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She wondered about his origins. He didn’t look Arabic. The Berbers were a Caucasian race, but he didn’t look like one of them, either. Perhaps, he was simply unique to himself and that set him apart, contributing to his loneliness.
He was still holding himself apart from her despite the need he had revealed, despite her willingness to embrace the man he was and go with him wherever he led. Was he having second thoughts? Did her collapse after the long ride diminish her in his eyes?
She wished she could tell what he was thinking...feeling. She wished she had woken up in his arms. She was sure that the physical contact would have reduced everything to simpler, more basic terms. Her body tingled with the memory of his hands moving over her bared flesh. He already knew her far more intimately than she knew him. If she called to him now...
‘Have I slept long?’ she asked.
He wasn’t startled by her voice. He turned his head to look at her, his face gathering shadows that made his expression indecipherable. ‘It is almost dawn. We must leave soon.’
His voice was quiet, calm, decisive. So much for any thought of making love! This man was not about to be tempted from the course set in his mind. His air of relentless, ruthless purpose was not softened or mitigated in any way.
Amanda felt decidedly frustrated. She was both surprised and chagrined to find she had slept a good eight hours, the night was virtually over, and she was none the wiser about Mr Complimentary Upgrade apart from the fact of him being a superb masseur.
She suddenly realised her stomach felt very empty. ‘I need food,’ she said bluntly, wary of the pace he had set yesterday and the need to restore a high energy level.
‘We will eat as soon as you have washed and dressed. You will find fresh clothes beside you.’
The thought of another day’s riding made Amanda quail inside. ‘Aren’t the horses tired?’ It was the only excuse she could think of that might allow her more rest.
‘They are. They are also mountain bred. They will not let fatigue hold us up.’
Amanda sighed. A petulant stand was out of the question. She would lose his respect. She had made her choice, accepted his conditions, and it ill behove her not to continue with as good a grace as she could muster. Particularly since he was looking after her aches and pains and feeding her as best he could.
He was organised and efficient. By the time Amanda had finished breakfast, the camp fire was doused and scattered into non-existence, everything was packed up, the horses were saddled, and there was no trace left behind of their night’s sojourn here. Amanda wondered if he was still concerned about idle eyes. Or was he expecting Xa Shiraq to have them tracked once it was realised they were no longer with the convoy?
The sky was lightening as he helped her mount the black mare. Her bottom settled gingerly on the contours of the saddle. Amanda decided, on behalf of the torture her muscles were anticipating, that one small challenge was in order.
‘I think it’s only fair you should tell me how far we’re going today so I can get myself mentally prepared for it. After all, a marathon runner knows he only has to pace himself through twenty-six miles, three hundred and eighty-five yards. How many yards do I need to pace myself through?’ she added dryly.
‘Many,’ he said.
‘Thanks for the precision,’ Amanda rejoined.
He pointed to the highest point of the mountain range they were traversing. ‘That is our destination. If you can steel yourself to the journey, we should make it there in good time.’
In good time for what? she wondered. ‘Does it have a name?’
‘In Arabic it is called the Gemini Peak.’
‘Does it have a twin?’
‘To the north. Where your convoy is going to. We cannot view it from here,’ he said dismissively.
Amanda’s grey cells hit turbo assist as they went into overdrive. Pieces of the puzzle left by her father slotted neatly into place with those few words from Mr Complimentary Upgrade. A twin peak to the one her father had described!
No wonder her father’s discovery had been discredited. No wonder that no one else had been able to refind the caves her father had spoken of. They were being directed to the wrong mountain top!
Every map, including the precious one she had so carefully kept to herself, positioned the crystal caves on the peak to the north of the wine village of Tirham. Its twin peak, to the south, was not entered on any map Amanda had seen. The omission had to be deliberate and her father somehow misled about direction. That was why Xa Shiraq’s duplicity had lain unrevealed for so long.
Upgrade knew the answer to it all. He was betraying his sheikh to show her the secret. It explained the restraint he had forced upon himself, no matter how pressing or urgent the desire he felt for her. First, he would give her what she wanted, what she had come to achieve. Only after that was accomplished would he come to her as her lover. Only when he had given all he had to give.
It touched Amanda deeply. When the time came, she would repay this man with all the love and affection and tenderness in her heart. What he was doing for her was a sacrifice of heroic proportions. Her instinctive reactions to him had been so right.
He had already mounted. She urged the black mare up beside the white stallion before he set off. ‘Come what may,’ she said with renewed determination, ‘I will ride with you this day. I will not fail you. I will not falter. I’ll be with you at the end.’
His stygian black eyes gleamed their approval. ‘That is how it should be,’ he said simply. He turned his horse’s head, and led off into the blaze of glory as the sun crested the mountain ridges with its mantle of fire.
Amanda found it impossible to estimate the distance they had to cover. It was reassuring to know where the termination point was. Bubbles of adrenaline spurred her on. What had once appeared so unattainable was now within reach.
