LITMIR.BIZ

      More hiking, cycling along the paved valley trails and even horse riding—with Ellen discovering the novelty of a Western saddle—comprised their days, and dining at the lodge in rustic comfort passed their evenings. Roaring log fires in the lounge and no TV or other electronic distractions all added to the ambience and mood. Yet all the same the days passed, one by one and ineluctably, taking them nearer to their return to the UK.

      Ellen’s mood, as they finally headed north to pick up their flight from Salt Lake City, became increasingly sombre as mile after long mile ate up this last time of being with the man who had so utterly transformed her.

      Inside as well as outwardly.

      An ache caught at her. Soon they would be parting. One plane journey away and she would be heading back to Haughton, and he—well, he would be heading to whatever was next on his busy schedule. This time tomorrow he would be gone from her life.

      A silent cry went up inside her. And a savage admonition.

       You went into this with your eyes open. You knew why he was doing it, what his reasons were—so don’t bewail it. Think of it as...as therapy!

      She shut her eyes, blocking the sight of him from herself. There would be other men in her life now. He had made that possible. Made her see herself as desirable, as beautiful. That was the gift he’d given her, even if he’d given it to her for reasons of his own. From now on she knew that men would desire her—

      But even as she told herself that she could hear that voice cry out again in silent anguish.

       But what man could I desire after Max? What man could ever compare to him? Impossible—just impossible! No one could ever melt me with a single glance, could make love to me as he does, could set the fires racing through my veins as he can! No one! No one else ever will.

      A shiver went through her, as if she had stirred ghosts from a future that had not yet happened but was waiting to happen. A future without Max Vasilikos in it. An empty future.

      No, she mustn’t think like that. A future without Max in it would not be empty. Could not be—not while she had to fight for her beloved home, keep it as long as she possibly could, safe from those who wanted to take it from her. Including Max.

      Her face shadowed. Here, on the far side of the Atlantic, she had been able to forget that it was he who wanted to oust her—for her own good, as he believed—but that bitter truth was not something she must ever forget.

      And it was a truth that loomed larger with every hour on the plane as they flew back to the UK.

      Her mood had darkened as they flew into the night, and she had slept only patchily and uncomfortably. She knew she had a sombre air about her as they arrived at Heathrow in the bleak early hours of the morning. She was facing the end of her time with Max and the resumption of her battle for her home.

      After the tropical heat of the Caribbean, and the crisp, clean air of the American west, the wet spring weather of the UK was uninviting and drear as a chauffeured car drove them into London through the rush hour traffic.

      Ellen sat huddled into a corner, groggy from the red-eye flight, and Max let her be, busying himself with catching up on his emails on his laptop. Thoughts were racing across his mind.

      As they stepped out on to the pavement outside the hotel he shivered extravagantly. ‘It’s freezing!’ he exclaimed. He ushered her inside the hotel, and as they reached the warmth of the lobby said, ‘Thank goodness the Gulf is our next destination!’

      He didn’t notice Ellen’s sudden start at his words, only guided her into the elevator. Back in his suite, he elaborated, watching as room service departed after setting breakfast out for them.

      ‘I’ve just had confirmation via email that my appointment with the business adviser to the Sheikh there is the day after tomorrow. It will be a bit of a rush, but we can fly out tomorrow. You can cope with that, can’t you?’ He smiled. ‘We’ll stay on—go camping in the Arabian desert. Stargazing, camel rides, dune-bashing—you’ll love it.’ Then his expression changed. ‘What is it?’ he asked.

      Concern was in his voice. Ellen was just looking at him in consternation.

      ‘Max... Max, I can’t,’ she said.

      He frowned. ‘You’ve still got a while before your next term starts,’ he said.

      She shook her head. Her expression had not changed. ‘It’s not that,’ she said.

      ‘Then what is it?’ he demanded.

      There was an edge in his voice he could not suppress. Emotion was starting up inside him. An emotion he did not want to feel, but that was happening all the same. Why was she hesitating like this? Making objections? Didn’t she want to come out to the Gulf with him?

       Because I certainly want her to come with me. I don’t want to let her go—not yet. Definitely not yet.

      Emotion swirled within him. He was certain—two hundred per cent certain—that he had no desire whatsoever to part company with Ellen now. That conviction had been growing with every passing day they’d spent together, and had come to a head on their overnight flight, when he’d realised he did not want their time together to end yet.

      She’d been a revelation to him—a total revelation. Not just in her new-found physical beauty, which

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