Simran

******

I was famished.

The practice had broken my bones, and I also skipped meals, so there wasn't any energy left in me either. Not only breakfast, but I also skipped lunch as well. All because of guilt.

After tearing Kiaan's clothes and making him wear someone else's clothes, which didn't even fit, and then calling him to Arjun's law firm, where he reached in panic and got all embarrassed, was not right.

The look of pain, panic, and concern he harbored for me had been constricting my heart ever since. I couldn't remove his image from my mind, where he looked devastated on his knees, inspecting me for any wound.

I did get wounded, but it wasn't physical. My heart was bruised, and the pain was worse than any physical one.

I stood in the dining room, looking around for my husband, who had arrived at home earlier than me but was nowhere in sight.

"What's for dinner?" I asked the staff.

"Palak Paneer, matar Pulao, rotis, kheer, salad and dal."

She removed the lids of the vessels one by one, and soon I was encircled by the scent of the scrumptious dishes. The food looked tempting, and my hunger escalated to an unimaginable level.

After a hectic day with no food, I wanted a meal just like that, but when she informed me, "Sir cooked all of these," my insides twisted in guilt.

The remorse gnawed at my heart, and my face fell.

After putting him through so many difficulties in one single day, I didn't deserve that meal, no matter how hungry I was. I wasn't some saint, but a human with a heart, and that heart had been beating for my husband for so long that whenever I did something that made him gloomy for even a moment, it broke me from inside.

I envisioned how long it would have taken him to prepare everything that was on the table. He must have started cooking right after he got back home. Being cognizant of that truth was the worst, because right before that, the embarrassing event happened at Arjun's law firm.

I felt ashamed now, and I left from there, with the shadows of guilt following me like a ghost.

******

I was missing him more than ever.

I was sleeping not great but at least just fine without him all these days when he was avoiding me. But now, one night, nestled in his arms, I had realized being away from him wasn't going to be easy.

On top of that, my stomach kept growling in hunger.

I pulled the duvet over my head, hiding under the covers, and pulled my knees to my chest, trying to ignore my stomach screaming for food.

All of a sudden, the duvet flew away, as if someone pulled it forcefully and threw it somewhere.

I squealed in shock when I was lifted up in the air too. I noticed the lights of the room had been turned on. In seconds, I was seated up on the bed.

My husband, looking angrier than ever, was sitting closer on the bed, while a full plated plate kept on the bedside table. His nostrils flared in anger, and his eyes were red with fury. I stared at him with equal indignation and started hitting his arms and chest.

On the spur of the moment, he tied my legs with one of his ties. My chest heaved in anger as I stared at him in disbelief. I started thrashing my legs, hitting his legs with mine, but he grabbed my ankles and tied another tie around them.

He had come all prepared.

Okay, I was taking back all those thoughts of guilt. I did good by tearing his clothes and embarrassing him, and I was going to do much worse now.

I was about to scream at the top of my lungs when he commanded, "EAT."

"I won't." I turned my face away.

"You eat the food willingly; otherwise I will shove it down your throat."

"I will not eat..." I replied bitterly.

I heard him curse under his breath, and before I could notice, he grabbed my mouth, turned my face to him, and crashed his lips on mine.

I was taken aback by the sudden kiss.

He kissed me fiercely, as if he owned me. I tried pushing him away with my tied hands resting on his chest, maintaining some distance. But as he bit my lower lip and deepened the kiss, his warmth wrapped me around in its cocoon, and I couldn't push him away; I let him close the gap by kissing him back.

He played with the knots of the tie around my wrist and loosened the tie. I could have pushed him away now, but I didn't. I grabbed his shirt and pulled him closer, if it was even possible.

It felt like we survived without each other and not lived our day, and finally at the end of it we were getting the dose of us, the drug we were addicted to. I bit his lip when I noticed him go soft, hearing him growl in the kiss.

My hands nestled in his hair, grabbing them tighter, and then he shoved his tongue inside my mouth, tasting the corners of it, as if touching the parts of a forbidden sin.

I gasped for breath when he grabbed the nape of my neck and his tongue tasted mine. He moaned in the kiss, and that sound was sensuous and arousing at the same time. I lost control of my body completely, letting him do whatever he wanted to.

And then, all of a sudden, he pulled back from the kiss, having me gasp for air and crave him more. My mouth was still open. Before I knew it, a morsel of food was put in my mouth.

He used our kiss to feed me.

The food melted like ice cream in my mouth, and the taste was too familiar. I chewed on the Roti and palak paneer, and tears pooled in my eyes when I realized it was my mother's recipe.

Mom's food always tasted different, and no one's cooked food ever tasted similar to hers, not even Di's. But this was the same. I sobbed as I chewed on the food slowly.

Kiaan kept making small morsels of rotis; sometimes he dipped them in dal and sometimes wrapped paneer inside it to feed me, and I didn't protest. It felt like Mom had pulled me into her embrace through the food prepared by my husband.

I kept sniffling, taking in every crumb.

When he was done feeding me, he put the plate back and then picked a glass full of water and pressed its tip on my lips. I took a few sips of it while he kept staring at me intently, without giving me much about his thoughts.

He left with the plate and the glass, while I felt like I was stripped of the cocoon of warmth; it felt like everything keeping me safe and sane was gone. As much as I hated feeling that vulnerable, I couldn't help but my eyes teared up.

For the past three years, that's what I had been doing the most: crying. 

To be honest, I was exhausted now; I didn't want to feel this pain, I wanted to be happy again, I wanted to be fine. I wished to feel loved, chosen, and I was tired of fighting with my thoughts, my monsters, especially my husband.

I assumed Kiaan left to sleep in another room, but he came back. He shut the door and navigated the room with a powerful aura as if we shared the same space. He pulled his tee over his head, folded it nicely, and put it away in a laundry bag kept in one corner of the room.

I watched him keenly walking here and there, closing the windows, drawing the curtains, and that's when I realized I didn't sleep alone last night. He came to me when I slept. Because when I woke up in the morning, I noticed the windows were closed, the curtains were drawn.

Even when we had fought, he didn't leave my side. That thought did something to my heart, made it somersault.

When he was done with the curtains, he turned off the main lights and turned on the soft ones for the night and then walked back to me. He untied my ankles, bent a little, and then kissed the spot where the tie was tied.

I curled my toes and pulled my feet up; my eyes widened in shock, and I watched him in confusion. He got up on the bed beside me and held both of my wrists and peppered kisses where the tie was tied. I wasn't hurt; he didn't tie it tightly for me to get hurt.

He stroked my skin with his thumb and then watched me with his intense eyes, while I stared at him with conflicted emotions.

"You want to fight with me, fine... embarrass me...go ahead. But in this room you are my wife, and I am your husband. We don't bring fights in here; we discard them outside. We don't bring conflicts here, but only feelings."

"You want to make my life hell, scream, bare your claws at me, go ahead, but when that door closes, I will drag out any resentment you hold towards me, with my fingers, my lips, my tongue. I will mould to fill the gaps of your curves, while my hands touch every part of your skin, until all you remember is that you are Mine. Only Mine."

"We leave our pride, ego outside this room; in here I surrender to you like the man you always wanted me to be, and you submit to me like the woman I have craved for all my life."

"Kiaan...I am...sor..."

"Shut your mouth, baby, if you don't want me fucking it right away, because I am too fucking aroused and tempted to have these pretty lips wrapped around my dick."

I instantly shut my lips, felt heat creeping up to my neck and cheeks.

"We leave everything that happened outside, right where it happened, and we don't bring anything here, no silly apologies, no stupid arguments."

I gave him a curt nod.

"Here...you feel me, and I feel you. You don't turn your back on me here."

He tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear, and I just blinked rapidly like I was already a goner for this mam.

"You are mine, Simran and you don't get to believe otherwise. I will fuck that thought out of you until your brain could only comprehend me and my words. Am I clear?"

I stayed quiet, watching him in shock and amazement.

"Say it, baby..." He dragged his thumb over my lips, messing up with my gloss.

"Yeah..." I mumbled

"And till when we would be fighting, outside the closed doors?" I asked.

"Until I have run out of every thread of patience..." He replied earnestly.

"And when it comes to you...I am already running on that edge. Start counting the days backwards."

He left a kiss on my hair and then pulled me on his chest, covering us with a duvet.

"Sleep. You must be exhausted."

I had to talk about a lot of stuff to him, wanted to ask if he had eaten, but I watched his eyes were closed, and I knew he wasn't sleeping. I opened my mouth to say something, but his hand travelled from my back to my hip, and he squeezed it.

"Sleep, fire."

A rough voice reached my ear, and I huffed. I was anyway exhausted, so I put my head under his chin, like that night, and slept hearing the rhythmic beats of his heart.

******

Kiaan

******

The next day I waited for her to come out for breakfast. I was certain she wouldn't skip breakfast today. After the clarity I gave her last night, there was no way she was going to throw tantrums around her food. And if by any chance, something of that sort happened, I was prepared to feed her myself.

Waiting for her, I plated Rava Idlis and Peanut Chutney she really liked, on a plate, along with some fresh berries.

Minutes passed by, but she didn't appear.

Is she sick? I wondered.

That could be the only reason she wouldn't go to the academy. Because even if she wished to skip breakfast, she would at least go to the academy. However, even in sickness, she never skipped her practice. Worried about her, I rushed to our room, only to find it empty.

"Firefly..." I called, looking for her.

I knocked on the washroom door, calling her,  "Sweetheart, are you inside?"

There was no response. Panic settled inside me, and I pushed the door open, but the washroom was vacant too.

Fuck! Where did she go?

"Simran..."

I called again as I frantically searched for her everywhere, in the walk-in closet and other rooms, but she was nowhere to be found.

In a panic, I dialled her number, dashing down the stairs. She wasn't picking up her calls either. I presumed she could be at Grandpa's place, so I called Namit to ask him. But I only received a negative response from him.

'Is everything okay?' he asked, sensing worry in my voice.

'Yes, it is,' I replied curtly before I hung up.

I hoped it was some kind of prank my wife pulled because if it wasn't, I was going to burn down this city.

I headed to the control room where the CCTV footage was being monitored near the main gate.

"Move," I ordered the staff, and they made space for me. I checked the footage and found out around twenty minutes ago, she had jumped the wall to go out alone. And there were no guards there.

I walked out where those incompetent men stood.

"What were you all doing here when my wife was fooling you all?" I yelled

"We... I... this... she was crying for them." One of them stammered, pointing towards the members of her team, that rabbit and guinea pig.

That sneaky little rabbit just showed me her back and began hopping around. And that cunning guinea pig was whistling. 

That girl was getting out of control, and I had to do something to keep her in check.

I called her academy to check if she had safely arrived, but I was told she wasn't there. I called her again and this time her phone was turned off.

I arranged a team of twenty to raid the city to look for her, and I headed out first.

'I will get to you, baby. Just be fine.'

But I knew something was wrong.

******

Simran

******

I ran away.

Even the thought of it made me feel mortified, but I had no choice. I got a call from Alexander that he found something about my stalker and that he needed to meet me as soon as possible. So, I didn't think much and came here, fooling the guards.

I shouldn't have done that, but I hadn't told Kiaan about it yet and didn't want to put him in danger. But I wasn't going to hide it from him anymore. I would tell him everything the same night.

"What did you find?"

Alexander sat there holding a grim expression, staring at some pictures he was holding. I was anxious over what exactly he found out about the stalker and his involvement in my mother's death.

"What we found is not concrete yet, but we do have something really important which I would want you to see."

He placed those pictures on the table in front of me and tapped his index finger on one point of the picture as he asked, "Do you recognize this bracelet?"

I took hold of the picture. It was the picture of my stalker, though his face wasn't clear, but, his clothes were. He wore a grey suit, had a phone plastered to his ear, and a bracelet around his wrist. 

I had seen that bracelet. But no, it couldn't be him. It could never be.

I looked carefully, and the bracelet was the same black-bead bracelet my husband never removed from his wrist even once.

But it could be anyone. A bracelet can't identify a person. So what if I hadn't met anyone wearing a similar bracelet as my husband? 

I refused to believe it was Kiaan.

"Does this bracelet ring any bells?"

"No..." I replied.

'Think about it, Simran. If Kiaan isn't involved, then how did he know about Byrol Paine when he blackmailed you to marry him.'

My mind started playing dirty tricks on me.

"Who is Tara?"

I stared at Alexander in shock when he asked me that. I never told him about Tara; then how could he have brought her name? 

This was not a coincidence anymore.

"We found this too...It fell from your stalker's pocket; that's what CCTV showed us. We were fortunate enough; it was still lying under a seat in the auditorium."

It was a picture of a little girl in a pink frock, and her hair was clipped back with a hair clip, yellow bright in color, as if it was a firefly hair clip. But her face was blurry. I couldn't see clearly who it was. But behind the picture, a name was carved with blood.

Tara

Was Tara the one he called Firefly, and I was her replacement?

I might not have told Alexander anything, but I needed answers from my husband.

******

Hi Lovelies,

I hope you all are doing great!!🤗

I missed updating this book 🥹😭

Did you guys miss Kiaan and Simran too? 🤔

What do you all think would happen now? 🥹 

Will Simran's trust in Kiaan break? 🥹

Their relationship is already fragile; will the thread of it be burned to ashes now? 🥹

Do share your views about the chapter. It would mean a lot to me. ❤️

Thanks,

Shrishtee