by james
“You already know what this is about, Miss Maxwell.” He scribbled on a piece of paper and slid it across the desk. “Here’s your last check. Given the circumstances, I don’t believe you’ll want to give a two-week notice.”
“Are you allowing me to resign?”
He nodded. “You’re a good employee. Your work is exemplary even if your judgment is not. I’m sorry to lose you, but if you have sex in the elevator and I
allow you to stay…”
“Then you’d have to let everyone else have sex in the elevator.”
His frown indicated he didn’t appreciate her sense of humor. “What you did was illegal, Miss Maxwell and if I so desired, I could fire you and press charges. As it is, I don’t wish to besmirch your reputation or the company’s.”
Oh. Now she got it. Getting caught having sex in the elevator was about making Marketing For Morons look bad. As if their name wasn’t enough of an indictment. But to suggest they were immoral and worse, unworthy of their corporate accounts… “Men like Todd Groman can screw every woman in the office, but a little boink in the elevator puts me in the unemployment line.”
“He screws them on his own time and not on company property.”
Kira rose and took her check. “Maybe you should check security tapes again. The copy room, the conference room, the receptionist’s desk, his cubicle—”
“Thank you, Miss Maxwell. Please clear your desk immediately.”
So Jerry knew about Todd’s sexual escapades and did nothing. She wanted to feel furious, violated, and self-righteous, but all she could work up was a good laugh. God, she hadn’t wanted to admit it before, but she hated this job, this building, and these people. She wiped the tears from her eyes, leaned a hip on the desk, and stabbed at a button on Jerry’s desk. The building’s intercom system hummed to life.
“This is Kira Maxwell, formerly a lowly assistant working for that esteemed and well-named company Marketing For Morons. I am resigning today because I got caught fucking a gorgeous Egyptian prince in the elevator. I just wanted everyone to know it was worth it. And while I’m sharing my personal business with you, Todd Groman was the lousiest fuck I’ve ever had.” She flicked off the button. Then flicked it on again. “And Nanette’s boobs are as fake as her hair.”
She looked at her boss, expecting him to be furious. He was shaking, all right, with laughter. “Go write your resignation, Miss Maxwell,” he managed to gasp, “and consider yourself avenged.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Smenkare watched in awe as they cruised the Strip. He knew about Las Vegas, but he had never visited it before. Most of the time, he never left the bedrooms of his mistresses, unless they wanted to show him off. Sometimes he got to attend cocktail parties or luncheons. Most were boring affairs with watered-down drinks, bad food, and dull conversations.
They had passed a circus tent, a harbor with two ships, a palace fit for Caesar and the most amazing glittery, showy buildings he’d ever seen. They lacked the soul of Thebes, even of Amarna, but they were impressive all the same. It was slow going, but Kira didn’t seem to mind the pace. She glanced at him. “Tourists. On the sidewalks and sky bridges, in cabs and rental cars, jaywalking like idiots. I don’t usually go this way, but I thought you might like it.”
“I do.” He looked at the pedestrians crowding the sidewalks. “I am sorry you lost your job.”
“Thanks.” Kira smiled. “You know what? I don’t really care.”
“Didn’t you like your job, Kira?”
“I like marketing, but I didn’t like working for that stupid-ass company. Any time you’re part of an office environment, there are politics and backstabbing and all kinds of crap unrelated to the work. That’s the part that sucks.”
Smenkare gazed out the window and thought about the royal intrigues he’d deflected and initiated. Perhaps running a palace was a lot like working in an office. Although, he suspected being a king of Egypt was a far better job than marketing. He imagined Kira in Egypt, dressed in royal robes, sitting across from him during breakfast. They would discuss the business of his kingdom, his people. She had a sweet disposition, but a core of strength. She was intelligent, too, yet not ambitious. She would have been a beautiful queen. A partner worthy of his love, his life, his kingdom.
He shook away the thoughts.
Never had he thought about one of his mistresses as his queen, much less claimed one as he had claimed Kira. None had deserved the title. He knew she did not understand the significance of his words.
He glanced at Kira. She was beautiful without knowing she was beautiful. It was an odd combination. Yet a woman who knew nothing about her own beauty was a woman who could not wield it as a weapon.
Men used women, yes. But women…women knew how to use men, too. Nefertiti had used the love of her husband to dispose of his eldest son. She had
manipulated his father with sweet lies and sexual conquests. If he had not been sent to the Hittites…his brother would not have taken the throne. He and their sister would have lived. And Smenkare would have smite Ay, the murderous bastard.
He leaned back in the seat and closed his eyes against the memories, but they invaded his mind like soldiers swarming the land of a conquered enemy.
This night, he entered Thebes under the cover of darkness, dressed as one who lives in the desert. Egyptians respected these wandering souls and believed they were gods in disguise. He had come to Thebes to find Mentari. She’d been one of many women who’d given him pleasure. She had been his favorite lover and she pleased him as no other ever had. Yet, while she, like many Egyptians, pretended to follow his father’s religions, her loyalties belonged to the old gods. Now, with his father dead, the Aten was no more.
He found Mentari near Amun’s temple holding a dagger and food offerings.
They had met at the same temple two days ago. He’d taken her to Bast’s temple, a ten-minute walk from here, and made love to her on the altar. She did not protest and after they were finished, he felt as if he’d given the goddess some kind of offering.
Mentari gave him her body willingly, but never her heart. That belonged to Bast. He disliked knowing Mentari served another, loved another more than him. When he was pharaoh, he would be a god and none would worship any but him. He would wipe Bast from every record, statue, and building.
He could see nothing but his own wish to be pharaoh. Nothing was more important than taking the throne from Ay. Before the Aten, Amun’s godswives had the power of pharaohs. To marry one was to gain the kingdom. Now that his
father and his religion were dead, Amun and the godswives would rule again.
And so would he.
“Mentari, you are Amun’s godswife. Marry me and we will claim the throne
together.”
“I will marry you, Smenkare. If you love me.”
“You know I do.”
Her laugh was soft, disbelieving. “You use me for your own desires just as
you did in Amarna.”
“You did not complain.”
“To a prince? No.” She tweaked his ear as she used to do when he annoyed her. “I fell in love with you.”
“And I, you. Did I not promise to make you my consort?”
“I did not see your ambitions then. I was a girl who only wanted to please you. Now, I am a woman and I see what you want from me. But I do not see what it is you can give me.”
“I will give you power, prestige, and wealth.” He clenched his fists in frustration. “You will be the Great Wife. Is that not enough?”
“You will tire of me, of your promises. I will bear your children, but you will seek others for your bed.”
“It is the way of the pharaoh.”
She cupped his cheek. “Does the ocean tire of the rain?”
“The ocean does not need the rain.”
Her smile was sad, knowing. “I must make a sacrifice to my goddess.”
“This place belongs to Amun.”
“All things belong
to Amun, even Bast. And even you.” She shushed his protests with a finger against his lips. “Meet me at Bast’s altar in one hour. You will have my answer then.”
He stopped her, searched her gaze. She was seeking an answer from him that he did not have. Foreboding made his gut clench, but he could not figure why he suddenly felt afraid.
“Is it wrong to want what is mine?”
“No,” she whispered. “It is wrong to ask for the sacrifice of my heart when you know nothing of what such a thing costs.”
“Hey, sleepy head,” said Kira. “We’ve arrived.”
Smenkare opened his eyes and blinked. A huge bronze pyramid rose to the heavens, glimmering in the late morning sunlight. He rubbed his eyes and looked again. “It cannot be.”
“It’s the Luxor.” She opened her car door and got out. He did the same and followed her through the parking lot to the pyramid. They walked into the lobby and saw fountains. Children and parents sat on the wide flat edges and tossed coins into the pale blue water. The ching and chang of slot machines competed with the conversations of the people in the casino.
“They have a replica of Tut’s tomb here,” she said, pointing up. “We could go see it if you like.”
He had never seen his brother’s resting place. A replica of a pharaoh’s tomb would be the closest he’d gotten to Egypt or to his family since the early days of Bast’s curse. He wanted to go. He did. But he could not bear it. His heart already ached too much for what he could not have. He cupped Kira’s cheek and brushed his lips across hers. “Thank you, Kira. But this does not feel right. This is not Egypt.” He turned to gaze at the fountains. “I am never going home again.”
“Don’t say that.” Kira wrapped her arms around him. “I’ll take you to Egypt. You can spend the rest of the month in your homeland.”
Amazement made him speechless. He stared at her concerned face and felt joyous. No mistress had ever asked what he desired. No mistress had ever offered to give him up so that he might have temporary freedom. No mistress had looked at him the way Kira did now.
“You would do this for me?”
“Yes.”
“Egypt is in my heart. It is as if I left yesterday, not three thousand years ago.
To see it now would…” He shrugged, unable to formulate his feelings into words.
“I understand.” She grabbed his hand and led him outside. “We’ll do the next best thing.”
“What?”
“Get mind-blowing drunk.”
“I was hoping we’d have sex.”
Kira stopped. “Here?”
“Anywhere you like.”
“It’s illegal to have sex in public.”
Smenkare grinned. “Only if you’re caught.”
They found the perfect spot—right between the Sphinx’s paws. The fake Sphinx sat in the front of the Luxor much as the real Sphinx sat in front of The Great Pyramid in Egypt. They were tucked behind one extended paw, into a rounded groove under the beast’s chin. Usually the area swarmed with tourists taking pictures, but it had been cordoned off for repairs. The shuttle wasn’t running, either, so the chances of getting caught were slim—unless a construction worker or rebellious teenager happened to walk by.
Kira had never in her life imagined having sex in a public area. And yet, here she was, right next to the big ol’ paw of the Sphinx, unbuttoning her blouse so Smenkare could suck her tits.
He wasted no time undoing her front-snap bra. His warm mouth closed over one nipple and she gasped at the contact. His hands reached under her skirt; one cupped her ass, and the other stroked her clit.
He released her breast and rained kisses on her collarbone and neck before taking her mouth and thrusting his tongue inside. She returned the eager strokes of his tongue with her own and moved against the finger tickling her clit. He was the only man who had ever given her this much pleasure. So what if he’d spent a hundred lifetimes making other women feel this way? She wanted him—she wanted him forever.
“Turn around,” he whispered against her mouth.
She did as he asked. He put his hands on the sides of her breasts and gently pushed her distended nipples against the rough wall. Pleasure-pain zinged through her. She moaned, excited by the rasp of the concrete on her flesh. Smenkare lifted her skirt and she felt his penis between her thighs.
“I can’t get enough of you, “ he whispered as he slid his cock into her vagina. “You are my queen.”
Smenkare held onto her hips and thrust inside her. His movements made her nipples scrape the wall and she cried out at the sensations zapping her. She put one hand on the wall and the other under her skirt, touching her aching clitoris. She lowered her fingers so that the tips brushed against Smenkare’s penis as he entered her…then she was through teasing herself. She rubbed her clit in rhythm with her lover’s thrusts and pushed her breasts closer to the wall.
Everything was feeling and sound and movement.
“I’m going to come inside you,” said Smenkare. “Oh Kira!”
Smenkare thrust one final time. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pushed deeper. She felt his ejaculation as intense pleasure washed over her again and again until she was limp and hugging the wall for dear life.
* * * * *
“He’s got a good voice, but his timing’s off,” said Selena.
Kira watched Smenkare on the tiny stage, butchering “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” with his Karaoke imitation. He kept putting his mouth too close to the microphone so he sounded thunderous. He was having a hard time reading the words scrolling on the side monitor—probably because he’d downed three Jell-O shots, two Rattlesnakes, and a Long Island Tea. She’d stuck to tequila
and was feeling really fuckin’ good.
“I’m glad you came to get wasted with me and Kare,” she said to Selena.
“See you get drunk? I wouldn’t miss it. The last time you had a cocktail—”
“I had a cock,” interrupted Kira, pointing to Smenkare. “And he had some tail.” She patted her own rear end.
Selena cracked up. In fact, she laughed so hard, she doubled over and smacked her head on the little black table. “That hurt.” She rubbed her forehead.
“Looked like it,” agreed Kira.
Smenkare finished his set and returned to the table.
“That was fun.” He looked at the women. “How did I do?”
Kira and Selena looked at each other then at him. “You rocked the mike,
baby,” said Kira.
His lips twitched into a smile. “That bad?”
Selena nodded. “Wanna do another Jell-O shot, Kare?”
“Only if I wish to vomit.”
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
An hour later, they all piled into a cab and went to Kira’s apartment. They
crept up the stairs even though it was only seven o’clock in the evening. “I’ve never gotten stinkin’ drunk this early,” said Kira as she attempted to fit the key in the lock. The third try, the key went in and she turned the knob. “You’ve never gotten stinkin’ drunk,” said Selena. “Tipsy. Buzzed. Giggly.
Never stinkin’.” “I resent being called giggly.” “I call ‘em as I see ‘em.” They entered the living room. Kira managed to shut the door, but her keys
slid out of her hand and onto the carpet. They stumbled toward the couch and sat down. Smenkare sat in the middle; Selena and Kira settled on either side. He looked at Kira, then Selena, then at his crotch. “I am horny.”
“I thought your name was Kare,” said Selena.
“Smenkare,” corrected Kira.
“What kind of name is that?”
“Egyptian.”
“Oh.” Selena scrutinized Smenkare. “Where did you guys meet again?”
“Magical vibrator,” said Kira.
“Isn’t that a club downtown?”
“Nope. I bought a magical vibrator. Turned it on.” She jerked a thumb
toward Smenkare. “He popped out.” “
I do not pop,” he said in an offended voice. “I form.” “He formed,” echoed Kira making wavy motions with her hands, “then we
had really great sex.” Selena nodded. Then she said, “You guys are so full of shit.” “How do you feel about a threesome?” asked Smenkare. “I’m drunk enough to try it,” said Selena, “but not drunk enough to black
out and forget I tried it.” “I’m drunk enough to black out and forget,” said Kira. “Do you think you could live with the embarrassment of screwing your best friend and her lover
and keep it a secret from me?” “No.” Selena pursed her lips. “Why don’t we play a game instead?” “Does it involve sex?” asked Smenkare. “No more alcohol for you,” said Kira. “It makes your horny-o-meter rocket
into the red zone.” “Truth or dare,” said Selena.
“Okay.” Kira patted Smenkare’s knee. “You’ll like this game.”
“You first, bestest friend. Truth or dare.”
“Truth.”
“Chickenshit.” Selena grinned. “How did you meet Kare?”
“I bought a vibrator and he was in it. An Egyptian goddess cursed him to
sexual slavery and since I own the vibrator, he has to do whatever I say.” “I can’t believe you’re sticking to that story. Since you’re such a liar-liar-
pants-on-fire, it’s still my turn.” She looked at Smenkare. “Truth or dare.” “Dare.” “I dare you to turn into the so-called magical vibrator.” Without a word, Smenkare rose and shed his clothes. Selena’s mouth
dropped open, but it snapped shut when he stood in front of her, his cock jutting inches from her face. “Wow.” She looked at Kira. “I gotta get me one of those.” “Only Kira or Bast can return me to the vibrator.” He moved in front of Kira. “Put your hands on my cock, mistress, and tell me to return.”
Kira did as he asked, resisting the drunken horny urge to stick his penis in her mouth and suck on it. He was so beautiful, so perfect. She cupped his balls and enclosed his penis with her free hand. “Return.”
