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It is said, that morning shows the day, but sometimes it's the night that recounts the true story of the morning, and unfolds the tale of the day that is to follow. It wasn't night yet, late evening rather, when Anirudh and Bondita came upstairs to their bedroom after finishing the simple dinner that was served at the mahogany curved dinning table at the Roy Chowdhury haweli.
It was Mahasurjograhan... It was Ekadoshi too, the eleventh day of the moon, and as per his self inflicted practice, Trilochan Roy Chowdhury fasted along with the widow house helps whose life was dictated majorly by the lunar cycles, leaving the rest of it to the mercy of the orthodox society.
Hence that evening, the presence of only three were observed at the dinner table. Anirudh, Bondita and ofcourse Bhargavi, the three occupying their chairs with rather drawn faces, as that evening, on Anirudh's insistence to serve something light and healthy to his ailing wife, the cooked food had turned out to be too bland to nudge the taste buds with delight.

"Batuk would have never touched this food!" Bondita had pouted a complaint, but before her husband could reply, they both were a little baffled at how little Bhargavi had jumped up at the reference.

"Then I'd have fried him some Pabda, his favourite you know, or... or, may be some kheer... rice kheer ofcourse... He loves it!"

Bhargavi had sounded exuberantly enthusiastic than usual, and the glee spark in her orbs weren't missed by either Bondita or Anirudh, as even through the fat glasses she wore, the emotions reflected from them were pretty obvious.

"You are fond of him, aren't you?" Bondita had smiled at her, and it made the girl lower her gaze at once.

"We... We do math together."
She had cleared her throat and fiddled with the plain white khichdi that lay cold on her plate.
"And he was to teach me calculus, and we planned for a school tour in Calcutta..."

Bhargavi hadn't lifted her eyes that evening, not even once, but her voice made it evident the way she missed him. Bhargavi kept speaking of Batakrishna that evening, and hearing her rave, Bondita had exchanged a glance with Anirudh pressing her lips in a meaningful smirk.

"So your school haan? I was talking to Kaka and I'll see that you get to join the new academic session. Meanwhile, prepare yourself well."
Anirudh had diverted the discussion, and all Bhargavi did for the rest of the meal was nodding her head silently, lost in some unknown thoughts, mostly smiling.

"He said he'd take me for a tour before school starts..." She had murmured once.

The evening hadn't grown much older when Anirudh had kissed their daughter goodnight to retire to his wife.

"Do you think Bhargavi likes Batuk?" Bondita was the first to bring it up.
She was half lying on the bed, playing with her long dark locks, while Anirudh busied himself in lighting an oil lamp after he had shut the rattling window panes of their third floor bedroom.
It was windy outside, and the electricity invariably was gone for the night. In their familiar ornamented bedroom, Bondita left her locks and started to draw patterns in the shadow of the lamp, letting a potpourri of light and shade dancing on her face.

"Everyone likes Batuk, he's a likable boy."
Anirudh's reply was rather plain, as he pulled his kurta over his head and sank in the bed beside Bondita, bare bodied, with a white cotton trousers hanging dangerously low on his ripped toned waist.
Bondita was smiling playfully, as she leaned forward to catch hold of Anirudh's sacred thread hanging from the shoulder, and then she sank back into the pillow once again, her fingers tangled, playing with the thread unmindfully, the way she would always do.

"I know, but did you not sense anything different in Bhargavi's tone tonight?"
Bondita murmured, thoughtfully, and Anirudh sat cross-legged on the soft bed, and took his wife's feet on his lap, prepared to caress them to comfort.

"No Bondita, she's just a child. And she's fond of mathematics and we know how Batuk loves to solve sums... Probably the two has bonded over it, nothing else." He smiled at his wife lovingly, as his hands started to press on her legs with absolute tenderness, making her close her eyes in relaxation, letting her mind forgetting everything peripheral for a moment.

"You don't have to do this Barrister Babu." Bondita almost moaned the words, touching Anirudh's hands placed on her thighs, as he moved closer to her core making her suck in a breath.

"Don't have to do what?"
Anirudh however was smirking, and they both knew how eagerly they had been waiting for this little moment of seclusion since the daybreak.

"These..." Bondita got up and caught hold of his arm moving up her body playfully.
"Stop teasing me... I know you won't make love to me tonight..."

"And why so?"
Anirudh frowned at her amusingly.

"Because, you think I'm unwell..."

"I think you're unwell or you really are Bondita?" Anirudh was smiling, as his hands now moved down to her calves, pressing her soft skin skillfully.
"Who just got out of the hospital Bondita?"

"That was just stress!"
Bondita groaned, and sank back on the pillow.

"And who asked you to be this stressed?"
Anirudh moved his handiwork further down, and now he massaged her feet with utmost care.

"You can't blame me Barrister Babu, first we were fighting, and you know how much it impacts me..." She breathed out the words and opened her eyes to look straight at him.
"And then whatever Candice said, or did... About Batuk... I... I still can't imagine how Kakasasurji would react to it."

Anirudh was listening carefully, as he too let out a sigh and looked at his wife thoughtfully.
"I too have thought about this... And i think that situation won't probably arise."

"What do you mean?"
Bondita's brows intensified at him with interest.

"Well, knowing Candice, I can only imagine the extent she can lie and manipulate. I'm sure nothing must have happened between Batuk and her, and she has been fabricating tales to get back to me."

"And the baby?"

"Well, I asked Paul to do some digging, and let's just say Candice hasn't been a very devoted wife since the beginning."

"But whatever she said about Batuk..."
Bondita gasped, and she slowly sat up and caught hold of Anirudh's shoulder.
"How can you be so sure?"

"Not sure, but hopeful... and That surety can only be given by Batuk himself... I know my brother Bondita, Batuk would never do such a thing... That too with a married lady... I know how shy he was when Raimoti had tried to... Well, we both know how my brother has been with women..." Anirudh kept his hand on Bondita's palm in assurance, and she nodded her head in response.
"So don't worry... Kaka wouldn't have to know this."

"Raimoti is amazing, but choosing her for our Batuk was a mistake on our part... We should never have tried to..."
Bondita let out a soft sigh, not completing her words, reminiscing memories, and Anirudh looked at her with a forlorn face.

"True... I misjudged. I know Batuk is childish, impulsive... But trust me when I say this, I've always envisioned someone strong and opinionated for our Batuk, as the youngest daughter in-law of our family.

"Like me?"
Bondita pouted naughtily at him.

"No... There is none like you Shona... You are my flower petal... You are my Lakshmi, the softest purest soul that there is..." Anirudh touched her nose and pinched a little.
"I was thinking of someone more like your friend, Beenapani Ganguly."

"Beena?" Bondita rolled her eyes at once.

"Why? She's strong, and has a fair sense of right and wrong... And what I admired was her courage to admit her mistakes and acknowledge remedies."

"Admire Haan? Really?" Bondita rolled her her yet again, raising an eyebrow this time, and Anirudh pulled her into his arms and burst out into be soft ripples of laughter.

"My heart and soul and body and whatever there is... It's all reserved for you Shona... I just let out appreciation and admiration seek truths... Am I not allowed?"

Bondita didn't reply, and in response she just pecked a kiss on his cheek and leaned back against her pillow once again.

"I like Beena... She's indeed a good woman", Bondita exhaled and closed her eyes, "but the bitter truth is she's been ripped off the blessings of bearing children Barrister Babu."

"What? Why so?"
Anirudh frowned.

"She's a widow, I've told you... And you know very well what they do to young widows once they lose their husbands... It's basically taking away their chances to re-live their lives, their chances to motherhood and happiness!"
Bondita sighed at her own words, and Anirudh squeezed her arms to comfort her with her melancholic thoughts.
Anirudh too was saddened, but yet in his heart he know Beena would probably never be a choice for his family again.

"Barrister Babu... " Bondita spoke again.

"Yes Bondita."

"There's something else that scares me."

"What is it?" He asked gently. 

"It scares me to death just to think what would happen if Candice involves her Governor husband as she threatened? We both know about his influence? Don't you think our family would have to face serious reprimands if this comes out? Jail... Kalapani... I can't even imagine what all would the old man do take his revenge on us!"
Bondita closed her eyes and shuddered at the thought, and Anirudh wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her to his chest yet again.
By then it was clear to him that no matter how much he would try to deviate his wife from these menacing thoughts that night, she'd still keep ruminating the fear.
Anirudh tried to reason instead.

"Candice isn't that foolish Bondita... She would use his husband's name as a scare tactics, but she'd never tell him that she's bearing someone else's child... No man can bear this infidelity, and Lord Mckenzie is an extremely proud man."

"Then what would happen when she starts showing? I mean you can't hide such things for long!"
Bondita rested her face on Anirudh's bare chest and slowly breathed the familiar soothing musk of his body.
Anirudh too inhaled the fragrance of her hair, before planting a soft kiss on her head, basking in the old familiarity of her companionship.

"That's why she's trying to seek a hideout here Bondita... That's exactly why she's trying to use my family as her back-up." He exhaled.
"Did I tell you what she did with Shomu back in England?"

"No."
Bondita murmured.

"After I wrote to her about our marriage, she first tried to seek Shomu's empathy, and then she tried to manipulate her way to his heart."

"That's awful!"
Bondita shuddered at the thought.

"But you know how Shomu is! He saw right through her intentions and brought it straight to her father's notice... Needless to say, Candice was furious and even stooped to a level of publicly insulting my brother. Shomu didn't do well in his final examination because of all these... And somewhere he still holds me responsible for it."

"That's not right." Bondita snuggled closer to his body and mouthed the words.

"I know it's not... And I'm looking forward to sort it someday."
Anirudh nuzzled her hair and made her giggle.

"So you're saying our Batuk didn't do anything. Candice is lying. And, once Batuk comes we'll clarify things and make Candice confess."

"Umm... In short... Yeah something like that." Anirudh kept rubbing his lips on Bondita's hair, showering kisses, and Bondita closed her eyes and inhaled sharply.

"So no stress anymore... Right Barrister Babu?"
She simpered at her own words and inhaled his body musk once again.

"No... Absolutely no stress... And, one more thing Bondita..." He held her chin and lifted her head up.
"Promise me that you won't fight with me... "

"That I can't."
Bondita chortled and winked at him, before turning her face away, and Anirudh cupped her face in response.

"Then know this, everytime you fight, I'm going to love you so hard that you'll be all sore for days."
His eyes bore intensely at hers, and Bondita felt a shiver run down her spine.

"Is that so?"
She gulped, and Anirudh leaned forward to capture her lips with his.
"Then I'll fight... A lot..." She swallowed hard and closed her eyes, as Anirudh smirked at her words and moved a little away.

"So you don't want me to be tender to you, do you?"
He raised an eyebrow at her and asked mischievously, and Bondita bit her lips and looked away.

A spark played on her orbs suddenly, a happy spark.

"My turn Barrister Babu...." She quickly moved away from him, and shifted her gaze coyly, trying to smile.
"Lie down, I'll press your legs now."
She almost dragged him by his arm and made him fall on the bed, right on her, and Anirudh entrapped her within his embrace and looked straight in her eyes.

"Not legs, but you're welcome to caress a little above."
He smirked seductively at her and Bondita hid her face in her palms at once.

"Ishh... That's so..."

"That's so what Bondita?" Anirudh held her wrists to remove them from her face.
"Haven't you done it before?"

His gaze was piercing her core with intense sensuality, and Bondita suddenly felt like a new bride, turning all shades of red under his overpowering ministration.

"Tell me tonight... How would you want me to love you Bondita..." Anirudh was looking at her with a passion fuelled longing in his eyes, his hands caressing her arms at full length before he pinned her wrists to the soft mattress.
"Let me hear your preferences... Your likes and dislikes..."

"I... I don't have any..."
Bondita gulped and murmured, and Anirudh furrowed his eyebrows at her quizically.

"Everyone has likes and dislikes... You just have to know yourself more to understand those better." He smirked at her, releasing her from his embrace, as he half hovered on her and looked directly into her eyes.
"When I touch you... Where do it feel it the most?" He asked her, his voice low and throaty and Bondita felt a wave of shocks transversing across her body.

"Everywhere..." Was all she could mutter.

"Naa... Where specific?" He touched her lips gently with two fingers and then let the touch trail down to her neck, caressing the crook of her throat with utmost sensuality.

"Here!" She almost moaned out as Anirudh's fingers reached the back of her neck.

"Good." Anirudh smirked, and leaned forward to plant a wet kiss on the spot, making Bondita shiver.
"And, where else?"
He moved his ministrations further south on her body, missing her soft moulds and drawing a path on her midriff, removing the saree in the process.

"Here too..." Bondita arched her back and gulped, her teeth biting on her lower lip unknowingly, and Anirudh smiled at the response.
He removed the portion of the saree that had covered her upper feminity, and Bondita shivered passionately at the sudden exposure, an exposure to the chill and the fire at the same time.
It wasn't her practice to wear a blouse to bed, and when in Tulsipur she'd always prefer to wear a saree than those fancy cotton nightgowns that Anirudh had bought for her. Anirudh on the other hand prefered none, as her raw warm skin was more of a nightly drug to him than anything else.

Bondita had curled her toes and arched her back in ecstasy as Anirudh replaced those two fingers with his warm lips and wet tongue. He licked her skin along the midriff and sucked on the softness of her bosom with love. Her moans were only singing encouragement to his ears.

"Tell me tigress... Where else?"
Anirudh had mouthed the question before sliding his tongue down to her navel, and all Bondita did was grasp his hair and press her face firmer on her body.

"More..." She cried in pleasure, and Anirudh lifted his face to relish her enjoyment.

"Here?" He placed his hand in between her legs, rubbing her core from over the saree, and Bondita bit her lips and groaned out loud in pleasure.

"I thought I was sick..." She murmured in a desire laced thick voice, and with one tug Anirudh tore open her saree freeing her completely.

"You are... And I'm healing you." He smirked.

His eyes glowed, feasting on her naked beauty and Bondita felt waves of untamed desires crushing at her core, drenching her in the nectar of love.

"Let me make you feel better tigress." He winked seductively and pulled Bondita down towards him by her thighs, as in no time Bondita felt his lips sucking at the honeypot in between her legs, lapping up the nectar from her core.
Bondita felt her thighs trembling, and then a pleasing numbness on her feet, and slowly... as the sensuous torture gained it's momentum, she grabbed the bedsheet tighter and arched her back, thrusting herself to his face that was buried in her.

"Ahh... Anirudh..." She cried, a drop of euphoria rolling down the corner of her eye, and hearing his name on her mouth in such a moment, Anirudh felt the need to nibble on her petals to make her reach the moon.

"Pleeeaseee...!" She half screamed, half begged, and Anirudh pushed his middle finger inside her oozing feminity.
Bondita released herself immediately, his face still sunk in her, and it only make him smile.

The smile turned to a serious smirk as Anirudh got up and looked at his wife's eyes, fire burning in her orbs, the fire of her need for him, and Anirudh at that moment wanted to give her everything that would give her the desired satisfaction.
Without breaking his gaze, he saddled her on his knees and started to unhook the trousers that he was wearing, his proud bulge painfully sheathing in the cloth, and Bondita stared hungrily at him.

"Does this make you happy?" He asked her, and she licked her lower lip and sat upright, her hair tangled on the pillow, her vermilion smudged on the forehead.

Anirudh winked proudly, letting the pant drop to his thighs, as he flaunted his massive masculinity infront of her.
Bondita raised her hand to touch him.

A balloon burst!
Not exactly, but something louder... And just then, right at that very moment, Anirudh and Bondita were startled in unison by the sound of a loud balloon burst, an impactful thud, halting every action and thought, that loud bang was a sort of sudden flushing of concern, a reset button, and then a slow transverse of fear coursing through their veins instead of the desire.

"Barrister Babu!" Bondita had quickly pushed him away, as with promptness she picked up the crumpled saree from beside and covered her body with it.
Anirudh too wore his trousers back with equal swiftness and jumped down from the bed.

"Did anyone fall?"
Bondita panicked.
"Rudhi?"

"No... It's louder." Anirudh had grabbed the shawl quickly to cover his body, as he turned to his wife and waited a few precious seconds giving her the time to wrap the saree back.

"It came from second floor, library?" Bondita was almost done, in just a few seconds, and Anirudh opened the door and rushed outside.
"I don't think so." His words faded in the darkness of the corridor.

The sound indeed was not from the library, as Bhargavi was the one reading inside it's half closed door.
And as Anirudh reached the bottom of the staircase, he saw the horrifying sight of Bhargavi running towards him, stopping, and then trembling with a dying lantern in her hand. Her steps had seized right infront of his uncle's door, and inside, on the red and black mosaics, lay his dear uncle, his face concealed with the reds of the floor, where his dark scarlet blood had formed a camouflage with the square patterns, beside him was an old photograph of a smiling woman in sepia, drenched in his blood!

"Hey Maa Durga!"
Bondita's loud scream was finally enough to wake Anirudh up from his immobilised numbness, his worst fear was lying senseless on the ground.

"Kakaaa..." He cried out, cradling the old man's head in his lap.

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Dear readers,
This is the first chapter of this continued New Book.
Based on your response on this chapter, I'll maintain my writing frequency.
If you are reading this, please let me know. Your attendance is a must for me to continue this book.
Also, I'll not set a target of votes for this one, let me see how much it gets!
Happy reading. ❤️