She took Katya’s hand again. ‘Ice cream time.’
As they meandered back towards the hotel, Nadia picked out the plain-clothes keeping an eye on them: two male, one female. Fine. She and Katya made one last ice cream stop, then they went to the bank, and an hour later she emerged richer and happier.
***
The call came through at ten p.m. on the mobile the colonel had given Nadia. It wasn’t Jake. It was his boss – and ex-lover – Lorne.
‘Where’s Jake?’
‘Unavailable.’
Nadia hesitated. ‘We think the guy who likes roses is back in the game.’
‘We?’
‘Me, Katya, and mother.’ As in Mother Russia.
There was a pause. The line sounded dead. Nadia waited. Thirty seconds. A minute.
Lorne came back. ‘Jake’s deepest dive,’ she said. ‘Your birthday.’
The line really went dead this time. Nadia clicked off her phone. It rang again. The colonel.
‘I need a flight to Kuala Lumpur,’ Nadia said. ‘Onward connection to Kota Kinabalu.’
‘What’s your final destination?’
‘I’ll tell you when I get back.’
‘Not good enough. They know where you’re going; we don’t.’
‘I’ll tell Sergei.’
The line clicked off. She called Katya, who answered the phone a little out of breath. Nadia told her sister she’d be away a few days, a week at the most, and that she’d come back to the hotel afterwards. Said she’d do some diving. Katya didn’t ask where.
After an hour, during which she watched some TV and remembered why she hadn’t missed it, her mind kept drifting to Sergei, his hands on her. She tried to dismiss it, but it had been two years. She started getting ready for bed.
There was a knock on the door. Two raps. She stole up to the eyehole and peered through, then opened it but stood with one hand on the door, the other one on the frame.
Sergei looked earnest. ‘Nadia, we need to talk.’
Her heart sped up. She tried to relax, then opened the door, and let him in. ‘It’s late,’ she said. An old song came into her mind – will you stay now? Two long, non-fucking years…
‘I’ll make it quick,’ he said.
No need. Really. Take your time. She caught herself. Stop it. Bad idea.
Sergei indicated the bathroom. She followed him in, unsure what was coming next. He turned the shower on full, as well as the taps for the sink. It made quite a racket. He leaned close to her ear, his breath hot on her neck. Her heart rate climbed. The steam from the hot water made her cheeks flush.
‘Tell me where you are going to meet MI6,’ he whispered. His head stayed close. His breathing was deep, measured. Hers wasn’t. She put her hands on his sides to stabilise herself. Pure muscle. Zero fat.
She gathered herself. ‘Anspida. A remote island off the coast of Borneo. A diver’s heaven, apparently.’
‘And this woman, Lorne, she will be there?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘I could send one of my men. Get you a weapon out there.’
It seemed a bit extreme. ‘I’m not worried about MI6 –’
‘Not MI6. Salamander.’
She closed the door. The mirror had already misted over.
He didn’t blink. ‘It’s been a little strange since we both reported to our superiors.’
‘The colonel seems to think –’
‘Don’t be fooled by him, Nadia. He’s a lot smarter than he makes out. He’s gone far for his age; that doesn’t happen by accident. But it’s as if we’ve tripped over something. Things are in motion. We both now believe the Salamander theory may have some truth to it.’
‘I’ll find out what I can from the Brits.’
His black eyes bore into hers. His mouth was close, his lips moist. Her body was reacting. But it was a bad idea, even though it had been two years. She’d be okay, just, as long as he didn’t touch her…
‘Come back in one piece,’ he said.
He brushed her cheek with the back of a finger.
Dammit!
‘You were exceptional in the sub. I’m not easily impressed. Nor are my men.’ He drew back. ‘Get some sleep; you’ll need it.’ He reached towards the shower control. But her hand clasped his arm, pulled it back. He gave her a questioning look, and she made up her mind.
‘I can sleep on the plane,’ she said.
His smile returned. ‘Sure?’
She nodded, her breath loud in her ears, her heart pounding. She put her hands on his chest. Solid as a rock, while her fingers trembled. She touched his nipples, rubbed them gently between fingers and thumbs.
‘Just don’t disappoint me,’ she said.
His fingers traced the ‘V’ of her robe, glanced across her breasts, then he returned her favour, and teased her nipples. She gasped. He peeled the robe from her shoulders as she undid the belt, and the ensemble fell to the floor. She was naked, except for the soft silk around her toes.
Time to go with the flow. She gave him a crooked smile. ‘Not fair. You’re still clothed.’
Sergei’s lips collided with hers as she unbuckled his belt, and she felt the hardness there. He pushed his groin against hers. She pushed back. He mauled her mouth, her throat, her breasts. She started to unbutton his shirt, gave up, ripped it open instead. She grabbed the back of his neck with her left hand, pressed his mouth harder against her breasts. She glided her right hand down his torso, and felt tight bands of muscle.
She reached for his sex, but he knelt down. His tongue slid down her belly, lingered a second on her navel before continuing downward until she gasped, his hands squeezing and caressing her buttocks and the backs of her thighs. Just when she was losing control, she grabbed the back of his head by his hair, and pulled him back up.
‘Not like that,’ she whispered.
He stood up, lifted her off the floor, and then he was inside her, rocking her body against warm, slippery wall tiles. Her body caught fire, and her pelvis took over, remembering what to do, matching his thrusts. She kissed him hard, felt him grow bigger, his arms begin to shake. She pulled back from his mouth, gasped for air, sunk her fingernails into his back.
He sped up, and slammed her repeatedly against the wall. She let out one long cry as a shuddering orgasm engulfed her, and those two, long, desperately lonely years of solitary where she’d hit rock bottom, even thought about killing herself, could finally go to hell where they fucking belonged.
***
The next morning she had a late breakfast. Alone. Katya was out somewhere. But just as she was getting ready to leave, Katya appeared with Bransk. He stayed in the background. Katya passed her a slim box.
‘Happy birthday, Nadia. You’ll be away, but we can celebrate properly when you get back. I saw and bought it this morning, straight from the dive shop.’
Nadia tore off the cellophane and opened the white box. A Suunto dive watch, the latest D6i in black, with a graphite-tinted steel wristband.
‘Handsome,’ she said. ‘Very.’ She slipped it on. It was chunky, not the sort of thing most women would wear.
‘Suits