The Call of the Desert

When she opened the door she wasn’t prepared for the hit to her gut at seeing a stubble-jawed Kaden leaning nonchalantly against the porch wall, dominating the small space. He obviously hadn’t shaved since that morning, and flames of heat licked through her blood. He was so intensely masculine. He was in the same suit—albeit with the tie gone and the top button of his shirt open.

His eyes were dark and swept her up and down as he straightened up. She tingled all over. Julia wished she’d put her hair up, it felt provocative now to have it down. Why had she left it down?

Kaden arched a brow. “Shall we?”

Julia sucked in a breath and finally managed to move. “Yes …” She pulled the front door behind her, absurdly glad that Kaden hadn’t come inside, and fumbled with the keys as she locked it. Kaden was waiting by the door of the car and helped her in. His hand was hot on her bare elbow.

The car pulled off smoothly and Julia tried to quell her butterflies. Kaden’s drawling and unmistakably amused voice came from her right.

“Are we going to a funeral?”

She looked at him and could see him staring pointedly at her admittedly rather boring dress. She fibbed. “I didn’t have time to change after work.”

His eyes rose to hers and he smiled. “Liar,” he mocked softly.

Julia was transfixed by that smiling mouth, by the unbelievably sensuous and wicked lines. Her face flamed and her hand moved in that betraying reflex to her throat. She stopped herself just in time. She felt naked without his necklace. It was the first time she’d not worn it at home. Her hand dropped to her lap, and to hide her discomfiture she asked, “Where are we going?”

To her relief Kaden released her from his all too intent gaze and looked ahead. “We’re going to the Cedar Rooms, in the Gormseby Hotel.”

Julia was impressed. It was a plush new hotel that had opened in the past few months, and apparently there was already a year-long waiting list f

or the restaurant. Not for Kaden, though, she thought cynically. They’d be tripping over themselves to have him endorse their restaurant. Yet she was relieved at the idea of being in a public place, surrounded by people, as if that would somehow help her resist him and put up the fight she knew she must.

Kaden was struggling to hang on to his urbanity beside Julia. Her dress was ridiculously boring and plain, but it couldn’t hide her effortless class, or those long shapely legs and the enticing swell of her bosom. Her hair was down, falling in long waves over her shoulders, and she wore a minimum of make-up. Once again he was struck that she could pass for years younger. And by how beautiful she was. She had the kind of classic beauty that just got better with age.

The minute she’d opened the front door her huge swirling grey eyes had sucked him into a vortex of need so strong that he’d felt his body responding right there. Much as it had in that crowded room last night. A response he’d never had to curb for any other woman, because he’d always been in strict control.

With Julia, though, his brain short-circuited every time he looked at her. It only fired up his assertion that this was just lust. With that in mind, and anticipating how urgent his desire would be by the time they got to dessert, he made a quick terse call in Arabic from his mobile phone.

By the time they were on their desserts Julia had given up trying to maintain any kind of coherent conversation. The opulent dining room was arranged in such a way that—far from being surrounded by the public—she and Kaden were practically in a private booth. And it was so dark that flickering candles sent long shadows across their faces. It was decadent, and not at all conducive to remaining clear-headed as she’d anticipated.

Their conversation had started out innocuously enough. Kaden had asked her about her career and why she’d taken the direction she had. She’d explained that her passion for fund distribution had grown when she’d seen so much misused funding over the years, and she’d seen it as the more stable end of archaeology, considering her future with a husband and family. To her surprise his eyes hadn’t glazed over with boredom. He’d kept looking at her, though, as if he wanted to devour her. Desperately trying to ignore the way it made her feel, she’d asked him about Burquat.

It sounded like another country now—vastly different from the more rigidly conservative one she’d known. Once again she was filled with a rush of pride that his ambition was being realised.

Scrabbling around for anything else to talk about, to take the edge off how intimate it felt to be sitting here with him, Julia said, “I saw something in the papers about drilling your oil-fields. There seems to be great interest, considering the world’s dwindling oil supplies.”

“We’re certainly on the brink of something huge. Sultan Sadiq of Al-Omar is going to help us drill the oil. He has the expertise.”

“Is that part of the reason why he’s marrying Samia?” Julia felt a pang of concern for Kaden’s younger sister. From what she remembered of her she was no match for the renowned playboy Sultan.

Kaden’s mouth tightened. “It’s a factor, yes. Their marriage will be an important strategic alliance between both our countries.”

Kaden sat back and cradled a bulbous glass of brandy. He looked at Julia from under hooded lids. She felt hunted.

“So … your boss—Nigel. Are you seeing him?”

Julia flushed, wondering what kind of woman Kaden had become used to socialising with, sleeping with. She swallowed. “No, I’m not.” Not sure why she felt compelled to elaborate, she said, “He’s asked me out, but I’ve said no.”

“You’ve had no lovers since your husband?”

Julia flushed even hotter and glared at Kaden. “That’s none of your business. Would you mind if I asked you if you’ve had any lovers since your divorce?”

He was supremely relaxed, supremely confident. He smiled. “I have a healthy sex life. I enjoy women … and they enjoy what I can give them.”

Julia snorted indelicately, her imagination shamefully providing her with an assortment of images of the sleek, soignée women she’d seen grace his arm over the years. “No doubt.” And then something dark was rising up within her, and she said ascerbically, “I presume these women are left in no doubt as to the parameters of their relationship with you, much as you outlined to me this morning?”

Kaden’s face darkened ominously. “I took your advice a long time ago. Women know exactly where they stand with me. I don’t waste my breath on platitudes and empty promises.”