Rebel Hard (Hard Play #2)(99)

Her parents and Raj’s had insisted on paying for the ridiculously huge wedding, complete with catering. She and Raj had the feeling they were hoping for payback in the form of grandchildren.

Smiling inside at the idea of making babies with Raj, she took a deep breath and got ready. Her escort was made up of “brothers.” Younger male cousins, all spiffed up in colorful sherwanis for the occasion and trying to be adult and serious.

Nayna had to fight the urge to pinch their cheeks and hug them close.

Her entrance music began.

Though hundreds of people stood watching her move up toward Raj, the wedding garland in her hands, he was the only one she saw. And then he was standing across from her and he was bending so she could place the garland over his head, and she was wearing the one he’d put over her head, and the ceremony had begun.

She knew it took a long time, but every time she glanced at Raj, he’d give her the smile that was just for her, and it was perfect. Their parents tried to glare at them to behave and be solemn, but their lips kept tugging up. Even the pandit just sighed and shook his head as he said, “Young people these days” and continued the ceremony.

During the part where the two of them were hidden under a heavily embroidered cloth so they were invisible to others, Nayna blew Raj a kiss, and he fleetingly touched his thumb to her lower lip. After which they had to behave and do what they were supposed to under the cloth, which was for Raj to put sindoor—vermillion powder—in the center part of her hair.

He did it with a gentle touch.

The rest of the ceremony passed by in joy after joy, but Nayna was never so glad as when she collapsed in bed with Raj that night. They’d managed to convince their parents to do away with the custom of “fetching the bride back.” Lying on his back beside her, wearing only his formal pants, Raj lifted up her hand and traced the lines of mehndi down her arm.

“There’s a secret hidden in the design somewhere on my body.” Mehndi patterns covered her arms past the elbow, her feet, and her legs up to her calves.

He continued to lazily trace the lines. “What?”

“Your name.”

A glance at her. “Really?”

“Yep.”

His eyes narrowed, determination on his features. “I’m going to find it.”

She ended up naked and sated and delighted as a result of his hunt. It was after midnight when he finally said, “There” and pressed a kiss to the crook of her elbow.

Nayna sighed, tugged him up so she could cuddle in his arms… and fell fast asleep in the embrace of the husband who’d always been meant to be hers.





51





Seven Years Later





Aarav glanced over from his position in the pack on Raj’s back. “Ma! Look!”

Nayna followed his small finger to see a colorful tropical parrot. “Good spotting!” She took a photograph, then plucked at her T-shirt. “I never realized marinating in my own sweat was a thing,” she said to her husband.

The heavens opened up as if on cue, the warm rain washing away the sweat before disappearing as quickly as it had come. Her hand locked with Raj’s by now, Nayna laughed along with him and their son. Three-year-old Aarav was as used to going with the flow as he was to trying strange new foods.

“It’ll dry soon enough,” said the man who was her everything. “I think you’re steaming already.”

“It’s funny because it’s not even a joke.” She reached up to ruffle their baby’s wet hair. “Hungry?”

When Aarav nodded, she dug out a kid-friendly fruit bar from her pack, unwrapped it, and passed it over. The three of them continued on along the path in one of Indonesia’s dense forests. It was far from their first adventure. They’d begun small only a year into their marriage, a couple of days here and there exploring their own backyard. New Zealand was a land full of chances for wonder and excitement.

It had helped that Navin and Komal, ensconced in their own home and weirdly happy considering their past, had slowly become reliable members of the family. Aditi, of course, could run rings around them even back then.

Then Raj’s deputy had “graduated” his training and they’d been able to take off for a week at a time. Not more because Sailor’s company was growing like crazy, and Nayna, as its chief financial officer, was working insane hours. But she met Raj in the middle as they’d promised one another, and they came out of that manic period whole and happy and rooted in one another.

A breather, her longed-for trip to the Amazon, before Aarav settled in her womb.

Their families had been horrified when they started traveling with a one-year-old, but Aarav was an adventurer at heart. He knew Maddie mausi and Sunny mausa lived in London with his twin girl cousins, while his aunt Adi was working on an engineering project in Australia, and he also knew that he liked guavas but not pawpaw. Lychees continued to be up for debate.

All their travels, every work challenge or opportunity, each family decision, Nayna and Raj had talked over and handled as a team. Nayna had begun this trip as CFO of a brilliant ethical-cosmetics company, but after talking it over with Raj the previous night, she’d decided to hand in her notice on her return.

It was time for her to jump into another start-up, help create their financial foundation. She’d spent four years as Sailor’s right hand, left only when his company was rock steady and thriving. After three years with the cosmetics company, she felt it was in the same strong position. Her skills would be better utilized elsewhere.