"I was waiting for this…impatiently...thank God you called; it gave me an excuse to escape Anji…" I giggled. He raised an eyebrow and didn't look like he approved of this. He kissed my forehead softly.

"So you ditched your best friend for me?"

"Well…I did shop with her for four hours and you know that counts for something. Oh, c'mon, I didn't ditch her…I just came home…because I missed my husband and have a lot of catching up to do with him…"

We kissed. Electricity crept up from my toes, and shot all the way up to the tips of my fingers. Desire spread from the pit of my stomach and I tugged on his hair. If only the bedroom wasn't so far. I knew we were somewhere close to the sofa. I wanted to push him in that direction. Our kiss became deeper. His hands remained firm around my waist. I pushed him and he slowly walked backwards and stopped. He sat down and brought me closer. I was on top of him now.

This is what I wanted. I wondered if it was possible to quench this thirst. I kissed his neck and glided my lips up to his face. His eyes were now drowning in desire. I could feel it through his touch. He wanted me. I wanted him.

I was back on his lips, ready to go for it but then he held my wrists and stopped me.

"Is this why you came home?" He was blushing and had a glint in his eyes. I knew he was trying very hard to keep himself from smiling. My stern and hard stone Ashutosh was melting under my touch.

"Call it a dress rehearsal, for our honeymoon…."

"If you keep this up, we won't make it to our honeymoon. I mean, who wants to pack up and sit on a long flight and make their way through a crowded airport when they can…um, make love on the sofa…in their living room…" He said this all rather dryly. But I burst out laughing and he put his head in his hands. He looked up and his eyes were sparkling and he gave that little smile I loved, the one which made all his dimples visible.

"Let's at least make it to our bedroom first…and then we can think about the honeymoon…" He smiled and gave me a peck on the cheek.

"So we can rehearse?" I batted my eyelashes.

"Yes yes….we can…" He sighed and pretended to be somewhat reluctant, but his blushing and that grin revealed that he wanted it just as much as I did.

"Did you have dinner yet?" He was on a holiday, but the hospital still called him so often that he usually ended up having dinner there.

"Yeah…I mean, you know, hospital food…" He sighed. "Aww…I'll make you something now…"

I got busy in making dinner for him. It was getting late. He went to take a shower and I took dinner up to our bedroom. He came out and got dressed which was great time for me to ogle him some more. I sighed inwardly. I flipped through a magazine and pretended not to notice how adorable he looked with wet hair and a casual t-shirt and jeans, not to mention, extremely sexy.

I was staring now. Staring always made him self-conscious. I couldn't help it. He was sitting cross legged on our bed and eating the sandwich I'd made him. Water droplets were falling on his cheeks. It all made him look totally opposite of the Dr. Ashutosh I'd met once upon a time. This one looked almost child-like. He was boyish and innocent.

He finished eating and looked across the room as me. I was sitting by a desk. "What?" He looked around him and then back at me again. "What are you looking at?"

I laughed. "I was looking at you."

He looked down. He did that whenever he got shy.

"You were doing that "sexiest man alive thing again"…" Ok, no more staying away. I sat across from him. He still looked a bit uncomfortable. He wasn't very good with compliments. I got closer to him and wiped some drops of water from his forehead. I kissed a few away from his cheeks, and finally gave him a peck on his lips.

"It's called a hair dryer, by the way…" I giggled.

"I'm au natural, I don't use those things…they're bad for our hair…"

I rolled my eyes. "Well, I had no idea you're so beauty conscious". He laughed.

"Have you been packing, Dr. Nidhi? As your husband, I expect you to do my packing for me. We have less than four days until we go on our way. I need you to get to work". He sounded very authoritative for a minute, until a smile touch the corners of his lips.

"I have been packing, just for your information. I'm already done. I just need to pack what I bought with Anji today. YOUR bags are packed too, Dr. Ashutosh."

I frowned and he smiled. "Thanks for bearing with all the chaos lately…I know I promised that I'd be on a break, but some things are out of my control…I feel terrible about the hospital things getting in our way…"

"It's ok….they're not getting in our way. Nothing can get in our way."

He grabbed me my waist and pulled me closer, a bit roughly.

"I promise to make up for it on this honeymoon…I won't let you down. Trust me."

We lay down together and I rested my head against his chest. I felt him rubbing my back gently.

"So, how about that rehearsal for our honeymoon you were talking about?" He asked me. I sat up excitedly and we kissed. His hands slowly crept down to my hips and he sat up and I locked my legs around his waist. His hands went under my shirt and up my back. I had to stop and catch my breath. The combination of his lips on my shoulders and his finger tips caressing my back was too much for me to handle. I shivered and wrapped my legs around him more tightly, prompting him to bite my neck just enough for me to moan, but not hard enough for it to hurt.

We continued kissing. I lay down and he got on top of me. We looked into each other's eyes. This was flawless. Whatever differences we'd once thought we had, when we put them aside and came together this way, it was always graceful. Our fingers entwined, and as the fire started spreading throughout my body, I had to remind myself that the honeymoon had yet to start. We were still home. Italy was still waiting.