Flynn swore softly as he drew her head against his shoulder and cradled it there with a hand which trembled. ‘God, Natalie, I’m sorry! I should never have involved you in this in the first place!’
There was an aching regret in his voice which startled her. She drew back to search his face, wondering what he meant. The ordeal had been frightening but it hadn’t in all honesty been Flynn’s fault. He couldn’t have known what those people had planned.
‘You shouldn’t blame yourself,’ she said quietly.
‘Shouldn’t I?’ He straightened abruptly, pushing the Jeep door open to walk a few feet away from where they were parked, his back towards her as he stared across the dark expanse of desert. It was nearly dawn and the moon was losing some of its brilliance, its silvery light subdued by the rising sun. It made it impossible to see his expression clearly but Natalie didn’t need to see to understand the torment he was going through. He blamed himself for what had happened and was torturing himself because of it, and she couldn’t bear to watch him suffering this way.
She got out and went to join him, not touching him as she stood by his side. She could feel the tension emanating from him and her heart ached for what he was going through. ‘You didn’t know that I was going to be kidnapped, Flynn. You couldn’t look into a crystal ball and see into the future. Blaming yourself is pointless.’
‘Is it?’ He swung round, his face all stark angles in the faint light, the dye-darkened hair making him look even more like a stranger. He’d removed the lenses earlier and now his pale eyes glittered like moon-touched sea water. ‘Perhaps I couldn’t see into the future but I’ve learned enough about those people to know that they’ll stop at nothing. I put your life in danger and that’s something I can never forgive myself for!’
His pain hurt her; it made her ache to find a way to comfort him. Perhaps she should feel angry at him but she couldn’t. Flynn was hurting and that was almost more than she could bear!
She laid her hand gently on his arm, feeling the muscles contract beneath her fingers in an immediate response which shook her so that the soft words of comfort died on her lips. She stared up into his face as an emotion as vast and expansive as the desert flowed between them, an emotion which touched her heart, her soul and every secret part of her, an emotion which both excited and scared her with its force and power.
Something of what she felt must have shown on her face because Flynn’s fingers closed over hers to press them against his flesh as he stared back into her eyes. ‘What is it, Natalie?’
. ‘I... Nothing.’ She dragged her hand away, turning her back on him, feeling shaken to the core by what had happened. She couldn’t explain what she’d felt just now, didn’t want to try because somewhere deep in her heart she was afraid of the answer. Yet just for a second her soul and Flynn’s had met and joined and nothing would ever be the same again!
‘For heaven’s sake, Natalie, I know there’s something—’ He broke off so abruptly that she turned to look at him but he wasn’t looking at her. He was staring past her, his eyes narrowed in such a way that alarm went skittering through her.
‘What is it? What can you see?’
‘Sandstorm.’ He bit the word out, his face grim as she turned to look and gasped at what she saw—the huge, swirling black cloud of dust. ‘It’s heading this way and fast. We’re going to have to get a move on, Natalie. We need to find shelter before it hits us.’
‘Shelter? But can’t we just get back in the Jeep?’
‘No. That’s the last thing we should do.’ He strode past her and pulled a canvas hold-all from the back of the vehicle, quickly packing an assortment of items into it then tossing it to her. ‘You take that, and bring that blanket. Wrap it around yourself, over your head as well.’
He bit the instructions out as he crammed more things into another bag, cutting off any further suggestions she might have made. Natalie did as she was told, spurred on by the urgency she’d heard in his voice, enveloping herself in the scratchy folds of the blanket as Flynn came back. He drew a fold of cloth over her shoulder and pressed it into her hand. ‘When that dust hits, cover your nose and mouth. Understand?’
He pulled the hood of his robe over his head, then nodded towards a bare outcrop of rock several hundred yards away. ‘We’ll head for that. It should provide some protection at least but it’s going to be rough. Whatever you do, Natalie, keep close to me, otherwise, you’ll get lost so fast when that dust hits that I won’t be able to find you again.’
He started towards the rocks, his long legs eating up the distance although he paused several times for her to catch up. Natalie struggled after him, the weight of the blanket hampering her progress through the sand. The wind was rising rapidly, screaming as it swirled around them. She glanced back, her heart pounding as she saw the dust-cloud just yards behind them, thick and grey, blotting everything from sight.
‘Flynn...!’ The first fine spray of sand choked off her cry of alarm, making her cough. Flynn must have heard, however, because suddenly he was beside her, his hand clamping around hers as he dragged her along with him.
‘Cover your face as I told you to!’ he ordered before pulling the hood of his robe across the lower part of his face.
Natalie did as she was told, dragging the rough cloth over her nose and mouth just as the full might of the storm hit them. The force of the wind was indescribable. It sent her staggering to her knees and defeated her attempts to get up until Flynn added his strength to hers. She felt as though she was smothering in sand, her eyes burning with its grittiness, each breath rasping painfully.
When Flynn bent and swung her up into his arms, she wanted to protest that it was too much for him to carry her, but she was too exhausted. She buried her face in his shoulder, her arms wrapped around his neck as he stumbled towards the rocks. Several times he fell but each time he struggled to his feet with a grim determination as he moved towards their goal.
Setting Natalie down, he dragged air into his lungs then dropped to his knees, pulling her with him against the rocks. They provided pitiful shelter but after the pounding of the wind it felt wonderful.
Struggling a knife out of his pocket, Flynn pressed his mouth against Natalie’s ear. ‘Move the blanket aside while I cut a strip off your dress.’
Natalie did as she was told without question, parting the folds of blanket while he deftly hacked a length off the red linen. Turning towards the shelter of the rocks, he pulled a bottle of water out of the hold-all and soaked the cloth then pressed it into her hand. ‘Tie it over your nose and mouth as tightly as you can. It will help keep the sand out.’
Natalie did so at once, aware that Flynn was doing the same with another length of cloth cut from his robe, but it was so dark that it was impossible to see him now and panic rose swiftly.
‘Flynn!’ She reached frantically for him.
‘It’s all right. I’m here.’ His hand was hard and wonderfully reassuring as it caught hers to draw her close. Reaching up, he drew the folds of the blanket over her head then turned her face into his shoulder, shielding her with his body as best he could as the storm raged around them.
It must have taken a couple of hours before the wind died down. When Natalie felt Flynn moving she lifted her head from his shoulder and pushed the blanket aside, struggling to free herself from the weight of sand which had built up all around them. The sky was growing lighter now, the silence after the noise almost painful.
Untying the sand-encrusted cloth from her face, Natalie tossed it away, grimacing at the gritty coating on her skin, which felt chapped and sore from the abrasive buffing.
‘Here, rinse your mouth out a couple of times.’ Flynn handed her a bottle of water, waiting until Natalie had finished before doing the same. He stowed the bottle back into the bag then stood up and shook the sand from him as he stared round then cursed softly.
Natalie stumbled to her feet, and followed his gaze then gasped out loud. ‘Is that the Jeep?’
&nb
sp; Flynn nodded, his eyes resting on what little could be seen of the vehicle above the dune of sand which had formed over it. ‘It is. That’s why we couldn’t use it to shelter in. We would have been buried alive.’
Natalie shivered despite the increasing warmth of the sun, only then realising how lucky she’d been. Left to her own devices she would have instinctively sheltered in the Jeep and suffered the consequences of her ignorance.
Her face was unnaturally pale beneath the grit as she turned to Flynn. ‘I can’t believe it! How did you know it would happen?’
He shrugged as he bent to pick up the large hold-all. ‘It’s my job to know. Come on, we’d better see what we can salvage which might be of use to us.’
He started towards the Jeep but Natalie made no immediate move to follow him. She stared after him, frowning as she watched him striding through the sand. What did he mean, it was his job to know? Just how many more strings did Flynn have to his bow, how many more secrets was she yet to uncover? As she recalled what had happened before the storm, that strange disturbing surge of emotion they’d shared, it seemed more important than ever that she find out!
‘We’ll have to stop. I can’t go another step!’ Natalie slumped to the ground, wiping a hand across her wet forehead. Pushing the tangled mass of black hair from her eyes, she stared up at Flynn and could have wept at the unfairness of it all. He looked just as comfortable as if they’d been out for a pleasant afternoon stroll rather than this trek through the inhospitable desert landscape!
‘We’ll take a five-minute break, no more.’ He dropped down beside her, squinting as he glanced up at the sun.
‘Five minutes! Listen, O’Rourke, I won’t be in any fit state to carry on in fifty-five minutes, so let’s get that straight for a start!’
He leant back on his hands, his mouth curling tauntingly as he swept a glance over Natalie’s flushed face. ‘Not giving in that easily, are you, sweet?’
She glared back, used to his tactics by now. ‘It won’t work. This time you are not goading me into action. My legs feel like lead. If you want to carry on then feel free. But I am not going another step!’
She stretched full length on the ground, groaning as every over-worked muscle protested. They’d been walking for hours, their progress hampered every step of the way by the dragging pull of the sand. Natalie had no idea how far they’d come or how far they had to go, and didn’t really care. She had gone just about as far as she intended to!
Strong hands caught her by the shoulders to haul her upright and hold her there. ‘You, my sweet, are going to do exactly as you are told. Now get that pretty little backside off the ground and move it!’
Her eyes snapped open to glare into his. ‘Make me! You’re nothing but a bully, O’Rourke. I have gone as far as I can go and that’s it. Understand?’
‘You’ve gone as far as you think you can go, Natalie, but the human body is far more resourceful than most people give it credit for.’ His eyes dropped to the mutinous curve of her mouth, darkening as they lingered on her cracked lips. ‘So you want to stay here, do you? Then shall I tell you exactly what you can expect to happen to you?’
‘I’m not interested! I’m not asking you to stay with me. You carry on. I’ll wait here until someone comes along.’
He laughed with black humour. ‘And just who are you expecting? The cavalry to come to your rescue? Sorry, sweetheart, but I doubt if there will be anyone along this route for... oh, the next month at a guess.’
Natalie stared at him in horror then shook her head. ‘You’re just saying that to make me do what you want. Someone is bound to come!’
‘Why?’ He swept a hand towards the vast, empty expanse of sand. ‘Why would anyone want to come here? Tell me that.’
‘I...well, we did!’
‘Yes, we did. But think of the incentive we had for doing so, Natalie. This isn’t some well-worn tourist route. We won’t climb the next dune and find a busload of tourists snapping their pictures to take home and bore their relatives with. We’re out here all by ourselves and it’s up to us to get back.’
She didn’t like his sarcasm one bit, the fact that he was obviously telling the truth even less! ‘And exactly whose fault is it that we are in this mess? I didn’t ask to be kidnapped! Nor did I ask to be brought out here into this...this wilderness while you performed your rescue! This is all your fault....every bit of it. If you hadn’t got yourself mixed up in some sort of shady deal then we wouldn’t be here in this mess!’
His eyes narrowed, twin shards of ice as they met hers. ‘Is that a fact? So you aren’t prepared to accept any of the blame?’
Perhaps she should have opted for a more diplomatic approach in the circumstances, but diplomacy had melted under the heat of the sun and the fire of her anger. ‘Yes, it is a fact, and no, I am not to blame at all!’
His hands tightened on her shoulders, his mouth a thin, hard line. ‘If you’d had the guts to tell Damian Renshaw how you really felt then none of this would be happening now.’
Natalie gasped at the sheer injustice of his accusation. ‘How can you say that? You know very well that I couldn’t offend Damian. I would have lost this account if I had!’
‘If it means so damned much to you then I’m surprised you didn’t simply do what he expected of you.’ He smiled thinly as he watched her. ‘You could have hopped into his bed and guaranteed that the contract was yours. Surely that would have been little enough price to pay for something you obviously value so highly?’
‘Why, you...!’ Natalie’s hand arced through the air but before it could land a stinging slap on Flynn’s lean cheek he caught her wrist, his fingers bruising. He bent towards her, his eyes burning with an emotion which made her heart shudder to a shocked halt, made her breath catch deeply in her chest.
‘I think I warned you before not to do that, Natalie. You might not enjoy the consequences, although I would!’ His gaze dropped to her mouth and stayed there in a look she could feel in every cell before abruptly he tossed her hand away and stood up. He barely glanced at her as he picked up the hold-all and slung it over his shoulder. ‘Let’s go. We’ve wasted enough time.’
He set off again, not bothering to look back to see if she was following. Natalie struggled to her feet, her legs shaking, yet the weakness owed less to exhaustion than it did to what had just happened. She hated Flynn for what he had just suggested, although even that paled in the face of what had happened next, the sudden, shocking realisation that he wanted her! She had seen it in the angry glitter in his eyes, felt it in her soul, and it shocked her because suddenly it forced her to evaluate her own feelings for him.
She wanted him too. She wanted to lie in his arms and feel his mouth on hers, wanted to savour the touch of his hands, the power of his possession. She wanted him as she had wanted no man before, not even Marcus, and that shook her world and left it spinning out of control!
They stopped as afternoon faded into evening. Natalie sank down on to the blanket that Flynn tossed on the ground, aching with exhaustion. When he offered her the bottle of water, she shook her head mutely, too tired even to make the effort to drink.
He swore softly then knelt beside her, unscrewing the plastic cap and tilting the bottle to her lips, making her swallow several mouthfuls. Putting it carefully down, he pulled a foil packet from the bag and popped a tablet out of it, dropping it into the palm of Natalie’s hand. ‘Take that.’
Natalie glanced at it then shot him a weary look. ‘Trying to poison me now, O’Rourke?’
He grinned suddenly, white teeth gleaming against dusty tanned skin. ‘Tempting thought, sweetheart, especially when you’re being awkward, but not today. It’s merely salt and vitamins to replace those you’ve lost through perspiring.’
Natalie looked away from his handsome face, not proof against the power of that smile as she would have liked to be. She slipped the tablet into her mouth then took another sip of water to wash it down. All afternoon she had tried to reason with
her wayward emotions, telling herself that she had imagined what she’d felt before, but her reaction to that smile made a mockery of all her attempts.
‘You’re unusually quiet. Is there anything wrong? Or perhaps you’re hungry?’ Flynn dug the rest of the flat loaf he had produced earlier out of the bag and broke a piece off to hand it to her with a faint grimace. ‘It’s hardly sumptuous fare but it will have to suffice, and there’s some cheese and fruit left as well.’
Natalie bit into the hard bread and chewed it slowly, accepting the fig Flynn offered her. ‘You had it all planned out, didn’t you—food, water...everything?’
He rested back against the rocks, stretching his legs in front of him as he tore off a piece of bread and studied it for a moment. ‘Nobody but a fool goes into the desert without making provision beforehand. It was something which was impressed upon us during training and I suppose old habits die hard.’
Natalie studied him curiously. ‘Impressed upon you by whom?’ She gestured towards the vast emptiness of the landscape. ‘Most people wouldn’t have the first idea about surviving out here. I know I haven’t. Yet you seem to take it all in your stride and to have covered all the possibilities.’
‘Not quite all, Natalie.’ His voice was suddenly vibrant with an emotion which Natalie felt too, running in hot waves through her body. She took a small, desperate breath of air, wanting to say something to dispel the sudden tension, the feeling that events were moving out of her control. But then Flynn continued and she didn’t know whether she felt relieved or disappointed.
‘No one can foretell a sandstorm. They come out of nowhere and wreak havoc wherever they touch.’
Natalie looked down at the piece of bread she was holding, calling herself a fool. Perhaps Flynn did want her but that was all it was—a fleeting sexual urge. She was looking for excuses because she felt guilty and confused by her own feelings. But trying to convince herself that it meant more to Flynn than that wasn’t the answer.
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