Chapter 61
1867words
Standing under the sluicing hot spray, she didn't feel an ounce of remorse for what had happened even though she knew it would shock her fans and her family to know what she'd just done. It would just have to be her own secret, something she would hug to herself for a long time, perhaps forever….
After drying herself, she let her hair down again and wrapped the sari around herself once more, in a haphazard fashion. Uncertainty gripped her just before she opened the bathroom door. What would Sebastian expect now? Should she just leave and try to get out of the hotel without anyone seeing her?
Opening the door hesitantly she saw that Sebastian was
still asleep on the bed and she crept over to the window to look out over Mumbai. Suddenly an acute sense of loneliness gripped her for just a moment, as well as a feeling of loss, that tonight was going to be the last time she would see him.
Sebastian woke with a start and for a second was thoroughly disorientated. He slept so rarely that it was disconcerting to realise he had slept, and more soundly than he had in ages. And then he saw her, standing at the window, with her back to him and that black hair in a luxuriant tangle over her shoulders, the red-and-gold wedding sari wrapped around her naked body.
And then he felt even more disorientated; he never fell asleep while with a woman. He would lay awake while she slept, or he would get up and work and he would be impatient for her to wake and leave … or else he would have already left. For a secret moment he regarded Aneesa's body and an acute rush of desire stunned him with its intensity. Never before had he felt such hunger for a woman he'd just bedded.
She'd been a virgin.
The memory of taking her, of thrusting into her tight
body, nearly had him groaning out loud, his own body already responding forcibly. And he felt a curious tightness in his chest, along with a very unwelcome sense of possessiveness. As that emotion registered he immediately diverted his thoughts back to the physical. He'd never climaxed so hard—he'd practically blacked out for a moment that second time….
Sensing his wakefulness, Aneesa turned around and something clenched hard in Sebastian's chest to see her beauty anew. And to see the hesitation on her face. She walked towards him slowly, hands clutching her sari to her chest.
When she stood near the bed she looked at him and said huskily, ‘Thank you … for tonight.'
Sebastian smiled and felt his equilibrium return as desire surged effortlessly. ‘My pleasure …'
He held out an imperious hand, beckoning her to come to him. She stalled. ‘Don't you want me to go?'
Sebastian in any other instance with any other woman would have answered in the affirmative but now he said a throaty, ‘No. It's still the middle of the night. How far do you think you're going to get wearing a dishevelled wedding sari and looking like you've been thoroughly bedded and not by the right man?'
He saw the blush stain her cheeks and his body responded even more violently. His conscience and guilt struck him when he thought of how tight she'd been, how out of control she'd made him feel. ‘Are you sore?'
She shook her head, flushing to hear it confirmed that he had noticed she was a virgin. ‘No … I bled a little but I'm fine. I … want to stay too, Sebastian … I want to do that again. Is that awful?'
Her disarming honesty caught at him somewhere inside. He shook his head and reached out to grab her hand, pulling her to him. ‘No, it's not awful at all. I want you too…. We have all night and if you're not too tender—'
She shook her head. ‘We only have one night. I don't want to waste a minute of it.'
A curious sense of loss assailed Sebastian at her words
but he blocked it out. There was no room for such emotions in his life. He sat up and started to unwind the sari from her body. She turned around and around, as he unwound it, until it fell to the floor and she was naked again, adorned with nothing except the gold waist chain and the henna tattoo.
Pulling her down onto the bed beside him, he came up on one elbow and had to take a breath at how beautiful she looked with her hair spread out around her head, and his body tightened when he caught the tantalising scent of exotic musk. When he made love to her this time it was so slow and leisurely that she was the one who lost control and came helplessly, bucking against his hand as he explored her hot wet body, and when he slid into her, he made sure that she exploded around him first, before giving in to his own all-consuming need.
When Aneesa woke next, she was the one alone in bed. She could see the tentacles of pink in the dawn sky outside and felt a helpless lurch of pain, to know that another day was dawning and her night with Sebastian was over.
Just then he emerged from the bathroom with a towel slung carelessly around his waist, his taut body gleaming, wet hair slicked back. Instantly Aneesa felt her body melting on the inside and she had to draw up the sheet over her body as if he might see the depth of the need she felt for him, even now, after what had felt like hours of lovemaking. She'd lost count of the amount of times he'd brought her to orgasm, as if he'd had to make up for the first time.
He strolled over nonchalantly and, with a small hand towel, rubbed at his short hair, making it stand up on end.
‘Morning.'
Aneesa blushed. ‘Morning.' She sat up, holding the sheet to her body, and looked around for her clothes, not wanting to meet Sebastian's too-inquisitive gaze right now, afraid that he might see something of the turmoil she felt. Especially when this situation was obviously something he was well used to. She could see one end of her sari on the floor near the bed and reached down to pick it up, jumping slightly when Sebastian got it for her and handed it over.
‘It's probably not the best idea to wear that out of the hotel …' he said with dry humour.
Aneesa looked at him, his easy demeanour making her feel disgruntled and tetchy. ‘Well, what else can I wear? I didn't exactly plan for this …'
Sebastian's eyes flashed at her tone and Aneesa said immediately, ‘I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound so … short.'
‘I can ring down and have them send up some clothes for you—jeans and a jacket, something like that?'
Aneesa nodded. ‘Thank you. If I can just get out without anyone spotting me I might be able to salvage something of my ruined reputation.'
Sebastian went to the phone and called down. She barely heard what he said, his words just a deep rumble, and hoped that he'd got her size right. He turned back, and feeling very exposed in the face of his supreme assuredness, Aneesa got out of the bed and clutched her sari to her body, desperately trying to cover up, which she knew was silly when this man already knew her body more intimately than she did.
She garbled something about taking a shower and fled to the bathroom. Evidently Sebastian was only too happy that the night was over and he could say goodbye to the hysterical Indian Bollywood bride who had given up her innocence with the tiniest amount of persuasion.
When the bathroom door closed behind Aneesa, Sebastian had to battle the urge to follow her in and introduce her to the delights of making love in a shower. Just the thought of the water sluicing down over those exquisite curves was enough to make him bite back a groan of need. And ultimately that's what stopped him following her in—the fact that she could bring about this lack of control so easily.
He'd just spent an entire night with a woman when he couldn't remember the last time that had happened. If ever. He had a fleeting moment of considering making her an offer to become his mistress, here in India, so that they could keep seeing each other. But that sense of vulnerability rose up again, making him feel uncomfortable. It wouldn't be right to
ask Aneesa to be his mistress; she'd been innocent and she wasn't like the more experienced women he usually chose, who knew that he liked to keep things casual.
He told himself this and resolutely diverted his mind away from exploring the real reason he wouldn't be seeing her again.
When Aneesa emerged from the bathroom with her hair freshly washed and dried, she felt a little more in control. The bedroom was empty, and in a voluminous towelling robe she went to look for Sebastian, who she found in the main living area, pristine and more than a little intimidating in a dark grey suit which made his blue eyes stand out.
He was on the phone, speaking to someone in rapid-fire Spanish when she came in, and he picked up a big glossy- looking bag to hand to her. She took it, assuming it to be the clothes, and fled back to the bedroom.
In the bag she found underwear, jeans, flat shoes, a shirt and a baseball cap. She smiled at his thoughtfulness and even more when she saw a huge pair of dark glasses. When she was dressed she pulled her hair up into a ponytail and regarded herself in the mirror. She was a million miles away from the ornately decorated bride of the night before—she grimaced slightly—except for the distinctive henna tattoo on her hands.
‘I got your size right….'
Aneesa whirled around to see Sebastian leaning against the door, watching her. Heat crept over her skin to think just how intimately they'd been entwined only hours before. How intimately he knew her.
‘Yes, thank you … I'm afraid I've no money to pay you for the clothes at the moment, but I could arrange for some—'
He cut off her words with a slashing movement of his hand, ‘Don't worry about it.' He flicked a glance at the watch on his wrist. ‘I'm afraid I have to leave. I've got a meeting in twenty minutes across town.'
She tried to ignore the wrenching sensation in the pit of her belly and stammered, ‘Of course, you're busy. My parents
will be worried about me. I should go to them and explain.' He quirked a brow. ‘Jamal?'
