For a moment Juliet didn't understand. Then, with a flash of pure outrage, she realized that his lovemaking had been a deliberate tease, a vivid demonstration of just how frustrating and difficult their situation was. If he had been within her reach, she might have planted a fist right on his perfectly shaped jaw; Ian had always said that she hit well for a girl.
That impulse was immediately followed by the appalling realization that Ross was giving her exactly what she had claimed to want: restraint. It was Juliet who had set the limits in their curious relationship, just as it was she who had made the first sexual advance. After which she had blithely made that idiotic statement about how much things would improve.
Helplessly she began to laugh. "Leave it to you to turn gentlemanly behavior into a weapon, Ross. Very well, you've made your point, though that was a beastly way to do it."
She stood and began brushing loose sand from her robe. "My saying that everything would be easy now was one of my more foolish remarks." She bent over for her mantle, then shook it out with a snap. "But I still think it is an improvement that we can acknowledge the... the pillar of fire between us."
"It is an improvement, though I can't agree that there is anything very fortunate about our present situation," Ross said ruefully. "Now it's my turn to apologize. As you said, that was a beastly way to make a point. If it's any comfort, stopping was as harrowing for me as for you."
"At least you managed to keep your head when I had lost mine. For that I must thank you." Juliet pulled off her veil and shook it out. "Now that we are through harrowing each other, it's time to get back to the camp."
Before she could wind her tagelmoust around her face again, Ross put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her to him for a moment, brushing an affectionate kiss on her cheek before releasing her. "Have I ever mentioned that you are the most admirable, maddening female I have ever known?"
"While you, O perfect gentleman, could drive a saint to violence, and I am no saint."
"I suspect that a saint would be boring, and you are never that," he said with amusement.
They began walking back to the camp in amiable silence. But as they wound their way through the silent dunes, Juliet's sense of well-being slowly evaporated, leaving her chilled and fearful of what the future would bring.
Bleakly she realized that it was not physical intimacy that she should have been worrying about. The sandstorm had brought about something far more dangerous: an emotional closeness more seductive than kisses.
Chapter 15
The last leg of the journey was rather public, for Ross's identity had long since ceased to be a secret. The tale of the bozkashi match and of his mission to the amir had run ahead of the travelers, so after the caravan crossed the broad Oxus river into more heavily populated territory, people began coming to see the ferengi. The Uzbek and Turkoman callers were curious and wanted to touch his blond hair, but most were friendly.
However, there were exceptions. The last night before the caravan would reach the city of Bokhara was spent in the caravansary of Karakul. As Ross and his companions ate their evening meal, a shabby rat-faced Uzbek crossed the courtyard, then squatted down to watch them.
Thinking the man might be hungry, Saleh said, "Will you honor us by sharing our humble fare?"
The visitor spat on the ground. "I will not defile myself by sharing bread and salt with a ferengi spy and his dogs. I have come only because tonight will be the last opportunity to see what the infidel looks like."
"Look all you like," Ross said mildly.
The Uzbek's slit-eyed gaze went to Ross's face. "Tomorrow you will be met by the amir's horsemen. They will be carrying baskets with bandages to blindfold you, chains to bind you, and knives to butcher you," he said with obvious relish. "You are a son of death, ferengi."
"Are not all sons of man also sons of death?" Ross took another bite of his bread. Having long since learned that piety was the best defense in this sort of conversation, he added, "Only in God does man find eternal life."
The Uzbek glowered at him. "Paradise is only for the Faithful, ferengi swine. Tomorrow night you will dine in hell." He rose to his feet and stalked away.
Ross swallowed the last of his bread, then said into the silence, "Anyone care to lay odds on whether that unpleasant fellow was telling the truth about what will happen tomorrow?"
Juliet, who had become more vocal since Murad discovered her identity, said acerbically, "No point in wagering with a man who may not be around to pay off his losses."
"British humor is very strange," Murad said, giving them a disapproving glance. "But no matter, for that son of a swine was lying. How could one such as he know the amir's plans?"