Sheharzaad smiled at her, "Nice meeting you, Zahra. I hope everything is fine," She said and felt her breath getting hitched. She had been in the same position as hers so she could understand that.
On the cue, the grey eyed man appeared and stood next to Zahra. Quiet eyes. Void face. Tall height. Sturdy chest. Veiny arms.
The aura of his reminded her of Shehryaar and her heart skipped a beat. One eye at Zahra and she saw her getting tensed. More and more as he stood next to her.
"Assalam alaikum," she greeted and scurried away from there. It was breath shortening for her to stand in the presence of a man with an aura similar to his. Eyes similar to his.
"Wsalam," he greeted back, "and welcome to the family," he uttered and she just passed him a smile.
"Thank you," She whispered and walked away.
He had his sleeves folded just below to his elbow while Shehryaar was wearing a black coat. This was the slim difference between their appearance otherwise their dominating aura was almost similar.
Sitting in the car, she was waiting for him to return to the car. Her fingers wrung around each other, palms queasy and heart throbbing. She was praying he won't get an air of what she had been doing behind his back. She prayed he won't investigate about her escape. Because if he did, she was done. She was now regretting playing behind his back. Her eyes closed and she took a deep breath. A whistling sound of her labored breaths was heard in the empty vehicle.
Sheharzaad sent a prayers to the skies. She was ready to marry him at any cost now but she didn't want him to know about her games.
She messed up her life with her own hands. She messed up bad.
There was a reason her heart wasn't in her control today.
Her sixth sense was pointing at something ominous.
The door to the car was opened by one of the servants as Sheharyaar entered and sat beside her, occupying seat next to her.
She became utterly conscious with his presence as she fixed herself, sitting properly. Her eyes stared up at him and she found his eyes already fixed upon hers. His cologne was everywhere in the car and she could feel tingles on her body in his presence.
"Jee kuch kaha?" She asked. His dark eyes unnerving her.
(Did you say something?)
"Uhhh..." he leaned forward and struck a tendril of her hair behind his ear, "no," he uttered and grasped her chin, tilting her head towards him. He stared at her face as if a selenophile would stare at moon.
From her one eye to another, to her nose, down to her lips, cheeks and chin which was in his grasp, he stared at each and every feature of hers. Pulling out his first two fingers he placed them on her lips and slightly brushed her parted open lips.
Sheharzaad stared at him in confusion when he retrieved his fingers and kissed the same area where her lips were prior. Hi lips twitched up into a smirk.
"I don't think so it would count as a kiss, hmm? Would it?" He asked playfully.
"i-it d-does,"
"Hmm does it?" He hummed.
"K-kind of,"
"Yes or no?"
"What if yes?"
"I will try reminding you what kissing means,"
Her breath hitched, "what if no?"
"Then I will feel your lips like this again,"
Either way, she was cornered.
"No. It d-doesn't count as kissing,"
He smirked. "So now I can kiss you like this until our nikkah,"
She got confused. Shaking her head in negative, she ended up nodding her head.
"Wh-when is o-our n-n-n-nikkah?" she stuttered badly, trying to change the topic.
He got quiet at this. His dark eyes now probing into her soul.
"Are you eager?"
Again, she was in a compromised state. Yes or no, both would land her in the danger zone so she tried to avoid both responses.
"J-just asking,"
"I'm just asking too. Are you eager?"
'Not at all' her mind screamed
His words from that night in his room while he was drunk began to play in her mind like a deja vu. He had forced her to express her love for him. Given that situation, she was aware what kind of an answer he needed yet again she chose to go for a diplomatic response.
"I w-was j-just asking,"
"Hmm I see. Our nikkah would be when I'd have dealt with certain things,"
"Wh-what th-things?" She dared to ask.
"Some things, little lady," He said quietly, and moved her hand to play with her ear lobe.
"You are avoiding my question," she told,
"So did you Zaad. Didn't you?"
She went quiet, biting her lips. She thought she managed to maouver the conversation but she realized she did that only because he let her.
"Don't be so nervous," he referred to the anxiousness in her eyes.
"You know," he grasped her arm, while holding her eyes in a stare and with a sudden jerk she was pushed towards him as her dainty hands landed on his chest, "your nervousness draws me you to like blood draws sharks. It's hard for me to be away from you when you tempt me innocently while biting your lips, while passing me secretive glances, while rubbing your tongue when lost in thoughts," he whispered and his fingers pulled her face closer to him as he leaned forward and brushed his nose with hers, "I want you nervous when you would be under me, when I would take you in my bed, when you scream and keep on screaming with pleasure and with every climax you would utter 'I love you' to me," His voice was still not above a whisper yet it managed to shake her soul. Every syllable was sunk in deep and she began to reminisce the night when he had actually taken her. Her hand which was residing near his heart tightly grasped his black coat, as her chest began to heave up and down. The trauma began to get fresh in her mind and she gulped.
Their wedding night was enough of a reason for her to avoid this marriage.
Realizing her face had went pale, he caressed her cheek with the back of his fingers, "oh my zaad, did you get scare?" He tried to act oblivious of her plight.
She just moved her eyes down, at the verge of a panic attack. On and on, the flashbacks came in her mind.
A whimper escaped her lips when he suddenly held her chin and bobbed her head up. A painful knot formed in her throat which was streching the walls of her throat.
She tried to scoot away from him when he snaked his arm against the small of her back and kept her close to him. His brows twitched up and down with a quick succession as with deep, dark eyes he looked at her.
"You tempt me, Sheharzaad," he whispered.
He closed her eyes, cleared her neck from her hair by tucking them away and inhaled her scent. His lips pressing against her slender neck making goosebumps arise on her whole body. In the silent car, only her deep breaths could be heard. Deep breaths full of nervousness.
"Tempt me to give into my darkest desires, to embrace the darkness within and let it consume me," he murmured against her skin, "while I consume you, zaad,"
After a few moments, he pulled back and inhaled a whistling breath before knocking at his window when the driver immediately entered the car, brought the engine to life and began the journey.
Journey, the destination of which she thought would be the warmth of her home.
Yet how wrong she was.
Deep in her thoughts, she didn't recall when she dozed off with her head resting against his shoulder.
The car was stopped, she was awaken up, her house came in her vision and she quickly proceeded to alight the vehicle. He let her, eyeing her. And she was scurrying already to her house, thanking her stars he didn't follow behind.
When she came across her homw, the door was already opened and her heart skipped a beat. Her eyes widened. She stepped inside carefully. The house was dark. No lights were turned on. She called out for Amna and no response was received.
Her heart began to run a mile a minute when she turned on the lights and the scene that folded infront her snatched the floor beneath her feet.
Her eyes landed on the feet that were dangling in air as her eyes trail all the way up from the feet to the face of the person.
It was, Khaleda.
She was dead.
Eyes opened.
Staring at her. As if accussating her for her death.
Her dead body was hung up with the ceiling. Feet hanging lifelessly in air. Nails blue. Skin pale.
Body had stiffened. Suffering from rigor-mortis.
She was too struck to move when somebody's presence behind her froze her as two arms came and wrapped around her body.
"Zaad. My beautiful, zaad," A dark whisper was heard near her ear.
"Shehryaar," She whispered.
Her head feeling light already.