Page 249 of Rudra Nandani: The Saga of Control And Seduction

His eyes locked onto mine.“See? You’re already doing it,”

I pushed him away with a laugh.“We’d better walk out.”

He took my hand as we walked out of the chamber and into the open area, where preparations for Devarsa’s Haldi and Mehndi were in full swing.

Devarsa sat shirtless on a small stool, surrounded by women mixing haldi and sandalwood paste, singing and dancing. The whole place buzzed with life.

Rudra walked ahead and sat beside him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. I smiled at the sight of them laughing and talking.

“Bhabhisa!” Agastya’s voice rang out, and I turned to see him walking toward me in his bright yellow kurta, looking radiant as ever.

“Let’s dance!” he said with a playful grin, signalling the musicians to turn up their beats.

The sound of dholaks, anklet bells, and flutes filled the air, and I couldn’t help but twirl and jump along with the rhythm. The other women joined in, spinning in sync with the beats of Ghoomar48. My anklets jingled, my bangles clinked, and the whole environment vibrated with energy.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Rudra watching me. Agastya ran up to him, whispered something, and then shoved him gently toward me.

Our eyes met, and for a moment, I forgot we were surrounded by people and in the middle of a celebration. Rudra raised one brow, and I felt a shiver run down my spine. My spinning slowed as he reached me, catching my wrist and making me spin again. I fell right back into the rhythm of the music.

He moved clumsily at first, trying to mimic the dance, whichonly made me giggle. Laughter erupted all around us.

Then I spotted Ranvijay sitting quietly. I grabbed Rudra’s hand and pulled him with me. We walked to him, and I knelt.

Scooping haldi paste onto my fingers, I gently applied it to his cheeks. He smiled, turning his eyes down.

“Thank you, Bhabhisa,” he said softly.

Rudra came forward with a mischievous grin. And instead of applying the paste, he smeared it all over Ranvijay’s face.

“Bhaisa!” Ranvijay yelled, spewing the paste off his lips, and Rudra burst out laughing.

I turned to see Agastya laughing too, holding his stomach, and before he could escape, Rudra grabbed him by the neck and did the same to him.

“Now laugh like that again!” Rudra teased.

Agastya tried to protest, but it only made us all laugh harder. Just as I caught my breath, I saw Rudra approaching me, hands full of haldi.

I took a step back.“I swear, I’ll kill you if you try that on me!”

I tried to warn him, but he only smiled, amused by my empty threats. As his pace quickened, I squealed and broke into a run.

“Rudra!” I screamed, trying to escape him.

The jingling of my anklets echoed through the corridors as I darted through the crowd and reached the quieter galleries. I turned to glance at him and shook my head frantically.

“No! I’ll have to take a bath if you do this!” I pleaded, trying to reason, but he wasn’t listening. His eyes sparkled with mischief, and I knew I had to hide.

I rushed toward our chamber, hoping to find a way to trick him. But the Stupid anklets—they betrayed every step I took.

Then, a plan struck me.

The chamber had circular hallways—one entrance from the left and an exit from the right. All the connected rooms led into it. If I entered from the left and kept moving fast enough, I could loop back around and sneak behind him.

I kept running, my heartbeat thundering in my ears. My breath came in short gasps, and my chest rose and fell rapidly with every step. I barely had time to marvel at how fast I was moving when—

Fingers closed around my wrist and yanked me back with a swift pull. A breath escaped my lips as he spun me around and pressed me gently against the wall.

I gasped, heart pounding, and he looked down at me with that maddeninglysoft smirk.

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