Luv (Un)Arranged (Luv Shuv #3)

Chapter 29

29

Song: Aye Hairathe

- Hariharan, Alka Yagnik, A.R. Rahman, Mohammed Aslam

Kriti

T he days passed at a snail’s pace without Aakar. I didn’t realize I would miss him so much. That the bed would feel so cold and empty without him holding me in his arms as we slept. I’d gotten so used to his silent presence, his kisses on my head when he came home, and the way he would just work on his laptop while I read my book in bed before sleeping.

These little routines that seemed almost menial at that time were now like a glaring absence every day.

My father-in-law’s grumbling tone snapped me out of my musings.

“Sorry, what did you say, Pappa?” I asked.

He grumbled again. “I said we don’t really need to do this. Even Aakar wouldn’t have made it such a big deal.”

Right. We were on our way to a physician for a proper lung and chest checkup with Dad and both the uncles.

Navin Kaka, the oldest of the three brothers, looked about ready to explode as he muttered, “I only smoke occasionally. My health’s fine.”

Sunil Kaka was very quick to add, “I even exercise regularly. I’m sure I’m fine. This is just a waste of all our time, Kriti.”

Taking a deep breath, I uttered a single sentence, “It’s either this or we tell Aakar.”

Pappa mumbled, “At this point, telling Aakar seems like an easier option,” but didn’t stop driving to the clinic.

The amount of work required to hide this from everyone in the family was astronomical. The lies kept piling up as I told Maa that I was going to a bookstore with Meera while the men told the ladies that they were off to the office on a Saturday afternoon.

At the clinic, the physician asked all the men to get a few tests done, like spirometry, ECG scan, diabetes screening, and a vitamin D blood test. Because the doctor was their family physician and had good connections, he took the samples for vitamin D and diabetes for the three of them and got us instant appointments for a cardiologist and a spirometry test.

We went around to the test centers and got all the tests taken. We were told that we would get all the reports on Monday.

We were on our way back home when I asked, “You guys promise you’re all not smoking anymore?”

Pappa sighed. “We promise, beta. I’m glad you worry about us so much. But don’t you worry. Everything’s going to be fine.”

I just hoped that he was right. Because if anything was wrong, I would not be able to stay quiet.

The next day, I was busy working on my laptop in the living room while Maa, Radhika Kaki, and Ekta Kaki lounged around on the couch, watching a soap opera. It seemed to be some sort of romantic drama, but it focused a lot on the drama and not enough on the romance.

My mind kept diverting at the ridiculousness of the story as I worked.

I was busy typing the bullet points for discussion in my class when Ekta Kaki sighed loudly and said, “Kriti’s romance book is so much better than these TV soaps these days.”

And my heart stopped.

Blood rushed to my cheeks as Ekta Kaki’s eyes widened at what she said, and when I slowly turned my head to Maa, I was met with a knowing, embarrassed smile on her face.

“Oh my god,” I moaned, covering my face with both my hands. “Ekta Kaki, what did you do?” I mumbled from behind my hands, unable to meet anyone’s eyes.

“Kriti, beta, the book was so good I just had to share it with bhabhi. I just knew she would love it,” Ekta Kaki said, looking guilty.

Maa quickly piped in, “And you don’t have to worry about the romance scenes, beta. We’re all adults here.” Her words were mature, but her cheeks were bright red.

I groaned, hiding my face behind a pillow on the couch. “Oh god, please tell me you didn’t read those scenes.”

Maa and Ekta Kaki both giggled. “We sure did.”

“Oh my god, please don’t tell Aakar. He’ll think I corrupted you guys.”

Now all three ladies burst out laughing. “Relax, beta, it’s not like we’re inexperienced. Although, our men certainly need some lessons from this book.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought of Pappa and the uncles reading these books. “Maybe hold off on that thought. I’d never be able to look them in the eye if they ever read my books.”

Maa laughed at that. “You must share more of your books with us. I’m not the best at English, but I think these books will definitely help me improve. I always get so nervous when I talk to Sam. I don’t want to look stupid in front of my in-laws.”

Ekta Kaki nodded. “You’re so right, bhabhi. I am never able to talk to Sam. I can understand what he says, but I also get so nervous speaking English that words just stop coming out of my mouth.”

I never realized how much of an issue this was for them. Having an American future son-in-law came with a set of challenges for the older generation. And communication was the number one problem. Maybe sharing my books wasn’t such a bad idea.

“Umm, you’re right, Maa. What if we start a book club?”

At their confused faces, I continued, “So book club means every month, we pick a book to read. You get the whole month to finish the book. And at the end of the month, we sit together and discuss our feelings about the book.”

Ekta Kaki cheered up at that. “That’s a wonderful idea, beta. But just one thing, we all live together. And we spend our afternoons together in the living room. We can’t keep our thoughts to ourselves for a whole month. We would just keep discussing what we read every day.”

She was right. There was no way they wouldn’t talk about it. “You’re right, kaki. I’ll just give you guys my books, and we can just talk about it all day, every day. And if you have any questions about the English words, you can just ask me.”

All of them cheered. Once their giggling had stopped, Maa cleared her throat and said, “Beta, speaking of asking you questions about the English words, what does fuck mean?”

She actually said the f-word out loud. Oh my god.

Before I could groan at having to explain or hide in the pillow to stop the heat rising on my face, a loud hacking sound came from behind me.

No. No. Oh god, no.

Three embarrassed sets of eyes looked at me. I slowly turned my face and met the storming eyes of my husband, who I hadn’t seen for two whole weeks.

“Kriti, a word?” he asked through gritted teeth and climbed up the stairs.

When I turned to look at Maa, she rolled her eyes at Aakar’s retreating form. “Don’t be afraid of him, beta. He doesn’t control us. You tell me if he says anything to you.”

I wouldn’t, but her words still soothed my nerves.

As I climbed the stairs to our room, I felt like the student being called to the principal’s office for misbehaving. My heartbeat pounded in my chest as I climbed each step. Was he so mad that his mom said the word fuck out loud? I mean, it wasn’t exactly my fault. Did he even know we were talking about romance books? I didn’t think he was so narrow-minded that he wouldn’t want his mom to read romance books.

It felt like forever until I reached our room. I knocked at the door before I opened it slowly. Why the hell was I knocking on my own bedroom door?

As soon as I stepped inside our room, I found Aakar walking back and forth across the room, the sleeves of his shirt rolled up to his elbows, his tie loosened, the top few buttons of his shirt undone, and his hair ruffled like he’d run his hand through it one too many times. He looked smoking hot.

But the moment he looked at me, his eyes filled with icy fury.

What exactly was he so pissed about? I hadn’t done anything wrong.

So I steeled my spine and said, “If it’s about Maa saying fuck ? — ”

Before I could complete my sentence, Aakar picked up his phone and handed it to me. “Care to explain what this is about?”

I frowned and took the phone from his hands. I was looking at some sort of medical report. And it suddenly dawned on me. These were the reports for the tests we did for Pappa and the uncles—spirometry, ECG scan, diabetes screening, and vitamin D blood test.

I looked at what the reports said. Looked like Sunil Uncle had everything under normal ranges, except his vitamin D, which he had a deficiency in. I opened Pappa’s report next. His spirometry report indicated his lung function is at 72 percent, which fell under the “mildly abnormal” category. My heart dropped at that. We would have to consult a pulmonologist for treatments to get it back up.

Next, I opened Navin Uncle’s report, and what I saw had my hands shaking. His spirometry report was worse than Pappa’s. He had dropped into a lower category that was “moderately abnormal,” even though he was the one constantly saying he only smoked occasionally.

“What the fuck is all this, Kriti?” Aakar snapped, his eyes now wild with increasing fury. I hated that look on him as if I’d done something to betray him.

“You might want to take a seat,” I said as I prepared to tell him everything.

He must’ve seen the seriousness in my eyes, so he instantly dropped on the bed. His arms were folded across his chest as he glared at me with mistrust.

My anger started to rise to the surface. “First, you might want to tone down the attitude. I’ve done nothing wrong, so you might want to give me a chance to explain first.”

“Sure, you’ve done nothing wrong. You seemed to have hidden something pretty fucking important. Not only that, you seem to have taken my father and uncles for tests without even consulting me. So please go ahead and tell me you’ve done nothing wrong.”

“Do you or do you not want to know the truth?” I asked through clenched teeth, trying to rein in the anger. Sure, he was justified in his worries, but I had little patience for accusations and sore attitudes.

After promising Pappa and the uncles that I'd keep their secret, I was already battling whether to tell him the truth. But after those kinds of reports, I just had to share it. I only wish the doctor had sent the report to Pappa or me instead of Aakar. Stupid family doctors.

With fire in his eyes, Aakar gritted out, “Please, I’m all ears.”

I ignored his surly attitude and sighed. “A few days ago, I think it was literally the day after you left, I caught Pappa smoking.”

“What?” he snapped, shock widening his eyes.

I sighed and gingerly took a seat beside him, almost afraid he would snap at me. “Yeah. And he caught me catching him in action. When he brought me up to the office so we could talk, or more like him telling me not to tell you anything about it, I also found out that both the uncles also smoke ‘occasionally.’ I was hell-bent on telling you, but they emotionally blackmailed the shit out of me.”

He ran his hands through his hair and groaned out loud. “Fuck, Kriti. You should’ve told me. No matter what.”

“And what? Ruined my relationship with them? Make them think of me as a tattletale? Never let them have faith in me? I doubt it. It was a difficult situation. I made them promise they would quit smoking.”

Aakar scoffed in disbelief and was about to open his big, angry mouth before I put my hand over it, shutting him up. “I know. I know their promises are just words. They claimed they’d always smoked in your absence. Now, I don’t know how many days of the month you are absent or whether they smoked every time you weren’t around. I don’t know any of that. And that’s why I took them to get those tests done. I needed to know if I should lie to you about their smoking. If I could make them stop. I didn’t want you hurt by their actions.”

His shoulders slumped as he sat with his face in his hands, not meeting my eyes.

I slowly put my hand on his thigh, gently rubbing my thumb along his pants to soothe him. “I really was going to tell you if the reports showed something concerning.”

At that, he turned his head to look at me and asked, “And what if they didn’t?”

I looked away, knowing the truth in my heart. I would’ve monitored Pappa and the uncles, and I would’ve tried my best to make them stop smoking.

“Would you have told me if the reports had turned out normal? Answer me, Kriti.”

“No,” I mumbled.

He stood and started walking back and forth across the room. “And that’s exactly the problem. You can’t hide something like this from me, Kriti. I’m your husband. Not just that, but we’re talking about my father and uncles. If they’re doing something harmful to themselves, you tell me. You don’t go around keeping something like this to yourself.”

“And break their trust?” I asked.

He glowered at me from where he stood. “And what about breaking my trust?”

“Your trust? I was trying to protect you from the pain. I was trying to share some of your responsibilities. I was trying to make them stop without adding one more worry in your life.”

“Transparency and communication are the two most important foundations of any marriage. If you start hiding things from me, how can I ever trust you?”

His point made sense. It absolutely did. But I was stuck between breaking Pappa and uncles’ trust in me and Aakar’s trust in me.

“I really would’ve told you if I had caught them smoking again. Or if there was anything of concern in the reports. I really thought I could help them stop smoking. And Pappa and the uncles were so afraid of disappointing you that they were even complying with me. Can’t you see how I was stuck between choosing you or your family? I was doing what I thought was best at that time.”

“And what about the books you seemed to be sharing with Maa and aunts? You seemed to have failed in sharing that with me too.”

Oh. My. God. “I knew you would bring that up.”

“So?” he asked.

And this time, I scoffed. Because, seriously? “You want me to inform you before I give my book to Ekta Kaki to read?”

“Considering the kind of books you read, yes.”

“Oh, you didn’t,” I hissed.

Seeing my wild glare, he raised his hand to calm me down. “I have no issue with you reading romance books. I’ve read them, and they were fun. But that doesn’t mean you just hand them over to kaki and Mummy. Are you kidding me? You want them to read sexy books? You want them to know the kind of sexy books you read and enjoy?”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “I would be weirded out if my mom read my collection of romance books too. But I wouldn’t stop her from reading them if she enjoyed them. I would just ask her not to share her thoughts on the spicy scenes. Same goes with your mom and the kakis. If they actually enjoy them, who are you to judge them or me?”

He raised his hands in defeat. “Fine. You and my mom can read whatever you want. It wouldn’t have hurt you to mention that you’d given your book to them so I wouldn’t have been so shocked.”

I was so done with this conversation. “Do you want me to tell you every time I lend them a book? Am I not allowed to have anything personal between me and Mom and the aunties?”

“Oh god, Kriti,” he groaned. “A little sharing and transparency between us isn’t going to hurt you.”

“Fine, I’ll keep you posted.”

“Thank you,” he muttered. “Now, is there anything else you’d like to tell me?”

Abhi’s confession instantly popped into my mind, but I quickly discarded that. Abhi’s secret wasn’t mine to disclose.

“Nope,” I said, meeting Aakar’s eyes head-on.

“Okay. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

His eyes narrowed at me. “Are you mad at me ?”

The gall of him. “Why would I be mad at you? You’ve only snapped and growled at me for trying to treat them as my own family.”

He sighed and sat beside me. “I’m beyond happy you’re treating them as your family. But I’ve been responsible for them and caring for them for so long, baby. If you keep me informed, I can also care for them better. Having lived with my family so long, don’t you think I would know better ways to make them see reason? Wouldn’t I know what would make them stop smoking? Wouldn’t I be able to help you keep an eye on them?”

I sighed. “I was going to tell you if the reports showed any abnormalities, you know. And I was just trying to share your responsibilities. Not pile more on your plate.”

He clutched my hand in his at that. “And I would appreciate it more if you just keep me informed in the future. I don’t like secrets. Consider it a ‘me’ thing. But I really do not like the kind of secrets with the potential to blow up when I could’ve been prepared for it had I known.”

He was going to kill me and Abhi when he found out about Abhi’s secret. I might need to try to convince Abhi to come out to his big brother sooner. I had faith in Aakar. He would be cool with it.

“I understand, Aakar. I’ll try my best to keep you informed.”

“Thank you, jaan,” he whispered, brushing his lips across my hand. “I really missed you so much.”

“Way to show it to me,” I mumbled, still miffed about him snapping at me.

“I’m sorry for getting mad at you. I just panicked and couldn’t fathom the reports I was seeing. Let me make it up to you,” he said, laying gentle kisses along my shoulder.

I shook my head and stood, moving away from him. “I’d rather explain the meaning of fuck to Mummy.”

He groaned at that, then quickly clutched my hand and pulled me onto his lap. “Tell me, baby. Didn’t you miss me at all?”

His big, warm hands clutching my waist were making it really difficult to resist him. But no, I was mad. “I missed you. I missed you so much. I hated sleeping alone. The bed was too cold without you. I hated waking up alone. I was dying to have you back home, working beside me, giving me your heart-melting forehead kisses. I was hoping to get railed by you the entire night. Not get railed at the minute you stepped foot in the house.”

He groaned and rested his forehead on my shoulder, clutching me tighter to him. “We reached an understanding about that. What would it take for you to forgive me and kiss me and make it all better? I’m dying to have my mouth on you. I wanna taste you. Feel you. Fuck you. I want to spend the entire night buried deep inside you.”

As much as his words had me squirming on his lap, my mind was one stubborn bitch. “I’m as dry as a desert right now. I guess I just need some time. Especially when you could’ve approached me with a calmer attitude and kinder words. My intention was never to keep you in the dark. My intention was to help you and protect you and keep peace with Pappa and not disappoint him as well. I’m not just your wife, Aakar. I’m trying to be a good daughter-in-law too.”

He sighed and gave me his forehead kisses. “I know, baby. And you’re the best wife and daughter-in-law. And I’m again so, so sorry for getting mad at you.”

This time, I sighed. He did look genuinely sorry. But the damage had been done. “Give me some time to get back to normal. I can’t just instantly let go. I’m not built that way. Why don’t you freshen up, and we’ll discuss how we want to deal with Pappa’s and uncles’ reports? If you’d rather handle it by yourself, I’ll get out of your way.”

“Jaan, you’re killing me. I need you by my side. Okay? All the time. For every little thing. You gotta stop punishing me. I can’t handle your anger.”

“I’m not angry. I’m just disappointed.”

“That’s even worse,” he mumbled, laying a few more kisses along my shoulder.

“You’ll be fine. Now, off you go. I’m going downstairs.”

Aakar

Did I freak the fuck out when I got an email from our family physician with different reports attached, none of them looking too good? Yes. It had scared me so bad I’d broken three speed limits in my rush to get home. And the only reason I’d known Kriti had anything to do with it was because the physician mentioned it in his email, praising Kriti for getting those tests done with Pappa and the uncles.

And sadly, my first thought had been, Why the fuck didn’t she inform me?

Maybe because I’d been responsible for everyone in the house for too long to know a helping hand even if it was waved right in front of my face. But I’d hurt Kriti with my anger. I shouldn’t have blown up the way I did. Now, she thought I didn’t want her to treat my family as her own, which was the last thing I ever wanted.

I was genuinely sorry that I made her promise to tell me important stuff. It wasn’t her. It was my issue that I needed to be kept informed. After the mess when Akira just up and announced her relationship without sharing it with me first, I refused to let that happen again.

I thought I trusted Kriti. But my actions clearly didn’t reflect that, which surprised me as much as it did her. And after seeing the disheartened look on her face, I was determined to show her that I trusted her.

After freshening up and changing into my sweatpants, I found Kriti drinking chai with the ladies downstairs, and Pappa and my uncles had also come home. Kriti must have called them from the office, knowing we needed to talk.

As I moved to sit next to her, she said, “Your chai is on the dining table.”

I raised my eyebrows, my mouth twitching at seeing her mad face.

When I went to get the chai, I let out a loud, shrill whistle and shouted, “Family meeting. Everyone downstairs.”

Soon, the shuffle of footsteps from the staircase came rushing down. With a cup in my hand, I walked back and forth across the living room, the report files on my phone opened. Pappa and the uncles refused to meet my eyes, whereas Maa and the kakis thought I was mad at them for talking about romance novels. Little did they know that they were going to be mad at their husbands in exactly five minutes.

Once Ria and Abhi were downstairs, they each grabbed their cup of chai and coffee respectively, and took a seat on either side of Kriti.

After everyone was seated, I stared down my father and uncles and asked, “Do you have anything to share with us?”

And considering I was the one asking, Pappa was the one who answered, “I’d rather you talk to us in private instead of making a scene like this.”

I laughed humorlessly. “Making a scene, is that what we’re calling it?”

Maa was instantly by my father’s side. “Aakar. Mind your language. Is this the way to talk to your elders?”

Pappa looked directly at Kriti with disappointment on his face, and not only did she look crushed, but it also had rage boiling my blood. I instantly snapped at my father, “No. Don’t you look at Kriti that way. She had nothing to do with it.”

When he met my eyes, I pulled out my phone. “I got a very shocking email from our doctor this morning. Diabetes report. Blood test reports. Spirometry reports. For all three of you.”

Maa started to look concerned, and both the kakis were on the edge of their seat, worry lining their foreheads. “What are you talking about, Aakar Beta?” asked Radhika Kaki.

I knew I would be breaking my mother’s and aunts’ hearts, but I’d gladly be the villain if it got my dad and uncles to quit smoking.

“These are the tests for those people who smoke, and I received the results this morning,” I announced.

The gasps echoed in the living room. Maa, aunts, Abhi, and Ria had simultaneous looks of anger and disappointment.

While Navin Kaka looked mad and stubborn, Sunil Kaka, the youngest brother, looked down in shame. Dad, on the other hand, looked at Mom and said, “We got the tests done because we quit. Ask Kriti.”

Fuck. All the ladies turned their eyes to Kriti, who hid her face in her hands.

“Kriti Beta, you knew?” Maa asked, her voice laced with disappointment.

Not wanting Kriti to take any blame—and I realized the irony here—I answered, “Don’t blame Kriti, Maa. Dad and the kakas made her promise not to tell anyone. That’s why Kriti forced them to quit and took them to get these tests done. And thank God she did because the test results are back.”

“Is…Is everything alright?” Maa asked.

I unlocked my phone and started with Sunil Kaka. I looked at Ekta Kaki as I read the test because, clearly, Sunil Kaka wasn’t all that concerned about his health. “Sunil Kaka’s reports are normal. Except his vitamin D.”

While Ekta Kaki sighed with relief, Sunil Kaka quickly pointed out, “See, everything is fine, Ekta. I don’t smoke too often and exercise regularly.”

Without looking up from my phone, afraid I would glare at my uncle, I jumped to Dad’s report. “The spirometry report for you, Pappa, shows that your lung function is at 72 percent, which falls under the ‘mildly abnormal’ category.”

“Abnormal!” Maa gasped, looking at Dad with increasing worry and ever-increasing rage at the same time.

“Mildly,” Dad muttered, rubbing his hand across his forehead.

And because he was my dad, I felt like I had more than enough right to glare at him. So I looked at him with my harshest glare that had our contractors shaking in their boots and said, “A few more cigarettes and that’d drop too.”

And now, the most difficult report. This time, I looked at Ria and Radhika Kaki. “Navin Kaka’s spirometry report shows him in the ‘moderately abnormal’ category, which is as bad as we want to see.”

This time, Ria was off her seat and dropped beside her teary-eyed mother, glaring at her father. “Smoking, Pappa? Really? Did you ever stop after you kept promising me and Mom all those years ago? You just hid it better, didn’t you? Don’t you worry about us at all? What would happen to Mom if something were to happen to you?”

“Nothing’s going to happen to me, beta. These reports just say stuff. I feel completely fine.”

Ria’s mouth was round in shock. “Really? You feel fine? Why don’t you climb up to the third floor of the house and show me if you can breathe fine. I bet you’d be panting by the time you climb just two stories.”

“That’s just my age.”

“Bullshit.”

Her father glared at her. “Mind your language, Ria.”

This time, she glared back, her eyes shining with tears. “You need to mind your habits first.”

I interrupted before things could escalate further between the father and daughter. “I’ve scheduled a follow-up appointment with the doctor for tomorrow morning. We’ll all go and meet the doctor and take it from there.”

Then I looked at my dad and my uncles and said, “Till then, try not to smoke.”

I looked at Kriti, Ria, and Abhi, jerked my head toward outside, turned around, grabbed my car keys, and moved toward the front door. I heard shuffling behind me, and soon, the four of us were in the car. I drove to a fast food place called “Urban Chowk” and left the three couples alone for a while.

We each grabbed our own comfort food. Kriti got a big strawberry milkshake with a scoop of strawberry ice cream on top, Abhi got a kebab platter with five different dips, Ria got a Chinese platter filled with schezwan garlic noodles, fried rice, and Manchurian chili dry, and I got bhaji pav.

The moment we all had our orders in front of us, Ria twirled her fork in the noodles and asked, “What are we going to do, Aakar? How did we not know?”

I sighed as I squeezed some lemon in my bhaji, deciding to skip the onions today. “Apparently, they only smoked when I wasn’t around.”

Abhi scoffed. “Yeah, right. Their reports are saying something different.”

I nodded and regarded Kriti, who was busy moving the straw in her milkshake, looking completely dejected. I lightly squeezed her thigh and asked, “You okay, Kriti?”

She sighed and nodded. “I guess.”

She then looked at Ria and Abhi and said, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you guys about Pappa and the kakas. I see how much you guys talking to your fathers could help them stop smoking and not pick it up again.”

Ria and Abhi were quick to reassure her, as Abhi said, “It’s not your fault, bhabhi. They’re the ones who made you hide it for them.”

He squeezed her hand lightly and reiterated, “Not your fault.”

She gave him a small smile and nodded at him.

Ria was also quick to add, “Yes, it’s not your fault. Our dads tend not to take responsibility for their actions or face any consequences. Easier to blame others or find excuses. This time, though. I’m going to watch my dad like a hawk. And you just see if I let him compromise on his health.”

That got a chuckle out of Kriti.

She still didn’t look at me or smile at me much. I was determined to get her to forgive me before we slept.

We didn’t reach home until late at night. None of us wanted to get into any fights or drama, knowing that our parents would be involved in their own fights. We had no interest in being a witness to their silent battles and loud television.

As soon as we entered our room, Kriti jumped into the washroom, mumbling about needing to change her clothes. I removed my sweatpants and T-shirt, leaving myself in my briefs, and got under the blanket. I turned on the air conditioner, putting it at the coldest temperature it would go, and waited for Kriti to come out.

The room was freezing when she stepped out of the washroom, freshly showered, dressed in her shortest shorts and her sexiest, silkiest top, absolutely determined to drive me insane.

But the moment she stepped toward the bed, her skin broke out in goose bumps. And she knew exactly the game I was playing because she glared daggers at me.

“What are you trying to play at?” she hissed, rubbing her hands over her arms, pushing her gorgeous tits together and making my mouth water.

“The same thing you’re playing at, baby,” I said, my mouth twitching.

My cock was rock hard underneath the blanket, but when she dove under the cover, she kept a solid foot between us.

“I’m not playing at anything. Just trying to sleep after the day we had.” She turned off her side of the night lamp and lay facing the other way.

Now that wouldn’t do at all.

I kept my side of the light on because I hadn’t seen my wife in two weeks and needed to see every inch of her.

Turning, I molded myself to my wife, feeling every gorgeous curve of her body against mine. I lightly pressed my lips to her neck and whispered, “I’m sorry for my reaction, Kriti. I should’ve listened before reacting. Please forgive me, baby.”

“I really don’t like being shouted at,” she mumbled.

“I know, and I won’t shout at you again,” I whispered, placing kisses on her shoulder and pulling her to me tighter so her hips were pushed against mine.

“I hated your mad-at-me face. I can’t stop seeing it.”

“Then look at my very apologetic, very-in-love-with-his-wife face,” I said and turned her body so she faced me.

The moment her eyes met mine, I dropped a small kiss on her lips just because I couldn’t help it.

She looked so fucking beautiful, with her hair mussed up, the strap of her top dropped down to her arm, and the top of her breast pushed up. My cock was roaring hard as all of her soft curves aligned with my rock-hard body.

I groaned and buried my face in her neck, my mouth hungry for a taste of her. My teeth ached with the need to bite her soft, delicate skin and mark my wife.

I grabbed her waist and rolled us so she went on top of me.

Her hair was like a waterfall over her shoulder, and her soft thighs spread out across my hips. I pushed her hair behind her ears and pulled her closer with my other hand so only a hairsbreadth separated us. “Do you see him? The very, very apologetic husband? The desperately-needy-for-you, the dying-for-you husband?”

Her breath came in sharp pants, but she didn’t utter a single word. My stubborn little wife.

I pulled her closer to me so her tits hung over my lips, tempting me to suck and nibble and bite them, leaving my marks on her skin. But I held off, placing small kisses on her breasts, slowly lapping at every inch of her skin except her nipples.

I blew a breath on the tight little peaks, and she rolled her hips on my cock. “Suck them, Aakar,” she gritted out, pushing my mouth closer to her nipples.

“Do you forgive me?” I asked, gently scraping my thumb on one of her nipples and causing her to moan.

She tightened her jaw and refused to utter a word.

I pushed my brief-covered cock between her thighs, her thin scrap of shorts barely covering anything. “You see what you do to me, baby? Wouldn’t you give your husband another chance? Please, baby?”

She was upright now, rubbing herself on me, desperate for me to push inside her. She looked at me and clutched her tits in her hands and gave them a rough squeeze. My cock pulsed between her legs, my back arching, needing to be inside her, dammit. “Fuck, Kriti. Please, baby?”

“What’re you willing to do for it?” she asked, pinching her nipples, moaning and writhing on my lap, grinding on me. I clutched her thighs, needing to touch her. “Anything, jaan.”

“You will write I love Kriti. I trust Kriti. a thousand times in a notebook,” she said, her eyes arched in challenge.

“Deal,” I said, and in the next second, I had her pinned to the bed. I quickly removed her shorts, discarded my briefs, and fell on top of her. “I would’ve written that five thousand times if you’d asked, Kriti teacher,” I whispered against her lips and plunged inside her in one hard thrust.

Her back arched as her legs wrapped around my hips, pushing me in deeper. Her neck arched, and she grabbed her breast, pushing my mouth to her nipples. I greedily sucked it into my mouth, knowing how much nipple play turned Kriti on.

I gave her sharp pulls as I squeezed her other breast, causing her to squeeze me tight inside her. My cock was enveloped in her warm, wet pussy, her juices sliding down my balls as I slowly kept thrusting inside her.

“We forgot the condom, baby. You want me to fill you with my cum?” I asked, not really serious, but the thought had my dick getting harder.

She keened as her pussy contracted around my cock. “Don’t you fucking get me pregnant, Aakar,” she hissed out but pulled me harder into her body, taking my cock deeper.

I bent lower and sucked on her nipples again, her tit overflowing from my hand, her hands clutching me to her breasts by the back of my head. Her hips rocked with mine in perfect rhythm, and the moment I scraped my teeth on the underside of her nipple, she gave a muffled scream, biting my shoulder as her pussy contracted around my cock. She squeezed and pulled and milked my cock until I was mindless with overpowering lust, and my cock roared to let loose inside her. I wanted to fill her with my cum, needing to see it dripping from her as she kept squeezing me and moaning my name.

The moment she was done, I wildly pumped inside her, trying to last as long as possible, wanting to forever stay inside her, but all too soon, my balls tightened, and the tingling at the base of my spine rose to an inferno. I quickly pulled out of her, spraying my cum all over her stomach, rubbing and squeezing my cock, spurting my load on her nipples.

We were both panting as I dropped over her and started kissing her. “I’m sorry for shouting at you, baby. I’ll get to writing tomorrow.”

“It’s okay,” she whispered. “Just remember that I want the best for your family.”

“ Our family,” I added, reinforcing that thought in her mind as well as mine.