The thought of being tossed out, back into the trouble she'd run away from made her heart pound rapidly and her body tremble in fear until she felt a pair of arms against her skin.
Large hands came under her arms and fluidly picked her off the floor as if she weighed absolutely nothing.
She gasped, eyes widening as they collided with the man's fiery gaze. Every part of him looked powerful, from the toughness of his face to his strong neck which she had no choice but to wrap her arms around the moment he picked her up, to his mighty body whose every muscle she could feel in this position.
She snapped back to reality, realizing she was in a stranger's arms.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to break into your suite...I just had to get away..."
He began to walk even as she spoke and Celine couldn't contain how rapidly her heart was beating.
He was going to send her out wasn't he?
"I can't go back out there right now. If you send me away he'll find me, I don't want to go back to him. I..."
Her words were cut off when he suddenly placed her down on a soft couch within the vast space of the suite. For some reason, the moment she was placed down she hated the absence of those strong arms around her.
Maybe she was too broken, maybe she just needed comfort even if it came from a stranger.
He walked away from her momentarily flipping on normal lights in the suite instead of the warm ambient lights that had been illuminating the space before and came back towards her, crouching down in front of her.
She'd seen him earlier and found him extremely handsome, but up close he was simply breathtaking.
His features were perfectly proportioned on his handsomely sculpted oval shaped jawline, deep dark brows paving for a straight nose, eyes deep and powerful their color reminding her of fire and nature merged together in a smoldering gaze that could steal one's breath, and his lips...
His lips were captivating and kissable, enticing in a way that could drown someone just from watching how he thoughtfully pressed his teeth to his lower lip for a split second before releasing it again.
"I wasn't sending you away, relax." The deep rasp of his voice sent warm tickles down her spine. It was almost as if he sensed her fear and wanted to soothe it away.
Her heart skipped a beat.
His voice coupled with his appearance made her realize how enticing the man before her was. Describing him as perfection wouldn't be an overstatement.
None of the actors in the movie industry could come close to his looks, he distracted her in a way that she lost herself in a daze.
Her gaze trailed his whole face once more till they landed on his lips again, and she suddenly found herself feeling a powerful urge to run a finger over them just to know how it would feel.
Celine caught herself having this thought and instantly broke out of it.
What was she thinking? She should focus on what he just said to her.
He wasn't sending her out?
Relief washed into Celine like cold water on a hot summer's day.
Something glimmered in his eyes as he studied her, taking in every part of her face with those scorching eyes before suddenly moving away and straightening up, her making her crane her neck upwards to look at him.
"I'll be right back." He left those words as he walked away.
Celine nodded absentmindedly but not able to tear her eyes off him.
Her mouth went dry as she watched him move, he was every bit an imposing man, even his movement, confident and graceful like a predator emphasized the danger that seemed to ooze out of him, yet he'd spoken to her with such warmth in his voice just now.
'I wasn't sending you away, relax.' The words reverberated in her mind again.
Eventually he disappeared from her line of sight into another part of the suite she hadn't ventured to earlier, only when he was gone did she realize how taken away she had been with him when he'd been right in front of her that she hadn't even thanked him when he told her he wouldn't send her away.
What the hell were you thinking Celine?
She chastised herself, lightly smacking her own burning cheeks. She couldn't believe she'd been mesmerized by a stranger, she was practically drooling at him and no doubt he must have seen it.
Yet she couldn't control the heat that rose from the depths of her stomach at the thought of how warm his body had felt when he carried her, how powerful his arms had felt around her.
She must be going insane!
Not even an hour ago she ran from her own wedding and threw her life's hard work away, and now she was literally smitten by a stranger whose first name she didn't even know yet.
She contemplated leaving, just exiting the suite like she came but then the minute she walked out of this suite she would instantly be surrounded by Ian's countless men and he would absolutely threaten her again, the bastard!
Not to mention the fact that she at least owed this man a debt of gratitude for not immediately calling security on her when he found her in his suite.
She decided to just wait for him to return.
No more ogling the man now.
When he returned she would apologize for breaking in and thank him, then stay out on the terrace where she wouldn't be a bother to him until tomorrow before the sun even rose, at least Ian's men wouldn't be waiting for her by then and then she would leave.
Though the thought of leaving made her realize that she would never see this man again.
It was purely chance that she'd met him, a strange coincidence that had not only made their eyes meet at the wedding hall, but also made her enter his suite upon her escape.
She would probably never see him again...
But the thought made something unsettling clench in her chest.