Chapter 18
Celine didn’t feel better even after being pampered, it was difficult to enjoy the lavish treatment with the hotel launch hanging over her head. *Could she just ask Asher to spare her?* He had been extra nice to her the night before, maybe she could use that to her advantage.
She tried to take a nap after breakfast but she was too strung up to sleep, pacing from one end of the bedroom to another. She was curious about what were in the shelves but not curious enough to rifle through them, sure that she wouldn’t like what she would find.
The morning went by quicker than she liked and soon she had to get ready. She wore a silver skirt that had a high slit up her leg and a backless sequined top, pining up her hair. Although she was all alone in the bedroom, she made sure to dress up in the walk-in closet. She was done way before 1 PM, studying herself in one of the mirrors in the closet.
It was a little crazy that she had been kidnapped and sold off and no one cared, no one was even worried about her absence. She was certain that Noah hadn’t even noticed that she wasn’t at the Pack because he had ignored her for the entire two years she lived with him.
With nothing left to do but anxiously wait for Asher, she stepped out of the closet to come face to face with the Mafia King who immediately pulled her up against him, an inscrutable expression on his face.
Celine was stunned by this, not expecting to see him, much more have him pounce on her. “A-Asher?” She called in a shaky voice when he made no move to let her go, a single arm holding her captive against him.
Asher refocused at the sound of Celine’s voice; he had returned to an empty bedroom and the liquid panic that filled his veins was only relieved by the sensation of her in his arms. It was such a surprising reaction that he needed a moment to put himself together.
“Don’t hide from me when you dress up,” He forced himself to step back, his fingers pressed into the bare skin of her waist, his possessive hold slipping down her hip.
Celine’s face burned at Asher’s suggestive words and actions, hiding away from him. The walk-in closet was a safe space for her but now he wanted her to dress up in the bedroom; *she wished she could protest, she wished she truly despised him as she should, she wished her body didn’t betray her…*
Asher grinned at her silent but expressive response, he would never get tired of teasing her, she was just so responsive. With his hand on her hip, he pulled her close again, needing to lean down to get close to her neck because of their height difference.
“You’re already dressed, are you that eager to see me?”
Celine bit her bottom lip to stop herself from blurting things out like she often did, she had almost told him that she was dressed so quickly because she was riddled with anxiety. She tasted the flavored gloss on her lips, the sweet taste mingling with Asher’s scent that fogged her head up.
She couldn’t hold his fiery gaze when he stared at her, hiding her face behind dainty fingers when he tilted her jaw upwards so he could look at her face. She was painfully self-conscious of the fact that she didn’t know how to respond to such blatant flirting or any kind of flirting for that matter.
She had to lean against the door of the walk-in closet when Asher let her go with a low chuckle at her expense, her knees already felt like jelly so his dark scent heavy on her skin worsened the feeling. Celine closed her eyes in hopes of concentrating enough to bring her heartbeat under control.
She had been mated for years and yet she had never been scented before, she couldn’t even think about the implications of Asher marking her in such a way, she couldn’t think at all.
When she could finally take a deep breath without feeling dizzy, she opened her eyes and straightened up to find Asher on the phone. He was dressed in a simple dress shirt with thin silver stripes and black slacks. It was strange not to see him with his sleeves rolled up and his buttons mostly undone, he wasn’t wearing the elaborate coats he favored as well, his hair slicked back in a neat bun.
He fiddled with his top buttons as he held a conversation on the phone, the rays of the early afternoon sun warming up his tan skin. Sunlight made his eyes glow and his hair seem like it was on fire, and Celine had to clench her hands into fists to stop herself from walking over to him to help him do up his buttons.
She couldn’t risk losing the plot, she was Asher’s property, no more than that. He had probably only marked with his scent her to prevent a repeat of the night before, there was nothing more to it than that. She wanted a domestic mating with a partner that loved her, she would never have that with Asher so she had to deal with her softening feelings for him.
Celine was distracted from her troublesome thoughts by Asher coming over to offer her his arm so that they could leave together, and even as his hazel gold eyes appreciatively looked her over, she reminded herself that she was nothing more to him than an exotic pet.
If she wasn’t in public she would have smacked herself to set her head straight. *How starved for love an affection was she to fall for her captor almost immediately? When she should be making plans to gain her freedom…*
There were notably fewer men accompanying them this time, even Jael wasn’t here, instead a different Beta drove them, his eyes hidden behind dark shades as he focused intently on the road ahead.