Diamond in the Desert(9)

She tensed as he stretched out his long legs and settled back. 'So what  do you think of the mine now you've seen it? Will you put in a good  report? I have had other offers,' she bluffed in an effort to prompt  him.

'If you've had other offers you must consider them all.'

Emir had called her bluff and left her hanging. Who else did he think  could afford to do the work? It was the consortium or nothing. 'I would  have liked Tyr to be involved, but we haven't seen him for years.'

'That doesn't mean he isn't around.'

'I'll have a word with our lawyers when we get back-to see if they can  find him. I imagine you'll need to consult with your principal before  making the next move?' She glanced across, but the only fallout from  this was a heart-crunching smile from Emir. She turned up the heating,  but there was ice in her blood. The fact remained that only three men  had the resources to bring the diamonds to the surface.

'Why don't you stop by the sauna?' Emir suggested as she shivered involuntarily.

She was shivering, but at the thought of all the battles ahead of her.

Battles she hadn't looked for in a job she didn't want-

No one must know that. No one would ever know that. She had accepted  responsibility for the mine because there was no one else to do so, and  had no intention of welching on that responsibility now. 'The sauna  sounds like a good idea. I'm sure you'll enjoy it-'

'I'm sure I will too.'

It would be interesting to see if Emir felt quite so confident by the time they left the sauna.

Shock at the sudden dramatic change in temperature as they climbed out  of the Jeep rendered them both silent for a few moments. The sky was  uniform grey, though the Northern Lights had just begun to sweep across  the bowl of the heavens as if a band of giants were waving luminescent  flags. It was startling and awe-inspiring and they both lifted their  heads to stare. The air was frigid, and mist formed in front of their  mouths as they stood motionless as the display undulated above them.

The ice hole was probably frozen solid, Britt realised as the cold  finally prompted them to move. They kept a power saw at the hut and that  would soon sort it out. The sauna hut looked like a gingerbread house  with a thick white coat of snow. It was another of her special places.  Taking a sauna was a tradition she loved. It was the only way to thaw  out the bones in Skavanga. And it was a great leveller as everyone  stripped to the buff.

'No changing rooms?' Emir queried.

'Not even a shower,' she said, wondering if he was having second thoughts. 'We'll bathe in the lake afterwards.'

'Fine by me,' he said, gazing out across the glassy skating rink the lake had become.

As his lips pressed down with approval her attention was drawn to his  sexy mouth. There wasn't much about Emir that wasn't sexy, and she  couldn't pretend that she wasn't looking forward to seeing him naked. So  far their encounters had been rushed, but there was no rushing involved  in a traditional sauna. There would be all the time in the world to  admire him.

She left him to open the locked compartment where the power saw was  kept, but Emir wasn't too happy when she started it up. She turned,  ready to give him a lecture on the fact that she had been cutting holes  in the ice since she was thirteen, and stalled. That man could take his  clothes off faster than anyone she knew. And could cause a ton of  trouble just by standing there. How was she supposed to keep her gaze  glued to his face?

'I'll cut the ice. You go inside. The sauna's been lit for some time.  It should be perfect. Just ladle some more water on the hot stones-'                       
       
           



       

She hardly needed steam at this point, Britt reflected as Emir pushed  through the door and disappeared. He was a towering monument to  masculinity.

And she was going to share some down time with him?

She'd always managed to do so before with people without leaping on top of them-

And they all looked like Emir?

None of them looked like Emir.

Having cut the hole in the ice, she stripped down ready for the sauna.  She kept her underwear on. She'd never done that before. Not that it  offered much protection, but she felt better. And maybe it sent a  message. If not, too bad; for the first time she could remember ever,  she felt self-conscious, so the scraps of lace helped her, if no one  else.

She found Emir leaning back on the wooden bench, perfectly relaxed, and  perfectly naked as he allowed the steam rising from the hot stones on  the brazier to roll over him.

She sat down in the shadows away from him, but couldn't settle.

'Too hot?' he asked as she constantly changed position.

Try, overheating...

And that was something else he didn't need to know. Emir's eyes might  be closed, but she suspected he knew everything going on around him. If  she needed proof of that, his faint smile told her everything. And as if  she needed any more provocation with those hard-muscled legs stretched  out in front of him, and his best bits prominently displayed-should she  be foolish enough to take a look. She transferred her gaze to his face.  His eyelashes were so thick and black they threw crescent shadows across  his cheekbones, while his ebony brows swept up like some wild Tartar  from the plains of Russia...

Or a sheikh...

Waves of shock and faintness washed over her, until she told herself  firmly to give that overactive imagination of hers a rest. 'I'm going  outside to cool off.'

Emir went as far as opening one eye.

'I'm going for a swim in the swimming hole-'

'Then I'm coming with you-'

'No need,' she said quickly, needing space.

Too late. Emir was already standing and taking up every spare inch in  the hut. Regret at her foolishness replaced the shock and faintness.  They should have said goodbye in Skavanga. She could have sent a trusted  employee to the mine.

Could you trust anyone else to do this deal but you?

Whatever. There had to be an easier way than this.

'You can't go swimming in an ice lake on your own,' Emir said firmly, as if reading her.

'I've been swimming in the lake since I was a child.'

'When you were supervised, I imagine.'

'I'm old enough to take care of myself now.'

'Really?'

Emir's mockery was getting to her. And what did he think he was looking at now?

Oh... She quickly crossed her arms over her chest.

'I'm coming anyway,' he said, still with a flare of amusement in his eyes.

So be it, she thought, firming her jaw. In fairness, the golden rule at  the cabin was that no one ever went swimming in the frozen lake alone.  But did Emir have to tower over her to make his point?

He grabbed a towel on his way out, which he flung around her shoulders. 'You'll need it afterwards,' he said.

She gave him a look that said she didn't need his help, especially not  here, and then gritted her teeth as she thought about the icy shock to  come.

Running to the lake, she tossed her towel away at the last minute and jumped in before she had chance to change her mind.

She might have screamed. Who knew what she did or said? Once the icy  water claimed her, rational thought was impossible. She was in shock and  knew better than to linger. She was soon clambering out again-only to  find Emir standing waiting for her with a towel.

'You didn't need to do that.'

He tossed the towel her way without another word, and then dived into  the lake before she could stop him. She ran to the edge, but there was  no sign of him-just loose ice floating. Panic consumed her, but just as  she was preparing to jump in after him he emerged. Laughing.

Laughing!

Emir had barely cracked a smile the whole time he'd been in Skavanga, and now he was laughing?

She repaid the favour by tossing him a clean towel, which he wrapped  around his waist. She didn't wait to see how securely he fixed it. She  just pelted for the sauna and dived in. Emir was close behind and shut  the door.

'Amazing,' he said, like a tiger that, finding itself in the Arctic, had played with polar bears and found it fun.

He shook his head, sending tiny rainbow droplets of glacier flying around the cabin like the diamonds they were both seeking.

'You enjoyed it, I see?' she said as the spray from him hissed on the hot stones.

'Of course I enjoyed it,' he exclaimed. 'I can think of only one thing better-'                       
       
           



       

She could be excused for holding her breath.

'Next you rub me down with ice-'

Before it melted? She doubted that was possible.

'I definitely want more,' he said, glancing through the window.

Oh, to be a frozen lake, she thought.

As Emir settled back on the wooden bench and closed his eyes she  realised she was glad he had embraced her traditions, which led on  naturally to wondering about his. She had to stop that before her  thoughts took a turn for the seriously erotic.

'You love this place, don't you?' he said.

'It means a lot to me,' she admitted, 'as does the cabin.'

'It's what it represents,' Emir observed.