The ground was rushing up faster and faster. Dorian swallowed, then returned his smile as bravely as she could.
‘Then I suppose it’s a good thing we didn’t have dinner service on this flight, isn’t it? I’d hate to spill coffee all over my lap.’
He grinned. ‘We’ll have champagne on our next flight together, I promise.’ He gave her hand one last squeeze, and then he clasped the control yoke. ‘Just think positive thoughts,’ he said, ‘and before you know it we’ll be down safe.’
Dorian nodded, but it was too late to think anything. The earth was coming up to meet them at an alarming speed. At the last minute, just before the wheels touched down, she closed her eyes tightly. There was a wrenching thud, a rushing noise, and then—and then silence.
‘Dorian?’
She sat absolutely still, half afraid that if she opened her eyes she would see something awful.
‘Dorian. Are you all right?’
She swallowed. ‘I—I think so.’
She heard the clink of metal, the whisper of fabric, and then the touch of a hand on her face.
‘Dorian. Look at me.’
Her eyes opened slowly. Jake was bending over her, his face dark. With anger, she thought—but then, suddenly, he blew out his breath and dropped to one knee beside her.
‘You’re all right,’ he said.
She nodded. ‘I think so. Yes. Yes, I’m fine.’ She laughed shakily. ‘Just a little scared.’
His hand stroked her cheek lightly. ‘You’ve a right to be scared.’
She swallowed. ‘Actually, it’s more like terrified.’
He smiled, and she thought suddenly that it was a very nice smile, and that he had not smiled at her that way since—since just before he’d kissed her that first time at the airport.
‘You should have trusted me,’ he said. ‘I told you I’d get us down in one piece.’
Dorian looked at him. Why should I have trusted you? she wanted to say. After all, you don’t trust me.
But he was right not to trust her, wasn’t he? Just before the engine had conked out she’d been playing games, trying to wheedle a story out of him while he—he had made her a promise and kept it.
Still, he hadn’t been entirely truthful with her. She didn’t know who he was. Although she had an idea. A damned good idea.
Her eyes lifted to his. ‘Mr Prince?’
He smiled again. ‘Yes?’
She touched her tongue to her lips; his gaze followed the gesture, then returned to hers.
‘Considering the circumstances…’ She paused. ‘I—I—I have a question.’
‘Yes,’ he said softly, ‘so do I.’
He bent and kissed her, his mouth warm and seeking against hers. She drew back in surprise and his arms went around her and gathered her close. Her lips parted. She told herself it was to whisper a protest, but when she felt the first brush of his tongue against hers a soft sound came unbidden from the back of her throat. Her hands came up; she leaned into him and caught hold of his shirt, clutching it tightly in her fingers, and the race of her heart and the pound of her blood obliterated all reality.
It was he who ended the kiss. ‘Kitten,’ he whispered.
Dorian’s eyes opened slowly. He was holding her a breath from him; she knew that the flush of desire that crimsoned his cheekbones must be matched by her own.
It was hard to talk, at first. ‘Jake.’ She stared into his eyes. ‘I didn’t mean…’
He smiled. ‘At least you’ve answered my question,’ he said softly. ‘I was going to ask if you didn’t think it was time you called me Jake?’
Dorian hesitated. ‘Is that—is that really your name?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, it occurred to me that—that you just might be…’ She swallowed. ‘I was wondering if you might be the abdhan of Barovnia.’
Desire left his face. He looked at her coldly as he stepped back and rose to his feet.
‘I suppose I should have expected that. A good reporter never stops thinking about her story, does she?’
‘It’s a logical question, Jake. You can’t blame me for thinking—’
‘Let me put your mind at ease, then. I am not the abdhan. And the only thing you’d better think about is that we’ve got to get out of here, and fast.’
She frowned. ‘Shouldn’t we wait with the plane? How else will the search party find us?’
Jake moved past her into the cabin. ‘There won’t be a search party.’
‘Don’t be silly. Once you put out an SOS—’
‘I’m not going to draw my people in here, Dorian.’
‘In where?’ she said, staring at him. ‘What in heaven’s name are you talking about?’
‘We’ve come down in the middle of the Askara Wilderness,’ he said as he pulled open a locker and reached inside it.
‘What does that mean?’
‘It means,’ he said grimly, ‘that you’re going to get the chance to take a long, hard look at a primitive territory inhabited by barbarians.’
Dorian got to her feet and put her hands on her hips. ‘Very funny. But I’ve apologised for that remark too many times as it is. It’s time you stopped trotting it out at every opportunity.’
‘There’s nothing even remotely funny about our situation.’ He was stuffing things into the sack as he spoke. Two lap blankets. Chocolate bars. A couple of cans of Coke. ‘This is a place where it’s impossible to tell the good guys from the bad. So, unless you want to risk researching what it’s like to be the night’s entertainment, you’d better get your pretty butt in gear and follow me.’
Dorian blinked. ‘You’re joking.’
Jake looked at her. ‘Do I look as if I’m joking?’ he asked coldly.
No, she thought, he didn’t. But he couldn’t really be serious. A primitive territory? Bad guys you couldn’t tell from good guys? Barbarians?
And all at once she understood. The engine malfunction had been real enough—instinct told her that Jake Prince wasn’t the sort of man who’d fake something as dangerous as a landing on a plateau the size of a breadboard—but the rest was nonsense. He’d seen his chance to make her eat her words about primitive countries and barbarians, and he’d leaped at it. This was payback—an exhausting hike to Kadar, the capital of Barovnia, which was probably an hour or two away—and he’d have had the last laugh.
Well, he could just take his nasty little scheme and shove it.
Dorian smiled sweetly. ‘Are you ready to leave?’
Jake nodded as he snugged the sack shut and hoisted it on his shoulder.
‘Yes. The Cristou Mountains are just ahead, and—’
‘Well, then, have a good trip.’
He straightened and stared at her. ‘What?’
‘I said, have a good trip. I’ll stay here and wait.’
Jake’s eyes went flat. ‘For what? I’ve just told you—’
‘I know what you told me.’ She shrugged lazily. ‘I’ll take my chances with the—what do you call the people who inhabit this place?’
‘Dorian. Listen to me.’
Her smile fled. ‘No,’ she said, shaking her head, ‘you listen for a change. I know what this is all about. I know what you’re up to. You’re determined to make me eat my words about—about—you know, the primitive country thing, and—’
‘Do you really think I’m that petty?’ he asked quietly.
For a second, her resolve faltered. But then she looked into his cold eyes, and her spine stiffened.
‘I’m not budging. If you’re going, you go alone.’