Arjun – POV

Adah has been impossible since the engagement. There is a new spark in her now, something wicked and deliberate, as if she enjoys testing the edges of my restraint. One week more, I keep telling myself. Just one week, and I will not hold back again.

"Little Arjun," I mutter inwardly, bargaining with my own impatience, "wait a little longer. After that, you take charge. Completely."

Until then, I need her to leave me capable of walking into public without scandal written across my face. She thinks it is amusing, the way I react. Teasing me. Sending photographs she knows I will stare at far too long. The red sarees for the rituals have been a particular form of torture. They trace her curves with devotional precision. She does not need to zoom in on her waist for me to imagine how it feels beneath my hands. How am I supposed to survive a week of this?

She tells me to be patient. Calls me shy. Laughs when I look away too quickly. She has no idea what she awakens in me.

When this week ends, I will make sure her laughter dissolves into breathless whispers. I will learn every sound she makes when she forgets to pretend she is in control. She thinks she will be the one tormenting me. She does not realize how long I have been memorizing her.

And that waist of hers... she flaunts it without understanding what it does to me. One day soon, I will leave a mark there, not for the world in cruelty, but as a quiet reminder. A signature only she and I understand. She once teased me for being too reserved. I wonder what expression she will wear when my restraint finally fractures.

Her bachelor's night proved how reckless she can be. A little drunk, completely unfiltered, clinging to me as if I were the only stable thing in the room. If I had not insisted on taking her home and making sure she slept, she would have tested me beyond recovery. Refusing her is an art form. Those eyes of hers, soft and pleading, can make a saint reconsider his vows.

There are moments when she presses closer and I have to step away, cold shower and all, because if I allow myself even one lapse, I will not stop.

I think about our first night often. I want to take my time with her, to explore every inch of the woman who has waited with me all these years. But after an entire day of ceremonies, she might fall asleep the moment her head touches the pillow. That would be just like her.

Still, at least she will be mine. Officially. No more hiding glances. No more cautious distance in front of relatives. I will be able to say it openly: she is my wife.

She is an angel when she sleeps. A devil when she is awake.

The rituals pass in a blur of sacred fire and blessings. Hindu vows, Sikh traditions, families united. And then the mangalsutra.

We designed it together years ago, long before this day arrived. A gold locket engraved with intertwined vines, black beads threaded with rubies, passion contained but never extinguished. Inside, the promises we once wrote about our wedding night rest behind crystal. A space remains for the future, for the fantasies we will no longer postpone. It is not just ornamentation. It is proof of patience.

When I fasten it around her neck, I feel the weight of years settle into something solid and real.

Now, in the car on the way home, she sleeps with her legs draped across my lap as if she owns the space. Day one of marriage, and she already has me wrapped around her fingers.

Her breathing is soft. Innocent. But even in sleep, she shifts closer, as though aware of exactly how I react to her nearness. My body betrays me immediately. I glance down at her and shake my head.

You have no idea what waits for you once we step inside that room.

Tonight, perhaps I will be merciful. A glimpse. A promise. She looks exhausted, and I know she will protest if I push too far.

The real storm can wait for our honeymoon.

For now, I let her sleep. I adjust her gently so she is comfortable, though my restraint is hanging by a thread. She may dream peacefully now. Once the door closes behind us, her dreams will have competition.

And this time, there will be no more waiting.