Alien's Concubine, The (12 page)

She frowned as she carefully examined
the remains for any sign of trauma that would indicate how he had
died, her mind far more preoccupied with her thoughts than the body
she was examining.

The ancients had given their gods
human-like traits. She’d always wondered why. To feel closer to
those whom they worshiped? Or was it because the ‘gods’ they
worshiped were like Anka, who displayed very human-like thought
processes and emotions, but was neither human nor actually a
god?

A novel thought occurred to her after
a moment. What if, she wondered, these beings had learned their
behavior from the humans they’d ruled over and associated with?
Perhaps they had actually begun to feel the emotions, and perhaps
not. Maybe they’d only begun to mimic human behavior through long
association?

Were they aliens, she wondered? Or
something of this Earth that no one—at least no modern man—believed
actually existed?

Say it was true—they hadn’t actually
remained undetected, she mentally debated with herself. People had
known of them, worshipped them. Maybe the myths recorded about them
were actually historical records? The argument against other
mythical things ever having existed was that they’d never been
found. There was no tangible trace that they’d ever existed beyond
the imaginations of the ancients.

Shaking the thoughts off after a time,
she struggled to focus on her job and determine what she could
about the remains. “There is no obvious signs of trauma that I can
detect that would indicate a death that was not of natural causes,”
she announced finally. “However, this appears to be a healthy male
somewhere between twenty five to thirty five years of age and
natural death is unlikely. The organs ….” She stopped, staring at
the body hard, but she could see no incision that indicated the
organs had been removed. “ … Are usually removed,” she added after
a lengthy pause, “but even with them we might or might not be able
to determine if he was poisoned or died of some illness.

“
There are no outward
signs of malnutrition or illness. The x-rays I had taken show no
signs of broken bones pre or post mortem that might indicate blunt
force trauma as the cause of death.

“
This was a strong,
healthy individual who obviously hailed from a well structured,
wealthy society … at least in the sense that there was plenty of
food and a surprisingly well balanced diet. He has all of his
teeth. They are in good to excellent condition, and the subject is
over six feet in height—six, one, and three quarters to be
precise—a veritable giant for the time he supposedly lived
in.

“
This, of course, is
merely a preliminary examination. If permission is granted, a
portion of the wrappings can be submitted for carbon dating and
there are a number of other tests that could be run on the
remains—subject, naturally, to permission. Some would involve
fairly minimal risks to the integrity of the remains as they would
only require very small tissue samples, others would be more
invasive and possibly more destructive.

“
I’ll see that everyone
gets a list explaining the details and possible advantages/
disadvantages so that the committee can decide what course we
should take.”

Everyone simply stared at her blankly
when Gaby had concluded her preliminary report. She wasn’t certain
if that was because they were waiting for her to provide more
information or if they were still rattled because of what had
happened earlier. The memory lapse alone, and the discovery of
finding themselves completely across the room from where they had
been, was enough to disorient them even if they couldn’t actually
remember what had happened.

And she didn’t believe they
could.

“
Thank you,” she added
dismissively after several minutes had passed and no one made any
attempt to leave. “This concludes the preliminary
examination.”

It wasn’t until everyone had left with
the exception of her boss, Dr. Juan Mendoza, and her assistant,
Paul, that Gaby realized Anka hadn’t left as she’d supposed. Either
that or he’d returned.

Almost as soon as the group had
reluctantly filed out, she began to feel the eerie prickle along
her skin that she’d learned to associate with his presence even
when she couldn’t see him.

“
An excellent job,” Dr.
Mendoza commented when their guests had finally
departed.

Gaby smiled wanly. “Thank you, Dr.
Mendoza.”

He nodded. “None the worse for your
experiences?” he inquired probingly.

Gaby tensed. As idle as the question
seemed on the surface, his look was speculative. “I gather you’re
referring to the night I spent in the temple?”

He shrugged. “Field work can be
physically challenging, and mentally and emotionally exhausting. As
happy as we are to have you back with us, it occurs to me that you
might need a little down time.”

Gaby hoped he couldn’t see her smile
was as forced as it felt. “What would I do with myself?”

“
A little R & R never
hurt anyone. You haven’t taken a vacation in quite a
while.”

Because the little snot, Paul, had had
a hard on for her position since he’d been hired and she didn’t
dare give him an opening. She wouldn’t have gone off to the wilds
of the South American jungle if she’d been in a position to refuse.
She’d been expected to leap at the chance for field experience,
and, if she hadn’t, Paul would’ve volunteered, which would have
given him experience he could use in his campaign for her
job.

She could see from his body language,
if not his expression, that he was hoping against hope that Dr.
Mendoza would insist she take time off—which would allow him to
proceed with the examination of the mummy by himself and take all
the credit. It was bad enough she wouldn’t be credited with the
find, even though it was her who’d fallen through the damned shaft
and actually discovered the chamber. “I appreciate your concern,
but I’m fine. Really. After all I’ve been through to get this far
with the project I’d like to be the one to head up the studies of
the Briacan Mummy.”

A puzzled expression descended over
Dr. Mendoza’s features. “Briacan?”

A wave of cold crashed over Gaby.
Giving herself a mental kick, she searched a little frantically for
an explanation for knowledge she should have had no way of
acquiring. “Sorry. I’d heard one of the natives refer to the area
as Bria. My Spanish is a bit iffy. I suppose they might have been
referring to something else—might have actually said something
else, but that’s what it sounded like to me and I sort of mentally
tagged the place by that name. Of course it’s up to Dr. Sheffield
and his team to officially name the site.”

His expression lightened somewhat, but
she could see he was still searching his mind for a Spanish word
she might have confused. Finally, he seemed to dismiss it. “I’ll
bow to your assurances that you’re able to continue then … for now.
Don’t hesitate to talk to me about it, though, if you do begin to
feel the strain. This is an extremely important find. It’s
imperative that there be no question of professionalism regarding
our part of the venture.”

As kindly as it was said, it was a
warning, and Gaby recognized it as such. There could be no more
conversing with beings no one could see but her.

She shouldn’t have allowed Anka to get
her so rattled.

Resolving to ignore him, she tamped
her annoyance with both him and her assistant and focused on her
studies for the remainder of her shift. She had never been more
glad to see the end of a work day, though.

She wasn’t just tired by the time she
got to her apartment, she was dispirited. She didn’t want to
examine the depression that hovered at the back of her mind,
however, fearful that whatever she discovered about her feelings
would instantly be known by her resident poltergeist. Her privacy
was such an integral part of who she was that it had fractured
something vitally important to her to discover Anka could peer into
her thoughts as easily as a peeping tom could leer at her through a
key hole or a curtain not properly closed. She felt naked and
exposed and she hated the feeling.

“
I have promised I will
not slip into your mind if it displeases you.”

Gaby jumped at the sound of his voice,
whirling toward it, uncertain of what she would see.

Anka was lounging casually on her sofa
on his side, one arm bent to support his head in his
palm.

At least, a man was. It took her
several moments to recognize Anka. He was wearing black leather
pants and boots. On his bare chest and arms was an elaborate,
tribal sort of tattoo. And he had nipple rings and shorn hair that
had been lifted into spikes all over his head.

He rolled onto his feet and
straightened, holding his arms out in welcome of her observation.
“This is close, yes?”

At the question, Gaby blinked, coming
out of rigor. “You bastard!” she snarled. “You scared the pure hell
out of me! Stop sneaking up on me and stop … peeking into my
mind!”

His eyes narrowed. “Woman, I have
infinite patience. I have said that I admire your spirit, but I
will not tolerate being bellowed at!”

“
You won’t have to if you
take yourself off!” Gaby shot back at him. “Where did you get that
body? Out of a trash can?”

He frowned, looking down at the body
that had seemed to please him moments before. “He was not using it
anymore.”

“
Oh god! Eew! You mean he
was … dead?”

“
Just slightly,” Anka
responded defensively. “He was pronounced OD.”

“
This is beyond ick,
actually. Playing with dead things is extremely taboo!” Gaby said
with disgust. “A lot of really weird fetishes are accepted these
days, but not necrophilia! So if you have any ideas that you’re
going to use that thing on me, forget it! He’s probably riddled
with disease!”

She could tell from his expression
that he hadn’t considered that possibility. He stepped out of the
body, allowing it to collapse on the floor. Gaby shuddered. “You
don’t mean to leave that thing lying there, I hope!”

He looked down at the corpse with
distaste. “What am I to do with it?”

“
Take it back to where you
found it, damn it! They’re probably looking for it!”

“
You are a … bossy
female,” he growled irritably, but he bent down and snatched the
body up, shrugging into it. Assuming an air of regal dignity and
displeasure, he stalked to the door and left.

Gaby sank weakly to the floor after
he’d gone, covering her face with her hands. She was not, she
realized, equipped to deal with the emotional upheaval Anka had
forced onto her. As boring as her life before had been, it had at
least been comfortable, free of emotional stress in extremes.
There’d been plenty of disappointment, but very little
excitement.

It would almost have been easier to
accept that she was losing her grip on her sanity.

She might at that if Anka was
determined to hang around her—his ghost, or whatever he
was.

Why, she wondered, was he focused on
her?

Because of the fertility ritual he’d
performed on her in the temple?

Unlikely.

Because of the sex?

More unlikely, she decided.

He was the fertility god! He’d
probably banged just about every female in his city at one time or
another. His position in the community would’ve made him
practically a … rock star!

She had certainly not encouraged him.
She knew that. But had she done something she was unaware of that
had somehow formed a connection between them?

Chapter Seven

She was too upset and confused, Gaby
realized, to think at all logically—not that she could see a lot of
logic in what she was confronting. Feeling drained and weak, she
finally got up from the floor of her living room and headed to her
bath to try to soak away her tension and chaotic
emotions.

Emptying her mind, she settled into
the tub full of hot water and focused on relaxing each muscle group
and holding all thoughts beyond that at bay. She’d relaxed almost
to the point of sleep when she felt the prickle of awareness that
warned her Anka had returned.

Without surprise, she opened her eyes
to discover him lounging at the foot of her tub, studying her. His
expression was intent and filled with a hunger that instantly
aroused her body to full attention. At the same time, doubt arose
within her.

Swallowing with an effort, she closed
her eyes, trying to find the peace she’d felt moments before. Did
he really find her so appealing, she wondered? Or was it no more
than play acting a role that appealed to him for some strange
reason?

She felt him slip into the tub behind
her, felt his arms surround her as he drew her back against his
chest. His cock nestled against the cleft of her ass.

It was hard and hot and the moment she
felt it, the desire rose in her to feel him inside of her
again.

“
You are so beautiful,
Moonflower,” he murmured caressingly against the shell of her ear
as he allowed his hands to roam her body before they settled on her
breasts, cupping them and kneading them gently.