was barely aware of where she’d run, she knew only that she wouldn’t have long to capitalise on the shock of the wedding crowd before her father sent people to find her. She couldn’t bear to think of her parents’ confusion and dismay either, or else she’d falter altogether. And she couldn’t turn back now.
She stopped for a moment, her heart hammering in her chest. She’d come up several flights of service stairs and now saw what looked like a staff elevator. All Aneesa hoped for was that it would take her somewhere far away from that courtyard and somewhere quiet, where she could assess the situation she now found herself in. She longed for fresh air, and her clothes felt more constrictive than ever.
The elevator slid silently upwards, and then came to a smooth halt. The doors opened with a muted whoosh and she found herself in what looked like a utility room. Albeit a very plush utility room.
She approached the one door and opened it with her heart in her mouth. Peering out she could see that she was in a suite of rooms that went on and on. All was quiet and still. No one was here. She automatically assumed that she’d found one of the empty suites in this massive hotel. Heaving a huge sigh of relief, she emerged more fully and walked into a darkened kitchen. She could see a huge formal dining room and, through that, wall-to-wall sliding glass doors which led to an open terrace and balcony outside. She could see the skyline of Mumbai laid out like a glittering carpet. This was no ordinary suite, this was the penthouse!
When she thought of her own honeymoon suite with its king-size bed covered in rose petals she felt clammy and sweaty all over again. Almost tripping in her long sari she made for the glass doors, struggling to open them and get out to the fresh air.
Finally they slid back and Aneesa stumbled out, gasping now. She ripped the heavy garland of flowers from around her neck and let it fall to the ground. She was vaguely aware of a dim light coming from nearby but barely registered it. When she reached the wall she tipped her head back and breathed deep, the chaotic sounds of the crazy Mumbai traffic drifting up from far, far below. Her heart finally started to slow down. So when she heard a deep drawling voice say, ‘Please don’t tell me you’re thinking of jumping …’ Aneesa screamed.
CHAPTER TWO
ANEESA whirled around so fast her head spun and she gripped the wall behind her with both hands. And then she saw him in the dim light. She recognised him instantly by his intense piercing blue eyes, like chips of ice. It was the man from the shadows she’d seen downstairs. And now she also registered what she’d missed entirely in her distraught state: a state-of-the-art terrace pool, lit from underwater.
The man’s arms were resting nonchalantly on the side of the pool, and crossed, as if he was quite used to hysterical women in full bridal regalia bursting onto his private terrace.
His hair was slicked back against a well-shaped skull and in the shadows the lines of his face were stark, his jaw hard. He arched one ebony-black brow and once again Aneesa had the gut-clenching realisation of how extraordinarily handsome he was. It was a physical sensation she’d never experienced with Jamal, even though she’d believed herself to be in love with him. The realisation sent shock through her system.
‘Shouldn’t you be kissing your groom about now?’
His laconically spoken words and their accompanying picture sent a wave of nausea through Aneesa. Barely thinking, she said numbly, ‘All Jamal will be concerned about is his precious reputation.’
Hearing her own voice loud in the silence made shock grip her anew. She had to leave. Get away from here, but just as she started to move she realised that her legs had turned to jelly. To her utter horror and chagrin, she folded to the ground from the waist down like a rag doll, the previous minutes’ events crippling her.
So quickly, that she didn’t have time to register, the man had hauled himself out of the pool and was crouched beside Aneesa, water sluicing off his taut body. Big hands came under her arms and suddenly he was lifting her up as if she weighed no more than a doll.
Amidst the shock of reality hitting her, and his proximity, a torrent of words clamoured to get out. ‘I’m so … sorry … had no idea anyone was here. I ran … had to get away. I’ll go … leave you alone … shouldn’t be here …’
Aneesa was aware that her teeth were chattering and that the man was effortlessly supporting her as he led her back through the doors and into a luxurious living room, switching on low lights as he went. His arm around her was like a steel support, and the wet body she could feel through her sari felt like a warm wall of hard muscle.
He brought her over to a sumptuous couch and sat her down with a gentleness that belied his obvious strength. When she was seated he crouched down and looked up into her face. However handsome she’d thought him before, up close he was quite simply breathtaking.
Even though his hair was wet, she could see that it was cut almost militarily short. His blue eyes were deep set, over a patrician nose which gave him a look of royalty. A thin upper lip spoke of a cool control, but his full lower lip spoke of passion and an innate sensuality, and even though he was a complete stranger Aneesa had the almost overwhelming urge to run her finger along that lower lip and see if his icy blue eyes would darken with the promise of sensual satisfaction.
Aghast at the totally uncharacteristic and wanton direction of her thoughts she recoiled back and then wished she hadn’t as it gave her a better view of his broad shoulders and tautly muscled chest, covered with a smattering of masculine hair.
Something flashed in his eyes and he drew back too, asking, ‘Will you be OK for a minute if I go and put some clothes on?’
Aneesa’s head nearly fell off she nodded it so vigorously. She couldn’t even speak and just watched with a dry mouth as he stood to his full imposing height, and strode away. Helplessly, her eyes drawn to the sheer athletic grace with which he walked. He had a broad back, which tapered down to narrow hips and then lower to where his short swim trunks hugged the globes of his muscular bottom. His skin was a burnished olive as if he spent much time outdoors, and dimly she wondered if he might be some sort of professional athlete.
With a flood of heat rising from her belly upwards Aneesa finally dragged her gaze away and groaned, bringing her hands to her face. What was wrong with her? She’d just sent her whole life into a tailspin and here she was drooling over some stranger’s half-naked body.
The only thing stopping her from getting up and running at that moment was a curious sense of lethargy and also the very real fear that she’d collapse again. Also she owed this man an explanation for bursting into his penthouse suite. She told herself she’d just wait till he came back and then apologise and leave, and hopefully by then she’d be in a fit enough state to walk out with some measure of dignity, and find some other sanctuary where she could lick her wounds.
Sebastian stepped out from under the cold spray of the quickest shower he’d ever taken and roughly ran a towel over his body. He’d had to take a cold shower because merely putting his hands under Aneesa Adani’s arms when he’d helped her inside had unleashed a flood of desire so forceful that he’d nearly lost control.
He could still feel the gentle swell of her breast against his side, the silky brush of her hair as it had swung against him and an enticing scent of exotic flowers. Her skin was as soft as he’d imagined it might be earlier.
He cursed himself as his body started to respond to the mental images again and he enforced rigid control, dragging on a pair of black trousers and a white shirt. Clearly she didn’t feel the same level of intensely immediate attraction if the
