Page 48 of First Comes Marriage
‘Yes. Look.’ She held her hands out for her uncle to see, much like she used to as a child whenever she had henna done for Eid.
‘It’s lovely, just like you.’
She giggled. He always said the same thing, whether it was her or Haniya. Even when they wore new clothes, he’d say they were lovely, just like his girls.
He grinned at her and then cupped her cheek. ‘Tired?’
Reshma nodded. ‘Yeah, my feet are sore.’
‘Hmm. I believe that’s a summons for you, son.’ He looked towards Zafar, who smiled as he stood up.
They bid everyone a good night, but Daadi said she wanted to stay a bit longer.
‘Are you sure? It’s been a long day for you,’ Zafar said in concern.
‘Don’t worry about me,Dad. If you give me the keys, Jawad or Bilqis will bring me back. You two carry on.’ She waved them off and turned back to the conversation she was having with Uncle Imtiaz’s mother.
They said another round of good nights because that was how her family rolled and then she and Zafar were slowly making their way back towards the villa. Her high-heeled sandals were really causing her grief, the balls of her feet feeling like they were on fire, but the idea of walking barefoot made her squirm when Zafar suggested she take her sandals off.
‘Eww. No, thanks. I’d rather deal with the after-effects of the sandals. Besides, it’s not far now.’ Though it was still further than she’d have liked.
Zafar stopped and faced her. She stopped as well and looked at him in confusion. He looked around them, presumably observing the silent path behind them and in front of them.
‘What is it? Did you hear something?’ She instinctively moved closer to him. She hardly expected a lion to leap out at them, but still, that didn’t mean there wasn’t some kind of rodent or reptile lurking. She’d seen a few lizards – or were they geckos? – around the area.
‘Lift your arm. And be careful of your henna, don’t want to ruin it.’
‘Huh?’ She automatically did as he asked and lifted her arm closest to him but had no idea what he meant until he swooped and in one fluid movement lifted her up in his arms. She instinctively put her arms around him, mindful of her forearms as they almost brushed against his kurta.‘What are you doing?’ Of course, she knew what he was doing, but what she meant to ask him was why.
‘I’m carrying you so that you don’t have to walk the rest of the way to the villa and your poor feet won’t be any more battered than they already are. Otherwise, you’ll have to wear trainers to the nikah tomorrow.’
‘Oh.’ She didn’t know what else to say. In some way or another, this man was surprising her every day and she was getting to a point where she had no idea what he’d do or how to respond to him at times. Like now, though she knew she felt touched by his consideration.
He started walking towards their villa, and she was about to grip his shoulder when she remembered that while the henna was mostly dry on her hands, the dry and flaky paste could still stain his kurta if it hadn’t already, not that he seemed to mind. In fact he seemed completely at ease with her in his arms.
His aftershave wound its way through her nose as she took in a breath and she felt the urge to bury her nose in the crook of his neck.
She shook her head to try to dislodge the thought and Zafar looked at her in question. ‘Everything OK?’
She nodded, bouncing slightly in his arms as he effortlessly covered the remaining distance to the villa, coming to a stop at the welcome mat outside the front door. She looked up at him and his eyes were focused on hers before they slowly moved down to where she had her lip clamped between her teeth. It was something she caught herself doing quite often lately and she had no idea why. Maybe it was her version of a nervous twitch.
Zafar’s lips parted and Reshma’s eyes zoned in on them as he snaked his tongue out and rolled it over his lips, slowly and sensually, making her back arch infinitesimally.
He began lowering her legs, bending his knees as her feet touched the ground, sending shafts of pain and a tingling sensation up her legs. His other arm was firmly clamped around her waist and held her close to him while she tried to keep her henna-covered hands off him. What she wanted to do was move closer, run her hands across his broad shoulders and chest and feel the firmness of them through the thin fabric of his kurta, like she had while they’d danced together, but she couldn’t. And thank God for that. Tiredness was making her delirious.
‘Keys?’ His voice sounded like his throat was coated with gravel and Reshma felt a shiver of pleasure careen down her spine. She wanted to hear him say her name with that voice.
Seriously, what had got into her? Her mind was warring with her heart, which was warring with her body. She was in such an intense state of confusion, she wasn’t sure which would come out on top, but what she did know with some certainty was that her body seemed to be the heavyweight in that battle this evening.
‘Reshma?’
Oh God.The way he just rolled the R of her name. She wanted to close her eyes in ecstasy.
‘The keys? Daadi took my set.’
‘Th …’ She cleared her throat, giving herself a moment to find her ability to speak coherently. ‘They’re in my bag.’ She slowly eased away from him, lamenting the loss of contact, and held her arm out, from which her little pouch was dangling.
It looked so ridiculous in his hands as he untied it from around her elbow and pulled the keys out. He opened the door and then stepped back, scooping her up once more and surprising her, because he didn’t have to. She only needed to take a few steps into the villa.
