Finally, they broke their kiss, entirely reluctantly, but stayed with their foreheads brushed against each other in the quiet room. Their heavy breaths mingled in the small space between them, their chests rising and falling in a frantic rhythm against one another.
"Hume.. Apni first kiss ki shuruaat aise nahi karni thi," she whispered softly, her big round eyes looking up into his with a rare, tender shyness.
"Lekin Hume apne first fight ka end aise hi karna tha," he said smoothly, his deep, raspy voice sending a shiver through her system. Without granting her a single second to counter, he ducked his head back down into the crook of her neck, feeling the absolute warmth of her breath against her collarbone as he closed his eyes.
"Bahut der ho gayi hai," she said softly, her fingers gently playing with the collar of his shirt, signaling that they truly should go downstairs now.
"Hone do," he whispered against her skin, his long fingers casually moving up to play with her earlobes, entirely unbothered by the passing time.
"Sab wait kar rahe hain," she again whispered, though she didn't make a single move to push his broad shoulders away.
"Karne do," he whispered back, his grip on her waist tightening just a fraction more to keep her anchored right there on the dressing table.
She let out a soft, beautiful chuckle that vibrated right against his chest.
"Chalna hai," she whispered, her tone carrying a playful command.
"Chalte hain," he said, the word coming out lazy and thick, while his lips remained completely reluctant to leave the soft skin of her neck.
Damn, how good she smelled—like pure rain pouring over wet mud. So refreshing. So intoxicating.
"Abhi chalna hai," she insisted, giving his shoulder a firm but gentle nudge.
"Uff! Agar ye gaddi humare sar par nahi nachti na, nihayti kodhiya kism ke insaan hote hum!" he complained suddenly, pulling his head back to look straight into her face, his eyes narrowing dramatically.
"Kya?" she managed to ask, her face splitting into a brilliant smile as she giggled at his sudden, childish complaint.
"Lazy! Lazy! I would have been so lazy!!" he said, raising his hands in a grand gesture, thinking she might have not understood his slang.
She laughed even more happily at his translation, her melodic voice completely filling the suite.
They finally opened the double doors, only to find Jai and Vikram awkwardly hovering right outside in the corridor, their necks tilted nervously toward the wood as they tried to gauge whether it was safe to call them for dinner.
Instead of a battle zone, the couple stepped across the threshold looking perfectly normal. Devika had meticulously brushed her long hair back into its secure, half-closed hairstyle exactly as it had been before, while Rajveer had expertly refastened his tie, smoothed down his shirt, and straightened his sharp collar to flawless, unbending perfection.
The two younger brothers didn't suspect a single scandalous thing. Their brains were far too busy panicking, desperately trying to calculate whether the King and Queen were still trapped in a lethal, volatile rage or if the storm had finally passed.
Devika didn't grant them a word of reassurance. She simply fixed the duo with a flat, mock-bored, narrow-eyed look, paused to deliver a freezing, sharp glare to Vikram for hiding things from her and for leaking the information behind Rajveer's back, and casually walked clean past them down the hall.
Rajveer didn't break his regal posture either; he smoothly stepped into the corridor, adjusting his cuffs, and signaled sharply with a tilt of his head for his brothers to drop the reconnaissance and go downstairs with him to the dining hall immediately.
---
They started going downstairs into the main living hall, while Jai immediately intercepted Rajveer, throwing him a deeply scared, questioning look. His youngest brother was wide-eyed, looking as if he would definitively start crying within the next two minutes out of sheer anxiety over the palace tension.
Rajveer offered a smooth, calming nod, subtly signaling him to calm down because everything was completely all right now.
Relieved, Jai lunged forward and hugged his older brother tightly, letting out a massive, highly dramatic sigh right against his shoulder as they walked. Rajveer let out a soft huff, rubbing his baby brother's back in quiet adoration.
"Ho gayi thandi?!" Maa Sa asked Devika with a knowing smirk the moment they reached the seating area.
"Haan. Ho gaye!" Devika replied with a prominent, childish pout while sinking into the soft cushions of a nearby velvet couch.
"To... Ab kaam ki baat kar lein?" Baba Sa asked, his sharp eyes crinkling as he looked at the two of us lovingly, treating the brief martial dispute as a settled affair.
They both nodded in firm affirmation. Rajveer walked over, sitting directly opposite to her on a nearby couch with Vikram, his executive posture locking right back into place.
"Rajveer, tumne kaha tumhe poora yakeen nahi hai?" Baba Sa began, turning the room into a tactical brief.
"Nahi, Baba Sa. Jis aadmi ne Dada Sa ko..." Rajveer hesitated, completely unwilling to finish the grim medical sentence in front of the younger siblings, before continuing smoothly, "Vo Maharaj Jaysingh ke saath kaam karta tha, kuch saal pehle—"
Suddenly, Jai aggressively raised his hand, cutting his older brother off mid-sentence. "Sorry to interrupt, my lord! Par hum unhe sirf Maharaj ya Maharaj of Jaipur nahi bula sakte?" he asked helplessly.
The entire family gave him a thoroughly confused, deadpan look. "Kyun?" Devika asked, her dark eyebrows narrowing.
"Vo... Jaysingh humara bhi naam hai na. Hume accha nahi lag raha hai khud ko gaali dena!" He explained in a low, muffled voice while looking straight at his boots.
Every single sibling and elder in the room fiercely clamped their teeth together, trying to control a massive wave of laughter at his sheer, self-centered logic.
"Accha. To MAHARAJ OF JAIPUR ke saath vo kaam karta tha," Rajveer corrected himself, continuing with a professional, flat tone. "Par kuch saal pehle use vahan se nikal diya gaya tha, dhokhadari ke jurm mein."
"Theek hai," Baba Sa nodded slowly, tapping his fingers against the arm of his wheelchair. "To matlab tumhe thoda aur waqt chahiye poori baat samajhne ke liye. Theek hai. Kar lo. Phir jab poora yakeen ho jaye, to case phir Devika handle karegi."
"Kyun?" Rajveer asked at once, his protective instincts flaring right back up.
"Kyun nahi?" Devika countered instantly, throwing her chin forward.
"Dekho, Rajveer. Hum tumhare jazbaat samajhte hain. Par Devika Jai—" Baba Sa began to explain, but the exact millisecond the name left his lips, he received a desperate, begging puppy-dog gaze from a panicked Jai.
Baba Sa shook his head in pure irritation, rolled his eyes, and swiftly amended his sentence. "Devika... Maharaj of Jaipur ko bahut acche se pehchanti hai."
Jai instantly gave his father a massive thumbs-up and a thoroughly contented look from his corner. Baba Sa fixed his youngest son with a terrifying glare to stop the constant interruptions, and Jai immediately sat dead straight, locking his eyes to the floor boards.
"To, vo Maharaj ko acchi tarah se barbaad kar sakti hai. Aasani bhi hogi," Baba Sa concluded firmly.
Devika turned her face toward her husband, wiggling her dark eyebrows with a winning, highly triumphant smirk. Rajveer merely returned a flat, mock-bored look, refusing to engage with her gloating before turning back to his father.
"Par Baba Sa, Devika kaise—" he tried to persuade the older King, but Devika shot back before his vocabulary could finish.
"Kya matlab kaise? Aapne hume doodh peeta baccha samajh rakha hai?!" she complained loudly, her hands flying into the air.
"Nahi. Hum ye nahi keh rahe—" he tried to argue, his deep voice fighting for ground.
"To kya keh rahe?! Ki hum itne kaabil nahi ki apne baba ko maar sakein?!" she fired back ruthlessly.
"Haan, vhi to. Matlab—" Rajveer blurted out automatically, agreeing with her logic before his brain could process the trap, his words instantly earning him a pair of wide, completely shocked eyes from his wife.
"Uff!! Phir shuru ho gaye dono! Sukanya, vahan se jhaadoo lao to zara!" Baba Sa scolded them fiercely, his voice echoing off the arches as he threatened to sweep the reigning monarchs out of his sight.
"Nahi, hum to bas baat kar rahe the," the King and Queen mumbled in perfect unison, pouting simultaneously as the entire room smiled at their synchronized retreat.
"Are, aap log saath baithiye to!" Vikram said, reaching over to aggressively pull Rajveer's suit sleeve to drag him onto her couch.
"Are, nahi nahi! Saath baithe to kahin haatha-pai par na utar aayein!!" Nandini chimed in teasingly, her face split into a wide grin.
The entire hall erupted into a fresh, roaring wave of laughter. Devika tried to maintain her fierce, angry persona, but seeing the utter absurdity of the family's teasing statement, she rubbed her eyes with her fingers, letting out a helpless, bubbly giggle that made Rajveer's chest expand with pure warmth.
"Everybody focus!" Devika suddenly shouted, her melodic voice shifting back into command mode though a radiant smile still danced across her lips.
"Yes, Ma'am!!" the entire siblings brigade, even Rajveer shouted back in a thunderous, disciplined chorus. The playfulness evaporated in a single fraction of a second, replaced by a fierce, unbreakable unity as the family huddled closer under the evening lights, entirely ready to construct a perfect, flawless blueprint to dismantle the forces of Jaipur together.
---
The next night, the hidden tactical room in the far corner of the palace was dark, illuminated only by the cold, digital blue glow of Devika's laptop screen. Her fingers flew across the keyboard as she calibrated the feed.
She was systematically checking the micro-surveillance cameras she and her team had secretly implanted throughout the grand sandstone palace of Jaipur. Outside those distant walls, several highly classified black-ops assets under her direct command were tracking her father's every movement in the shadows.
A sharp, rhythmic tap-tap against the glass pane behind her instantly broke her concentration.
Devika spun around on her swivel chair, her hand instinctively twitching toward her waistband before her eyes widened.
Crouching outside the upper sill, balancing effortlessly on the stone ledge with a warm, brilliant smile, was Rajveer. He was dressed from head to toe like a rogue investigator—or perhaps a highly dangerous assassin—wearing a dark tactical jacket, black trousers, long leather boots, and a black cap. A soft fabric face mask hung casually around his neck, looking every bit like a thief. Yet, even under the dim moonlight, he looked impossibly handsome.
She burst into a silent, bubbling giggle, opening the glass pane to let him step into the room. The moment his boots hit the Persian rug, she stepped into his personal space, her small hands affectionately patting the gray dust off his broad shoulders.
"Saara kaam ho gaya?" she asked, her big round eyes dancing with mischief.
"Hmm. Tumhare log sach-much kaam ke hain," he said with a slow, captivated smirk, reaching out to accept the glass of water she smoothly extended toward him.
"Ab aapko humari kabiliyat par yakeen ho jaana chahiye!" she teased, throwing her chin forward.
Rajveer set the half-empty glass down on the mahogany desk. Then he stepped closer, his warm palms smoothly cupping her flushed face as his eyes overflowed with an intense, quiet adoration.
"Hume aapki kabiliyat par humesha se yakeen hai, Devika," he reassured her softly, his deep voice dropping into a thick, low frequency.
Devika's ears flared a brilliant, instant shade of crimson scarlet, but she simply shrugged dramatically to mask her shyness, leaning up on her tiptoes to plant a sweet kiss right on his cheek. "Acchi baat hai!" she cheered.
KNOCK. KNOCK.
The sharp, heavy sound of knuckles hitting the double doors fractured the silence. In a single, fluid blur of movement, Rajveer's reflexes kicked back online; he aggressively pulled his black cap lower and yanked the dark fabric mask clean over his sharp nose and mouth.
It would absolutely not look good if Baba Sa or the palace guards discovered that the reigning Maharaj of Jodhpur had spent his entire day conducting an unauthorized, covert reconnaissance mission in Jaipur, completely bypassing his security detail under the guise of an "important business meeting".
Devika rolled her eyes, frantically gesturing with her hands for him to just sit casually on the velvet couch near the corner. Rajveer threw her a thoroughly confused, deadpan look through the slits of his mask, but he obediently sank into the cushions, crossing his legs to play the part of a silent bodyguard.
Devika smoothly glided back to her leather chair behind the desk.
The door swung open, and Vikram practically dragged himself into the room. He looked completely hollowed out, throwing his heavy frame onto the chair directly opposite to Devika with a dramatic, tired groan, burying his face into his hands.
He didn't notice the silent, black-clothed figure sitting in the shadows of the couch, and even if his peripheral vision caught the shape, his brain didn't pay much attention. He was entirely used to seeing various dark-clothed Special Ops spies and bodyguards floating around his sister-in-law's office at odd hours of the night.
"Tu theek hai?" Devika asked, her voice rich with an immediate, concerned amusement.
Vikram slowly shook his head from side to side, letting out a pathetic, deeply sad pout. "Nhi."
"Kyun? Ab kya hua, Majnu ji?" Devika teased, taking a casual sip from her coffee mug, her mischivious smirk returning in full force.
Vikram let out a massive, highly dramatic sigh, pulling his chair closer to the edge of the mahogany desk as he unburdened his soul. "Siya ne phool bheje hume!! Love you note ke saath!!" he delivered the update helplessly, looking thoroughly panicked by the romantic gesture.
Devika's smirk grew wider, her eyes glittering under the desk lamp. "To? Tu bhi bhej de! Problem solve!" she stated simply.
Vikram paused, his sharp features twisting into deep, serious contemplation for a long moment before his eyes sparked with absolute determination. "Actually, Bhabhi... Humare paas ek better idea hai!"
"Aur vo kya?" she asked curiously, leaning forward.
"Hum uske ghar jayenge... Aur use kiss kar lenge!!" he announced with absolute, unyielding masculine resolve.
PFFFT.
Devika almost violently choked on her hot coffee, her shoulders shaking as she frantically tried to swallow the liquid. Out of the corner of her eye, she cut her gaze toward the couch.
Rajveer was sitting dead straight, his tobacco-colored eyes bulging wide behind his black mask, staring at his younger brother as if he had just witnessed a ghost dancing in the middle of the room.
Devika bit her lower lip with a brutal force to control the roaring laugh threatening to break her cover. She cleared her throat, maintaining an identical, deeply serious tone as she answered her brother-in-law.
"Plan bura nahi hai. Humne suna hai Siya ko bold cheezein bahut pasand hain!"
"Isiliye to hum keh rahe hain!" Vikram agreed enthusiastically, nodding his head like a mastermind who had just solved a difficult puzzle.
"To ja. Wait kiska kar raha hai," she dismissed him with a casual wave of her hand.
Vikram nodded firmly, spun on his heel, and began marching confidently toward the exit.
On the couch, Rajveer turned his head toward Devika, his eyes flashing with an absolute, horrified glare that screamed
Have you completely lost your mind?!
Devika merely threw him a brilliant mock-glare of her own, lifting a single finger to her lips, silently signaling her husband to just stay quiet for exactly three more seconds.
And... She was correct.
Within a single fraction of a second, the heavy doors violently banged open again. Vikram barged right back into the room, his initial confidence entirely evaporated, replaced by highly irritated, flushed, and defensive eyes. He slammed his hands flat onto her desk, almost shouting at her in pure frustration.
"Aap hume ye ashlil harkat karne doge?!"
Devika completely lost the battle against her restraint. She burst into a loud, incredibly rich, and mercilessly loud wave of giggles, her messy ponytail swaying as she pointed a finger at his red face. "Tu... Tune idea bura nahi diya tha!!" she managed to squeak out through her laughter.
Vikram crossed his arms, narrowing his eyes. "Aapne vo phool aur card bheja!" he accused flatly, knowing her endless running mischief all too well.
"Haan! Kyun ki, tum log 6 mahine se nukka-chhupi khel rahe ho!!" she counted on her fingers, her voice bursting with a breathless, bubbly joy as she continued to giggle at his expense.
"Hadd hoti hai!" Vikram muttered in a low, thoroughly deflated voice, throwing himself back onto the chair in pure defeat.
"Accha, tumhari katha baad mein sunenge. Pehle zara Rajveer ko poori baat bata dein, kahin unki aankhen baahar na aa jayein ab!" she said cheekily, gesturing toward the shadows.
Vikram practically jumped three feet out of his seat. He spun around on the spot, his face turning completely pale as his terrified, wide eyes locked onto the black-clothed figure on the couch.
Rajveer slowly stood up to his full, towering height. With a calm, dangerous deliberation, he reached up, pulled down his black mask to expose his sharp jaw line, threw his cap onto the table, and pulled out a chair to sit directly opposite to his brothers.
"Yahan chal kya raha hai?" the King of Jodhpur asked in a deep, raspy, and dangerously low register, looking at both of them.
Vikram slowly turned his head to look at Devika, his eyes swimming with pure, unadulterated betrayal, while the Queen of Jodhpur merely grinned sheepishly, waving her fingers as she signaled her terrified brother-in-law to sit back down and face the music.
---
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