almost inaudibly. But he heard her.
‘What does the old cliché say? Home is where the heart is. To put it in more manageable terms—with your family—your friends.’
‘I—I have no family.’ It felt like the truth, she thought desolately, clenching her ringless left hand in the folds of her skirt.
‘Miss Lonelyhearts herself.’ His voice was smooth and mocking. ‘Is this why you’ve come to the Yucatan, Miss Christow? In the hopes of finding someone to play Tarzan to your Jane in the rain forest?’
She flinched. ‘No, Dr Lennox,’ she said tightly. ‘I came because my interest in the Maya is as serious as your own, and I’d be grateful if you’d stop treating me as if I was some silly child …’
‘Is that how I’ve been treating you?’ His smile widened. ‘I can assure you I don’t see you in that light at all.’
Her head was aching slightly. She put up her hand and pushed her hair back. Her fingers felt warm and a little clammy. She thought longingly of a cool shower and some food.
‘I’m tired of all this verbal fencing, Dr Lennox,’ she said wearily. ‘I realise, of course, that you’re quite determined that I shouldn’t accompany this expedition, but I can’t find any adequate reason for your opposition.’
‘Can’t you?’ She felt his glance on her.
‘No. You can’t pretend, for instance, that women never go. Are you saying that you wouldn’t take part in an expedition that included women?’
‘Certainly not,’ he drawled. ‘There are some women I’d be quite happy to include.’
‘But not me.’ Anger was taking its grip on her. ‘Will you please tell me why—why there should be one rule for “some women” and another for me?’
He pulled the jeep over to the side of the road and switched off the engine. It was too dark to see him properly. Everything was very quiet suddenly, and his voice was part of the quietness.
‘You really want to know? You really want one good reason why I shouldn’t take you into the rain forest?’
‘Yes,’ she said shakily, her mouth suddenly dry with an apprehension she did not fully understand.
Hands like steel bands took hold of her shoulders, impelling her towards him, so hard and so fast that she did not have time even to utter a protest. His mouth was warm on hers, without gentleness, a bruising menace in the darkness. She tried to resist after the first panic-stricken seconds of rigidity to pull away, but his arms were shackles holding her against him, her breasts crushed against the hard strength of his chest. Every nerve she possessed was screaming with shock. No one—not even James in their courting days, and certainly not later in that mockery of a marriage—had ever kissed her like this, parting her lips with dangerous sensuality, forcing her into this terrifying intimacy. Each time she tried to break free, his kiss merely deepened. She could feel his hands on her back, moving tantalisingly over her shoulders and down the shuddering length of her spine. She could feel their warmth through her thin shirt and knew with a shock of utter dismay that she wanted to feel them on her skin …
He let her go so suddenly that her head swam and she was glad to lean back against the seat, gasping for breath, her eyes partly closed as she fought for self-control against the traitorous longing to turn to him again, offering him her mouth and more.
‘Now do you see why?’ His voice sounded completely toneless. ‘Do you understand why it’s impossible for you to come with us?’
She had almost forgotten she was being taught a lesson. She shrank inside, thanking any listening God that she had not betrayed to him that sudden wild urge to respond.
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