"You tried to kill me!" Naina shouted the moment her eyes opened, backing up against the wall in high alert. "You tried to smother me to death!"

"I tried to kill you?" Ohas cocked his head, recalling Priya had told him about her and Ohas' intentions. He had just tried to put Naina to sleep safely for some hours so he could sift through her phone. It seemed as if Naina had blocked Ohas as he couldn't find him, but he did find detailed videos and lengthy pdf documents on ways to kill your husband.

"What the fuck did you mix in the scent of those flowers? And why did you hold a pillow over my head? I have seen many episodes of crime patrol and I know this is a popular technique!"

"I wonder why you're so fascinated by such episodes. Is that your inspiration?"

"What rubbish are you talking! You're deflecting the topic! You tried to kill me!"

"That was just a bad dream, my dear," he said sarcastically before taking large strides towards her till she clung to the wall like a lizard. "Trust me, if I wanted to kill you, I would have done it much sooner."

"You tell something, but your eyes mean something else," she said fearlessly. "Your eyes tell me that you love me."

"So do yours," he said, observing how there were cracks in her fierce gaze. Or maybe, she had just gotten so good at lying? After all, not even in his wildest dreams could he have imagined that his tiny demon was hatching a plan to kill him. And for what, money? He was ready to sign away his entire empire under her name if she had simply asked for it.

"Good then, we both don't have anything to be suspicious about," Naina said carefully, already slipping towards the door.

"In that case, let's have lunch. I have cooked for you."

"For me? Why, why would you do that? You didn't even do that for me during honeymoon? Why now?"

"That's a lot of questions asking the same thing," Ahanay said, his eerily calm disposition making Naina irritated. "I wanted my little glutton to have a feast."

"Don't you have a job to go to? Why waste time cooking when the butler or Varsha could do it?"

"Did you see something suspicious on crime patrol, like a husband poisoning his wife's food?"

"Sorry, what?" Naina snapped, her eyes wide in terror.

"I was joking." He laughed wryly before holding her hand and dragging her down the stairs. "Let's eat."

* * *

Priya clutched Ohas as her body shook violently, crying till his t-shirt was soaked as if he had been stranded in a thunderstorm. Her pale face had traces of black marks from rubbing her snot and strands of her hair stuck to the corners of her dry, chapped lips. There was a slightly pungent smell in the room and Ohas didn't know what would have happened if nobody had checked up on her. She had let her ripe youth rot to death till nothing, but her bones were left behind for hungry dogs to chew on.

Hours passed as he held her there, she had cried herself to sleep for a while. He could feel the soft rise and fall of her body like that of a newborn kitten, fragile and small. Her dirty, but angelic face appeared more peaceful than how he had first seen her, It was a wonder how she could sleep so serenely after that tremulous outburst like the eternal sleep of a dead person. Suddenly, her thin eyebrows furrowed and her cheek twitched. A dirty fly had settled upon her, feasting and finding her face its playground like a pigsty is for a pig.

Ohas gently swatted it away, but his thick fingers brushed against her face and her eyes fluttered open. She unconsciously wiped her lips, causing strands of her hair to fall limp. Slowly, she woke up and Ohas handed her the glass of water with glucose powder that he had longed for her to drink. Without any questions she drank and without any answers, Ohas lifted her and carried her bridal style to the bathroom. The taps with hot water gushed and filled the bucket and Ohas turned to leave, but a trembling hand caught his little finger.

"Stay," the first proper word she said since morning. He wasted no time in undressing her as she stood still with her limp hair framing her face. Her nightgown was so overused that the fabric had softened to the point it felt like touching skin. He pulled it above her head and she lifted her arms automatically, sliding off the nightgown. She was wearing an ill-fitted, dark purple bra in which her breasts appeared slightly lopsided. The C-section stitch was prominent across her stomach which made Ohas want her all the more, to kiss those stitches. Her underwear was skin in colour and for a second, Ohas thought that she had worn nothing down.

Noticing that he felt too awkward to remove her undergarments, Priya unclapsed her bra and her breasts bounced into full shape, stirring a stronger desire in Ohas. She rolled her underwear down and stepped out of it, revealing dark, curly hair in which Ohas wanted to bury himself. Adjusting his pants subtly, he stepped close to her, picking up the mug and pouring water from the bucket on top of her. He repeated it till she was completely wet, water droplets trickling to places where he wanted to go.

Taking the bar of white soap and rubbing it in his hands till there was a lather, he first hesitantly spread it across her shoulders and arms. She watched him intently, her wet lips inches away from his. Their eyes connected in quiet tension as he rubbed the soap on her arms, before nudging her to lift them. As she stood in her vulnerable position both her arms stretched above her head, he lathered soap on the small hair of her armpits. There was no shame between them- between the prim and proper princess, and the thug.

He lathered soap all over body, his hands lingering more on her breasts which bounced when she laughed, her first laughter when soap went into his eyes and he secretly cursed himself for missing out on the view. With a slight quirk on his lips, he rubbed soap on the rest of her body by crouching on the floor. He rubbed soap even on her intimate part where he touched and she shivered, making both of them realize what was transpiring between them was nothing short of a naked porno film. 

As Ohas got up in this sudden realization that their innocent game had stopped being innocent long ago, Priya turned back showing her perfect bottom. In a flash, she picked up the bucket and poured all the water, immediately grabbing a towel and wrapping herself with it. When the immediacy of it all made her ankle twist, Ohas silently carried her back to the bed.

"Take rest," he said as he placed her down, noticing how the reality of her miserable situation sunk in her as her body sunk in the bed. For a few seconds he had seen her so carefree in the bathroom and he regretted making everything awkward, he wanted to take her right back in and play whatever the fuck they were playing. Her happiness mattered to him more than his or anyone else's and suddenly he realized, he was in love with this woman. "I need to go."

"Stay please," she said, her pale face clean.

"I'll come back," he said quickly, his cat eyes holding a warm sincerity that cold and tough cat eyes never do.

* * *