Love Around the World 09: India

She kept her distance from me nearly the entire reception. I didn't miss the fact her father was watching her like a hawk, and her husband must have been warned about me during the couple of months the pair had been 'dating' before they were married. He introduced himself, a smaller, slimmer man who was at least a decade older than her. When he shook my hand, he tried to squeeze hard, and I almost laughed in his face. I would have returned the favour but didn't want to particularly embarrass the man. Not for any other reason than I knew Shanti would cop abuse for it.

We only had a couple of minutes to talk when she disappeared to the bathroom with a couple of her bridesmaids, one of them glancing my way and making a gesture for me to follow. Finding ourselves alone together in a side room, it was the first time a genuine smile appeared on her face as I held her hands, glancing up and down.

"Do you like?" she asked.

"You've always been beautiful in my eyes."

"We can't be too long. My father is watching me closely and I reckon my husband has been warned about you."

"Yeah, I've noticed their glances my way. I'm surprised I was allowed in."

"I said if you were not here, I wouldn't go through with it. And my father knew I meant it."

"Shanti... Do you even like the guy?" She scoffed though managed a smile, making me chuckle. "I'm not sure if I should feel good about that considering you're now married to him."

"Unfortunately, many arranged marriages are not based on any feelings of love. It's almost like a business transaction." She shuddered before whispering, "I'm not looking forward to enduring sex. Ugh..."

"I don't condone having affairs, but you know I'll always be available..."

She met my eyes and saw the smirk on my face, another giggle escaping her. We shared a hug, and I knew neither of us wanted to let the other go, only doing so when her Maid of Honour knocked on the door, telling her that her husband and father were both looking for her. I let her go after kissing her cheek, whispering our continued love for each other before she disappeared out the door.

I learned after they returned from their honeymoon that her husband freaked out completely when he learned his new wife was far from a virgin. And when hearing from one of our mutual friends that she'd actually taunted him about having a smaller cock, I felt a little smug though knew she was playing with fire. Her husband would have known I was her first and only, and when her father had it all figured out, that's when he showed up at my door and threatened that I would never see Shanti again. I just laughed in his face, said we were both adults, and he'd better fuck off before I put him on the ground.

Shanti was told about that and sent me a quick message, thanking me for putting him in his place for at least a couple of minutes.

Rarely seeing Shanti was difficult for us both. I tried moving on and eventually went through a series of relationships over the next five years. I knew Shanti was expected to focus on family, and would definitely be expected to start having children, but though communication with her was sparse at best, left in no doubt that her husband, his extended family, and her own father were watching everything she did closely. I certainly wasn't allowed anywhere near her except for those few times she was out and about with friends, and we did manage to spend a couple of hours together. We never did anything physical or intimate. We just appreciated the time we could see each other.

"Hear from Shanti much anymore?" Mum asked one evening I was over for dinner at the same time as my sister.

"She sends me messages nearly every day. She sends them then immediately deletes them, then deletes whatever I send back. I never send anything that would cause her problems. It's mostly just keeping up to date with what's going on."

"She pregnant yet?" my sister wondered.

"Nope," I replied, "And I know for a fact she's been to her doctor when we were dating as she was seriously considering having a baby with me. Would have caused her no end of grief, but... To be honest, I think she's not gone off the pill. She'd never admit it to anyone, but I reckon it's her way of fighting back."

"Is she that unhappy?" Mum asked.

"She's making the best of the situation she finds herself in. The main problem she's facing is the fact divorce is looked down upon. If she leaves her husband, she'll find herself shunned by most of her family and more than likely the community as a whole. I think the only one who might continue their support would be her mother. I know her father would disown her in an instant. I think there will come a point where she might just think it's worth it."

Shanti had been married seven years when that itch many talk about presented itself. No, she didn't end up in my bed as a married woman. Despite all the dirty talk about getting together and fucking like crazy even after she married her husband, Shanti would never do anything like that. She'd given her vows and would do her best to live up to them, even if she didn't actually love her husband as much as she loved me.

Her husband was doing the dirty on her. That was the first problem. I only heard about it through a mutual friend, who told me that she'd confronted him about it. Within a couple of days, there was an intervention from all the men on both sides of the family who insisted it was his right to take on an extra lover or two considering he was the breadwinner and head of the household.

I knew bullshit when I heard it, but I knew it wasn't the right time for me to intervene. I knew if I did, only Shanti would suffer the consequences.

The turning point was a couple of months later. Given that she was still unable to provide him with children, I heard through the grapevine that he was now being rather flagrant regarding his affairs, and the rumours were that he was hoping one of his lovers would provide the children he so desperately wanted.

I was sitting at home alone in the three-bedroom townhouse I'd managed to buy. The mortgage wasn't too much of a killer as I had a roommate to help pay that and the bills. I was in between relationships as I wasn't going to marry another woman who I didn't love the same way I loved Shanti. Probably not the best mindset but I believed it was fair on any woman I found myself involved with. I usually stuck to brief flings and friends-with-benefits arrangements rather than anything too serious.

It was a quiet Wednesday evening, around 9pm when my phone dinged next to me. Picking it up, the message was very simple. The fact it was from Shanti had my heart racing immediately.

Please help me.

I barely thought of anything as I picked up my keys, phone and wallet, rushing out to my car with my roommate, who knew all about Shanti, took one look at my face and knew it had something to do with her. If a copper had pulled me over while I was driving over, I'd have been done for speeding and probably would have lost my licence. Skidding to a stop outside the house she called home, I marched up to the front door, opened the screen and slammed my fist against the thick wooden door.

It opened after a few seconds to reveal her husband. Behind him was Shanti. I glanced her way and noticed the bruise already forming near her eye and the blood dripping from her mouth. Before anything could be said, I slammed my fist into his gut. Doubling over, my knee came up and connected his nose, putting him onto his back.

Ignoring him immediately, I walked over to Shanti, who didn't hesitate to hug me tightly. "Thank you," she whispered, "It's not the first time he's hit me."

"But it will be the last. Mike, watch him for me please."

"I'd like to hit him myself, mate. Can't stand men who hit women."

Taking Shanti by the hand, I led her towards the bedroom, watching as she grabbed a case from her wardrobe and started packing anything she needed. "Documents," I stated, "Passport. Birth certificates. Anything you'll need. You're not coming back here."

"I'm done," she muttered, "Totally done. I don't care anymore. He's cheated on me most of our marriage, Mark."

"Want me to call your mother?"

"No. I'll call her tomorrow. No doubt dear old hubby will call my father as soon as he's able. If he wants to disown me now, so be it."

There was no rush as I could hear Mike issuing plenty of threats in the direction of her future ex-husband. Once her suitcase was packed and her handbag was full to bursting with all the documents she needed, I took her by the hand and led her to the bathroom, sitting her down so I could fix her face. She was going to have quite the shiner around her eye, making her wince more than once when cleaning up the blood.

"You should have told me he was hitting you," I said softly, "I'd have kicked his arse long ago."

"I saw my father..." She trailed off and sighed. "You just learn to accept it."

"Bullshit, Shanti. You're in Australia. The government has plenty of initiatives regarding domestic violence. And you always have places to go." I paused and hugged her. "I'm not blaming you. Please don't think I'd ever blame you for enduring all of this. You're a victim. But I wish you'd have told me sooner."

"I was just scared of what would happen if I were to just up and leave him."

"And now?"

"I'm going with you, Mark. I'm not going to tolerate this any longer. I never loved him."

"Want to stay with me?"

"My home was always with you. I've always loved you. I never stopped for a second."

After grabbing her suitcase as she picked up her handbag, we walked back out to the living room where her husband was sitting back in an armchair, holding tissues to his nose, Mike standing over him, looking ready to start swinging. Handing him the suitcase that he wheeled outside to my car, I made sure I was holding Shanti's hand as I stood in front of her husband.

"I'm leaving," she told him, "And never coming back."

"I'll tell your father everything," he spat, "You're going to be disowned. Shunned by everyone. If you'd just been a good little wife instead of..."

I leaned forward and slapped him, a sign of real disrespect. "She's not a piece of property and doesn't belong to you," I stated, "And now she's coming with me."

He sneered at me. "You'd rather be with him? A piece of white trash?"

I slapped him again. "Rather be white trash than a wife-beating piece of shit."

"I'm done with you, Ravi. Tell my father whatever you want. You've cheated on me nearly our entire marriage and proven to be less than a man. Probably why you could never get me pregnant." That's when I glanced at her to see her smiling. "Guess you never found my birth control pills."

"Bitch," he growled.

"Mark, I hope you won't think less of me if I want to resume our sexual relationship as quickly as possible because I want you to knock me up so I can finally carry our baby."

"We'll find a lawyer who can make the separation legal. Unfortunately, you will have to wait twelve months for a divorce."

Her husband was smart enough to stay where he was as I led Shanti outside to my car, Mike moving into the back of the car as Shanti sat next to me in the front. She remained silent during the drive to my place, leading her inside and towards my bedroom. Only after I closed the door did she completely fall apart, sobbing into my chest as I held her in my arms, caressing the back of her head as I whispered how much I'd always loved her. She could barely speak but returned those words of love immediately.

After showering, she slid into bed next to me, clutching me ever so tightly as tears continued to fall. I was aware she'd rarely been happy for years. I think it was the fact she now felt free was a relief. I called into work in the morning and told them an emergency had come up and I would only return on Monday. Considering I was now managing the shop I worked in, taking a few personal days wasn't going to cause much of an issue.

"Need me to move out?" Mike asked the next morning as I still got up at the usual time, leaving Shanti to sleep, "I mean, it's obvious you two are going to be together now."

"I have no idea what's going to happen in the future regarding me and her," I replied, "Emotions are no doubt going to be running high, but I know she won't go back to him. Other than that, I guess we'll just take it day by day for now."

"Mate, she texted you because she knew there was one man in the world that she would always be able to rely on. I'm not going to be offended if you suggest there will be a time I need to go. This is the perfect little house to have a family anyway."

"Making plans for me already?" I joked.

"Nope. I think she has plans for you. We both know she's been miserable since the day she walked down that aisle towards him. There was one man she would walk down an aisle towards and there would be a smile on her face that would never fade."

"My only concern is that she's going to lose her entire family over this."

"I don't think she cares, mate. You'll be her family from now on."

Shanti woke up mid-morning, and walking out of my bedroom to find breakfast waiting for her. Hugging me tightly, I happily watched her eat and sip at her drink before clearing my throat, needing to ask what she was going to do next.

"Talk to a lawyer and the police. I'm going to get a restraining order and hopefully an AVO against the bastard. I will not spend another minute living in the same house as that man."

"And your father?"

"Fuck him," she muttered, "I was forced into a marriage I never wanted under the threat of being completely disowned and being forced from my family and community. Not fucking worth it. I should never have turned up on the day."

The first place we visited was the nearest police station where a report was taken, her bruises were photographed. They asked more than one personal question regarding both domestic and sexual violence against her. She said that he'd raised a hand more than once, but she was never coerced into having sex. As it was obvious that he was having affairs, he had stopped attempting sexual relations long before.

Managing to get an appointment with a lawyer on Friday, I was sitting with her as options were discussed. An AVO was already in the works as was a restraining order. Given how seriously domestic violence was taken, and the fact she was already living somewhere she felt safer, we knew it wouldn't take long for both to be in place.

That evening, her father showed up on my doorstep. No idea how he learned where I lived. Opening the door, he had to raise his head to meet my eyes. "I'm going to say this only once," I stated, stepping out and ensuring the screen door was shut behind me, "Fuck off. Get the fuck off my property and don't return. I see you pull up on the street, I see you anywhere on this street, I will drag you out of your car and beat you to within an inch of your life."

"I demand to see..."

Grabbing him by the throat ended that sentence. "Don't hurt him too much," Shanti whispered from behind the screen door.

"You don't get to make demands of me, cunt," I growled, "I'm not someone you can push and order around. I'm going to put this in very simple English so you can understand. Shanti will not be returning to that piece of shit she used to call a husband. Shanti will not be returning to live with you. Shanti will remain living with me where she will feel safe and, more importantly, she will feel loved."

Releasing him, he wisely stepped back a couple of paces. "Shanti, if you stay here, consider yourself on your own. I will not tolerate having my daughter living with someone like... him... He is beneath you."

I snorted as Shanti laughed behind me. "Give over," she stated, "Mark is twice the man my future ex-husband is, and he's a far better man than you are, Dad. I don't need Ravi and I don't need you. My family will be Mark from now on. I will make sure the divorce goes through, and if that ends my association with the likes of you, then I'll be better for it."

"Your mother will be..."

"Her mother will support our love," I stated, "You might think you're a big man, but I've seen more than one man like you. Pathetic and weak. And I don't mean when it comes to physicality. You hide behind words such as 'tradition' and 'culture' to exert control over people." I stepped forward and was ready to grab him again. "Problem for you is that while we might exist in a multicultural society, it doesn't mean that we're going to approve of every aspect of your culture that you might bring along."

"I'm divorcing Ravi, Dad," Shanti told him, "And when that's confirmed, I'm going to marry the man I should have married."

"Then you will have nothing to do with your family from then on," her father threatened.

"I'll miss my mother, but you know what, Dad, I won't miss you."

"Run along now, Daddy," I taunted, "And remember what I said. You come near Shanti again, I'll make sure they'll need to reconstruct your face afterwards. And you can tell Ravi the same thing. We'll get the AVO and restraining order in place, but if he thinks of ever coming near Shanti again, the police will never find his body."

I watched him until his car was turning at the end of the street. Turning back to Shanti, she stepped out of the house and hugged me tightly. "Thank you," she whispered, "I've been wanting to do something like that for years. What he doesn't seem to realise is that I've always been in love with you. It was always you, Mark."

"I guess you're living with me permanently now?"

"I can't imagine anywhere else I'd rather be nor anyone else I'd rather be with."

Although she was still a married woman, her heart had never belonged to Ravi. And though she was still a married woman, having to wait a year before she could move on was simply too much. Once we had the separation agreement in place, not requiring the husband's input as Shanti wanted absolutely nothing from him regarding the house or finances, it took all of a fortnight before we made love for the first time in over seven years.

"You've always owned my pussy," she whispered as our bodies joined together, slowly moving in unison as I savoured being inside her once again, "I hated it when he was inside me."

"Still as tight as ever. He must have had a really small dick."

That made her giggle. "It was pathetic. I barely felt him most of the time. Not like someone else I can think of. God, you feel so good inside me, Mark."

"Going to stop taking your pills?"

"As soon as the divorce is official, you're knocking me up. I'm going to prove I can easily fall pregnant when I'm with the man I love."

What I learned very quickly is that Shanti had a voracious sexual appetite that had been completely repressed for years, and I was more than willing to keep up with her. I loved eating her pussy and couldn't help smiling when I arrived home the night after we made love for the first time to find her lying back on my bed, stark naked and with a smooth pussy on display.

"Never shaved for him," she told me, "But I'll always shave my pussy for my white boy lover."

"You don't have to, not that I don't appreciate the gesture."

"I love shaving my pussy for you, Mark. Now get your mouth to work as I really need to cum."

I would never not go down on Shanti. She knew how much l loved eating her pussy. What surprised me was how eager she was to suck my cock in return. She loved telling me about always denying her husband. She flatly refused to go down on him as he refused to go down on her. From how she explained it, their sex life was poor from the outset, admitting she would simply lie back and show no enthusiasm as he pumped a few times before climaxing.

Mike sat down with me a month after she moved in to announce that he was going to move out. Though Shanti and I both insisted that he didn't have to go, he waved our protests away, stating that it was obvious we were going to start a family sooner rather than later, and he wanted us to enjoy our time together as a couple without a third wheel in the way. I was sad to see him go as he was one of my best friends, but I also appreciated the sentiment.