Diamond in the Desert(6)

She would just have to exercise more control-

'Is something distracting you, Britt?' Emir demanded, jolting her back to the present.

'Should there be something?' she said in a voice that held no hint that Emir was the only distraction.

'No,' he said without expression.

They deserved each other, she thought. But she was curious all the  same. Did he really feel nothing? Didn't his body throb with pleasurable  awareness as hers did? Didn't he want more? Didn't he yearn to know  more about her as she longed to know more about him? Or was she nothing  more than an entertainment between coffee breaks for Emir?

And rumour had it she was the hardest of the Skavanga Diamonds?

What a laugh!

Tears of shame were pricking her eyes. She could never make a mistake like this again-

'Hay fever,' she explained briskly when Emir glanced suspiciously at her.

'In Skavanga?' he said, glancing outside at the icy scene.

'We have pollen,' she said coldly, moving on.

She wasn't sure how she got to the end of the second half of their  meeting, but she did. There was too much hanging on the outcome for her  to spoil the deal with a clouded mind. So far so good, Britt concluded,  wrapping everything up with a carefully rehearsed closing statement. At  least she could tell her sisters that she hadn't been forced to concede  anything vital, and that Emir was prepared to move on to the next stage,  which would involve a visit to the mine.

'I'm looking forward to that,' he said.

There was nothing in his eyes for her. The rest of Emir's visit would be purely about business-

And why should it be anything else?

She hated herself for the weakness, but she had expected something-some  outward sign that their passionate encounter had made an impression on  him...but apparently not.

'Is that everything?' Emir said as he gathered up his papers. 'I  imagine you want to make an early start in the morning if we're going to  the mine.'                       
       
           



       

The mine was miles away from anywhere. The only logical place for them  to stay was the old cabin Britt's great-grandfather had built. It was  isolated-there were no other people around. Doing a quick  risk-assessment of the likely outcome, knowing the passion they shared,  she knew she would be far better off arranging for one of her  lieutenants to take him...

But Emir would see that as cowardice. And was she frightened of him?  Could she even entrust the task of taking him to the mine to anyone  else? She should be there. And maybe getting him out of her system once  and for all would allow her to sharpen up and concentrate on what really  mattered again.

'I would like to make an early start,' she said, 'though I must warn  you there are no luxury facilities at the cabin. It's pretty basic.'  Somehow, what Emir thought about the cabin that meant so much to her  mattered to her, Britt realised. It mattered a lot.

Emir seemed unconcerned. 'Apart from the difference in temperature, the Arctic is another wilderness like the desert.'

'My great-grandfather built the cabin. It's very old – '

'You're fortunate to have something so special and permanent to remember him by.'

Yes, she was, and the fact that Emir knew this meant a lot to her.

They stared at each other until she forced herself to look away. This  was not the time to be inventing imaginary bonds between them. Better  she remembered Eva's words about a true Nordic welcome to contain this  warrior of the desert. It would be interesting to discover if Emir was  still so confident after a brush with ice and fire.





CHAPTER FOUR

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.