The door to the bedroom opened with a soft click. **Maira**, still sitting on the edge of the bed and wrestling with her worries, looked up quickly.
**Mihir** stood in the doorway. The frantic, flustered energy he'd left with was gone. In its place was a strange, heavy calm. He moved into the room, his steps quiet and deliberate, closing the door behind him without a sound.
**"Mihir?"** Maira's voice was laced with concern. **"Are you okay? You left so suddenly... and you were acting so strangely."**
He turned to face her. His expression was neutral, almost blank. The usual playful light in his eyes was absent, replaced by a flat, distant look that made a small shiver go down her spine.
**"I'm fine,"** he said, his voice even. It lacked its usual theatrical cadence; it was just a flat statement of fact. **"It was nothing. Just... a lot of excitement today. I'm very tired."**
He didn't meet her eyes for long, instead turning toward the bed as if she were already dismissed. **"I just want to rest now."**
The words were simple, but the delivery was off. The Mihir she knew would have launched into an elaborate, joking story to cover his embarrassment. This blunt, emotionless dismissal was unnerving. Maira watched him, her concern deepening into a knot of unease in her stomach. Something was very wrong.
**"Okay..."** she said slowly, not convinced at all. **"If you're sure."**
He didn't reply. He simply lay down on his side of the bed, his back to her, and went still. Too still.
Maira remained sitting up, staring at his back in the moonlight, the image of the black fog flashing in her mind once more
The first rays of morning sunlight filtered through
the curtains, painting Sahir and Teju's room in soft shades of gold. They were nestled together under a tangled blanket, the evidence of their discarded clothes scattered on the floor. Sahir's glasses were
perched precariously on the nightstand.
Sahir stirred first, his analytical mind booting up before his body. He found Teju curled against his chest, her head tucked under his chin.
A rare, completely unguarded smile touched his lips as the memories of the night flooded back--the roses, the poetry, the profound intimacy that had followed. He brushed a kiss against her forehead.
"Good morning," he murmured, his voice husky with sleep.
Teju's eyes fluttered open, a soft, sated smile
gracing her features."Good morning."
"Did you..." Sahir began, a hint of uncharacteristic vulnerability in his tone."enjoy it?"
Teju's smile widened. She shifted to look up at him, her eyes shining with a love that still surprised him with its intensity. "Enjoy it?"she whispered, her voice full of emotion."Sahir, it was.. the best
moment of my life."
The raw honesty in her words undid him
completely. He captured her lips in a deep,tender
kiss that spoke of possession,gratitude, and a love that had been tested and proven unbreakable.
As they kissed, Teju's hand, which had been resting on his chest, slid lower under the blanket Her
fingers trailed down his stomach, and then wrapped firmly around his hardening length
Sahir broke the kiss with a sharp,involuntary gasp, a deep moan rumbling in his chest. His hips bucked slightly into her touch.
"Teju.." he breathed, his voice already thick with a fresh wave of desire, his scientific mind blissfully offline, replaced by pure, primal need.The
The morning sun continued to rise, but for them, the night was far from over.
The intimate rhythm between Sahir and Teju built to an unbearable peak, a tension that shattered in a wave of overwhelming sensation. With a low, guttural groan muffled against her neck, Sahir found his release, his body shuddering as he spilled himself deep inside her.
Teju clung to him, her own climax crashing over her in a silent,breathless wave, her nails digging faintly into his back as she arched against him.
For a long moment, there was only the sound of their ragged breathing and the frantic beating of their hearts, the world outside their room completely forgotten.
They lay tangled together in the aftermath,slick with sweat, the air thick with the scent of sex and roses.
The profound, vulnerable silence was shattered by a sharp, rapid knocking on
**"Bhaiya! Bhabhi!"** **Tia's** voice chirped from the other side, loud and entirely oblivious to what she'd just interrupted. **"Moti Baa has called a family meeting. She wants everyone downstairs in twenty minutes. No excuses!"**
**Teju** flinched, pulling the sheet tighter around them. She cleared her throat, trying to sound normal. **"Uh... okay, Tia! We'll be there!"** she called back, her voice slightly strained.
They heard Tia's retreating footsteps humming down the hall.
A deep, frustrated groan rumbled in **Sahir's** chest. He dropped his head back onto the pillow with a soft thud. **"Her timing is, as always, impeccably terrible,"** he muttered, his voice a mix of annoyance and amusement.
**Teju** let out a soft laugh, nestling closer to him. **"Twenty minutes,"** she whispered, tracing a pattern on his chest. **"Just enough time to recover."**
The romantic spell was broken, replaced by the familiar chaos of family. But as they lay there, listening to the distant sounds of the house stirring, the warmth between them remained.
A few minutes later, the scene in the Kashyap living room was a study in contrasts. **Maira** and **Teju** stood side-by-side before **Moti Baa** and **Sapna**, who were seated on the plush sofa, both wearing expectant, slightly mischievous smiles.
On the other side of the room, **Sahir** stood stiffly, looking every bit the professor dragged into a nonsensical seminar. Beside him, **Mihir** leaned casually against a wall, arms crossed, a poorly hidden smirk playing on his lips. The crimson glint was gone from his eyes, his demeanor perfectly mimicking his usual self, though an unnerving stillness lay beneath the surface.
**"Beta,"** Moti Baa began, her voice carrying the weight of generations of tradition. **"This Holi, amidst all the... supernatural fiasco,"** she said, waving a hand dismissively as if zombie uprisings were a mere nuisance, **"a very important ritual in this family has been left pending."**
**Teju** blinked, her mind still partly in her rose-scented room with Sahir. **"A ritual? What ritual, Moti Baa?"**
**"The *Griha Pravesh* cooking ritual!"** Sapna announced, her smile widening. **"A new daughter-in-law's first meal in her new kitchen is not just cooking. It is a prayer. It is how you pour your love, your hopes, and your blessings for your new life into the food that will nourish your family."
Moti Baa nodded sagely. **"It is a test of the heart, not just the palate. The spices you choose, the care you take... it shows the love you will bring to this home. And,"** she added with a twinkle in her eye, **"it is the fastest way to truly win your husband's heart. A happy stomach leads to a very happy husband."**
Sapna leaned forward, her voice encouraging. **"So, my dear daughters, I want you both to go into that kitchen and prepare a meal so delicious, so full of love, that your husbands will forget their own names."**
Mihir's smirk finally broke into a full, teasing grin. **"I hope you remember how to turn on the stove, Mrs. Kashyap,"** he quipped at Maira, his tone light but his eyes holding a challenge.
Sahir simply adjusted his glasses, a faint blush on his cheeks. **"The nutritional balance is paramount,"** he stated, though the effect was ruined by the memory of what had just been interrupted upstairs.
Maira and Teju looked at each other, a silent conversation passing between them. This was about far more than just cooking. It was their official welcome, their first true test as Kashyap women. The pressure was on.