”.
Mrityunjay nodded at her, and then she stood up to go meet Rajmata whilst Mrityunjay went to the court for the matter discussions.
