The Restless Billionaire. Эбби Грин

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СКАЧАТЬ 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. 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 СКАЧАТЬ