Mira had the loose end of her new Jamdani saree pressed to her mouth, her eyes widened in perturbation at the sight she had just witnessed, and with rapid steps she had sprinted up the stairs, running through the corridor to reach the guest room.

"Mira... Ei Mira... Why are you running like that... Miraa?"
Koeli's voice had stopped her on the way, as the middle aged woman hurried towards her and touched her shoulder gently.

"And why are you even out of your room sweetheart... Don't you know we aren't supposed to be out during an auspicious occasion?"
Koeli touched Mira's veiled head tenderly, making her turn towards her, her eyes still casted down with jets of tears threatening to pour down any moment now.

"Arey Poramukhi meye, why tears?" Koeli pressed her lips and smiled, "it's good news... ChotoBabu is getting married... Finally" She handed her a plate of Sandesh, as her free hands cupped Mira's face in a motherly affection.
"Take this... And run inside the room... And don't come out till they're gone... I'm resigning to the backyard servant quarters too... Kamali, Foolur Maa and I, we all widows would be there together... You too can come and join us."

Koeli was smiling, since Dehradun she had developed a liking for this soft-spoken sweet girl, unfortunate like herself.

"I... I won't come out Mashi."

"Yes, and Maa Dugga is there, else god knows which widow witch had blackmagic-d the boy."

"What?" Mira looked up, and Koeli rolled her eyes at her in disbelief.

"Kamali heard it with her own ears, Zamindar Babu screaming at him... Apparently, ChotoBabu has fallen for some witch...What a disaster!!"
She huffed the words and held Mira's shoulder.
"Once, Bondita Bahu returns, I'll tell her to arrange for a Satyanarayan Puja... Maa Dugga shall save us all!"
Koeli muttered a prayer on her own and turned to leave, and the girl behind.

Mira murmured something inaudibly, her eyes casted down, fat tears rolling from them, as very slowly she clutched the plate in her hand and walked back inside the guest room, her staggered steps were thoughtful, as if counting every moment.

"Didi? Did you see him? Did you speak to him?"
Bhargavi was seated on the bed, as before, as she got up at once, her restless words shot at her like piercing arrows.

"What's there to speak Bhaggu..." Mira walked inside slowly, and took a turn around the bed, reaching up the shelf behind it, as very slowly she placed the plate on it, beside where her ektaras were kept.
"See what I have... Sweets! for Choto Zamindar Babu's marriage...!"
Mira hadn't turned to face Bhargavi, but the crack in her voice was enough to make the girl feel what her Mira Didi was going through.

"Didi!!"
Bhargavi's voice quivered in emotions too, and Mira let out a dry chuckle.

"No Bhaggu, don't be sad... This is the farthest I can get to... Sweets!" She sniffed back a tear and tried to smile, still facing her back to the girl, and Bhargavi gulped a tear and spoke up.

"But, you can't give up!"

"Give up? You can only give up when you own it in the first place... I own nothing Bhaggu... I've nothing!"

Bhargavi was about to object, but then her eyes fell at the door, and there he was... Choto Zamindar Babu, standing like a demented soul, his face strained with agony, and his eyes fixated on Mira with a fevered earnestness.
Bhargavi got down from the bed, without making a noise, and Batuk shared a glance at her, gesturing her to leave them alone.

"I've stopped hoping for happiness a long time ago Bhaggu, and it's time you too should give up dreaming about my happiness... I'm not meant for all these... I'm not meant for..."

Unaware of the change of presence in the room, Mira continued to speak her heart out, trying to persuade Bhargavi, or probably her own self, to not pine in the name of that far-fetched dream called love. But, the storm waged inside her heart was shattering everything, every last bit of her hope.

Batuk, however, had closed the door behind him, as he inched Mira, and with a gentle touch of his hands, he held Mira's shoulders, turning her around to face him.

"Who said you aren't meant for happiness? It's only an hour ago I saw it in your eyes, Mira!"
Batuk hushed the words, and Mira had jumped up, shaking at this abrupt unexpected intervention.

"Cho... Choto Zamindar Babu... You... You shouldn't be here... Bha... Bhaggu... Where is..."
Mira's words were disoriented with confusion, as a fearful anticipation pertaining to his closeness was muddling up her senses once again... But no! She won't let him tame her heart this time, not any more... She was a witch! A wretched widow witch meant to destroy him, and she, in her senses, would never let that happen.

"Bhargavi is outside, and now I want to know why were you saying happiness isn't meant for you!"
Batuk's eyes were on her face, making her look away, and his hands were on her shoulders, pushing her against the shelf, restricting all her movements, yet gently.

"I... it...", Mira suddenly had no words to utter, and this closeness was making that sense of helplessness overpower her emotions once again.

"Con... Congratulations for your marriage... I... I got sweet too!"
She had however murmured, and Batuk furrowed his eyebrows at once.

"What sweets? I'm not getting married Mira... Not to anyone else... And, I told Kaka very clearly." His words were measured, and it made Mira look up at him.

"What did you tell him?"
Her voice quivered, and Batuk exhaled sharply.

"That I can't marry anyone else... Not now, not ever..."

"And what... what did he say?"
Mira swallowed the words, her eyes expectant at his face, and Koeli's words rang in her ears in a relay.

"He wasn't happy... But do I look like I care Mira?" Batuk huffed, and it made Mira cast her eyes down.

"You should... Choto Zamindar Babu, you should care, he is your family, and you should marry too..." She paused, and Batuk tightened his grip on her body.
"And, you shouldn't be this close to me... This isn't right."

"Why isn't it right Mira?"
Batuk asked calmly, and his right hand trailed up to her neck, grabbing the back of it, and Mira gasped at this unexpected touch.
"Tell me Mira... What changed in this one hour?"

"Everything!"
Mira had gritted her teeth to fight the sensation that his touch was causing in her, her mind trying to shut down all palpable tactile senses.
"You... You should go... "

"And, what if I don't?"
Batuk had dangerously tightened his hold on her neck, as he pulled her face closer, nearing his own lips, and Mira started to wiggle uncomfortably.

"Leave me... Please..."
She gulped.

"Why?"
Batuk's lips had found its place on the crook of her neck, and Mira pressed her eyes shut, desparately trying to battle the senses of his lips, overpowering her entire being with it's all encompassing sensuality.

"Because... Because I'm not yours to touch..."

The words had come out like a forced arrow from Mira's mouth, unretractable, and it made Batuk look up at her, leaving his ministrations halfway.

"Who says you aren't mine? You?" He frowned at her, as in the next moment he held her shoulders, turning her around, her exposed back at his mercy once again. Batuk ran his fingers along the leftover traces of the yellow dust.
"I see you've tried to erase it, but it still says my name Mira... On your body... And you're mine... You understand? Only mine!"

Mira pressed her eyelids letting a drop of tear sieve away.
"No... I'm not... I'm a widow... I was someone else's wife, choto Zamindar Babu... I have a son... I... I can't be yours!"
She was whimpering, as the words came out as sobs from her throat.

"Then why did you kiss me at the terrace?" Batuk's voice was suddenly gruff, hoarse, as the same old feeling of betrayal crept in, foreshadowing his actions, and it made Mira gasp nervously.

"I... I am sorry!"
She had turned around, trying to free herself, but Batuk grabbed her arm firmly, imprinting his fingers on her soft white skin.

"Sorry? Are you out of your mind? Were you playing me Mira?" Batuk spat out the words, his rage inciting intensity of his words raising up with every passing second, and the anger made him feel even helpless. He felt his whole body vibrating, and it scared him, these feelings, and the fact that he was almost willing to act on them.

"No... I'd never play you..."
Mira objected, but Batuk had pulled her into his embrace once again, tying her in his firm grip.

"Then what?" He demanded, "I know you are a mother, and I'll be happy to raise your son as my own... Then what's the problem Mira?"

Mira was sobbing, and his words had somehow ignited some dormant volcano inside her, and her arm was hurting.

"Problem? You want to know the problem Choto Zamindar Babu? The problem is me! I can't... I can't be yours... This can never happen... I'm impure, a witch, men die around me... And... and, I've made peace with this truth..." Her words were a suppressed scream, an eruption, and Mira was panting at her own outburst.

"Is it?" Batuk left her and stepped back, looking at her with widened eyes, spitting fire, and Mira flinched her face at his hurtful conduct.

"Yes..." She breathed out, "and, you should too, make peace... And marry the one your uncle has chosen... Else, he'll fall sick, and I... I can't have another death on my head!"

Batuk saw Mira trembling from all the adrenaline that had coursed up her veins, making her dizzy, her red lips quivering, her ears deep scarlet, and her eyes bloodshot, and taking a glance at her demeanor, Batuk exhaled softly.

"So, you don't feel anything for me?"
His voice was calmer, and Mira closed her eyes and nodded her head vehemently.

"No... I don't!"
She breathed.
Even if I want to, I can't, her heart cried out silently.

"Nothing at all?"
Batuk asked again, inching closer, and Mira continued to nod sideways, tears pouring down her eyes.
"Fine, then let's remind you how I feel Mira..."

His words were like a warm sensuous warning, tickling on her bare shoulder even at that moment of heart-wrenching sorrow, and before Mira could fathom what's happening, she felt Batuk's lips on her neck, suckling on her skin passionately, acutely, and his hands had trailed down to her waist, grabbing the small of her back, caressing her with a sensuous intensity, before he looked up at her again.

"Mira!" He murmured her name, and his eyes had the look of a wounded lovesick animal.
Mira stood trembling in front of him. Batuk's eyes roamed down her body, her head was bent, eyes looking up through those dark lashes, tears running down her face. Her arms were hugging each other lightly, defensively, trying to comfort herself. Batuk moved quickly before he changed his mind, reaching for her and pulling her around, his other hand gripping her wrists and holding them at the small of her back. Leaning in, he nipped her neck again, moving small kisses up the skin to her ear again. She half moaned half whimpered in a mixture of pleasure and fear as he bit her ear softly.

"Stop it, Choto Zamindar Babu, this isn't right!" Mira was crying, Batuk planted kisses on her eyes.

"It's doesn't feel wrong either," he hushed. "Why are you trembling if you don't feel anything Mira?"

Batuk pulled her to his chest, his unreasonable words weren't registering to her senses, not anymore, and Mira panicked.

"Calm down, Mira," Batuk whispered into her ear, moving his hands up her smooth body.

"I think it's time I remind you too, what happiness feels like," he said, his eyes had trailed down her face to her heaving bosom.

"Leave..."
Mira tried to pull away, and in response Batuk pulled away from her neck, as his arms touched her knees, cradling her in his arms with a readied promptness.

"I'm not leaving you Mira... Never!"
His voice was throaty, and it sent a different kind of chill down her spine, breaking down all the barriers within her mercilessly, it was fear, but the sensual anticipation in it weighed more.

Batuk had tossed her on the soft bed, making her gasp, and hovering on her face, as he ran his fingers through her long cascading hair before gripping it's length tightly in a fist.

"You're... You're hurting me!"
Mira let out a suppressed shriek, arching her back to ease the torment he was causing her.

"Admit it Mira... You never felt anything for me? Nothing?" His grip was loosening, transforming into a seductive caress, and Mira gulped nervously.

"This is wrong", was all she could murmur. "I...I don't... want to go to hell..."
Mira breathed the words, but her eyes were closed, her lips dry in needs, and Batuk saw how rapidly her breasts heaved in ecstasy.

"What will you do in heaven without me, Mira... We'll go to hell together... Because, I'll need you there too." Batuk lowered his face, capturing her lips slowly, and Mira quivered once, before letting go of all her defence. His kisses were calming her nerves, wiping her tears, and in its place Mira felt a rush of varied sensation pooling at her core.

"Batakrishna..." She murmured, and Batuk broke from the kiss and looked at her, there was more than desire in his eyes.

"There you go... Now, this is my Mira!" He smiled, and to her surprise, Mira saw tears sparkling in Batuk's dark orbs.

"Don't leave me Mira...  Don't break my heart... I won't be able to take it anymore."
Batuk's words were more of a plea and Mira felt it's sting inside her heart.

"But your uncle..." Mira whimpered, and Batuk pressed his lips on hers again, muffling her words.

"I'll speak to Dada, and have Boudi speak to him, don't worry..."
Batuk kept murmuring the words, as his lips rubbed mindlessly on Mira's soft body, his hands grabbing and kneading her arms, as gently, very gently he tugged at the hem of her saree that had sheathed her bosoms.

"What are you doing?"
Mira gasped, trying to cover herself, and Batuk held her wrists and pinned her on the bed.

"I want to see you Mira... I want to love you..."
He murmured, and his seductive lusty words made Mira gulp nervously.
This was very new to her too, as never before she had experienced such sensuous ministrations from someone who claimed to love her.
Batuk had pulled the saree away, and the sight of her unblemished bare breasts, her light brown hardened nubs, and her hourglass waist made him lose his mind.
He thought her to be a sculpture, an artist's sensuality poured down on the bed, wiggling under his body, and the warmth of her beauty was only for him to relish.

"You... You are beautiful!"
Batuk gasped, his eyes on her sightly heavy bosoms, and Mira turned her eyes away in shame.

"Please..."
She breathed, and Batuk grabbed her soft globes, kneading them mercilessly, while his face was dug into the valley of her alluring feminity.
His lips rubbed on her skin, his teeth nibbled her nubs, suckling nectar out of her, as Mira arched her back in yearning. His mouth on her bosoms were causing inexplicable sensations in her mind and body.

"Batakrishna..." Mira moaned, and Batuk suckled on her globes harder, leaving dark red blotches on her fair skin.
Mira's toes had curled up, and suddenly Batuk looked up at her eyes, leaving his wild ministrations on her body.

"I love you... "
He panted, and Mira, unable to fathom the relevance of this abrupt confession, widened her eyes in shock.
"So you still don't believe me?"

Her expression had formed creases on Batuk's forehead, as he quickly held Mira's hand and moved it down in between her legs, making her touch her core from over the thin wrap of her disheveled saree.

Mira gasped out loud, and Batuk made her rub herself, the warmth of the friction causing her wetness to surface, forming a wet blotch on her saree. Batuk eyed her and let out a grunt.

"See... This is my love making you wet." He let go of her hand, as with a renewed vigour he aligned himself on Mira, making her acutely aware of his sheathed throbbing hardness threateningly torturing her lower abdomen.

Mira closed her eyes to let her senses sink into the ecstasy.

"You've no idea what I'll do to you once we marry... Day and night, I won't let you leave the bed, and this saree won't..."
Batuk was murmuring shameless, but Mira wasn't listening anymore. Her eyes had suddenly opened, wide, and she furrowed her eyebrows in an exclamation.

"Marry? Who?"
Her thoughts had finally formed words, and Batuk looked up at her quizzically, leaving his tongue work on her skin where he had bitten her earlier.

"You!! And me... Ofcourse." Batuk smiled, as he raised his hand and touched her hairline, mocking a strain of false vermillion on her head.

"Don't!"
Mira screamed, and with a sudden abruptness she pushed Batuk away from her body.

"I don't want to marry." Mira had sat up on the bed, her eyes were widened in shock, and seeing her condition, Batuk too got up, astounded, as he stretched his arms, trying to pull her towards him.

"What do you mean by you don't want to marry?"
Batuk felt a stab in his heart, but his mind was still trying to process it, and a dry chuckle came out of his lips.
"Are you mad?"

"No... I'm cursed!" Mira swallowed, her gaze was demented, disoriented.
"Men die when I marry them, I have a dosh in my stars... I... I'm cursed..." She looked at Batuk, and without any prior intimation, she jumped into his arms, cupping his face in her palms.

"You... You're too dear to me to lose, and... And, I can't afford to let you die... This is the reason I had let my son go with Maa... And, now too, I just want to see him once, I just want to know that he's well, and then I'll leave..."
Mira kept blabbering, and Batuk held her in his arms.

"But, how can we stay without marrying? I want you to be my wife Mira... " He tried to pacify her, but Mira moved away, hurling up at a corner of the bed, her hair falling on her shoulders, and her saree in crumples.

"No.... That I can't do... No marriage... No...never..."
She continued to murmured, and Batuk's mouth fell at this sudden change of events.
He tried to persuade her with love, with his touch, but Mira won't listen, nor would she let him speak much, as throughout she kept murmuring how she could never marry him, saving his life in turn.

"So, what do you want Mira? I... I don't want to make love to you completely out of wedlock, and you won't marry me... Then what Mira... Where do we stand?"
Batuk's words sounded helpless, and suddenly all the strength with which he had claimed her seemed to fade away into meaningless nothingness.
"Don't you want me to touch you?" His words sounded helpless, and Mira pulled a pillow, pressing it to her palpitating chest... It felt as if she was there, but her mind wasn't!

"Touch?" She suddenly murmured.
"I've been touched before... Without my consent... You can touch me too... With a cloth in my mouth, and, and... I won't shout."
Mira's orbs were restless, but her words made Batuk lose it completely.
He got up from the bed and banged his fist on the wooden bedpost, making it bleed instantly... But, Mira's eyes were not on him anymore.

"Are you hearing your own words? Do you even know what you're saying? I'll force you? Chii Mira... How could you even think that about me?"
Batuk cried out the words, in pain, in agony, and Mira sat still, looking away, fidgeting with the blue glass bangles on her wrists.
"My love isn't that impure... I can love you from afar too, I don't have to touch you for that."
He huffed, and a drop of tear fell from the corner of his eyes.

"Then don't... Don't touch me... Don't come near me... And don't even think about marrying me..." Mira blurted out.
"And, live... Live a long life."
She quickly got up on her knees and dragged herself towards Batuk.

"Promise me..." She held his hand and made him touch her head.
"Promise me that you won't come close to me... You won't think about marrying me..."
Mira urged him, and Batuk frowned at the vacant look in her eyes.

What just happened to her?
Why was she suddenly so indifferent, so edgy!"

Batuk sighed, and Mira urged him again.

"You don't get to dictate my thoughts Mira, but I promise you this... I won't come closer till you ask me to."
Batuk moved back from her, leaving Mira on the bed.

"And, about your son... I'll make you meet him."

"When?"
Mira muttered, and Batuk turned around, prepared to leave.

"Soon." He replied calmly.

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

Mahamaya was still seated inside the study when Batuk re-entered.

"Oh... You still here!" He mumbled the words awkwardly, prepared to leave, but the woman had jumped up from the chair, as with a abrupt tug, she held Batuk's hand and pulled him towards her.

"Would you please talk to my father..." She fluttered her painted eyelashes and pouted her lips at him, and Batuk felt a disgust rising inside his pit.

"About?"
He asked politely.

"Dhakeshwari temple... At Dhaka..." She blurted restlessly.

Batuk, however, had pulled away from her, his gaze lowered, and his face turned away.
"Madam... I... I'm sorry... I can't marry you."
Batuk hushed the words, his tone was laced with an sincere apology, and Mahamaya let out a cry.

"Why so?"
She yelled, and Batuk exhaled sharply.

"I love someone else."

A moment of silence, and then Mahamaya spoke again, making Batuk frown and look up. Her voice was devoid of that sing-a-song tone, her words weren't that childish.

"Fine... Let's make a deal... You take me to Dhaka, away from here, and I'll set you free."

"What do you mean?"
Batuk narrowed his eyes at the women's now serious face, her eyes suddenly appeared mysterious to him.

"I mean, we don't tell anyone anything now... We simply let the elders do whatever they are doing... Then you take me to Dhaka... And, I'm on my own from there."

Batuk nodded in agreement.
"Secret lover?" He asked, and Mahamaya chuckled softly.

"Something like that..." She winked.

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

Trilochan wasn't feeling very himself after his heated conversation with Batuk, but his sense of decency made him sit up and entertain Abinash Lahiri's endless jabbing.

It had been almost two hours Batuk had gone, taking Mahamaya for a tour around the house, and although Trilochan knew it would probably take an entire day to tour their Haweli, but still this prolonged absence was stirring a sense of discomfort in him.

"Kaka..."

Trilochan turned around to look at the staircase, as he saw his nephew walking down the railing, along with the girl, her head lowered in a characteristic bashfulness.
Abinash Lahiri was staring too.

"Kaka... I'll marry her... Just one condition."
Batuk spoke confidently, and Trilochan almost jumped up on his seat.

"Brilliant... Brilliant Batuk... I'm so so happy... I'm..."
Trilochan hurried towards him, prepared to tie him in a large hug, but Batuk raised his hand, seizing his advances halfway.

"Dhakeshwari temple Kaka... I want to take her to Dhakeshwari temple before marriage."

"Before marriage?" Trilochan's forehead had an instant frown, and Batuk nodded his head, stretching his hand towards the girl, and Mahamaya held it promptly.

"We are adults Kaka... We can definitely take care of ourselves... So yeah, before marriage."

"But?"
It was Abinash Lahiri's turn to intervene.
"Sorry son... But... This is... This is India...Bengal... And, there would be... Atleast an engagement..."

He murmured, and Trilochan picked up the trail of his words.
"Yes... An Ashirbaad ceremony atleast."

Batuk took a deep breath and exchanged a glance with the woman.
"Sure Kaka... Whatever..." He smiled,
"And, yes, there would be one more person accompanying us."

"Who?" Trilochan asked.

"Mira..."

"Mira?"
The surprise and distaste in the old man's voice sounded like a broken chord to Batuk's ears.

"Yes Kaka... Mira... On our way, I'll drop her to Faridpur, that's where her son is."
He replied.

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

Dear readers,
A long chapter on Mituk... The plot moved a lot ahead in this chapter... If you know what I mean ☺️
And, I hope to hear more from you all...
Do let me know your thoughts.

Also, I will not post till all the previous chapters get atleast their minimum deserved votes...
And, 3 more followers guys... I'll wait for it too...
So, vote and follow quickly if you haven't already.
Till then, tata... See you again once these are done. ❤️