Chapter 133 - 132

But just as Charan was about to turn around, Shreya reached out and caught his hands and held him back.

"Shreya…" Charan whined helplessly turning back to look at her but what he saw confused him. She was not dazed nor sly… she looked kinda scared actually.

But before he could react, she looked up at him with those same scared eyes and asked, "Don't go just yet, please," Her gentle voice pleaded, making him feel helpless. She was still panting for air slightly but he could see that her mind was not quiet.

Charan extended his hands and caressed on her cheeks with concern and asked softly, "Hey what is it??"

In reality, Shreya herself did not know what was it. It's just when he pulled away she suddenly felt cold and scared. And she did not like that feeling. It made her feel vulnerable and exposed. But that was only a small part of it. Mostly she felt confused.

In her university days, she was infamous throughout the campus for being a heartless brat dumping everyone in a whim. But such a girl was actually was someone with no knowledge of intimacy. Everything she knew was theoretical and she had zero practical knowledge.

So when she felt this craving to be close to Charan, she did not know how to go about it. And when Charan pulled away, her emotions got twisted. She knew rationally that they had to stop but then there was this irrational part of her that felt empty suddenly. She yearned with everything in her being for something more… a craving that was for both physical and emotional closeness. This yearning overwhelmed her senses and emotions. So much so that she could barely think straight.

"Can you hold me please…" She requested softly with those pleading eyes. For a second there Charan thought she was being mischievous again. But before he could voice his concerns, as if reading his mind, she continued, "I won't do anything… Just… just for 5 minutes… no… just 2 is enough…" 

Seeing her desperate plea, Charan of course complied and went closer to the place she was sitting on and hugged her as gently as possible. Shreya eagerly circled her arms around his and nuzzled into his chest. His steady heartbeat against her ears calmed her down considerably. She stopped her train of thoughts and concentrated on the warmth his hug was giving her instead and closed her eyes.

Charan, on the other hand, when he thought of her scared eyes, he thought maybe things got a little too much for her and that he might have pushed her too much. So he consoled her gently patting on her back and said, "Hey, it's okay. I am sorry if I pushed you too much… I just… I lost control for a minute there…"

Little did he know that Shreya was actually scared of something straight opposite to what he was thinking.

Shreya pulled away putting some distance between them and shook her vehemently as she tried to explain the situation, "No, Charan… It's just… it's not that… It's not something you did… I'm not��" And thus her attempt to explain failed miserably.

Charan did not know what was happening but he did not want to agitate her more than she already was. So he did not say anything but just stroke her head softly and gave her a smile, "It's okay. You don't have to explain…"

Shreya thought of something she had to probably tell Charan. But with just the thought to telling it, her cheeks blushed in embarrassment. She leaned into Charan hiding her face as best as she could and confessed, "I've… I have never done this… before…" vaguely. But her voice was so low and muffled that Charan actually did not hear anything comprehensive.

"Uhh??" Charan asked confused looking down at her. Her ears were actually pink by then making him even more confused. In all the time he knew Shreya, she was never shy.

Shreya pulled away resigned but still did not really look up at him as she mumbled in a slightly louder voice than before, "I have never been… intimate before…" She wasn't ashamed or anything. It was just, she felt awkward verbalizing it, that too after how she practically jumped him just now.

Charan looked at her surprised but not in any negative way. It's just… he knew that she said her previous marriage was actually fake. But he always thought she should have had someone before that. So he was slightly caught off guard by her confession.

"I'm sorry…" He said kissing her temples softly bring her back into his embrace. Even though he hadn't been forceful or anything… he still felt guilty for scaring her.

"Charan, it's not…" Shreya tried to explain but she was cut off pretty quickly and Charan said, "It's okay. Don't worry. We will take it slowly okay… you don't have to be scared. It won't happen again,"

And before Shreya could come up with a reply, he pulled her down from the counter and said, "You first shower and change into dry clothes… I will go make some lunch…" He then once again pecked her temple and left the bathroom.

Shreya let out a helpless sigh puffing her cheeks as he walked out. But she had no idea how to rationally explain herself or her emotions at the moment. She was clueless about her own emotions so how will she know how to explain to another person??

So she just let him go for now and went to take a shower as told.

Charan actually did the same and came to the living room only to find Preethi and Adam slacking off on the couch while Bharath and the kids were playing video games.

"When did you guys come??" Charan asked drying off his hair.

"Just…" Preethi answered looking at the video games in the front.

When he looked over and he saw that Adam was actually dozing off.

"He's been working all night…" Preethi replied to his unvoiced question.

And of course, a few minutes later Shreya's bounced off of her room and instantly crashed on Adam startling him awake.

"Shreya…" He whined helplessly.

"Go and sleep inside. You are not getting any sleep here…" Shreya replied giving Akira and Akil a hug.

She then shooed Adam away and gave her full attention to Preethi. For some reason, Shreya was deadly curious about Preethi. As soon as she saw her at the party, Shreya stuck to her like glue the whole night. And even though Preethi found it weird at first, she slowly got used to it at the party. But she did not think the pattern was going to continue at every encounter. But then she also felt slightly amused seeing Akira give her stinky eyes.

And by dinner time, her house was fully filled with people chattering away and laughing around. She invited Pritham and Zack along and ordered take away.