Chapter 4 #2
Rob watched the guard pull the man away. Suniti turned to the vendor and said something that sounded reassuring. The old man appeared to apologize profusely.
“What happened?”
“Nothing important. He misspoke, and now he will leave.”
Rob guided Suniti away from the stall, glancing back at the remaining guard. The man didn’t seem nearly attentive enough, but it allowed Rob a chance to draw Suniti into a shaded spot with some privacy.
“What did he say to you, my lady?”
“It will only upset you, my lord. My guard will tend to it.”
“I will not force you, my lady, but I’d prefer you not keep secrets from me. I need to know if that man will return and cause more trouble.”
“He will not.” Suniti glanced around before looking up at Rob, who blocked the sun from her eyes. “Must you refer to me as my lady? I’m not English, and it’s sounded odd for the past month.”
“It would be inappropriate to call a princess by anything less formal. As is, it is not nearly respectful enough.”
“My name is Suniti, but I prefer Suni. At least, that’s what my family calls me.” Suniti drew her lips in between her teeth, wondering if she’d just humiliated herself. But Rob lifted her hand to his lips and pressed them against it.
“My name is Robert, but I’d like it if you called me Rob. We see each other every day. I confess it isn’t by coincidence.”
“I know. If you didn’t make it happen, I would. I’ve enjoyed getting to know you. You’re much funnier than I think most people realize.”
“I enjoy hearing you laugh and knowing I make you smile.”
Suniti blushed, a tinge of pink showing against her caramel-colored skin. Rob wondered if it was as smooth as it appeared, and whether her skin was a different tone beneath her clothes. He’d fantasized about it every night since they met.
“You do so often. I think I’ve laughed more in the past month than in years.” Suniti’s smile radiated warmth, and Rob wished to bask in it.
“I shall endeavor to continue making you smile. It’s brighter than the summer sun.” Rob snapped his mouth shut, not intending to share that thought. Her eyes widened before she glanced past his shoulder. She expected to find a disapproving guard watching them, but they were free of any supervision.
“Thank you. I—”
“Suniti, I’m drawn to you in a way I’ve never been with anyone else, but I must ask you something. I know you’re older than Vinita, and your father is working on her betrothal. Are you already betrothed?”
Suniti shook her head and looked down. “I was a year ago. The man I was to marry died fighting in Jodhpur.”
Rob’s heart pinched for her grief and his envy.
“It is hard to lose someone you love.”
Suniti’s head jerked up. She shook her head. “I didn’t love him. I didn’t even know him. We’d never met. It was only out of respect for the dead that I looked away.”
“Is there no one now you wish to marry or that your father intends for you to marry?”
“I don’t think my father is negotiating anything. He’s focused on finalizing Vinita’s marriage.”
Rob stepped forward and slid his hands into hers. “You didn’t tell me if there was someone you wish to marry.”
“There’s someone I think I wish to, but I don’t know that he would want that type of relationship with me.” She looked away again. He saw the sadness and frustration in the stiff set of her jaw.
“Suni, look at me. I do not take advantage of maidens. I don’t toy with women.
I have never and will never keep a mistress.
I detest the practice. In a month, I’ve told you more about myself than any woman besides my mother knows.
If you do not want what I do, then I will settle for your friendship. But that is not what I want.”
“What do you want?” Suniti met his gaze.
“To marry you.”
“There is no English church near here.”
“So? Could we not marry with a Hindu ceremony?”
“You don’t want an English marriage?”
“Not in the least. I don’t care about a church wedding, and I do not want some cold marriage where I see my wife long enough to beget an heir and a spare.”
“You will think differently when you return to England. You will want an Englishwoman on your arm.”
“I don’t think you realize how deeply insulting that is to me.”
Suniti watched Rob’s brow furrow, and she realized she’d unintentionally hurt him. She was trying to protect herself from disappointment. He wouldn’t be the first man to say he wanted an Indian wife, then leave her and their children behind to marry an Englishwoman in England.
“If I wanted an English wife, I could have stayed there and been married already. I didn’t realize I wanted a wife at all until I met you.
We can travel to England if you wish to visit or live there.
But if you do not, then my home remains here in India.
I have no reason to go back unless it’s what you want. ”
“But your family?”
“I love my mother and brother, but I couldn’t care a wit about my father.”
“He will disown you.”
“Likely. But it’s not his life to live. He made one with my mother, for better or for worse. Do you fear it would embarrass me to take you to England? To have people know we married?”
Suniti nodded. He cupped her jaw and brushed his lips against hers before pulling back.
“You or the family we build together will never embarrass me. I would show you the sights and sounds of London, then shout from the rooftops that I have the most beautiful, kind, funny, intelligent wife in the world. I care not what anyone says, but if anyone hurts you because you married me, they won’t live long enough to apologize. ”
Suniti believed Rob. The conviction in his voice left no room to doubt his pledge.
She brushed her lips against his. He snared her mouth as he nipped at her lips.
He released her other hand, so he could wrap his arm around her waist. He pulled her against him, his arousal pressing against her belly.
“Do you understand what that means, Suni?”
“I’m Indian. Of course, I do. We invented the Kamasutra. I may have never seen a naked man, but I know what happens.”
Rob chuckled at her forthrightness. He appreciated it. “I desire you with a ferocity that consumes me, Suni. I can’t stop thinking about you. I long to strip you and bring you hours of pleasure, but only as my wife.”
“I’ve dreamed about you.”
Her admission made Rob tighten his hold as her hands fisted his shirt between them.
She pressed her hips forward, frustration mounting along with her need.
His hand slipped to cup her backside as their tongues dueled.
She was hesitant at first, but when her tongue swept across his, and she felt his cock twitch, she grew more confident.
A noise behind Rob brought him back to his senses. They pulled apart, but neither wished to let go.
“I’m coming to see your father, Suniti. I’m asking for your hand today.”
Suniti’s eyes filled with tears. “I don’t think he would say yes, Rob.”
“Tell me about Hindu marriage, or at least weddings. What must I do to convince him?”
“There are eight types of marriage. Most are fairly similar, but they differ by social class and what families can afford. I should marry in a Brahma ceremony. They would dress me in my finest clothes, and I’d wear my finest jewels.
We would exchange gifts as part of the wedding.
My father would choose my husband. All but two forms of marriage require the father to pick the groom.
In Raksasha, it would end in violence. You would kidnap me and slay my family.
In Asura, my father would sell me to you. ”
“Those aren’t worth discussing. They will never happen.”
“Gandharva is a marriage based on lust but mutual consent. It’s often impulsive and done between young people who wish to share a bed and don’t want to wait for a more formal wedding, or their families disapprove. That is the closest to what we could have if my father doesn’t agree.”
“What would happen to you if we married that way?”
“I would be disowned and disgraced. My father could seek retribution against you for dishonoring and soiling me.”
“Nothing we do can soil you. I understand the notion because it’s similar in England. But I never want you to think what we would share as husband and wife could ever be dirty or wrong.”
“I know.”
“Do you believe this is only about lust for me?”
Suniti shook her head. “It isn’t about lust for me, either. I desire you. But I feel comfortable with you in a way I don’t even with my sisters. I’m happy whenever I see you, and I wish to make you happy.”
“What do you wish to do?” Rob held his breath.
“I want us to talk to my father together. If he refuses to consider you, then we leave and have a Gandharva marriage.”
“Do you feel rushed?”
“I would have married a man I’d never met. My parents only met three times before they married. They love each other now. How long a bride and groom know each other, often plays little part in their marriage. I feel like I know you better than most brides would know their groom.”
“I feel the same. Can we speak to him now?”
Bellowing behind Rob had them both facing the noise. Surat stood with four guards, and he was furious.