Page 50 of First Comes Marriage
With her hands now free, she moved them over his pecs and up to his shoulders, holding onto them as if her life depended on it as she slowly closed the distance between them and gently coaxed his lips apart, pushing her tongue against his. The impact was instant and electric, sending her nervous system into meltdown. Zafar’s hands moved over her body, across her back, around her ribcage and then down to her bottom.
They moved back towards the bedroom and thoughts of anything else flew out of Reshma’s mind as she zeroed in on the sensations running rampant through her body, making her feel like she might be glowing.
Only the back of her mind was momentarily alert to what was happening and the potential disaster it could lead to. It was easy enough to open up to Zafar’s attention in this moment, but what about what came after? When they weren’t in this bubble of theirs and the reality of life stormed back in. Would they still be this into each otheror would their relationship fall back into the groove it had been in since they’d got married?
Reshma ignored that voice of reason which urged caution. Caution wasn’t what she wanted to exercise in that moment. In fact, it was the last thing she wanted to think about. And if her mind went to the box labelled with the L word, which she’d slammed shut after it had threatened to break her in a way she’d never be able to recover from, then she ignored that too. Those were things best addressed in the light of day. Even if that box wasn’t closed shut as tight as Reshma had thought it might be.
21
Zafar
Sunlight shone through the curtains they’d failed to draw the night before and streamed into the room, filling it with golden light. Zafar stretched his arms and heard his back click in at least two places. He lay against the pillow, a deep sense of contentment filling his entire being. He smiled as his thoughts went to the night before and he couldn’t stop his very satisfied smile from widening.
Turning over, he looked at Reshma’s beautiful face. His wife. The woman he’d spent most of the night making sweet, sweet love with. The woman he was in love with.
The thought had his mind slowly coming to a standstill as his breath lodged in his chest until he forced himself to inhale deeply. He sat up, rubbing his hand against his sternum to ease the sudden tightness there. He swallowed the dryness in his mouth as his heartbeat thundered in his chest, the sound of it reverberating through his ears until it almost drowned his thoughts out.
Almost, but not quite.
Because one thought refused to be drowned out. It went through his head like an incantation, getting louder and louder with every beat of his heart.
He felt so much more than affection for Reshma. He loved her.
He was in love with her and the thought didn’t scare him nearly as much as it should have, or hethoughtit should have. In fact, it felt … right.
The tightness behind his sternum eased as he took another deep breath, his heartbeat slowing down gradually to its normal rhythm.
He was in love with Reshma and it felt good. In fact, he felt ecstatic about it. The world hadn’t come crashing down around his ears. Everything still seemed very much in place like it had five minutes ago.
Was it because of the closeness between them last night? Perhaps, though Zafar knew it wasn’t just that. This feeling hadn’t come out of nowhere. It felt too familiar for that. What was new was the depth of it. It felt so much more … intense than anything he’d felt towards her before. It was like the seed of something that he’d given barely any thought to and now suddenly it had blossomed and the strength of its roots suggested it hadn’t happened overnight.
As for last night … it hadn’t been the first, second or even third time and yet it had felt like the first time. Not in a clumsy, awkward way, but in a magical, beautiful way. The feelings and emotions that had bombarded him from all sides had left him feeling like his entire being had fallen off its axis and then been put back again but the right way this time. The sense of closeness he’d felt to her had been unlike anything he’d experienced before and he was certain it had been different for her too.
He looked at her again, feeling himself fill with a lightness as he gazed down at her sleeping form. She lay on her side, her arm flung out of the duvet but her other hand tucked under her cheek. Stray strands of hair sat against her rosy cheek and her nose stud glimmered up at him. She looked peaceful. Content.
His eyes went to the henna patterns on her hands, the staining on them even darker than it had been last night. He could smell its pleasant fragrance and it took him back to the morning after their wedding.
It was strange how a certain smell could invoke a particular memory. For him, the scent of henna was something he’d probably always associate with the morning after his wedding because he could remember waking up to it, with Reshma’s hand not far from his face, resting on the pillow. That morning too, he’d woken up and just lay there, half propped up on his elbow looking down at her and taking her features in. He remembered finding her beautiful even then, but more so now because he had got to know her more. He knew how amazing she was and how much goodness she had in her and it humbled him. She’d been nothing but giving towards him, even when he hadn’t deserved it. But he wanted to. He wanted to be worthy of her and her affection. Maybe even more than that if she could bring herself to feel that way towards him. God knew he felt so much more than that for her.
Feeling a sudden burst of energy shoot through his body like a firework which wouldn’t let him be still, Zafar picked up his phone and looked at the time. It was just gone ten.
He was tempted to wake Reshma and convey his feelings in some way, but she looked so peaceful and he knew they had another long day ahead of them, with Saleema and Nomaan’s nikah ceremony later. There was time enough to tell her. Besides, not all feelings had to be verbally expressed. He could show her in other ways too.
He got up and put his swimming shorts on, before making his way downstairs. He noticed that Daadi’s bedroom door was still closed. The party animal had gotin pretty late last night and was obviously sleeping her social hangover off.
Zafar softly opened the patio door and stepped outside into the garden, going straight towards the deep end of the pool and diving in. There was no denying the daily swims had had a decent impact on his stamina and he kept going until he felt his arms and legs become heavy, though not enough that his mind had stopped going through its newfound revelation. His love for Reshma which seemed to be all-consuming.
He made his way to the edge of the pool and rested there, taking in the sight of the beach in the distance. Soft shuffling had him looking around, but he couldn’t see anything. He looked up and saw Reshma leaning against the balcony, looking down at him. She smiled at him, delightfully dishevelled in an oversized T-shirt – his, if he wasn’t wrong – and her pyjama bottoms. She gave him a wave.
‘Care to join me?’ he asked.
‘No thank you. As tempting asthe poollooks, I’ll give it a miss. I’ve got an appointment with the hairdresser and make-up artist.’
‘Pity.’
‘Hmm.’ She gave him another wave and went inside.
Zafar shook his head and heaved himself out of the pool, deciding to get a head start on breakfast while Reshma got ready to go out. When he went back into the villa, Daadi was already standing at the island.
