Gauri's eyebrows drew together into a frown. Heaving a huge sigh, she blew the wisp of hair out of her face.

The menu card kept on the table was almost on the verge of virtually demolishing, due to Gauri's scathing glances.

"Chocolate lava cake,
Chocolate fruity smoothie,
Chocolate salted almond tart...
Ugh...  they even have the menu card of chocolate brown colour."

Tucking the strands of hair behind her ear, she looked across the table to discover a pair of chocolate brown eyes staring at her, intensely.

"Don't they have a freaking A.C.?" Gauri voiced out, fanning herself with her hand, in an attempt to find some relief.

Radhika giggled while drinking her mocha, creating a bubbling sound.

"Jaan, it's practically freezing in here."

She gave Gauri a Cheshire cat grin.

"Perhaps, I think it's you who's radiating heat here.
You are hot."

"No doubt," Rudra agreed, nodding with a poker face.

Gauri's gaze swung from Radhika to Rudra. She, then, gave Siddharth a whiny face who shrugged awkwardly.

"I don't like it here," Rudra said.

Gauri smiled brightly.
"Yeah, let's go home."

"Am I delaying you Miss. Gauri?" Rudra questioned,without even lifting his gaze towards her.

He stirred his drink impossibly slow, that managed to draw Gauri's attention.

The way Rudra's fingers waltzed with the spoon and created ripples in the drink must have had seemed normal to anyone, but not to Gauri.

"Something's wrong," Gauri's inner self whispered.

"I didn't mean it. Probably, we could go to somewhere else. You should know, I'm not a fan of deserts now, am I?" Gauri said with a slight pout which appeared unconsciously.

Radhika blew air into the drink and again, made bubbling sound. Siddharth face palmed himself.

"God! I feel like I am with a bunch of kids."

.
.
.

Veer paced across the expanse of his room. Years later, he felt like his whole being had experienced an onslaught of exhilaration.

"May I come in, Veer bhai," Aadya asked with a bright smile.

Veer's lips carved into a smile.
Out of all of his smiles, this was the most genuine one.

"You know, my princess. You never need a permission from me," Veer said.

Aadya chuckled animatedly,
"That's what Dhada bhai says."

Veer's smile turned into a grim one. He turned around and treaded towards the huge glass window.

No matter what, Veer would always come after Rudra, even for his own mother.

A series of images flashed infront of him, making him tremble and stagger back.

"No, no, no. Not again. No!" He chanted.

A sharp pain rose from the back of his neck which soon clutched his head in a vicious grip.

"Ugh!"

"Bhai, are you okay?" Aadya asked with concern.

"Yes," Veer exhaled and calmed himself.

He could not go back there. No, not when he had spent 10 years of worthlessness, paying for it. His soul burning in hellfire for 10 years, no.

Not when he had found ... his reason.

Veer smirked.
His bloodshot eyes along with the smirk gave him a lethal stance.

"Innocence caught in darkness ought to be... tainted," he whispered, while Aadya well-tended him.

.
.
.

Gauri jumped a little when an arm splayed over the headrest of the seat, touching her in the process.
Gauri narrowed her eyes and glanced towards Rudra who was immersed in looking outside the window.

So much of whining, begging and pouting did no good and as expected, she ended up sitting beside Rudra.

She shook her head and looked ahead, determined to not bother herself with her co-passenger.

Siddharth and Radhika were chatting like normal people for the first time. The jeep bumped and Gauri fell on Rudra's chest.

"Wait... he just pulled me towards himself," Gauri huffed.

Rudra's arm curled around her shoulder.

"Careful, Siddharth."
His voice vibrated all the way through his chest making Gauri blush.

Gauri closed her eyes and snuggled, involuntarily.
She could already imagine Rudra's face lighting up with an arrogant smile.

However, that mattered less; rest of the world, mattered less. Everything else faded in the background, when she was where, she was meant to be.
Where she wanted to be...

"Where are we going?" Gauri questioned in a whisper.

"Somewhere, angel. Somewhere," Rudra answered.

His fingers curled around her long silky tresses and played with them.

"I want to steal few moments from time," Rudra said.

Gauri opened her eyes.

Rudra laughed humourlessly.
"Would it cost too much?"

"Depends," Gauri said.
"It depends on the the reason for which you want to steal from time. Is it worth it?"

"Am I worth it?" She whispered mentally.

Raising her head, she locked her gaze with him.

His brown eyes now, were overpowered with the golden swirls.
A storm, a hurricane perhaps, rose in them.

The tides of sea, often crashing against the shore sometimes, did shatter boulder of rocks and carried the fragments along, to immeasurable depth. This showed how easily destruction could be caused.

Rudra's lips curled into a cryptic smile. His eyes turned a darker shade.

"Who are you, Rudra?"

.
.
.

"Rudra Pratap Rathore," Devendra spoke, breaking the tranquillity of his room.

He turned the package in his hand which was sent to him from Rudra.

A letter and a dried black rose.

Devendra let out a sardonic chuckle.

"Devendra Raj,
It takes nothing to stand behind the curtains and pull the strings of the puppets but, it takes a lot to actually stand in front of me, face to face, eye to eye and pull off the same stunt. I hope you understand, and why not.
Afterall, you know me better.
Your dear friend,
Rudra Pratap Rathore," Devendra read the letter aloud.

Keeping the letter and rose inside the drawer, he smirked.

"This is just the start, an auspicious start."

.
.
.

Gauri closed her eyes, spread her arms wide and drew in a deep breath. Her face broke into a smile.

"Knew, you would love it," Rudra spoke from behind.

"Of course, who doesn't," Radhika said.
"Nature and Gauri go hand in hand."

Gauri giggled in response and turned her attention back to the area. They were somewhere near the clearing of a wood. This appeared to be a sunset point, though mysteriously empty. Apparently, no one had visited the place since years. That could explain the overgrown weeds and vines, however nothing could deter its beauty.

"Hello! Psycho, help me," Siddharth grunted, pulling out the necessities from jeep.

"Who? Me?" Rudra asked innocently.

"No, lady psycho," Siddharth said, pointedly looking towards Radhika.

"What? How dare you, you..." Radhika was cut off by Gauri.

The latter had known, the former was on the verge of sprouting something extremely colourful.

Radhika grumbled in agreement and stomped her way towards Siddharth.

Gauri giggled while shaking her head and glanced at Rudra who was staring at her seriously.

His gaze on her was somewhat unnerving.

Tucking his hand in pocket, Rudra covered the distance between them and held out the other hand for her, to hold on.

"Come with me," he said.

"But what about Siddharth and Radhika?" Gauri asked, her eyes swung towards them who were lost in bickering and then, back to Rudra.

"They will... find their way," Rudra answered curtly, leaving no chance for discussion.

Gauri grasped his hand and both walked deeper into the woods. After travelling for few minutes, they reached another sunset point. This one was almost a mirror image of the first one.

Rudra dropped himself to the ground, supporting his weight on his hands. Gauri followed his suit and sat down.

Gathering her knees to her chest, she looked ahead.

The sun had just turned a shade of crimson. Chirping of birds could be heard who happened to return to their abode.

The mark, that the day had come to an end. The sweeping darkness of the night had already started taking the sky under its wings.

Gauri let herself fall back, the weeds tingled her skin. She could see the bright Venus appearing in the sky, with the prideful shine of a star.

She raised her hand. She knew she couldn't touch but the attempt to do so, brought along different sense of happiness.

A slight rustle beside her forced her to shift her gaze.

Rudra was laying beside her with his head supported on his hand and elbow firmly placed on the ground.

Rudra kept on staring at her, who didn't know how much of a celestial nymph she resembled at that moment, with her hair splayed unceremoniously.

His hand desired to touch those velvety soft skin and he gave up to the desire. Rudra was never a person to hold back. He always did whatever he felt like doing.

Rudra's finger acted like a brush on the canvas of Gauri's skin, colouring it pink, all the way it travelled. His finger stopped at the corner of her lips.

How would it feel to taste the fruit of forbidden forest? To take all the nectar of those precious petals that rightfully, belonged to him?

Gauri shivered, looking at the amount of brazen desire swirling in his dark pools, ready to consume her whole.

Rudra lowered himself towards her, his body covering half of hers. His hands planted themselves on either side of her head.

"Traveller of the deserts since long,
In search of an oasis since long," Rudra whispered.

Gauri's eyelids drooped, her cheeks flaming with innocent flames of love.

"The quench of the thirst, who knows it better," Rudra flicked the strands out of her face.

"The ecstatic relief when quenched, who knows it better," he breathed deep, sending shivers down Gauri's spine.

"Maybe I," Rudra's nose skimmed along the length of her neck.

Gauri's eyes fluttered close, her body was burning as if, kept inside the furnace.
Right, wrong; every line got dusted with the onset of storm.

Rudra's lips whispered sweet feathery kisses on her neck.

What a tangible victory it was, to see her withering under his sweet torture.

"No one," Gauri exhaled.
"No one knows the predicament of the oasis," she said.

Rudra paused in his act.

"All alone in the desert, to be seen or not to be seen by many.
Desire of many, but how many could get to it?" Gauri spoke with eyes still closed.

Rudra let out a husky laugh. His hot breath bestowing Gauri with inexplicable and unfathomable exhilaration, marking her soul in the process.

"When found," Rudra smiled, caressing her face.
"Lose in it. Forget the world, when losing one's self in it," he spoke.

Bending down, he captured her lips into a devastating kiss.

Trees swayed, shedding leaves. Seemingly, showering the couple with blessings of a new future. The sun shyly hid behind the horizon, leaving the splash of pink in its wake.

Rudra drew Gauri impossibly closer, not even leaving space for air to pass. The fiery onslaught on her lips left her overwhelming with emotions.

Laying there, vulnerable in his mercy. Never in life she found herself so weak yet so boundlessly beautiful.

His scorching breathes and insatiable hunger, did create rampart in her mind and body.

The weeds got crushed under the pressure of her palms. Rudra gave a last kiss with utmost gentleness unlike the previous ones, snapping the last string of sanity.

And just like that, a tear leaked from her eye and rolled down.

The canopy bowed down, shielding them from evil eyes, well knowing that evil had, infact, found its way.

Rudra kissed the trail of the tear, causing Gauri's eyes to open.

The victory smile lighting his face, spoke thousand tales of a war, won. For Rudra did win a lot more than a war, he won complete control over Gauri's irrevocable and limitless love for him.

They said, the horizon was the limit.
What if the love travelled beyond it, beyond the horizon?

"I love you, Rudra," Gauri stated with abashed smile.

"Again. Say it," Rudra's deep husky voice and darkened eyes demanded to say it again.

And she did again and again... and again.

"I love you Rudra ... I love you. I love you."

Rudra didn't let her speak anymore for he again, captured her swollen lips and took her in a ride of indescribable passion and love. Again, beyond the horizon; limitless.