surrounding desert.
I thumped my legs against my camel’s sides, and it trotted after Zane’s mount.
Despite all his antics and issues, Zane had been someone I could count on since we got to Egypt.
“Zane?”
He turned to look back at me. “Yes?”
“Thanks. For everything.”
The grin that crossed his face was devilish. “You can thank me later-preferably between the sheets.”
I resisted the urge to throw my riding crop at his head.
Barely.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
“We’re here.”
Frowning under the sweaty burqa, I gazed at the desolate landscape. “If by ‘here’ you mean the middle of nowhere, then I’d agree,” I said, halting my camel with a tug on the reins.
We’d passed a few small villages in the middle of the night, passed a few tourist attractions, and traveled deeper into the desert. At least I assumed it was the desert, because there was sand and cliffs and rocks. The Nile glittered behind us, my only hint that we were still along the river. Somewhere. We could be on the outskirts of Cairo still, and I wouldn’t have any clue.
Zane dismounted from his camel. “The tomb’s just a few hundred yards ahead. You might want to walk your camel in, since the footing’s a bit slippery.”
I slid off the side of my beast and fell into a heap on the ground. “Can I take off the burqa now? I’m dying of heat under here.” The veil was plastered to my forehead.
“That should be fine,” Zane said, stroking the nose of his camel to soothe the creature.
I yanked the baby-blue fabric over my head and wadded it into a ball, sighing with relief as the night wind touched my skin. I closed my eyes and tilted my face to the breeze. “That feels wonderful.” I cracked an eye and looked over at Zane. “Speaking of, it’s over eighty degrees out here and you’re still wearing the trench coat. What gives?”
He ignored me, leading his camel up the trail. “You wanted to see the tomb, right? It’s this way.”
I made a face at him. “Fine, fine. I’m coming.” Taking the camel’s reins in hand, I followed Zane up the sandy path-if you could call it that-between a pair of large dunes. There were no trees, no archaeological ruins, nothing to mark this spot of land as different from the rest of the desert, but Zane seemed to know where he was going.
On the other side of the dunes I saw a tall cliff wall of sandstone and granite in the distance. “Is her tomb in there?” I called.
Zane just turned and grinned at me. “Wait and see.”
A million or so sand-filled steps later, we stood at the base of the cliff. It didn’t look like a tomb. It didn’t look like anything, in fact, but I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Zane handed me the reins to his camel. “Be a good girl and find someplace to tether these, would you?”
Before I could retort, huge yellow camel-teeth snapped at my hair. I jerked away. “It’s amazing you’ve managed to last this long without some woman killing you, Zane.”
“Like you, Princess, I’m already dead.” He walked toward the rocky tumble at the foot of the cliff, scanning the ground for something.
I peered after him despite myself. Sucks really seemed to have the short end of the stick in the Afterlife; vamps had perfect night vision. Zane searched the tumble of rocks for a few minutes, taking his time. When it was obvious that we wouldn’t be making progress for a while, I went off in search of a hitching post.
The soil at the base of the cliff was covered with stones worn down from the cliff face long ago. It made walking treacherous, and I stubbed my toes a few times in my sandals, cussing the whole time. When I spotted an outcropping that looked slender enough to tie a rope around, I hurried over and secured the beasts.
As I returned to Zane, I heard a soft slither on sand, then a sibilant hiss.
I froze, hardly daring to turn my head, and saw a big cobra leering at me in the darkness, its tongue flicking, less than twelve inches from my bare leg and foot. I remained as still as possible, my hands twitching against my sides. Could I draw one of my guns without having the snake attack? Would the bullets even work on a snake?
Zane’s hand brushed my arm and I smothered a yelp. “Are you done playing around out here?” he said. “The tomb’s this way, and I only have until dawn.”
I pointed a trembling finger at the snake, which rose taller to knee height. “S-s-snake.”
He sniffed dismissively. “You’re afraid of that?” He squatted in front of the snake, stared at it, then stood. He took me by the elbow and steered me away from the snake, which remained frozen in place. “You’re an immortal, Princess. It won’t kill you.”
My gaze remained glued to the immobile snake. “It’d hurt like hell though.” The creature still did nothing-no tongue flicking, no biting, nothing. “What did you do to it?”
He grinned down at me like a mischievous little boy. “Charmed it. I’m an expert at charming, wouldn’t you say?”
Blood throbbed through me in a heady rush, and my knees went weak. I understood how the poor snake felt. Forcing myself to pry his fingers from my heated skin, I moved away. “You’re not as charming as you’d like to think.”
“No?” He slid his hands around my waist. “That sounds like a challenge to me.”
“Give it your best shot,” I scoffed. “I’m sweaty and I smell like camel. If you want to try to seduce me now, bring it.” Two could play his little game.
His hands slid upward, stroking my ticklish sides through my damp T-shirt. “Even with your hair plastered to your head, you’re still achingly beautiful, Jackie.” The light, feathery touches sent a flush of heat through me that had nothing to do with the temperature outside. “I like seeing you sweaty,” he whispered, pulling me closer until I was pressed against his jacket, my nipples brushing the leather and visible through my shirt. “I’d love to spend all night tasting your flesh. Licking you everywhere. Making you sweaty with need.”
Oh. My.
Like the cobra, I was entranced by the seductive words, helpless to pull away.
“Do you know where I’d kiss you first?” His fingertip slid to my mouth and parted my lips, seeking entrance to the hot well of my mouth. I took the tip of it between my lips and bit gently at it, entranced by the suggestion. “Not here,” he said softly, his reddening eyes locked onto my blue ones. “That’s where a conventional man would give his woman her first kiss. I’d want to give her something she remembers. Forever.”
His fingers brushed up the front of my chest to my breast. The backs of his fingers slid over the fabric there, gently teasing the aching peak into taut hardness. “I’d kiss her here,” Zane said, his mouth moving lower to follow his hand. “The skin is sensitive here, and sweet, like the most delicious of desserts.” His dark eyes stared up at me, waiting for me to tell him no, to protest or push away. But I didn’t.
His lips closed over my nipple, and he kissed me gently. Despite the fabric that separated my flesh from his mouth, I felt burned to my core. A low, aching gasp caught in my throat.
Zane moved across my chest to my other, neglected breast. “My second kiss would be here,” he said, teasing the second peak with the barest hint of tongue.
I thought I’d burst into a spontaneous orgasm right there. Heat throbbed between my legs, and my pulse pounded so loud I could barely hear his soft words. Zane slid lower down my body, until he was kneeling on the ground. His mouth hovered near the apex of my pelvis, scant inches away from the flesh that yearned for the same treatment.
“And the third kiss?” I asked, my breath catching in my throat.
He looked up at me, that delicious smile curving his beautiful mouth. “The third kiss, she has to ask for.”
I stumbled backward, breathing hard. “I’d, uh, like to see the tomb now.”
