Circle of Trust

Chapter 22

She stood like an avenging angel, his angel; her cream nightie flowed to her ankles, hugging her curvy form to perfection, her hair tousled by his fingers, her lips swollen from his kisses, her eyes challenging Varun to say a word against her.

He was never more in love with her than at this moment when she blurted the hidden truth about her, her chin slightly tilted up, her nostrils flaring.

“You knew,” she said in stunned disbelief. Her eyes widened when he simply nodded. It angered him what he knew about her past, what she had to go through to do what she did.

He stalked to her, grabbed her hand and dragged her into their home.

“Raj…” her voice made him stop at the foot of the stairs to their bedroom. He whirled around; relaxing his hold on her wrist, he stepped close to her and rested his forehead against hers.

“We need to talk; it’s long overdue. I love you woman, but you can be very tightlipped when it comes to certain things,” he said and placed a quick kiss on her stunned face, before dragging her up the stairs.

“Varun, why are you dragging her upstairs like that? She can walk. Or better yet, carry her,” his mother’s voice carried from the back portico.

Woah. He turned to look at Naina who grinned up at him and then at his mother how was striding purposefully towards them.

He removed his fingers from around Naina’s wrist and slid his hand into her, tightening his hold on her.

“Ma…do you mind? She is my wife,” he said, a bit too proudly. He heard a chuckle from behind and rolled his eyes.

“Your wife hasn’t had anything to eat since lunch yesterday,” she said pointedly.

He whipped his head around to glare at his wife.

“She has hardly eaten anything for the last few days,” his mother continued. He was surprised at the strength in his mother’s voice. She usually talked so softly, as if she would break if she spoke louder.

He didn’t take his eyes off his wife, only now he was looking at the top of her head instead of her eyes. He sighed.

“You can start by apologizing and feeding her instead of dragging her off to garages and bedrooms to have your way with her.”

“Ma…” he groaned, color draining from his face.

Blood rushed to Naina’s cheeks and she stepped closer to him, to hide her face in mortification.

He wrapped his arm around her holding her to his side. “Ma…I’m not…I’m taking her upstairs to help her pack. We are going away for a day or two. I trust you can take care of Ria for a day and then bring her to us?”  

Naina tensed by his side and looked up at him. “But, Raj…”

“No buts. I don’t want any distractions when we have that talk, Naina,” he whispered, his voice stern.

“That’s a good idea. She needs a break. I’ll take care of Ria,” his mother said. “But first, Naina. Come down and have a cup of coffee,” she said, her voice as stern as his.

Naina squirmed. “Ma…I’ll take a shower first,” she said, clutching his vest at the back.

His mother narrowed her eyes at both of them. He sighed.

“I’ll see what’s gotten her in a stitch. You go up and shower,” he whispered to Naina, kissed her head and let her rush up to their room, his eyes following her till she disappeared from sight.