Warmth pooled in her loins. He is so perfectly formed, all muscles and sinew. I’m the luckiest of women to be with such a lover, even if only once.
Small flashes of emerald light dazzled her eyes. Then a crackling roar erupted in the air, as if a great fire burned somewhere close by.
In the next second, a thirty-foot-long white crocodile lay on the sand, head turned toward her, golden eye slitted. Merys gasped. He glowed in the moonlight. He was huge, not only in length, but overall—maybe three times the size of the largest Nile crocodile. Entranced, she got to her feet. Draping her fringed shawl over her shoulders against the chill breeze from the river, she paced closer. He held perfectly still while she approached, as a crocodile does to lure prey, but Merys wasn’t afraid. His body armor shone iridescent, rainbows chasing each other across his dorsal ridges and sides.
He rolled one sparkling citrine eye at her. Words poured into her head. Well? Am I impressive enough for you, Priestess?
“Oh, Bek, you’re amazing.” Reaching out, she touched one of the gold-tipped ridges on his spine, running her hand along its length. His giant jade claws dug into the sand and he moved slightly. A tremor ran through his immense body. The tip of his tail twitched.
There’s a reason Osiris and Isis send me to resolve problems, deal with difficult situations. None can stand against me. I can even protect Pharaoh from black magic if need be.
She walked around him while his head swiveled to keep her in view. Slowly he curled his long tail in a big arc so she was completely encircled. No force on earth could get at me while you stand guard. Proud that he treasured her, she savored the feeling. A question stirred her peaceful enjoyment of the moment. “Does it bother you to be feared?”
I never considered it one way or the other until I met you. His breath chuffed out, spicy and warm against her skin. Fear is one of my weapons, but I didn’t want you to be afraid of me.
“And I’m not. How could I be? I know the man and the beast share one heart, one mind.”
He returned to his human form and caught her close to him, lifting her easily off the sand. “And the heart loves you beyond all reason, but what we’re going to do about it, I don’t know.”
“You are immortal and I have a limited span in the world,” she said, matter-of-fact, as he carried her to their improvised bed. She dropped the gauzy shawl on the sand. “But we can be together for my lifetime.”
He laid her down tenderly and lowered himself on top of her, taking his weight on his elbows so as not to crush her. His cock nestled between her thighs. She parted her legs to grant him easier access.
He inserted the head of his shaft a little way inside her again, teasing her sensitive nerve endings. “What kind of life is that for you? Stolen hours here on a beach with me once in a while? While you slave daily for your stepmother and worthless father? I want your happiness, Merys.”
“I’m happy if you love me.” She moved her hips, drawing him farther inside her body. Her palms glided slowly down to rest just in the hollow of his back, holding them together more closely.
He transferred his weight to one elbow and put his other hand on her cheek, smoothing her hair, and stared into her eyes. “I would take you away to be with me, dwell in my home, I would, I swear. But I can’t.”
“You are a Great One—what prevents you from doing anything you desire?” He hadn’t made any promises, indeed had specifically warned her that great obstacles were in their path, but Merys had cherished some hope. Deep in her heart she felt a connection between them, almost a destiny, calling for them to be together.
Moving with deliberation so his staff stayed seated inside her, he rolled onto his side and brought her to face him. Merys curled one leg over his hip. Adjusting her a bit, he asked, “What is your village headman to Pharaoh?”
“I’m not sure I follow you.” She raked her nails in light, lazy circles along his spine.
He shivered against her. “What power does the headman have in your village?”
“His word is law. He gives justice, he assigns work, he—he rules.” Her hand moved to brush over his nipple. Why are we talking about this? Why are we talking at all? I can’t concentrate. Merys kissed his neck.
“But he reports to someone higher.” His hand found her breast, kneading the soft flesh, rubbing her nipple till it pebbled. He lowered his head to suckle and nip gently at her tender flesh.
“Yes, the headman reports to the nomarch, Ienhotep.” Merys gasped a little as he amused himself with her body, sending ripples of electric pleasure through her.
“And your nomarch, in turn, gives loyalty and obedience to Pharaoh. Pharaoh is a Great One himself, accepted by the gods as a son. But even he is subject to Osiris and Isis. As am I.” Dropping a gentle kiss on her cheek, Bek shook his head. “To you I am a Great One. To Osiris and Isis, I am one to be commanded, sent here and there to do their will. I have powers, but nothing that would stand against them.” He slid his hand down the curves of her body, over her hip and lower, seeking and finding an incredibly sensitive spot, massaging it in slow circles.
I don’t understand. And I can’t think with him doing that to me. Merys wriggled away a few inches, her hand on his chest to fend him off so she could gather her thoughts. “But the legends say you created the world, which must have taken immense power. Why then do you bow to anyone else?”
When he laughed there was a bitter undertone to the mirth. “Whatever I was, whatever I did in the beginning times, Osiris and Isis rule now. I assisted them in attaining their thrones. They are the right ones to rule in the era of man. I don’t deal well with the minutiae of human life. I’m more akin to nature itself. I tend to the health of Mother Nile. I accomplish such other tasks as I’m given. I’m not much venerated save in certain provinces like this one, along the Nile. Other Great Ones are on the rise—Horus, Ra, Hathor, Amon. My powers wane as theirs ascend. It is the way of things.”
“Oh, and I’ve spent such time these past months talking to you of the boring details of my life,” she said, hand to her mouth and eyes opened wide. Merys felt herself blushing in embarrassment. “I’m sorry, but you listened so patiently. I became accustomed to pouring all my hopes and dreams out, to laying my problems on your broad shoulders.” I must have bored him to death but he was too kind to say so.
Bek held her close, his face serious. “No, don’t apologize. With you, I’m interested in every small moment of your life. Your singing attracted me, but who you are has kept me coming back. Made me fall in love with you. I can’t take you to my home in the land of the gods. I can’t resign my duties to live with you in the guise of a man during your lifetime. I can only steal these few hours with you, time and again.” His fists clenched against her spine. Merys felt his entire body tense, as if preparing for combat while his manhood advanced deeper inside her.
Hugging him tightly, she wrapped her legs around him. “Then that is what we have for ourselves, Bek. And I count myself fortunate. It’s more than I ever had before, more than I dreamed of. Just knowing you love me makes me happier than you can imagine. I’ve loved you for a long time. Maybe even since the first day we met.”
He groaned and rolled her over, plunging deeper inside her channel. “I feel the same.” He kissed her neck, sucking and biting gently, his tongue stroking across her skin. The cold night air when he pulled away made her shiver. “Staying away from you was the hardest thing I have ever done.”
“Why did you, Bek? I missed you so much.” She ran her hand through his hair, enjoying the heavy silk feel of it, then massaged his shoulders and neck in a slow rhythm.
He relaxed against her body as she continued, working the stress out of his muscles. “I hoped you would forget me, maybe find a way to marry a mortal man and have your dreams.”
“Did you truly?” Merys stopped her caressing massage and leaned away from him, brows furrowed. “Did you want another man to have me? Am I so easy to forget?”
“By Osiris, no.” He tangled
one hand in her hair to pull her closer, crushed her lips with a passionate kiss. His cock throbbed inside her as he pushed deeper.
She was sore from their earlier loving but she adjusted her position, trying to give him pleasure. He wants to claim me, show me I’m his completely. I would endure any fleeting pain for the joy of belonging to Bek, knowing he loves me.
Bek rocked his hips, creating small tingles of pleasure deep within Merys’s body. He nuzzled her neck.
“Isis warned me as well,” he whispered in her ear.
Merys gulped, her heart pounding in her chest. “The queen of the Great Ones warned you away from me?”
“She doesn’t know about you. I didn’t tell her.” He nodded. “I am no coward, believe that, but she terrifies even me.”
Merys rubbed his back, making big lazy circles with her hand, savoring the feel of the hard muscles and sinew. “What did she say? What happened?”
“She sought me out while I was working on the river, said I had been shirking my duties, forgotten my responsibilities and must be punished.” A shiver ran through his body. “She called the chill of the outer dark. Crocodiles are lazy creatures of the sun, you know.” He tried to smile but couldn’t seem to make himself meet her eyes.
Merys could hardly breathe, full of fear for him. “Then what?”
“I was close to death, I know it, but Isis relented. She banished the cold, allowed me to summon the hot air of the desert and make myself warm again.” Bek turned his head to look directly into Merys’s eyes. “We must be very, very careful, my love.”
“Should you take such risks?” Merys raised her eyebrows and frowned.
“You are worth it to me.” The god captured her lips, his tongue seeking her warm mouth as his hips began to move more forcefully to drive his engorged cock in and out of her soft channel.
Bek seemed to build to another climax.
Merys was too exhausted and sore to enjoy their lovemaking fully for herself but she was happy nonetheless. He is mine. He desires no other woman but me. A surge of fierce joy swept through her.
Bek held Merys close to him for a long while. Eventually, though, Merys began to fret in his arms and he finally noticed the lateness of the hour.
“I must get home,” she whispered.
Sighing, he released her. Merys rose and shook out her simple linen dress.
He propped himself on one elbow and watched her put her clothes on. “Merys, I could take you away from here, to Thebes maybe, and establish you with your own household. If we were careful, Isis would not find out. I go to Thebes often to watch over Pharaoh. I could give you great riches.” He poured a handful of gold coins out onto the sand, conjuring them from the air. “You would have servants to clean house, bake bread and catch the fish. And I would come to you when I could.”
She touched the pile of coins with one finger and sighed. “But who would watch over your temple here? And who would care for my sister Tyema?” She sat next to him, on her knees in the sand, and shook her head. “Bek, if you said I could be with you all the time in Thebes, whether rich or poor, I would go. I’d figure out a way to send for my sister later. But if I’m only to have moments of your time, I need to stay here, in my own place. I’ll be lonely for you, but I’ll at least have the comfort of my sister’s love, my friends in the village, the joyous work of caring for your temple.”
He remained unconvinced but let the subject drop. Glancing at the night sky and the waning moon, he frowned. “Will you be in trouble, coming home so late?”
“I’ve fallen asleep before on the beach. It’ll be fine as long as I’m in time to bake the morning bread. Food is all my stepmother cares about.”
She definitely had the look of a well-loved woman—rosy cheeks, bruised lips, the marks of his hands and teeth here and there on her body. Gentleness was hard for him to manage, even with her, but she hadn’t seemed to mind, had accepted his every caress and asked for more. “You doubtless never returned to them in such a condition.”
Merys blushed. “Is it so obvious?”
“If we had a mirror, you wouldn’t need to ask. You’re so beautiful, my love, but what we’ve shared this night changes a woman. I wouldn’t have you accused of being something you aren’t.” He frowned.
“A wanton? Someone’s lover?” She laughed happily. “But I am. I’m your lover.”
He stopped her with a kiss. “And you can’t tell anyone.”
“I could. I could tell them the Crocodile God appeared to me in a dream and took me for his pleasure.” Merys considered the idea, her brows drawing together. Slowly she straightened her dress. “Such things aren’t unknown between a Great One and his high priestess. I am a priestess, even if the temple is no longer official.”
He ducked his head to avoid her gaze. “I am sorry, my priestess, but please do not speak of our affair to anyone. Not lightly. Only tell others if you’re in dire need. Isis will have her ears pricked all along the Nile for any such rumors about me.” As he traced the planes of Merys’s beloved face, his heart stirred with some strong emotion, clenching and aching and sweet. He hissed a deep breath in and held it for a long moment. I love her.
The realization warmed his cold blood to a low, comforting heat and a desire to tell Merys, to show his care for her, stirred strongly inside him.
“Merys, I’ve been with women in the past, mostly from the ushabti—the servants in my world—and occasionally with…with priestesses here in the human world, as you say, although never anyone from this temple. I swear to you, you are the only woman—human, ushabti, Great One—I’ve ever loved.” He realized how important it was to him that she accept his declaration. Giving his heart away for the first time left him feeling exposed, vulnerable.
Tilting her head, resting her hands on her hips, she challenged him playfully. “What of Renenutet, the Snake Goddess? The legends say she’s your wife.”
“Those damned legends again.” Affectionately he tapped her nose. “Yes, I’ve slept with Renenutet. Snakes and crocodiles, we’re among the oldest creatures. We took pleasure together from time to time. But there will never be any other lover for me, now I have you. No one else could fill your place in my heart. I won’t take the pleasures of the body with any other woman.” He would tell her as many times as she needed to hear it, with as many words as she required. I will do anything to prove my love for her.
Lips parted, eyes wide, Merys seemed shocked. “But you’re immortal, and I have only a brief human lifespan.” She laid her hand on his cheek. “I wouldn’t sentence you so.”
Bek shook his head. “I won’t share you. Any man, Great One or human, who touches you is going to die at my hand. I can’t demand that you be mine alone if I’m not willing to offer the same loyalty.”
“I’ll accept your pledge for my lifetime only, then.” She smoothed his hair. “Sobek, I don’t want any other woman to give you pleasure, but I’ll only have so many years with you. I can’t love you as I do and wish for you to be sad and in mourning for me for all eternity. I’m not so cruel.” She gripped his shoulders and gave him a little shake, eyes narrowed and jaw set. “You must promise me. After I’m gone you will need someone else to love you and take care of you. My spirit couldn’t rest in the Afterlife if you were lonely.”
More to ease her mind than because he meant it, he nodded finally. How could anyone else ever take your place in my heart, foolish beloved? “We don’t need to talk of these matters tonight.” Holding out one hand in the moonlight, Bek called his magic into service. Emerald light rose in a wave from his palm and flickered. The next second a fine gold chain hung suspended from his fingers, an exquisitely carved jade crocodile with ruby eyes swinging at the end. “For you. To protect you from my creatures and serve as a symbol of my love.”
She touched it, then looked at him with wide eyes. “It’s too much for me, too priceless. Pharaoh’s queen would wear such a gem. My family may wonder where I got it.”
“It’s a trifle for my high pri
estess. You deserve more, much more. Tell them you found it in the ruins of my temple. That’s as likely a story as the truth.” Bek laughed
Lifting her heavy hair, she said, “Put it on for me?”
He did, and arranged the crocodile to hang suspended between her breasts. He fondled her breast with his hand, bent to kiss at the tender spot where neck and shoulders joined. “I love you. I’ll come as often as I can steal time between my duties.”
“And I’ll be here, to sing for you and make love to you.”
He kissed her, then she broke away, hoisting her basket and trudging across the dunes toward the village. Bek stood in the lonely moonlight for a long time, watching the river. Eventually he sighed, cleared away their love nest with a casual gesture and dematerialized, going on to his next assignment somewhere in the southern Nomes.
Chapter Three
Merys lay drowsily in the shadow of the palms, fanning herself every once in a while. Occasionally a small breeze would lift tendrils of her hair to cool her heated skin. She felt ill again, for the fourth time in as many days. Moaning a little, she sought a more comfortable position. Bek never came to her before late afternoon, but she hoped today would be an exception. She had come to the beach just in case.
Things hadn’t been going well for her and she needed him, needed the comfort of his love. He hadn’t appeared for over a month and she missed him with an almost physical pain. Each separation was harder than the one before. She was ready now to accept his offer of assistance, of a home in Thebes or anywhere that they could be together more often.
As she was thinking about how to reopen that subject with Bek when he did arrive, she heard loud voices across the beach. Startled, Merys crept cautiously from her hiding place under the palms. Her pulse pounded and her legs trembled.
Soldiers were massing on the beach, landing in small boats. They were clearly not Egyptian. Most were heavily bearded, with long, greasy hair that escaped their strangely shaped black leather helmets. Their kilts were some coarse brown fringed fabric, jagged patterns in bold colors, topped with wide black leather belts. Each man wore a leather breastplate and carried a bow and arrow. A second wave of boats brought more soldiers, these armed with small round leather shields and wooden clubs studded with sharp metal fangs. Their officer, wearing a leopard skin over his colorful kilt, scanned the beach as he came ashore.
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