That prickling feeling had returned, and with it a sensation that she was floating—that if she hadn’t been gripping the door handle so tightly she might have just drifted away.
‘What do you mean? Of course, we’re going to Scotland—’ She broke off as he started to shake his head.
‘Actually, we’re not.’
His eyes glittered in the darkness, and she felt her breath catch in her throat.
‘We never were. It was always my intention to bring you here.’
She stared at him in silence. Fury, shock, disbelief and frustration were washing over her like waves breaking against a sea wall.
Here? Here!
What was he talking about?
‘There is no “here”,’ she said shakily. ‘We’re in the middle of nowhere.’
He was mad. Completely mad. There was no other explanation for his behaviour. How could she not have noticed before?
‘You and I need to talk, Nola.’
‘And you want to do that in the middle of a jungle?’ She was practically shouting now. Not that he seemed to care.
She watched in disbelief as calmly he shook his head.
‘It’s actually a rainforest. Only parts of it are classified as a jungle. And clearly I’m not expecting us to talk there. I have a house about three miles from here. It’s very beautiful and completely private—what you might call secluded, in fact, so we won’t be disturbed.’
Her head was spinning.
‘I don’t care if you have a palace with its own zoological gardens. I am not going there now or at any other time—and I’m definitely not going there with you.’
He lounged back against the seat, completely unperturbed by her outburst, his dark eyes locking onto hers. ‘And yet here you are.’
She stared at him in shock, too stunned, too dazed to speak. Then, slowly, she started to shake her head. ‘No. You can’t do this. I want you to turn this car around now—’
Her whole body was shaking. This was far, far worse than missing her flight or Ram joining her on the plane.
Leaning forward, she began banging desperately on the glass behind the driver’s head.
‘Please—you have to help me!’
Behind her, she heard Ram sigh. ‘You’re going to hurt your hand, and it won’t make any difference. So why don’t you just calm down and try and relax?’
Her head jerked round. ‘Relax! How am I supposed to relax? You’re kidnapping me!’
Ram stretched out his legs. He could hear the exasperation and fury in her voice—could almost see it crackling from the ends of her gleaming dark hair.
Good, he thought silently. Now she knew how he felt. How it felt to have your life turned upside down. Suddenly no longer to be in charge of your own destiny.
‘Am I? I’m not asking anyone for a ransom. Nor am I planning to blindfold you and tie you to the bed,’ he said softly, his gaze holding hers. ‘Unless, of course, you want me to.’
He watched two flags of colour rise on her cheekbones as she slid back into her seat, as far from him as was physically possible.
‘All I want is for you to stop acting like some caveman.’ She breathed out shakily. ‘People don’t behave like this. It’s barbaric...primitive.’
‘Primitive?’ He repeated the word slowly, letting the seconds crawl by, feeling his groin hardening as she refused to make eye contact with him. ‘I thought you liked primitive,’ he said softly.
‘That was different.’ Turning her head sharply, she glowered at him. ‘And it has nothing to do with any of this.’