No One’s POV
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When she felt he was not going to stop, she closed her eyes instinctively, accepting defeat. Zayden felt consent as she didn’t protest. He kissed her forehead, followed by the tip of her nose.
‘Please… Please… Please…. Please don’t kiss me.’, She prayed in her mind like a mantra. To some extent, she trusted Zayden that he wouldn’t break his promise of not kissing her until she initiated the step. But she had also heard that men’s instinct couldn’t be pre-judged.
He was terribly close and her heart hammed inside her body as if it would explode anytime. She wondered how it would feel!
She waited and waited and...waited. But the kiss never came.
She opened her eyes slowly and saw him looking at her….simply looking. After what felt like an eternity, he finally spoke.
“Can I kiss you?”, He asked her permission. Grace watched him in surprise and was confused about what to say. Was he really asking her permission!
‘What if I say no and he decides to kiss me forcefully! Oh shut up, Grace. You know he will never do that. But then, what should I do? Tell the truth..Yes! The truth. Don’t think about negative consequences.’, She thought.
“No.”, She said in a low tone.
Zayden sighed but didn’t complain. He knew that she would never willingly kiss him, let alone anything more than that. He knew he had to take this marriage slow and steady to win Grace’s heart for real. He had promised himself that he would give her all the time she wanted. But the challenge was for how long he could resist his deepest desire for her! For how long he could control male urges inside.
He suppressed these desires and tried to enlighten the mood by forcing a smile on his face.
“Leave all this work, sweetheart. Come, I have something for you.”, he said, getting excited.
Grace stared at him for what seemed like infinity. It amazed her how Zayden respected her feelings. How he always tried to make her happy by giving her gifts and surprises, even if she hated surprises. There she thought he was going to steal her first kiss, but no! He acknowledged her self-respect.
“I know I am handsome but you can see me all you want in our bedroom too, sweetheart.”, Zayden mocked at the way she stared at him. Grace huffed at this.
“I wasn’t looking at…”, She tried to speak, to which Zayden chuckled and interrupted in between.
“Fine. I believe you.”, He said. “Now come before it gets too late”, He added.
“Late? Late for what?”
“You ask too many questions!”, He said and caught her wrist. Within a minute, they reached their room. He made her sit on the bed and himself sat close to her.
‘Doesn’t he know that we have to maintain a distance of at least one hand in this COVID!’, She thought.
“Close your eyes.”, He demanded but instead Grace widened her eyes.
“Why?”, She asked, getting confused over his childish behavior.
“Don’t you want your surprise? Trust me, you will love it.”, He said.
‘I don’t want anything from you.’ She wanted to say this straight on his face but she couldn’t. So, she closed her eyes reluctantly.
She heard the drawer being opened and some shuffling noise. After a few minutes, she felt him take her hand. He opened her palm fully and after a while, she could feel the coldness of the material that he had placed.
“Open your eyes, sweetheart!”
Grace opened her eyes quickly and saw the thing. Looking at it, she smiled widely.
“A phone!”, She said cheerfully.
“Hmm. I had broken yours so…”, He explained but narrowed his eyes when he saw her frown. “What happened? Didn’t you like it? He asked, getting confused. He made sure to purchase the best and the latest model which he could find in the town when they went shopping for groceries. How couldn’t she like it then?
“It’s not like that. It’s...It’s beautiful but...but this is an IPhone while I had a small keypad mobile.”, She reasoned out.
“So?”, He asked, not understanding her intentions.
“I can’t accept this, Zayden. This is very….expensive. You should not have brought the same mobile which you had broken.”, She explained.
Zayden cupped her face again and made her look at him. Her green eyes mesmerized again. “You are my mate or say wife now, sweetheart. You deserve the best. Let this sink in your mind. Okay!”, Zayden said.
“But...I can’t afford this.”, She whispered but he heard her.
“Why are you thinking that way? Didn't you say that you have accepted this marriage? In that way, you have also accepted the fact that I am your husband and isn't it said that whatever belongs to the husband, also belongs to you? So, what’s mine is all yours.”, He stressed on YOURS so that she would understand it well.
“Thank you.”, She said smilingly.
He returned her smile by lightly pinching her cheeks. “Don’t thank me this soon. The real surprises await.”, He said and exactly as the clock hit twelve, he dialed someone’s number from Grace’s mobile. She looked down at the screen and the caller id read:
MOM
“You save the contacts!”, She asked, getting surprised.
“Yes, All the contacts you had in the previous SIM card.”, he answered.
“Thank you again but why did you dial mom’s number?”, She asked, forgetting today’s date.
“Because it’s your mom’s birthday, sweetheart.”
Grace’s eyes widened when she realized that she had forgotten her mother’s birthday. Well, it was her mistake but you couldn’t blame her completely because a lot of things were going on in her life.
“Grace”, Her mother called her name with joy after receiving her call.
“Happy Birthday, Mom.”
“Thank you, Grace. I see, Zayden also gifted you a new phone.”, She said. Grace didn’t speak for a while. She was taken aback by what her mother just said. She took a moment to realize that no one had a smartphone in her family. Then how the hell was she talking with her mother on a video call?
She recalled what her mother said ‘Zayden also gifted you a new phone.’
‘It means Zayden also gifted her a smartphone?’, She thought and looked at Zayden to complain. But he gave her a sheepish smile. That obviously didn’t work on Zayden.
“Zayden, why did you give a mobile to Mom?”, She asked Zayden in a scolding tone, assuming that he was favoring her and her family a lot with his money. She didn’t like it at all. Zayden struggled for words now. He thought she would be impressed with him for what he did. I mean she could talk to her mother whenever she wanted and that too through video calls.
“Don’t scold my son, Grace.”, Her mother scolded her. Grace almost choked, when her mother called Zayden as SON. “He gave me this mobile as my birthday gift and with lots of love.”, Grace had no words to say.
Well, what could she say now?
She talked with her mother for a few minutes before she hung up.
“How’s everybody there?”, Zayden asked as soon as she hung up. She appreciated the fact that he cared about her family.
“They are good.”, She said. “Thank you again for reminding me about my mother’s birthday.”, She added. Suddenly, it rang head.
‘I never asked him anything about his family! What must he be thinking about me! In Fact I don’t know a thing about him!’, She scolded herself.
“How is your family...I mean...your parents and…”, She stopped not knowing what to say. She didn’t even know who all were there in his family. But she needed to know, now.
“Calm down. We can talk about these things later. There is one more surprise for you.”, He said, changing the topic.
“One more?”, She asked, getting surprised.
“Yes. Since, it is your mother’s birthday today. I am thinking of dropping you at your home and will pick you up from your parents’ home at 9 PM.”
“Wow”, She cried in joy. The mere thought of seeing her family made her enormously happy. “Thank you so much, Zayden.”
“Stop thanking me, sweetheart! It’s my responsibility to keep you happy. Now sleep, it's too late now.”, He said quickly so that she wouldn’t ask anything about his family. He didn’t want to tell her anything about his past. Well, at least not now. What will she think about him if she gets to know about his family background? This thought stopped him from sharing his pain with her.
She was about to protest, but he stood up and went straight toward the switch. But Grace wasn’t going to sleep without knowing about his family, especially not now when she wasn’t scared of him anymore.
Zayden switched off the lights and approached the bed to lay on it. When he saw her still sitting, he held her arm and pulled her down so that she could lay close to him. Unfortunately for her, she fell on the bed facing him. Before she could sense the position in which she was, Zayden had already placed his arm on her waist, keeping her fixed.
“Zayd…”, She was about to say, when he cut her midway.
“You had said that you will give this marriage a chance. And for that we should get close, sweetheart.”, Zayden said instantly.
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#TBC