“That’s all right.”
Before she could stop him, the man swept her up into his strong arms. He was powerfully built, muscles rippling on his arms and shoulders. If she had to be rescued, she didn’t mind a gorgeous man like him doing the rescuing.
He stepped off the slab of stone, sinking a little into the sand, but easily carrying her down the side of the dune. She saw in the distance that the sand petered out, and rock took over. She could make out the outline of two vehicles against the rocks, and people around them.
She looked up at her rescuer again. His face was unshaven, and sand dusted his hair. His eyes haunted her: beautiful, dark eyes that held a world of pain.
“Have I met you before?” she asked. “You look familiar, but . . .” She shook her head. “No, I don’t think I have.”
“My name is Nikolaus. Everyone calls me Nico.”
“Thank you, Nico. I can’t tell you how happy I am to see you.”
He flinched, jaw tightening, but he remained firmly upright. She daringly laid her head on his shoulder, loosely clasping his arm with one hand.
Nico didn’t set her down all the way to the jeeps. As soon as her feet touched the ground, Rebecca flung herself at Patricia and hugged her tight, crying.
“I thought you were dead,” Rebecca sobbed. “Are you all right?”
“I seem to be.” Patricia took stock. The things in the ruin might have been illusion, but she felt hydrated, fed, clean, and rested. “It was the weirdest experience.”
Patricia let Rebecca help her to sit in one of the jeeps. Patricia wasn’t in a hurry to be inside anywhere for a while, but the canvas top of the jeep kept the sun from burning her.
“You must have been terrified,” Rebecca was babbling. “I’m so sorry I didn’t get here sooner, but Bes magicked me back to New York, and I had to fly all the way to Cairo again.”
“It’s all right,” Patricia said, taking a long swig of water. It didn’t taste nearly as clear and pure as the water in the tiled basin had, but Patricia found she preferred the ordinary plastic bottle. “I knew you’d find me.”
“Nico did,” Rebecca said, smiling happily.
“Yes.” Patricia turned to the man, who was being greeted by Andreas and Demitri as though they knew him well. “And I’m grateful.”
Rebecca looked puzzled. “Grateful? What do you mean, grateful?”
“Shouldn’t I be?” She gazed at Nico, who avoided her eyes. “It couldn’t have been easy to pull me out,” she said to him. “I don’t have a lot of money, but I’ll find some way to repay you.”
“Patricia,” Rebecca began.
“She doesn’t remember me,” Nico said.
The others stopped and stared at him, looking stricken, and Patricia couldn’t imagine why. If she’d met him in passing somewhere, they couldn’t really expect her to remember that this instant, not after the trauma of her imprisonment.
“That was the price,” Nico said to them. “I’m free, and she doesn’t remember.” He touched his bare, brown throat.
Rebecca looked from Patricia to Nico, her mouth open. Andreas and Demitri seemed shocked but somehow not surprised.
The two Egyptian men by the other jeep exchanged glances, and the younger said something in Arabic.
“He says it’s a tragedy,” Rebecca related. “They were hoping the story had a happy ending, but now they know it’s a tragedy. They think it’s romantic.”
Patricia was relieved enough to laugh. “I think me getting out of there is enough of a happy ending for me.”
“She needs to get out of the sun,” Demitri said. “I’ll have a doctor make sure she’s all right, and once she rests, everything will clear up.”
Rebecca looked worried again and urged Patricia to drink more water. The others piled in the jeeps.
Patricia found herself squished between Rebecca and Nico, who remained silent.
“I’m sorry I don’t remember you,” she said to him as the jeep bounced over the rocks to a more level track. “Where did I meet you, again?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Nico said in a bleak voice and looked away.
24
WHILE Patricia slept in the little hotel, Nico’s friends tried to comfort him.
“It sucks,” Andreas said. “And it isn’t fair. You’re free now. You should have what you want.”
“I made the bargain,” Nico replied. His chest ached as though someone had stepped on him. “Her life and her freedom in exchange for my heartbreak. But to me, it’s more important that Patricia is alive and well than that she still wants me.” He stopped, the words choking him. “I’ll make sure she gets back to New York, then I’ll leave her alone.”
“But you passed the test,” Andreas protested.
“No,” Nico said. “That was the test. Would I sacrifice my own happiness for her life? It was an easy answer. Yes.”
Andreas started to argue, but Demitri rested his hand on Andreas’s shoulder. “Leave him be. Think about it. What if it had been Rebecca?”
Andreas’s mouth turned down. “I know. I’d have done the same. I still think it sucks.”
Nico left them and went for a walk, not able to take much more of his friends’ sympathy. They were good to feel for him, but what he needed most was to be alone.
Nico’s new friends Ahmed and Faisal had returned home, blessed with luck. They’d have a grand time telling the story of how they fought snake monsters side by side in the desert with three demigod warriors. They would likely tell the story over and over as the years went on, until they were famous for it. As to who would believe it, it was hard to say.
The hotel was situated near cultivated fields, the smell of green assailing him as Nico strolled along. Palm trees soared overhead, dates hanging in huge, golden brown bunches.
This was a beautiful place, a haven in the harsh desert, but Nico couldn’t enjoy it. He could only see the blank politeness in Patricia’s aquamarine eyes when she asked, “Have I met you before?”
Hera knew how to twist the knife. Nico’s gut hurt, and the hurt only increased when he realized that what he’d felt for Patricia under the slave chain had been real. He’d loved her, and now that he was free of the curse, he loved her still.
He’d heard her tell Rebecca of the strange room that had given her more and more comforts, taking them all back as soon as Nico found her. He wondered if Bes had worked some magic to give her that. Hera likely wouldn’t have. Patricia had been smiling, her eyes tired but unafraid. Her ordeal had not broken her.
Nico knew that no matter how much it hurt, he wouldn’t take back his sacrifice. Patricia was safe, and that mattered. He would go away, and she could get back to her real life.
An Egyptian man in a business suit walked toward him, and Nico stopped to wait for him.
“Hello, my friend,” Bes, in the guise of Mr. Ajeed, said. “All is well?”
Nico folded his arms over his borrowed caftan and fell into step with him as they walked along. “Patricia is well. Thank you for helping. Was it you who gave her the fruit and water and so forth in the cell?”
Bes beamed. “Yes, that was me. Every time you thought about how much you loved her—thought it from your heart and your gut—she received another benefit. Your love for her kept her fed and warm and rested while she waited.”
Nico’s eyes narrowed. “What was with the naked dancing man?”
“I thought she’d like it,” Bes said innocently.
“I just wish she’d stop talking about it,” he growled.
Bes gave him a sympathetic look. “I heard of your sacrifice. It was nobly done.”
“I’ll feel noble later. Right now I feel like someone hit me with a truck.” He tilted his head back to stop the tears from leaking from his eyes. “I love her.”
“Yes.” Bes walked in silence a moment. “You passed the test; you are free. You will find your reward.”
“I don’t give a damn about rewards. I’ll make sure Patricia gets home, then I’l
l go to Olympus. I need some peace about now.”
“You could always guard the tomb in Amarna with me. That is peaceful.”
“The tomb was destroyed.”
“Yes, but the lord must still be guarded. Archaeologists will come soon and take him to a museum, and then I can go.”
Nico gave him a look of new respect. “I wish all the gods were as loyal and steadfast as you.”
“The Egyptian people were good to me, before the gods were forgotten. I guarded homes against snakes and other animals and made sure even the humblest of the people were safe. They paid me back in reverence.”
“You helped Andreas and me, too. Why? We’re not even of your people.”
Bes shrugged. “I had several thousand years to study the wall painting. I knew you’d come eventually. It was very exciting, actually—the most excitement I’d had in millennia.”
Nico smiled, his lips stiff. “I won’t forget you, Bes. Anytime you want to come to Olympus, I’ll make sure they let you in.”
“A fine offer,” Bes said. “I might pay you a visit. You do deserve a reward for your kindness, and you will have it.”
Nico wished he’d drop the admiration. “I don’t need anything. Just a little peace and quiet.”
“Oh, yes, you do. You will get your reward. I’ll make sure of it. Wait and see.”
Bes smiled mysteriously, then he stopped, shook hands with Nico, and strode off the other way.
Back in Andreas’s room, Nico found Demitri on his cell phone talking to people at his hotel and Rebecca sitting on Andreas’s lap, kissing him.
Rebecca slid to her feet when she saw Nico, blushing. Andreas lounged back, a satisfied look in his blue eyes. A stray cat from the village sat on the windowsill behind him, purring.
“As soon as I’m back at Cornell, I’m putting in for a grant to dig out here,” Rebecca told Nico. “I don’t know what those ruins are, but the stone is older than Greco-Roman. Want to join us?”
“If you can find it again,” Nico said absently.
“What? Why not? I can hire your friends to drive me out there. They seemed nice.”
“It might not be a real place—maybe something Hera put together. Besides, what about your tomb in Amarna?”
“My ruined tomb,” she said in a sad voice. “When we start excavating that, they’ll be able to tell it was destroyed just last week.”
“They’ll think it was an earthquake,” Andreas suggested, stretching his arms along the back of the sofa. “Or vandals. Which is true; it kind of was both.”
“I’ll find the ruins,” Rebecca said stubbornly. “I need to make my name.”
Andreas looked at her with a fond expression. “If you want it that much, I’ll help you, Becky.”
Rebecca looked surprised. “You’d stay with me?”
Andreas pulled her down to the sofa “You and I are going to be together for a long, long time. I have so much more to teach you, Becky.”
Rebecca flushed with happiness. “I think I’m in love with you.”
“I know I’m in love with you,” Andreas returned. “How about that, Nico? Me, in love, and not because of the damn curse. For keeps.”
“Congratulations,” Nico said, happy for his friends even through the hole in his heart.
Demitri was still talking loudly to someone on the phone, not paying attention to the others. Nico left them, drawn to the door of Patricia’s room.
He knew she was asleep. Rebecca had given her a sleeping pill to calm her down and had shooed everyone away from her, but Nico couldn’t resist looking in on her.
The latch of her door clicked under Nico’s touch, and he pushed it open. The shades were drawn to shut out the glaring sun, the room dim and quiet. A portable fan quietly hummed in the corner.
Patricia lay in the middle of the small bed, a sheet over her, her head pillowed on her arm.
Nico closed the door and softly approached the bed. Patricia lay with her eyes closed, her curls spilling over her shoulders.
He lifted a curl from her cheek, smoothing it back with a gentle touch. Knowing that the sleeping pill would have her slumbering soundly, he leaned over her and pressed a kiss to her cheek.
She stirred a little, her lips curving to a faint smile. Nico’s heart leapt, then slowed again when her mouth smoothed back into sleep.
Time to go. Nico moved noiselessly to the door and turned the knob.
“Nico?”
Patricia’s sleepy voice arrested him. He faced the door, unwilling to see the look of blank inquiry in her eyes.
“Sorry,” he said. “I was just making sure you were all right. Go back to sleep.”
He started to open the door.
“Nico.”
The throb of love and longing was unmistakable. Nico let the door close and made himself look back at her.
Patricia was sitting up in bed, tears spilling down her cheeks. “Nico, I couldn’t remember who you were.”
She bit back a sob, and Nico’s heart shattered. He was across the room, scooping her against him in an instant, burying his face in the curve of her neck.
“Why couldn’t I remember?” she whispered. “I love you, Nico. It was all I could think of while I waited for you to rescue me. Why couldn’t I remember you?”
Nico couldn’t speak. He held her so hard, his hands shaking, tears spilling from his eyes.
She pulled away from him slightly but only to kiss him. Nico kissed her back desperately, hungry for her. She laughed, he was so frantic, her laughter spilling into his mouth.
“I love you,” she repeated.
“I love you, too, Patricia.” He held her against him, his lips in her hair, on her face, hands fervently undoing the buttons on her nightshirt. “I love you so much.”
“Then why didn’t I know you?”
Nico didn’t want to talk, but she looked so perplexed, he explained what had happened. “It was the final test,” he finished. “A test of my love. The hardest thing I’ve done in my long life: let you go.”
“I felt so alone.” She ran her hands across his shoulders.
“I think Bes gave you back your memory,” Nico said. “He told me I’d find a reward, and this is what he meant. I don’t know how he thwarted Hera.”
“Maybe he didn’t.” Patricia pulled him down to her. “I was lying here, feeling so empty, and I didn’t know why. It was like I’d lost someone I loved, someone I’d forgotten, but I didn’t want to forget. I tried lifting my psychic shields to search, and I found a barrier there, one I hadn’t erected. I pushed and pushed, and I started dreaming of you—a man with wings taking me to a strange place where we had incredible sex.” She smiled. “And then when I woke up and saw you, I knew.”
Nico’s heart beat faster. “Remember the story Rebecca translated on the tomb wall? She said that pursuing lust for its own sake would return to punish the lustful, while true love is rewarded with happiness. I think this is what Bes knew, that our love would drive though anything Hera could throw at us. That love would win in the end.” He held her close. “And I do love you.”
“I love you, too,” she whispered, tears in her eyes. “I’m crazy with it, Nico.”
“I’ll never leave you alone. Never again.”
“Just be with me now.”
Nico burrowed into the nightshirt, kissing her breasts, suckling each nipple into his mouth, unable to get enough of her. He ripped the shirt the rest of the way open and stripped it from her, his hands parting her legs even as she laughed.
His need pounded so hard it hurt. He felt her fingers at his waistband, trying to tug open his pants. He unzipped them and kicked them off, nearly tearing his shirt and underwear off in his hurry.
He kissed her as his cock found her opening, wet and slick for him. It took nothing at all to slide into her, his whole body rejoicing as he found his way home.
She lifted her hips, her face relaxing into the joy of him inside her. Her quim squeezed him tight as her hands closed on his ass.
“It’s good,” he groaned against her lips. “It’s good to fuck you, love.”
“One thing’s missing,” she murmured, her hips rocking to drive him even deeper into her. “Your wings.”
Nico grinned. He let them slide out from his shoulder blades, feeling satisfaction as he stretched them to the ceiling and gently flapped them down.
He enclosed them in a black, feathery cocoon, the sensitive tips brushing against her warm skin. Patricia smiled and bit into his feathers, causing him to wince and laugh at the same time.
“Vixen,” he growled. “Like it rough, do you?”
“I think I do.”
“Well, then, sweetheart, get ready.”
She looked innocent. “For what?”
“For me. I’m going to fuck you so hard you will beg for mercy.”
“Will I? I don’t think so.”
“Don’t tempt me, Patricia. I’ll make you pay for being so cute.”
“Oh, really? How?”
He showed her. She screamed and laughed as he made love to her, then spanked her ass until it turned cherry red. Then he fucked her all over again. She writhed and laughed and loved every minute of it.
“I love you, Nico,” she said as she sank back into sleep. “Don’t go yet.”
“Never.”
“But you’re free of the curse now.” Her eyes slid closed, even as she held him close. “You can go anywhere you want, be anyone you want.”
“I’m right where I want to be,” he said. “And who I want to be. Nico, with Patricia, the woman I love.”
She touched his face. “Do you mean that?”
“I plan to spend a long, long time showing you.”
“You’re immortal, more or less,” she said. Her eyes were sad. “And I’m not.”
“I know. But Hera owes me something for this torture she’s put me through. If she wants me to be true to one woman and love her and her alone, she can help me. She can let you come to Olympus with me, and become an immortal.”
Patricia’s eyes rounded. “An immortal . . .”
“It’s nothing I’ll force you into. You make the choice. Likewise, I can ask to be made mortal myself, so I can stay with you. It doesn’t matter to me either way—as long as it’s you and me together.”
Mortal Temptations Page 25
