An insect settled on my hand and started sucking blood. Without even glancing at it, I squashed the thing and flicked it away. Only one person here was allowed to suck blood in my book - and that was me, from people who owed me money. The other insects got the message and kept their distance.

Crack!

At the noise of breaking branches from behind me, I froze. A predator approaching?

‘Bloody hell!’ a lady’s voice behind me uttered a distinctly unladylike curse.

Ah. Not a predator. Just another pest.

You should never have brought her on this journey.

As if I’d had a choice. For a female, she could be quite persistent.

‘Bloody, stinking hell! And I mean that literally! How can it be this hot in here? I thought the desert was supposed to be hot!’

‘High humidity,’ I answered without turning or slowing down. She had wished to come on this trip. She would have to deal with it. ‘The higher the humidity, the hotter human senses perceive it to be,’

‘Perceive it to be? You mean it’s not really this hot?’

‘Exactly. Your body is a fallible animal. Simply ignore its false information.’

‘Oh, thanks so much! That’s a great help!’

‘You are welcome, Mr Linton.’

That should have settled the matter - or at least so I thought, until, after a few more moments, I heard another sound from behind me.

Thud!

Unless a monkey had just toppled out of a tree, that was the sound of a falling secretary. I felt a muscle in my jaw twitch. She had come on this trip. It was her burden to bear, her task to accomplish alone. That’s what I paid her for, after all.

And yet…

And yet…

Muttering a low invective, I turned around and marched back to the spot where Miss Linton lay on the ground, panting and gazing blearily at my feet.

‘In case there was a miscommunication, Mr Linton,’ I told her, my voice cold enough to freeze the constant rain dripping from the leaves overhead, ‘we are not stopping for the night yet. Because, as you might have noticed, it isn’t night yet. Get up!’

‘Pfft…!’ she said. Normally, I would have appreciated such brevity. Right now, however, I would have preferred a ‘Yes, Sir! Immediately, Sir!’

‘Mr Linton!’

‘Ffff…fff…Pfft…!’

I cocked my head, regarding her coolly. ‘Am I to infer from your excessive panting that you do not have the wherewithal to continue?’

‘Pff…pff…’

Glaring balefully, she raised her head to look at me. ‘I’m not weak, darn you! This is inhuman! Nobody can manage this!’

I looked down at her, trembling on the ground - and suddenly, I was seized by the insane urge to kneel down and hold her in my arms. Had I gone mad? Bodily contact would provide additional heat, and would be completely counter-productive in these surroundings! What was the matter with me?

Shaking off the mad idea, I gave her another cold look.

‘Indeed? I seem to be managing. And so, believe me, do the numerous native tribes living in this jungle.’

‘There are people living in this hell? Of their own free will?’

She looked so horrified and lost…

No bodily contact. No. Bodily. Contact!

‘Indeed there are.’

‘How do they stand it?’

You’d be surprised what people can stand, when they’ve never known anything else.

I shrugged and turned away. Better not to see her. Better not to stand too close. ‘Unlike you, they are resilient. And I believe they wear somewhat less clothing than you or I. Now, are you going to get up, or will I have to drag you up?’

There was a moment of silence. Long, thoughtful silence. When finally she said, ‘All right. I’ll get up,’ I felt as if I’d missed a part of the conversation. What was going on in her mind?

Better not ask. It’s probably safer.

Still…

I found out soon enough, anyway.

It was twenty-eight minutes, seven seconds and three hundred seventy-five milliseconds later when I suddenly heard a gasp from behind me. Not her gasp, either. No, that was what truly put me on alert: it was Karim’s. There weren’t many things which could make that gnarled, hardened fighter afraid. Whatever he had seen had to be truly horrifying.

I turned around and-

Holy golden throne of Midas!

I felt my whole body stiffen. Before I could get my face under control, my eyes widened infinitesimally, and, even in this humidity, my mouth went dry.

Miss Linton stood there, sliding off her tailcoat as cool as a cucumber, a devious little smile on her lips that made my insides churn. The waistcoat she wore beneath suddenly seemed a lot more revealing than it had in London, and the linen shirt clung to her skin, wet from top to bottom.

‘What do you think you are doing, Mr Linton?’

‘Why, removing some unnecessary clothing, of course, Sir.’ Still smiling that insidious little smile, she slid the rest of the way out of her tailcoat and let it hang loosely from one hand, swinging back and forth, as if baiting a bull. ‘Thanks so much for giving me the idea, by the way.’

My left little finger twitched. ‘I? I did nothing of the sort!’

‘Of course you did. Don’t you remember?’ Stowing the tailcoat away in her backpack as if she were merely packing away a pesky piece of luggage, she took a deep breath of air and stretched herself. ‘You said the natives do it, didn’t you?’

‘True.’ With considerable effort, I raised my eyes away from where her shirt clung to her body in a way that… No! Think pounds. Think gold bars and high-return investments. Yet, whereas these thoughts had always helped to clear my mind of anything else before, they suddenly seemed to have lost their allure. Clenching my teeth, I forced myself to continue. ‘But there are two important differences between you and a native of South America, Mr Linton.’

‘Indeed, Sir?’

Oh, that tone of voice…

I took a step towards her. ‘Yes, indeed, Mr Linton! Firstly: you are English!’

‘You don’t say.’

Another step. Why was I moving towards her? I had to stop! Gold bars. Big, glinting gold bars decorated with diamonds. ‘And secondly: they don’t work for me.’

‘How disappointing for you. Haven’t you opened a branch down here yet?’

That infuriating little…!

A noise erupted from my throat, somewhere between a growl and the grinding of stone on stone. I stared at her for a moment, not knowing what in Croesus’s name to do with her - then I whirled around and gave a curt shrug. ‘Fine! If you wish to run around the jungle without your tailcoat, Mr Linton, be my guest. But be warned that such improper attire will not be tolerated in my office.’

‘Of course not, Sir,’ she purred from behind me, sounding like a wildcat on the prowl. I would have to keep an eye on her once were back in the London office. But right now, what I had to do was keep my eyes and my mind off her. I needed to think of other things. Gold. Diamonds. People who pay their debts on time. Big, chocolate brown eyes gazing at me from under teasing lashes-

No! No! Rubies and diamonds! Rubies and diamonds!

We continued on. For several hours, we marched in silence through the jungle, the only noises around us the chirping of the birds in the trees and the rustling in the underbrush as unknown animals slipped by us in the darkness. Maybe she had given up. Maybe she had seen the foolishness, the danger in acting as she did, and had decided it was better to stop while she still-

The rustling of cloth from behind me interrupted my thoughts. A moment later, Karim cleared his throat, sounding urgent.

‘Um…Sahib? Sahib!’

I froze. ‘What is it, Karim? Is there a problem? Did you see something suspicious?’

‘Err…in a manner of speaking, Sahib, yes. Sahib, she-’

She.

Of course. She.

Slowly, I turned around to face her - just in time to see a pair of trousers fall to the ground. Not too extraordinary an occurrence, you might think. During my time in the west of America, I had seen plenty of trackers and cowboys discard their trousers when they wanted to swim, fish, or were just too damn hot in the burning sun. But the sight that met my eyes now wasn’t a pair of typical cowboy legs, to put it mildly.

‘Aahh!’ The little minx stretched her legs. I felt my fingers twitch, itching to wrap around…what? Her throat? Other, more intriguing places? Concentrate! Gold. Diamond. Rubies. ‘Much more refreshing like this, don’t you think?’

‘I-cannot-agree,’ Karim managed to get out between clenched teeth. He was holding one hand clamped over his eyes, and the other outstretched towards Miss Lillian Linton, as if to ward off evil. Ridiculous! She was far too evil for that to work. ‘Put those back on now!’

‘Oh, I don’t know.’ Making a little pirouette, she glanced down at her new attire, a spark twinkling in her eyes. Warm eyes. Mesmerising eyes. Damnation! ‘I like it like this. Nice and breezy.’

‘You…you…ifrit! Temptress! Demon in human form!’

I couldn’t agree more.

She raised an enquiring eyebrow. ‘How would you know? You haven’t taken a good look at my form yet.’

I have. Trust me, he’s right.

Karim only muttered a string of Punjabi curses. Clearly not considering being insulted in a foreign language a matter for concern, Miss Linton turned her back on him and turned her sweet smile and lack of trousers on me.

‘And you, Sir? What do you think?’

What I think right now is not fit for a lady to hear, Miss Linton.

For she was a lady. There was no doubt about that now. No amount of my calling her ‘Mr Linton’ would burn from my mind the image which met my eyes when I looked at her. I didn’t even want it burned from my mind. I wanted it burned into me, seared deeply like a brand that would never disappear. My eyes slid down her form, taking in everything as if I were a bank vault and she a substantial cash deposit. Finally, I managed to tear my eyes away and meet her gaze, teeth gritted. Midas, Croesus and Mammon! It shouldn’t be legal for her to walk around like this.

Well, it probably isn’t. But why would she care?

‘What in the name of all that is properly attired do you think you are doing, Mr Linton?’

She gave me a smile as bright as diamonds. ‘Why, simply adjusting to the climate, Sir, as you suggested.’

‘I didn’t suggest for you to run around displaying your unmentionables to the world!’

‘The world?’ She raised an eyebrow, playing the innocent. ‘But it’s the middle of the jungle. There’s no one here except Karim-’ A groan came from the direction of my long-suffering bodyguard, which she completely ignored. ‘-me, and of course…. you, Sir.’ She gifted me with another sweet smile. I had never trusted gifts.

‘You can’t have anything against seeing my legs, now, can you? After all…’ She stepped closer. Damn her to hell, she stepped closer! So close that our bodies were almost touching. Leaning forward, she whispered: ‘It wouldn’t be the first time, would it?’

I swallowed hard.

‘Are you going to continue with this lunacy?’ It cost me all my power to speak. All my power to look at her, and not reach out towards her. ‘Or are you going to remember what behoves a decent young English lady and give up now?’

‘I don’t really think wearing these-’ she told me, holding up her trousers ‘-is what most people think behoves a decent young English lady, Sir - but I’m doing it anyway. Besides…’ She grinned at me impishly. ‘Have you ever known me to give up?’

I felt my left little finger twitch. Probably my hand was considering mutiny, itching to wrap around her throat and…

I cut off that thought before it turned from homicide to more dangerous ideas.

‘Karim!’ I barked.

‘Yes, Sahib?’

The bodyguard snapped to attention, his hand still firmly clamped over his eyes.

‘Take your paw away from your face, man, and get to the front! I’ll be guarding the back from now on.’

And she had better guard her tongue, or I’ll…I’ll…

‘Oh, Sahib! A thousand blessings upon you! Thank you! May your soul be saved and find its way to the Garden of Eternal-’

My soul isn’t what’s on my mind right now.

‘Yes, yes! Move!’

Thumping against a few trees in the process, Karim made his way around the ifrit tormenting the two of us. Only when he was well ahead and out of the danger did he lower his hand.

‘Well, now I know what to do if I ever want to get the better of you.’ Miss Linton told his back. ‘I’ll just have to drop my trousers, and that’ll be it.’

I stiffened. My fist clenched, overcome with the sudden urge to slam into Karim. What nonsense! The man was my bodyguard! I paid for him. Why would I wish to damage him?

It was her! Her, who was making me feel all these irrational…things. What were they called again?

Ah yes. Emotions.

Bah! To hell with them! To hell with her!

Only…we were already in hell. The green hell. And I, I realised as Miss Linton bent over to pick up her knapsack, taking care to waggle her posterior in my face while she was at it, had signed up for my very own personal torture.

Over her shoulder, she threw me a smile. ‘Shall we go? Or were you to planning on lazing around here all day?’

Whistling, she started northeastward, Karim fleeing before her.

As for me…

I did what I hadn’t done in my entire life.

I went after a woman. I went after her, and somewhere, deep down, had the suspicion that I would be running after her for quite some time.

Nonsense!

Shaking my head, I rid myself of those silly thoughts. Whyever would I run after her? I was the one in charge here. I was the one with all the power. What could she possibly do to rein me in?