by Anna Hackett
“Shush. No more about being naked.”
Now he groaned.
Soon, the shapes in the distance stopped moving.
Layne’s heart sank.
They weren’t people or trees. They were rocks.
The strange rock formations rose up. Some were like large balls at the top, narrowing down at the base. Others were straight, like pillars spearing upward.
Layne swallowed, trying to dampen her dry throat. “I’ve never heard of anything like this close to Dakhla.”
“Me neither,” Declan said. “But we can’t be far away. Keep moving, Rush.”
They did. They stopped a few times to rest and eat the nutrition bars from their backpacks. Layne was horribly aware that their water bottles were almost empty.
It felt like they’d been walking for days.
Her face felt pink from sunburn, her lips were chapped, and she was so tired and thirsty.
She kept walking, barely noticing that she was dragging her feet now, her legs feeling like blocks of lead.
One foot in front of the other.
Keep walking.
One.
Two.
Three.
Layne fell to her knees.
She blinked, trying to focus, trying to get her legs working. But all she could do was stay there on her knees, her hands dragging in the sand.
Chapter Ten
Dec suddenly realized that Layne wasn’t with him anymore.
He turned and spotted her a few feet back, on her knees, wavering. He rushed back and skidded to his knees beside her. “Shit, sweetheart.”
She licked her cracked lips. “Sorry. Need a rest.”
She needed more than that. He was pretty sure heat exhaustion was setting in. He cupped her face, checking her eyes.
“Here.” He pulled his water bottle out.
“No.” She pushed it away. “You need it—”
“I need you alive.”
“You could go on. Bring help back.”
His entire body rebelled at the thought. No fucking way was he leaving her here alone. “Hell, no. We are doing this together, Rush.”
She’d been such a damn trooper he hadn’t realized how badly she was doing. He slid an arm around her and hefted her up. He took as much of her weight as he could and they kept moving.
What he didn’t tell her, what he was most worried about, was that by his calculations, they should have reached the Dakhla Oasis about an hour ago.
She stumbled, pushing into his side. “I’m glad you’re with me, Declan.”
“Me too.” He hugged her tighter.
“Wish this sand was near a beach.” She had a goofy smile on her face. “A nice cold beach. With cold, frothy drinks and palm trees.”
“When we get out of here, Rush, I’m taking you to the beach. I’d like to see you in a bikini.”
“I have a teeny, tiny red one.”
“Tease.”
He felt her slow down more. “Declan…my feet are really hurting. I’ve been ignoring them, but I can’t anymore.”
He forced her to sit and carefully pulled off her boots and socks. She made small pained sounds that arrowed into him.
When he saw her feet, he cursed. “Layne.”
Sand had gotten in and had rubbed her feet raw in patches. It had to hurt like hell, and she hadn’t said a thing.
She managed a tired smile. “Sore feet, sunburn, tangled hair, and chapped lips. I must look like hell.”
He cupped her cheek and forced her to look at him. “You’re beautiful. Smart, committed, enthusiastic. The most beautiful woman I’ve known.”
Her lips tipped up. “I think you’ve had too much sun.”
Dec pulled out his tiny first aid kit. He didn’t have much, but he had some small bandages. He set to work covering the worst of the raw marks. He emptied her socks and boots of sand and slipped them back on. When he tightened the laces, she winced, but set her shoulders back.
“I’m ready,” she said. “But I’m pretty sure the heat is affecting me. Because now I can see a beautiful pool of water.”
Dec swiveled on one knee and looked over his shoulder. He stilled. “Holy hell, Layne, that’s an oasis.”
She straightened like she’d been hit with an electric shock. “Don’t mess with me, Ward.”
“Come on.” He helped her up, and with one arm wrapped around her, they stumbled toward it.
He could hear Layne trying to muffle her small moans of pain.
Screw this. He scooped her up into his arms.
“Declan, you can’t carry me!”
“Not far to go, Rush. I’ve carried men three times your size.”
She made a grumbling sound but settled in his arms. Soon, they neared the oasis.
Damn. Declan couldn’t believe it. This wasn’t Dakhla. It was too small, and while he could see date trees, there were no towns, roads, cars, or people.
Layne wiggled to get down and he set her on her feet.
“Where the hell are we?” she murmured. They moved closer, and Layne gasped. “Oh, my God, look!”
The ruins of a giant stone temple were perched right on the edge of the placid pool of water.
***
Layne hurriedly dropped her backpack and kicked her boots off, and then splashed into the water fully clothed. It was cool, but not very deep. She fell forward, savoring the water soaking into her clothes and skin.
God, it felt so, so good.
She turned, floating on her back, and watched Declan. He stood at the edge, filling their water bottles and dropping purification tablets into them.
“Declan, get in here.”
He set the bottles down, pulled his shirt off and waded in.
Okay, so Layne was exhausted, hot, and tired. But that chest and abdomen…she drank it in greedily. Every perfect ridge and lean muscle.
He did a shallow dive into the water and came up beside her, water streaming off his face.
“Has anything ever felt better?” she asked.
“Kissing you.”
She splashed him. It turned into a wild battle and when he lunged for her, she jumped up and ran toward the shore.
He snagged her around the waist and lifted her up. “Do you know your shirt is now completely transparent?”
“I’m wearing a tank top underneath.”
“I know. But I can still see it sticking to the skin of your collarbones, making me imagine what that smooth, baby-fine skin you have feels like.”
Layne felt the lick of desire pooling in her belly.
“But, as much as I’d like to strip all this off you, you’ve had a rough day.” He set her down. “You need more water and something to eat.”
Mr. Protector, looking out for her again. She watched him grab up the water bottles and hand one to her. Who protected Declan when everything got to be too much? When those horrible demons chasing him wouldn’t leave him alone?
She sat on the carved stone steps leading into the water and watched with great interest as Declan washed his shirt and hung it over a low stone wall to dry. Then it was absolutely no hardship to watch him climb the palm trees and collect dates.
God, all those lean muscles. She watched them flex and bulge. He had a strength that was hard-earned, not just surface gloss collected in a gym. He used those muscles for more than just lifting weights or running on a treadmill.
When he returned, he handed her the dates and sat beside her.
Layne managed to drag her gaze off the man and onto the temple. Her breath caught. It was beautiful. It reminded her of Kom Ombo on the banks of the Nile. An elegant design of columns, courts, and halls perched by water.
A few of this temple’s columns were still intact. God, she was itching to see inside.
She glanced at the horizon. The sun was setting, and, thankfully, that also meant the temperature was dropping.
“We’ll spend the night here and rest up,” Declan said.
“I want to—”
“See
inside the temple.”
“How did you know?’
He smiled. “I’m getting to know you pretty well by now, Rush.” He stood and held out a hand to help her up.
They fished flashlights from their packs, and Layne also grabbed her copy of the translation of the scroll, stuffing it in her pocket. They walked up the steps.
“It’s beautiful,” she said. “I have no idea where this oasis is exactly, but I’ve never heard of this place and it looks pretty undisturbed.”
“An awesome accidental discovery.” He shone his light up at the carved pillars. “I’ve provided security for lots of expeditions around the world that came up empty-handed. They would have wet themselves to discover something like this.”
They moved deeper inside. The back wall was covered in hieroglyphs and images. People making offerings to the gods. She took it all in and stopped beside the carving of a woman who had a strange basket headdress and had a set-animal sitting by her feet.
Wonder filling her, Layne read the glyphs. “No one has seen these for thousands of years, Declan. God, you have to be impressed by that.”
“Maybe.”
She glanced over and saw he was watching her, not the glyphs. “This is a temple dedicated to Nephthys. She was the sister of Isis, and known as the Lady of the Temple Enclosure. She was associated with priestesses.”
“And?” he prompted.
“She was Seth’s wife.”
He froze. “You’re telling me this is an undiscovered temple dedicated to Seth’s wife.”
She couldn’t quite believe it. “Yes.”
“The House of Seth’s beloved. So, we’re on the path to Zerzura?”
“Maybe.” She ran her hands over the engravings, wondering if the priest buried back at the dig had been one of the people who’d carved these. She murmured to herself as she translated.
A warm hand touched the back of her neck. “I’m going to find us something to eat for dinner and then set up camp. We both need some rest.”
She nodded. “I can help.”
He smiled and squeezed the back of her neck. “Stay. Something tells me this will rejuvenate you more than a nap.”
“Looks like you are starting to know me well.”
His gaze dropped to her lips. “Yeah, I guess I am, Rush.”
She watched him walk away. There was a good man buried under his dangerous exterior. A protector, a man driven to take care of others. One who quite simply took her breath away.
They’d almost died in the desert. She knew she wouldn’t have lasted much longer, and even Declan with his training and survival skills couldn’t have held out too long.
She wanted Declan Ward.
She pressed her palm flat to the warm stone wall and took a deep breath. She’d never been with a man who she’d wanted more than her work.
But Declan gave her the space to do what she needed, hell, he’d even been helping her do it. He respected her need to do her job well and that made her want him even more.
Layne realized she was staring at the wall of hieroglyphs like a moony-eyed teenager. She shook her head, smiling, then her gaze fell on a familiar glyph.
Zerzura.
Heart beating hard, she pulled out her translation of the scroll from her pocket. “Find your way to the desert in the west, to the House of Seth’s beloved, then the place of the small birds, where he is king.”
She looked up at the carving on the temple wall.
“Follow the path of the birds to Zerzura directly into the setting sun. Find the buried marks of the birds and reach the home of Seth and his followers.”
So to find Zerzura, you had to head west and find these marks of the birds. Adrenaline winged through her. She jogged out of the temple and down the steps toward the water.
Where she pulled up short.
Declan was standing thigh-deep in the center of the water.
Completely naked.
Her brain took a second to notice the small fire nearby, with some small animal roasting over it. But all her attention was on the man scooping up water and letting it spill down his hard, toned body.
He didn’t have an ounce of fat. She let her gaze run up the strong lines of his legs. He was side-on to her, so she got the view of one toned buttock and the hint of his cock. The rest of him was long lines of muscles, with rivulets of water arrowing down his bronze skin.
Layne couldn’t ever remember wanting anything quite this much. God, her hands were shaking.
She dropped her flashlight and unbuttoned her shirt. It took her seconds to shuck off her trousers, tank and underwear. The warm breeze brushed over her naked skin, and she shivered. She was already flushed, her breasts swollen, an empty ache between her legs.
As soon as she stepped into the water, Declan froze and his head whipped up. His gray gaze settled on her and he seemed to still even more. Like a predator sensing prey entering his range.
For a second, Layne wondered if the priestesses of Nephthys had done this. Stepped naked into the water in worship, a sacrifice to their goddess.
Right now, Layne knew this was no sacrifice.
She strode through the water and that seemed to trigger something in Declan. He surged toward her, the water splashing around his feet.
She wasn’t sure who closed the last few feet between them. She leaped at him and he dragged her into his arms. Layne wrapped her legs around his waist, and then his mouth slammed down on hers.
God. That taste. She kissed him back, her hands fisting in his hair.
He groaned, his kiss deepening. His hands clamped under her butt and he strode toward the shore.
Layne was too busy kissing him to worry where he was taking her. When he knelt and lay her down, she realized he’d made a bed for them just inside the temple, not far from the fire outside. He’d laid down palm fronds and covered them with their clothes and a blanket from his pack.
She reached her arms above her head and watched as he knelt above her.
The temple columns rose up against the magnificent backdrop of the bright stars in the night sky.
But none of that compared to the molten desire in Declan’s eyes and his hard body, inches from hers.
He kissed her again, then his mouth traveled downward, tracing along her jaw, then he nipped at her neck. She arched into him with a small cry.
“Damn, I feel like I’ve wanted you forever,” he rasped against her skin.
Next, he lapped at one of her nipples before sucking it into his mouth.
“Declan!” She tugged on his hair.
“Wish we had more light.” He sucked on her nipple before his mouth traveled over to her other breast. “I’d like to see all this smooth skin of yours. Trace the veins beneath with my tongue.”
“You’re doing fine,” she gasped out. As his mouth abandoned her breast, sliding down her belly, she sucked in a breath. “Don’t stop.”
“I won’t.” He lapped at her skin. “Not until I’ve fucked you so hard you’ll feel me tomorrow.”
He pushed her thighs apart and Layne felt all her muscles trembling. He made a hungry sound and she felt the warmth of his breath over the most intimate part of her.
“You want my mouth on you, Rush?”
She lifted her hips up to him in answer.
His fingers bit into her thighs. “Do you want my tongue inside you?”
“Declan.”
“Give me the words, sweetheart. Tell me you want me.”
“Yes. Yes! I want your mouth on me. Please.”
With a growl, he leaned down and lifted her to his mouth. His tongue slid deep inside her, pumping against her, licking, lapping.
“Oh…” Layne heard her cry echo around them.
He was relentless, and the sensations crashing over her made it hard to breathe.
Then he moved and his clever tongue circled her clit.
“Yes.” She grabbed his hair, trying to move him where she needed him.
“Say it,” he growled.
> “Suck my clit, Declan.”
His mouth closed around her slick nub.
God. She thrashed as he sucked and licked at her.
The sensations were so strong she could barely hold on. Then with one more wild, primal suck, she fell over the edge and screamed her release.
She lay there, panting, her gaze moving upward.
Declan knelt above her, a stark, hungry look on his face. His large, thick cock jutted upward toward his six-pack abs.
Layne shivered again and knew the pleasure wasn’t over.
It was only beginning.
***
Declan felt the rush of blood pumping through his body and the sweet taste of Layne on his lips.
Blind need made his gut clench hard, and his only thought was to lodge himself deep inside her warm, willing body.
He needed to be inside her.
He gripped his cock and leaned down, he rubbed the head against her damp warmth. She made a small sound that enflamed him.
“Declan, please. I need you.” She curled her legs around his waist, one foot pressing against his ass, urging him on.
He fought for some control. “Shit, Layne, I don’t have any condoms.” He dragged in a breath. “I’m clean as of my last check up.”
She undulated against him. “I get a birth control shot, and I’ve got no health issues.”
“Thank God.” Dec gripped her hips and pulled her toward him. At the same time, he thrust inside her, burying himself to the root.
The sound that erupted from her throat was a deep, raw sound of pleasure.
God, she was wet and tight. Perfect. He started thrusting, unable to find his usual control. He was a strong man, one used to violence, and he tried never to bring any of that to the bedroom.
But here, under the stars, lost in the desert with a woman who left him feeling so dangerously close to the edge, he couldn’t find that control.
He needed her. All of her. No boundaries.
His rhythm was hard and fast, her snug body driving him beyond pleasure. He was grunting as he shoved himself inside her and she was making small cries, her arms and legs tight around him.
“Touch yourself,” he murmured. “I want to watch your face when you come.”
She slid a hand down to where his cock speared into her. He groaned, loving her easy sensuality, loving the feel of her fingers slipping between his slick cock and her swollen lips.
