Sheyansh

“Do you like how I look?”

He looked at her weirdly before he said, “Do you even have to ask, love? I love how you look and..”

She cut him off with another question, “Pray excuse me if it’s too direct, but do you like the idea of having sex with me?”

He stood up then and placed her palm over his groin, his half-erection pressing against her palm as he groaned in answer, “I guess this answers your question”, slowly he added as a smirk formed on his lips, "If you don't believe me, I will be more than happy to prove it you"

She shook her head and play-hit his stomach. “What does sex mean to you?”

“With you, everything”, he sensually replied.

Her breath caught in her throat, this was a beautiful declaration. Even when the question was general, the loyalty, the love, the sincerity he added in his answer was overwhelming. She wanted to skip this pretend-questioning and lose herself in his arms.

But she didn't succumb to desire. She forced herself to scroll through her prepared set of questions. The questions she had once prepared and memorized to someday judge and choose the man she was going to marry.

“Do you think marriage gives a person the right over another’s body? Would you say after a couple marries, they own each other?”

“Marriage is not a business contract. Nothing is sold, so there is no question of ownership. I do not own you or your body, neither do you”

She smiled. She had thought a lot on how to subtly ask his views on marital rape, and she was pleased by his answer. When you don’t think of your partner as an object you own, you don’t usually rape them. Because you understand, that marrying doesn't inevitably mean sexual pleasure, whenever you want.

“We’ve established that you like how I look, and I do too. So now that the sexual side of things is done, let’s move on to a more intimate matter. What are the qualities do you want in your wife, without exception? The qualities you wife should have?”

He pondered over the question a bit and then said, “Without exception, I think I want empathy, love and respect. For me, every other quality fails in front of these three. I want my wife, that is you, to love me, to empathize with me in my wrongdoings and instead of belittling me, you help me grow through them.

Lastly, I want your respect; I want to be treated like an equal, someone you can trust with your secrets and happiness. I want to feel respected (worthy) in my home, not somewhere I feel I'm unworthy.

Obviously, I’ll return the favour because to me, you are the embodiment of empathy, love and respect. You don't ask it from me, you take it from me - because you deserve it”

“That's beautiful. What’s a sure-shot way of losing your respect then?”

“If you are unnecessarily mean to another person. I love kindness, I abide by it and if someone cannot be kind, my respect for them diminishes, slowly but definitely. If it’s a one-time thing, I understand but it’s a regular thing then…”

"So treating someone bad, even if it's not directed at you, puts you off?"

"Yes, especially when the one treated is, how shall I put it correctly? Especially when the other person is not put to your standards, judging by your personal standards. Because that means, they are of no use to you.

And if you treat them badly, it says that everyone you treated kindly was of some use to you. I don't want to be used, so of course, this puts me off"

She stared at the man she had given her heart to as she reflected on his answers. They weren’t the ones she imagined, because they were so much better. She loved this man to bits, she loved every part of his mouth-watering anatomy and every twist of his beautiful brain.

“Are we finished?”, he asked with a grin.

“Yeah”

“And?”, he raised his brow.

“And?”, she raised her brow in imitation.

“What’s the verdict? Did I pass?”, he asked with a nervous chuckle.

“Um… let me think. On the basis of your answers…”, she drawled.

“Baby!”

"What?", she asked innocently with a pout as she looked up at him.

"Don't do this, just answer. Did I pass?"

“With flying colours. I love you!”, she cooed in the end.

“Thank you! Thank you!”, he bowed dramatically but then his tone turned serious as he said, "But you failed"

Shreya asked a silent question through her eyes, while her head pounded loudly with all her insecurities at once. Where had she failed? More importantly, where had he realized that she failed?

"In interviewing skills", he smiled and in a sensual whisper added, “Now, let me teach you how to conduct a real interview”

She gulped as she gazed into his deep, fathomless eyes. He held her hand and gently pulled her to her feet. A smooth finger caressed the side of her face as he walked closer, pushing her to retreat in a corner.

She took a step back as he stepped forward, and another and another.

As her back hit the wall, her heart started beating rapidly. Her lips parted and her mouth felt dry. His eyes alone were doing things to her that no one, but he, ever did.

With a gentle caress to her lower lip, he whispered, “Do you love me?”, in a voice filled with promises of love and fulfilment.

“Yes”, she answered in a low voice, her body functioning solely on the love she saw in his eyes and the command she heard in his voice.

“Do you want me?”, he asked in another whisper as his finger glided down to the slope of her neck; her flesh burning red hot in the wake of his touch. A delicious shiver ran up her spine and closing her eyes, she savoured the feel.

“Look at me!”, he commanded and her eyes snapped open to gaze into his eyes, where greys and blues collided to perfectly paint her favourite shade.

“Do you want me?”, he repeated as his finger swept to her chin. She could feel the warmth of his skin and the warmth of his breath; she could feel the scent of him, wrapping its arms around her body in a woody fragrance and a perfume that was solely his.

He was close to her, so close she could feel the hardness of his muscles pressing into her flesh.

She inhaled the breath he exhaled and whispered, in a voice more inviting than any devil temptress', “More than you know”

His lips travelled to her ear, “Do you want anyone else, anyone better in my place?”

Her hands gripped his arms tightly, revolted at the thought of anybody else touching her in this way, touching her like only he ever had and only he ever should. “Never”

“Will you forever feel this way?”

“Always and forever”, she replied dizzy in his presence. She would love him forever but she knew forever was a concept she knew nothing about. She didn’t know what would happen tomorrow and she didn’t know how she would change, but at this moment, he was forever. For as long as she lived, his memories would be pure and loved, always and forever.

He turned her around and hugged her tight to his front, wrapping his arms protectively around her frame. Inhaling, he whispered in her ear, “Even if you don’t feel as powerful as you do now, do you promise to choose me repeatedly?”

“Yes”, she moaned as she answered. He wasn’t doing anything sexual and yet, every nerve in her body was ready for him. She was begging and pleading for him.

“Do you promise to choose to work on us together?

Do you promise to overpower the good with the bad?

Do you promise to love me even at my downs?”

“Yes, yes and forever yes. I love you”, she half-screamed, rattled with the pure passion in his voice. She brought his head towards hers, reeling in the feel of his lips as she moved hers over them. A moment later, his lips started moving and they pushed themselves closer as they deepened their kiss.

The room was ignited with passion. Every vein in their body was alive – alive only to feel the other. As their lips moved in harmony, their hands wandered; hearts thumping in the background.

At this moment, they were one. There was no Vansh and no Shreya, their individual identities melted and they became Shreyansh. Two souls, two bodies and two hearts, two different individuals bound so tight: they were inseparable. They were two, and yet they were one.