Chapter 19
CHAPTER 19
DIYA
W hen Dheer promised me ten kisses, I had no idea where he intended to drop them. But by the time he reached my clit, we had both stopped counting, and all I wanted was for him to keep going.
He ate me out like an expert, his tongue duelling with the hard nub of my clit until I couldn’t keep still. My hips began to move up and down in rhythm with the strokes of his tongue, and Dheer inserted first one finger into my wetness, and then another, moving them in and out hard and fast as he kept up the onslaught on my clit. Before I knew it, my legs began to shake and I could feel the tremors of my orgasm creeping up on me. I grabbed a pillow and slammed it across my face as I screamed my release into it.
Dheer finger fucked me until I came down from the high and pulled his hand away because I was too sensitive from the orgasm. He shot me a feral grin from between my knees and I rose up to pull him closer. I wiped my wetness off his face before I kissed him, tasting my saltiness on his tongue.
He reached over and pulled out a condom from the bedside drawer. I watched in awe as he rolled it on, wondering how that thing was going to fit inside me. I wasn’t a virgin, but I had never been with anyone as well-endowed as Dheer. I was sure I wouldn’t be able to walk straight after he got done with me.
He knelt between my legs but made no move to enter me, and I nudged him with my knees.
“What do you want?” he asked, with a grin.
I rolled my eyes hard at that.
“You know what I want, so stop being a cocky bastard and get on with it,” I snapped.
“Always so ladylike,” he teased. “Seriously, though, say my name.”
“This again?” I demanded, going up on my elbows.
“You bet. I want to make sure you know whom you belong to.”
“I belong to no one,” I said defiantly.
Dheer stroked his erection up and down my wetness until I was dying for him to take me.
“Say it, Diya. Say my name.”
Oh, damn it!
I wound my legs around his hips and locked my ankles behind him as I raised my hips invitingly.
“Make love to me, Dheer,” I said, capitulating because as much as I wanted the upper hand right now, I needed him even more.
“With pleasure,” he replied, penetrating me with one smooth stroke.
I moaned in reply as he hit just the right spot as he slid in balls deep. He gave me a few seconds to adjust to his girth before he began to move slowly, pulling out completely before he thrust in again harder. I held onto the headboard as he fucked me hard and fast until I felt the waves of my orgasm crash over me harder than I’d ever felt. I came with a keening cry, digging my nails into his back as I raised up off the bed. He was still going hard, moving in and out faster with every stroke. I barely had time to climb down from my second orgasm before a third took me by surprise and I came apart in Dheer’s arms. He groaned as he joined me in release, and I swallowed his cry with a deep kiss as we both came together.
He rose and went to the bathroom to clean up while I lay there, trying to stop shaking. What the fuck had just happened here, I wondered. It was supposed to be just sex—meaningless sex to satisfy the desire that had been brewing between us.
It was also supposed to be a tick on my bucket list. I had built him up so much in my mind over all these years that I had hoped sex with Dheer would cure me of this mad obsession. Once I realised that he was no better than any other guy I had slept with, I was sure, I’d get over him. Only, how did one get over perfection? Dheer didn’t just fuck me. He made love to me in the moonlight, and that was going to be a hard one to top for any other guy.
And considering that his lovemaking came on the heels of his mind-blowing wedding present, I didn’t stand a chance against the tsunami of emotions that swept over me as I lay there waiting for me. He had recognised how much getting justice for Sheela Devi mattered to me, and he had achieved just that. Now the dead woman could rest in peace, and I could finally sleep without nightmares.
He came back to bed and turned me over so he could spoon me, and I fell asleep in his arms. When I opened my eyes again, sunlight was streaming in through the windows, and I was alone in the bed. I wondered where my new husband was. When I checked my phone, I was horrified to see that it was almost nine in the morning. Rajput daughters-in-law did not laze around in bed the day after their wedding. My parents and Veer were leaving today, and I had to make some dessert for lunch today as the first dish I cooked in my husband’s house. I wondered if I could just order it from my favourite restaurant and pass it off as my own because I was a disaster in the kitchen. I couldn’t even boil an egg.
I heard some voices in the sitting room and realised they were coming closer.
“Diya’s still asleep,” said Dheer loudly outside the door, and I took it as a signal to jump out of bed and run into the walk-in closet to pull out a set of clothes from one of my trunks. Luckily, my assistant had labelled them neatly, and I opened the trunk that contained Indian clothes. I pulled out a red chiffon leheriya saree and ran to the bathroom for a quick shower.
When I came out, I draped my saree as neatly as I could and slapped on some light makeup. It felt odd to put on the mangalsutra and sindoor. I marvelled at the way my life had changed so fast, and I wondered how much more it would change in the next couple of weeks. I’d have to find a way to guard my heart even as I got more involved with Dheer.
There was a knock at the door and he poked his head into the room to check if I was up. His eyes swept over me with approval and even though I told myself it was silly to crave his approval, I suddenly felt more… well, more everything . Prettier, more feminine, sexier… more everything.
“Are you ready? Ma and Dadi Sa are here for the mooh dikhai.”
“Yes, but what about the police station?”
“We’ll head there after this little ritual,” he replied.
I followed him to the sitting room and found Isha, his Dadi Sa and his mother waiting for me, with two of the staff carrying heavy trays covered in silk. I bent to touch Dadi Sa and Padmini Aunty’s feet, and the latter hugged me warmly, while the former frowned at me. I wondered what I had done wrong now.
“Cover your head, girl,” snapped Dadi Sa.
Sheesh! I pulled my pallu over my head and cursed myself for forgetting this important fact.
“Come and sit, my dear,” invited Padmini Aunty, leading me to the big couch, and beckoned Dheer over to join me.
She picked up a few fat stacks of five hundred rupee notes from a tray that Isha held and rotated them around our heads clockwise and anti-clockwise to take away the evil eye before she placed them back on the tray.
“Isha beta, please send this money to the orphanage in Trikhera as a donation,” she said, and Isha nodded. “With the blessing of Goddess Bhawani, may the two of you be blessed with a baby soon.”
I stared at Dheer in alarm. What? We were married yesterday ! And I had no intention of tying myself to Dheer with a baby. He pressed my hand gently before I blurted this out in front of his family, and I bit my tongue.
“Bring the jewels now,” ordered Dadi Sa, and the staff brought the two trays to me.
Dadi Sa uncovered them slowly and there were sighs all around at the jewellery displayed on the tray.
“Dheer beta, this is the traditional jewellery that every Trikhera Maharani has worn for the past one hundred years. Now it is your wife’s turn to wear it. And Diya, remember, that you don’t own this set. You are merely the custodian of the family’s heritage. You will wear it at all state events to flaunt your identity as the Maharani of Trikhera. Dheer will wear the matching sarpench and signet ring.”
“It’s an ancient Bvlgari design,” said Isha. “Customised for our family.”
“I know,” I said through numb lips as I stared in distaste at the tray.
My skin felt clammy and I wondered if I was going to faint. This was the same set that Dheer’s ex-fiancée had flaunted at my twenty-first birthday party. And now, it was being handed down to me.
I heard a sharp inhale next to me and looked up to see Dheer looking very grim. He shook his head at Isha, and she looked from him to me before her eyes widened in understanding.
“Come on. Put it on,” urged Dadi Sa, holding out the velvet box that contained the viper necklace. I stared at it as if it was about to bite me.
Dheer took it from her with a smile when I made no move to take it.
“Dadi sa, I would like to put this jewellery on my wife in private, if you don’t mind. I’ve waited for years to see this set on my wife, and I don’t want to put it on her in front of anyone.”
“Hain? What nonsense! This is a ritual that is performed in front of everyone,” complained his Dadi Sa.
“Well, you’ve performed the ritual. You gave her the set, and she’s accepted it,” he replied sternly, grabbing my hand and placing it on the tray. “But she will wear it for the first time in the privacy of our bedroom.”
His grandmother looked at Padmini Aunty in dismay.
“I don’t understand these new-fangled ideas!”
“That may be so, Ma Sa. But Dheer and Diya will create their own traditions now that they are the heads of the family. Beta, in addition to the jewellery, there is one more thing that’s yours from today,” said Padmini Aunty as she held out a smaller tray that contained a big bunch of keys, with a platinum and diamond challa in the same viper design.
“What is this, Aunty?”
“These are the keys to the palace. They belong to you now. You can run the household as you wish.”
I shook my head in surprise.
“I can’t take that from you, Aunty. This is your house, your palace…”
“Diya, you are the new Maharani,” she said gently. “This palace is your responsibility now. The old has to give way to the new, beta. That’s the way it always has been in our family.”
I took the keys unwillingly, feeling like a fraud. These keys belonged to the woman who would become the real Maharani of Trikhera, not to a temporary wife. I wanted nothing to do with the trappings of this marriage because they would only make my eventual departure harder.
“But what am I supposed to do with these, Aunty? I can’t wear the challa at my waist all day like they used to do in Dadi Sa’s times.”
She laughed and gestured for me to place them back on the tray.
“It’s a symbolic gesture, my dear. The staff runs the house very efficiently, and all you have to do is manage them. Keep the keys safe, though. You don’t have to carry them around with you, but make sure you lock up the tijori keys safely every day.”
I nodded and she waved the staff away.
“Ma Sa, I think it’s time for your morning prayers,” said Padmini Aunty, leading Dadi Sa out of the room.
Isha waited until the door closed behind them before she turned to me.
“What happened? Why did you get so upset when you saw the jewellery?” she asked.
“They’ve been worn before,” I said softly, not looking at Dheer even though I was aware of his intense gaze on me.
“Yes,” replied Isha impatiently. “By all the Maharanis who came before you.”
I turned to meet Dheer’s gaze accusingly.
“And also by the fiancée who came before me,” I said coldly. “I do not wear rejects, Isha. Not even if a hundred Maharanis have worn them before me.”
Dheer met my eyes calmly. He knew I wasn’t only talking about the jewellery. It all came rushing back to me. His betrayal. My heartbreak. I was such a fool to be carried away by his lovemaking. It didn’t change anything. He was still the person who had broken my heart so callously.
Isha’s sharp intake of breath told me that she finally got what I was saying.
“But Dadi Sa will expect you to wear the set, Diya,” she said worriedly.
“No,” said Dheer firmly. “Diya won’t wear it if she doesn’t want to.”
“But Bhai Sa…”
“No, Isha. There will be no buts. Diya’s right. She does not need to wear anyone’s rejects. The traditions of our family have evolved over the years, so nothing is written in stone. Diya will pick her own jewellery. Something that will reflect her personal style as well her identity as the Maharani of Trikhera. And that can be our new tradition.”
I shook my head sadly.
“I won’t be here long enough to set any traditions, Your Highness. The countdown to our divorce starts now,” I said, turning on my heel and walking into the bedroom.