Amaal noticed Samar turn over his shoulder and give the inspector at the dickey a look. The man made a gesture with his hand.
“Ji, sir.” The inspector at her window punched Samar’s ID into his system and returned the card. “Election time hai, sir, duty kar rahe hai.[132]” He smiled apologetically.
Samar nodded, tucked his licence back into his wallet and rounded the car to get inside.
“Let’s go.”
She put the car in gear and wove through the maze of barricades. And then, as the road opened, she accelerated out of the check post.
“Oh god,” she gasped. “What did you do?!”
“Managed it.”
“Where’s the cash?”
Samar eyed the floor of the backseat under their seats. Amaal’s eyes widened. “How much?”
“Two and a half.”
“Oh fuck,” she panted, still unable to breathe steady. “I don’t remember you people smuggling cash during Legislative elections.”
“Qureshi did most of this then. Shabad was his man. They gave chai paani at different points. Now a four-founder party’s operations are all on me.”
“You gave him chai paani too?”
“Hmm.”
“Very good! Destroy the non-corrupt image of KDP government!”
“It was that or let them punch your ID.”
Amaal gaped at him. He looked conflicted, like he did not want to do it but he couldn’t not do it.
“I would have managed somehow…” she began.
“When the woman you love is threatened, no reason is big enough,” he announced, more like mused. And her body temperature shot up.
Amaal drove away from the city and into the forest road leading towards Shankracharya Reserve. The cars thinned, street lamps went dim. She pulled up on the curb of a deserted road and cut the engine.
“Amaal.”
She clipped off her seatbelt, climbed between the console and straddled him. Before he could register, she slammed her mouth over his. His tongue was as shocked as his body. She dominated it. And then she found herself squealing, falling down over him as his seat pushed to horizontal. Before she could fall completely, though, his hand caught her ponytail, pulling her off his mouth.
The insides of her thighs tightened.
He pulled off her hair tie.
She gaped at him.
Their breaths became heavy.
The car went silent.
His fingers tightened in her hair and he wound it around his fist.
“Undo the button of your jeans.”
She was throbbing just at that command.
