Chapter 6

Ishaan knew the moment he would bare his soul, it would only hurt him in return. Yet, on that night, almost 4 years ago, he opened up. Showed her exactly how he felt, with one sweltering kiss. And that one was all that it took to take her away from him, perhaps permanently now.

Opening the door, Jiya stopped by the porch while Ishaan came back with logs of wood and dropped them on the ground. Grabbing the axe, he started to chop them into small pieces. Diverting all his pain, anger and unruly emotions over the wood seemed a better idea than facing the woman who had the power to smoulder him.

"Ishaan... listen to me, it's not what you think."

And she had the audacity to still talk about that night. He looked up in fury, "You never once returned my calls after that night Jiya! Never once. You had a million chances to tell me otherwise if I assumed any of it wrong."

Jiya closed her eyes. "Ishaan.."

"Save it. I don't want to talk about this. Get inside, it's getting cold." He stated and the tone of his voice said, he wasn't going to hear a word against it. Jiya dragged herself inside and waited for him to return.

When he did, she turned around stopping him by the door and pushing him against it. "Ishaan. Do you remember I told you, I wasn't ready?"

"Jiya. I am telling you again, we not discussing that night."

"We are discussing it. I am not going to let you assume anything. So tell me, do you remember?"

Ishaan dropped the pieces on the side and sighed. The faster he got this over with, the better. "Yes."

"I wasn't ready for you, for us. Ishaan... You have no idea what I feel about you! I fell for you the moment Aman brought you home. You put up with every one of my tricks without complaint. You saved Aman and I knew, there wasn't going to be anybody I would be crazy about as much as I am about you. That scared the shit out of me! You know am sick and tired of being part of army life. I hate it so much.."

Ishaan closed his eyes, gulping. "..and I love the army." He completed her sentence. "There is no way, you would marry an army man and relive your entire life again."

"Ishaan-"

"I understand. It's okay." He mumbled. It wasn't okay. It broke him.

She didn't let him move away from her. She yanked him into a hug. Reluctantly, he held her close. Love, shouldn't be this difficult right?

Looking up, she stared deeply into his eyes. Ishaan tilted his head, with their lips only inches away. He could read the eagerness and longing in her eyes. Jiya was relishing being in his embrace and every cell of her body craved for more, so much more. He lifted his thumb to gently stroke her cheeks. Jiya leaned on to his touch, tears slipping out of her eyes. The only thing the two of them could see and feel was each other's touch. He sucked the drop of tears that escaped her eyes. Trailing wet kisses down her cheeks, he captured her lips with his, releasing all those pent-up emotions. He twirled her around and pushed her against the door. As she parted her lips inviting him to unleash his desires, he claimed her mouth in unruly hunger that consumed both of them.

Ishaan dipped his head down to her neck, he licked and then sucked hard, leaving behind soft red patches on her skin. She let out a moan and clutched his hair drawing him closer revelling in the pleasure he was showering on her. He advanced under the layers of her clothing until his finger grazed against her soft skin. His trembling hands wandered her bare back setting goosebumps on her skin.

Jiya unbuttoned his jacket and moved her hands underneath his t-shirt while he devoured her collarbone. She wanted to kiss and feel every inch of his skin. When she tried to remove his t-shirt, he drew himself back. Breathlessly, he looked away, calming his throbbing nerves down.

"Damn it" Ishaan cursed, rubbing his face.

"This is... not right, Jiya," Ishaan muttered creating a huge space between their bodies. Jiya stood leaning against the door, panting.

"Ishaan. I want to be with you, I want you." She confessed.

He wore his jacket back and ran a frustrating hand through his hair. "You are the only one I am madly in love with. If you want to be with me, you have to be only with me Jiya."

The impending wedding to Raunak loomed over her head like an axe ready to chop her into bits. How could she refuse to marry him after knowing the truth of her adoption? How could she embarrass her parents further? She wanted to think, she wanted to come to terms and she wanted to figure out what to do with her future. Isn't that the reason she left home, unable to show her face to two people who loved her despite all her shortcomings?

Ishaan picked up the logs and went over to the fireplace increasing the temperature. After long minutes had passed, Jiya went over to the couch and dropped down while Ishaan leaned back on the recliner next to the hearth. They stared at each other with forlorn looks, letting the night, fall on them.

***

A shrill sound of something breaking woke Jiya up. Following the sound, she found Ishaan in the kitchen closing the window securely. He placed rows of wooden plans and nail them in place. "What are you doing ?"

"We are surrounded," Ishaan answered her grimly and walked over to the bedroom and closed the doors shut. Jiya felt her heartbeat increase. She glanced at the long lines of cabinets hidden against the walls. She was appalled to see what was stashed in those secret cabinets...

Pistols with enough bullets to take down an army. Grenades and some chemicals to make small explosions and so many other things she didn't even recognize!

"WHAT THE FUCK?"

"Ssshhh! We need to leave this place right now. I manage to count only 5 of them... So this could keep us safe for now."

His words didn't register in her head. Jiya was trembling in fear and uncertainty. Wasn't this their vacation cabin that Aman had brought? Where did all this stuff come from? What the hell was going on?

"Jiya! We don't have much time. I am gonna fix the explosives on the doorway, if they enter, they will be ambushed. We have to get away before that. You heard me?"

Frightened and blank, she nodded and registered only bits and pieces of his words. After Ishaan set up the explosives, he grabbed her hand "I won't let anything happen to you, don't worry! Okay?"

Jiya gulped. "Okay."

Grabbing their things, he took her to the bathroom. The wall behind fell off after Ishaan kicked it and opened it using a crowbar.

Was she dreaming? Was this an action movie?

"Come on jump," Ishaan instructed. Jiya looked back, remembering her purse. Realizing what she wanted, Ishaan fetched her purse but didn't hand it to her. Opening it, he found a picture that she cherished the most.

The picture was taken at Parvati Valley. Ishaan and Aman were laughing, sitting upon the rock, with two mugs of hot coffee in their hands. Jiya was behind them, with her hands thrown across their necks. While Ishaan's eyes were glancing backwards at Jiya, Aman's was looking straight at the camera. Jiya, whose face was close to Aman's head, had her eyes set on Ishaan.

Ishaan remembered the trek the three of them had been to. All through the trek, they were so busy having fun, laughing and pulling each other's legs that they had forgotten to take a single picture. Thankfully they came across a local boy who was strolling by the valley and had asked him to click their picture. Amongst all the photos, this was the only one that all three of them loved.

He pulled out the photo and placed it inside his shirt pocket. Digging further into her purse, he found another tracking device snuck to the pin. Jiya looked in alarm. Ishaan drew a sharp breath and looked at Jiya, "We will have to get rid of this, Jiya," Ishaan said, and before Jiya could say a word, he threw it into the bucket of water. "No more risks."

Jiya sighed, nodding at him. She didn't give a rat's ass about the purse. It was the picture that she cared about, and since Ishaan had secured it, she didn't mind anymore.

"Jump", Ishaan said, letting her go first. He followed her shortly after and closed the makeshift wall behind them. The sun hadn't risen yet, and the early dawn chills sent shivers, leaving behind goosebumps on her body. "Stay here, let me first check around," Ishaan told, before combing through the area with his gun raised, ready to shoot.

Thankfully there were too many trees and plants in the backyard that helped camouflage their escape. "Jiya! Come on!" He whispered. She ran over to him in hurry. Grabbing her hand, he took her away from the cabin and ran towards the woods ahead of them.