The car entered the large iron gates of the Aalha Mahal of Malwa. Meera looked outside the window and was mesmerized by the beauty in front of her. She has seen the Aalha Mahal in pictures but she never imagined entering it, let alone staying in it as the future queen. The drive to the Mahal from its gates was huge approx 2 km through a narrow but wide enough concrete driveway surrounded by street lamps and flowers on the side, beyond that was grass spread till the eyes could capture.  The whole driveway was lit up like the sun had risen in the night.

Soon, they reached near the entrance of Aalha Mahal and Meera's breath hitched on seeing the beauty. The pictures did no justice to the beauty of Aalha Mahal. It was an old-style Mahal but designed according to modern taste. Fairy lights were lightening it up and flowers were increasing its beauty tenfold. The carvings on the wall were not clear due to the lack of light and the distance but she made sure to watch them closely and carefully one day.

While Meera was busy capturing the beauty of Aalha Mahal, Aashrit was lost in the beauty of his wife who was looking around like an excited child. Finally, he saw an expression other than a blank one for the first time today and he was contended. He couldn't comprehend how she was affecting him so much but he knew he had to control these feelings before they got out of his control.

 And soon he saw her expression changing from mesmerized to nervous and then to blank. He was angry at the change of expression and looked outside to find his whole family waiting at the door of the Mahal. He took a last look at his wife and came out of the car as his side of the door was opened by the driver. As the driver was moving towards Meera's door, Aashrit signaled him not to. Aashrit looked around and saw some media person to whom he didn't want to give any gossip or maybe he wanted to do anything to stay a little close to his wife without showing his weird obsession.

He walked towards the other side and opened Meera's door. He held his hand for her to take which made Meera look up at him with those innocent eyes. She then looked behind him and saw his family and relatives excitedly watching their interaction. Not wanting to cause any embarrassment to him or herself, she silently took his hand in hers and came out of the car. Some flashes blinded her eyes which were soon blocked by her husband's hand in front of her eyes. And soon, there were no flashes and no sound either. She looked at Aashrit only to find him dangerously glaring at the media person. She didn't know the reason behind it but she was glad that at least she was safe from that unwanted attention. Aashrit held her hand and they both walked towards the entrance where the whole family was waiting with teasing smiles on their faces which was ignored by Aashrit. Rashmi did all the rituals for the newly wedded and welcomed her to the family.

Soon, all the rituals were done and everyone seemed exhausted.

"All rituals for today are done. Now let the groom and bride go to their room." Anika said yawning.

"Yeah, you are right Anika. And although you must be tired beta, tomorrow you have your first rasoi ceremony so please try to wake up early. It's only for tomorrow, after that, you can wake up as per your choice." Rashmi said patting her head to which Meera nodded.

Aashrit was so tired from all the rituals and after hearing that he stood up to go to his room when he was stopped

"Bhai, Where are you going without bhabhi?" Revati said teasingly.

Aashrit turned back and looked at Revati with raised brows. Revati swiftly hides behind Rajveer not able to look at her brother's intimidating eyes and that's when Meera knows he is scary making her have goosebumps on her skin.

"Stop glaring at my gudiya. Would you?" Rajveer said protecting his lovely niece.

Aashrit looked at his father shocked at his words.

"Revati is right Aashrit. If you have forgotten then let me remind you, it's the ritual of this family for a husband to carry his wife in his arms to their room." Rashmi said with stoic eyes daring Aashrit to defy her.

Younger ones stifled their laughs on seeing a helpless look on their brother's face.

Meera looked at the whole interaction and she felt out of place. She felt like he didn't want to touch her and maybe that's why he is behaving like that, only if she knew.

Before she could come out of her thoughts, she found herself in the air and a shriek left her mouth. Her hand rounded his neck as she found herself in his arms and him walking upstairs. She didn't dare to look behind knowing well that everyone must be looking at them. She bit her lower lip to control the urge to shriek as his hand was dangerously close to her bosoms sending a shiver.

She lifted her lashes to find him looking in front with his jaws clenched. His hair was not in a bun anymore and falling just on his shoulders, his amber eyes were looking tired. Her eyes went to his lips and her throat went dry on seeing such red lips which were still a dream for her to achieve without any lipstick. She didn't want to move her eyes and only ogle at the beauty in front of her but her ogling stopped when she found her feet touching the ground and her husband disappearing into one of the doors in the room. All of this happened so fast that she couldn't grab anything. Soon, she heard the sound of a shower and realized it must be the bathroom.

Then her eyes moved around and she was astonished to see the interior of the room. It looked like a dream for her to see such a beautiful room which she only imagined while reading her novels.

The whole room had a dark theme. There were three doors in the room, One from where they entered, another one where Aashrit had disappeared which was a bathroom, and a third one which was still unknown to her. The room was so spacious that 4 to 5 previous rooms of hers could fit easily in here. There was a partition of glass wall, She entered the area and saw T.V. on one wall, an L-shaped couch, and grey-colored curtains covering the view from outside. She moved out of the little portion of the room. And her eyes got stuck on the most dreaded part.

She was shocked to see a king-sized bed placed near the balcony with a stone claded wall behind. The bed was surrounded by white linen curtains and she could easily see through the transparent curtains, red-colored flowers spreading on the bed. As much as she loved flowers, today she was dreading it. Her eyes moved towards the table beside the bed and she saw a bronze glass of milk there. Her heart raced thinking it was their first night and she was not ready for this.

Her brain started running with various thoughts

What is she supposed to do now? While thinking about this relationship, she thought about everything but forgot about the most trivial part. The part where husband and wife share the most private moments. She was not ready for it!! She never thought about it!! But what she could do now? She can't deny him because she can't handle getting thrown from this family and going back to that hell again. Neither could she say yes because she was not ready. She was not ready to show her body to someone, especially when it was not worth showing. She didn't have the courage to hear something bad about her appearance on the first day of their wedding. She didn't want to disgust him!! But she would have to overcome that emotion someday and that scared her.

Her thoughts came to a halt when she heard the thud of the closing of the door and she turned back swiftly to see Aashrit coming out of the another door that was undiscovered to her. He was wearing a black shirt and a grey colored lower. And she was feeling more insecure to see that this man was looking so enticing even in casual clothes.

As Aashrit came out of the wardrobe, he looked at Meera standing still looking at the bed while her thumb was violently scratching her index finger. He knew what she must be thinking and he was not ready for any conversation right now. He closed the door a little too loud only to bring her out of her thoughts. And as he expected she turned swiftly and their eyes met.

Aashrit moved towards her while Meera's feet stuck to the ground. His steps were slow which were sending various thoughts into her mind and her breathing rose. The fear was clearly visible in her eyes. As Aashrit reached near her, he stood at a foot distance. His eyes went to her throat gulping the saliva, her chest heaving up and down, her tongue wetting her lips and this was the most erotic sight he had watched in his life sending a weird sensation in his body.

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