Sleeping pills
Since he was back from Islamabad, she was already planning to resort to her previous
measures of avoiding him.
The night sprawled in the sky, but tonight she didn't leave her room like the other times she
would, considering and probing over the words he had said to her this morning.
"I've got my eyes on you, Sheherzaad."
There was a subtle hanging threat in his tone while his eyes pierced hers, as if he wanted
the message to sink in and for her to know the deeper meaning of his words.
That he was aware.
He has always been aware of her activities.
And what she has been doing behind his back.
Those sleeping pills...
No!
He should not know that at any cost. It could give him a potential chance to teach her a
lesson and punish her.
She had become so scared of the single sentence he had said to her in the morning that she
had to get up and pray so he wouldn't punish her. She was terrified of him. Fear was not
enough to define what she carried for him. She would do anything for him not to send her
back to that cell.
That paranoia didn't let her leave her room as she always did the other nights to avoid him.
She had a hunch that he must have noticed her pattern and deduced that she was avoiding
him. She prayed that whatever she thought was not true.
He had directly addressed her behavior and now, despite wanting to, she couldn't leave the
room and be away from him.
The clock struck 10.
And her heart was palpitating.
It might be the first time she was seeing him late at night after their wedding.
She did not know why, but she felt her palms getting clammy.
She felt nauseous and severely apprehensive. To this day, she herself was not able to
understand why her body was reacting all worked up and anxious around him, specifically
after their wedding. These reactions were not in her control.
She had lost control over her mind long ago.
Now it was her brain that had control over her.
The door to her room cracked open, making her jolt and bringing her out of her world of
imagination. Her face turned to the left, watching him walk in.
Sleeves rolled up, revealing forearms. Coat loosely hanging on his shoulder. The first few
buttons of his shirt opened. One hand stuffed in his pocket while the other held the coat.
As he entered, she stood up and looked at him before looking down at the floor. She didn't
know what to do. Nervousness enveloped her. She began rubbing her fingers together,
which was a sign of her uneasiness.
He stepped forward toward her while throwing the coat away. She further moved her head
down. Before she could realize, both her arms got in his grasp and she flinched, first looking
at his hands that held her arms, and then moving her eyes up to his face, which was
emotionless and blank. His grey eyes complemented the grey shirt he was wearing. Defined
stubble and sharp jawline, with perfect cheekbones and thick lashes, she felt like staring at
an angel.
A devil disguised as an angel. She had always found him so handsome and attractive that
every chance she got, she would stare at his mesmerizing face.
His eyes were zeroed in on hers.
"How was your day?" he muttered, turning her around so now her back was against his
front. Fixing his chin against her shoulder, he wrapped his arms around her, hugging her
tightly as if his life depended on it. Sheherzaad shivered in his arms. Feeling tiny and
vulnerable.
"Hmm?" He hummed, they both staring at each other through the mirror. But she could not
hold his intense gaze on her, so as usual, her eyes flashed down, staring at the floor.
"G-good," she whispered. Her voice was as dry as her parched throat. The moment he had
entered the room, her throat had gone dry.
Still, her eyes were looking at the mesmerizing floor. Her words would become fewer
around him. Rather, for some reasons, she would find it really difficult to speak in front of
him.
It wouldn't matter how handsome he looked, he was terrifying for her.
He stared at her through the mirror but not for once did she raise her eyes. Her breathing
fast and quickened.
That innocent face of hers tempting him so much, inviting him to her. More so when she
took her lower lip between her teeth out of her nervousness.
Her shyness.
Her hesitance.
Nervousness and fear.
Tempting him so much that he wanted to feel her.
Just like he felt her lips yesterday.
It had been days since he had last touched her, truly, in all senses, and he had been waiting
for the right moment patiently.
The right moment she had been delaying on purpose.
"Little lady, what is stopping you from looking at your husband?" he at last addressed,
making her eyes flash up, and they again connected in the mirror.
His eyes hooded as a smile came over his lips. His hand snaked through her arm and
grasped her dainty hand. His eyes had still arrested her orbs as he moved her small hand
closer to his lips, brushing his lips against her knuckles before giving a kiss.
"I like you, Zaad," he uttered, releasing her hand, "and just so you know, I notice everything
you do," he said, and she felt as if his hold on her body had tightened.
"Everything," He pushed her hair aside from the back of her to her front.
"Which includes you on purpose avoiding me."
Scared, she tried to slip herself out of his hold, and he didn't let her.
"Which includes you taking sleeping pills and that too without my permission."
Her heart dropped into the pit of her stomach.
"Which also includes you going to Baba's room whenever I get home and not coming to the
room until you're sure that I slept."
Her breathing became ragged, and instinctively she tried to release herself from him, but he
didn't budge. Rather, he tightened his clasp around her, making it difficult for her to
breathe.
She wanted to run.
Run and hide.
Because now nothing would save her from his wrath.
"And how can I forget, how you'd run and hide from my physical advances, little lady?"