She was in the garden too. The fairy lights still glowed softly around the lawn, casting a warm shimmer through the fallingrain. She was alone, standing beneath the open sky, lost in the moment.
For a few seconds, Karan could not move. He simply stood there, watching Mishti as she stretched her arms wide and tilted her face upward, her eyes closed, letting the raindrops fall freely over her face and body. Within seconds, her clothes clung to her as the rain soaked her completely, but she did not seem to care. It was clear she loved the rain, something he had never known about her. It was only when she splashed playfully in a small puddle forming near the grass that he confirmed it.
Mishti kept swaying gently, as if listening to music only she could hear, as though a romantic melody played in the background, audible only to her.
Karan did not realise when his feet betrayed him. He did not remember deciding to walk toward her. One moment, he was standing still, and the next, he was right behind her, close enough to feel her presence as she continued to dance, unaware of him.
Then, in the middle of one of her movements, she turned and found him standing there.Close.
Mishti froze. She had neither expected him here, nor admiring her drenched form. Karan took her in again, slowly, but thoroughly this time. The way water droplets still traced paths down her face. The way her lips parted in surprise. The way her eyes widened, struggling to focus on him through the rain falling between them.
The elegant A-line silk kurta she had worn that day was completely soaked now, clinging to her body like a second skin. The moment Mishti realised that, she reacted instinctively, immediately trying to shield herself, crossing her arms over her front, suddenly aware of how drenched and exposed she was under his gaze. That single movement was enough to snap Karan out of his trance.
Seeing her like this reminded him of why he had come here in the first place. Why had his chest been tight with anger? Why had his thoughts been spiralling uncontrollably? And he could not hold it in anymore.
“How could Avni do this?” he demanded with frustration. “And that Meena aunty… doesn’t she have anything else to do here? The moment she sees a beautiful girl, her matchmaking instincts jump out. And Manav… seriously? Just because he likes books and long walks, that suddenly makes him romantic? That doesn’t mean he’s compatible with you.”
He said it all in one breath, anger riding his words, not pausing even once to inhale. Mishti could not take it anymore.
She dropped her crossed arms instantly, stepped into his space, and cupped his face with both hands, pressing her palms firmly against his stubbled cheeks.
“Shh,” she whispered.
She kept moving closer, trying to calm him, unable to believe how shaken he still was. As if he was terrified of losing her. As if the very thought of her with someone else was something he could neither accept nor erase from his mind.
The moment her hands framed his face, his anger began to ease, slowly and visibly. It softened, giving way to something deeper instead.
Mishti didn’t know where that courage in her came from. To get this close to him again. Maybe it was the way his expression changed. Maybe it was because she could see that whatever she was doing was working.
Her thumbs brushed over his cheeks as she murmured, “Just let it go.”
Karan breathed deeply, his anger ebbing, but something else stirred in its place. His body responded before his mind could stop it as a sharp, undeniable desire rose inside him.
Mishti continued stroking his cheeks, but when their eyes locked, she saw it on his face. The way he was looking at her, as if she was the only thing he could see. His gaze lingered on her face everywhere, and her own breathing turned uneven.
Suddenly aware of herself, she lowered her hands and took a small step back, although her eyes never left his.
But Karan? He did not let her retreat this time. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her back into him. Their bodies pressed fully together now, their lower bodies almost colliding, the rain still falling over them, soaking them to the skin.
His gaze dropped to her lips, lingering there, waiting, as if he needed just one sign from her. One hint that she wanted this as much as he did.
Mishti swallowed hard. Her restraint was slipping fast. But then she felt how much he wanted her. When she felt the ache in his lower body, brushing against her softness, she did not hold back anymore.
She leaned in, inch by inch, offering him the unspoken permission to take the next step, and his control snapped.
Karan’s lips claimed hers in one decisive, hungry move. His mouth covered hers completely, drawing her lips into his, sucking them with a hunger that left no room for doubt. He pulled back only for a second, just enough to take both her lips in again, kissing her harder, deeper. The impact of it left Mishti dizzy. It was not meant to be this consuming, this overwhelming.
Her lips trembled as they responded, accepting what he offered, matching him instinctively. Her arms slid around his neck, clinging to him for balance. Karan tilted his head, adjusting the angle, deepening the kiss until it felt so perfect, as if there had never been another way to kiss her with all that he had.
All the longing, the waiting, the restraint, the desire they had both buried for far too long poured into that single kiss, unleashed in the rain that soaked them both. Her fingers slowly slid into his hair, brushing through the wet strands before curling into them, fisting and tugging them when the intensity became too much to bear.
Their uneven breaths were barely audible beneath the sound of the rain.
Karan drew her even closer against him, craving that closeness, needing to know that she was allowing this, that she was meeting him halfway.
In the way she held him, in the way she stayed, he felt how much she had missed him, too. It told him everything she had once wanted to confess, everything she had poured into those words written on the cake that night, feelings that still lived quietly, hidden deep within her heart, untouched despite time and hurt.
When the ache in his body became unbearable, he brushed his tongue against her lips, asking silently for more.Wanting more.
