Damn. He couldn’t help himself. A slight groan escaped his lips. This tough, green-eyed woman excited him.
Deep in meditation underwater, she hadn’t heard Darius’s approach. When he touched her so unexpectedly, her whole body reacted instinctively. She caught Darius around his midsection and flipped him into the tub. The movements sloshed a wave of water onto a group of towels strewn around the floor.
Her eyes focused on the room around her and understanding dawned. “I am so sorry, Darius.” She withdrew her hand from his throat.
He did not seem to be angry. The heat sparking in his hazel eyes reminded her that here was something else she had not felt in over three thousand sun cycles. Desire. It zinged through her body, firing off nerve endings that now craved to be touched. She craved skin. She leaned into Darius, seeking the feel of flesh again. She had felt only cold metal for so long.
Shaila lowered her body against him and rubbed slowly up and down. The water swirled in gentle waves around them.
Still, the man would not release his fierce grip on the edge of the tub. His pulse beat quickly at the base of his neck, and a moan escaped his lips. His eyes even dilated with excitement. She wondered why, if he was this stirred by her touch, he held himself so rigid. Maybe he just needed a bit more encouragement.
Slowly, she lowered her lips to his, feeling the softness of them. Finally she felt his muscles relax. His hands felt strong and commanding as he pulled her in for a crushing kiss. He tasted of life, warm and sweet. Rubbing a path down her back, his hands massaged every inch he could reach. The feel of skin on skin felt divine as he pressed her hard against him. Oh goddess!
His tongue explored her lips and entered her mouth. She teased it with little nibbles, and then sucked the pain away. Her hands explored downward between their bodies but rough, wet clothing impeded her exploration. Shaila growled her frustration.
Holy shit! Desire hummed in his ears so loudly, he’d almost passed out. Every muscle trembled, and that scared him. He couldn’t remember ever experiencing such an intense craving asthis. His rational mind finally broke through the fuzziness in his brain. Control. He needed to get control of himself before he did something stupid. Like, screw a hot warrior goddess?
What a lame excuse for a man. Two gorgeous women in one day, and he was about to put the brakes on the second one. He was so damned to hell.
“Shaila.” He gently slid her off of him to one side, aided by the buoyancy of the water. “We can’t do this.”
She looked stunned. “Oh, goddess! Is this not acceptable now too?”
Something buzzed, but this time it wasn’t in his head.
“No, Shaila. That’s not it. We just can’t…I can’t…” He didn’t know what to say. What would she understand?
“What is it with you humans now? You travel like herded cattle. You live in isolated dwellings. You wear clothes tighter than a womb. You cover up almost every delectable part of your bodies. You seem to prefer to be alone. You…” She panted with obvious frustration.
“I can’t do this right now…because I have to answer my phone.” His cell phone buzzed and vibrated on the marble counter. He held up his cell phone as proof. “Because we live in isolated dwellings, we have to talk to each other through these.” He had plenty of other reasons, but this one was easiest to go with.
Hauling his wet body out of the tub, he heard her laugh at the funny squishing sound his clothes made as a he tiptoed across the room over the soggy towels.
He’d missed the call, but the number was familiar. Mr. Majeed, his grandfather’s closest friend and secret society brother. Stepping into the hallway, Darius returned the call.
But he could hardly concentrate on the conversation. The door to the bathroom was still open, and the sounds of soft splashing and moaning drifted out. He could clearly see her profile as she soaped up parts of her body that he had held in his hands moments ago.
“Thanks. We’ll see you tomorrow.” He snapped the phone shut before his voice began to betray his agitation.
I’m a friggin idiot! He was so tempted to drop the cell phone into the puddle at his feet, but sheer force of will rooted him to the spot. The sounds of her climax nearly broke him. The idea of living three thousand years ago sounded really good right now. Instead, he tucked his mental tail between his legs and squished down the hallway to change his clothes.
*
Finally, everything was clean and dry again. An extra large load of towels was tumbling and thumping along in the dryer downstairs. The hallway rug would take a lot longer to dry, but that couldn’t be helped.
Passing by the bathroom, Darius knew he’d never be able to look at that tub in the same way again. Even now, he could feel his pulse quicken just thinking about her in it. He sucked in a deep cleansing breath.
Papa Shadi’s cat leapt in from the window and landed on the soaked rug, apparently just arriving home from prowling the mean streets. She meowed her displeasure, flicking water from her paws with each step. Amused, he picked her up, letting her wipe her paws on his clean shirt.
“Sorry, girl.” He scratched the sweet spot behind her neck, but frowned at the new, unusually fat, studded collar.
Papa Shadi had been wrong about one thing. Darius did believe in something. He believed that events occurred in a natural order. Logical progression. All of these things must be connected, and as illogical as it sounded to him…they were all tied into that damn prophecy. He did not believe in coincidence.
To save his grandfather, he had to find out everything Papa Shadi knew: the statue, the sword, the amulet, Lilith’s private collection…all of it. How had his grandfather known about the woman inside the statue? Did he know why Lilith wanted the amulet? Instinct whispered that Lilith needed the amulet for reasons beyond just adding it to her personal collection. Somehow, the amulet was connected to the prophecy too.
He needed his grandfather to help him search for it. With Papa Shadi held hostage and in a coma, how was Darius to find out what the old man knew? That friggin’ brought him around to square one again.
However, he did have Shaila. He had an ancient Egyptian goddess who might know something about the prophecy. She was from the same period of time that Lilith referenced. Hell, she could be related: if not by blood, then by species. She might be in league with Lilith. What loyalty was there among their kind?
She was warrior tough. Big turn on. She was also uninhibited, and that was the part that scared him. To him that meant unpredictable. You couldn’t control someone with an unreliable personality. Hadn’t his mother proved that?
It was a huge gamble. He would need to rely on Shaila, but he wasn’t sure he could trust her. Hell, he was not going to wait until tomorrow to start asking questions.
He found the object of his frustrations pacing in the kitchen…half naked again.
*
The bath was just what she needed physically, but mentally Shaila was more anxious than ever.
Where was her priest? Where was her mother? Why were they not there to awaken her? Why had she been in Lilith’s possession? What else did Lilith have? Where was the sarcophagus with the babe she was supposed to protect? There were plenty of questions, and no answers.
She was a divine failure. Again.
She should have thought to question her priest more about this future world. The world had grown colder, and the dwellings she’d passed today had held a lifeless aura around them. Humans had prospered, but they smelled of fear and loneliness. They moved about like a farmer’s herd. They covered their skins and closed their eyes, seemingly blind to the darkness growing around them.
Most troubling was the realization that her astral spirit had not returned to her as it should have when she awakened. Without it, she was disconnected from the deepest of her immortal powers. She still possessed many abilities, but not the strength she would need to protect the babe.
Added to that was the weakness from thousands of sun cycles of slumber. Physically, she had
little more strength than a human.
One aggravating human came vividly to mind. She shoved aside the memory of his kiss, and replaced it with those of the first moments when she met him. He wore the Eye of Ra. Did that mean she could trust him? She thought not. With supreme pride he had said he stole her from Lilith. Did that mean he was responsible for her awakening? Could he have deliberately disrupted the return of her astral spirit?
The object of her thoughts sauntered into the room, carrying a black cat. Arching under the man’s gentle stroking, the feline nuzzled deeper. Her purrs vibrated loudly, grating on Shaila’s nerves.
“Who performed the awakening spell? You?” She could tell by the way he tensed that she had caught him off guard. He deserved it.
“What spell?” He placed the cat on the floor, and stood facing her. His aura colored with defensive energy.
“How did you resurrect my body?”
At the mention of her body, his eyes briefly flicked down to her bare breast. Her nipples hardened. She felt the hot thrill of control. Returning his gaze to hers, he slowly pulled the medallion from under his shirt.
“With this.”
“Just that? No spell?” He was still too arrogant for her liking. “Where is my priest? He will know how to correct your mistakes.”
“Mistakes?” He closed the distance between them in two very determined strides.
“Yes. You did it wrong. You should have left such things to those who are—”
“Listen, your highness, I have a few questions of my own.”
“I do not answer to you.”
“You will answer me because my grandfather’s life depends on it. He believed in an ancient prophecy. He spent his whole life searching for you. You are a part of it. So, let’s just start with any easy one…why were you in that statue?”
He was so close that his scent filled her, calmed her. She thought about denying him an answer. He was not a part of this. Yet, he was the one to find her. Regardless of how it turned out, he had been the one to free her to fulfill her destiny.
“I was waiting. Waiting for the time of the prophecy to begin.”
“What part do you play in it?” Turning away, he chased the cat off of the counter and back down to the floor.
“My priest foresaw everything. Thousands of sun cycles in the future, the dark army would rebuild. It would be a time when humans would be unprepared and incapable of defending themselves.”
“So, you’re here to defend us. Not a bad plan to send the warrior goddess.”
“There was a flaw. He also foresaw my death. Although he could not see when, it was clear that it would occur before the time of the prophecy.”
“He saw all of that?”
Shaila nodded.
“Well, he missed another important detail.”
“Which one?”
“He didn’t see me coming, did he? Or you wouldn’t be standing in front of me.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that if he saw me in the picture, he would have made better plans for your resurrection.”
“There is another possibility. Maybe he did not see his own demise.” Did that mean her destiny had been altered? And what of the babe’s destiny? She had to find out what happened to her tomb. “I would like to know how I came to be in Lilith’s possession. There were other items in my tomb. Items that are equally important to fulfilling the prophecy.”
“Would one of those items happen to be a black diamond amulet?”
His eyes studied hers too intently. She realized he wasn’t just waiting for her answer. He was judging her reaction to the question. A lie could be convenient, or it could produce more questions that she had no intention of answering. Shaila’s answer would have to be an honest one.
“Yes. It was sealed in the tomb with me.”
*
Stay!
Shaila still reeled from his arrogance. He had actually ordered her to stay put like some trained animal, while he went off to some place called a lab. Then, he had commanded her to put those awful clothes back on.
He might carry himself like a pharaoh, but her palms ached to slap his face. A human with that kind of audacity could taunt the gods of the Underworld, heedless of the consequences. Goddess, how will I control such a man?
His kiss came to mind again, and this time she allowed the memory to linger. While Shaila was not the magnet of male attention that her mother was, she understood the power given to women. She just wondered if she knew how to wield it.
Startled by a thunderous roar, she ran to the window, and watched in fascination as Darius rode off on a strange looking machine, like a chariot with no horses. The world she’d left behind had no such self-moving devices. At least, not any that were accessible to the humans.
She also noticed a larger machine pull out after him, following a short distance behind.
Keep walking around naked like that and you’ll have more men under your control than you can count.
She heard the words in her head, but they were not her own. Time had not faded her recognition of the voice. She spun around until she spied the cat sitting proudly on the counter again.
“Bessie?”
With only a whisper of sound, black fur smoothed into cream-colored skin. The cat’s form arched and stretched to form a full-grown woman with black spiky hair, a variety of colorful body paints, and jewelry piercings in interesting places. Leathery fabric spooled from thin air and wrapped itself around her body. The final touch appeared from her mouth with a tiny pop…some sweet treat on a stick.
The woman launched from the counter. Shaila nearly fell over, but she welcomed the warm feeling of being totally enwrapped with arms and legs. Bessie was very dear to her. It hurt to realize that she had caused her sister pain by disappearing so suddenly and without saying goodbye. Shaila hugged her tight.
“Sister, I’ve missed you.” Bessie wiped fat tears from her cheeks and popped the sweet back into her mouth.
“I have missed you too. I am so glad to see you.” Shaila stumbled over to a chair, suddenly fatigued. “My body is slow in remembering how to move.”
“Can’t you heal yourself?”
Shaila shook her head. “I cannot seem to connect with my astral spirit.”
Bessie poured water into a small metal machine. “You have to try this stuff. It’s called coffee. It might help perk you up. But it’s really addicting.”
“Bessie, where is our mother?”
The water burbled through the machine on the counter, the aroma filling the small kitchen. Bessie inhaled deeply. “I don’t really know. It’s been a couple thousand years since I last saw Inanna. She and Uncle Seth were dealing with a problem.”
“What problem?”
“Lilith. Need I say more?” The machine sputtered as the stream of liquid came to an end.
“Tell me. What happened?”
“Lilith was up to her usual tricks, trying to rule the world and all that. The humans loved her though. Queen Cleopatra. She’d finally become queen of something, but she screwed it all up again. Nearly exposed us all.”
“How?”
“By falling in love with a Roman named Marc Antony.” Bessie’s stomach growled. “She’d told her lover all about us. But of course, she told her side of it, making us sound like slave owners. In the end, good old Uncle Seth had to silence the womanizing idiot forever.”
“What about Lilith?”
“Uncle Seth took care of her too. He sealed her in a rock and sank it deep into a seabed. She shouldn’t have ever been found.” Bessie poured herself a second cup, smiling as she inhaled the aroma. “God, I love this stuff.”
“Do you know how she escaped?”
Bessie shook her head. “I guess we’ll need to find out. So we don’t make the same mistake twice.”
Shaila poured herself a cup, eager to sample what her sister was enjoying. It smelled divine. Taking a small sip, she nearly gagged on the taste. She fanned the bitter burning sen
sation on her tongue.
“Bessie, how did I come to be in Lilith’s possession? Where are the other items from the tomb? The child?”
“I’ve been trying to find out, but it’s really hard avoiding that jerk son of hers.”
“Therion?”
“The one and only. He’s definitely the spawn of Apophis.” She shivered and brushed her arms as if to remove something disgusting.
“Yes, but he is more like a human for now.”
“Maybe not for long. Lilith has a plan to find the amulet.” Bessie paused. “Today, she hired Darius to find it for her.”
“Darius works for her?” Shaila’s voice dropped just a fraction.
“No. He hates her guts.” Bessie finished her coffee and dropped the cup into a washing area. “No, Darius is being forced to help Lilith. His grandfather in exchange for the amulet.”
“How do you know all of this?”
“I’m a house cat.” Bessie shrugged her shoulders. “I get around. I hear things.”
“Can you help me get around too? I do not think I have the energy to transform, and I suspect I would not blend in around here in beast form.”
Bessie giggled. “Yeah, well you wouldn’t blend in the way you’re dressed right now either. Darius was right. You need a new wardrobe.”
“The styles in my memory are too old, and the styles I saw today were forgettable.”
A devious gleam sparkled in Bessie’s gold eyes. She reached up and opened a cubby door above the machine that made coffee. She withdrew a metal ring with something that looked like a key.
“I have a great idea. We’re going to my apartment. With your exotic looks, I don’t think you can pull off the steam punk look like I can. But even when you can flash on anything at will…like we can…you still need to dress with style. And I have a closet full of style.”
Shaila barely restrained a grin. Darius had commanded her to stay. What was that phrase he’d used?
Hell, no.
Immortal Dynasty Page 8
