Diamond in the Desert

HE LEARNED MORE about Britt during the first few hours of their expedition than he had learned in any of the reports. She was intelligent and organised, energetic and could be mischievous, which reminded him to remain on guard.

She had called him at five-thirty a.m.—just to check he was awake, she had assured him. He suspected she hadn’t slept after their encounter, and guessed she was hoping he’d had a sleepless night too. He gave nothing away.

It couldn’t strictly be called dawn when her Jeep rolled up outside his hotel, since at this time of year in Skavanga a weak grey light washed the land for a full twenty-four hours. Only Britt coloured the darkness when she sprang down and came to greet him. He was waiting for her just outside the doors. Her hair gleamed like freshly harvested wheat and she had pulled an ice-blue beanie over her ears to protect them from the bitter cold. Her cheeks and lips were whipped red by the harshest of winds, and she was wearing black polar trousers tucked into boots, with a red waterproof jacket zippered up to her neck. She looked fresh and clean and bright, and determined.

‘Britt—’

‘Emir.’

Her greeting was cool. His was no more than polite, though he noticed that the tip of her nose was as red as her full bottom lip and her blue-grey eyes were the colour of polar ice. She gave him the once-over, and seemed satisfied by what she saw. He knew the drill. He might live in the desert, but he was no stranger to Arctic conditions.

‘Was the hotel okay?’ she asked him politely when they were both buckled in.

‘Yes. Thank you,’ he said, allowing his gaze to linger on her face

She shot him a glance and her cheeks flushed red. She was remembering their time in the boardroom. He was too.

She drove smoothly and fast along treacherous roads and only slowed for moose and for a streak of red fox until they entered what appeared to be an uninhabited zone. Here the featureless ice road was shielded on either side between towering walls of packed snow. She still drove at a steady seventy and refused his offer to take over. She knew the way, she said. She liked to be in control, he thought. Except when she was having sex when she liked him to take the lead.

‘We’ll soon be there,’ she said, distracting him from these thoughts.

They had been climbing up the side of a mountain for some time, leaving the ice walls far behind. Below them was a vast expanse of frozen lake—grey, naturally.

‘The mine is just down there,’ she said when he craned his neck to look.

He wondered what other delights awaited him. All he could be sure of was that Britt hadn’t finished with him yet. She liked to prove herself, so he was confident the test would include some physical activity. He looked forward to it, just as he looked forward to a return bout with her in the desert.

Emir seemed utterly relaxed and completely at home in a landscape that had terrified many people she had brought here. She knew this place like the back of her hand, and yet, truthfully, had never felt completely safe. Knowing Emir, he had probably trialled every extreme sport known to man, so what was a little snow and ice to him?

‘Penny for them,’ he said.

She made herself relax so she could clear her mind and equivocate. ‘I’m thinking about food. Aren’t you?’

She was curious to know what he was thinking, but as usual Emir gave nothing away.

‘Some,’ he murmured.

She glanced his way and felt her heart bounce. She would never get used to the way he looked, and for one spark of interest from those deceptively sleepy eyes she would happily walk barefoot in the snow, which was something Emir definitely didn’t need to know.

‘The food’s really good at the mine,’ she said, clinging to safe ground. ‘And the catering staff will have stocked the cabin for us. The food has to be excellent when people are so isolated. It’s one of the few pleasures they have.’

‘I wouldn’t be too sure about that,’ he said dryly.

‘There are separate quarters for men and women,’ she countered promptly—and primly.

‘Right.’ His tone was sceptical.

‘You seem to know a lot about it,’ she said, feeling a bit peeved—jealous, maybe, especially when he said,

‘It’s much the same for people who work in the desert.’

‘Oh, I see.’

‘Good,’ he said, ignoring her sharp tone and settling back. ‘I’m going to doze now, if you don’t mind?’

‘Not at all.’

Sleep? Yeah, right—like a black panther sleeps with one eye open. There was no such thing as stand down for Emir.

Emir could play her at her own game, and play it well, Britt realised as she turned off the main road. She could be cool, but he would be cooler, and now there was no real contact between them as he dozed—apparently—which she regretted. He wanted her to feel this way—to feel this lack of him, she suspected.

‘Sorry,’ she exclaimed with shock as the Jeep lurched on the rutted forest track. The moment’s inattention had jolted Emir awake and had almost thrown them into the ditch.

‘No problem,’ he said. ‘If you want me to drive …?’

‘I’m fine. Thank you.’ She’d heard that the ruler of Kareshi was introducing change, but not fast enough, clearly. Emir probably resented her running the company too. He came from a land where men ruled and women obeyed—

She gasped as his hand covered hers. ‘Take it easy,’ he said, steadying the steering wheel as it bounced in her hands.

‘I’ve been travelling these roads since I was a child.’

‘Then I’m surprised you don’t know about the hazards of melting snow.’

He definitely deserved a session in the sauna and a dip in the freezing lake afterwards, she concluded.

‘We’re nearly there,’ she said.

‘Good.’

Why the smile in his voice? Was he looking forward to their stay at the isolated cabin? She squirmed in her seat at the thought that he might be and then wondered angrily why she was acting this way. It was one thing bringing her city friends into the wilderness for a rustic weekend, but quite another bringing Emir down here when there could only be one outcome—

Unless he had had enough of her, of course, but something told her that wasn’t the case. She’d stick with her decision to enjoy him and get him out of her system, Britt concluded, explaining that the nearest hotel was too far away from the mine to stay there.

‘You don’t have to explain to me, Britt. I like it here. You forget,’ Emir murmured as she drew to a halt outside the ancient log cabin, ‘the wilderness is my home.’

And now she was angry with him for being so pleased with everything. And even angrier with herself because Emir was right, the wilderness was beautiful in its own unique way, she thought, staring out across the glassy lake. It was as if she were seeing it for the first time. Because she was seeing it through Emir’s eyes, Britt realised, and he sharpened her focus on everything.

‘This is magnificent,’ he exclaimed as they climbed down from the Jeep.

She tensed as he came to stand beside her. Her heart pumped and her blood raced as she tried not to notice how hot he looked in the dark, heavy jacket and snow boots. Emir radiated something more than the confidence of a man who was sensibly dressed and comfortable in this extreme temperature. He exuded the type of strength that anyone would like to cling to in a storm—

He looked downright dangerous, she told herself sensibly, putting a few healthy feet of fresh air between them. But the lake was beautiful, and neither of them was in any hurry to move away. It stretched for miles and was framed by towering mountains whose jagged peaks were lost in cloud. A thick pine forest crept up these craggy slopes until there was nothing for the roots to cling to. But it was the silence that was most impressive, and that was heavy and complete. It felt almost as if the world were holding its breath, though she had to smile when Emir turned to look at the cabin and an eagle called.

‘I’ll grab our bags,’ he said.

As he brushed past her on his way to the Jeep she shivered with awareness, and then smiled as she walked towards the cabin. She was always happy here—always in control. There would be no problems here. She’d keep things light and professional. Here, she could put what had happened between them in the boardroom behind her.

Emir caught up with her at the door, and his first question was how far was it to the mine? With her back to him, she pulled a wry face. Putting what had happened behind her was going to be easier than she had thought. They hadn’t even crossed the threshold yet and Emir’s mind was already set on business.