Stars had lit the sky like snow-flakes in the night, yet it appeared still, like an old photograph. Batuk saw Rai walking towards the open of the terrace floor. In the moonlight her golden beige saree glistened like a pearl drop. He noticed her beautifully pinned hair knotted on top of her head revealing her slender neck and shoulders. Rai was indeed beautiful!

"The night sky is how I came to wish to fly. It is the most beautiful art, alive with in raw energy, a song for the eyes." Rai let out a long held breath.
"At times I felt as if I could feel it vibrating somehow, whispering in a way the ears cannot hear."

"Wow! You have your way with words." Batuk came closer and stood beside her by the crafted railing of the lonely terrace.

"Isn't the stars beautiful?" Rai gasped.
"Sometimes I wish for a shooting star... So that I could wish for...", she paused.

"What do you want to wish for?" Batuk asked softly.

"For something that everyone craves..." Rai turned around to look directly into his eyes, making him lower his gaze in uneasiness.

"You have never been alone with a girl, have you?" She let out a soft chuckle and looked back at the sky.

"Not really... Only Bondita."
Batuk murmured.

"Bondita is a lucky one. But, your brother has his way with women, I must say." Rai chuckled again.

"Dada has his way with a lot of things... I'm not as good as him." Batuk nodded his head and smiled.

"What if I say you are better." Rai swallowed hard and looked at Batuk with a serious expression. Her eyes bore deep as if with an intension of piercing his soul.
"I like men like you... Simple, straightforward, less complicated."

"Well... I might not be as simple as you think I am." Batuk teased her.

Rai didn't respond. She sighed and smiled with a meaningful gesture.
"But, you two have a striking similarity, I give you that."

"Everyone says so. But, honestly there is no comparison. He is anyday better." Batuk smiled and looked up at the dark starry night sky.

"Better? Really? How?" Rai rolled her large eyes at him quizzically.
"Alright let's see... He is a little taller than you... And a bit muscular..."

"One and a half inch taller to be precise and yes, he exercises regularly." Batuk intervened.

"And you?"

"I just swim."
His innocent shrug made Rai laugh.

"That's why you are leaner than him, you are younger, a little tanner than him... But, I know why."

"Why?" Batuk asked.

"Because, he had spent most of his life in England and you amidst the soil of your motherland, free as a bird." Her warm gaze intensified on him.

"He is famous, and I'm no one." Batuk added.
"And he is popular with women."

"But he is taken, and you are not." Rai inched a step closer making Batuk's heart beat faster in an unknown apprehension.

"What if I say I'm taken too." His voice shook a little as he turned away from the girl and stretched his eyes in the dark beyond the horizon.

"And, what if I say I don't believe you." Rai's voice quivered as Batuk turned towards her with a newfound strength.

"What if I say I'm taken by my motherland, Raimoti." He hushed, touching her chin lightly, making her eyes meet his.

Rai gasped at his words.
"A Krantikari!"

"Not in action, not yet. But, at heart." Batuk remarked.

"You know my father is a Ray Bahadur under the British Empire... The thought of Kranti is a crime to him." Rai inched a little closer bridging the gap in between them, as her right hand ran down his arms in soft feathery touch.

"But Batuk Roy Chowdhury, I don't mind... I love the fire Krantikari's possess in their eyes... And I can see one in yours now." She hushed the words and lift her toes to reach up to his height. Their lips were parallel, just a few inches away and their warm breath collided in a suppressed excitement. Rai closed her eyes in anticipation.

"I... We... " Batuk murmured. "We should go."

"Are you sure?" Rai opened her eyes and hushed back. She was still holding his arms and sensed his thudding pulse.

"May be... We should get to know each other a little more first." Batuk swallowed and Rai smiled meaningfully.

"What's the fun in it Mr Roy Chowdhury... But sure... I'd love to know you more." She touched Batuk's forehead sensuously and ran her finger down, along his face, touching his nose and letting the touch linger on his lips a little longer.

Batuk closed his eyes as an outlandish emotion ran through his veins. His muscles stiffened against his will and a repressed exotic feeling of desire tried to overpower his senses making his breath rugged.

"Batakrishna Roy Chowdhury, do you know what my name means?" Rai leaned forward to his ear and whispered seductively.

"Rai... Radha!" Batuk murmured and swallowed a dry lump.

Rai's lips curled into a mysteriously beautiful smile.
"And I'm aware of the meaning of yours."
She inched back a few steps and turned around facing the exit leading to the stairs back to the dance hall.

Batuk stood there, alone, dumbfounded for a moment, revisiting this strange encounter with this beautiful girl. He took a deep breath and walked back to the edge of the terrace and leaned against the railing. It was dark outside, and deserted as far as his eyes could see.

'Women are strange, mysterious beings!' He thought as his eyes fell on a lurking shadow coming out of the relinquished garden below. Batuk narrowed his eyes and tried to focus on the silhouette of the figure. In a moment his senses found their lost vigilance making him aware of the danger of this unwanted intrusion.

"Who is there?" He raised his voice a bit, cognizant of the fact that it won't reach anyone else but the shadow owing to the positioning of the garden. He was standing at the rear end of the palace, facing the backyard garden and unless anyone willingly comes out of the vibrant dance hall to this gloomy seclusion, they won't be able to see this man or hear his voice.

"Who is it?" Batuk shouted a bit louder this time drawing the man's attention.
It was an instance as the silhouette revealed his features in the glowing moonlight and Batuk let out a sharp gasp.
"Satya da!!"

..........................................

"Bondita, you aren't eating anything." Anirudh lowered his voice taking an extra serving of meat for himself.
"Do you want me to feed you?"

Bondita rolled her eyes at him.
"I think I had a little too much of this." She raised the stemmed glass up showing him the little leftover red liquid in it.

"Do you want me to make something for you once we reach home? Something simple?" He asked politely as Bondita started to chortle at her own thoughts.

"What?" He asked, holding a spoon full of rice infront of her lips.

"I want to eat you instead." She started laughing at her own words once again.

"Alright, I guess we're done here... Let me find Batuk... Let's go home."

Anirudh made Bondita sit on a couch and looked around in search of Batuk just in time for a bearer to hand him a small chit.
He opened the note carefully and read the words.

Urgent business. Medical. Don't wait up. Don't worry. Will be back before dawn.

Anirudh folded the note and let out a sigh. This was the third night Batuk had taken off without letting him know his whereabouts clearly.
He turned around to look at Bondita who was staring at the mural on the ceiling with wide mesmerized eyes.

"Bondita?" He placed his hand gently on her shoulder.

"Barrister Babu, look." She pointed at the mural. "How can someone draw up there? That too so beautifully?"
She widened her eyes further in amazement and Anirudh couldn't help but feel enlivened at her words.

"Shona, they used a ladder, a large one." He helped her stand up as they walked slowly out of the banquet hall, wading through the pool of guests.

"But, why did he spend so much on this ceiling when he could have given the money to the poor?" Bondita raised her voice a bit. "He is a Ray Bahadur, right!"

Anirudh cleared his throat and smiled at the few men who had heard her.
"Shona, I'll tell you once we reach home... Come on... Let's go to our car." He almost sweeped her of the floor, leading her into their car.

"Sit tight, tigress... We'll reach home soon."
He started the ignition releasing a cloud of smoke as the car zapped past the saluting guard.

"Anirudh?" Bondita suddenly called out him name, making his heart skip a beat.

"Yes, tigress."

"Do you love me?" She faced outside the drawn window making patters on the foggy glass with her fingers.

"Shona?? What kind of question is this?"
Anirudh pulled the brakes slowing down the accelerated speed of the car.

"Why don't you just answer me?" Bondita murmured.

"Bondita... Look at me... Please..." He touched her right thigh gently making her turn towards him.
"I love you more than anything else in this world. I love you with all my life... You are my everything Shona." Anirudh slowed down the car and slide his left hand around Bondita's neck, grabbing the back of her silky hair tenderly as he pulled her face closer to him.

"What happened? Tell me."

Bondita lowered her eyes.
"I don't really know Anirudh." Her eyes were glistening.
"It's just that seeing you with so many people... Women... I... felt a bit lonely." She let out a sharp breath and looked up to meet his eyes.
"I know I shouldn't have felt so... But..."

Anirudh smiled softly and pulled her face yet closer, planting a kiss on her forehead.
"Shona... I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left you alone... Not even for a moment." He left the steering wheel and tucked a lone strand of her hair behind her left ear.
"Those people, those women, they are just old acquaintances... And you are my life."
His lips moved down from her forehead and touched her swollen lips with tender affection before pulling her lower lip, suckling it in her mouth.
Bondita gasped in his mouth as their kiss intensified, renewing the kindled passion in their hearts.
It had started to drizzle, mild pleasant drizzle soothing to the soul. And without any awareness of the road or the rain, the car that was pulled over the highway, lights on full beam, started to sway a little. Bondita watched how the yellowed yet bright light played in the droplets on the glass window.
Anirudh had leaned down on her, his lips against her cheek, brushing it lightl and yet that light touch had sent shivers through her nerves, shivers that made her whole body tremble.

‘If you want me to stop, tell me now,’ Anirudh whispered.
When she still said nothing, he brushed his mouth against her reddened earlobe as his hands moved up her waist.

‘Or now.’ He traced the line of her cheekbone, his breath warm and rugged on her skin.

‘Or now.’ His lips were against hers, and his hands pressed on the softness of her heaved bosom.

‘Or—’
But she had reached up and pulled him down to her, and the rest of his words were lost against her mouth. He kissed her gently, carefully, but it wasn’t gentleness that Bondita wished for, not now atleast, and she knotted her fists in his shirt, pulling him harder against her. Anirudh groaned softly, low in his throat, and then his arms circled her, gathering her against him, and they rolled over on the lowered car seat, tangled together, still kissing.

"Tigress, let's quickly go home, and..."

Bondita didn't let him complete his words as she plunged her tongue inside his mouth with a renewed vigour.

"No..." She moaned.
"I won't let you go."