Page 172 of One Hellish Desire

“I will shield you in times of joy, sorrow, sickness, or celebration. When situations are against us, we will laugh at them and defeat them together.”

Aww! Can this man be any more romantic? I’m so glad I found him. The chanting of the mantras continues, and it’s my turn for the next vow.

“I will pray for the longevity of your life and give you babies. We will light their lives with abundant love.”

He grins. “Babies? I thought you would stop at one baby.”

I pat his chest. “We’ll decide that later. Your turn for the next vow.”

This time he pulls me even closer. “I will always treat you as my equal, help you in need, take your advice when I’m in trouble, and most importantly, I will omit anything and everything that can ever create a distance between us.”

I wonder how I didn’t faint by now? I’m so deeply touched.

“I promise to share all my secrets with you and honor and love you unconditionally.”

As our seven vows complete, so do Preet and her husband’s seven pheras. Vikram kisses my forehead, and I hug him tight. If I was missing a proper wedding, Vikram today gave me one without even trying. This is the best moment of my life, and I will always cherish it with him

VIKRAM

My heart keeps recalling the wedding vows we took a few hours ago. It's late evening, and the newly married couple is receiving blessings and wishes from family and guests. Maahi and I have already done that, and now I’m waiting for her to finish greeting her other friends. I have plans to take her to Pichola Lake. I’ve arranged our dinner at a lake resort.

Maahi is still with her friends when she turns around, glances at me, and gestures for a few more minutes. I nod and check my phone. I haven’t messaged Mom today, so I decide to send her a voice message.

“Hi Mom. Guess what? I just attended a traditional Indian wedding, and I was wondering if this is how you and Dad got married too? I mean, with all the rituals and all? When I see you both next, I need to know those details, okay?” I laugh and then sneeze. The ice cream I had today is the reason behind it. “Sorry,” I continue. “The weather in Udaipur is good, but I feel a bit feverish already, don’t know why. I miss you, Mom. Please talk to me. For once. I am dying to hear your voice.”

I send the message and turn around. Maahi reaches me.

“Sorry, they were all forcing me to stay longer, but I told them we have other plans. Where are we going, by the way?”

“Surprise.” I entwine our fingers and lead her out.

By the time we reach the lake resort, it's already dark, the perfect time to dine. Maahi wanted to change before coming here, as her dress is too traditional, but since I love seeing her in this outfit, I didn’t let her change and drove her straight here for dinner. We eat the Rajasthani Thali, which is the specialty of this place. As soon as we finish eating, I give her the small gift I bought for her when she was out for Preet’s haldi.

“What’s this for?” she asks, taking the box from me, surprised.

“I don’t need an occasion to gift my wife. But if you need an excuse, then this is for expanding in New York.”

“Aww,” she pouts and opens the gift wrap. Her eyes glitter as she touches the diamond bracelet. “Oh my god. This looks so expensive.”

“Seriously?” I snap. “Look at the love, Cub, not the price tag.”

“Of course, I’ll be bothered about the price tag. It’s your hard-earned money.”

“I earned you in my life, and that was definitely hard work. For everything else, I have inborn skills.”

My reply makes her laugh. I help her wear the bracelet and then kiss her wrist where it hangs. She gazes at me for a long time, smiling, blushing, and squirming in her seat. It feels like a lot is already going on in her head right now, which is why she’s behaving like that.

“Can we call it a night now?” she softly asks. “Take me back to the resort, please.”

“Of course,” I agree.

I realize she is exhausted and needs rest. Tomorrow is another day to explore Udaipur, so tonight we can rest early. I settle the bill and drive us back to the resort.

As soon as we are inside the room and I try to kiss her, Maahi stiffens. I understand. She just wants to sleep, maybe.

I forcefully put some distance between us. “Go change. We can hit the bed early.”

She nods weakly and hurries to the bedroom. After changing, I notice she's taking longer than usual, so I decide to watch some news on TV in the living room. Flipping through channels, nothing catches my interest, so I turn off the TV and head to the bedroom, thinking Maahi might be out by now.

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