Desert Affair. Kate Walker

miss?’

      ‘No. Not even my parents. My parents decided to take a redundancy package that Dad was offered and went out to live in Portugal—opening a bar there. So, as I’m an only child, there was nothing to keep me here. No one to stay for.’

      ‘And what if I were to ask you to stay?’

      ‘What?’

      Hastily swallowing down the sip of coffee that now threatened to choke her, Lydia set her cup and saucer on the table with a distinct crash. Looking into his darkly handsome face, she searched for the look of irony, the hint of amusement that would tell her he had only been joking.

      She found none. Instead, her disbelieving look was met with one of total composure. And every evidence of total sincerity.

      ‘W-what did you say?’

      That black-eyed gaze didn’t falter but held her wide-eyed look with an intent force that dried her mouth and set her heart fluttering high up in her throat.

      ‘You know only too well what I said. And, what’s more, you know exactly why I said it.’

      ‘No—I…’

      She looked like a startled fawn when she stared at him like that, Amir found himself thinking. Or like one of the newborn foals that were such a delight to him as they stared around, huge, stunned eyes trying to make sense of this new world into which they had arrived.

      ‘It’s quite simple,’ he told her softly, leaning forward so that the husky whisper would reach her ears—and her ears alone. ‘I have this fantasy that you do not get on that plane to California this afternoon. That you do not fly off to America and this wonderful new job…’

      Her head went back sharply, blue eyes widening even more, her lips parting on a faint gasp of shock. He let his smile soothe her as he reached out slowly and gently. He caught her chin, resting one long finger and a thumb on either side, holding her still with only the lightest of pressure.

      ‘But instead, in my dream, you stay here with me, and we explore what we’ve discovered. See where this takes us.’

      ‘We…’

      Lydia couldn’t force her tongue around another word. Her thoughts were a whirling mass of chaos, incapable of forming a single coherent thread. The only thing she knew or recognised was this man before her. This hard-boned, devastating face, the obsidian glitter of those deep eyes holding hers with hypnotic ease.

      And because her gaze was fixed on him so intently she saw the tiny flicker of a change when it came. Saw it, and knew what it meant, but her mind was too numb to react or pull away. Besides, she knew that she didn’t want to react. That she wouldn’t have freed herself even if she could, for all that his hold on her chin was so gentle it could have been broken in a second.

      So she stayed where she was. Stayed absolutely still and watched that dark head come closer. Watched the devastating mouth soften, and come down on her own lips with obvious intent.

      And that was when she realised that the softness had been deceptive. That his kiss was not the light, enticing caress she had been anticipating. Instead it was firm and strong and forceful, a revelation of feeling and a statement of intent all in one. In the same moment that it seemed to cajole her soul out of her body, it also awoke every stinging sense with the burn of a promise that made her thoughts swim in a heady delirium of longing.

      And all the time he hadn’t touched her except with his mouth. That long, strong body was still held well away from her, even the hand under her chin releasing her and falling back to his side, the other still resting on the strong, muscular thigh under the denim jeans.

      He didn’t need to hold her, and he knew it. Lydia knew it too. Knew that it was as much the force of her own feelings as anything he did that kept her in her seat, unable to move. That the flickers of white hot flame along every nerve in her body seemed to melt her bones, leaving her unable to support herself if she so much as tried to stand up.

      ‘Help me, Lydia,’ Amir murmured against her lips. ‘Tell me what I can do to make you stay. To keep you by my side for just a little while longer.’

      ‘I…’

      Could she be hearing right? Had this stunning man actually said that he wanted her to stay? And was it possible that she was actually considering saying yes? She hardly knew any more about him than his name. She had no idea if she could trust him in any way.

      Bewildered, she could only shake her head in bemusement at her own reaction.

      ‘No?’

      Amir had mistaken the reason for her reaction.

      ‘Then let me persuade you…’

      This time his kiss was pure enticement. Gently he edged her lips open, let the tip of his tongue play along their sensitised surface, making her sigh aloud in response. And now at last he moved, powerful fingers tangling in the soft fall of her hair, closing over the fine bones of her skull, holding her still so that he could deepen and prolong the caress.

      Lydia’s whole being was awash with a golden heat. Her heart was racing, pounding the blood through her veins and making her thoughts swim in sensuous reaction. She was lost, she knew, drowning in sensation, a wild need uncoiling deep inside her, centring hotly at the point between her thighs.

      ‘Amir…’

      ‘Ladies and gentlemen…’

      A new sound intruded on the delirious yearning that hazed her mind. A man’s voice, crisp and matter-of-fact and hatefully jarring in the way it broke into her sense of isolation, jolting her back to reality with a suddenness that shattered her sensual mood.

      ‘Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please. We regret to inform you…’

      The rest of the words passed totally over Lydia’s head. Her brain seemed to have blown a fuse and she was incapable of taking anything in. Even the simplest words failed to make the slightest sense and when the announcement was over she could only stare blankly at Amir, her light brown brows drawing together in dazed confusion.

      ‘What was all that about? What did they mean all services are cancelled?’

      ‘I did warn you.’ Amir’s tone was dry. ‘The weather has been getting worse all day. The blizzard’s closed in and no planes can take off or land tonight. There’ll be no flights out of here at least until tomorrow morning—if then.’

      ‘No flights!’ Lydia echoed, horror etched into her face. ‘But why—how? Did you…?’

      For a second she actually believed he might have been able to arrange it.

      Amir’s laughter should have reassured her, but somehow it had exactly the opposite result.

      ‘My sweet Lydia, do you really think that I am capable of that? To organise such a thing I would have had to enter into a pact with the Almighty—or perhaps the Devil.’

      Now that she could believe, Lydia admitted to herself. The wicked curl to his lips, the look of triumph in those eyes could only be described as fiendish. He might not have been able to arrange this situation, but it was quite clear that he fully intended to benefit from it. And his next words confirmed as much.

      ‘But, no matter who created this, they have my undying gratitude. Now you’ll have to stay.’

      ‘But I can’t stay here!’

      Lydia’s brain was working overtime, struggling to assess the situation, sort it out in her thoughts and come up with a solution.

      ‘Where can I go? Where will I sleep?’

      Oh, if only she hadn’t given up her hotel room this morning! But she had left Leicester yesterday full of hope and excitement, looking forward to a totally fresh start. She had only booked for an overnight stay because she had always thought that by now she would be in her seat on board the plane, heading away from England and towards the new life she had dreamed of.