And her whole body felt different, zinging with energy and yet deliciously lethargic. Wanting to wash away the blood, she turned on the shower and stepped in, after pulling her hair in to a messy knot on her head.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 wasstill asleep on the bed and she crept over to the window to look out over Mumbai. Suddenly an acute sense of loneliness gripped her

‘JUST make sure it’s done, Alain. I don’t want to hear about this problem again.’ Sebastian switched off his mobile phone and had to quell the urge to call his senior hotel manager in Paris back to apologise. He’d been like a bear with a sore head for weeks now. He knew the reason why, but as the implications of this set in, Sebastian scowled, earning a quick glance from his driver through the rearview mirror. His driver knew better though, than to engage him in conversation when he was silent like this.The city of London slid past the car, as Sebastian tried desperately not to give into the urge to think of her again. It was getting worse. She’d invaded his dreams ever since India, and he’d conducted video conferences with his team in Mumbai rather than go over there again. As if he couldn’t even trust himself to be in the same city.His fist clenched automatically in rejection of that thought but he ignored it. Aneesa Adani was not like the women he sought out to be his lovers. She

Sitting in the back, listening to Sebastian take a call on his phone, he was a million miles from the man she’d met that night in Mumbai, and when she looked back on it now, it all seemed like a flimsy mirage, because this man was acting as if he wouldn’t kiss her again if his life depended on it.‘… and then Daddy said that I simply must have the house in Holland Park, and I said …’Sebastian let the woman’s irritating voice tune in and out, nodding occasionally to signal his interest when really he had no more interest in the anaemic blonde sitting opposite him than he would in the overweight maître d’ who’d shown them to the table. Which was strange as up until recently blondes had been his preference—the cooler, the better. He scowled inwardly. Until he’d met an exotic Indian princess.It had been too late this afternoon to cancel the date and some rogue part of him had wanted to keep it, make boundaries clear with Aneesa. But he hadn’t been able to get the wounded bruised look fr

BY SATURDAY evening Aneesa was worn out. She’d spent the day with Sebastian and his assistant exhaustively going through the hospitals and prenatal doctor recommendations, before finally making some choices. And while for her it was hammering the reality of her pregnancy home more and more, if anything it seemed to make Sebastian retreat further and further.Late this afternoon he’d absented himself from discussions and gone to his study. When Aneesa had been letting his pleasant middle-aged assistant out of the apartment, the PA turned to Aneesa and confided, ‘I’m very happy for you both … I’ve always hoped that Sebastian would—’The older woman had stopped abruptly and blushed and then said awkwardly, ‘I’m sure you don’t need to hear my ramblings. Goodbye, dear.’And she was gone, leaving Aneesa wondering what on earth she’d been about to say. She whirled around with a guilty flush on her face as if she’d been caught out when Sebastian said from behind her, ‘I thought we’d stay in t

‘You’re so beautiful.’ He shook his head as if in awe andsomething inside Aneesa was incredibly moved. His hands skated over her shoulders and moved down to cup her breasts which had grown bigger, and she sucked in a breath.He stopped and asked, ‘Are they sore?’Aneesa tried to smile but felt too hot and desperate. ‘They’re a little oversensitive, but it’s OK….’With a touch so gentle it nearly made her cry, Sebastian cupped and felt the generous curves and then he bent his head and licked around one pebbled aureole before gently tugging the hard nipple into his mouth. The sensation was exquisite and on the knife edge of both pleasure and pain. Aneesa’s head fell back, her hands holding Sebastian’s head as he ministered lavishly to one breast and then the other.And at that moment while the fire was raging inside her, she had a sudden memory of watching him leave the other night for his date, as well as all those pictures she had seen on the Internet of him with beautiful blonde wom