Flight of the Shikra

"You don't know what you have unleashed sweetheart, I will remember to get you lots of lip balm from Europe, you will need them for your bruised lips."

"Just double your planned quantity buddy, you are going to need them as well." Grinning I got into the car, and he waved. As I drove ahead, I could see him in the rear view mirror, standing there, staring at the back of my receding car.

It was only when I neared my place that an empty feeling hit me. He was not going to be there for another ten days. "Get used to this Neela," I said to myself, "he has a travelling job and this is going to happen again and again."

I called Suman late in the afternoon. "How is the baby coming along Suman?" I enquired.

"It is still too small to kick me around," she responded, laughing heartily.

We made some small talk, then talked shop and I suddenly blurted out. "I did it Suman!"

"Did what?"

"I kissed him."

"Kissed who? Narasimha?"

"Yes."

"How romantic! How did this happen?"

"He had to go to Berlin this morning, he stopped by for dinner last night. He wanted to kiss me but I wasn't ready for this. I asked him to have breakfast with me and I would then drop him off at the airport. I had thought about this a lot last night and today just before we were to leave, I grabbed him and kissed him"

"Way to go, girl, how was it?"

"It was urgent and sort of in a frenzy, not a slow romantic one. I guess both of us were very hungry for it."

"I am glad you broke a barrier, the romantic ones will follow. Was he okay?"

"I guess so, he said that I have unleashed something in him and I will need a lot of lip balm which he will get me from Berlin. I told him to get double the quantity for he was going to need it as well." And we were in splits.

"Is he a good kisser?"

"It was just one kiss. Suman, the first one, and one after a long long time for both of us. I think he is a good kisser."

"Did your nipples turn hard when you were kissing?"

"Yes, Suman, and I felt his hard-on too."

"You have something going baby, I am sure of it. When is he back?"

"After ten days, and I am missing him already."

"Well, both of you have Skype on your computers, put it to good use!"

"But how do we kiss on Skype, Suman?"

"You really have something going baby, all I can recommend for now is some intense work-outs and a lot of jogging."

Neela

Neela called me as soon as she reached home.

"I reached home safe, handsome, are you done with the immigration formalities?"

"Yes, walking towards my boarding area. Hey beautiful, have I ever told you that you have stars in your eyes?"

"No."

"You should kick me for it when I am back."

"I have a better idea, you can either write 'Neela, you have stars in your eyes' two hundred times as an imposition, or you can whisper it a hundred times in each of my ears."

"Will I get some extra kisses if I do both?"

"You are crazy, what do I do with lunatic like you?"

"Figure it out, you have ten days, your time starts now!"

"Text me once you reach, Narasimha, and Skype me in the morning. I have to get ready for work now, take care."

I would wake up by 5:30 and Skype Neela at 6. I described to her how cold Berlin is, and I would be taking time out to do some sightseeing in the evenings and over the weekend. I told her I loved the boxy metro trains and the trams, about the ghost stations during the time of the Berlin Wall, where East Berlin trains would never stop as the Russian and East German authorities feared the people would use these to escape to West Berlin.

"This is a place that has seen three World Wars ,Neela, it is so rich in history," I told her.

"Three World Wars?"

"You forget the Cold War, that was pretty weird and as good as a world war, wasn't it?"

I found time to visit the museums, CheckPoint Charlie, parts of the Berlin Wall and emailed her a lot of pictures. At the Neues museum I mangled to talk the security guards there into letting me take just one picture of the iconic 'Bust of Nefertiti.' I sent her the picture, with a note, "Look at her cheekbones and her lips, and then look at yours in the mirror."

"Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder," she replied, but she was wrong, she did have Nefertiti's cheekbones and lips.

I put on a hoodie and a greatcoat and with my face barely visible, took a selfie on the Unter den Linden, a boulevard made famous in many spy novels and thrillers, and sent it to her with a comment, "The spy who came in from the cold."

She replied, "You are in the wrong place spy, the one to keep you warm is here!" and then added, "I have read the book, I liked it."

With Skype calls, mails and messages, ten days went by and I waited for the morning when I would hold her in my arms again.

Narasimha

He would have come in at 3 in the morning and I thought he would be jet lagged, but I desperately wanted to see him. It was 5 AM when I climbed up the stairs. His lights were on, the door was open just a crack. I went in. He had obviously showered and shaved after returning and was reclining on the pillows, his eyes closed. "He must have been half way through his unpacking when he decided to rest," I thought. I tiptoed up to him to kiss him and just as I puckered my lips, his hands snaked out, one grabbed my waist and the other my arm and he pulled me down on the bed. I squealed in fright and as it turned to laughter, he said,

"Sorry buddy, the prince gets to kiss his sleeping beauty, not the other way round," and glued his lips to mine. The kiss went on and on and on... for an interminably long time, our arms were in a tangle, our legs became intertwined, we kept coming up for air and we went back to each other's lips.

Finally, we stopped. "You knew I was coming, right? You were pretending all along weren't you," I asked, playfully punching him on his chest.

"I knew you would come, so once I got back, I brushed my teeth, shaved, had a shower, splashed on some cologne and waited for you. I could see your feet and your track pants through my half-closed eyes as you climbed up the stairs. The most difficult part was to not jump up and grab you the moment you entered."

He reached into his pocket, which was a difficult feat, for it was tough to say where his legs began and mine ended. "You are upto something again Narasimha," I said.

He uncapped the lip balm and gently applied it to my lips, it had a fruity strawberry flavour. Not to be outdone and giggling away, I rubbed my forefinger against my lips and as some of the balm came off on my finger, I rubbed them on his lips. Then we lip-locked again.

Somewhat sated for the moment we started talking, but I think both of us were just rambling in a disjointed manner. Narasimha pulled a pillow and placed it under my head and slipped his right hand between the pillow and my neck and pulled my face close to his throat. I knew the cue and I kissed his neck, rubbing my tongue gently first and then increasing the pressure, and biting and nibbling the spot. When I removed my lips, he had a hickey. I laughed and told him that he had one. He propped himself on his elbow and peered at the dresser mirror, but he couldn't make it out.

"Get up and get close to the mirror and you will see it," I said.

"And let go of you? I have a better idea," and he pulled out his smartphone from near the pillow and turned on the camera.

"This is an achievement Neela, hickeys don't show up easily on dark skin, put your lips near it," he chuckled and clicked a selfie. "This is what we call an action replay, sweetheart," he whispered. With his right hand under my neck and shoulders, and his left hand over my waist and with both my arms around his neck, we continued to kiss and talk, our bodies in a supine position, flanked by numerous pillows. I don't think either of us realised this, but somewhere along the line, his left thumb was gently caressing my right nipple through my jogging shirt and my knees were rubbing his penis through his track pants. As we became aware of this, Narasimha moved his hand away...

"It just happened Neela, I am sorry," he said.

"Some things happen for their own good," I said and caught his hand and placed back it on my breast and squeezed. We started kissing again.

"We are both dressed for a jog, let's go, unless you want to sleep," I suggested.

"It will take time before the jet lag hits me, so let's get some fresh air and sunshine," he replied.

We started jogging to a park two kilometres away and then made one circuit of the park which was another two kilometres. It was still early for the morning walkers and as we passed a big banyan tree, Narasimha stopped. I stopped too and walked back to him. He was staring hard at the tree trunk. At first I thought he had spotted a bird.

"There is something I want to do here Neela," he said. I raised my eyebrows questioningly. He gently walked me to the tree and when I had my back to it, he kissed me, pressing me hard against the trunk.

"Your kisses are lovely and always welcome, like I had mentioned to you at the airport, I want you to kiss me a lot," I said when he released me. We continued with our jog, and at some point, we sat down on a bench.

"I will teach you a bird watching trick, this works when there is no breeze and the air is still." I held his arm.

"Keep watching that shrub and tell me if you see something unusual going on."

"There is just a single branch that is shaking and there is no wind."

"Exactly, now what could have disturbed that branch?"

"A bird? A bee? A butterfly?"

"So look in that area for any or all of those"

And sure enough, I saw a very small brown bird flitting about.

"It is searching for flowers so that it can drink its nectar. That bird is possibly the smallest bird you can find in this sub-continent. It is called the Tickell's Flowerpecker. Can you hear that very loud sharp chipping sound? That is it's call."

"It really makes a racket for its size."

I kept looking and then I asked "What is that bluish fluorescent small bird over there?"

"It is called the Purple Sunbird."

" And it is making that queep queep sound, right?"

"Yes, my star pupil with stars in her eyes, let us head back, I have yet another very interesting bird to show you."

Back in his apartment, Narasimha pulled out a cuckoo clock from his suitcase. "Let me hear it," I said.

He moved the minute hand to 12 and the cuckoo went cuck-coo, cuck-coo a number of times.

"Hey, that sounds good, not that artificial stuff you hear in the clocks here."

"This is an original German Black Forest Cuckoo Clock. It is a mechanical one, and does not have batteries or an electronically synthesised sound. I brought this for you and I want you to hang it in your living room."

"Play it again," I said, and he did.

"This sounds cool buddy, I want to hang it in my bedroom if it is okay with you."

"I will fix it for you, it has to be wound up once a week, by pulling these two counterweights up. I will teach the housekeeping staff how to do that, say on every Friday."

I grabbed his collar and said with mock anger. "Nobody touches MY cuckoo clock, which MY buddy has brought ME."

And as expected, he shut me up with a kiss.

Neela

On the days I am in town, we fall into a proper routine. By 5:20 in the morning, I would be waiting in my jogging attire for Neela to walk up the stairs. There would be two small shots of strong 'Kaapi' to provide us with a stimulus for the run. There would be a nip in the air, and after the coffee, we would just cuddle, kiss, bite, hug, and generally exchange sweet nothings. Neela loved to hold my head close to her breasts and I would kiss them over her jogging shirt. Occasionally she would flit her fingers lightly over my hard-on.

At 6, we would step put for our run, two kilometres to the park, one round of the park, stopping a while to watch some birds, and then we would walk back home at a leisurely pace, holding hands, or having our arms around each other's waist or shoulders. In many ways, we were just like two teenagers making out.

When we got back to Neela's place we would gulp down a glass of fruit juice and rustle up a quick breakfast of cornflakes or oatmeal, eggs and fruit. I would do the dishes for her, and then there would be another ten minutes of kissing and cuddling. Then I would get back to shower, shave and change and then get to work. My time of return from work would be rather erratic and there would be many a day when we would see each other only the next morning.

It was an easy happy relationship, a friendship that was poised to go to the next level. But the time and place would have to be of Neela's choosing. She certainly was what my fantasies were made of, but she was holding back probably because of her previous disastrous experience and I did not want to push her at all.

I knew there was no other man in her life and she knew too that there was no other woman in mine, but she didn't seem ready to move forward.

It was during one of these cuddling sessions that she asked me, "Narasimha, don't you ever get mad at me or frustrated with me?"

"I could ask you the same question Neela."

"But you are so sweet, kind, considerate"

"My answer would also be the same to your question. Okay buddy, tell me what is bothering you?"

"You want to have sex with me right? Don't you dare lie."

"I don't want to have sex with you Neela."

"What the fuck was that?" her expression was changing, somewhere between anger and pain.

"I don't want to have sex with you Neela," I repeated softly. "But yes, when you are ready, I want to make crazy mind blowing love to you."

"Is there a difference?"

"Yes, Neela, there is, and you will know the difference well before it happens."

"I have never been made love to Narasimha. It was only sex, and pretty unpleasant sex."

"Then I will be your first, the first one to make love to you."

"Hold me tight and kiss me, my friend."

I held her tight, I kissed her deep for a long time, and then moving my lips down her neck, I used my tongue and my teeth gently but firmly to give her a hickey.

"Is this a TIT for TAT?" she asked.

"When you give me your tit, be sure I will give you a hickey there too," I winked.

"Is TAT a promise?"

"Look at it this way Neela, you took your time before you would kiss me and let me kiss you. Now take your time to decide when you would let me make love to you. I have a tremendous amount of patience. I am also crazy about you."

"Tell me honestly, how do you relieve your sexual tension?"

"I jack off."

"And you think of me when you do, right?"

"I think only of you, even when I am not masturbating. But tell me, how do you relieve your sexual tension?"

"I masturbate too, and I fantasise about you."

"We are making a pact today Neela, and that is we are not telling each other our fantasies, but as soon as we take our relationship to the next level, we are going to enact them. Deal?"

"Seal it with a kiss Narasimha, a very long and deep kiss...."

It was a Monday morning when the accident happened. We were jogging in the park and laughing over some silly joke as only we can, when Neela stumbled on what seemed to be a small rabbit hole. I caught her before she fell, which probably ensured that she didn't break an ankle, but she did twist it very badly. I helped her to a nearby bench and tried taking off her shoes, but the foot had started swelling. I removed the laces completely and eased the shoe out, but she was in agony. I had to get her to a doctor.

I called 108 for the ambulance and they were there within 5 minutes. The paramedics rushed into the park with a stretcher, but she held my hand and pleaded, "Don't put me on that stretcher, Narasimha, don't put me there."

We were not far from the park entrance where the ambulance waited so I waved the attendants away, picked her up and hurried to the vehicle, climbed the two short steps, sat her inside and elevated her foot by sitting opposite her and holding her foot on my lap.

Neela was trying to bear the pain, tears were streaming down her cheeks. The attendants came in to hold her foot, and I sat beside her and held her face to my chest. The ambulance took us to our local hospital, we reached in 10 minutes and they put her in a wheelchair, wheeled her in to the emergency room and the duty doctors took over.

I stayed beside her, holding her hand, after the initial diagnosis, she was injected with a pain killer and then her foot was X-Rayed and scanned. We waited for the specialists to arrive as they normally came in at 9. Neela wanted me to go back and fetch the car, but I told her I was not leaving her alone.

I called Suman, I didn't want to scare her as she was pregnant, so I gave the phone to Neela, so that she could speak to her and assure her that things were in control. Suman offered to send her husband Vivek across to pick us up and drop us home. I then called my office and told them I won't be able to come in for the day, but will be available on phone for any exigencies.

The doctor said that there are no broken bones, that her ligament has a small tear, and she would be all right in a few days, but she had to stay in bed. They put on a compression bandage. The hospital pharmacy supplied a pair of crutches, the ankle support and the prescribed medicines, mostly pain relievers. I had my credit cards, so I paid off the bills. Vivek arrived, we wheeled her down, I lifted her and placed her in the back seat of the car, dropped wearily into the front seat and extended my hand to Vivek....

"Hi, I am Narasimha, and thank you for coming over."

"Wow that was some introduction," said Vivek, and for the first time in about 4 hours, Neela and I laughed.

We reached home, I lifted Neela out of the car, and she hobbled across on crutches with Vivek and I on either side, and sat down on the sofa.

Vivek returned to his home to bring us the brunch that Suman was cooking for us.

Neela wanted to use the bathroom, so I carried her in and made her sit on the pot. I discretely stepped out, so that she could lower her pants and go about her business, and told her to call me when done.

She wanted to bathe, I removed her bandage and I set up two small wrought iron garden chairs under the shower, one for her to sit on and the other to rest her injured foot. I removed the compression bandage. I then took her face in my hands, and said to her, "Trust me Neela, just put yourself in my hands"

She told me where to look for her towels, I brought them over, then undressed her gently. As I pulled her sports bra over her head, her gorgeous breasts tumbled free. I thought they might be a 36D. They were firm, and her areola was a deep brownish pink. Her nipples looked so long, perky and beautiful. I expected her to cover them with her hands but she didn't bother, she just smiled at me. I pulled a shower cap over her hair and she was set.

I held the hand shower in one hand and the shower gel in the other, I poured the gel on her palms and after she lathered herself, I sprayed her clean. It was a quick bath, I covered her with a towel and patted her dry.

I carried her, still wrapped in a fluffy towel to her bedroom, she pointed to the draw where she kept her underwear and her kaftan. I brought her a matching pair. I had to help her pull up her panties, as her foot was swollen, I kept the towel over her thighs and crotch so that she would not feel uncomfortable.

"Do you really need to keep the towel there, now that you have seen everything?" she asked.

"You dodo, you scared the shits out of me for a couple of hours and now you want to flirt with me?"

This time she pulled my head down and shut me up with a kiss.

I pulled out the shower cap that we had forgotten to take off, and picking up the hair brush and comb from her dresser. I told her I will plait her hair for her.