Heart of the Gods

by Valerie Douglas

  With a care for her back, Ky swept Raissa up in his arms and followed after Tareq.

  The sting of his sweat against the open wounds made her gasp.

  That sudden wash of weakness nearly undid her. For a terrible moment, Raissa fought the need, her teeth lengthening as hunger crawled through her. Her mouth was so close to his throat. She writhed in his arms. He was so close there was not only the scent of him to torment her but the warmth of his body and the steady throbbing of the pulse so close to her lips.

  As maddening as it was she fought it with every cell of her being.

  Ky set her carefully in the passenger seat. She laid her head back against it, curled into it to face him, but against the cushion to keep the stripes across her back from touching the old cracked leather.

  To Ky’s relief the radios and GPSs were still in the Jeeps, along with the guns and their supplies. They wouldn’t starve and there was water, gas. Everything they needed.

  “We need to find the first landmark.”

  Tareq nodded. “Be careful, my friend.”

  He had an inkling of what Ky planned, what he would do.

  “You, too,” Ky said. “No headlights until we’re well clear of the fort if we can. For now, you lead. Whatever happens, keep going, we’ll catch up.”

  It was Raissa Zimmer/Kamenwati wanted, her and Ky they would follow.

  Nodding, Tareq climbed into the other landrover.

  “Go on, Ryan,” Ky said, when the grad student hesitated.

  With a nod, Ryan joined Komi in the other vehicle.

  In the near distance they could hear the chugging of the generators from the other American camp. That sound would help mask the sounds of their departure.

  Tareq glanced at Ky and both started their engines as simultaneously as possible, Tareq pulling out and ahead evenly, speeding up slowly at first, glancing behind him in the rear view mirror for signs of alarm or pursuit. Nothing. Yet. That would change swiftly. He floored it as much as he dared under the uncertain light of the stars, going for distance while it was still reasonably flat even as he tried in vain not to make any unnecessary or alarming noises.

  Falling in behind him, Ky glanced back at the camps as he kept the Jeep as close as possible.

  As far as he could tell, despite how sound carried in the desert, it appeared that no alarm had yet been raised. It wouldn’t last long, but maybe they’d bought themselves some time.

  Maybe.

  He looked at Raissa, saw the glimmer of her eyes beneath her lashes.

  In the darkness, with only the thin silvery light of the moon for illumination, she looked alarmingly pale.

  She shivered.

  Chapter Twenty Five

  Darkness closed around them and somehow that made it―the need, the hunger―far worse. It concentrated it. There was nothing else to focus on. Pain seared through her back, her shoulders, where the whip had cut into her skin and it touched the cracked leather of the seats. The musky, spicy scent of Ky drifted to her strongly and she could feel his warmth more intensely as she grew colder. Even as she fought it, she could feel her control slip… As she’d felt it once before…

  “Ky,” she said, softly and laid her hand on his arm.

  Her fingers were like ice, cold on his skin. They trembled.

  Ky looked at her.

  “You have to leave me. Zimmer was right, in a few hours… I don’t know how much longer I can control it, how long I can hold on. The GPS will help you find me again.”

  She’d learned that much.

  A few hours. Her heart quailed at the thought.

  Need clawed at her.

  If madness hadn’t driven her out into the desert, drawn by the warmth of the sand, or the scent of some creature, snake or lizard beneath it, anything to slake the thirst, the craving…

  The hunger wore away at her will relentlessly.

  “Come back in the morning with food. I’ll be fine. Just drop it off, leave it where I can find it. Drive away. Don’t let me come close until I’ve eaten something. Once I’ve eaten I’ll be all right.”

  As long as it wasn’t him.

  She looked at his face, into his dark eyes. Horror burned through her at just the idea…but she was too weak…

  Already she could scent the taste of him on the air. She could feel the hunger grow as her weakness increased. Even though she’d stopped bleeding, her body kept trying to heal itself―the other half of Sekhmet’s gift―but she was too weak, too drained. Her body demanded sustenance, fuel to heal, fuel to live. And the demand was increasing.

  Another wave of weakness washed over her, undermining her will.

  “You have to, Ky. Please. Go,” she said.

  “Tell me why,” he said, bringing the jeep to a stop.

  She laughed but there was little humor in it. “Ky… Because I love you. Because you smell too good, you feel too good… and I’m hungry and growing hungrier…and I’m afraid of what I might do. I can’t control it for too much longer. You have to go.”

  “Do you think I’d leave you alone out here?” he said, hopping out of the vehicle, coming around her side, fighting the anger… and the fear…not of her but for her…

  She was so weak, nearly defenseless. He couldn’t leave her.

  His hand, his arm, were covered in dried blood from the stripes across her back, it cracked and itched as he moved it.

  Ky looked at it, his jaw tightening.

  “You have to.”

  He grabbed the emergency blanket, tossed it on the sand, lit the lantern and set it beside it.

  For a moment she was relieved. At least she wouldn’t be alone in the dark.

  It was a measure of her weakness that she didn’t try to fight him as he slid his arms around her, under her back, her knees and lifted her…

  She almost broke. The craving nearly blinded her at the scent of him so close, at the feel of his warmth against her body. The sound of his pulse hammered in her ears. She fought her hunger, desperately, biting her lip, hard. The pain of her split lip cleared her head for a moment.

  A sound shuddered through her, half moan, half plea.

  Ky saw her eyes go briefly red, saw her fight it back, bite her lip. Her eyes blazed a lambent blue.

  If he had even a fraction of doubt as to how much she loved him, he saw it in that moment as she fought against her very nature for him, struggled with it. She twisted in his arms with the force of it.

  Raissa was almost relieved when he set her down on the blanket…until she realized he wasn’t leaving.

  Horror shot through her as she caught a glimmer of what he meant to do…

  “No. Oh no. No, Ky, not you.”

  Her eyes were sick, frightened.

  Ky,” she said, “oh, no, please don’t do this…”

  She wouldn’t do it. Desperately, she tried to shift. To her stunned dismay, she found she couldn’t, couldn’t take herself back to the Tomb, she was helpless, trapped…too weak to manage it.

  And he…

  Resolutely, Ky lifted her into his lap, his back against the side of the jeep. He looked down at her, her head cradled on his shoulder.

  “Will it change me?”

  She gasped. Her blue eyes widened. “No, not from one bite.”

  Horrified, she shook her head. “No, Dear Gods, no. Only Sekhmet can change you with a single kiss… Ky, please don’t do this, please don’t make me do this.”

  Already she could feel the hunger snarling, raging inside her. He was so close, so close. Warmth radiated from him. She shook her head against the dizziness and need, scrambled for control. Part of her wanted him, needed him, craved him…

  “No. Please, Ky, no.”

  She fought it, the growing, violent hunger, whimpering.

  Ky had seen her expression when she spoke of it, the haunted look in her eyes. He saw it again now, and with it a deep sorrow. And shame.

  She hadn’t chosen this.

  “Please, Ky,” she begged and he saw tears fill her
lovely blue eyes. “Don’t do this.”

  A part of him wrenched, his heart ached for her, seeing what it did to her.

  The craving filled her, she shifted restlessly in his arms.

  Cradling her against his shoulder, Ky looked into her lovely face, brushed the thick, wavy mass of her hair back. It was the color of sunlight.

  Her eyelids were nearly translucent and she was so pale her parted lips had taken on a bluish tinge. Her eyes were all the more brilliant for it, luminous in the light of the moon and the lantern, fringed with her dark lashes. She panted with need, her breath coming in harsh gasps.

  All unknowing, the tip of her tongue slid over her teeth as it had done that day at the Museum, just brushing her top lip, sliding over her canine teeth slowly, sensuously as they lengthened and her eyelids fluttered as she breathed in the scent of him. He could almost see he taste him on the air.

  The gesture sent a shocking punch of lust through him. Her breath came short and Ky could feel it brush softly over his throat.

  Sliding his hand into her thick silken hair, he cupped the back of her head, nestled it against his shoulder and her mouth against his throat…while he fought his own fear…

  Raissa could taste him on the air, her mouth watered and her throat worked involuntarily.

  “No, Ky,” she moaned, even as his scent filled her, overwhelmed her, even as she could feel his pulse throb steadily against her lips. “Stop it, please.”

  She squirmed in his lap, her hands against his chest, so weak she couldn’t push him away.

  To his astonishment the feel of her lips moving over the skin of his throat sent an odd shiver of excitement through him. Fear disappeared. Heat rushed through him and a different kind of need. An almost animal lust exploded through him. A part of him shivered with anticipation.

  It was as if Raissa felt the sudden punch of his heightened scent in her deep in her belly. Her mouth watered, flooded, her body ached as she felt that quiver go through him and the warmth of his body drenched the air with his scent.

  Raissa wanted him, she ached, needed, craved him…and she fought it with everything she had…

  She loved him.

  Feeling her tremble, Ky drew her closer, knowing she struggled against it. Wrapping his hand in her hair, he pressed her mouth to his throat, felt her try to fight him, trying to fight it, the hunger that raged inside her. Her body was hot, taut and tense against his…quivering…

  It was incredibly erotic, almost sensual. His body was hot, too, and hard.

  “No,” she cried, against his skin, “I won’t feed from you, Ky. I love you, please don’t make me do this. Please, don’t, please stop, please don’t do this…”

  It was agony…for both of them.

  He could feel her tears scorch his skin but still he held her in place and she was too weak, too hungry, to fight him.

  Raissa tried to struggle, tried to fight the growing hunger but he held her as someone would hold an abandoned kitten to its first saucer of milk, gently but inexorably, so they would drink rather than starve…and she was too weak to fight him.

  Her body twisted, writhed in his grasp.

  She could feel the hunger explode through her, ache in her…she hadn’t fed after that day in the airplane, all that power she’d used, summoning her swords, too, and now she paid the price for it. The need was building so very quickly, nearly blinding in its intensity. She couldn’t control it…her will shredded, fell before the steady beat of his pulse against her lips, against the warmth of him.

  Not Ky. Please, not Ky.

  Her teeth were lengthening, she could feel them against her lips. The hunger bit into her sharply.

  “No. Please.”

  A sob wracked her.

  The scent of him, the feel of heartbeat, was maddening.

  Involuntarily, her tongue flicked out, the tip danced lightly over his skin.

  He tasted of salt, of Ky.

  The taste of him, heady, exhilarating, filled her. He tasted so good, so good. She moaned softly, in need and pleasure.

  Ky felt her tongue flick over his throat and he shivered as a shot of lust drove from his throat to his gut and down to his groin. He heard her soft moan, felt the vibration against his skin and another burst of heat went through him as her breath fluttered over his throat.

  She fought one last time, her body twitching in his arms.

  Then she surrendered.

  Raissa sighed.

  There was only the scent of Ky, strong, masculine, salty and the hunger…

  Her tongue flicked over his throat again, tasted the salt of his sweat, his skin, tasting him, feeling the throb of his pulse against her tongue, against her lips.

  Dreamily, she lapped at his throat lightly, tasting him, her body tightening, savoring him. She was lost in the scent and taste of him, smiling against his throat at the pleasure of it, no longer trying to fight it, losing the battle as desire pooled deep in her belly, as it ran through her, the need and hunger…

  Ky was as hard as a rock, each movement of her mouth, each touch of her tongue against his throat sending a rush of lust through him, desire that didn’t just burn, it flamed.

  Another burst of heat shot through him.

  A soft growl in her throat sent another shiver through his body. He felt her mouth curve against his skin in a smile, could almost sense her delight in the scent and taste of him and he tightened even more… Her eyelashes fluttered against his neck as her body yearned toward his, melted against him, made him shiver as she breathed him in, her mouth working on him.

  Her breath whispered over his throat…another soft growl purled deep in her throat…he felt the vibration through his own body. Suddenly Ky didn’t just want her to slake her need with him, he wanted her to feed from him, needed her to feast on him. Heat rushed through him at the thought. She purred, responding to his desire and the sound, the feel of it, shot through him in a burst of craving, need, lust…

  He felt her teeth sharp against his throat, caressing lightly over his jugular, scraping over the thin skin there…the sense of it sending another rush of heat through him. Raissa. He angled his head to give her better access, his eyes closing in anticipation. Her breath came short, whispered over him.

  Tightening his hand in her hair, he held her mouth hard against his throat, felt her teeth graze his skin, and to his astonishment shuddered with anticipatory pleasure.

  Raissa’s teeth lengthened and pressed against his throat…so close, so close… She wanted, wanted… Desire pulsed in her in time with his heartbeat. She growled with need, desire, lust.

  The taste, the scent of him filled her…

  She could almost taste him, almost and then she did as she felt the soft pop of her teeth break the thin skin of his throat and the first bright burst of his thick, rich blood filled her mouth. The taste of him exploded through her like strong fortified wine, rich and potent, intoxicating. Glorious.

  Ky…

  Raissa closed her eyes. The taste of him was incredible, astonishing. She savored him, rolled the warm, sweet taste of him around in her mouth, so rich. How could he be so sweet, a touch of salt, rich, rich, so good…

  It was marvelous. He was marvelous. He tasted so good… She needed more, please, more… Her mouth closed on him, drew, took another mouthful. Pleasure rushed through her…please…more…

  Ky lost all sense, sight, sound, taste all deserted him as he felt her teeth pierce him. Her body quivered hard against his with the intensity of the pleasure as the first taste of him filled her. It was something he could sense, it moved through him as well, something she shared with him…the sense of her drawing from him rushed through him nearly ecstatically…

  He’d never known such intense pleasure.

  Something more passed between them, a sense, a knowledge of each other and suddenly he knew Raissa/Irisi/Eres in ways he’d known no other, as she knew him. He felt the shock of the moment when she’d known to depths of her being what she’d become, not know
ing it could also be this, this astonishing sharing. This sweet delirium, this glorious ecstasy…

  As Raissa knew him, knew who he was, what he’d been and done, the moment when he’d first seen the hieroglyph wall, the first time he’d killed a man, the moments of terror and strength.

  Glory, ecstasy, poured through them both.

  Another need began to grow, desire, the need to touch, to feel…to possess.

  Her mouth was locked on him, sucking, drawing on him, savoring the rich, marvelous taste of him.

  Raissa’s hands flew over him, opened his shirt, searching for the feel of his skin, for the touch of him beneath her hands, caressing him. His strength, life and energy poured through her, she couldn’t get enough of him, she needed to touch him, needed to feel his skin against hers.

  As did Ky.

  Her t-shirt was gone in a moment, the last shreds of it stripped away and then he kicked his jeans free. He was rock hard.

  Ky felt her smile against his throat as he caressed her, as she drew on him, her mouth working softly against his throat.

  He slid his hands down the long muscles of her back to find it smooth, silky…and undamaged.

  Drawing her head back, her blue eyes glowing softly in the lamplight, she looked back at him as he drew her hair aside to look at her in shock and wonder.

  He ran his hand down the length of her unmarked back.

  Not even a scar remained of Kamenwati’s torture.

  “You did that,” she said, softly, as he rolled her onto her now undamaged back to look down into her beautiful face.

  Her glorious hair spread across the blanket like a spray of sunlight in the darkness.

  Incredulously, he touched her face, his thumb brushing her lip where Zimmer had split it but nothing remained there either. Not even a scar. Her mouth was as soft, as unblemished as when he’d first seen her. Her lovely blue eyes looked up at him and she reached up to touch his cheek. She sighed as she took in every feature of his face, her fingers unsteady, trembling.

  Ky brushed the hair back from her face. Her eyes glowed in the flickering uncertain light.

  The rest of her…