"Arnav...."

"Arnav utho na...."

"Wake up!"

It took Khushi 20 minutes to get him to open his eyes and she wondered what in hell was wrong with the guy. He was usually the first one up and ready to take on the world but something seemed to be off today. Mumbling that he'll be up in 5 minutes, he turned over to get some more sleep but she couldn't wait any longer. She had got up, showered, made breakfast for both of them but here he was sprawled across the bed, literally hiding in the blanket. She had nudged him, pushed him and even sat on him but nothing had got much of a response out of him and now she couldn't wait any longer. His coffee was getting cold and it was already 2 pm.

Slowly, she slipped the blanket off his face, while he scrunched his nose in irritation but buried it back in the pillow. Knowing there was no other way around it, she jumped up on the bed and sat on him. She waited a few minutes but when he didn't seem to move, she took the end of her ponytail and stuck it in his ear.

"Khushi please...." he barely mumbled and when she moved forward to touch his cheek, the heat radiating from his body threw her into panic mode. She checked his forehead, face and neck just to realize that he was burning with a fever and she wondered how come she didn't notice it before? Maybe because her own body was so hot due to the blaring temperatures on the island.

"You have a fever" she barely croaked out, mentally kicking herself for her stupidity. Quickly jumping off him, she tucked the blanket around him to grab some medicines, which she had packed as she herself always tended to get sick while being on vacation. As she ran back to the bed to give him the pills, she realized that he hadn't ate the night before and that it was probably not a good idea taking the pills on an empty stomach. Putting the bottle away, she got under the blanket beside him and caressed his hair, waiting for him to open his eyes and when he finally did, she told him that he needed to eat something before taking any medications but he ignored everything she said.

As drained as his body felt, the smell of lavender filled his nostrils and had his senses back in alert. Grabbing her by the waist, he pulled her body close to his and tucked his face in the crook of her neck, taking in the sweet fragrance of her shampoo and soap and herself. Her own hands moved upto his hair and she slowly caressed it, whispering to him every now and then to get up and shower as it would help the fever go down or get up and eat but his even breathing told her he had fallen asleep again.

Slowly, she untangled herself and walked into the bathroom to find a cloth that she could use. Finding a small hand towel, she went to the kitchen and filled up one of the pots with some cold water and came back to her husband to apply the wet cloth on his forehead and neck. She sat beside him on the bed, and noticed the vulnerable look on his face for the very first time since they had gotten married. He had never gotten sick before and she wondered what he took to feel better. They were on an island which she didn't know much about and all of a sudden she wasn't too sure if the plain old advil pills would work on him but she would deal with that once he woke up, she realized.

An hour or so later when his body temperature finally got back to normal, Arnav woke up to find Khushi sitting crosslegged on the bed, with a pot balanced in between. She was dipping the towel into the pot and the concentration on her face made his heart warm. How long had she been sitting like this? He didn't know. He vaguely remembered her trying to get him to wake up but that was about it. Everything else seemed to be a blur and when his eyes moved to the clock behind her, he felt like an absolute heel. It was 5 pm and their first day was pretty much about to come to an end. Instead of him, taking her somewhere and doing things, here she was sitting on the bed trying to make him feel better.

"Khushi.." he croaked, his voice sounding crappier than he thought it would be.

"You're awake? How are you feeling now? Do you want me to get you something to eat? Actually you should eat. You need to take your medications. Will Advil be ok? Or do you want Tylenol? I've got both. Or if you want....ohhh" she barely whimpered as he silenced her.

Somehow during her rant, he had picked up the pot, put it away, tossed the towel somewhere on the bed and had her pinned under him. His mouth moved languidly over hers while his warm hands which were initially cupping her face, moved down her arms and around her waist. Out of breath, she dragged her mouth away from his and tried to hold onto his restless hands which were moving all over her.

"Arnav please. We shouldn't. You're not ok. You need to..." but his mouth silenced her again.

"Shut up" he whispered in between while his lips created a havoc to her senses. His body was warm and delicious against hers and when her hands moved down to his back under the blanket, she realized he was shirtless. His muscles flexed under her hands and his one hand moved to her bottom to cup her thigh while his other hand moved up to cup her swell. In a swift motion, he pulled her thigh up and around him and settled inbetween her leg while her eyes flew open and she gasped loudly feeling him all aroused against her most sensitive flesh.

"Tum bolti bahut ho..." he mumbled against her neck as he nipped on the skin there, kissing her most sensitive stop while he pushed his lower body more into hers and heard her moan. He needed to stop, if not for her sake, then for his own as he could feel his own body starting to give up on him. His hand moved back to her thigh and he slowly lowered it onto the bed and pulled his face away from her neck, breathing heavily. A few seconds later, she opened her eyes absolutely unfocussed, to see him staring down at her with a small smile playing on his lips.

"As much as I would like to continue this, I can't" he replied sheepishly and instead of turning away embarrassed, she moved her hand up, to caress his face. Smiling at him, she told him to go take a shower while she made him some tea.

Half an hour later, Arnav walked out of the shower, feeling a hell of a lot better than before and the smell of fresh tea and food filled his nostrils while his stomach grumbled loudly. Walking into the kitchen, he found Khushi standing behind the counter, taking boxes out of a plastic bag while pulling out some cutlery. Arranging everything on a tray, she turned around to take it back into their room when she almost collided with him but before she could let go of the tray, another pair of hands moved forward to hold onto it.

Taking the tray from her, he walked back to the room and put it on the bed while she jumped and grabbed the remote.

"What movie should we watch?" she asked excitedly while taking her seat on the bed but when she looked up at him, her stomach sank. He sat on the bed, looking absolutely remorse and she wondered if he just wasn't feeling well. Moving the tray towards herself, she opened his box of chinese and taking a spoonful, she moved it towards his mouth and he quietly ate it. One after another, she fed him his food, while she opened her own and ate hers too. After a couple of spoons, she gave him some medication. Smiling, she scooted next to him and passed his food to him, while she moved forward to grab hers.

"baaki nahi khilaogi?" he whispered and she looked up at him a little surprised.

"of course" she smiled, grabbing his food, while she fed him.

"Khushi..."

"Hmmm..."

"I'm sorry..." she looked up at him, slightly shocked. Raising her eyebrow as in not understanding what he meant, she waited for an explanation on what he was apologizing for.

"Because of me, the whole day got wasted... we could have went out and done stuff and..." but before he could say more, her index finger on his lips silenced him. As much as she had been looking forward to going out with him and walking along the beach, she didn't mind staying in and taking care of him. This was the first time she had ever got the chance to take care of him and she would give up anything in her life to do this, to make him feel better. When she noticed him about to speak up again, she mimicked his actions by nodding her head in a no.

"What movie?" and when he just shrugged his shoulders in response, she knew he would sit through any, so a chick flick it was! Moving back against the headboard, he pulled her in between his legs and wrapped his arms around her. Leaning against him, she turned the movie on and engrossed herself in it, while he sat with his chin resting on her shoulder, engrossed in her. Not even half an hour into the movie, she felt his hands move from her stomach downwards and before he could go any further, she slapped them back in place. The making out scene on the screen wasn't helping much and she tried to look here and there, waiting for it to end when his lips moved behind her ear and he licked the sensitive spot there. She slightly giggled in response and tried to move away but but before she could do that, his teeth caught her earlobe and he tugged on it, moving her back towards him while his hands moved dangerously low and slipped inside her shorts.

"Arnav please...." She barely whispered when his fingers flicked against her sensitive nub and she could feel her body going on fire. Instinctively, her hands moved backwards and into his hair, while his thumb moved in slow circles on the tiny nub making her gasp and his other hand rested against her lower stomach, holding her in place.

"Just relax..." he murmured somewhere along her neck and as hard as she tried to tell him to stop, her voice got lost somewhere and her mind concentrated on the pressure building up inside of her. As badly as she wished he would increase the pace, he tortured her slowly.

"Please..." she moaned and she could feel his lips lift in a smile against her neck but he kept his pace.

"Please what... should I stop?" he groaned against her neck and as much as he wished to turn her around and feel her against him, he didn't. He wanted to know what she wanted and he wasn't going to give up till she told him herself.

"You didn't tell me... should I stop?" he asked again while his thumb slowly worked on her.

"Should I?" he asked one more time and she felt his hand that was holding her stomach starting to loosen while his thumb started to slow down. She didn't want him to stop and somewhere the hazy part of her brain registered the fact that if she didn't respond, he was going to leave her hanging in the midst of this sweet torture. She barely shook her head in a no and that was all he needed before he pressed his thumb a little harder and a few more firm strokes took her over the edge.

"Just so you know, I wasn't going to stop even if you told me to..." he chuckled against her hair and in a swift motion, she turned her upper body around and threw her arms around his neck, burying her face in his neck. Face flushed, she breathed heavily against his neck while his arms came around her back and he stroked her gently. Movie forgotten, she closed her eyes and let the tiredness take over her and the last thing she remembered before sleep overtook her was him pressing light kisses on the top of her head and him whispering 'thank you for everything'.

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

The next morning, Arnav woke up before Khushi and was ready before she even stirred. Letting her sleep for a bit, he walked into the kitchen to make coffee but as quiet as he tried to be, the banging of the cupboards woke her up within minutes. Stretching languidly, she took in the fresh smell of coffee and realized that it must be Arnav making it. Jumping out of bed, she rushed to the kitchen to see him standing in a pair of beach shorts and nothing else. Thrown off balance for a few seconds, she walked up to him to check his temperature and noticed that he was pretty cool. Feeling better that he was fine, she turned around to go take a shower when he cornered her between the island and himself.

"Good Morning sweetheart" he mumbled against the corner of her mouth and she turned her face away laughing.

"I didn't brush yet" was all she could manage as he moved a few steps closer to her and she could feel his chest rubbing against her shirt.

"That's ok..." his lips moved over hers and in a flash, he grabbed her by the waist and had her seated on the counter top.

Knowing if she let him kiss her, there would be no end to this and the next second, her legs moved over the island and she jumped off of it, on the other side. Sticking her tongue out at him, she ran to the bathroom to shower before he could have even grasped what happened or catch her and as she shut the bathroom door, she could hear his laughter ringing after her.

Two hours later, both walked side by side along the beach towards the small market place. She took in the quiet beach, the white sands, the turquoise water and the smell of fresh air and after awhile, she felt Arnav's fingers play with hers before he took her hand in his. As she looked down at their entwined hands, she realized that this was the first time they actually were walking hand in hand somewhere and she smiled. They grabbed food, visited some sites and finally got to the marketplace in the evening and she could feel herself getting hungry again from all the walking.

She looked over the bead necklaces, while Arnav excused himself and walked towards a few other shops. She got herself some funky necklaces and bracelets and bought some stuff for Anjali, Nani, her mom and Priya and looked around to get something for Arnav but nothing seemed to be masculine enough. Giving up, she walked towards a t-shirt stand when she felt a pair of arms come around her waist and an open mouth kiss being placed right behind her neck.

"Arnav!" she squealed, absolutely embarrassed at being kissed infront of people like that. Looking up, the shop owner gave her a toothy grin and she thought she would die of embarrassment.

"No problem. Everybody does it here" the old man replied, still grinning and she could feel Arnav's chest rumbling in laughter behind her.

Giving him a shove, she moved away and started walking in the opposite direction. Hearing his footsteps behind her, she looked over her shoulder and Arnav's cheeky grin almost melted her insides, but she was Khushi and she was not going to give in that easily. When his footsteps seemed to move in on her, she ran and heard Arnav muttering a what the!

"Khushi you better slow down! You know I can catch up to you!" he yelled and his voice echoed on the deserted beach. She turned around, stuck her tongue at him and ran as fast as she could without looking back but barely 15 seconds later, she felt herself being lifted off her feet and in the air. She punched his chest while he walked down the shoreline as if she weighed nothing. Grinning, he lowered her onto one of the empty beach chairs and when she moved up to get off it, he lowered himself over her and she moved back looking around to see if anyone was there.

" There is nobody here" he whispered, his face dangerously close to hers and she could see the tan line starting to form on his neck.

"We need to teach you how to put that tongue of yours to better use" he mumbled against her lips before he kissed her senseless. His body relaxed over hers while she laid back on the beach chair and welcomed the weight of his body over hers. He moved back and before she could see what he was doing, he grabbed the ends of her t-shirt and pulled it over her head and she gasped out loud.

"Bikini's are meant to be worn without t-shirts on a beach" he told her while she looked at him absolutely embarrassed.

"I know that! But I don't like people seeing me practically naked" she replied and he laughed at her answer.

"For beginners sweetie, it's just you and me here. Second, I've seen more than that." he replied while his finger dangerously traced the bikini top from her shoulder down to her cleavage. The naked desire in his eyes was obvious and she could feel her body turning red and she wasn't too sure if it was because of his proximity or should she blame the blaring sun. Still laying on top of her, his hand moved behind her back and her eyes flew open when she felt him playing with the string at the back.

"Don't" she whispered, nervous and excited at the same time, seeing this bold side of him.

"Kyon..." he asked while his other hand moved up her back and behind her neck towards the other string that was holding the flimsy material together.

"I don't know..." was the only answer she could come up with.

"Ok I won't, but you have to do something for me." Giving him a 'I don't trust you' look, she nodded her head knowing that either way she was going to be doomed but was pleasantly surprised when he got off her and grabbing her hand, he started walking back towards their little villa. She tried pulling the shirt out of his hands but he held it up high and knowing there was no use trying, she gave up and started walking along with him in her bikini top and shorts and surprisingly, she loved the way the sun felt against her naked skin.

He grabbed a package from the front door and walked inside, giving it to her. Looking at it quizzically, he motioned for her to go to the bathroom and when she opened the bag, inside lay a white maxi dress and she almost laughed out loud. Here she was thinking that he was probably going to make her do something scandalous! Gutter mind!

Still laughing, she walked out of the bathroom and stood infront of him with her hands on her hips. Almost in a daze, he walked towards her and touched the soft material of the dress around her waist.

"I love white on you..." he murmered while he planted his lips on her shoulder.

"You're cute" she laughed and he looked up at her accusingly. Despite knowing that he hated being called cute, she did it over and over and loved the puppy dog face he would make when he was irritated. Realizing that it was almost dinner time, he grabbed her hand and walked out again, towards the restaurant on the beach which was a few feet away. Music was playing and people were starting to gather. Couples were dancing and the atmosphere was as romantic as it could probably be. Before they could grab a table to seat themselves, a bunch of people ran up to them and grabbing their hands, dragged them onto the dance floor where people were swaying their hips to the ethnic music. Both stood around awkwardly for a few moments and when she knew Arnav was hopeless, she grabbed his hand and started mimicking actions of the people around that seemed to know what they should be doing. Slowly, they both relaxed and started swaying with the music, matching their steps. After awhile, when he couldn't take the hunger anymore, he grabbed her hand and walked towards a table to get some food in them before she got distracted by another song.