Restless Billionaire (4 page)

 
          
He
stood back after a long moment, releasing her hand with deliberate slowness,
and shook his head, gazing so intently at her that she felt flutters run all
the way up and down her spine. No man had ever looked at her so explicitly. He
gestured to the back of the penthouse. ‘By all means, it’s just through there.’

 
          
Aneesa
walked away on still-wobbly legs and found the bathroom, slipping inside and
closing the door. It was a relief to be away from that courtyard and the
intense pressure, and a relief to be away from Sebastian’s disturbing presence.
Just then she remembered how it had been the memory of his eyes that had acted
as a catalyst to make her run from the ceremony.

 
          
And
now she was here, in
his
suite. And
he was protecting her from the hordes.

 
          
She
shivered slightly. She was a pragmatic per son, not given to flights of fancy,
but it suddenly felt very serendipitous to have arrived here. Immediately that
visceral physical response flooded her body in a way that had never happened
before.

 
          
Even
on the fateful evening she’d gone to Jamal’s room to seduce him in her
impossibly naïve way, she’d felt no physical anticipation, and yet in the space
of the past few minutes she’d become more aware of herself and another man than
she ever had been in her whole life. It was fast eclipsing the recent
disastrous events.

 
          
She
pushed away from the door and went to stand in front of the mirror; a soft
light had come on automatically once she’d opened the door of the bathroom. She
sighed deeply. When had she become so used to, or expected, such flippant
luxuries?

 
          
She
looked at her heavily made-up face and urgently wanted to feel clean again. As
if she could get rid of the persona of Aneesa Adani, Bollywood’s darling. She
released the clip which held the jewel that sat in the centre of her forehead
and laid it down carefully and with warm water in the sink she bent and
splashed it over her face.

 
          
After
a few minutes though, she could see that it was going to take a lot more than
water to wipe it all away. A sense of futility washed through her and also
pain, to know the upheaval she was undoubtedly causing within her family. Jamal
she wasn’t unduly concerned about; he would
survive,
especially now she knew he’d only seen her as a strategic pawn.

 
          
But
her parents … they had deserved better. She could picture the disappointment
and humiliation on their faces right now. They loved her so much, and while she
knew they were proud of her success, she knew that they’d have been equally
proud if she’d become a housewife and had babies. They’d always accepted her
unconditionally and this is how she repaid them….

 
          
Emotion
surged; Aneesa was unable to stop gut-wrenching sobs from rising upwards. She
hadn’t really lost control yet, and the pressure of keeping it together nearly
floored her now. She pulled at the bangles on her arms and rings on her
fingers, uncaring of the pain as she ripped them off, dropping them to the
counter. With shaking hands she untied the necklace from around her neck and
it, too, fell under its own heavy weight.

 
          
Sobbing
now in
earnest,
and with a sense of inner desperation
mounting and anger at herself once again for having been so stupid and selfish,
she tried ineffectually to wash the henna tattoo off her arms and hands,
knowing that all the scrubbing in the world wouldn’t remove it, only the
passing of time.

 
          
Just
then a knock came on the door, and Sebastian’s voice saying, ‘Aneesa, are you
all right in there?’

 
          
She
couldn’t answer; the tears were streaming down her face now, streaking it with
mascara. Her chest heaved with jerky sobs and she sagged back against the sink
just as Sebastian opened the door, took one look and strode in.

 
          
She
held out her dripping hands stupidly and looked up at him, struggling to regain
control. ‘I ….I can’t get rid of the henna tattoo…. Do you have any idea what
this means?’

 
          
Sebastian
shook his head, looking grim.
And gorgeous.
Aneesa was
aware of that even in this state.

 
          
She
said brokenly, ‘It’s meant to symbolise my transition from innocence … except
now I don’t even have a husband to seduce me! I’m going to be walking around
with the physical mark of my shame for everyone to see for weeks!’

 
          
Sebastian
just got a facecloth and wrung it out in the warm water. He came close and
gently wiped at the trails of mascara running down Aneesa’s cheeks. She could
feel the backs of his lower arms brush against her chest as he wiped her face,
and in an instantaneous reaction, her nipples stiffened, pushing against the
hard material of her bodice top. Her inner agitation died away as a wholly new
tension entered her body, flooding her belly with a hot tingling awareness, a
sensation of melting.

 
          
A
taut stillness entered the air around them as Sebastian washed her face. He
finally put the cloth down and took a towel, drying Aneesa’s hands.

 
          
Then
he dropped the towel and brought his hands to Aneesa’s jaw, his thumbs brushing
back and forth against her cheeks. She was barely breathing now, hypnotised by
the blue glitter of his eyes, by the heady sense of expectation in the air, by
his intensely masculine scent. She could see his jaw clench as if he was
exerting some control and inwardly a hidden part of her trembled to think that
he had to exert it because of
her
.

 
          
He
didn’t step away; he didn’t take his hands from her jaw or face, and Aneesa
felt like she was slowly being set on fire. Her gaze slipped down to his mouth
and she ached to know how it would feel be to be kissed by him. She’d never
been properly kissed by any man, thanks to her sheltered upbringing and then
the even more sheltered world of being Jamal Kapoor Khan’s love interest, on
and off the screen.

 
          
Sebastian’s virile masculinity wound around her like a spell,
rendering her oblivious to everything but him and this moment in time.
Making her forget everything.

 
          
He
asked with a gruff voice, ‘What did you mean when you said your fiancé would
only be concerned about his reputation?’

 
          
Aneesa
blinked and welcomed his breaking of the seductive spell, but with that came
the emotion surging again. Sebastian held her steady even when she felt one or
two tears slip out, his thumbs merely catching them.

 
          
‘I
couldn’t marry him. It would have been a lie. I could have done it if it was
just for
myself
and to save my family from the shame …
but he expected us to have children. And I couldn’t bear the thought of
bringing a child into such a façade….’

 
          
Sebastian
frowned. ‘What façade? What do you mean?’

 
          
Aneesa
tried to look down but Sebastian tipped her chin back up, not letting her
escape. And in all honesty there was a part of her aching to tell someone about
what had happened. And who better than a practical stranger she’d never meet
again?

 
          
‘Jamal
is gay. His assistant has been his lover for years. Everyone knew apparently
except me….’ Bitterness tinged her voice. ‘And I didn’t know because I was so
wrapped up in myself, in believing that everyone loved me and that my life was
all perfect. I only found out because I walked in on him and his lover a couple
of days ago.

 
          
‘He
wanted to marry to project an image of respectability. Homosexuality might be
legal now but it’s still taboo here, especially in Bollywood. His career would
be over if people found out. And I was the perfect fool for him to seduce….’

 
          
Aneesa
avoided Sebastian’s eyes
now,
terrified she’d see his
disgust and pity. But his hands just tightened on her jaw, tipping it up again
so that she couldn’t avoid his gaze. There was no pity in his eyes, only an
intense
heat
. She felt as if she were
being scorched alive from the inside out and there was a curious ache in the pit
of her belly, an ache she knew instinctively that only
he
could assuage.

 
          
Sebastian
was unable to stop a visceral emotion from rising; her eyes were two huge
almond-shaped pools of dark brown, long lashed and full of swirling emotions. ‘You’re
so beautiful….’

 
          
The
old Aneesa would have taken the compliment for granted. But now all she could
think of to say was, ‘So are you.’

 
          
Sebastian
let her face go but only to take her hand in his and lead her out of the
bathroom.

 
          
Once
in the living room again Aneesa tugged free of Sebastian’s grip. Instantly she
felt bereft, but fear of the way this man was making her
feel
so instantly out of control made her panicky.
As if she were
on a runaway train going faster and faster.
‘I should really go. I can’t
impose on you anymore.’

 
          
She
saw something indefinable flash in his eyes but he just said laconically, ‘You’re
ready to go out there and take on the fallout of the bride fleeing the most
high-profile wedding of the year? The place will be swarming with press by now.’

 
          
Aneesa
felt the blood drain from her face to remember what lay outside this suite and
heard Sebastian curse softly. He came close again but she stopped him with a
hand and then looked down as if momentarily mesmerised. She looked back up and
tried to smile wryly. ‘Do you know that ever since I was a little girl I dreamt
of the day I’d get married? I fantasised about the Mehendi ceremony. All of my
cousins and female relations gathered to witness the drawing of the intricate
henna design on my hands and feet … in preparation for my husband to discover
on our wedding night.’

 
          
Her
smile wobbled. ‘And yet when it came to my wedding, I insisted on a top
Bollywood make-up artist and wouldn’t let my female relatives have anything to
do with it. At the last minute I tried to change it, but the make-up artist
kicked up such a fuss that I couldn’t….’

 
          
It
suddenly hit Aneesa then, the very real probability that she would not have a
second chance to have the wedding night of her childhood dreams. No chance to
make reparations with her relatives and do it properly.

 
          
An
awful gaping emptiness wrenched her insides, the loss of a lifelong dream
profound, even as she recognised that the wedding she’d just run from had been
a million miles from the dream she’d visualised as a child anyway.

 
          
She
looked at Sebastian and said huskily, ‘I’ll never have that first night with my
husband.’ She gestured with a hand over her whole outfit. ‘This is all …
wasted.’

 
          
Sebastian’s
face was implacable, stern, and Aneesa could sense in that moment that he
rarely lost control. And suddenly, Aneesa felt an overwhelming urge to see him
lose that control. She had no idea where it was coming from but it was rising
and gathering force within her.

 
          
Without
even realising what she was doing she’d moved closer to Sebastian and she saw
his eyes flare, bright blue. It emboldened something deep inside her. She
blurted out without thinking, ‘I wish I’d met you … I wish that my first night
could have been with you.’

 
          
Aneesa
knew on some dim level the enormity of what she had said, but her heart had
slowed to a steady deep beat, her blood was pooling low in her belly and her
gaze dropped to Sebastian’s mouth. She was simply speaking the truth and couldn’t
have held it back even if she’d wanted to.

 
          
Everything
within Sebastian narrowed to this moment. Arousal so fierce that it was almost
painful gripped him. Did she know what she was saying? Was she a virgin? That
thought should be sending him running, fast, in the opposite direction.