The next morning began the countdown to what Shiva could dramatically confirm was the worst punishment ever.

He woke up to a cold bed, which he hated; he was hoping to cuddle her and shower her with some kisses, to try and convince her to take back the punishment, but she was up at the crack of dawn, 2 steps ahead of her.

He freshened up and dragged himself to the dining table where everyone was settling down for breakfast, when Raavi asked him to bring the flask of tea from the kitchen, unknown to him that she had it in her hand, but hidden behind her dupatta.

Shiva got up to bring the flask, and on not finding it, he turned around to call her, when she put her arms around his torso, raising herself on her toes.

"Good morning, baby." Raavi whispered in his ears, kissing his cheek and leaving just as quickly as she came.

What the f*ck?

Shiva stared at her retreating form, the flask in her hand, taking time to process what happened and not even reacting.

Didn't she say a few hours back that he got punishment? Did she forget after waking up? What was going on?

Thinking it simply slipped her mind, he sat down opposite to her on the dining table, quietly eating his food when he felt something against his leg.

He looked up to find her smirking from across the table, and without a second guess, he knew: she was tracing her toes on his leg.

His eyes widened, as her toes went up and under his tracks, and back down again, feather light but enough to shock him to the core.

She gave him and air kiss when no one was looking, and Shiva looked around, confirming it was for him and not Ranveer Singh who could have magically appeared in his house, given the happening of the last few minutes.

What the actual f*ck.

Raavi teased him some more, loving his reaction, before getting up to complete her assignments.

As soon as Shiva finished his breakfast, he stomped his way to the room, only to find her innocently doing her homework on the bed.

Innocent my foot.

He walked over to her and yanked her up by her arm, "Ye kya tha?"

"Ah ah ah," Raavi pried his fingers off her arms, smirking, "No touching. Ab bol."

"Bahar. Woh kya tha?" Shiva asked her, startled, looking between her fingers and his hand.

"Kya?" Raavi asked, twirling her hair, acting as if she didn't know anything

"Itna tease kyu kiya? Punishment diya tha na mujhe? Bhul gayi?"

"Mere pyaare pati," Raavi said, winding her arms around his neck, "mai kuch nahi bhuli. If I remember correctly, punishment ye tha, ki tu mujhe touch nahi kar sakta. I don't remember saying ki mai tujhe touch nahi kar sakti." She trailed her finger down the centre of his forehead, nose and lips.

Shiva's hands itched to encircle her waist, corner her and kiss the living daylights out of her. But he knew she was very stubborn, and if he broke the rule, she'd most definitely extend this punishment.

"Excuse me, ye cheating hai! This is not fair. Cheater. Raavi is a cheater!" Shiva gasped, appalled.

"Mera itna hot pati hai, tune kaise assume kar liya ki mai, pure 24 ghante, tujhe bina kiss kiye, bina chuye reh sakti hu?" She whispered, her thumb slightly brushing against his lips.

"And this is a game you started, darling." She pecked his nose once. "Everything is fair, in love and war. Okay, baby?"

She rubbed her nose against his affectionately, winking at him and settling back in front of her books, as if nothing just happened.

Shiva stared at her, his breath ragged, heart racing. She was a wild cat, and she enjoyed torturing him like this.

Deep breaths, Shiva. Deep breaths. Isse tujhe aise satane mein mazaa aa raha hai.

He looked at his watch. 11:30 AM.

12 ghante. Bas 12 ghante jhelna hai tujhe. You can do this, Shiva. You can- I CAN'T DO THIS.

Dukaan bhaag jaata hu. Waha kuch nahi kar paayegi. Best. Bhaag jaa beta, warna din bhar shower ke neeche kaatna padega iss chipkali ke harqaton ke side effects se.

He stuck his tongue out at her, and stormed away, grabbing his shirt and making an escape from his torturous wife.

Oh the way she chose to take revenge.

....

Shiva stood in the storeroom, stocking up the inventory, when he heard a very familiar voice saying "Jai Somnath Kaka!" that was going to be his nightmare if she spent another 2 seconds keeping up her game.

Few seconds later, Raavi walked in with a jute bag, and flashed her smile at him, and it was in that moment Shiva knew: she was upto something.

"Lunch laayi hu. Khaa le." She shook the bag, indicating there was a tiffin inside, and he narrowed his eyes at her.

"Zeher toh nahi milaya hai na?" Shiva asked, sitting down on the mat.

"Pyaar ka zeher milaya hai, ab kuch nahi ho sakta." She chuckled, keeping the tiffin on the floor and checking the inventory for him.

She managed the items at eye level and below, while he ate to his heart's content. By the time he had finished, she was climbing the ladder to count the items on the shelves above.

Climbing a very rickety ladder.

Raavi didn't notice the ladder and it's instability since she was very focused and concentrated on shelf 4, but Shiva did. Shiva noticed the step she was on, weak and about to break.

The moment he called out to her, the step gave way, and she fell backwards, screaming and flailing her hands.

Hey bholenaath. Itni jaldi mat bulaao waapas mujhe, ye Shiva aur mere beech favourites mat khelo plea-

A strong pair of arms caught her before she could touch the ground, her hands grabbing onto his shoulders.

She peeked through one eye, and saw Shiva giving her his intense stare, but she didn't make an attempt to move. His mere touch brought butterflies to her tummy.

It felt nice being enveloped in his arms, so close to him, staring into his eyes-

The punishment..

"Ay-Aye bhootnath, chod mujhe. N-no touching. Remember?" She nervously said after a minute of silence.

"Abe gadhedi, nahi pakadta toh teri ye jo ulti khopdi hai, woh 2 hisso mein bat jaati, ye chalta tujhe?" Shiva gruffly asked.

"Haa." Raavi held her nose high, and Shiva smirked.

"Okay." He shrugged and dropped her unceremoniously to the ground, dusting his hands.

"Ahaaa mumma!" Raavi whined, rubbing her backside. "Shiva, kaisa hai tu? Utha mujhe!" She extended her hand towards him.

"No touching, babe." Shiva raised his hands, surrendering and smiling, as she got to her feet, grumbling and dusting her clothes.

"Ab jaake punishment ko punishment ki tarah leta hai. Kaddu kahinka." She muttered under her breath,

"I hate you, Shiva!"

"And I love you too, sweetheart."

"Ghar mat aana."

"Raat ko milte hai!"

Shiva called out his angry wife, who's cheeks were puffed up as she stomped her way back home.

Iss chipkali ki poonch kheenchne ka mazaa hi alag hai. 8 ghante Shiva. Bas 8 aur ghante.

...

The moment Shiva came home, his eyes travelled up and down his wife's figure. And oh, did she do this on purpose.

She wore a sleeveless crop top and loose fitted harem pants, her pallu pinned to her shoulder, flowing behind her back, somehow attached to and beginning from the side of her pant.

Her creamy waist exposed to his eyes only, as she noticed him standing and staring and slyly slid the pallu to one side, before putting it back in place.

She drives me crazy.

She definitely picked these styles up from those magazines she read, because this looked like her outfits from before marriage, and yet somehow looked like a very modern and fashionable saree at the same time.

Wherever she picked up this style from, he had to thank them, because right now all he wanted to do was just rip it off and-

"Shiva, aaja khaana khaale." Raavi called out to him, oh-so-sweetly.

"Ban than ke kyu baithi hai? Chipkali jaisi toh shakal hai teri?" Shiva pointed at her from head to toe.

Liar.

"Excuse me. Chipkali hogi teri biwi. But Somanth ki sabse sundar ladki ne aaj jab Meenu ke god bharai mein ye pehna, toh sab bas mujhe hi dekhe jaa rahe the."

"Sab?"

"Haa. Sab ke sab." Raavi glanced sideways, and got the exact expression she wanted.

Jealousy.

Shiva's jaw locked itself, as he quietly ate his dinner without another word and stormed into his room, leaving Raavi giggling and the others confused.

"Usse kya ho gaya?" Dhara asked, voicing everyone's question.

"Kuch nahi, Di. Chid chida hai, jo chahiye tha woh mila nahi usse subah." Raavi giggled, looking at the door of their bedroom. "Usse mai sambhal lungi."

The moment Raavi walked into their room, a pair of arms snaked around her waist, pulling her closer to him, as he rested his back against the wall.

"Sab tujhe aise dekhe jaa rahe the?" Shiva whispered in her ear, tracing one finger down her neck, "Aise? Jab maine hi tujhe dekha nahi hai, hmm?"

"I don't think your punishment time is up, darling." Raavi kissed his nose.

"Number one, at this point, I don't give a damn. And number 2, ghadi dekh." Shiva pointed at the clock without turning his head to look.

11:31 pm

"I've waited one minute too long, baby girl." He placed a chaste kiss on her cheek, tracing her lips with his thumb, whispering, "Bohot tadpaya hai tune mujhe. Bohot."

Raavi crashed her lips to his, as he groaned in satisfaction. 12 hours of this torture put to rest.

He cupped he face with one palm, snaking the other on her bare waist, making her gasp and allowing him to deepen the kiss.

"And it's worth the wait, no?"

Shiva flipped them over, and dipped his head lower, nipping the delicate skin on her shoulder, and soothing it with his rough kisses, as she sighed and gasped under his ministrations.

"Ye jo curtain lapeta hai apne pe, get rid of it. I need you." Shiva kissed the corner of her lips.

"Excuse me, this is not a curtain. And-mphmhphphm" Her words were muffled by another soul-searing kiss, as he carried her in his arms towards their bed.

"Less talking, more kissing. Bohot sataya hai tune mujhe." His ragged plea made Raavi giggle, as she looped her arms around his neck.

"Woh sab toh theek hai. But I don't want to be gol matol so jaldi."

Shiva frowned, until he realised, that in all the tension he took since morning, he forgot the one thing he was actually supposed to keep-

"Shit. No. Arre yaar. Gadheda kahinka. Aise kaise bhool gaya. Abhi toh mood bana tha." Shiva groaned, resting his forehead on hers, while she giggled.

"Hello mister. Go get my purse, tere se zyaada prepared toh mai hoon. Hmph." She wiggled her nose against his.

"Did I ever tell you how much I love you?" He kissed her, and grabbed her purse, scouring through impatiently and tossing her purse away, setting the square box on the bedside table.

"Now, where were we?" Shiva asked huskily, trailing his fingers down her arms.

"In my opinion, you were punishing me, for being a drama queen, because I punished you for being one." Raavi flipped them over, straddling him.

Well, drama got them where they wanted to be.

....

Fin