Aryamann's pov!

"I know I need to sleep. But I haven't been able to switch off for weeks. I guess I forgot how to," Bhumi said.

She gave a yawn and a stretch. My eyes got struck on the smooth section of her midriff and I found myself imagining several interesting methods to help her switch off.

I, on the other hand, felt very switched on!

She lowered her arms, but the damage was done; all I could think about was kissing a path up the soft curve of her belly... or down and—

"Besides, I couldn't bear for him to wake up and find himself alone," she added and that admission made me feel like a total bast*rd.

My son was in the Intensive Care Unit and here all I could think about was getting his mom naked under me.

How pathetic.

"He is not going to be alone when he wakes up. I talked to the senior doctor, and he gave permission for your grandmother to stay in, instead of us. He understood that you are exhausted and need rest. Besides there are hordes of nurses, all of them, our sons have managed to wrap around their little fingers." I said, the last part dryly.

Bhumi grinned at that.

"They are real charmers, aren't they?" She asked proudly.

"Yes. Two hundred percent like their mommy." I said and a pretty shade of pinkish red spread across her cheeks, making me want to bite her hard and soft.

Goodness!

"Let's hope they don't grow up into heartbreakers," I said, making her laugh.

"Could you give me a lift to the hotel where our family is staying?" She asked and I simply nodded.

Let it be a surprise for her.

Next few minutes passed by, by the junior doctor coming in and checking her vitals, before discharging her.

In my opinion, the doctor needs some lessons in professional distance.

I glared at him as he checked her vitals, saying funny comments and making her laugh.

"So, Ms Basu. You are all set to go. Take proper rest for the day and you will be as strong as a horse by tomorrow," the junior doctor said.

"That would be Mrs Mehrotra, Doctor Agarwal." I said gravely, shooting lasers through my eyes.

"Uh, sorry, I didn't know. In the chart it was written as Ms Basu," the doctor defended himself.

"Well, they wrote wrong. Get them to correct it soon." I snapped furiously, making the doctor startled.

"Aryamann," Bhumi hissed at me furiously.

"I apologise on his behalf, Dr Agarwal. Thank you for your service. I will follow your instructions properly." Bhumi said politely. The doctor nodded and walked out quickly and my furious eyes followed him.

"Stop it, will you?" Bhumi snapped.

"He was flirting with you," I said angrily and she rolled her eyes.

"He wasn't. He was simply being friendly," she argued.

"Well, that's exactly what you said about Jai too, three years ago. And you do remember how it ended, don't you?" I asked, making her speechless.

I took deep breaths to calm myself down.

"Okay, I overreacted. Let's forget it and move on." I said and gently picked her up from the bed.

"I can walk," she protested but I refused to let her down.

I loved carrying her in my arms.

Bhumi's pov!

The doctor signed my discharge papers, but Aryamann scared the hell out of him.

Seems like the green monster still lives inside him.

Three years ago, I was not able to realise that it was jealousy that drove Aryamann to be at loggerheads with Jai and Ansh. But now I know better.

Aryamann is incredibly possessive about me.

What concerns me is, whether he is possessive because he has feelings for me or because he considers me as his possession.

I shook my head to dispel those thoughts and was walked startled when he picked me up and carried me out, princess style

"I can walk," I protested, but he ignored it and walked ahead with me in his arms.

I could feel the eyes of several people on us. Some were gushing at us, some were disgusted and some were outright bored at the seemingly public display of affection.

He placed me gently on the passenger seat of the car. My brain might have shut down when I fainted, else I would have guessed what he meant to do. But it came as a total shock when he fitted his mouth to mine.

I sighed, my eyes closing, my fingers clutching at air. The sensual caress deepened and my sigh became a soft moan in his mouth.

It was over before it even started.

"Let's get you home, darling," he said and got into the driver's seat.

The drive home was silent, but it was a comfortable silence.

I have been to the hotel the family stays, multiple times, for freshening up and all, but the road seems different now. But as we turned into an affluent-looking tree-lined road of large private houses that overlooked a pretty park I had to say something.

"You're going the wrong way." I pointed out.

"No, I am going the right way." He said.

I sighed. What was it with men and admitting they were lost?

"I know I am a mere woman but—" I started sarcastically, but then my voice turned panicky. "Why are we stopping here?"

Aryamann had drawn up at the end of the road outside the last house. The largest by far, the house was set back a long way and screened from the road by numerous trees.

Presuming he was looking for some place to turn around, I twisted in my seat. As I did so the big high gates of the house opened and Aryamann drove through them. He brought the car to a halt on the porch.

I watched in confusion, as he looked at the watch with a satisfied smile.

"Fifteen minutes. Not bad," he said and my confusion grew.

"Am I supposed to guess or are you going to tell me anytime soon, what's happening?" I asked crankily.

"Didn't I mention before? Here, now tell me what do you think," he asked, dropping a bunch of keys on my lap

"What in the heavens are you talking about? I am too tired for whatever you have in mind, Aryamann. At this rate, it would be time to go back to the hospital and I wouldn't even get a single wink of sleep." I complained, making him chuckle.

"Let's go inside," he said, opening his door and in two seconds he was by my side and lifting me up again.

"Open it for me," he said as we reached the main gate.

I did as he said, still frowning in confusion.

"Wow. Crossed the threshold. We didn't do that custom after our marriage, did we? We went straight for the honeymoon. Well, better late than never," he said, grinning cheekily.

I was momentarily fazed by that grin, totally forgetting that I am at a completely unknown place, without knowing what is running in Aryamann's mind.

"This is not perfect. Obviously not a permanent one either. I just got the keys this morning. So I didn't get much time for furnishing and all. All the furniture here came with the property. I got someone to clean just two rooms. Will handle the others by tomorrow evening." Aryamann added, as he climbed up the stairs with me in his arms.

What the hell!

He walked into a bedroom with a huge four poster bed in the centre. If I wasn't confused out of my wits, I would have enjoyed the interiors of the room.

He gently placed me on the bed and caressed my face softly.

"You look totally exhausted," he said.

"Well, you don't look like a Michelangelo sculpture either," I snapped back, making him chuckle.

"I would like to think that you love me for more than my handsome face and sexy body," he said cheekily and I sucked in a sharp breath.

Love!

After that fateful night, when he rejected my love, there never was a talk about it.

I decided to concentrate on the other matter at hand.

"You said, you picked up the keys this morning? Are you going to stay here?" I asked.

"We are staying here," he said.

I frowned at him in confusion.

"This house is lovely, but I don't understand what it has got to do with me," I said in confusion.

"I will explain tomorrow. Now you need to sleep," he said, but I wanted to know.

"Have you decided to move into property development or something?" I asked, thinking of a possible reason.

"Not at the moment. Look, by now we both know that they allow children home a lot quicker when they live close enough to make treatment or checks on a daily basis possible." He said.

"You bought a house so that Sammy could get home sooner...?" I choked back the emotional sob that was never far away, my voice quivering as she said quietly, "You believed he would get well."

"I believed in your belief, Bhumi," he said and I let out a small laugh.

"I had to believe that. The alternative was unbearable." I said.

"I know, my love," he said.

Everytime he uses an endearment, my heart warms all over.

I looked around the beautiful room and sighed.

"You have done so much." I said.

"We have enough to talk about all these tomorrow. What you now need is a good and peaceful sleep." He said.

"Will you wake me up if there is any news?" I asked, as a surge of panic hit me.

"I promise," he said.

"You won't let me sleep too long?"

************************************

Aryamann's pov!

In my opinion a week wouldn't be long enough for her. But I refrained from telling her that. I simply nodded in agreement and pulled up the duvet to cover her.

As she closed her eyes, I pulled the blinds close, making the room darker.

She was asleep in seconds. I simply stood there and watched her sleep for a while.

As I stood there and watched her sleep, something struck me hard.

Did I ever tell her that I love her?

Does she even know that I am madly in love with her?

The answer is a No.

Today, I saw a glimpse of what it would feel like to lose someone you loved.

When I thought something had happened to Sammy....

How much worse would it feel to lose someone you loved and know you'd never had the guts to tell her the same.

Not that anything was going to happen to Bhumi.

My beautiful marvellous Bhumi. Not under my watch.

It took all my willpower not to wake her up and tell her that I am in love with her.

It has to wait.

Bhumi needs this sleep. Much more than anything else.

The rest has to wait.

I walked out the bedroom, leaving the door slightly open. There was a study down the corridor.

I opened my laptop and did some work, before falling asleep on the chair itself.

I jolted awake when I heard a high pitch screaming. Nothing short of feral.

It made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

I froze as I heard it and when the second peal of scream rang out, I hit the ground running.

It was coming from Bhumi's room.

I was terrified of what would have happened.

Images of her lying in a bloodbath filled my head and I couldn't contain the fear that came with it.

Oh God!

Not Bhumi. Not my Bhumi.

Please keep her safe.

To imagine a life without her...

Three years I had lived in hell, with the ghost of memories lingering around me.

I cannot have it snatched from me again.

I wouldn't be able to bear it. Ever!

Bhumika Basu Mehrotra is my life.

Without her, Aryamann Mehrotra is as good as dead.

A/N

Guys, the book has been completed in stck.. If you guys wish to binge read the rest of the book, check out my stck page : SFwrites..

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SF❤️